Effect of Lateral Sliding Calcaneus Osteotomy on Tarsal Tunnel Pressure

Background: Lateral sliding calcaneus osteotomies are common procedures to correct hindfoot varus deformities. Shifting the calcaneal tuberosity laterally (lateralization) can lead to tarsal tunnel pressure increase and tibial nerve palsy. The purpose of this cadaveric biomechanical study was to investigate the correlation of lateralization and pressure increase underneath the flexor retinaculum. Methods: The pressure in the tarsal tunnel of 12 Thiel-fixated human cadaveric lower legs was measured in different foot positions and varying degrees of calcaneal lateralization. Results: The mean pressure increased from plantarflexion (PF) to neutral position (NP) and from NP to hindfoot dorsiflexion (DF), and with increasing amounts of lateralization of the calcaneal tuberosity. The mean baseline pressure in PF was 1.5, in NP 2.2, and in DF 6.5 mmHg and increased to 8.1 in PF, 18.4 in NP, and 33.1 mmHg with 12 mm of lateralization. The release of the flexor retinaculum significantly lowered the pressure. Conclusion: Increasing pressures were found in the tarsal tunnel with increasing lateralization of the tuberosity and with both dorsiflexion and plantarflexion of the ankle. Clinical Relevance: A pre-emptive release of the flexor retinaculum for a lateralization of the calcaneal tuberosity of more than 8 mm should be considered, especially if specific patient risk factors are present. No tibial nerve palsy should be expected with 4 mm of lateralization

Transcriptomic characterization of the larval stage in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) by 454 pyrosequencing

Gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) is a teleost belonging to the family Sparidae with a high economical relevance in the Mediterranean countries. Although genomic tools have been developed in this species in order to investigate its physiology at the molecular level and consequently its culture, genomic information on post-embryonic development is still scarce. In this study, we have investigated the transcriptome of a marine teleost during the larval stage (from hatching to 60 days after hatching) by the use of 454 pyrosequencing technology. We obtained a total of 68,289 assembled contigs, representing putative transcripts, belonging to 54,606 different clusters. Comparison against all S. aurata expressed sequenced tags (ESTs) from the NCBI database revealed that up to 34,722 contigs, belonging to about 61% of gene clusters, are sequences previously not described. Contigs were annotated through an iterative Blast pipeline by comparison against databases such as NCBI RefSeq from Danio rerio, SwissProt or NCBI teleost ESTs. Our results indicate that we have enriched the number of annotated sequences for this species by more than 50% compared with previously existing databases for the gilthead seabream. Gene Ontology analysis of these novel sequences revealed that there is a statistically significant number of transcripts with key roles in larval development, differentiation, morphology, and growth. Finally, all information has been made available online through user-friendly interfaces such as GBrowse and a Blast server with a graphical frontend

Cost model for LIMA device

[EN] In this paper we show the results of the cost model developed in LIMA project (FP7-248909). The LIMA project is titled "Improve photovoltaic efficiency by applying novel effects at the limits of light to matter interaction". The project started in January 2010 and during this year a cost model of the device developed in the project has been developed to assess the industrial viability of this innovative approach to increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of photovoltaic solar cells. LIMA project exploits cutting edge photonic technologies to enhance silicon solar cell efficiencies with new concepts in nanostructured materials. It proposes nano-structured surface layers designed to increase light absorption in the solar cell while decreasing surface and interface recombination loss. Integration in a back contact design further reduces these interface losses and avoids shading. The project improves light-matter interaction by the use a surface plasmonic nanoparticle layer. This reduces reflection and efficiently couples incident radiation into the solar cell where it is trapped by internal reflection. Surface and interface recombination are minimized by using silicon quantum dot superlattices in a passivating matrix. The distance between quantum dots ensures wave-function overlap and good conductivity. © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.This work has been carried out in the framework of the LIMA Project. The EC is gratefully acknowledged for financial support under Contract number FP7-248909.Vazquez, M.; Connolly, JP.; Cubero García, OJ.; Daly, G.; Halm, A.; Kopecek, R.; Mihailetchi, V.... (2011). Cost model for LIMA device. Energy Procedia. 8:443-448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2011.06.163S443448

Komplex molekuláris genetikai vizsgálati algoritmus myeloproliferativ neoplasiák diagnosztikájában

Introduction: Mutations in Janus kinase 2, calreticulin and thrombopoietin receptor genes have been identified in the genetic background of Philadelphia chromosome negative, "classic" myeloproliferative neoplasms. Aim: The aim of the authors was to identify driver mutations in a large myeloproliferative cohort of 949 patients. Method: A complex array of molecular techniques (qualitative and quantitative allele-specific polymerase chain reactions, fragment analyzes, high resolution melting and Sanger sequencing) was applied. Results: All 354 patients with polycythemia vera carried Janus kinase 2 mutations (V617F 98.6%, exon 12: 1.4%). In essential thrombocythemia (n = 468), the frequency of V617F was 61.3% (n = 287), that of calreticulin 25.2% (n = 118), and that of thrombopoietin receptor mutations 2.1% (n = 10), while 11.3% (n = 53) were triple-negative. Similar distribution was observed in primary myelofibrosis (n = 127): 58.3% (n = 74) V617F, 23.6% (n = 30) calreticulin, 6.3% (n = 8) thrombopoietin receptor mutation positive and 11.8% (n = 15) triple-negative. Conclusions: The recent discovery of calreticulin gene mutations led to definite molecular diagnostics in around 90% of clonal myeloproliferative cases. Orv. Hetil., 2014, 155(52), 2074-2081

