Placing a bone graft more posteriorly may reduce the risk of pedicle screw breakage: analysis of an unexpected case of pedicle screw breakage

Studies on collagen in heart are important to understand the pathogenesis of myocardial necrosis and to evaluate cardiac function in infarcted heart. The present study has been undertaken to find out the alterations in collagen types in heart as well as serum proteins during myocardial injury in rats. A decreased collagen content was observed on day one which may be due to increased secretion of collagenase and proteases from inflammatory cells or from the myocardium. The changes noticed in the collagen types (I, III and V) indicated the altered elasticity of the heart. Histological studies were observed to correlate well with the biochemical changes in collagen. Evaluation of myocardial collagen could provide new approaches to the treatment of infarct size reduction.     

Fast full‐color reflective display via photoluminescent enhancement

Reflective displays are advantageous in applications requiring low power or daylight readability. However, there are no low‐cost reflective technologies capable of displaying bright colors. By employing photoluminescence to more efficiently use ambient light, we created a prototype display that provides bright, full color in a simple, low‐cost architecture. This prototype includes a novel electrokinetic shutter, a layer that incorporates patterned luminescent red, green, and blue sub‐pixel elements, and a novel optical out‐coupling scheme. The luminescent elements convert otherwise‐wasted portions of the incident spectrum to light in the desired color band, resulting in improved color saturation and lightness. This prototype provides a color gamut that is superior to competing reflective display technologies that utilize color filters in single‐layer side‐by‐side sub‐pixel architectures. The current prototype is capable of switching in <0.5 s; future displays based on an alternative electro‐optic shutter technology should achieve video rate operation. A transflective version of this technology has also been prototyped. The transflective version utilizes its backlight with a power efficiency that is at least three times that of a conventional liquid crystal display. These photoluminescence‐based technologies enable a host of applications ranging from low‐power mobile products and retail pricing signage to daylight readable signage for outdoor advertising segments.     

The effects of individual differences,prior experience and cognitive load on the transfer of dynamic decision-making performance

Situational awareness is recognised as an important factor in the performance of individuals and teams in dynamic decision-making (DDM) environments (Salmon et al. 2014 Salmon, P. M., N. A.Stanton, G. H.Walker, D.Jenkins, D.Ladva, L.Rafferty, and M.Young. 2014. “Measuring SA in Complex Systems: Comparison of Measurement Study.” International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics39: 490–500.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The present study was designed to investigate whether the scores on the WOMBAT? Situational Awareness and Stress Tolerance Test (Roscoe and North 1980 Roscoe, S. N., and R.North. 1980. “Prediction of Pilot Performance.” In Aviation Psychology, edited by S. N.Roscoe, 123–127. Ames: The Iowa State University Press. [Google Scholar]) would predict the transfer of DDM performance from training under different levels of cognitive load to a novel situation. Participants practised a simulated firefighting task under either low or high conditions of cognitive load and then performed a (transfer) test in an alternative firefighting environment under an intermediate level of cognitive load. WOMBAT? test scores were a better predictor of DDM performance than scores on the Raven Matrices. Participants with high WOMBAT? scores performed better regardless of their training condition. Participants with recent gaming experience who practised under low cognitive load showed better practice phase performance but worse transfer performance than those who practised under high cognitive load.

Practitioner Summary: The relationship between task experience, situational awareness ability, cognitive load and the transfer of dynamic decision-making (DDM) performance was investigated. Results showed that the WOMBAT? test predicted transfer of DDM performance regardless of task cognitive load. The effects of cognitive load on performance varied according to previous task-relevant experience.     

