Preoperative Radiographic Simulation for Partial Uncinate Process Resection during Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion to Achieve Adequate Foraminal Decompression and Prevention of Vertebral Artery Injury

Study Design Retrospective radiographic study. Purpose This study aims to demonstrate the proper resection trajectory of a partial posterior uncinate process resection combined with anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) and evaluate whether foraminal stenosis or uncinate process degeneration increases the risk of vertebral artery (VA) injury. Overview of Literature Appropriate resection trajectory that could result in sufficient decompression and avoid vertebral artery injury is yet unknown. Methods We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent cervical magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography angiography for preoperative ACDF evaluation. The segments were classified according to the presence of foraminal stenosis. The height, thickness, anteroposterior length, horizontal distance from the uncinate process to the VA, and vertical distance from the uncinate process baseline to the VA of the uncinate process were measured. The distance between the uncinate anterior margin and the resection trajectory (UAM-to-RT) was measured. Results There were no VA injuries or root injuries among the 101 patients who underwent ACDF (163 segments, mean age of 56.3±12.2). Uncinate anteroposterior length was considerably longer in foramens with foraminal stenosis, whereas uncinate process height, thickness, and distance between the uncinate process and VA were not significantly associated with foraminal stenosis. There were no significant differences in radiographic parameters based on uncinate degeneration. The UAM-to-RT distances for adequate decompression were 1.6±1.4 mm (range, 0–4.8 mm), 3.4±1.7 mm (range, 0–7.1 mm), 4.0±1.7 mm (range, 0–9.0 mm), and 4.5±1.2 mm (range, 2.5–7.5 mm) for C3–C4, C4–C5, C5–C6, and C6–C7, respectively. Conclusions More than half of the uncinate process in the anteroposterior plane should be removed for adequate neural foramen decompression. Foraminal stenosis or uncinate degeneration did not alter the relative anatomy of the uncinate process and the VA and did not impact VA injury risk

Development of Surface-SFED Models for Polar Solvents

This article discusses the development of surface-SFED models for polar solvents

Anterior Decompression and Fusion for the Treatment of Cervical Myelopathy Caused by Ossification of the Posterior Longitudinal Ligament: A Narrative Review

Occasionally, ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL) causes cord compression, resulting in cervical myelopathy. OPLL differs from other causes of cervical spondylotic myelopathy in several ways, and the surgical strategy should be chosen with OPLL’s characteristics in mind. Although both the anterior and posterior approaches are effective surgical methods for the treatment of OPLL cervical myelopathy, they each have their own set of benefits and drawbacks. Anterior decompression and fusion (ADF) may improve neurological recovery, restore lordosis, and prevent OPLL mass progression. The benefits can be seen in patients with a high canal occupying ratio or kyphotic alignment. We discussed the benefits, limitations, indications, and surgical techniques of ADF for the treatment of OPLL-induced cervical myelopathy in this narrative

Classification of His524 conformations (PDB IDs: 2YJA, 4IVY, and 4IWC).

<p>Closed (A) and moved back (B) conformations which stabilize protein-ligand complex through hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interaction, respectively. Open conformation (C) that provides an expanded binding pocket for ligands longer than 13 Å. Ligands are colored in orange with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and fluorine atoms in white, red, blue, yellow, and green, respectively.</p

MOESM1 of 3D-QSAR study of steroidal and azaheterocyclic human aromatase inhibitors using quantitative profile of protein–ligand interactions

Additional file 1 Dataset for model development

Structure-Based Understanding of Binding Affinity and Mode of Estrogen Receptor α Agonists and Antagonists

<div><p>The flexible hydrophobic ligand binding pocket (LBP) of estrogen receptor α (ERα) allows the binding of a wide variety of endocrine disruptors. Upon ligand binding, the LBP reshapes around the contours of the ligand and stabilizes the complex by complementary hydrophobic interactions and specific hydrogen bonds with the ligand. Here we present a framework for quantitative analysis of the steric and electronic features of the human ERα-ligand complex using three dimensional (3D) protein-ligand interaction description combined with 3D-QSAR approach. An empirical hydrophobicity density field is applied to account for hydrophobic contacts of ligand within the LBP. The obtained 3D-QSAR model revealed that hydrophobic contacts primarily determine binding affinity and govern binding mode with hydrogen bonds. Several residues of the LBP appear to be quite flexible and adopt a spectrum of conformations in various ERα-ligand complexes, in particular His524. The 3D-QSAR was combined with molecular docking based on three receptor conformations to accommodate receptor flexibility. The model indicates that the dynamic character of the LBP allows accommodation and stable binding of structurally diverse ligands, and proper representation of the protein flexibility is critical for reasonable description of binding of the ligands. Our results provide a quantitative and mechanistic understanding of binding affinity and mode of <i>ER</i>α agonists and antagonists that may be applicable to other nuclear receptors.</p></div

IoT-Based Strawberry Disease Prediction System for Smart Farming

Crop diseases cannot be accurately predicted by merely analyzing individual disease causes. Only through construction of a comprehensive analysis system can users be provided with predictions of highly probable diseases. In this study, cloud-based technology capable of handling the collection, analysis, and prediction of agricultural environment information in one common platform was developed. The proposed Farm as a Service (FaaS) integrated system supports high-level application services by operating and monitoring farms as well as managing associated devices, data, and models. This system registers, connects, and manages Internet of Things (IoT) devices and analyzes environmental and growth information. In addition, the IoT-Hub network model was constructed in this study. This model supports efficient data transfer for each IoT device as well as communication for non-standard products, and exhibits high communication reliability even in poor communication environments. Thus, IoT-Hub ensures the stability of technology specialized for agricultural environments. The integrated agriculture-specialized FaaS system implements specific systems at different levels. The proposed system was verified through design and analysis of a strawberry infection prediction system, which was compared with other infection models

Hydrophobic contacts (log <i>P</i>_<i>C</i>) of n-alkyl group vs log RBA residual of n-alkyl 4-phenol (gray circles) and n-alkyl paraben (black filled circles).

<p>Hydrophobic contacts (log <i>P</i>_<i>C</i>) of n-alkyl group vs log RBA residual of n-alkyl 4-phenol (gray circles) and n-alkyl paraben (black filled circles).</p

Summary of pharmacophore, fingerprint, and QSAR model parameters.

<p>Summary of pharmacophore, fingerprint, and QSAR model parameters.</p

Prediction of RBA of 17β-estradiol derivatives based on protein-ligand complex structures from crystal structure modification (blue bars) or molecular docking (red bars).

<p>RBA is described by contributions from hydrophobic contacts (rectangle bars) and hydrogen bonds (hexagon bars). Black dots represent the experimental log RBA.</p