The influence of elastic orthotic belt on sagittal profile in adolescent idiopathic thoracic scoliosis: a comparative radiographic study with Milwaukee brace

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The effectiveness of bracing on preventing curve progression in coronal plane for mild and moderate adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients has been confirmed by previous radiographic researches. However, a hypokyphotic effect on the sagittal plane has been reported by a few studies. A relatively increasing number of AIS patients were noticed to wear a new kind of elastic orthotic belt for the treatments of scoliosis without doctors' instructions. We postulate the correcting mechanism of this new appliance may cause flattening of the spine. To our knowledge, no study has investigated the effects of this new orthosis on the sagittal profile of AIS patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the effects of elastic orthotic belt and Milwaukee brace on the sagittal alignment in AIS patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty-eight female AIS patients with mild or moderate thoracic curves were included in this study. Standing full-length lateral radiographs were obtained in three conditions: natural standing posture without any treatment, with elastic orthotic belt and with Milwaukee brace. Thoracic kyphosis (TK), lumber lordosis (LL) and pelvic incidence (PI) were measured and compared between the above three conditions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both elastic orthotic belt and Milwaukee brace can lead to significant decrease of TK, however, the decrease of TK after wearing elastic orthotic belt is significantly larger than that after wearing Milwaukee brace. Compared with no treatment, LL was found to be significantly smaller after wearing Milwaukee brace, however, such significant decrease was not noted after wearing elastic orthotic belt. No significant changes were observed for the PI between 3 conditions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The elastic orthotic belt could lead to more severe thoracic hypokyphosis when compared with Milwaukee brace. This belt may not be a suitable conservative method for the treatment of mild and moderate AIS patients.</p

Recovering flocculation chemicals from pulp and paper chemical sludge through acidogenesis

Det har undersökts om det går att få ut fällningskemikalien aluminium ur kemslam från pappers- och massabruk via acidogenes. Ymp och kemslam blandades i olika förhållanden och pH mättes regelbundet för att kartlägga acidogeneskurvan. Prover av filtrat från slam- och ympblandning från tidpunkt noll och då pH-kurvan kartlagts vara som lägst skickades för analys med atomabsorptionspektroskopi. Ur resultaten som gavs från atomabsorptionspektroskopin beräknades det att ingen signifikant skillnad fanns i mängden löst aluminium mellan de olika ymp- och slam-förhållandena. För att försöka uppnå signifikant skillnad skulle det kunna testas fler olika förhållanden, beroende på karaktäristiken hos slam och ymp

Evaluation of brace treatment for infant hip dislocation in a prospective cohort defining the success rate and variables associated with failure

Background: The use of a brace has been shown to be an effective treatment for hip dislocation in infants; however, previous studies of such treatment have been single-center or retrospective. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the success rate for brace use in the treatment of infant hip dislocation in an international,multicenter, prospective cohort, and to identify the variables associated with brace failure. Methods: All dislocations were verified with use of ultrasound or radiography prior to the initiation of treatment, and patients were followed prospectively for a minimum of 18 months. Successful treatment was defined as the use of a brace that resulted in a clinically and radiographically reduced hip, without surgical intervention. The Mann-Whitney test, chisquare analysis, and Fisher exact test were used to identify risk factors for brace failure. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to determine the probability of brace failure according to the risk factors identified. Results: Brace treatment was successful in 162 (79%) of the 204 dislocated hips in this series. Six variables were found to be significant risk factors for failure: developing femoral nerve palsy during brace treatment (p = 0.001), treatment with a static brace (p < 0.001), an initially irreducible hip (p < 0.001), treatment initiated after the age of 7 weeks (p = 0.005), a right hip dislocation (p = 0.006), and a Graf-IV hip (p = 0.02). Hips with no risk factors had a 3% probability of failure, whereas hips with 4 or 5 risk factors had a 100% probability of failure. Conclusions: These data provide valuable information for patient families and their providers regarding the important variables that influence successful brace treatment for dislocated hips in infants. Level of Evidence: Prognostic Level I. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.Vidyadhar V. Upasani, James D. Bomar, Travis H. Matheney, Wudbhav N. Sankar, Kishore Mulpuri, Charles T. Price, Colin F. Moseley, Simon P. Kelley, Unni Narayanan, Nicholas M.P. Clarke, John H. Wedge, Pablo Castañeda, James R. Kasser, Bruce K. Foster, Jose A. Herrera-Soto, Peter J. Cundy, Nicole Williams, and Scott J. Mubara