Corona Mortis: Surgical Anatomy, Physiology and Clinical Significance

Corona mortis (CM) is classically defined as the arterial anastomosis between the obturator artery and the inferior epigastric artery that crosses the posterior aspect of the superior ramus of the symphysis pubis. Its clinical impact is considered great, as it lies within the surgical field of numerous specialties (general surgeons, orthopedists, gynecologists, urologists). Our systematic study of the literature revealed a diversity in the incidence of the Corona Mortis between cadaveric and patient studies. The new technological advances and especially the CT angiography, applied on the retropubic region vessels, have given the chance to obtain more precise depictions and thus estimations on the real incidence of corona mortis. This review intends to extract for the first time the corona mortisrsquo incidence from the major CT angiographic studies in bibliography and compare it with the incidence of CM in the major cadaveric studies. Special attention was given to the question whether this anastomosis is that important as its name implies (mortis) in the clinical setting or not

Capturing accelerometer outputs in healthy volunteers under normal and simulated-pathological conditions using ML classifiers

Wearable devices offer a possible solution for acquiring objective measurements of physical activity. Most current algorithms are derived using data from healthy volunteers. It is unclear whether such algorithms are suitable in specific clinical scenarios, such as when an individual has altered gait. We hypothesized that algorithms trained on healthy population will result in less accurate results when tested in individuals with altered gait. We further hypothesized that algorithms trained on simulated-pathological gait would prove better at classifying abnormal activity.We studied healthy volunteers to assess whether activity classification accuracy differed for those with healthy and simulated-pathological conditions. Healthy participants (n=30) were recruited from the University of Leeds to perform nine predefined activities under healthy and simulated-pathological conditions. Activities were captured using a wrist-worn MOX accelerometer (Maastricht Instruments, NL). Data were analyzed based on the Activity-Recognition-Chain process. We trained a Neural-Network, Random-Forests, k-Nearest-Neighbors (k-NN), Support-Vector-Machines (SVM) and Naive Bayes models to classify activity. Algorithms were trained four times; once with 'healthy' data, and once with 'simulated-pathological data' for each of activity-type and activity-task classification. In activity-type instances, the SVM provided the best results; the accuracy was 98.4% when the algorithm was trained and then tested with unseen data from the same group of healthy individuals. Accuracy dropped to 52.8% when tested on simulated-pathological data. When the model was retrained with simulated-pathological data, prediction accuracy for the corresponding test set was 96.7%. Algorithms developed on healthy data are less accurate for pathological conditions. When evaluating pathological conditions, classifier algorithms developed using data from a target sub-population can restore accuracy to above 95%.Clinical Relevance - This method remotely establishes health-related data of objective outcome measures of activities of daily living

Finite-Element Model for Pretensioned Prestressed Concrete Girders

This paper presents a nonlinear model for pretensioned prestressed concrete girders. The model consists of three main components: a beam-column element that describes the behavior of concrete, a truss element that describes the behavior of prestressing tendons, and a bond element that describes the transfer of stresses between the prestressing tendons and the concrete. The model is based on a two-field mixed formulation, where forces and deformations are both approximated within the element. The nonlinear response of the concrete and tendon components is based on the section discretization into fibers with uniaxial hysteretic material models. The stress transfer mechanism is modeled with a distributed interface element with special bond stress-slip relation. A method for accurately simulating the prestressing operation is presented. Accordingly, a complete nonlinear analysis is performed at the different stages of prestressing. Correlation studies of the proposed model with experimental results of pretensioned specimens are conducted. These studies confirmed the accuracy and efficiency of the model

Effect of polyamines and synthetic polyamine-analogues on the expression of the E. coli ato operon and its regulatory genes

AbstractJournal URL: http://www.eie.gr/iopc-costb22/index.htm

Vertebral artery variations revised: origin, course, branches and embryonic development

Background: The vertebral artery originates from the subclavian artery and is divided into four segments. The aim of this study is to investigate the anatomical variations in the course and branches of the vertebral artery. Materials and methods: A research was performed via PubMed database, using the terms: “variations of vertebral artery AND cadaveric study”, “variations of vertebral artery AND cadavers” and “anomalies of vertebral artery AND cadavers”. Results: A total of 24 articles met the inclusion criteria, 13 of them referring to variations of the origin of the vertebral artery, 9 to variations of the course and 3 to variations of its branches. On a total sample of 1192 cadavers of different populations, origin of the left vertebral artery directly from the aortic arch was observed at 6.7%. In addition, among 311 cadavers, 17.4% were found with partially or fully ossified foramen of the atlas for the passage of the vertebral artery, while the bibliographic review also showed variants at the exit site of the artery from the transverse foramen of the axis. Conclusions: Despite the fact that variations of both the course and the branches of vertebral artery are in most cases asymptomatic, good knowledge of anatomy and its variants is of particular importance for the prevention of vascular complications during surgical and radiological procedures in the cervix area

Accuracy of synovial fluid analysis compared to histology for the identification of calcium pyrophosphate crystals: An ancillary study of the OMERACT US working group - CPPD subgroup

The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of synovial fluid analysis in the identification of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals compared to microscopic analysis of joint tissues as the reference standard. This is an ancillary study of an international, multicentre cross-sectional study performed by the calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease (CPPD) subgroup of the OMERACT Ultrasound working group. Consecutive patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) waiting for total knee replacement surgery were enrolled in the study from 2 participating centres in Mexico and Romania. During the surgical procedures, synovial fluid, menisci and hyaline cartilage were collected and analysed within 48 hours from surgery under transmitted light microscopy and compensated polarised light microscopy for the presence/absence of calcium pyrophosphate crystals. All slides were analysed by expert examiners on site, blinded to other findings. A dichotomic score (absence/presence) was used for scoring both synovial fluid and tissues. Microscopic analysis of knee tissues was considered the gold standard. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive and negative predictive values of synovial fluid analysis in the identification of calcium pyrophosphate crystals were calculated.15 patients (53% female, mean age 68 yo +/- 8.4) with OA of grade 3 or 4 according to Kellgren-Lawrence scoring were enrolled. 12 patients (80%) were positive for calcium pyrophosphate crystals at the synovial fluid analysis and 14 (93%) at the tissue microscopic analysis. The overall diagnostic accuracy of synovial fluid analysis compared with histology for CPPD was 87%, with a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 100%, the positive predictive value was 100% and the negative predictive value was 33%.In conclusion synovial fluid analysis proved to be an accurate test for the identification of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals in patients with advanced OA

Patient-Tailored Connectomics Visualization for the Assessment of White Matter Atrophy in Traumatic Brain Injury

Available approaches to the investigation of traumatic brain injury (TBI) are frequently hampered, to some extent, by the unsatisfactory abilities of existing methodologies to efficiently define and represent affected structural connectivity and functional mechanisms underlying TBI-related pathology. In this paper, we describe a patient-tailored framework which allows mapping and characterization of TBI-related structural damage to the brain via multimodal neuroimaging and personalized connectomics. Specifically, we introduce a graphically driven approach for the assessment of trauma-related atrophy of white matter connections between cortical structures, with relevance to the quantification of TBI chronic case evolution. This approach allows one to inform the formulation of graphical neurophysiological and neuropsychological TBI profiles based on the particular structural deficits of the affected patient. In addition, it allows one to relate the findings supplied by our workflow to the existing body of research that focuses on the functional roles of the cortical structures being targeted. A graphical means for representing patient TBI status is relevant to the emerging field of personalized medicine and to the investigation of neural atrophy

Effects of an exercise and sport intervention among refugees living in a Greek refugee camp on mental health, physical fitness and cardiovascular risk markers: study protocol for the SALEEM pragmatic randomized controlled trial

