Surgical Interventions for Cervical Radiculopathy without Myelopathy:A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of surgical interventions for cervical degenerative disorders has been investigated in multiple systematic reviews. Differences in study population (e.g., patients with myelopathy and/or radiculopathy) were often neglected. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of surgical interventions for patients with symptoms of cervical radiculopathy without myelopathy by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs). METHODS: A comprehensive systematic search was conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, and CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials) to identify RCTs that investigated the effectiveness of surgical interventions using an anterior or posterior approach compared with other interventions for patients with pure cervical radiculopathy. Outcomes were success rates (Odom criteria, similar rating scales, or percentage of patients who improved), complication and reoperation rates, work status, disability (Neck Disability Index), and pain (arm and neck). The Cochrane risk-of-bias tool was used to assess the likelihood of the risk of bias. A random-effects model was used. Heterogeneity among study results (I ≥ 50% or p < 0.05) was explored by conducting subgroup analyses. Funnel plots were used to assess the likelihood of publication bias. RESULTS: A total of 21 RCTs were included, comprising 1,567 patients. For all outcomes, among all surgical techniques, only 1 pooled estimate showed a significant effect on success rate, which was in favor of anterior cervical discectomy with fusion compared with anterior cervical discectomy without an intervertebral spacer (p = 0.02; risk ratio [RR] = 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.77 to 0.98). Complication rates were higher when autologous bone graft from the iliac crest was used as an intervertebral spacer (p < 0.01; RR = 3.40; 95% CI = 1.56 to 7.43), related to donor-site morbidity. CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis demonstrated consistent results regarding clinical outcome for pure cervical radiculopathy among all studied interventions. Complication and reoperation rates were also similar, with the exception of higher complication rates in patients in whom autologous bone grafts were used. On the basis of clinical outcome and safety, there is no superior surgical intervention for pure cervical radiculopathy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Level I. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence

Bromsstråleinducerad fission i tunga ämnen

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Applicability of Parallel Plate Avalanche Counters to Spontaneous Fission from Cf-252

The construction and performance of the parallel plate avalanche counters (PPACs) using a spontaneous fission source Cf-252 is described in this paper. The parallel plate circular electrodes are made of aluminum foils having a thickness less than ten microns. After fabrication, the detectors and the source are mounted inside a reaction chamber, the source between the two detectors. A low pressure is created inside the chamber using isobutane (C4H10) and a high voltage is applied to the electrodes. The detectors are first operated at different pressures and voltages to find the optimum values of the pressure and the voltage. This is necessary to avoid the sparking threshold, to achieve a good time resolution and to keep the gain of the detectors high and constant. The. PPACs are operated in 2 pi- and 4 pi-geometries. In 4 pi-geometry the detectors are allowed to function in coincidence and noncoincidence mode. The resulting pulse height and the time spectra are studied using the computer code ROOT and some conclusions are drawn from these analyses. The pulse height spectrum shows a clear separation between the fission fragments and the alpha particles and the time spectrum indicates a good intrinsic time resolution, 0.76 ns

Pion-induced fission - A review

Real or virtual pions are important ingredients of nuclear reactions at intermediate energies, and their couplings to major nuclear de-excitation modes can determine the final reaction products starting from several beam species. One of these modes is the important fission decay channel for heavy nuclei, induced with real pion beams over a wide range of energies and nuclei, largely using SSNTD. The data have been compared with the predictions of several standard INC reaction models. This review of the data and calculations will provide a status report for this class of reactions. Comparison to fission induced by protons and photons is included to set a context for that induced by real pion beams. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Nuclear physics program at MAX-lab

The upgrade of the MAX-lab Injector and the construction of MAX III, provided the opportunity for upgrading the tagged-photon facility and thus lead to the possibility of more extensive program in nuclear physics research This upgrade increased the injected electron energy to all eventual maximum of 250 MeV and allows for the extraction of electrons from the MAX I ring operated in the stretcher mode The first stretched bean was delivered in September 2005. The tagged-photon facility was commissioned in parallel with the commissioning of new experimental equipment. The PAC approved experimental program is current in progress, including measurement of pion photoproduction below the Delta(1232) The efforts at the tagged photon-facility are pursed within all international collaboration with around fifty member

Cross section asymmetry of two-body carbon disintegration 12C(γ,p)11B with polarized photons at energy 40–50 MeV

The cross section asymmetry of C12(γ,p01)B11 and C12(γ,p2−6)B11 reactions has been studied at the energy range 40–55 MeV, using linearly polarized tagged photons of the MAX-lab facility. The asymmetry of the C12(γ,p01)B11 processes, which assume the one-body mechanism of the reaction, is Σ≈0.82±0.05 for photon energies 45–50 MeV. The asymmetry for the C12(γ,p2−6)B11 reactions, which produce a maximum at excitation energy ∼6 MeV, is Σ≈0.53±0.13 for a photon energy 49 MeV. It is close to the asymmetry of reaction of the free deuteron photodisintegration, and can be resulted from the two-body mechanism of the photon absorption