Mannan oligosaccharides as a prebiotic for laying hens: effects on fertility, hatchability, productive performance, and immunity.

This experiment examined how adding mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) to the diet affected fertility, hatching rates, egg production, carcass characteristics, cost-effectiveness, and immune function in laying hens. One hundred and twenty Mandarah chickens (30 hens and 3 roosters per group) were randomly chosen between 34 and 50 wk old and divided into four groups. The first group was the control group, which was given just the basal diet. The basal diet was given to the second, third, and fourth experimental groups along with three different levels of MOS (0.1, 0.2, and 0.5 g/kg diet, respectively). Results found that hens fed MOS at various levels laid eggs at a significantly higher rate, enhanced egg number, egg mass and feed conversion ratio than the control group (P < 0.05). MOS seemed to improve carcass quality. The best results for egg quality (Haugh unit) and testosterone levels were seen with a dose of 0.5 g/kg of MOS compared to the control birds (P < 0.05). All MOS levels led to higher estradiol-17ß (E2) levels and better economic efficiency (EE). MOS also improved the hens' immune systems as compared to the control group. Hens-fed MOS had significantly greater levels of antibodies against Influenza viruses (H9N2) and Infectious Bronchitis Virus (P < 0.05). Also, the spleen and thymus gland, both crucial immune system components, were slightly larger (P < 0.05). It's important to note that fertility rates, hatchability, and embryo mortality rates remained similar across all groups. So, our findings suggest that incorporating MOS into the birds' diet enhances their productivity, strengthens their immune system, improves EE, and contributes to the overall health of the hens.

Effect of AlN on the Mechanical and Electrochemical Properties of Aluminum Metal Matrix Composites.

In the present investigation, aluminum metal matrix composites (AMMs) reinforced with aluminum nitride (AlN) nanoparticulates at different volumetric ratios of (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 vol.%) were manufactured via a microwave-assisted powder metallurgy technique. The morphological, physical, mechanical, and electrochemical properties of the produced billets were examined to reflect the impact of the successive addition of AlN into the aluminum (Al) matrix. The morphological analysis revealed the high crystalline patterns of the formation of the Al-AlN composites. The microstructural analysis confirmed the presence of the elemental constituents of Al and AlN particles in the fabricated composites, showing an enhanced degree of agglomeration in conjunction with the additional amount of AlN. Positive behavior exhibited by the micro- and nanohardness was noticeable in the Al-AlN composites, especially at the ultimate concentration of AlN in the Al matrix of a 2 vol.%, where it reached 669.4 ± 28.1 MPa and 659.1 ± 11 MPa compared to the pure Al metal at 441.2 ± 20 MPa and 437.5 ± 11 MPa, respectively. A declining trend in the compressive strength was recorded in the reinforced Al samples. The corrosion resistance of the AlN-reinforced Al metal matrix was estimated at 3.5 wt.% NaCl using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization. The results reveal that the inclusion of 2.0 vol.%AlN led to the lowest corrosion rate.

Silver Decoration of Vertically Aligned MoS2-MoOx Nanosheets: A Comprehensive XPS Investigation.

This study investigates the simultaneous decoration of vertically aligned molybdenum disulfide nanostructure (VA-MoS2) with Ag nanoparticles (NPs) and nitrogen functionalization. Nitrogen functionalization was achieved through physical vapor deposition (PVD) DC-magnetron sputtering using nitrogen as a reactive gas, aiming to induce p-type behavior in MoS2. The utilization of reactive sputtering resulted in the growth of three-dimensional silver structures on the surface of MoS2, promoting the formation of silver nanoparticles. A comprehensive characterization was conducted to assess surface modifications and analyze chemical and structural changes. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed the presence of silver on the MoS2 surface. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed successful decoration with silver nanoparticles, showing that deposition time affects the size and distribution of the silver on the MoS2 surface.

Influence of using synbiotics by various routes on Mandarah male chicks: intestinal bacterial counts, gut morphology and histological status.

