Pyogenic spondylitis

Pyogenic spondylitis is a neurological and life threatening condition. It encompasses a broad range of clinical entities, including pyogenic spondylodiscitis, septic discitis, vertebral osteomyelitis, and epidural abscess. The incidence though low appears to be on the rise. The diagnosis is based on clinical, radiological, blood and tissue cultures and histopathological findings. Most of the cases can be treated non-operatively. Surgical treatment is required in 10–20% of patients. Anterior decompression, debridement and fusion are generally recommended and instrumentation is acceptable after good surgical debridement with postoperative antibiotic cover

Allotment gardening and health: a comparative survey among allotment gardeners and their neighbors without an allotment

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The potential contribution of allotment gardens to a healthy and active life-style is increasingly recognized, especially for elderly populations. However, few studies have empirically examined beneficial effects of allotment gardening. In the present study the health, well-being and physical activity of older and younger allotment gardeners was compared to that of controls without an allotment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A survey was conducted among 121 members of 12 allotment sites in the Netherlands and a control group of 63 respondents without an allotment garden living next to the home addresses of allotment gardeners. The survey included five self-reported health measures (perceived general health, acute health complaints, physical constraints, chronic illnesses, and consultations with GP), four self-reported well-being measures (stress, life satisfaction, loneliness, and social contacts with friends) and one measure assessing self-reported levels of physical activity in summer. Respondents were divided into a younger and older group at the median of 62 years which equals the average retirement age in the Netherlands.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After adjusting for income, education level, gender, stressful life events, physical activity in winter, and access to a garden at home as covariates, both younger and older allotment gardeners reported higher levels of physical activity during the summer than neighbors in corresponding age categories. The impacts of allotment gardening on health and well-being were moderated by age. Allotment gardeners of 62 years and older scored significantly or marginally better on all measures of health and well-being than neighbors in the same age category. Health and well-being of younger allotment gardeners did not differ from younger neighbors. The greater health and well-being benefits of allotment gardening for older gardeners may be related to the finding that older allotment gardeners were more oriented towards gardening and being active, and less towards passive relaxation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These findings are consistent with the notion that having an allotment garden may promote an active life-style and contribute to healthy aging. However, the findings may be limited by self selection and additional research is needed to confirm and extend the current findings.</p

What Is the Evidence to Support the Use of Therapeutic Gardens for the Elderly?

Horticulture therapy employs plants and gardening activities in therapeutic and rehabilitation activities and could be utilized to improve the quality of life of the worldwide aging population, possibly reducing costs for long-term, assisted living and dementia unit residents. Preliminary studies have reported the benefits of horticultural therapy and garden settings in reduction of pain, improvement in attention, lessening of stress, modulation of agitation, lowering of as needed medications, antipsychotics and reduction of falls. This is especially relevant for both the United States and the Republic of Korea since aging is occurring at an unprecedented rate, with Korea experiencing some of the world's greatest increases in elderly populations. In support of the role of nature as a therapeutic modality in geriatrics, most of the existing studies of garden settings have utilized views of nature or indoor plants with sparse studies employing therapeutic gardens and rehabilitation greenhouses. With few controlled clinical trials demonstrating the positive or negative effects of the use of garden settings for the rehabilitation of the aging populations, a more vigorous quantitative analysis of the benefits is long overdue. This literature review presents the data supporting future studies of the effects of natural settings for the long term care and rehabilitation of the elderly having the medical and mental health problems frequently occurring with aging

Migratory behaviour of Physarum polycephalum microplasmodia

The motility of amoeboid cells of the plasmodial slime mould Physarum polycephalum was studied experimentally. Analysis of their trajectories and of their mean square displacements reveal two characteristic types of behaviour that depend on the time interval τ between any pair of points along the trajectory. Whereas free migration of cells is observed for time intervals τ > 300 s, at short time intervals (of up to τ ≈ 100 s) the motility is due to changes in the cell shape induced by the peristaltic pumping of protoplasm though the cell. Freely migrating cells display persistent random motion with very long persistence times of up to ≈ 5500 s. Superdiffusive motion typically lasts for ≈ 18000 s, independently of the intensity of illumination by green light. Whereas symmetric velocity distributions are found for short time intervals τ, the typical velocity distributions from freely migrating cells show an asymmetry, which reflects the long-lasting persistent motions. We observed that high propagation velocities are correlated with both, episodes of straight motion and an elongated cell shape. Finally, the mean squared displacement of trajectories where the cells avoided crossing their own slime trails were compared to those of freely migrating cells

Comparison of back focal plane imaging of nitrogen vacancy centers in nanodiamond and core-shell CdSe/CdS quantum dots

We report on the characterization of the angular-dependent emission of two different single-photon emitters based on nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamond and on core-shell CdSe/CdS quantum dot nanoparticles. The emitters were characterized in a confocal microscope setup by spectroscopy and Hanbury-Brown and Twiss interferometry. The angular-dependent emission is measured using a back focal plane imaging technique. A theoretical model of the angular emission patterns of the 2D dipoles of the emitters is developed to determine their orientation. Experiment and model agree well with each other

Experimental realization of an absolute single-photon source based on a single nitrogen vacancy center in a nanodiamond

We report on the experimental realization of an absolute single-photon source based on a single nitrogen vacancy (NV) center in a nanodiamond at room temperature and on the calculation of its absolute spectral photon flux from experimental data. The single-photon source was calibrated with respect to its photon flux and its spectral photon rate density. The photon flux was measured with a low-noise silicon photodiode traceable to the primary standard for optical flux, taking into account the absolute spectral power distribution using a calibrated spectroradiometer. The optical radiant flux is adjustable from 55 fW, which is almost the lowest detection limit for the silicon photodiode, and 75 fW, which is the saturation power of the NV center. These fluxes correspond to total photon flux rates between 190,000 photons per second and 260,000 photons per second, respectively. The single-photon emission purity is indicated by a g((2))(0) value, which is between 0.10 and 0.23, depending on the excitation power. To our knowledge, this is the first single-photon source absolutely calibrated with respect to its absolute optical radiant flux and spectral power distribution, traceable to the corresponding national standards via an unbroken traceability chain. The prospects for its application, e.g., for the detection efficiency calibration of single-photon detectors as well as for use as a standard photon source in the low photon flux regime, are promising. (C) 2017 Optical Society of Americ