A new device used in the restoration of kinematics after total facet arthroplasty

Facet degeneration can lead to spinal stenosis and instability, and often requires stabilization. Interbody fusion is commonly performed, but it can lead to adjacent-segment disease. Dynamic posterior stabilization was performed using a total facet arthroplasty system. The total facet arthroplasty system was originally intended to restore the natural motion of the posterior stabilizers, but follow-up studies are lacking due to limited clinical use. We studied the first 14 cases (long-term follow-up) treated with this new device in our clinic. All patients were diagnosed with lumbar stenosis due to hypertrophy of the articular facets on one to three levels (maximum). Disk space was of normal height. The design of this implant allows its use only at levels L3-L4 and L4-L5. We implanted nine patients at the L4-L5 level and four patients at level L3-L4. Postoperative follow-up of the patients was obtained for an average of 3.7 years. All patients reported persistent improvement of symptoms, visual analog scale score, and Oswestry Disability Index score. Functional scores and dynamic radiographic imaging demonstrated the functional efficacy of this new implant, which represents an alternative technique and a new approach to dynamic stabilization of the vertebral column after interventions for spine decompression. The total facet arthroplasty system represents a viable option for dynamic posterior stabilization after spinal decompression. For the observed follow-up, it preserved motion without significant complications or apparent intradisk or adjacent-disk degeneration. © 2014 Vermesan et al

Nonthermal plasma Abatement of trichloroethylene Enhanced by Photocatalysis

Abatement of trichloroethylene (TCE, 250 ppm in air) was studied in a novel nonthermal plasma (NTP) dielectric barrier discharge reactor with an inner electrode made of sintered metal fibers (SMF). The SMF electrodes modified with TiO2 and MnO2 were observed to be catalytically active. Their efficiency in TCE decomposition was compared with a Cu inner electrode. The SMF electrode modified with MnO2 and TiO2 catalyst effectively destroys TCE due to the synergy between plasma excitation of the TCE molecules and their catalytic oxidation. The latter process was observed to be further enhanced by photocatalysis since TiO2 absorbs the UV light produced by the NTP. These innovative TiO2-modified SMF electrodes were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), confirming formation of titania anatase, whereas the emission spectrum of the plasma showed the presence of ultraviolet light

Badania nad zastosowaniem walproinianu jako leku pierwszego rzutu w padaczce ogniskowej

Celem tego międzynarodowego, otwartego badania prospektywnego było zebranie, w warunkach naturalnych, danych dotyczących skuteczności i tolerancji monoterapii z zastosowaniem kwasu walproinowego jako leku pierwszego rzutu u pacjentów z nowo lub niedawno rozpoznaną padaczką o ogniskowym początku. Pacjenci byli leczeni preparatem walproinianu sodu o spowolnionym uwalnianiu. Po 6 miesiącach oceniono kontrolę napadów i występowanie działań niepożądanych. Do badania włączono 1192 osób dorosłych i 792 dzieci. Średnia dzienna dawka kwasu walproinowego wynosiła 683 mg u dzieci i 987 mg u dorosłych. Odsetek chorych, którzy pozostali uczestnikami badania przez 6 miesięcy, wynosił 90%. Do tego czasu 77% pacjentów nie miało napadów (83,7% dzieci i 72,7% dorosłych). Objawy niepożądane, prawdopodobnie związane z terapią, wystąpiły u 10,2% chorych, prowadząc do zmiany leczenia u 1,7%. Najczęstszymi działaniami niepożądanymi były: zwiększenie masy ciała oraz objawy żołądkowo-jelitowe, neurologiczne i skórne. Walproinian sodu o spowolnionym uwalnianiu jest skuteczny i akceptowany w monoterapii pierwszego rzutu w padaczce o ogniskowym początku

Improved performance of non-thermal plasma reactor during decomposition of trichloroethylene: Optimization of the reactor geometry and introduction of catalytic electrode

The decomposition of trichloroethylene ITCE) by non-thermal plasma was investigated in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor with a copper rod inner electrode and compared with a plasma-catalytic reactor. The particularity of the plasma-catalytic reactor is the inner electrode made of sintered metal fibers (SMF) coated by transition metal oxides. In order to optimize the geometry of the plasma reactor, the efficiency of TCE removal was compared for different discharge gap lengths in the range of 1-5 mm. Shorter gap lengths (1-3 mm) appear to be more advantageous with respect to TCE conversion. In this case TCE conversion varies between 67% and 100% for input energy densities in the range of 80-480 J/l, while for the 5 turn discharge gap the conversion was lower (53-97%) for similar values of the input energy. As a result of TICE oxidation carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide were detected in the effluent gas. Their selectivity was rather low, in the range 14-24% for CO2 and 11-23% for CO, and was not influenced by the gap length. Several other chlorinated organic compounds were detected as reaction products. When using MnOx/SMF catalysts as the inner electrode of the DBD reactor, the TCE conversion was significantly enhanced, reaching similar to 95% at 150 J/l input energy. The selectivity to CO2 showed a major increase as compared to the case without catalysts, reaching 58% for input energies above 550 J/l. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Destruction of chemical warfare surrogates using a portable atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Today’s reality is connected with mitigation of threats from the new chemical and biological warfare agents. A novel investigation of cold plasmas in contact with liquids presented in this paper demonstrated that the chemically reactive environment produced by atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) is potentially capable of rapid destruction of chemical warfare agents in a broad spectrum. The decontamination of three different chemical warfare agent surrogates dissolved in liquid is investigated by using an easily transportable APPJ. The jet is powered by a kHz signal source connected to a low-voltage DC source and with He as working gas. The detailed investigation of electrical properties is performed for various plasmas at different distances from the sample. The measurements of plasma properties in situ are supported by the optical spectrometry measurements, whereas the high performance liquid chromatography measurements before and after the treatment of aqueous solutions of Malathion, Fenitrothion and Dimethyl Methylphosphonate. These solutions are used to evaluate destruction and its efficiency for specific neural agent simulants. The particular removal rates are found to be from 56% up to 96% during 10 min treatment. The data obtained provide basis to evaluate APPJ’s efficiency at different operating conditions. The presented results are promising and could be improved with different operating conditions and optimization of the decontamination process

A review of combined advanced oxidation technologies for the removal of organic pollutants from water

Water pollution through natural and anthropogenic activities has become a global problem causing short-and long-term impact on human and ecosystems. Substantial quantity of individual or mixtures of organic pollutants enter the surface water via point and nonpoint sources and thus affect the quality of freshwater. These pollutants are known to be toxic and difficult to remove by mere biological treatment. To date, most researches on the removal of organic pollutants from wastewater were based on the exploitation of individual treatment process. This single-treatment technology has inherent challenges and shortcomings with respect to efficiency and economics. Thus, application of two advanced treatment technologies characterized with high efficiency with respect to removal of primary and disinfection by-products in wastewater is desirable. This review article focuses on the application of integrated technologies such as electrohydraulic discharge with heterogeneous photocatalysts or sonophotocatalysis to remove target pollutants. The information gathered from more than 100 published articles, mostly laboratories studies, shows that process integration effectively remove and degrade recalcitrant toxic contaminants in wastewater better than single-technology processing. This review recommends an improvement on this technology (integrated electrohydraulic discharge with heterogeneous photocatalysts) viz-a-vis cost reduction in order to make it accessible and available in the rural and semi-urban settlement. Further recommendation includes development of an economic model to establish the cost implications of the combined technology. Proper monitoring, enforcement of the existing environmental regulations, and upgrading of current wastewater treatment plants with additional treatment steps such as photocatalysis and ozonation will greatly assist in the removal of environmental toxicants