This experiment investigated the influence of different synbiotic processing methods on the intestinal bacterial count, morphology and histological status of developed male Mandarah chicks. Two hundred and ten male Mandarah line chicks aged 1 d were randomized to receive one of 7 chicks. The method and dose for 1-time synbiotics administration to the day-old chicks were as follows: G1: chicks on basal diet received no treatment (control); G2: 0.25 mL synbiotics sprayed; G3: 0.50 mL synbiotics sprayed; G4: 0.25 mL of synbiotics are added to drinking water; G5: 0.50 mL of synbiotics are added to drinking water; G6: 0.25 mL of synbiotics dripped into the mouth; and G7: 0.50 mL of synbiotics dripped into mouth drops. Lactic acid bacteria(LAB) were significantly increased (P<0.0001) compared to the control group and other treated groups and had the maximum values after the use of synbiotics via drinking water (0.25 or 0.50 mL). Furthermore, when comparing the treated birds (G4, G5) with the control birds, the Escherichia coli concentration in the drinking water containing synbiotics was significantly lower. In addition, treated chickens at (G7) showed a higher duodenum, ileum villus height (VH), and VH. - Ileum crypt depth (CD) ratio compared to other groups. In addition, birds treated with 0.50 mL of synbiotics in drinking water (G5) performed better in duodenum, ileum, CD and VH. - CD ratio than the other groups. Meanwhile, intestinal tract length and visceral pH did not differ significantly between groups. It can be concluded that the use of 0.25 mL of synbiotics in drinking water can improve the overall health of birds.

Optimization of the Consolidation Parameters for Enhanced Thermoelectric Properties of Gr-Bi2Te2.55Se0.45 Nanocomposites.

Hot pressing represents a promising consolidation technique for ball-milled bismuth telluride alloys, yet deep investigations are needed to understand its effect on the thermoelectric properties. This paper studies the effect of hot-pressing parameters (temperature and pressure) on the thermoelectric properties of the n-type Gr-Bi2Te2.55Se0.45 nanocomposite. Ultra-high pressure, up to 1.5 GPa, is considered for the first time for consolidating Bi2(Te,Se)3 alloys. Results from this study show that increasing the temperature leads to changes in chemical composition and causes noticeable grain growth. On the contrary, increasing pressure mainly causes improvements in densification. Overall, increments in these two parameters improve the ZT values, with the temperature parameter having a higher influence. The highest ZT of 0.69 at 160 °C was obtained for the sample hot-pressed at 350 °C and 1 GPa for 5 min, which is indeed an excellent and competitive value when compared with results reported for this n-type Bi2Te2.55Se0.45 composition.

Novel surface-treatment for bottom ash from municipal solid waste incineration to reduce the heavy metals leachability for a sustainable environment.

Unconventional treatments can provide a modification to convert ash waste into valuable materials that can be used in various applications. This study focuses on bottom ash (BA) collected from a local incineration plant and characterizes its chemical composition before and after pretreatment by coating with polymers. The toxicity-characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) was used to identify selected heavy metal leaching after treatment with vinyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) of different molecular weights. BA coatings were incorporated in two ratios, 0.5% and 1%, by milling to avoid heavy metal leaching. The results showed that all the coating batches had reduced concentrations of copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn), whereas the concentrations of chromium (Cr) and cadmium (Cd) showed higher amounts of BAV34 (0.5%) and BAV25 (1%). The treated BA with GP demonstrated percentages of reduction of 70%, 65%, 80%, 75%, 90%, and 80% for Cu, Mn, Ni, Zn, Pb, and Cd, respectively. The milling procedure reduced the particle size of the coated ash. Hydrophobicity was observed in all coating batches compared to untreated BA. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results showed variations between BA and treated BA, which confirmed that PDMS caused surface modification. These features have potential significance for extending the use of coated ash as a sustainable material for construction applications.

Recent advances in biosensors for real time monitoring of pH, temperature, and oxygen in chronic wounds.

Chronic wounds are among the major healthcare issues affecting millions of people worldwide with high rates of morbidity, losses of limbs and mortality. Microbial infection in wounds is a severe problem that can impede healing of chronic wounds. Accurate, timely and early detection of infections, and real time monitoring of various wound healing biomarkers related to infection can be significantly helpful in the treatment and care of chronic wounds. However, clinical methodologies of periodic assessment and care of wounds require physical visit to wound care clinics or hospitals and time-consuming frequent replacement of wound dressing patches, which also often adversely affect the healing process. Besides, frequent replacements of wound dressings are highly expensive, causing a huge amount of burden on the national health care systems. Smart bandages have emerged to provide in situ physiochemical surveillance in real time at the wound site. These bandages integrate smart sensors to detect the condition of wound infection based on various parameters, such as pH, temperature and oxygen level in the wound which reduces the frequency of changing the wound dressings and its associated complications. These devices can continually monitor the healing process, paving the way for tailored therapy and improved quality of patient's life. In this review, we present an overview of recent advances in biosensors for real time monitoring of pH, temperature, and oxygen in chronic wounds in order to assess infection status. We have elaborated the recent progress in quantitative monitoring of several biomarkers important for assessing wounds infection status and its detection using smart biosensors. The review shows that real-time monitoring of wound status by quantifying specific biomarkers, such as pH, temperature and tissue oxygenation to significantly aid the treatment and care of chronic infected wounds.

