The Rhie-Chow stabilized Box Method for the Stokes problem

The Finite Volume method (FVM) is widely adopted in many different applications because of its built-in conservation properties, its ability to deal with arbitrary mesh and its computational efficiency. In this work, we consider the Rhie-Chow stabilized Box Method (RCBM) for the approximation of the Stokes problem. The Box Method (BM) is a piecewise linear Petrov-Galerkin formulation on the Voronoi dual mesh of a Delaunay triangulation, whereas the Rhie-Chow (RC) stabilization is a well known stabilization technique for FVM. The first part of the paper provides a variational formulation of the RC stabilization and discusses the validity of crucial properties relevant for the well-posedeness and convergence of RCBM. Moreover, a numerical exploration of the convergence properties of the method on 2D and 3D test cases is presented. The last part of the paper considers the theoretically justification of the well-posedeness of RCBM and the experimentally observed convergence rates. This latter justification hinges upon suitable assumptions, whose validity is numerically explored.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, 4 table

Adult scoliosis can be reduced through specific SEAS exercises: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It has been known since many years that scoliosis can continue to progress after skeletal maturity: the rate of progression has shown to be linear, and it can be used to establish an individual prognosis. Once there is progression there is an indication for treatment: usually it is proposed a surgical one. There are very few papers on an alternative rehabilitation approach; since many years we propose specific SEAS exercises and the aim of this study is to present one case report on this approach.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>All radiographs have been measured blindly twice using the same protractor by one expert physician whose repeatability error proved to be < 3° Cobb; the average measurement has been used. In this case a 25 years old female scoliosis patient, previously treated from 14 (Risser 1) to 19 years of age with a decrease of the curve from 46° to 37°, showed a progression of 10° Cobb in 6 years. The patient has then been treated with SEAS exercises only, and in one year progression has been reverted from 47° to 28.5°.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A scoliosis curve is made of different components: the structural bony and ligamentous components, and a postural one that counts up to 9° in children, while it has not been quantified in adults. This case shows that when adult scoliosis aggravates it is possible to intervene with specific exercises (SEAS) not just to get stability, but to recover last years collapse. The reduction of scoliotic curve through rehabilitation presumably does not indicate a reduction of the bone deformity, but rely on a recovery of the upright postural collapse. This reduction can decrease the chronic asymmetric load on the spine and, in the long run, reduce the risks of progression.</p

Specific exercises performed in the period of brace weaning can avoid loss of correction in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) patients: Winner of SOSORT's 2008 Award for Best Clinical Paper

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Exercises are frequently performed in order to improve the efficacy of bracing and avoid its collateral effects. Very frequently there is a loss of correction during brace weaning in AIS treatment.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>To verify the efficacy of exercises in reducing correction loss during brace weaning.</p> <p>Study Design</p> <p>Retrospective controlled study.</p> <p>Population</p> <p>Sixty-eight consecutive patients (eight males), age 15 ± 1 and Cobb angle 22 ± 8° at start of brace weaning.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The start of brace weaning was defined as the first visit in which the wearing of brace for less than 18/24 hours was prescribed (according to our protocol, at Risser 3). Patients were divided into two groups according to whether or not exercises were performed: (1) EX (exercises), included 39 patients and was further divided into two sub-groups: SEAS (who performed exercises according to our institute's protocol, 14 patients) and OTH (other exercises, 25 patients) and (2) CON (controls, 29 patients) that was divided into two other sub-groups: DIS (discontinuous exercises, 19 patients) and NO (no exercises, 10 patients). Complete brace weaning was defined as the first visit in which the brace was no longer prescribed (ringapophysis closure or Risser 5, according to our protocol).</p> <p>ANOVA and Chi Square tests were performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was no difference between groups at baseline. However, at the end of treatment, 2.7 years after the start of the weaning process, Cobb angle increased significantly in both the DIS and NO groups (3.9° and 3.1° Cobb, respectively). The SEAS and OTH groups did not change. Comparing single groups, OTH (with respect to DIS) had a significant difference (P < 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Exercises can help reduce the correction loss in brace weaning for AIS.</p

