Minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis of lower end of femur fractures using locking compression plating: a prospective study

Background: The treatment of distal femur fractures has recently evolved towards indirect reduction and minimally invasive techniques. The goal is to strike a balance between the mechanical stability of the fragments and the biological viability. Pre-contoured Locking compression plates (LCPs) have shown to give best results in terms of recovery, fracture union, return to work and functional outcome. Advent of MIPO technique has reduced the amount of soft tissue injury, delayed healing, tissue necrosis and infections.The objective was to study the functional result of fracture distal femur treated by closed reduction with LCP by minimally invasive plate osteosynthesis (MIPO).Methods: 20 cases of fracture distal end of femur were treated by closed reduction and internal fixation using LCP by MIPO between 1st October 2013 to 30th September 2015 at our centre. The patients were evaluated clinically and radiologically for functional outcomes. All patients were followed up for an average of 12 months. Outcome was assessed using NEER’s score.Results: 8 of my patients were male and 12 were female. All of them were closed injuries and fresh cases. The mean age was 51.8 years (21-68 yrs). 13 patients sustained RTA and 7 patients had accidental fall. 8 patients had right sided distal femur fracture and 12 had left sided injury. According to NEER’s score 50% had excellent results, 35% had good results and 15% had fair results. Gait and weight bearing after union was satisfactory. Range of motion of knee joint in majority of patients was within acceptable limits. Conclusions: Closed reduction and internal fixation of fracture lower end of femur by MIPO using LCP is one of the best modalities of treatment for good results

Silver Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube Carpets: Influence of Surface Functionalization

The effectiveness of nanoparticle-based functional devices depends strongly on the surface morphology and area of the support. An emerging powerful approach of increasing the available surface area without decreasing strength or increasing bulk is to attach arrays of suitable nanotubes on the surface, and to attach the necessary nanoparticles to them. Earlier publications by this team have shown that carpet-like arrays of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be successfully grown on a variety of larger carbon substrates such as graphite, foams and fabric, which offer hierarchical multiscale supporting architecture suitable for the attachment of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). A limiting factor of pure CNT arrays in fluid-based applications is their hydrophobicity, which can reduce the percolation of an aqueous medium through individual nanotubes. Previous studies have demonstrated that the treatment of CNT carpets with dry (oxygen) plasma can induce reversible wettability, and treatment with wet (sol–gel) coating can impart permanent wettability. In this paper, we report the influence of such treatments on the attachment of AgNPs, and their effectiveness in water disinfection treatments. Both types of hydrophilic surface treatment show an increase in silver loading on the CNT carpets. Oxygen-plasma treated surfaces (O-CNT) show fine and densely packed AgNPs, whereas silica-coated nanotubes (silica-CNT) show uneven clusters of AgNPs. However, O-CNT surfaces lose their hydrophilicity during AgNP deposition, whereas silica-CNT surfaces remain hydrophilic. This difference significantly impacts the antibacterial effectiveness of these materials, as tested in simulated water containing Gram negative Escherichia coli (E. coli, JM109). AgNPs on silica-coated CNT substrates showed significantly higher reduction rates of E. coli compared to AgNPs on plasma-treated CNT substrates, despite the finer and better dispersed AgNP distribution in the latter. These results provide important insights into different aspects of surface modification approaches that can control the wettability of CNT carpets, and their applicability in water treatment applications

Resting state activity and connectivity of the nucleus basalis of Meynert and globus pallidus in Lewy body dementia and Parkinson's disease dementia

Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) are two related diseases which can be difficult to distinguish. There is no objective biomarker which can reliably differentiate between them. The synergistic combination of electrophysiological and neuroimaging approaches is a powerful method for interrogation of functional brain networks in vivo. We recorded bilateral local field potentials (LFPs) from the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) and the internal globus pallidus (GPi) with simultaneous cortical magnetoencephalography (MEG) in six PDD and five DLB patients undergoing surgery for deep brain stimulation (DBS) to look for differences in underlying resting-state network pathophysiology. In both patient groups we observed spectral peaks in the theta (2–8 Hz) band in both the NBM and the GPi. Furthermore, both the NBM and the GPi exhibited similar spatial and spectral patterns of coupling with the cortex in the two disease states. Specifically, we report two distinct coherent networks between the NBM/GPi and cortical regions: (1) a theta band (2–8 Hz) network linking the NBM/GPi to temporal cortical regions, and (2) a beta band (13–22 Hz) network coupling the NBM/GPi to sensorimotor areas. We also found differences between the two disease groups: oscillatory power in the low beta (13–22Hz) band was significantly higher in the globus pallidus in PDD patients compared to DLB, and coherence in the high beta (22–35Hz) band between the globus pallidus and lateral sensorimotor cortex was significantly higher in DLB patients compared to PDD. Overall, our findings reveal coherent networks of the NBM/GPi region that are common to both DLB and PDD. Although the neurophysiological differences between the two conditions in this study are confounded by systematic differences in DBS lead trajectories and motor symptom severity, they lend support to the hypothesis that DLB and PDD, though closely related, are distinguishable from a neurophysiological perspective

