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Thoracolumbar spine trauma: a guide for the FRCS examination.
Thoracolumbar spine injuries are commonly seen in trauma settings and have a high risk of causing serious morbidity. There can be controversy when it comes to classifying thoracolumbar injuries within the spinal community, but there remains a need to classify, evaluate and manage thoracolumbar fractures. This article aims to provide a guide on classification of thoracolumbar spine injuries using the AO Spine Thoracolumbar Injury Classification System (AO TLICS)
Three-Nucleon Electroweak Capture Reactions
Recent advances in the study of the p-d radiative and mu-3he weak capture
processes are presented and discussed. The three-nucleon bound and scattering
states are obtained using the correlated-hyperspherical-harmonics method, with
realistic Hamiltonians consisting of the Argonne v14 or Argonne v18 two-nucleon
and Tucson-Melbourne or Urbana IX three-nucleon interactions. The
electromagnetic and weak transition operators include one- and two-body
contributions. The theoretical accuracy achieved in these calculations allows
for interesting comparisons with experimental data.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, invited talk at the CFIF Fall Workshop: Nuclear
Dynamics, from Quarks to Nuclei, Lisbon, 31st of October - 1st of November
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Atomically dispersed Pt-N-4 sites as efficient and selective electrocatalysts for the chlorine evolution reaction
Chlorine evolution reaction (CER) is a critical anode reaction in chlor-alkali electrolysis. Although precious metal-based mixed metal oxides (MMOs) have been widely used as CER catalysts, they suffer from the concomitant generation of oxygen during the CER. Herein, we demonstrate that atomically dispersed Pt-N-4 sites doped on a carbon nanotube (Pt-1/CNT) can catalyse the CER with excellent activity and selectivity. The Pt-1/CNT catalyst shows superior CER activity to a Pt nanoparticle-based catalyst and a commercial Ru/Ir-based MMO catalyst. Notably, Pt-1/CNT exhibits near 100% CER selectivity even in acidic media, with low Cl- concentrations (0.1M), as well as in neutral media, whereas the MMO catalyst shows substantially lower CER selectivity. In situ electrochemical X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveals the direct adsorption of Cl- on Pt-N-4 sites during the CER. Density functional theory calculations suggest the PtN4C12 site as the most plausible active site structure for the CER
f(R) theories
Over the past decade, f(R) theories have been extensively studied as one of
the simplest modifications to General Relativity. In this article we review
various applications of f(R) theories to cosmology and gravity - such as
inflation, dark energy, local gravity constraints, cosmological perturbations,
and spherically symmetric solutions in weak and strong gravitational
backgrounds. We present a number of ways to distinguish those theories from
General Relativity observationally and experimentally. We also discuss the
extension to other modified gravity theories such as Brans-Dicke theory and
Gauss-Bonnet gravity, and address models that can satisfy both cosmological and
local gravity constraints.Comment: 156 pages, 14 figures, Invited review article in Living Reviews in
Relativity, Published version, Comments are welcom
Human breast cancer-derived soluble factors facilitate CCL19-induced chemotaxis of human dendritic cells
Breast cancer remains as a challenging disease with high mortality in women. Increasing evidence points the importance of understanding a crosstalk between breast cancers and immune cells, but little is known about the effect of breast cancer-derived factors on the migratory properties of dendritic cells (DCs) and their consequent capability in inducing T cell immune responses. Utilizing a unique 3D microfluidic device, we here showed that breast cancers (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-436 and SK-BR-3)-derived soluble factors increase the migration of DCs toward CCL19. The enhanced migration of DCs was mainly mediated via the highly activated JNK/c-Jun signaling pathway, increasing their directional persistence, while the velocity of DCs was not influenced, particularly when they were co-cultured with triple negative breast cancer cells (TNBCs or MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-436). The DCs up-regulated inflammatory cytokines IL-1?? and IL-6 and induced T cells more proliferative and resistant against activation-induced cell death (AICD), which secret high levels of inflammatory cytokines IL-1??, IL-6 and IFN-??. This study demonstrated new possible evasion strategy of TNBCs utilizing their soluble factors that exploit the directionality of DCs toward chemokine responses, leading to the building of inflammatory milieu which may support their own growth.ope