Nitrogen starvation and nitrate or ammonium availability differently affect phenolic composition in green and purple basil

Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) comprises green and purple cultivars, worldwide cultivated and appreciated for high contents of rosmarinic acid and anthocyanins, respectively. Although nitrogen (N) fertilization is needed for high yields, in basil it could have detrimental effects on the accumulation of phenolic compounds. In this study, plants of the cultivars 'Italiano Classico' (green) and 'Red Rubin' (purple) were grown in hydroponics and subjected to different nutritional treatments, consisting in N starvation, and nitrate (NO3 12) or ammonium (NH4+) nutrition. Plant growth and nutritional status, estimated by the contents of NO3 12, NH4+, and amino acids in roots and leaves, were evaluated and put in relation with quality traits of basil leaves, such as chlorophyll content, antioxidant capacity, total phenols, the activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, and the concentrations of individual (poly)phenolic acids and flavonoids. This study reveals that N starvation, as well as the availability of the two inorganic N forms, differently affect the phenolic composition in the two cultivars. Compared to plants grown in NO3 12 availability, in NH4+ availability, green basil showed a higher content of (poly)phenolic acids, while in purple basil, an increase in the contents of anthocyanins was detected. Overall, the study suggests that the management of NH4+ supply could contribute to enhance crop quality in hydroponics, and provides new knowledge about the relationship between N nutrition and phenolic metabolism in basil

Insight into composition of bioactive phenolic compounds in leaves and flowers of green and purple basil

Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is a culinary, medicinal, and ornamental plant appreciated for its antioxidant properties, mainly attributed to high content of rosmarinic acid. This species also includes purple varieties, characterized by the accumulation of anthocyanins in leaves and flowers. In this work, we compared the main morphological characteristics, the antioxidant capacity and the chemical composition in leaves, flowers, and corollas of green (\u2018Italiano Classico\u2019) and purple (\u2018Red Rubin\u2019 and \u2018Dark Opal\u2019) basil varieties. The LC-ESI-MS/MS analysis of individual compounds allowed quantifying 17 (poly)phenolic acids and 18 flavonoids, differently accumulated in leaves and flowers of the three varieties. The study revealed that in addition to rosmarinic acid, basil contains several members of the salvianolic acid family, only scarcely descripted in this species, as well as, especially in flowers, simple phenolic acids, such as 4-hydroxybenzoic acid and salvianic acid A. Moreover, the study revealed that purple leaves mainly contain highly acylated anthocyanins, while purple flowers accumulate anthocyanins with low degree of decoration. Overall, this study provides new biochemical information about the presence of not yet characterized bioactive compounds in basil that could contribute to boosting the use of this crop and to gaining new knowledge about the roles of these compounds in plant physiology

Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenases in the mesocarp of ripening fruit of Prunus persica genotypes with different flesh characteristics: changes in activity and protein and transcript levels

Development of fruit flesh texture quality traits may involve the metabolism of phenolic compounds. This study presents molecular and biochemical results on the possible role played by cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD; EC 1.1.1.195) during ripening [S3, S4 I (pre-climacteric) and S4 III (climacteric) stages] of peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] fruit with different flesh firmness [non-melting flesh (NMF) \u2018Oro A\u2019/melting flesh (MF) \u2018Springcrest\u2019 and \u2018Sanguinella\u2019] and color (blood-flesh Sanguinella). A total of 24 putative full-length PRUPE_CAD genes were identified (in silico analysis) in the peach genome. The most abundant CAD isoforms, encoded by genes located on scaffolds 8 and 6, were probed by specifically developed anti-PRUPE_CAD sc8 and by anti-FaCAD (PRUPE_CAD sc6) polyclonal antibodies, respectively. PRUPE_CAD sc8 proteins (SDS-PAGE and native-PAGE/western blot) appeared responsible for the CAD activity (in vitro/in-gel assays) that increased with ripening (parallel to PRUPE_ACO1 transcripts accumulation and ethylene evolution) only in the mesocarp of Oro A and blood-flesh Sanguinella. Accumulation of PRUPE_CAD sc8 transcripts (semi-quantitative RT-PCR) occurred in all three cultivars, but in Oro A and Springcrest it was not always accompanied by that of the related proteins, suggesting possible post-transcriptional regulation. Flesh firmness, as well as levels of lignin, total phenolics and, where present (Sanguinella), anthocyanins, declined with ripening, suggesting that, at least in the studied peach cultivars, CAD activity is related to neither lignification nor differences in flesh firmness (NMF/MF). Further studies are necessary to clarify whether the high levels of CAD activity/expression in Sanguinella play a role in determining the characteristics of this blood-flesh fruit