Distinct clinical characteristics of myeloproliferative neoplasms with calreticulin mutations

Somatic insertions/deletions in the calreticulin gene have recently been discovered to be causative alterations in myeloproliferative neoplasms. A combination of qualitative and quantitative allele-specific polymerase chain reaction, fragment-sizing, high resolution melting and Sanger-sequencing was applied for the detection of three driver mutations (in Janus kinase 2, calreticulin and myeloproliferative leukemia virus oncogene genes) in 289 cases of essential thrombocythemia and 99 cases of primary myelofibrosis. In essential thrombocythemia, 154 (53%) Janus kinase 2 V617F, 96 (33%) calreticulin, 9 (3%) myeloproliferative leukemia virus oncogene gene mutation-positive and 30 triple-negative (11%) cases were identified, while in primary myelofibrosis 56 (57%) Janus kinase 2 V617F, 25 (25%) calreticulin, 7 (7%) myeloproliferative leukemia virus oncogene gene mutation-positive and 11 (11%) triple-negative cases were identified. Patients positive for the calreticulin mutation were younger and had higher platelet counts compared to Janus kinase 2 mutation-positive counterparts. Calreticulin mutation-positive patients with essential thrombocythemia showed a lower risk of developing venous thrombosis, but no difference in overall survival. Calreticulin mutation-positive patients with primary myelofibrosis had a better overall survival compared to that of the Janus kinase 2 mutation-positive (P=0.04) or triple-negative cases (P=0.01). Type 2 calreticulin mutation occurred more frequently in essential thrombocythemia than in primary myelofibrosis (P=0.049). In essential thrombocythemia, the calreticulin mutational load was higher than the Janus kinase 2 mutational load (P<0.001), and increased gradually in advanced stages. Calreticulin mutational load influenced blood counts even at the time point of diagnosis in essential thrombocythemia. We confirm that calreticulin mutation is associated with distinct clinical characteristics and explored relationships between mutation type, load and clinical outcome

Weekend admission to hospital has a higher risk of death in the elective setting than in the emergency setting: a retrospective database study of national health service hospitals in England

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although acute hospitals offer a twenty-four hour seven day a week service levels of staffing are lower over the weekends and some health care processes may be less readily available over the weekend. Whilst it is thought that emergency admission to hospital on the weekend is associated with an increased risk of death, the extent to which this applies to elective admissions is less well known. We investigated the risk of death in elective and elective patients admitted over the weekend versus the weekdays.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Retrospective statistical analysis of routinely collected acute hospital admissions in England, involving all patient discharges from all acute hospitals in England over a year (April 2008-March 2009), using a logistic regression model which adjusted for a range of patient case-mix variables, seasonality and admission over a weekend separately for elective and emergency (but excluding zero day stay emergency admissions discharged alive) admissions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 1,535,267 elective admissions, 91.7% (1,407,705) were admitted on the weekday and 8.3% (127,562) were admitted on the weekend. The mortality following weekday admission was 0.52% (7,276/1,407,705) compared with 0.77% (986/127,562) following weekend admission. Of the 3,105,249 emergency admissions, 76.3% (2,369,316) were admitted on the weekday and 23.7% (735,933) were admitted on the weekend. The mortality following emergency weekday admission was 6.53% (154,761/2,369,316) compared to 7.06% (51,922/735,933) following weekend admission. After case-mix adjustment, weekend admissions were associated with an increased risk of death, especially in the elective setting (elective Odds Ratio: 1.32, 95% Confidence Interval 1.23 to 1.41); vs emergency Odds Ratio: 1.09, 95% Confidence Interval 1.05 to 1.13).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Weekend admission appears to be an independent risk factor for dying in hospital and this risk is more pronounced in the elective setting. Given the planned nature of elective admissions, as opposed to the unplanned nature of emergency admissions, it would seem less likely that this increased risk in the elective setting is attributable to unobserved patient risk factors. Further work to understand the relationship between weekend processes of care and mortality, especially in the elective setting, is required.</p

Molecular characterization of Miraflores peach variety and relatives using SSRs

The definitive version is published in: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03044238Some traditional peach varieties, originated from the region of Aragón (Spain), were analysed by SSRs (Simple Sequence Repeats). The aim of this research was to characterize 19 clones related to ‘Miraflores’ variety, with unknown pedigrees, to assess their genetic diversity and to elucidate their possible relationships with 10 traditional peach varieties. Twenty SSR primer pairs with high levels of polymorphism, which have been previously developed for peach, were used in this study. A total of 46 alleles were obtained for all the microsatellites studied, ranging from one to six alleles per locus, with a mean value of 2.3 alleles per locus. Fourteen SSRs were polymorphic in the set of varieties studied and permitted to distinguish 16 different genotypes out of the 30 initially studied, although fourteen ‘Miraflores’ clones showed identical gel profiles. The genetic distance matrix was used to construct Neighbor joining cluster and to perform principal coordinate analysis which allowed the arrangement of all the genotypes according to their genetic relationships. The genetic relationships among these traditional peach varieties, and in particular among ‘Miraflores’ clones are discussed. The obtained results confirm that microsatellite markers are very useful for these purposes.We are thankful to T.N. Zhebentyayeva and G.L. Reighard for helpful comments on the manuscript. This research was funded by CICYT (Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología, AGL2002-04219 and AGL 2005-05533), INIA (Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentación, RF03-014-C2), Bilateral Spain-France (HF03-273) and DGA (A28, A44) projects and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. M. Bouhadida was supported by a fellowship from the AECI (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional) of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Peer reviewe