Inheritance Of Resistance To Mammalian Herbivores and Of Plant Defensive Chemistry In A <Emphasis Type="Italic">Eucalyptus</Emphasis> Species

Hybridization in plants provides an opportunity to investigate the patterns of inheritance of hybrid resistance to herbivores, and of the plant mechanisms conferring this resistance such as plant secondary metabolites. We investigated how inter-race differences in resistance of Eucalyptus globulus to a generalist mammalian herbivore, Trichosurus vulpecula, are inherited in their F₁ hybrids. We assessed browsing damage of three-year-old trees in a common environment field trial on four hybrid types of known progeny. The progency were artificial intra-race crosses and reciprocal inter-race F₁ hybrids of two geographically distinct populations (races) of E. globulus; north-eastern Tasmania and south-eastern Tasmania. Populations of trees from north-eastern Tasmania are relatively susceptible to browsing by T. vulpecula, while populations from south-eastern Tasmania are more resistant. We assessed the preferences of these trees in a series of paired feeding trials with captive animals to test the field trial results and also investigated the patterns of inheritance of plant secondary metabolites. Our results demonstrated that the phenotypic expression of resistance of the inter-race F₁ hybrids supported the additive pattern of inheritance, as these hybrids were intermediate in resistance compared to the pure parental hybrids. The expression of plant secondary metabolites in the F₁ hybrids varied among groups of individual compounds. The most common pattern supported was dominance towards one of the parental types. Together, condensed tannins and essential oils appeared to explain the observed patterns of resistance among the four hybrid types. While both chemical groups were inherited in a dominant manner in the inter-race F₁ hybrids, the direction of dominance was opposite. Their combined concentration, however, was inherited in an additive manner, consistent with the phenotypic differences in browsing.     

Study of mass transfer in a vertically moving particle bed electrode

A study was made of the influence of process parameters on the mass-transfer coefficient in a flow-through cell with a cascade of rotating drums partially filled with conductive particles (called the vertically moving particle bed). Copper deposition from an acidic sodium sulphate solution was used as the model reaction. To evaluate the experimental data a macrohomogeneous mathematical model of potential and current density distribution inside the cell was developed. The electrolyte flow distribution between the empty space above the particle bed and through the bed was evaluated. On the basis of these results the following correlation is proposed:

Alternative technique for hydroxyapatite coatings

Flame Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition (FACVD), a novel technique that shows an enormous potential in porous oxides deposition, was employed for the first time aiming to obtain hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings on 316 L stainless steel metallic substrates. Calcium acetate and ammonium phosphate diluted in ethanol were employed as precursor salts. A Ca/P molar ratio of 1.66 was employed in precursor solution, which is equivalent to stoichiometric hydroxyapatite. A porous coating, formed by an open and interconnected network, was observed by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and associated with homogenous reactions. Thickness of hydroxyapatite coating was 412 ± 3 μm. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicated the presence of crystalline coatings, mainly constituted by hydroxyapatite phase and traces of tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP). Carbonate in the hydroxyapatite coatings was identified by Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.     

EPW: A program for calculating the electron–phonon coupling using maximally localized Wannier functions

EPW (Electron–Phonon coupling using Wannier functions) is a program written in Fortran90 for calculating the electron–phonon coupling in periodic systems using density-functional perturbation theory and maximally localized Wannier functions. EPW can calculate electron–phonon interaction self-energies, electron–phonon spectral functions, and total as well as mode-resolved electron–phonon coupling strengths. The calculation of the electron–phonon coupling requires a very accurate sampling of electron–phonon scattering processes throughout the Brillouin zone, hence reliable calculations can be prohibitively time-consuming. EPW combines the Kohn–Sham electronic eigenstates and the vibrational eigenmodes provided by the Quantum ESPRESSO package (see Giannozzi et al., 2009 [1]) with the maximally localized Wannier functions provided by the wannier90 package (see Mostofi et al., 2008 [2]) in order to generate electron–phonon matrix elements on arbitrarily dense Brillouin zone grids using a generalized Fourier interpolation. This feature of EPW leads to fast and accurate calculations of the electron–phonon coupling, and enables the study of the electron–phonon coupling in large and complex systems.