Brace technology thematic series - The Sforzesco and Sibilla braces, and the SPoRT (Symmetric, Patient oriented, Rigid, Three-dimensional, active) concept

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bracing is an effective strategy for scoliosis treatment, but there is no consensus on the best type of brace, nor on the way in which it should act on the spine to achieve good correction. The aim of this paper is to present the family of SPoRT (Symmetric, Patient-oriented, Rigid, Three-dimensional, active) braces: Sforzesco (the first introduced), Sibilla and Lapadula.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The Sforzesco brace was developed following specific principles of correction. Due to its overall symmetry, the brace provides space over pathological depressions and pushes over elevations. Correction is reached through construction of the envelope, pushes, escapes, stops, and drivers. The real novelty is the drivers, introduced for the first time with the Sforzesco brace; they allow to achieve the main action of the brace: a three-dimensional elongation pushing the spine in a down-up direction.</p> <p>Brace prescription is made plane by plane: frontal (on the "slopes", another novelty of this concept, i.e. the laterally flexed sections of the spine), horizontal, and sagittal. The brace is built modelling the trunk shape obtained either by a plaster cast mould or by CAD-CAM construction. Brace checking is essential, since SPoRT braces are adjustable and customisable according to each individual curve pattern.</p> <p>Treatment time and duration is individually tailored (18-23 hours per day until Risser 3, then gradual reduction). SEAS (Scientific Exercises Approach to Scoliosis) exercises are a key factor to achieve success.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The Sforzesco brace has shown to be more effective than the Lyon brace (matched case/control), equally effective as the Risser plaster cast (prospective cohort with retrospective controls), more effective than the Risser cast + Lyon brace in treating curves over 45 degrees Cobb (prospective cohort), and is able to improve aesthetic appearance (prospective cohort).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The SPoRT concept of bracing (three-dimensional elongation pushing in a down-up direction) is different from the other corrective systems: 3-point, traction, postural, and movement-based. The Sforzesco brace, being comparable to casting, may be the best brace for the worst cases.</p

Introduction to the "Scoliosis" Journal Brace Technology Thematic Series: increasing existing knowledge and promoting future developments

Bracing is the main non-surgical intervention in the treatment of idiopathic scoliosis during growth, in hyperkyphosis (and Scheuermann disease) and occasionally for spondylolisthesis; it can be used in adult scoliosis, in the elderly when pathological curves lead to a forward leaning posture or in adults after traumatic injuries. Bracing can be defined as the application of external corrective forces to the trunk; rigid supports or elastic bands can be used and braces can be custom-made or prefabricated. The state of research in the field of conservative treatment is insufficient and while it can be stated that there is some evidence to support bracing, we must also acknowledge that today we do not have a common and generally accepted knowledge base, and that instead, individual expertise still prevails, giving rise to different schools of thought on brace construction and principles of correction. The only way to improve the knowledge and understanding of brace type and brace function is to establish a single and comprehensive source of information about bracing. This is what the Scoliosis Journal is going to do through the "Brace Technology" Thematic Series, where technical papers coming from the different schools will be published