Pulsed Radiofrequency Rhizotomy of the Genicular Nerves of the Knee Guided by Radioscopy and Ultrasonography: Step-By-Step Technique

Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is highly prevalent and causes pain, stiffness, and harms the quality of life of millions of patients. Scientific evidence about radiofrequency ablation or rhizotomy of genicular nerves has been presented with increasing frequency in the literature for the treatment of chronic pain related to knee OA as an alternative to total knee arthroplasty. The main indication for this procedure is symptomatic OA unresponsive to conservative treatment, regardless of the disease evolution, although more common indications are in Kellgren-Lawrence grade III or IV, in post-total knee arthroplasty residual pain without an identified cause, in patients with comorbidities and high surgical risk, and those who do not want to undergo surgery. The aim of this study is to describe the step-by-step rhizotomy technique with pulsed radiofrequency of the 3 genicular nerves, guided by radioscopy and ultrasonography.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Contribution to the Global Digital Compact: “Digital commons as a global public good. Internet as a free space, and methods for combating the spread of disinformation and misinformation.”

The Internet as a common good implies the absence of any restrictions, closures, and blockages with censorship being unacceptable in democratic societies. However, it can lead to the uncontrolled growth and spread of disinformation and misinformation, which can have negative effects on democratic processes, on emergency management, and on human rights. While part of society sees the Internet as the last free space and considers the restriction of the Internet an infringement of citizens’ rights to freedom of communication and information, another part of society advocates at least reasonable censorship of the Internet. Parallel to this is the question of who will be behind the censorship – will it be the government, private companies, platforms, or search engines, and what will be the rules and algorithms of censorship. As part of its participation in the CORE project (sCience&human factOr for Resilient sociEty), IIASA held an online consultation with project participants to discuss the topic of “Internet as a free space and methods for combating the spread of disinformation and misinformation” and to prepare key principles and commitments as a contribution to the Global Digital Compact. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the key points raised by the participants in the consultation proces

Impact of misinformation on social media on risk perception in a multi-risk environment

Misinformation is not a new phenomenon but, through social media, has gained new dynamics such as the rapidity of spread around the world within a few seconds. Past events have shown that misinformation can worsen the response to an emergency by leading to inappropriate behaviours, triggering fear and anxiety, or reducing the credibility of the measures by official actors. To better understand the dynamics of misinformation on social media or in the press and its effects on people’s beliefs and behaviour, we defined six case studies addressing different hazards and time periods. This allowed us to derive recommendations to prevent and fight the spread of and belief in misinformation along the entire communication chain - source, message, channel, receiver, effect, and feedback. Three of our key results are that: i) official actors should provide information on a regular basis to build credibility and trust, which will allow them to effectively communicate and counter misinformation during emergencies when people are under stressful conditions; ii) fragmented information on social media should be counterbalanced through external links to richer sources, where people can inform themselves about the broader context and details; and iii) the cultural context and ideological debates must be considered to address anchored beliefs and biases when developing strategies to prevent and fight misinformation

T-Cell Immune Responses Against Env from CRF12_BF and Subtype B HIV-1 Show High Clade-Specificity that Can Be Overridden by Multiclade Immunizations

BACKGROUND: The extreme genetic diversity of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) poses a daunting challenge to the generation of an effective AIDS vaccine. In Argentina, the epidemic is characterized by the high prevalence of infections caused by subtype B and BF variants. The aim of this study was to characterize in mice the immunogenic and antigenic properties of the Env protein from CRF12_BF in comparison with clade B, employing prime-boost schemes with the combination of recombinant DNA and vaccinia virus (VV) vectors. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: As determined by ELISPOT from splenocytes of animals immunized with either EnvBF or EnvB antigens, the majority of the cellular responses to Env were found to be clade-specific. A detailed peptide mapping of the responses reveal that when there is cross-reactivity, there are no amino acid changes in the peptide sequence or were minimal and located at the peptide ends. In those cases, analysis of T cell polifunctionality and affinity indicated no differences with respect to the cellular responses found against the original homologous sequence. Significantly, application of a mixed immunization combining both clades (B and BF) induced a broader cellular response, in which the majority of the peptides targeted after the single clade vaccinations generated a positive response. In this group we could also find significant cellular and humoral responses against the whole gp120 protein from subtype B. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This work has characterized for the first time the immunogenic peptides of certain EnvBF regions, involved in T cell responses. It provides evidence that to improve immune responses to HIV there is a need to combine Env antigens from different clades, highlighting the convenience of the inclusion of BF antigens in future vaccines for geographic regions where these HIV variants circulate

Ss-Sl2, a Novel Cell Wall Protein with PAN Modules, Is Essential for Sclerotial Development and Cellular Integrity of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

