Surgical Treatment of Unstable Distal Radius Fractures With a Volar Variable-Angle Locking Plate: Clinical and Radiological Outcomes

Background: Unstable distal end radius fractures are difficult to manage and so various treatment modalities have been described. The use of variable-angle locking plates is promoted for the management of these fractures. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the functional and radiological outcomes in unstable distal end radius fractures treated with variable-angle locking plates. Patients and Methods: We reviewed 23 unstable distal end radius fractures that were treated at our institution with volar variable-angle locking plates. The mean age of the patients was 32.82 ± 11.81 years (range 19 to 62) and the mean duration of follow-up was 11.04 ± 2.47 months (range 6 to 15). All of the patients underwent open reduction and internal fixation with a variable-angle locking plate. Radiological parameters such as radial inclination, length, tilt, and ulnar variance were measured at six weeks and at the final follow-up. The functional evaluation was conducted by measuring the range of motion at the wrist joint as well as the grip strength. Gartland and Werley’s demerit scoring system was used to assess the final outcome. Results: There were two cases of superficial infection that responded to oral antibiotics. One patient had developed a hypertrophic scar, while another had carpal tunnel syndrome that was conservatively managed. There was a significant improvement in the functional indices from six weeks to the final follow-up, while the radiological parameters were maintained. According to Gartland and Werley, excellent results were reported in 65.2% cases, while good results were present in 35% cases. Conclusions: The use of variable-angle locking plates in treating unstable distal end radius fractures is associated with excellent to good functional outcomes with minimal complications

Smart Asset Management for Electric Utilities: Big Data and Future

This paper discusses about future challenges in terms of big data and new technologies. Utilities have been collecting data in large amounts but they are hardly utilized because they are huge in amount and also there is uncertainty associated with it. Condition monitoring of assets collects large amounts of data during daily operations. The question arises "How to extract information from large chunk of data?" The concept of "rich data and poor information" is being challenged by big data analytics with advent of machine learning techniques. Along with technological advancements like Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics will play an important role for electric utilities. In this paper, challenges are answered by pathways and guidelines to make the current asset management practices smarter for the future.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of 12th World Congress on Engineering Asset Management (WCEAM) 201

Spinal Cord Injury Without Radiological Abnormality in Adult Thoracic Spinal Trauma

Introduction: Spinal cord injury without radiological abnormality (SCIWORA) is a rare entity and usually involves the cervical spine. Thoracic spine involvement is very rare due to the stability provided by the rib cage. The mechanisms of injury and pathophysiology are still debatable. Case Presentation: We present a case of an adult male who had road traffic accident and presented with paraplegia. The initial radiological investigations carried out in the emergency department were reported to be normal, however, subsequent magnetic resonance imaging revealed spinal cord contusion without vertebral column disruption. The patient recovered partially with conservative treatment measures including bed rest and methylprednisolone. Conclusions: Spinal trauma patients presenting with neurological deficit but no radiological abnormality should be treated as a case of SCIWORA

Effect of Addition of Treated Coir Fibres on the Compression Behaviour of Clay

This paper presents the effect of treated coir fibres (15 mm in length) on the unconfined compressive strength of clay. Dry, sodium hydroxide and carbon tetrachloride–treated coir fibres were used in the study. The coir fibre content was varied from 0.4% to 1.6%. The results indicated that the unconfined compressive strength of clay and clay with dry coir fibres can be increased by treatment with carbon tetrachloride and sodium hydroxide. The increase in unconfined compressive strength was highest with carbon tetrachloride treatment. The clay reinforced with treated fibres was able to bear higher strains at failure as compared to clay and clay with dry fibres. With the increase in coir fibre content (0.4%-1.6%) in clay, there was an increase in the unconfined compressive strength. The clay with treated coir fibres can be used for making bricks for mud houses in rural India

Differential modulation of cytokine, chemokine and Toll like receptor expression in chickens infected with classical and variant infectious bursal disease virus