Ruptured appendiceal cystadenoma presenting as right inguinal hernia in a patient with left colon cancer: A case report and review of literature
BACKGROUND: Mucoceles resulting from cystadenomas of the appendix are uncommon. Although rare, rupture of the mucoceles can occur with or without causing any abdominal complaint. There are several reports associating colonic malignancy with cystadenomas of the appendix. Herein, we report an unusual and interesting case of right inguinal hernia associated with left colon cancer. CASE PRESENTATION: A case of ruptured mucocele resulting from cystadenoma of the appendix was presented as right inguinal hernia in a 70-year-old male. The patient underwent colonoscopy, x-ray, ultrasound and computed tomography. Localized pseudomyxoma peritonei associated with adenocarcinoma of the descending colon was diagnosed. The patient underwent segmental resection of the colon, appendectomy, debridement of pseudomyxoma and closure of the internal ring of right inguinal canal. He is free of symptoms in one year follow-up. CONCLUSION: Synchronous colon cancer may occur in patients with appendiceal mucoceles. In such patients, the colon should be investigated and colonoscopy can be performed meticulously in cases of ruptured mucoceles and localized pseudomyxoma peritonei. Surgical intervention is the current choice of management
Environmental risk factors of pregnancy outcomes: A summary of recent meta-analyses of epidemiological studies.
Background Various epidemiological studies have suggested associations between environmental exposures and pregnancy outcomes. Some studies have tempted to combine information from various epidemiological studies using meta-analysis. We aimed to describe the methodologies used in these recent meta-analyses of environmental exposures and pregnancy outcomes. Furthermore, we aimed to report their main findings. Methods We conducted a bibliographic search with relevant search terms. We obtained and evaluated 16 recent meta-analyses. Results The number of studies included in each reported meta-analysis varied greatly, with the largest number of studies available for environmental tobacco smoke. Only a small number of the studies reported having followed meta-analysis guidelines or having used a quality rating system. Generally they tested for heterogeneity and publication bias. Publication bias did not occur frequently. The meta-analyses found statistically significant negative associations between environmental tobacco smoke and stillbirth, birth weight and any congenital anomalies; PM2.5 and preterm birth; outdoor air pollution and some congenital anomalies; indoor air pollution from solid fuel use and stillbirth and birth weight; polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) exposure and birth weight; disinfection by-products in water and stillbirth, small for gestational age and some congenital anomalies; occupational exposure to pesticides and solvents and some congenital anomalies; and agent orange and some congenital anomalies. Conclusions The number of meta-analyses of environmental exposures and pregnancy outcomes is small and they vary in methodology. They reported statistically significant associations between environmental exposures such as environmental tobacco smoke, air pollution and chemicals and pregnancy outcomes
Qualidade de vida de pacientes com cĂąncer de mama em terapia adjuvante
O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar a Qualidade de Vida (QV), identificar os domĂnios afetados em pacientes comcĂąncer de mama em terapia adjuvante e correlacionĂĄ-los com caracterĂsticas sĂłcio-demogrĂĄficas, clĂnicas e terapĂȘuticas.Estudo transversal, realizado com 35 pacientes entre agosto de 2007 e dezembro de 2008. Utilizou-se oinstrumento Quality of Life Core-30-Questionnaire (QLQ-C30). A Qualidade de Vida geral foi considerada poucosatisfatĂłria. Os domĂnios afetados foram: função emocional, insĂŽnia, dor e fadiga. Nas correlaçÔes, as pacientesacima de 60 anos apresentaram pior escore na função emocional, as submetidas Ă cirurgia referiram mais constipação,as que realizavam radioterapia obtiveram pior escore para QV geral e as que estavam em quimioterapia hĂĄmais de seis ciclos apresentaram a função emocional afetada e dispnĂ©ia. Concluiu-se que os tratamentos adjuvantesafetaram de algum modo as pacientes, causando dĂ©ficit na função emocional e relataram mais sintomas, prejudicandoassim sua QV
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