Influence of dietary mannan-oligosaccharides supplementation on hematological characteristics, blood biochemical parameters, immune response and histological state of laying hens.

This study aimed to determine the influence of dietary mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) on the immune system, hematological traits, blood biochemical parameters, and histological state of laying hens. At 34 wk of age, The Mandarah chicken strain's 120 laying hens and 12 cocks were divided into 4 groups, each with 30 hens and 3 cocks. The first group performed as a control group, which nourished on a basal diet. The second, third, and fourth experimental groups received 0.1, 0.2, and 0.5 g/kg of MOS and a base diet, respectively. Birds obtained MOS at numerous doses significantly (P ˂ 0.05) raised serum levels of immunoglobulin Y (IgY), immunoglobulin M (IgM), and avian influenza (AI) antibodies compared to control birds. Furthermore, adding MOS at a level of 0.1 g/kg diet significantly improved the immune response of the control group. Additionally, compared to the control group, treated birds with MOS at various dosages did not significantly enhance hematological parameters such as red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), hemoglobin, and hematocrit. Compared to control birds, birds fed MOS at all levels exhibited considerably lower serum cholesterol, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) values. Also, compared to other treated birds, MOS-treated birds displayed improved histological examination of the small intestine, isthmus, and testis compared to the control group, particularly in birds fed MOS at 0.1 and 0.2 g/kg diet. It could be concluded that using MOS at 0.1 or 2 g/kg diet can successfully improve the physiological performance and overall health of laying hens.

Immune response, hematological traits, biochemical blood parameters, and histological status of laying hens influenced by dietary chitosan-oligosaccharides.

This experiment aimed to examine the effect of chitosan-oligosaccharides (COS) supplementation in laying hens' diets affected their immune response, hematological characteristics, blood biochemical parameters, and histological status. At the age of 34 wk, 200 laying hens and 20 cocks of the Mandarah chicken strain were allotted into four groups, each consisting of 50 hens and five cocks. The first group acted as a control group, fed on a basal diet. The second, third, and fourth experimental groups each received 0.1, 0.2, and 0.5 g/kg of COS in addition to a base diet. Birds received COS at various dosages had significantly (P ˂ 0.05) increased serum concentration of immunoglobulins, avian influenza, and Newcastle disease antibodies compared with the control birds. Moreover, adding COS at level 0.2 g/kg diet insignificantly enhanced immune response than the rest of the treatment groups. Also, treated birds with COS at different levels had insignificantly improved hematological parameters such as red blood cells, white blood cells, hemoglobin and hematocrit compared to the control group. Birds fed COS at all levels had significantly decreased serum cholesterol, triglycerides, Ca++ and alanine aminotransferase concentrations compared with control birds. In addition, compared to the control group, chitosan-treated birds showed enhanced histological examination of the small intestine, isthmus, and testis, notably in birds given COS at 0.1 g/kg diet compared to other treated birds. Cocks fed COS at all levels improved testicular tissues and increased the number and diameter of seminiferous tubules compared with control birds Morphological examination of the ileum showed increased villi number, height, and crypt depth. It is possible to conclude that laying hens' physiological performance and general health can be effectively improved by using chitosan at 0.1 or 2 g/kg diet levels enhanced immune response.

Evaluation of the Influence of Eggshell (ES) Concentration on the Degradation Behavior of Mg-2.5Zn Biodegradable Alloy in Simulated Body Fluid.

Currently, permanent vascular stents are fabricated using titanium and stainless steel implants that are nondegradable and offer high stability, but they have certain disadvantages. For example, the prolonged exposition of aggressive ions in the physiological media and the existence of defects in the oxide film create conditions for corrosion to occur, thus triggering unwanted biological events and compromising the mechanical integrity of the implants. Moreover, when the implant does not need to be permanent, there is the need to submit the patient for a second surgery for implant removal. As a solution for nonpermanent implants, biodegradable magnesium alloys have been deemed a promising substitute, for example, for cardiovascular-related applications and the construction of orthopedic devices. A biodegradable magnesium alloy (Mg-2.5Zn) reinforced by zinc and eggshell was employed in this study as an environment-conscious magnesium (eco) composite (Mg-2.5Zn-xES). Disintegrated melt deposition (DMD) was used to fabricate the composite. Experimental studies were conducted to investigate the biodegradation performance of Mg-Zn alloys containing 3 and 7 wt % eggshell (ES) in simulated body fluid (SBF) at 37 °C. Different corrosion techniques were used to study the corrosion behavior of the Mg-2.5Zn-xES composites, including weight loss measurements, hydrogen evolution, potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and scanning vibrating electrode technique (SVET). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were employed to scrutinize the corroded surfaces' morphology and composition. The outcomes indicated that Mg-2.5Zn-3ES possesses the lowest degradation activity.

