EuroSpine Task Force on Research: support for spine researchers

In recognition of the value of research to the practice of spine care, Federico Balagué and Ferran Pellisé, at the time President and Secretary for EuroSpine, asked Margareta Nordin to set up a Task Force on Research (TFR) for EuroSpine during summer 2011. The concept was to stimulate and facilitate a research community within the society, through two main functions: (1) distribution of EuroSpine funds to researchers; (2) develop and deliver research training/education courses. What has the EuroSpine TFR accomplished since its inception

GST Fraud: Unveiling the Truth

Goods and services tax (GST) fraud is increasing in Malaysia, resulting in the loss of income for the government. Although there are mechanisms in place to prevent GST fraud, fraudsters are smart and will usually find ways of outwitting such measures. To combat such fraud, it is essential to understand the types of GST fraud perpetrated. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to identify types of GST fraud in Malaysia. Using a case study approach, the study found six major forms of GST fraud: falsifying claims, sales manipulation, non-submission of GST forms, failure to register, GST avoidance and carousel fraud. Notably, there are commonalities between GST fraud in Malaysia and in other developed and developing countries. This study suggests that authorities should be alert and aggressive in preventing GST fraud. The research contributes to tax administration and the development of literature by demonstrating the impact of a new tax policy with respect to indirect taxation such as GST to facilitate fraud prevention measures

Role of autoimmunity in patients transplanted for acute liver failure of unknown origin: a clinical and graft-biopsy analysis

Abstract Background The etiology and prognosis of acute liver failure (ALF) remains unknown in a significant proportion of cases. Signs of autoimmunity may be present, but no consistent pattern has been observed. We aimed to analyse if pretransplant immunological findings, HLA haplotypes and clinical features among patients with unknown etiology differ from those of autoimmune or other known etiology. We also analysed whether such signs impact post-transplant biopsy findings or complications. Methods All adult ALF patients undergoing liver transplantation (LT) in Finland during 1987-2015 were followed to 2016. Data were from the LT registry, pathology database and patient records. 124 patients were included in the analysis. Study subgroups were acute autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) (n=25), known non-AIH etiology (n=54), and unknown etiology (n=45). Results The unknown etiology group differed from the known non-AIH group with regard to the following pretransplant autoimmunity-associated features: positive pANCA (35% vs 8%; P=0.02), higher mean IgA (3.2±1.7 vs 2.1±1.4, P=0.006) and IgG (12.7±4.3 vs 8.5±3.6, P=0.001). AIH-associated HLA haplotypes B8, DR3 and B8DR3 were more common in the AIH group (40%, 44% and 36%) and in the unknown group (29%, 33% and 29%) than in the known non-AIH group (11%, 17% and 11%) or in the Finnish general population (17%, 18% and 8%). However, these findings had no association with protocol biopsies, extrahepatic autoimmune diseases or survival. Patients with ≥1 rejection episode had higher pretransplant IgA (3.7±2.3 vs 2.6±1.2, P=0.02) and IgG (16.4±10.2 vs 12.4±6.8, P=0.03) than those without rejections. Conclusions Autoimmunity-associated pretransplant laboratory findings and HLA haplotypes were common in ALF of unknown etiology, but showed minimal predictive value for post-transplant biopsy findings, clinical complications or survival.Peer reviewe

Test-retest reliability of knee kinematics measurement during gait with 3D motion analysis system