Program summary

Program title: EPWCatalogue identifier: AEHA_v1_0Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEHA_v1_0.htmlProgram obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. IrelandLicensing provisions: GNU Public LicenseNo. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 304 443No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 1 487 466Distribution format: tar.gzProgramming language: Fortran 90Computer: Any architecture with a Fortran 90 compilerOperating system: Any environment with a Fortran 90 compilerHas the code been vectorized or parallelized?: Yes, optimized for 1 to 64 processorsRAM: Heavily system dependent, as small as a few MBSupplementary material: A copy of the “EPW/examples” directory containing the phonon binary files can be downloadedClassification: 7External routines: MPI, Quantum-ESPRESSO package [1], BLAS, LAPACK, FFTW. (The necessary Blas, Lapack and FFTW routines are included in the Quantum-ESPRESSO package [1].)Nature of problem: The calculation of the electron–phonon coupling from first-principles requires a very accurate sampling of electron–phonon scattering processes throughout the Brillouin zone; hence reliable calculations can be prohibitively timeconsuming.Solution method: EPW makes use of a real-space formulation and combines the Kohn–Sham electronic eigenstates and the vibrational eigenmodes provided by the Quantum-ESPRESSO package with the maximally localized Wannier functions provided by the wannier90 package in order to generate electron–phonon matrix elements on arbitrarily dense Brillouin zone grids using a generalized Fourier interpolation.Running time: Single processor examples typically take 5–10 minutes.References:

• [1] 

  P. Giannozzi, et al., J. Phys. Condens. Matter 21 (2009), 395502, http://www.quantum-espresso.org/.

     

Disturbance and recovery of trunk mechanical and neuromuscular behaviours following prolonged trunk flexion: influences of duration and external load on creep-induced effects

Trunk flexion results in adverse mechanical effects on the spine and is associated with a higher incidence of low back pain. To examine the effects of creep deformation on trunk behaviours, participants were exposed to full trunk flexion in several combinations of exposure duration and external load. Trunk mechanical and neuromuscular behaviours were obtained pre- and post-exposure and during recovery using sudden perturbations. Intrinsic trunk stiffness decreased with increasing flexion duration and in the presence of the external load. Recovery of intrinsic stiffness required more time than the exposure duration and was influenced by exposure duration. Reflexive trunk responses increased immediately following exposure but recovered quickly (～2.5 min). Alterations in reflexive trunk behaviour following creep deformation exposures may not provide adequate compensation to allow for complete recovery of concurrent reductions in intrinsic stiffness, which may increase the risk of injury due to spinal instability. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: An increased risk of low back injury may result from flexion-induced disturbances to trunk behaviours. Such effects, however, appear to depend on the type of flexion exposure, and have implications for the design of work involving trunk flexion.     

A statistical approach to high-throughput screening of predicted orthologs

Orthologs are genes in different species that have diverged from a common ancestral gene after speciation. In contrast, paralogs are genes that have diverged after a gene duplication event. For many comparative analyses, it is of interest to identify orthologs with similar functions. Such orthologs tend to support species divergence (ssd-orthologs) in the sense that they have diverged only due to speciation, to the same relative degree as their species. However, due to incomplete sequencing or gene loss in a species, predicted orthologs can sometimes be paralogs or other non-ssd-orthologs. To increase the specificity of ssd-ortholog prediction, Fulton et al. [Fulton, D., Li, Y., Laird, M., Horsman, B., Roche, F., Brinkman, F., 2006. Improving the specificity of high-throughput ortholog prediction. BMC Bioinformatics 7 (1), 270] developed Ortholuge, a bioinformatics tool that identifies predicted orthologs with atypical genetic divergence. However, when the initial list of putative orthologs contains a non-negligible number of non-ssd-orthologs, the cut-off values that Ortholuge generates for orthology classification are difficult to interpret and can be too high, leading to decreased specificity of ssd-ortholog prediction. Therefore, we propose a complementary statistical approach to determining cut-off values. A benefit of the proposed approach is that it gives the user an estimated conditional probability that a predicted ortholog pair is unusually diverged. This enables the interpretation and selection of cut-off values based on a direct measure of the relative composition of ssd-orthologs versus non-ssd-orthologs. In a simulation comparison of the two approaches, we find that the statistical approach provides more stable cut-off values and improves the specificity of ssd-ortholog prediction for low-quality data sets of predicted orthologs.