Achilles Tendon and Athletes

Achilles tendon (AT) is the strongest human tendon. AT disorders are common among athletes. AT pathologies vary from tendinopathy to frank rupture. Diagnosis is made clinically. Imaging modalities are used adjunctively. Management of AT rupture in athletes is challenging to surgeons due to worldwide growing popularity of sports and potential social and financial impact of AT injury to an athlete. Hence, new surgical techniques aim at attaining quick recovery with good outcome, finding similar results with both open and percutaneous techniques when accompanying these with functional rehabilitation protocols. Non-operative strategies include shoe wear modification, physiotherapy and extracorporeal shock wave therapy. Surgical interventions vary based on the AT pathology nature and extent. Direct repair can work for small-sized defects. V-Y gastrocnemius advancement could approximate the tendon edges for repair within 2–8 cm original gap. Gastrocnemius turndown can bridge tendon loss > 8 cm. Autogenous, allogeneous or synthetic tendon grafts were used for AT reconstruction purposes. In AT tendinopathies with no tendon tissue loss, surgical procedures revolve around induction of tissue repair through lesion incision or debridement to full detachment followed by reattachment. Extra-precautions are exercised for prevention of AT disorders especially among susceptible athletes participating in sports involving excessive AT strain

Patient-specific Instrumentation Versus Standard Surgical Instruments in Primary Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty: A Retrospective Comparative Clinical Study.

AimsPatient-specific instrumentation (PSI) in primary shoulder arthroplasty has been studied; results supported the positive impact of the PSI on the glenoid positioning. Nevertheless, no clinical outcomes have been reported. We compare the clinical outcomes of primary reverse total shoulder arthroplasty using PSI versus the standard methods.MethodsFifty-three patients with full records and a minimum of 24-months follow-up were reviewed, 35 patients received primary standard RSTA, and 18 patients received primary PSI RSTA. All patients were operated on in a single center. The median follow-up was 46 months (53 months in the standard group vs 39 months in the PSI group).ResultsThere was an overall significant post-operative improvement in the whole cohort (PConclusionIn this series, both groups achieved comparable good outcomes. PSI did not achieve significantly better clinical outcomes than Standard after primary RSTA. Yet comparison has some limitations. PSI did not negatively impact the waiting time or the surgical time

Uranium (VI) Sorption Using Functionalized-Chitosan Magnetic Nanobased Particles

International audienceHybrid materials were synthesized by chemical grafting of different compounds (diethylenetriamine DETA, cysteine, alanine and serine) on chitosan/magnetite nanoparticles. The sorbents were characterized by TEM, XRD and FTIR analysis and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) before being tested for uranium sorption. The nanometric size of sorbent particles reduces the impact of diffusion resistance and uptake kinetics are quite fast. Sorption isotherms are modeled by the Langmuir equation. The sorption is spontaneous and exothermic. Uranium is desorbed using acidic thiourea and the sorbent can be recycled for at least 4/5 cycles

Uranium (VI) Sorption Using Functionalized-Chitosan Magnetic Nanobased Particles

International audienceHybrid materials were synthesized by chemical grafting of different compounds (diethylenetriamine DETA, cysteine, alanine and serine) on chitosan/magnetite nanoparticles. The sorbents were characterized by TEM, XRD and FTIR analysis and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) before being tested for uranium sorption. The nanometric size of sorbent particles reduces the impact of diffusion resistance and uptake kinetics are quite fast. Sorption isotherms are modeled by the Langmuir equation. The sorption is spontaneous and exothermic. Uranium is desorbed using acidic thiourea and the sorbent can be recycled for at least 4/5 cycles

Uranium and neodymium biosorption using novel chelating polysaccharide

International audienceA direct reaction is described to prepare hydrophobic ce-aminomethylphosphonic acid as a novel chitosan-based material. It exhibits chelating properties for polyvalent metal ions such as U(VI) and Nd(III) ions. The new sorbent was fully characterized using Elemental analysis, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and FFIR spectra. Different parameters were examined in order to evaluate the optimum conditions for U(VI) and Nd(III) ions biosorption. Sorption mechanisms of metal ions were investigated using kinetic and isotherm models. In addition, the sorbent selectivity was tested for both metal ions together in a binary solution. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Evaluation of adsorption behavior for U(VI) and Nd(III) ions onto fumarated polystyrene microspheres

International audienceFumarated polystyrene microspheres were prepared using emulsion polymerization technique. Different instrumental techniques such as elemental analysis, SEM and FTIR were employed for full characterization of the synthetic resin. Different parameters such as pH, time and initial metal ions concentration were examined to evaluate the optimum conditions for U(VI) and Nd(III) ions sorption. For both metal ions, the sorption process fitted well with pseudo-second order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum adsorption capacities were found to be 83.11 mg U g(-1) and 39.68 mg Nd g(-1). The loaded sorbent was regenerated using 0.5 M HNO3

Synthesis of Microporous Nano-Composite (Hollow Spheres) for Fast Detection and Removal of As(V) from Contaminated Water

