Observations on survival of cattle tick, Boophilus microplus (Can.) in North Queensland

In a preliminary study of cattle tick survival near Townsville, female ticks were placed in guinea grass tussocks on 14 occasions between July 1956 and July 1957. Weekly observations were made on the development period of the eggs and on the survival of the larvae. The longest survival period from the collection of the parent female ticks to the death of all larvae was 19 weeks. These ticks were put out in March. Egg development period varied from 3 weeks in summer to 10 weeks in winter. In one series the female ticks were flooded for 24 hours and many of their eggs failed to hatch. The relevance of the results to possible improvements in tick control in the Townsville area is discussed

Mismatch between trochlear coronal alignment of arthritic knees and currently available prosthesis: a morphological analysis of 4116 knees and 45 implant designs

Purpose: In up to a fifth of total knee replacements (TKR), surgeons are not capable of achieving good clinical and functional results. Despite comprehensive diagnostic workup, an underlying cause is not always identified in these patients. The purpose of this study is to compare native and prosthetic trochlear anatomies, to evaluate a potential source of morphologic mismatch and theoretically, of poor clinical outcomes. Methods: Native trochlear angles of 4116 knee CTs from 360 Knee Systems database of arthritic pre-operative TKR patients were evaluated. A semi-automated tridimensional analysis was performed to define the native trochlear angle in the coronal plane (NTA) among other 142 parameters. An active search was conducted to identify currently available TKR models; prosthetic trochlear orientation in the coronal plane (PTA) was extracted from the technical data provided by manufacturers. Results: The mean native trochlear angle (NTA) was 1.6° ± 6.6° (valgus) with a range from − 23.8° (varus) to 30.3°(valgus). A valgus NTA was present in 60.6% of the knees and 39.4% of them had a varus NTA. 89 TKR models were identified; trochlear details were available for 45 of them, of which 93% were designed with a valgus orientation of the prosthetic trochlear angle (PTA) and 6.9% showed a neutral (0°) PTA. Varus alignment of PTA was not present in any system. Angular numeric values for PTA were available for 34 models; these ranged from 0° to 15° of valgus, with a median value of 6.18° (SD ± 2.88°). Conclusion: This study shows a significant mismatch between native and prosthetic trochlear angles. A relevant proportion of the studied knees (41.45%) fall out of the trochlear angle range of currently available implants; representing a potential source for biomechanical imbalance. While further research is warranted to fully understand the clinical implications of the present study, manufacturers may need to take these findings into account for future implant designs. Level of evidence: Level III, retrospective cohort study

Computer-Aided Surgery-Navigated, Functional Alignment Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Surgical Technique

The decision on which technique to use to perform a total knee arthroplasty has become much more complicated over the last decade. The shortfalls of mechanical alignment and kinematic alignment has led to the development of a new alignment philosophy, functional alignment. Functional alignment uses preoperative radiographic measurements, computer-aided surgery, and intraoperative assessment of balance, to leave the patient with the most “normal” knee kinematics achievable with minimal soft-tissue release. The purpose of this surgical technique article is to describe in detail the particular technique needed to achieve these alignment objectives

Navigated functional alignment total knee arthroplasty achieves reliable, reproducible and accurate results with high patient satisfaction

Purpose: The decision on which technique to perform a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has become more complicated over the last decade. Perceived limitations of mechanical alignment (MA) and kinematic alignment (KA) have led to the development of the functional alignment (FA) philosophy. This study aims to report the 2-year results of an initial patient cohort in terms of revision rate, PROMs and complications for Computer Aided Surgery (CAS) Navigated FA TKA. Methods: This paper reports a single surgeon’s outcomes of 165 consecutive CAS FA TKAs. The final follow-up was 24 months. Pre-operative and post-operative patient-reported outcome measures, WOMAC and KSS, and intra-operative CAS data, including alignment, kinematic curves, and gaps, are reported. Stress kinematic curves were analysed for correlation with CAS final alignment and CAS final alignment with radiographic long-leg alignment. Pre- and post-operative CPAK and knee phenotypes were recorded. Three different types of prostheses from two manufacturers were used, and outcomes were compared. Soft tissue releases, revision and complication data are also reported. Results: Mean pre-operative WOMAC was 48.8 and 1.2 at the time of the final follow-up. KSS was 48.8 and 93.7, respectively. Pre- and post-operative range of motion was 118.6° and 120.1°, respectively. Pre-operative and final kinematic curve prediction had an accuracy of 91.8%. CAS data pre-operative stress alignment and final alignment strongly correlate in extension and flexion, r = 0.926 and 0.856, p < 0.001. No statistical outcome difference was detected between the types of prostheses. 14.5% of patients required soft tissue release, with the lateral release (50%) and posterior capsule (29%) being the most common. Conclusion: CAS FA TKA in this cohort proved to be a predictable, reliable, and reproducible technique with acceptable short-term revision rates and high PROMs. FA can account for extremes in individual patient bony morphology and achieve desired gap and kinematic targets with soft tissue releases required in only 14.5% of patients. Level of evidence: IV (retrospective case series review)