ENHANCEMENT OF MODE I FRACTURE TOUGHNESS OF ADHESIVELY BONDED SECONDARY JOINTS USING LAYUP PATTERNING OF CFRP

This work aims to analyse the influence of the CFRP layup patterning on the crack path of composite bonded joints and evaluate its effect on the mode I fracture toughness. An experimental program has been performed using Double Cantilever Beam tests with three different CFRP layup patterning and two adhesives. In addition, a finite element analysis was also implemented to further identify different damage mechanisms during the tests. The outcome shows that different substrate CFRP layup patterning results in distinct crack onsets and propagation paths during the tests, also influenced by the type of adhesive used. Furthermore, an enhancement of around 25% in the joint's onset fracture toughness was observed with the layup patterning compared to a reference joint (with unidirectional layup). Thus, the substrate's patterning morphology seems to be a promising method to increase the mode I fracture toughness of the studied secondary joints

Experimental and theoretical L-shell ionization cross sections of heavy atoms by impact of Si ions

We present a theoretical and experimental study of the subshell resolved L-shell ionization of relativistic targets such as 73Ta, 78Pt,90Th, and 92U. The measurements of x-ray production cross sections by (84?140 MeV) Si+q ions (q = 8; 12), were held at the Inter-University Accelerator Centre of New Delhi. Multiple-hole fluorescence and Coster-Kronig yields were used to obtain the Li(i = 1?3)ionization cross sections from the measured x-ray production cross sections of Lℓ, Lα, and Lβ, Lη, and Lγ lines. The experimental results are compared with ab initio theoretical calculations by means of the shell-wise local plasma approximation (SLPA). This model uses the quantum dielectric formalism to obtain the total ionization cross sections from an initial ground state. The wave functions and binding energies of the different targets were obtained by solving the fully-relativistic Dirac equation using the HULLAC code package. These calculations are based on first-order perturbation theory with a central field, including Breit interaction and quantum electrodynamics corrections. The present SLPA ionization cross sections of the L-shell are found to be independent of the charge state of the Si ions. The experimental observations display also quite similar character if the correct mean projectile charge state inside the target is used for including the multiple ionization effect during ion-solid collisions. A general good agreement between the experimental measurements and full theoretical calculations supports the reliability of present results. The comparison also includes the well-known ECPSSR and ECUSAR semi empirical approximations. We noted that the ECUSAR results agree well with the SLPA, while the ECPSSR cross sections are rather low.Fil: Oswal, M.. Dev Samaj College; India. Panjab University; IndiaFil: Kumar, Sunil. Panjab University; India. Degree college; IndiaFil: Singh, Udai. Jagiellonian University; PoloniaFil: Singh, G.. Panjab University; IndiaFil: Singh, K.P.. Panjab University; IndiaFil: Mehta, D.. Panjab University; IndiaFil: Mendez, Marta Patricia Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Mitnik, Dario Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Montanari, Claudia Carmen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Mitra, D.. Kalyani University; IndiaFil: Nandi, T.. Inter-University Accelerator Centre; Indi

New mutations at the imprinted Gnas cluster show gene dosage effects of Gsα in postnatal growth and implicate XLαs in bone and fat metabolism, but not in suckling

The imprinted Gnas cluster is involved in obesity, energy metabolism, feeding behavior, and viability. Relative contribution of paternally expressed proteins XLαs, XLN1, and ALEX or a double dose of maternally expressed Gsα to phenotype has not been established. In this study, we have generated two new mutants (Ex1A-T-CON and Ex1A-T) at the Gnas cluster. Paternal inheritance of Ex1A-T-CON leads to loss of imprinting of Gsα, resulting in preweaning growth retardation followed by catch-up growth. Paternal inheritance of Ex1A-T leads to loss of imprinting of Gsα and loss of expression of XLαs and XLN1. These mice have severe preweaning growth retardation and incomplete catch-up growth. They are fully viable probably because suckling is unimpaired, unlike mutants in which the expression of all the known paternally expressed Gnasxl proteins (XLαs, XLN1 and ALEX) is compromised. We suggest that loss of ALEX is most likely responsible for the suckling defects previously observed. In adults, paternal inheritance of Ex1A-T results in an increased metabolic rate and reductions in fat mass, leptin, and bone mineral density attributable to loss of XLαs. This is, to our knowledge, the first report describing a role for XLαs in bone metabolism. We propose that XLαs is involved in the regulation of bone and adipocyte metabolism