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is an important immunosuppressive disease of chickens. The causative agent, infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), consists of two serotypes, 1 and 2. Serotype 1 consists of classic IBDV (cIBDV) and variant IBDV (vIBDV). Both of these strains vary in antigenicity and pathogenesis. The goal of this study was to compare the immunopathogenesis of cIBDV and vIBDV. Three-week-old specific pathogen free chickens were inoculated intraocularly with standard challenge strain (STC) (cIBDV) and a variant strain Indiana (IN) (vIBDV). The cIBDV produced more pronounced bursal damage, inflammatory response and infiltration of T cells as compared to vIBDV. There were significant differences in the expression of innate (IFN-α and IFN-β), proinflammatory cytokine and mediator (IL-6 and iNOS) in cIBDV- and vIBDV-infected bursas. The expression of chemokines genes, IL-8 and MIP-α was also higher in cIBDV-infected chickens during the early phase of infection. The expression of Toll like receptor 3 (TLR3) was downregulated at post inoculation days (PIDs) 3, 5, and 7 in the bursas of vIBDV-infected chickens whereas TLR3 was upregulated at PIDs 3 and 5 in cIBDV-infected bursas. In vIBDV-infected bursa, TLR7 expression was downregulated at PIDs 3 and 5 and upregulated at PID 7. However, TLR7 was upregulated at PIDs 3 and 7 in cIBDV-infected bursas. The expression of MyD88 was downregulated whereas TRIF gene expression was upregulated in cIBDV- and vIBDV-infected bursa. These findings demonstrate the critical differences in bursal lesions, infiltration of T cells, expression of cytokines, chemokines and TLRs in the bursa of cIBDV-and vIBDV-infected chickens

Structural and magnetic properties of an InGaAs/Fe3_3Si superlattice in cylindrical geometry

The structure and the magnetic properties of an InGaAs/Fe3Si superlattice in a cylindrical geometry are investigated by electron microscopy techniques, x-ray diffraction and magnetometry. To form a radial superlattice, a pseudomorphic InGaAs/Fe3As bilayer has been released from its substrate self-forming into a rolled-up microtube. Oxide-free interfaces as well as areas of crystalline bonding are observed and an overall lattice mismatch between succeeding layers is determined. The cylindrical symmetry of the final radial superlattice shows a significant effect on the magnetization behavior of the rolled-up layers

Electronic and Structural Properties of Molybdenum Thin Films as Determined by Real Time Spectroscopic Ellipsometry

Walker, J.D., Khatri, H., Ranjan, V., Li, J., Collins, R.W., & Marsillac, S. (2009). Electronic and structural properties of molybdenum thin films as determined by real-time spectroscopic ellipsometry. Applied Physics Letters, 94(14). doi: 10.1063/1.311722

ProfCom: a web tool for profiling the complex functionality of gene groups identified from high-throughput data

ProfCom is a web-based tool for the functional interpretation of a gene list that was identified to be related by experiments. A trait which makes ProfCom a unique tool is an ability to profile enrichments of not only available Gene Ontology (GO) terms but also of ‘complex functions’. A ‘Complex function’ is constructed as Boolean combination of available GO terms. The complex functions inferred by ProfCom are more specific in comparison to single terms and describe more accurately the functional role of genes. ProfCom provides a user friendly dialog-driven web page submission available for several model organisms and supports most available gene identifiers. In addition, the web service interface allows the submission of any kind of annotation data. ProfCom is freely available at http://webclu.bio.wzw.tum.de/profcom/

BioProfiling.de: analytical web portal for high-throughput cell biology

BioProfiling.de provides a comprehensive analytical toolkit for the interpretation gene/protein lists. As input, BioProfiling.de accepts a gene/protein list. As output, in one submission, the gene list is analyzed by a collection of tools which employs advanced enrichment or network-based statistical frameworks. The gene list is profiled with respect to the most information available regarding gene function, protein interactions, pathway relationships, in silico predicted microRNA to gene associations, as well as, information collected by text mining. BioProfiling.de provides a user friendly dialog-driven web interface for several model organisms and supports most available gene identifiers. The web portal is freely available at http://www.BioProfiling.de/gene_list