Risk factors for delayed and non-union following transfibular ankle arthrodesis

Background: This study was to identify risk factors associated with delayed union and non-union in patients who underwent transfibular ankle arthrodesis.Methods: This study included 43 patients who underwent ankle arthrodesis using transfibular approach between January 2012 and September 2018 and were followed up for more than 12 months. The patients were divided into two groups according to delayed union or non-union. Group A included patients who had delayed union or non-union and Group B included patients without these complications. Variables that could contribute to non-union including etiologies, age, chronic renal failure, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, pre-operative talus bone quality, pre-operative angulation of the talus and fixation methods were evaluated.Results: The mean time to bone union was 12.7±7.25 weeks. Group A included 12 patients with 5 cases of non-union and 7 cases of delayed union and group B included 31 patients. Infection of the ankle joint (OR, 1.73; p=0.041) was risk factor for non-union and delayed union on the basis of multivariate analysis.Conclusions: We concluded that infection of the ankle joint is the most significant risk factor for delayed union and nonunion in our study. Careful attention should be paid preoperatively, intraoperatively and postoperatively to patients who have this risk factor to obtain a satisfactory surgical outcome

Structural dynamics and divergence of the polygalacturonase gene family in land plants

A distinct feature of eukaryotic genomes is the presence of gene families. The polygalacturonase (PG) (EC3.2.1.15) gene family is one of the largest gene families in plants. PG is a pectin-digesting enzyme with a glycoside hydrolase 28 domain. It is involved in numerous plant developmental processes. The evolutionary processes accounting for the functional divergence and the specialized functions of PGs in land plants are unclear. Here, phylogenetic and gene structure analysis of PG genes in algae and land plants revealed that land plant PG genes resulted from differential intron gain and loss, with the latter event predominating. PG genes in land plants contained 15 homologous intron blocks and 13 novel intron blocks. Intron position and phase were not conserved between PGs of algae and land plants but conserved among PG genes of land plants from moss to vascular plants, indicating that the current introns in the PGs in land plants appeared after the split between unicellular algae and multicelluar land plants. These findings demonstrate that the functional divergence and differentiation of PGs in land plants is attributable to intronic loss. Moreover, they underscore the importance of intron gain and loss in genomic adaptation to selective pressure

Design and Implementation of a Storage Management Method for Content Distribution

The SMART system is a special purpose server developed by ETRI and designed for efficient streaming services over high speed networks. The SMART server has one or more special purpose NS (Network-Storage) card. The NS card has several disks that store multimedia contents. However all of the multimedia contents to be serviced cannot be stored at the server. In this paper, we will describe the storage management mechanism in design and implementation aspects. With this storage management mechanism, the SMART server can provide effectiveness in managing storage and distributing some contents from a source station to streaming service servers

Can a Biomechanical Foot Orthosis Affect Gait in Patients With Hallux Valgus? A Pilot Study

Objective To investigate the effects of customized biomechanical foot orthosis (BFO) on kinematic data during gait in patients with hallux valgus (HV) deformities and compare the results with those of a normal control group. Methods Ten patients with HV deformities and 10 healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study. HV deformity was diagnosed using biomechanical and radiological assessments by a rehabilitation physician. Patients received the customized BFO manufactured at a commercial orthosis laboratory (Biomechanics, Goyang, South Korea) according to the strictly defined procedure by a single experienced technician. The spatiotemporal and kinematic data acquired by the Vicon 3D motion capture system (Oxford Metrics, Oxford, UK) were compared between the intervention groups (control vs. HV without orthosis) and between the HV groups (with vs. without orthosis). Results The temporal-spatial and kinematic parameters of the HV group were significantly different from those of the control group. After applying BFO to the HV group, significantly increased ranges of plantar flexion motion and hindfoot inversion were observed. Furthermore, the HV group with BFO showed improved gait cadence, walking speed, and stride length, although the results were not statistically significant. Conclusion Our results suggest that it is imperative to understand the pathophysiology of HV, and the application of customized BFO can be useful for improving kinematics in HV deformities

Retrieval of NO2 Column Amounts from Ground-Based Hyperspectral Imaging Sensor Measurements

Total column amounts of NO2 (TCN) were estimated from ground-based hyperspectral imaging sensor (HIS) measurements in a polluted urban area (Seoul, Korea) by applying the radiance ratio fitting method with five wavelength pairs from 400 to 460 nm. We quantified the uncertainty of the retrieved TCN based on several factors. The estimated TCN uncertainty was up to 0.09 Dobson unit (DU), equivalent to 2.687 ?? 1020 molecules m???2) given a 1?? error for the observation geometries, including the solar zenith angle, viewing zenith angle, and relative azimuth angle. About 0.1 DU (6.8%) was estimated for an aerosol optical depth (AOD) uncertainty of 0.01. In addition, the uncertainty due to the NO2 vertical profile was 14% to 22%. Compared with the co-located Pandora spectrophotometer measurements, the HIS captured the temporal variation of the TCN during the intensive observation period. The correlation between the TCN from the HIS and Pandora also showed good agreement, with a slight positive bias (bias: 0.6 DU, root mean square error: 0.7 DU)

Alcohol induces cell proliferation via hypermethylation of ADHFE1 in colorectal cancer cells

BACKGROUND: The hypermethylation of Alcohol dehydrogenase iron containing 1 (ADHFE1) was recently reported to be associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) differentiation. However, the effect of alcohol on ADHFE1 hypermethylation in CRC is still unclear. METHODS: The methylation status and expression levels of ADHFE1 were investigated in primary tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues of 73 patients with CRC, one normal colon cell line, and 4 CRC cell lines (HT-29, SW480, DLD-1, and LoVo) by quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (QMSP) and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (real time PCR), respectively. The effect of alcohol on the methylation status of ADHFE1 was analyzed in HT-29, SW480, DLD-1, and CCD18Co cells using QMSP, real-time PCR, immunoblot, and cell proliferation assay. RESULTS: ADHFE1 was hypermethylated in 69 of 73 CRC tissues (95%) compared to adjacent normal tissues (p < 0.05). The mRNA expression of ADHFE1 was significantly reduced in CRC compared to adjacent normal tissues (p < 0.05) and its expression was decreased in the alcohol consumption group (p < 0.05). ADHFE1 was hypermethylated and its expression was decreased in 4 CRC cell lines compared with normal colon cell line. Alcohol induced hypermethylation of ADHFE1, decreased its expression, and stimulated cell proliferation of HT-29, SW480, and DLD-1cells. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate that the promoter hypermethylation of ADHFE1 is frequently present in CRC and alcohol induces methylation-mediated down expression of ADHFE1 and proliferation of CRC cells

Frontal lobe epilepsy: Clinical characteristics, surgical outcomes and diagnostic modalities

SummaryObjectiveTo identify surgical prognostic factors and to characterize clinical features according to the location of the intracranial ictal onset zone of frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) in order to assess the role of various diagnostic modalities, including concordances with presurgical evaluations.MethodsWe studied 71 FLE patients who underwent epilepsy surgery and whose outcomes were followed for more than 2 years. Diagnoses were established by standard presurgical evaluation.ResultsClinical manifestations could be categorized into six types: initial focal motor (9 patients), initial versive seizure (15), frontal lobe complex partial seizure (14), complex partial seizure mimicking temporal lobe epilepsy (18), initial tonic elevation of arms (11), and sudden secondary generalized tonic–clonic seizure (4). Thirty-seven patients became seizure-free after surgery. Five patients were deleted in the analysis because of incomplete resection of ictal onset zones. The positive predictive value of interictal EEG, ictal EEG, MRI, PET, and ictal SPECT, respectively were 62.5%, 56.4%, 73.9%, 63.2%, and 63.6%, and the negative predictive value were 46.0%, 44.4%, 53.5%, 44.7%, and 51.7%. No significant relationship was found between the diagnostic accuracy of these modalities and surgical outcome, with the exception of MRI (p=0.029). Significant concordance of two or more modalities was observed in patients who became seizure-free (p=0.011). We could not find any clinical characteristic related to surgical outcome besides seizure frequency. No definite relationship was found between the location of intracranial ictal onset zone and clinical semiology.ConclusionAlthough various diagnostic methods can be useful in the diagnosis of FLE, only MRI can predict surgical outcome. Concordance between presurgical evaluations indicates a better surgical outcome

Aggression and Harm-Avoidant Trait Impede Recovery From Internet Gaming Disorder

Background: Relatively little is known about which neuropsychological factors promote recovery from Internet gaming disorder (IGD).Methods: With informed consents, a cohort study was conducted in Seoul metropolitan area, South Korea, to investigate the course of IGD in youths. At baseline, we assessed psychosocial measures and gaming related measures such as Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and the Aggression Questionnaire. The Balloon Analog Risk Task was also performed to study risk-taking behavior. A total of 60 subjects demonstrating three or greater criteria in the diagnostic interviews on IGD and the IAT score of 50 or above were included. After brief parental coaching at baseline, the participants were followed up at 3 and 6 months (n = 31). The baseline characteristics were compared between the non-improved group (&lt;10% improvement in IAT score) and the improved group (≥30% improvement in IAT score) using Mann-Whitney U-test or chi-squared tests with a two-tailed statistical significance of 0.05.Results: The non-improved group and the improved group did not demonstrate significant differences regarding demographics or the IAT scores at baseline. However, the IAT scores were significantly higher in the non-improved group at both 3 and 6 months. The non-improved group was also more likely to display higher aggression and harm avoidance than the improved group at baseline.Discussion: Youths with excessive gaming problems should be evaluated for aggression and harm avoidance since they contributed to a worse prognosis. For those with high aggression or harm avoidance, more active therapeutic interventions should be considered