The power-capture of a nearshore, modular, flap-type wave energy converter in regular waves

Bottom-hinged, nearshore flap-type wave energy converters (WECs), have several advantages, such as high power conversion efficiency and survivability. They typically comprise a single flap spanning their full width. However, a potentially beneficial design change would be to split the flap into multiple modules, to make a ‘Modular Flap’. This could provide improvements, such as increased power-capture, reduced foundation loads and lower manufacturing and installation costs. Assessed in this work is the hydrodynamic power-capture of this device, based on physical modelling. Comparisons are made to an equivalent ‘Rigid Flap’. Tests are conducted in regular, head-on and off-angle waves. The simplest control strategy, of damping each module equally, is employed. The results show that, for head-on waves, the power increases towards the centre of the device, with the central modules generating 68% of the total power. Phase differences are also present. Consequently, the total power produced by the Modular Flap is, on average, 23% more smooth than that generated by the Rigid Flap. The Modular Flap has 3% and 1% lower average power-capture than the Rigid Flap in head-on and off-angle waves, respectively. The advantages of the modular concept may therefore be exploited without significantly compromising the power-capture of the flap-type WEC

Momentum transfer using chirped standing wave fields: Bragg scattering

We consider momentum transfer using frequency-chirped standing wave fields. Novel atom-beam splitter and mirror schemes based on Bragg scattering are presented. It is shown that a predetermined number of photon momenta can be transferred to the atoms in a single interaction zone.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

NUMAC: Description of the Nested Unified Model With Aerosols and Chemistry, and Evaluation With KORUS‐AQ Data

We describe and evaluate a system for regional modeling of atmospheric composition with the Met Office Unified Model (UM), suitable for climate, weather forecasting and air quality applications. In this system, named NUMAC (“Nested UM with Aerosols and Chemistry”), a global model provides boundary conditions for regional models nested within it, using the Met Office's Regional Nesting Suite for multi-scale simulations. The regional models, which can run at convection-permitting or cloud-resolving scales, use the same code as the global model. The system includes double-moment prognostic aerosol microphysics with interactive chemistry of sulfur species, ozone, NOx, and CO as in the UK Earth System Model. Double-moment prognostic cloud microphysics is optional. To test NUMAC, we compare simulations to surface and aircraft measurements from NASA's Korea-United States Air Quality campaign over South Korea. The performance of the regional model, which we run at 5 km resolution, is similar to the well-evaluated global model when the regional and global models use the same emissions. Most species such as ozone, NOx, OH, or PM2.5 are simulated within a factor of 2 of observations most of the time, though they are biased low compared to monitors in polluted areas (observed surface dry PM2.5 averages 28 μgm−3 but we simulate 17 μgm−3). Meteorology and clouds are represented satisfactorily. With higher-resolution emissions, many of the low model biases are reduced, but a tuning was required to keep NO concentrations realistic, indicating shortcomings in the chemistry scheme. We demonstrate the potential of NUMAC for studies of aerosol-cloud interactions

A First Search for coincident Gravitational Waves and High Energy Neutrinos using LIGO, Virgo and ANTARES data from 2007

We present the results of the first search for gravitational wave bursts associated with high energy neutrinos. Together, these messengers could reveal new, hidden sources that are not observed by conventional photon astronomy, particularly at high energy. Our search uses neutrinos detected by the underwater neutrino telescope ANTARES in its 5 line configuration during the period January - September 2007, which coincided with the fifth and first science runs of LIGO and Virgo, respectively. The LIGO-Virgo data were analysed for candidate gravitational-wave signals coincident in time and direction with the neutrino events. No significant coincident events were observed. We place limits on the density of joint high energy neutrino - gravitational wave emission events in the local universe, and compare them with densities of merger and core-collapse events.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, science summary page at http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S5LV_ANTARES/index.php. Public access area to figures, tables at https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=p120000

Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV. The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b, leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W' boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe