Review of CD Rom: The Virtual Surgeon: ACL Reconstruction

THE VIRTUAL SURGEON: ACL RECONSTRUCTIONProfessor George Bentley ChM FRCS, Russell E LVindsor MD,Mr Andrew Williams FRCS(0rth); 4150 + VAT(UK)The Virtual Surgeon - 3D Anatomy of the Knee 469 + VAT(UK).TVF Multimedia Ltd, 375 City Road, London, EClV lNB, U

Joint replacement in Zambia: A review of Hip & Knee Replacement surgery done at the Zambian-Italian Orthopaedic Hospital

Background: Incidence of major joint replacement surgery is on the rise in Africa but this trend has not been matched by proper audits in the form of National Joint Registries.Objective: This paper presents the short-term findings from a joint replacement register started at the Zambian-Italian Orthopaedic Hospital (ZIOH) in Lusaka and compares the variables entered in this register with those captured in the Malawian National Joint Register for purposes of synchronizing these in the near future in the East, Central and Southern African region .Methods: Data captured by the different variables entered into the Joint Register covering the pre-op, intra-op and post-op period of all total hip and knee replacement surgery done at the ZIOH from 1998 to 2010 was entered into a spreadsheet after verification with individual patient medical records. This was then imported into spss for analysis yielding the following results.Results: 44 total hips and seven total knee replacement operations were done on 46 patients, 59% of which were female and 41% male. The average age was 58 years. The HIV sero-status of 86.3% was unknown. 36 (70.6%) of the patients had primary osteoarthritis as the diagnosis with pain and joint stiffness being the indication for surgery. Three consultants and one senior registrar did the operations mainly using the Hardinge approach to the hip. 43 (84.3%) were primary Total Hip replacement with only one revision. The 28mm hip head size was the commonest fitted with most patients, 48 (94.1%) being functionally mobile at six weeks post operation.Conclusion: This audit clearly shows a rising trend of major joint replacement over the years and highlights the gaps in variables entered into the ZIOH joint register such as HIV status. It also helps us recognize the need for setting up a National Joint Register that is comparable to others that have been set up in the region such as is the case in Malawi which is key in improving orthopaedic training and patient care.Keywords: Joint replacement, National Joint Register, HI

Smart Operations of Air-Conditioning and Lighting Systems in a Government Buildings for Peak Power Reduction

This paper presents the achievements of implementing smart operations strategies for air-conditioning (A/C) and lighting systems in Justice Palace Complex (JPC), Kuwait during the summer 2007. The peak load of this building was 3700 kW. The achievements are summarized as direct savings between 13:00 and 22:00 h by closing supply and return air fans of 52 air-handling units with a connected load 400 kW, and an additional saving of 550 kW during the same period by optimizing the cooling production and distribution. Also an all time saving of 22 kW by de-lamping, and additional saving of 27 kW through TDC of lighting were achieved. In conclusion project achieved an overall reduction in power demand of around 20% between 13:00 to 17:00 h and reduction ranging from 7% to 15% between 17:00 to 20:00 h

Smart Operations of Air-Conditioning and Lighting Systems in Government Buildings for Peak Power Reduction

During the summer 2007 smart operation strategies for air-conditioning (A/C) and lighting systems were developed and tested in a number of governmental buildings in Kuwait as one of the solutions to reduce the national peak demand for electrical power that commonly occur around 15:00 h. The working hours for these building are generally between 07:00 and 14:00 h and their peak demand exceeds 600 MW. The smart operation strategies implemented in these buildings included pre-closing treatment (PCT) between 13:00 and 14:00 h and time-of-day control (TDC) after 14:00 h. Also de-lamping was carried out in some of the buildings to readjust the higher than recommended illumination levels. This paper presents the achievements of implementing these smart operations strategies in Justice Palace Complex (JPC) as a case study. The peak load of this building was 3700 kW. The achievements are summarized as an all time saving of 22 kW by de-lamping, an additional saving of 27 kW through TDC of lighting, direct savings between 13:00 and 22:00 h by closing supply and return air fans of 52 air-handling units with a connected load 400 kW, and an additional saving of 550 kW during the same period by optimizing the cooling production and distribution. In conclusion project achieved an overall reduction in power demand of around 20% between 13:00 to 17:00 h and reduction ranging from 7% to 15% between 17:00 to 20:00 h

Smart Operations of Air-Conditioning and Lighting Systems in a Government Buildings for Peak Power Reduction

This paper presents the achievements of implementing smart operations strategies for air-conditioning (A/C) and lighting systems in Justice Palace Complex (JPC), Kuwait during the summer 2007. The peak load of this building was 3700 kW. The achievements are summarized as direct savings between 13:00 and 22:00 h by closing supply and return air fans of 52 air-handling units with a connected load 400 kW, and an additional saving of 550 kW during the same period by optimizing the cooling production and distribution. Also an all time saving of 22 kW by de-lamping, and additional saving of 27 kW through TDC of lighting were achieved. In conclusion project achieved an overall reduction in power demand of around 20% between 13:00 to 17:00 h and reduction ranging from 7% to 15% between 17:00 to 20:00 h

Elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers and adverse pregnancy outcomes: analysis of a population-based hospital dataset

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The primary objective of this study was to determine if elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers were correlated with the presence of preeclampsia/eclampsia, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), placental insufficiency, and a prolonged length of stay (PLOS), in women who delivered throughout Florida, USA.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cross-sectional analyses were conducted using a statewide hospital database. Prevalence odds ratios (OR) were calculated to quantify the association between elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers and four outcomes in 141,286 women who delivered in Florida in 2001. The possibility that the relationship between elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers and the outcomes of preeclampsia/eclampsia, placental insufficiency, and PLOS, may have been modified by the presence of SLE was evaluated in a multiple logistic regression model by creating a composite interaction term.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Women with elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers (n = 88) were older, more likely to be of white race and not on Medicaid than women who did not have elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers. Women who had elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers had an increased adjusted odds ratio for preeclampsia and eclampsia, (OR = 2.93 p = 0.0015), SLE (OR = 61.24 p < 0.0001), placental insufficiency (OR = 4.58 p = 0.0003), and PLOS (OR = 3.93 p < 0.0001). Patients who had both an elevated antiphospholipid antibody titer and SLE were significantly more likely than the comparison group (women without an elevated titer who did not have SLE) to have the outcomes of preeclampsia, placental insufficiency and PLOS.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This exploratory epidemiologic investigation found moderate to very strong associations between elevated antiphospholipid antibody titers and four important outcomes in a large sample of women.</p

A New Model for Raf Kinase Inhibitory Protein Induced Chemotherapeutic Resistance

Therapeutic resistance remains the most challenging aspect of treating cancer. Raf kinase inhibitory protein (RKIP) emerged as a molecule capable of sensitizing cancerous cells to radio- and chemotherapy. Moreover, this small evolutionary conserved molecule, endows significant resistance to cancer therapy when its expression is reduced or lost. RKIP has been shown to inhibit the Raf-MEK-ERK, NFκB, GRK and activate the GSK3β signaling pathways. Inhibition of Raf-MEK-ERK and NFκB remains the most prominent pathways implicated in the sensitization of cells to therapeutic drugs. Our purpose was to identify a possible link between RKIP-KEAP 1-NRF2 and drug resistance. To that end, RKIP-KEAP 1 association was tested in human colorectal cancer tissues using immunohistochemistry. RKIP miRNA silencing and its inducible overexpression were employed in HEK-293 immortalized cells, HT29 and HCT116 colon cancer cell lines to further investigate our aim. We show that RKIP enhanced Kelch-like ECH-associated protein1 (KEAP 1) stability in colorectal cancer tissues and HT29 CRC cell line. RKIP silencing in immortalized HEK-293 cells (termed HEK-499) correlated significantly with KEAP 1 protein degradation and subsequent NRF2 addiction in these cells. Moreover, RKIP depletion in HEK-499, compared to control cells, bestowed resistance to supra physiological levels of H2O2 and Cisplatin possibly by upregulating NF-E2-related nuclear factor 2 (NRF2) responsive genes. Similarly, we observed a direct correlation between the extent of apoptosis, after treatment with Adriamycin, and the expression levels of RKIP/KEAP 1 in HT29 but not in HCT116 CRC cells. Our data illuminate, for the first time, the NRF2-KEAP 1 pathway as a possible target for personalized therapeutic intervention in RKIP depleted cancers

Anti-Allergic Cromones Inhibit Histamine and Eicosanoid Release from Activated Human and Murine Mast Cells by Releasing Annexin A1

PMCID: PMC3601088This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

An Innovative Approach Towards National Peak Load Management

An innovative approach was developed and implemented in eight governmental buildings to reduce their load during the peak demand hours in summer of 2007. The innovative approach implemented in these buildings included pre-closing treatment (PCT) between 13:00 and 14:00 h and time-of-day control (TDC) after 14:00 h for air conditioning (A/C) and lighting systems. PCT realized an overall reduction of 3.43 MW, a saving of 11.7% of the buildings peak power demand; while TDC realized a total savings of 8.67 MW at 15:00 h, a saving of 30.7% of the buildings peak power demand at that hour. The temperature build up inside the buildings due to PCT and TDC was within the acceptable range, which validated the technical viability of these measures. The implementation of the innovative approach in the eight governmental buildings with a total measured peak demand of 29.3 MW achieved a reduction of 8.89 MW. This power is now available to other users leading to financial savings of $13.5 million for the nation towards the cost of constructing new power plants and distribution network equipment. More importantly, this reduction in peak power demand of well over 30$232 million towards the cost of new power generation equipment and distribution network