Rare Case of Hip Pain: Transiliac Lumbar Hernia

Bone grafts are essential to achieving a solid spinal fusion by encouraging osteoblastic activity and providing a scaffold to guide bone remodeling. The iliac crest, in particular, is a common site for autologous bone grafting and is still considered the gold standard due to its ease of access to cortical and cancellous bone.[1] However, autologous iliac crest bone grafting can be associated with significant morbidity especially when full thickness tricortical grafts are harvested. Common complications include donor site pain, hematoma, thigh dyesthesias, pelvic instability or fracture.[2] Gastrointestinal herniation on the other hand is a much rarer complication with an incidence of 5% to 9%.[3] Here we report a case of iliac graft site herniation presenting as hip pain and difficulty ambulating more than 15 years post operation

On quantum teleportation with beam-splitter-generated entanglement

Following the lead of Cochrane, Milburn, and Munro [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 62}, 062307 (2000)], we investigate theoretically quantum teleportation by means of the number-sum and phase-difference variables. We study Fock-state entanglement generated by a beam splitter and show that two-mode Fock-state inputs can be entangled by a beam splitter into close approximations of maximally entangled eigenstates of the phase difference and the photon-number sum (Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen -- EPR -- states). Such states could be experimentally feasible with on-demand single-photon sources. We show that the teleportation fidelity can reach near unity when such ``quasi-EPR'' states are used as the quantum channel.Comment: 7 pages (two-column), 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. A. Text unmodified, postscript error correcte

Counting losses to cut losses: quantifying legume postharvest losses to help achieve food and nutrition security

Projections suggest that by 2050 global food production will need to have increased by 70% to meet food demands associated with the world’s population growth. Such forecasts, alongside growing awareness of the socio-ecological costs of food loss, and political ramifications of food crises have seen postharvest loss (PHL) reduction reappearing as a development priority. Particularly so in sub-Saharan Africa, a region deemed highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, where 307 million people are already affected by severe food insecurity, and the population is projected to double by 2050. Targets for reduced PHL are emphasised in the African Union’s Malabo Declaration and Sustainable Development Goal 12.3. However, crop postharvest systems are complex and losses occur in various ways at different activity stages and due to a host of diverse reasons. To better target and prioritise loss reduction investments and policies we need to understand how much food is being lost postharvest, where, and why. The African Postharvest Losses Information Systems (APHLIS), brought a rigorous knowledge management approach to cereal PHLs. We are now expanding this to include key legume and other crops and estimates of the nutritional and financial values of these losses. The scientific literature was screened to build profiles of the PHLs occurring along the value chains, and combined with contextual information, to provide science-based estimates of PHLs where direct measurements are not available. We discuss these legume PHL profiles and the related opportunities and knowledge gaps

Metabolic drift in the aging brain.

Brain function is highly dependent upon controlled energy metabolism whose loss heralds cognitive impairments. This is particularly notable in the aged individuals and in age-related neurodegenerative diseases. However, how metabolic homeostasis is disrupted in the aging brain is still poorly understood. Here we performed global, metabolomic and proteomic analyses across different anatomical regions of mouse brain at different stages of its adult lifespan. Interestingly, while severe proteomic imbalance was absent, global-untargeted metabolomics revealed an energymetabolic drift or significant imbalance in core metabolite levels in aged mouse brains. Metabolic imbalance was characterized by compromised cellular energy status (NAD decline, increased AMP/ATP, purine/pyrimidine accumulation) and significantly altered oxidative phosphorylation and nucleotide biosynthesis and degradation. The central energy metabolic drift suggests a failure of the cellular machinery to restore metabostasis (metabolite homeostasis) in the aged brain and therefore an inability to respond properly to external stimuli, likely driving the alterations in signaling activity and thus in neuronal function and communication

Interventional low-dose azithromycin attenuates cigarette smoke-induced emphysema and lung inflammation in mice

Cigarette smoke (CS)-induced emphysema is an important contributor to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We have shown the efficacy of azithromycin in reducing airway inflammation in COPD and in reducing exacerbations in severe asthma; however, the effects of long-term azithromycin on emphysema development have not been shown. We employed live animal imaging to monitor emphysema-like development and the effects of interventional azithromycin treatment in CS-exposed mice. BALB/c mice (female, 10 weeks; n = 10) were exposed to CS for 1 hr twice daily, 5 days/week, and for 12 weeks (CS). Half were cotreated with low-dose azithromycin during weeks 7-12 (CS + Azi; 0.2 mg kg-1  day-1 ). Microcomputed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were acquired longitudinally. Histological examinations were performed post mortem (mean linear intercept (Lm) and leukocyte infiltration). CS increased median Lm (CS: 42.45 µm versus control: 34.7 µm; p = .0317), this was recovered in CS + Azi mice (33.03 µm). Average CT values were reduced in CS mice (CS: -399.5 Hounsfield units (HU) versus control: -384.9 HU; p = .0286) but not in CS + Azi mice (-377.3 HU). CT values negatively correlated with Lm (r = -.7972; p = .0029) and T2 -weighted MRI (r = -.6434; p = .0278). MRI also showed significant CS-induced inflammatory changes that were attenuated by azithromycin in the lungs, and positively correlated with Lm (r = .7622; p = .0055) and inflammatory foci counts (r = .6503; p = .0257). Monitoring of emphysema development is possible via micro-CT and MRI. Interventional azithromycin treatment in CS-exposed mice attenuated the development of pulmonary emphysema-like changes.Matthew G. Macowan, Hong Liu, Miranda Ween, Rhys Hamon, Hai B. Tran Sandra Hodge ... et al

2014 Massachusetts Family Impact Seminar: A Lot On Our Plate; Chronic Health Threats in Massachusetts

A Lot on Our Plate: Chronic Health Threats in Massachusetts is the fifth Massachusetts Family Impact Seminar, and is designed to emphasize a family perspective in policymaking on issues related to childhood obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. In general, Family Impact Seminars analyze the consequences an issue, policy, or program may have for families