Removal of a broken intramedullary femoral nail with an unusual pattern of breakage: a case report

To the best of our knowledge, only 3 cases, including the present case, have been reported with a three part broken pattern. However, this is the first case associated with a distal locking screw broken. We report the case of a 31-year-old patient who sustained an open femoral shaft fracture . The fracture was stabilized with a Kuntcher femoral nail. After 7 months of the initial surgery he presented with a three part broken intramedullary nail and the distal locking screw broken. We used a combined technique for the removal of the nail through the nonunion fracture site; we used a pull out technique for the middle fragment and a curved thin hook for the distal fragment. Then we applied bone allograft and stabilized with a cannulated intramedullary femoral nail (Synthes, Oberdorf, Switzerland). After 2 years of follow up the nonunion was consolidated and the patient presented a good clinical outcome. This is of particular interest because it is a unique case and the association with a broken distal locking screw is reported for the first time in this study. A combination of methods through the nonunion site approach and an alternative instrumental is a good method for the removal of a hollow femoral intramedullary nail with this unusual pattern of breakage

Controversial topics in the management of displaced supracondylar humerus fractures in children

The aim of our study was to review the literature looking for the up to date information regarding these controversial topics. An electronic literature search was performed using the Medline/PubMed database. A closed reduction attempt should always be done first. It is more important to engage both columns as well as divergence of the pins no matter whatever configuration is applied. Time to surgery seems to be not an important factor to increase the risk of complications as well as open reduction rate. Usually neurological injuries present a spontaneous recovery. If there is absent pulse, we should follow the algorithm associated with the perfusion of the hand

Does open reduction and pinning affect outcome in severely displaced supracondylar humeral fractures in children? A systematic review

Supracondylar fracture of the humerus is the second most common fracture in children (16.6%) and the most common elbow fracture. These fractures are classified using the modified Gartland classification. Type III and type IV are considered to be totally displaced. A totally displaced fracture is one of the most difficult fractures to manage and may lead to proceeding to open procedures to achieve acceptable reductions. Many surgeons are concerned about its outcome compared to closed procedures. We therefore performed a systematic review of the literature to investigate the existing evidence regarding functional and radiological outcomes as well as postsurgical complications of primary open compared to primary closed reduction

Decision Making Intelligent Agent on SOX Compliance over the Imports Process

The objective of this work is to define a decision support system over SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act) compatibility  of the Imports Process based on Artificial Intelligence and Theory of Argumentation knowledge and techniques measuring at the same time the quality of how things were done on this specific process of the analyzed business case. SOX Law in effect nowadays is worldwide facto standard for financial and economical operations of private sector with the main objective to protect investors of private sector and promote the financial health of private companies. In this framework we have developed a decision support intelligent expert model to help SOX control bodies, companies and auditors to support their SOX compliance decisions based on well founded bases like Artificial Intelligence and Theory of Argumentation. The model here presented incorporates several key concepts like pre-existing expert knowledge base, a formalized and structure way to evaluate an existing business case focusing on the Imports Process, a semi automated fuzzy dynamic knowledge learning protocol and an structure method to evolve based on the facts of the business case and suggest an specific decision about the SOX compatibility of the specific business case. Keywords: Multiagent Systems (MAS), Expert Systems (ES), Business Intelligence (BI), Decision Support Systems (DSS), Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), Argumentation, Artificial Intelligence

Decision Making Intelligent Agent on SOX Compliance over the Goods Receipt Processs

The objective of this work is to define a decision support system over SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act) compatibility  of the Goods Receipt Process based on Artificial Intelligence and Theory of Argumentation knowledge and techniques measuring at the same time the quality of how things were done on this specific process of the analyzed business case. SOX Law in effect nowadays is worldwide facto standard for financial and economical operations of private sector with the main objective to protect investors of private sector and promote the financial health of private companies. In this framework we have developed a decision support intelligent expert model to help SOX control bodies, companies and auditors to support their SOX compliance decisions based on well founded bases like Artificial Intelligence and Theory of Argumentation. The model here presented incorporates several key concepts like pre-existing expert knowledge base, a formalized and structure way to evaluate an existing business case focusing on the Goods Receipt Process, a semi automated fuzzy dynamic knowledge learning protocol and an structure method to evolve based on the facts of the business case and suggest an specific decision about the SOX compatibility of the specific business case. Keywords: Multiagent Systems (MAS), Expert Systems (ES), Business Intelligence (BI), Decision Support Systems (DSS), Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), Argumentation, Artificial Intelligence

Towards Sustainability: Photochemical and electrochemical processes applied for environmental protection

In the last century, public policy around the globe was mainly focused on economic growth leaving out of this perspective, social concerns and the environment detriment that this merely economic approach was causing. It was until the last quarter of the 20th century that people started to be aware of the growing poverty and of the jeopardy of the planet as a result of human being activities. In consequence, the concept of sustainable development emerged in the United Nations as a call to all countries to integrate economic growth with social needs and environmental protection, in such a way that our activities as earth inhabitants stopped compromising the quality of life and needs satisfaction of future generations

Crystal structure dependence of the energy transfer from tb(III) to yb(III) in metal–organic frameworks based in bispyrazolylpyridines

Luminescent mixed lanthanide metal−organic framwork (MOF) materials have been prepared from two polyheterocyclic diacid ligands, 2,6-bis(3-carboxy-1-pyrazolyl)pyridine and 2,6- bis(4-carboxy-1-pyrazolyl)pyridine. The crystal structures of the two organic molecules are presented together with the structures for the MOFs obtained by hydrothermal synthesis either with Yb(III) or mixed Tb(III)/Yb(III) ions. Different coordination architectures result from each ligand, revealing also important differences between the lanthanides. The mixed lanthanide metal−organic frameworks also present diverse luminescent behavior; in the case of 2,6-bis(4-carboxy-1- pyrazolyl)pyridine, where no coordinated water is present in the metal environment, Tb(III) and Yb(III) characteristic emission is observed by excitation of the bispyrazolylpyridine chromophoreThe research leading to these results has received funding from ERCROS S.A. (Aranjuez, Spain

Magnetic structures of non-cerium analogues of heavy-fermion Ce2RhIn8: case of Nd2RhIn8, Dy2RhIn8 and Er2RhIn8

R2RhIn8 compounds (space group P4/mmm, R is a rare-earth element) belong to a large group of structurally related tetragonal materials which involves several heavy-fermion superconductors based on Ce. We have succeeded to grow single crystals of compounds with Nd, Dy and Er and following our previous bulk measurements, we performed neutron-diffraction studies to determine their magnetic structures. The Laue diffraction experiment showed that the antiferromagnetic order below the N\'eel temperature is in all three compounds characterized by the propagation vector k = (1/2, 1/2, 1/2). The amplitude and direction of the magnetic moments, as well as the invariance symmetry of the magnetic structure, were determined by subsequent experiments using two- and four-circle diffractometers. The critical exponents were determined from the temperature dependence of the intensities below TN.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, submitted to PR

A polytrauma patient with an unusual posterior fracture-dislocation of the femoral head: a case report

We report a case of a 27-year-old man who was involved in a high-speed car accident. He sustained multiple organ damage including multiple brain petechiae suggesting diffuse axonal damage, aortic dissection, retroperitoneal haematoma and a fracture-dislocation of the right hip with a femoral head fracture and an ipsilateral intertrochanteric fracture. Due to the general condition of the patient, physiological stabilisation was prioritized, and at 2 weeks the fracture-dislocation of the hip was treated with a proximal femoral nail for the intertrochanteric fracture and Herbert screws for the femoral head fracture. Postoperatively, two episodes of recurrent hip dislocation occurred, and this was stabilized eventually with a Steinman pin inserted across the hip joint and taken out 1 month later. Weight-bearing was allowed according to clinical and radiographical assessments. Heterotopic ossification developed around the hip joint, but without evidence of AVN or osteoarthritis. At 18-months follow-up, the fractures had healed and the patient had a Harris Hip score of 79.1. Anatomical reduction and stable fixation of fracture-dislocations of the hip are important for achieving an acceptable result

Deactivation and regeneration of activated carbon-supported Rh and Ru catalysts in the hydrodechlorination of chloromethanes into light olefins

This work analyses the deactivation of activated carbon-supported Rh and Ru (both at 1 wt%) catalysts (Rh/C and Ru/C) in the hydrodechlorination (HDC) of dichloromethane (DCM) and chloroform (TCM). The deactivation can be mainly attributed to the coverage of active metal centres by organometallic species resulting from the chemisorption of reaction products, such as olefins, at the electro-deficient metal sites. With DCM, the activity of Ru/C decreased by more than 80% after 90 h on stream at 250 °C and with a space time of 1.7 kg h mol−1. Under the same conditions, with TCM, the Rh/C and Ru/C catalysts lost 75% of activity after 84 and 54 h on stream, respectively. A regeneration treatment with air at 250 °C allowed complete recovery of the catalytic activity. After each deactivation-regeneration cycle, the selectivity to olefins increased. Therefore, HDC with the catalysts tested provides a promising way for the upgrading of chloromethanes from waste gas streams into light olefinshe authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from FEDER/ Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades-Agencia Estatal de Investigación/CTM2017-85498-R. M. Martín Martínez acknowledges a postdoctoral grant, 2017-T2/AMB-5668, from the Comunidad de Madrid “Atracción de talento investigador” programm