The sclerotium is an important dormant body for many plant fungal pathogens. Here, we reported that a protein, named Ss-Sl2, is involved in sclerotial development of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Ss-Sl2 does not show significant homology with any protein of known function. Ss-Sl2 contains two putative PAN modules which were found in other proteins with diverse adhesion functions. Ss-Sl2 is a secreted protein, during the initial stage of sclerotial development, copious amounts of Ss-Sl2 are secreted and accumulated on the cell walls. The ability to maintain the cellular integrity of RNAi-mediated Ss-Sl2 silenced strains was reduced, but the hyphal growth and virulence of Ss-Sl2 silenced strains were not significantly different from the wild strain. Ss-Sl2 silenced strains could form interwoven hyphal masses at the initial stage of sclerotial development, but the interwoven hyphae could not consolidate and melanize. Hyphae in these interwoven bodies were thin-walled, and arranged loosely. Co-immunoprecipitation and yeast two-hybrid experiments showed that glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), Woronin body major protein (Hex1) and elongation factor 1-alpha interact with Ss-Sl2. GAPDH-knockdown strains showed a similar phenotype in sclerotial development as Ss-Sl2 silenced strains. Hex1-knockdown strains showed similar impairment in maintenance of hyphal integrity as Ss-Sl2 silenced strains. The results suggested that Ss-Sl2 functions in both sclerotial development and cellular integrity of S. sclerotiorum

Complexity of the Mycoplasma fermentans M64 Genome and Metabolic Essentiality and Diversity among Mycoplasmas

Recently, the genomes of two Mycoplasma fermentans strains, namely M64 and JER, have been completely sequenced. Gross comparison indicated that the genome of M64 is significantly bigger than the other strain and the difference is mainly contributed by the repetitive sequences including seven families of simple and complex transposable elements ranging from 973 to 23,778 bps. Analysis of these repeats resulted in the identification of a new distinct family of Integrative Conjugal Elements of M. fermentans, designated as ICEF-III. Using the concept of “reaction connectivity”, the metabolic capabilities in M. fermentans manifested by the complete and partial connected biomodules were revealed. A comparison of the reported M. pulmonis, M. arthritidis, M. genitalium, B. subtilis, and E. coli essential genes and the genes predicted from the M64 genome indicated that more than 73% of the Mycoplasmas essential genes are preserved in M. fermentans. Further examination of the highly and partly connected reactions by a novel combinatorial phylogenetic tree, metabolic network, and essential gene analysis indicated that some of the pathways (e.g. purine and pyrimidine metabolisms) with partial connected reactions may be important for the conversions of intermediate metabolites. Taken together, in light of systems and network analyses, the diversity among the Mycoplasma species was manifested on the variations of their limited metabolic abilities during evolution

Towards a dynamic earthquake risk framework for Switzerland

Scientists from different disciplines at ETH Zurich are developing a dynamic, harmonised, and user-centred earthquake risk framework for Switzerland, relying on a continuously evolving earthquake catalogue generated by the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) using the national seismic networks. This framework uses all available information to assess seismic risk at various stages and facilitates widespread dissemination and communication of the resulting information. Earthquake risk products and services include operational earthquake (loss) forecasting (OE(L)F), earthquake early warning (EEW), ShakeMaps, rapid impact assessment (RIA), structural health monitoring (SHM), and recovery and rebuilding efforts (RRE). Standardisation of products and workflows across various applications is essential for achieving broad adoption, universal recognition, and maximum synergies. In the Swiss dynamic earthquake risk framework, the harmonisation of products into seamless solutions that access the same databases, workflows, and software is a crucial component. A user-centred approach utilising quantitative and qualitative social science tools like online surveys and focus groups is a significant innovation featured in all products and services. Here we report on the key considerations and developments of the framework and its components. This paper may serve as a reference guide for other countries wishing to establish similar services for seismic risk reduction.</p

Forks in the road: Critical design moments for identifying key processes in stakeholder interaction

© 2022 by the authors.While the importance of transdisciplinary (Td) processes as a means to address societal problems is well-established, guidance for the intentional design of stakeholder interactions to meet specific goals, under different conditions and contexts, remains less explored. We propose the concept of critical design moments (CDMs) as a lens through which to identify key processes in the design of stakeholder interactions that affect the relevance and impact of its outcomes. We demonstrate how an approach using CDMs can help to make explicit not only the goals of stakeholder interactions, but also how these goals might be met through the process design of specific activities orienting these interactions. The CDMs were identified as part of the implementation of a Td winter school for early career researchers to provide them with real-world experiences of interacting with stakeholders and local residents of a community. This work provides an approach for how Td stakeholder interactions can be designed in other Td contexts

Forks in the road: Critical design moments for identifying key processes in stakeholder interaction

Much of the knowledge regarding “what works” in creating stakeholder events remains tacit. This article describes the concept of critical design moments (CDMs) as a guide for designing context-sensitive and inclusive stakeholder interactions. The approach makes often implicit processes explicit. It is rooted in the experiences of coordinating and participating in a transdisciplinary winter school in a village in Switzerland. While the importance of transdisciplinary (Td) processes as a means to address societal problems is well-established, guidance for the intentional design of stakeholder interactions to meet specific goals, under different conditions and contexts, remains less explored. We propose the concept of critical design moments (CDMs) as a lens through which to identify key processes in the design of stakeholder interactions that affect the relevance and impact of its outcomes. We demonstrate how an approach using CDMs can help to make explicit not only the goals of stakeholder interactions, but also how these goals might be met through the process design of specific activities orienting these interactions. The CDMs were identified as part of the implementation of a Td winter school for early career researchers to provide them with real-world experiences of interacting with stakeholders and local residents of a community. This work provides an approach for how Td stakeholder interactions can be designed in other Td contexts