Scoliosis treatment using a combination of manipulative and rehabilitative therapy: a retrospective case series

BACKGROUND: The combination of spinal manipulation and various physiotherapeutic procedures used to correct the curvatures associated with scoliosis have been largely unsuccessful. Typically, the goals of these procedures are often to relax, strengthen, or stretch musculotendinous and/or ligamentous structures. In this study, we investigate the possible benefits of combining spinal manipulation, positional traction, and neuromuscular reeducation in the treatment of idiopathic scoliosis. METHODS: A total of 22 patient files were selected to participate in the protocol. Of these, 19 met the study criterion required for analysis of treatment benefits. Anteroposterior radiographs were taken of each subject prior to treatment intervention and 4–6 weeks following the intervention. A Cobb angle was drawn and analyzed on each radiograph, so pre and post comparisons could be made. RESULTS: After 4–6 weeks of treatment, the treatment group averaged a 17° reduction in their Cobb angle measurements. None of the patients' Cobb angles increased. A total of 3 subjects were dismissed from the study for noncompliance relating to home care instructions, leaving 19 subjects to be evaluated post-intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The combined use of spinal manipulation and postural therapy appeared to significantly reduce the severity of the Cobb angle in all 19 subjects. These results warrant further testing of this protocol

A New Approach to Dengue Fatal Cases Diagnosis: NS1 Antigen Capture in Tissues

Dengue manifestations may vary from asymptomatic to potentially fatal complications. With an increasing number of Dengue Hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and fatal cases, the availability of new approaches useful for cases confirmation plays an important role for the disease surveillance. The diagnosis of fatal cases in frozen and fixed tissues from autopsies can be determined by techniques such as viral RT-PCR, in situ hybridization, viral proteins detection by immunohistochemistry and NS3 specific immunostaining. We aimed to assess for the first time the usefulness of NS1 capture tests as a diagnostic technique to demonstrate DENV antigens in human tissue specimens. The highest sensitivity was obtained by a rapid ICT which was also the most sensitive in liver, lung, kidney, brain, spleen and thymus. Despite a number of studies demonstrating the usefulness of DENV NS1 antigen detection by different ELISAs in plasma and/or sera of dengue patients, no research has been done previously to demonstrate NS1 presence in tissues of fatal dengue cases. Moreover, the application of NS1 kits to demonstrate the presence of DENV may provide a better understanding of viral tropism in fatal cases and may be useful for studies of pathogenesis in vivo and in experimental animals

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe

Semi-continuous anaerobic treatment of fresh leachate from municipal solid waste transfer station

A semi-continuous leachate treatment process was developed in the present study. The fresh leachate was obtained from a municipal solid waste transfer station and palm oil mill effluent (POME) sludge wasused as sources of anaerobic microbial complex. The semi-continuous treatment of leachate was operated in two phases; in Phase 1, the pH of the bioreactor was not adjusted, and in Phase 2, the pH ofthe bioreactor was adjusted by the addition of sodium hydroxide (NaOH). The initial values for both chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) of fresh leachate wereextremely high compared with the stabilized landfill leachate. COD reduction rate for the semicontinuous process for Phase 1 and 2 were 37 and 52.7%, respectively. These results clearly showedthat pH adjustment is important to enhance the COD removal in leachate treatment. In addition, we have analysed the evolution of volatile fatty acid (VFA) in the entire treatment process. The results indicated that the VFA concentration was a rapid indicator of the reactor’s stability

Hydrothermal conversion of rice husk ash to faujasite-types and NaA-type of zeolites

The faujasite-type of zeolites (NaX and NaY) and NaA-type of zeolite were synthesized from rice husk ash (RHA) via the hydrothermal conditions. The combustion of rice husk at controlled temperature of 600 °C for an hour in open air produce more than 90% of amorphous silica in the ash which was reactive towards the synthesis of zeolites. The formation of zeolite NaY from RHA is metastable and thus, the seeding and ageing effects in the synthesis of zeolite NaY were investigated to avoid the formation of zeolite A or P as the impurities in zeolite NaY. Zeolites NaX and NaA were also successfully synthesized with high purity, absence of impurities and other phases, and high reproducibility. Thus, the amorphous forms of silica in RHA can be used as a source of silica for the synthesis of faujasite-types and NaA-type of zeolites

Wastewater treatment: an overview

International audienceDuring the last 30 years, environmental issues, especially concerning the chemical and biological contamination of water, have become a major concern for both society and public authorities, but more importantly, for the whole industrial world. Any activities whether domestic or agricultural but also industrial produce wastewaters or effluents containing undesirable contaminants which can also be toxic. In this context, a constant effort must be made to protect water resources. Ingeneral, conventional wastewater treatment consists of a combination of physical, chemical, and biological processes and operations to remove insoluble particles and soluble contaminants from effluents. This chapter briefly discusses the different types of effluents, gives a general scheme of wastewater treatment, and describes the advantages and disadvantages of technologies available