International audienceA simple method has been designed for preparing a new material based on the interactions of cellulose acetate (mixed with an alkaline urea solution, CA/urea), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) with tetraethyl orthosilicate in alcohol (CTAB/TEOS). In a second step the material is loaded with molybdate. The nano-objects produced by this procedure are characterized as microporous hollow spheres with a morphology similar to hollow wagon-wheels. These materials were used not only for As(V) removal (specific affinity of As(V) for Mo(VI)), but also for naked-eye detection of As(V) in solution. The chemical and physical characteristics of these nano-objects have been analyzed through XRD, FTIR, HR-TEM, EDX, TGA/DTG and N2 sorption/desorption isotherms. The nano-sized sorbent/sensor has large surface-to-volume ratios (715.5 m2 g-1 and 0.295 cm3 g-1, respectively). Sorption capacity reaches 2 mmol As g-1 at optimum pH 1.8. Fast mass transfer properties allows reaching the equilibrium within 20-25 min (kinetics controlled by pseudo-first order rate equation). This structure allows ultra-fast, specific and pH-dependent visual detection of As(V): the limit of detection is evaluated to 0.3 µmol L-1 (limit of quantification: ≈1 µmol L-1). The nano-particles show remarkable long-term stability with good reproducibility after five regeneration cycles (loss in sorption and desorption efficiencies less than 5 %). The recovery of As(V) from dilute solutions reaches up to 93 %, when applied to water collected from Nile river

Sorption of Rare Earth Metal Ions (La(III), Nd(III) and Er(III)) using Cellulose

International audienceBackground: Rare earth elements, REEs, are used for many high-tech applications; the rarefaction of the resource requires developing methods for their recovery from low-grade sources and their recycling from waste materials. Sorption processes, including biosorbents, represent an interesting method for their recovery from dilute effluents.Objective: This work investigates the sorption of 3 REEs using a cheap, renewable biosorbents: microcrystalline cellulose (considered as a reference material for on-going research on chemically modified materials).Methods: Sorption properties are studied considering the effect of pH, the uptake kinetics, the sorption isotherms, the thermodynamic parameters, the recycling of the material and its reuse for successive sorption/desorption cycles.Results: Metal sorption increases with pH, uptake kinetics are relatively fast with an equilibrium reached within 3-4 hours. The kinetic profiles are well fitted by the pseudo-second order rate equation. Maximum sorption capacity reaches 31-53 mg metal g-1, and the Langmuir equation fits well sorption isotherms. The reaction is endothermic and spontaneous. Metal ions can be readily desorbed with 0.5 M HNO3 solutions and the sorbent can be recycled for at least 4 cycles of sorption/desorption with limited decrease in performance (less than 3 %). FTIR and XRD analyses contribute to the characterization of the material and the interpretation of sorption mechanism.Conclusion: Microcrystalline cellulose has low sorption capacities for La(III), Nd(III), and Er(III); however, this renewable resource with high effectiveness in terms of recycling and re-use is a promising support for metal recovery

Mesoporous Magnetic Cysteine Functionalized Chitosan Nanocomposite for Selective Uranyl Ions Sorption: Experimental, Structural Characterization, and Mechanistic Studies

Nuclear power facilities are being expanded to satisfy expanding worldwide energy demand. Thus, uranium recovery from secondary resources has become a hot topic in terms of environmental protection and nuclear fuel conservation. Herein, a mesoporous biosorbent of a hybrid magnetic–chitosan nanocomposite functionalized with cysteine (Cys) was synthesized via subsequent heterogeneous nucleation for selectively enhanced uranyl ion (UO22+) sorption. Various analytical tools were used to confirm the mesoporous nanocomposite structural characteristics and confirm the synthetic route. The characteristics of the synthesized nanocomposite were as follows: superparamagnetic with saturation magnetization (MS: 25.81 emu/g), a specific surface area (SBET: 42.56 m2/g) with a unipore mesoporous structure, an amine content of ~2.43 mmol N/g, and a density of ~17.19/nm2. The experimental results showed that the sorption was highly efficient: for the isotherm fitted by the Langmuir equation, the maximum capacity was about 0.575 mmol U/g at pH range 3.5–5.0, and Temperature (25 ± 1 °C); further, there was excellent selectivity for UO22+, likely due to the chemical valent difference. The sorption process was fast (~50 min), simulated with the pseudo-second-order equation, and the sorption half-time (t1/2) was 3.86 min. The sophisticated spectroscopic studies (FTIR and XPS) revealed that the sorption mechanism was linked to complexation and ion exchange by interaction with S/N/O multiple functional groups. The sorption was exothermic, spontaneous, and governed by entropy change. Desorption and regeneration were carried out using an acidified urea solution (0.25 M) that was recycled for a minimum of six cycles, resulting in a sorption and desorption efficiency of over 91%. The as-synthesized nanocomposite’s high stability, durability, and chemical resistivity were confirmed over multiple cycles using FTIR and leachability. Finally, the sorbent was efficiently tested for selective uranium sorption from multicomponent acidic simulated nuclear solution. Owing to such excellent performance, the Cys nanocomposite is greatly promising in the uranium recovery field

Speech auditory brainstem responses (s-ABRs) as a new approach for the assessment of speech sounds coding

Abstract Background The evoked auditory brainstem response (EABR) is an objective electrophysiological test used to assess the brainstem’s auditory neural activity. Speech ABR (s-ABR) testing using verbal stimuli gives more important details about how the brainstem processes speech inputs which enables the detection of auditory processing impairments that do not manifest in click-provoked ABR. The use of speech syllables in the s-ABR reveals an important brainstem function that plays a crucial part in reading development and phonologic achievement which is an assessment of speech syllables. The syllable /da/ is often utilized in s-ABR measurement being a global syllable that can be tested in many nations with effective experimental confidence. Conclusion The speech ABR is an objective, unbiased, quick test. It can be used to differentiate between many conditions such as auditory processing disorders (APD), specific language impairment (SLI), and children with academic challenges