Restoration of gait symmetry following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is crucial to minimize the risk of joint degeneration. To achieve this, it is essential that the chosen measurement method can accurately assess knee kinematics and detect the changes in multi-planes of motion. However to date, limited study is available on repeatability of the multi-planes knee angle measurements particularly among male patients post ACLR. The purpose of this study was to assess the test-retest reliability of knee kinematic measurements using three-dimensional (3D) motion analysis system during gait in post ACLR patients. Eight patients with mean (SD) age 28.89 (4.0) years, 5.82(4.07) months post ACLR were recruited from a tertiary hospital of Kuala Lumpur. All patients undergone two sessions of knee joint angles measurement during gait at four hours interval, for the injured and the non-injured knees. Angles in the sagittal, frontal and transverse planes during initial contact phase of gait that derived from the two measurement sessions were compared.  The results showed high test-retest reliability of the measurement in sagittal and transverse planes; the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.97(95% CI: 0.84-0.99) and 0.96 (95% CI: 0.83-0.99) respectively, and moderate test-retest reliability for the measurements in frontal planes, with ICC 0.44 (95% CI: -0.32-0.86). The study findings suggest that multi-planes knee angle measurements during initial contact phase of gait could reliably be measured using a 3D motion analysis system. Further research may focus on knee kinematics measurements at other phases of gait. Keywords: biomechanics, reliability, walking, knee, anterior cruciate ligament reconstructio

Global assessment of nitrogen deposition effects on terrestrial plant diversity : a synthesis

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is it recognized threat to plant diversity ill temperate and northern parts of Europe and North America. This paper assesses evidence from field experiments for N deposition effects and thresholds for terrestrial plant diversity protection across a latitudinal range of main categories of ecosystems. from arctic and boreal systems to tropical forests. Current thinking on the mechanisms of N deposition effects on plant diversity, the global distribution of G200 ecoregions, and current and future (2030) estimates of atmospheric N-deposition rates are then used to identify the risks to plant diversity in all major ecosystem types now and in the future. This synthesis paper clearly shows that N accumulation is the main driver of changes to species composition across the whole range of different ecosystem types by driving the competitive interactions that lead to composition change and/or making conditions unfavorable for some species. Other effects such its direct toxicity of nitrogen gases and aerosols long-term negative effects of increased ammonium and ammonia availability, soil-mediated effects of acidification, and secondary stress and disturbance are more ecosystem, and site-specific and often play a supporting role. N deposition effects in mediterranean ecosystems have now been identified, leading to a first estimate of an effect threshold. Importantly, ecosystems thought of as not N limited, such as tropical and subtropical systems, may be more vulnerable in the regeneration phase. in situations where heterogeneity in N availability is reduced by atmospheric N deposition, on sandy soils, or in montane areas. Critical loads are effect thresholds for N deposition. and the critical load concept has helped European governments make progress toward reducing N loads on sensitive ecosystems. More needs to be done in Europe and North America. especially for the more sensitive ecosystem types. including several ecosystems of high conservation importance. The results of this assessment Show that the Vulnerable regions outside Europe and North America which have not received enough attention are ecoregions in eastern and Southern Asia (China, India), an important part of the mediterranean ecoregion (California, southern Europe). and in the coming decades several subtropical and tropical parts of Latin America and Africa. Reductions in plant diversity by increased atmospheric N deposition may be more widespread than first thought, and more targeted Studies are required in low background areas, especially in the G200 ecoregions

Evaluation of RTD and thermocouple for PID temperature control in distributed control system laboratory

Temperature process control is an integral element in the syllabus of control engineering.Generally, industrial processes can be simulated via proportional-integral-derivative(PID)controller and various tunings methods. This paper proposes a process control laboratory and sequence of experiments in basic temperature control process. The experiments are performed on temperature control plant using resistor temperature detector (RTD) and thermocouple in a distributed control system laboratory. Five PID experiments are conducted. These include optimum tuning of the controller using Ziegler-Nichols process reaction-curve method, ultimate gain and response of various proportional band, integral band and derivative band values to the temperature control.PID tuning is observed and analyzed for the respective RTD and thermocouple sensors.Keywords: RTD; thermocouple;distributed control system; temperature process contro

The universe dynamics in the tachyon cosmology with non-minimal coupling to matter