Background Due to ongoing political and social conflicts, the number of international refugees has been increasing. Refugees are exposed to severe mental and physical strain, as well as traumatic experiences during their flight. Therefore, the risk of psychiatric disorders is markedly increased among international refugees. International organizations have criticized the lack of early interventions as a key problem, because untreated mental disorders are often difficult to cure at a later stage. Today, exercise and sport have been successfully employed to treat a wide range of psychiatric disorders. With patients with post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), very limited empirical evidence exists, and studies carried out with international refugees are nearly non-existent. Methods We intend to implement a pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) with an exercise and sport intervention group (n = 68, 50% women) and a wait-list control group (n = 68, 50% women) in the Koutsochero refugee camp, located close to the city of Larissa (Greece). During the RCT, exercise and sport will be offered five times per week (60 min/session) for 10 weeks. Participants will be asked to participate in at least two sessions per week. The programme is developed according to the participants’ needs and preferences and they will be able to choose between a range of activities. PTSD symptoms will serve as primary outcome, and several secondary outcomes will be assessed. Qualitative data collection methods will be used to gain a more in-depth appraisal of the participants’ perception of the intervention programme. In the second year of study, the programme will be opened to all camp residents. A strategy will be developed how the programme can be continued after the end of the funding period, and how the programme can be scaled up beyond the borders of the Koutsochero camp. Discussion By moving towards the primary prevention of chronic physical conditions and psychiatric disorders, a relevant contribution can be done to enhance the quality and quantity of life of refugee camp residents in Greece. Our findings may also strengthen the evidence for exercise as medicine as a holistic care option in refugee camps, by helping camp residents to adopt and maintain a physically active lifestyle. Trial registration The study was registered prospectively on the 8 February 2021 with ISRCTN https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN1629198

X-ray absorption spectroscopy systematics at the tungsten L-edge

A series of mononuclear six-coordinate tungsten compounds spanning formal oxidation states from 0 to +VI, largely in a ligand environment of inert chloride and/or phosphine, has been interrogated by tungsten L-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The L-edge spectra of this compound set, comprised of [W<sup>0</sup>(PMe<sub>3</sub>)<sub>6</sub>], [W<sup>II</sup>Cl<sub>2</sub>(PMePh<sub>2</sub>)<sub>4</sub>], [W<sup>III</sup>Cl<sub>2</sub>(dppe)<sub>2</sub>][PF<sub>6</sub>] (dppe = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane), [W<sup>IV</sup>Cl<sub>4</sub>(PMePh<sub>2</sub>)<sub>2</sub>], [W<sup>V</sup>(NPh)Cl<sub>3</sub>(PMe<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>], and [W<sup>VI</sup>Cl<sub>6</sub>] correlate with formal oxidation state and have usefulness as references for the interpretation of the L-edge spectra of tungsten compounds with redox-active ligands and ambiguous electronic structure descriptions. The utility of these spectra arises from the combined correlation of the estimated branching ratio (EBR) of the L<sub>3,2</sub>-edges and the L<sub>1</sub> rising-edge energy with metal Z<sub>eff</sub>, thereby permitting an assessment of effective metal oxidation state. An application of these reference spectra is illustrated by their use as backdrop for the L-edge X-ray absorption spectra of [W<sup>IV</sup>(mdt)<sub>2</sub>(CO)<sub>2</sub>] and [W<sup>IV</sup>(mdt)<sub>2</sub>(CN)<sub>2</sub>]<sup>2–</sup> (mdt<sup>2–</sup> = 1,2-dimethylethene-1,2-dithiolate), which shows that both compounds are effectively W<sup>IV</sup> species. Use of metal L-edge XAS to assess a compound of uncertain formulation requires: 1) Placement of that data within the context of spectra offered by unambiguous calibrant compounds, preferably with the same coordination number and similar metal ligand distances. Such spectra assist in defining upper and/or lower limits for metal Z<sub>eff</sub> in the species of interest; 2) Evaluation of that data in conjunction with information from other physical methods, especially ligand K-edge XAS; 3) Increased care in interpretation if strong π-acceptor ligands, particularly CO, or π-donor ligands are present. The electron-withdrawing/donating nature of these ligand types, combined with relatively short metal-ligand distances, exaggerate the difference between formal oxidation state and metal Z<sub>eff</sub> or, as in the case of [W<sup>IV</sup>(mdt)<sub>2</sub>(CO)<sub>2</sub>], add other subtlety by modulating the redox level of other ligands in the coordination sphere