Pain from the lumbar zygapophysial joints: a test of two models

One hundred seventy-six consecutive patients with chronic low-back pain and no history of previous lumbar surgery were studied to test the clinical criteria of Fairbank et al. and Helbig and Lee for zygapophysial joint pain. All patients underwent a history, examination, and a series of zygapophysial joint injections or blocks of the medial branches of the dorsal ramus with lignocaine. Those patients responding to the first series of blocks were given confirmatory blocks using bupivacaine. None of the clinical features tested was found to be associated with response to the confirmatory block. The Fairbank et al. and Helbig and Lee criteria were shown to be unreliable in distinguishing pain of zygapophysial joint origin from pain of other origins.     

Experiment and modelling of cantilever-based electromagnetic energy harvester driven by direct impact of spherical ball

Microsystem Technologies - We carried out a numerical analysis and an experimental investigation of the nonlinear resonance characteristics of an electromagnetic vibration energy harvester driven...     

The importance of transformations for traceability – A case study of lamb and lamb products

Vertical product information flow is important with regard to consumers’ perceptions of the meat which they buy. When research and analysis of traceability is carried out it is often found that critical points where information is systematically lost are encountered in the transformations of the resources. This study describes how lamb meat can be both tracked and traced through a lamb meat producer (company A). At company A 60% of the resource transformations were shown to be additions, mixing and splitting, these are considered to be those which produce the most critical traceability points. After an analysis of the current traceability system at company A suggested improvements were made. With regard to granularity of traceability they cannot trace individual animals during production, but rather a set of animals. The smallest traceable resource unit (TRU) company A can trace back to be a set of (identifiable) animals from one specific farm.     

Validity of method for analysing critical traceability points

The requirements for documenting food products are even increasing. Better documentation can be achieved by using traceability. Several studies mapping Critical Traceability Points (CTP) in food supply chains have been carried out.The purpose of this paper was to discuss the validity of qualitative methods for detecting CTPs in a seafood supply chain. Data from a single case study is interesting, because it provides real industry data, which can be used to develop knowledge of and theories on traceability to improve food process systems. The discussion of validity can in addition be used as input for studies aiming to identify the CTPs of other food supply chains.     

The urban landscape as affordance for adolescents’ everyday physical activity

This study explores factors in the physical outdoor environment of the urban landscape that promote or hinder adolescents’ physical activity (PA). The analysis was inspired by Gibson’s affordance concept. The study combines actual use with potential affordances in neighbourhoods to generate special classes of actualised affordances. Two Norwegian school districts and their local neighbourhoods in different landscapes were selected as case areas. The patterns of adolescents’ everyday leisure-time activity were recorded using ‘children’s tracks’ methodology. Landscape characterisation connected the activity patterns to the physical structure of the landscape. Our study suggests that urban landscape structure is associated with PA patterns and adolescents’ choice of activity types. Our results confirm previous studies as regards the importance of neighbourhood design and facilities for PA in promoting such activity.     

Mercury budget of a small forested boreal catchment in southeast Norway

We present input and output fluxes of total mercury (Hg(tot)) and methyl mercury (MeHg) based on throughfall, litterfall and stream water samples from 2004/2005 from a small forested catchment (Langtjern) in Norway. Hg(tot) input via throughfall and litterfall was estimated to 6.7 and 2.7 microg m(-2) yr(-1), respectively, which is considerably lower than previously reported from other boreal catchments in Scandinavia. A likely cause for the low input flux is the sparseness and low productivity of the forest in the Langtjern catchment, with less atmospheric scavenging and lower litterfall fluxes than previously studied sites. In addition there has been a general decrease in mercury (Hg) in the atmosphere on the northern hemisphere in the last decade. The estimated output flux of Hg(tot) with surface water was 2.5 microg m(-2) yr(-1), which is comparable to what has been reported elsewhere. The ratio of Hg(tot) output flux to input flux was 26%, which is considerably higher than reported from other sites. This illustrates that catchment properties have greater importance for surface water export of Hg than the current atmospheric input. The estimated total soil pool of Hg(tot) in the catchment was 17.4 mg m(-2). This corresponds to roughly 8000 years of the current surface water output flux and 2000 years of the current input flux.     

Identification of New Purpuroine Analogues from the Arctic Echinodermata Pteraster militaris That Inhibit FLT3-ITD+ AML Cell Lines

Isolation of bioactive products from the marine environment is considered a very promising approach to identify new compounds that can be used for further drug development. In this work we have isolated three new compounds from the purpuroine family by mass-guided preparative HPLC; purpuroine K-M. These compounds where screened for antibacterial- and antifungal activity, antibiofilm formation and anti-cell proliferation activity. Additionally, apoptosis-, cell cycle-, kinase binding- and docking studies were performed to evaluate the mechanism-of-action. None of the compounds showed activity in antibacterial-, antibiofilm- or antifungal assays. However, one of the isolated compounds, purpuroine K, showed activity against two cell lines, MV-4-11 and MOLM-13, two AML cell lines both carrying the FTL3-ITD mutation. In MV-4-11 cells, purpuroine K was found to increase apoptosis and arrest cells cycle in G1/G0, which is a common feature of FLT3 inhibitors. Interactions between purpuroine K and the FLT3 wild type or FLT3 ITD mutant proteins could however not be elucidated in our kinase binding and docking studies. In conclusion, we have isolated three novel molecules, purpuroine K-M, one of which (purpuroine K) shows a potent activity against FLT3-ITD mutated AML cell lines, however, the molecular target(s) of purpuroine K still need to be further investigated.