Recently, the tachyon cosmology has been represented as dark energy model to support the current acceleration of the universe without phantom crossing. In this paper, we study the dynamics of the tachyon cosmology in which the field plays the role of tachyon field and also non--minimally coupled to the matter lagrangian. The model shows current universe acceleration and also phantom crossing in the future. Two cosmological tests are also performed to validate the model; the difference in the distance modulus and the model independent Cosmological Redshift Drift (CRD) test.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure

In vitro assessment of anti-proliferative effect induced by α-mangostin from Cratoxylum arborescens on HeLa cells

Natural medicinal products possess diverse chemical structures and have been an essential source for drug discovery. Therefore, in this study, α-mangostin (AM) is a plant-derived compound was investigated for the apoptotic effect on human cervical cancer cells (HeLa). The cytotoxic effects of AM on the viability of HeLa and human normal ovarian cell line (SV40) were evaluated by using MTT assay. Results showed that AM inhibited HeLa cells viability at concentration- and time-dependent manner with IC50 value of 24.53 ± 1.48 µM at 24 h. The apoptogenic effects of AM on HeLa were assessed using fluorescence microscopy analysis. The effect of AM on cell proliferation was also studied through clonogenic assay. ROS production evaluation, flow cytometry (cell cycle) analysis, caspases 3/7, 8, and 9 assessment and multiple cytotoxicity assays were conducted to determine the mechanism of cell apoptosis. This was associated with G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and elevation in ROS production. AM induced mitochondrial apoptosis which was confirmed based on the significant increase in the levels of caspases 3/7 and 9 in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the MMP disruption and increased cell permeability, concurrent with cytochrome c release from the mitochondria to the cytosol provided evidence that AM can induce apoptosis via mitochondrial-dependent pathway. AM exerted a remarkable antitumor effect and induced characteristic apoptogenic morphological changes on HeLa cells, which indicates the occurrence of cell death. This study reveals that AM could be a potential antitumor compound on cervical cancer in vitro and can be considered for further cervical cancer preclinical and in vivo testing

Predicting delayed anxiety and depression in patients with gastrointestinal cancer

The aim of this study was to examine the possibility of predicting anxiety and depression 6 months after a cancer diagnosis on the basis of measures of anxiety, depression, coping and subjective distress associated with the diagnosis and to explore the possibility of identifying individual patients with high levels of delayed anxiety and depression associated with the diagnosis. A consecutive series of 159 patients with gastrointestinal cancer were interviewed in connection with the diagnosis, 3 months (non-cured patients only) and 6 months later. The interviews utilized structured questionnaires assessing anxiety and depression [Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale], coping [Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MAC) scale] and subjective distress [Impact of Event (IES) scale]. Patient anxiety and depression close to the diagnosis were found to explain approximately 35% of the variance in anxiety and depression that was found 6 months later. The addition of coping and subjective distress measures did little to improve that prediction. A model using (standardized) cut-off scores of moderate to high anxiety, depression (HAD) and intrusive thoughts (IES subscale) close to the diagnosis to identify patients at risk for delayed anxiety and depression achieved a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 98%. Levels of anxiety and depression at diagnosis predicted a similar status 6 months later. The results also indicated that the HAD scale in combination with the IES intrusion subscale may be used as a tool for detecting patients at risk of delayed anxiety and depression. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Properties of polylactic acid biocomposite foamed treated via supercritical carbon dioxide

In this study, polylactic acid (PLA) was incorporated with durian skin nanofibre (DSNF) and cinnamon essential oil (CEO), where the DSNF was extracted through freeze drying process. Supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) acts as physical foaming agent for PLA biocomposite. The tensile strength and chemical interaction between PLA, DSNF, and CEO were investigated. The tensile strength of PLA biocomposite foamed reduced in presence of DSNF, however when only CEO incorporated in PLA the tensile increase and through FTIR graph functional group of PLA biocomposite foamed were identified. The foam structure produced after PLA biocomposite treated via SCCO2 was not fully nucleated and unstable as shown through SEM. The addition of DSNF and CEO did affect the PLA biocomposite foam