Growth responses and genetic variation among highly ecologically diverse spring wheat genotypes grown under seawater stress.

Most of the freshwaters worldwide are used for agriculture. Freshwater sources are expected to decline and will not suffice to support the food production needed for the growing population. Therefore, growing crops with seawater might constitute a solution. However, very little work has been done on the effect of seawater stress on wheat, an important cereal crop. The present study aimed to determine whether particular wheat genotypes provided better resistance to seawater stress. A set of 80 highly diverse spring wheat genotypes collected from different countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America was exposed to 50% seawater stress at the early growth stage. Four seeding shoot and root traits were scored for all genotypes. High genetic variations were found among all genotypes for the epicotyl length (EL), hypocotyl length (HL), number of radicles (NOR), and fresh weight (FW). Eight genotypes with high-performance scores of seedling traits were selected. The correlation analyses revealed highly significant correlations among all traits scored in this study. The strongest correlation was found between the NOR and the other seeding traits. Thus, the NOR might be an important adaptive trait for seawater tolerance. The genetic diversity among all genotypes was investigated based on genetic distance. A wide range of genetic distances among all genotypes was found. There was also a great genetic distance among the eight selected genotypes. In particular, the genetic distance between ATRI 5310 (France) and the other seven genotypes was the greatest. Such high genetic diversity might be utilized to select highly divergent genotypes for crossing in a future breeding program. The present study provides very useful information on the presence of different genetic resources in wheat for seawater tolerance.

Non-Invasive Data Acquisition and IoT Solution for Human Vital Signs Monitoring: Applications, Limitations and Future Prospects.

The rapid development of technology has brought about a revolution in healthcare stimulating a wide range of smart and autonomous applications in homes, clinics, surgeries and hospitals. Smart healthcare opens the opportunity for a qualitative advance in the relations between healthcare providers and end-users for the provision of healthcare such as enabling doctors to diagnose remotely while optimizing the accuracy of the diagnosis and maximizing the benefits of treatment by enabling close patient monitoring. This paper presents a comprehensive review of non-invasive vital data acquisition and the Internet of Things in healthcare informatics and thus reports the challenges in healthcare informatics and suggests future work that would lead to solutions to address the open challenges in IoT and non-invasive vital data acquisition. In particular, the conducted review has revealed that there has been a daunting challenge in the development of multi-frequency vital IoT systems, and addressing this issue will help enable the vital IoT node to be reachable by the broker in multiple area ranges. Furthermore, the utilization of multi-camera systems has proven its high potential to increase the accuracy of vital data acquisition, but the implementation of such systems has not been fully developed with unfilled gaps to be bridged. Moreover, the application of deep learning to the real-time analysis of vital data on the node/edge side will enable optimal, instant offline decision making. Finally, the synergistic integration of reliable power management and energy harvesting systems into non-invasive data acquisition has been omitted so far, and the successful implementation of such systems will lead to a smart, robust, sustainable and self-powered healthcare system.

Designing microfluidic devices for behavioral screening of multiple zebrafish larvae.

BACKGROUND: Microfluidic devices are being used for phenotypic screening of zebrafish larvae in fundamental and pre-clinical research. A challenge for the broad use of these microfluidic devices is their low throughput, especially in behavioral assays. Previously, we introduced the tail locomotion of a semi-mobile zebrafish larva evoked on-demand with electric signal in a microfluidic device. Here, we report the lessons learned for increasing the number of specimens from one to four larvae in this device. METHODS AND RESULTS: Multiple parameters including loading and testing time per fish and loading and orientation efficiencies were refined to optimize the performance of modified designs. Flow and electric field simulations within the final device provided insight into the flow behavior and functionality of traps when compared to previous single-larva devices. Outcomes led to a new design which decreased the testing time per larva by ≈60%. Further, loading and orientation efficiencies increased by more than 80%. Critical behavioral parameters such as response duration and tail beat frequency were similar in both single and quadruple-fish devices. CONCLUSION: The developed microfluidic device has significant advantages for greater throughput and efficiency when behavioral phenotyping is required in various applications, including chemical testing in toxicology and gene screening.

Low-cost optofluidic add-on enables rapid selective plane illumination microscopy of C. elegans with a conventional wide-field microscope.

SIGNIFICANCE: Selective plane illumination microscopy (SPIM) is an emerging fluorescent imaging technique suitable for noninvasive volumetric imaging of C. elegans. These promising microscopy systems, however, are scarce in academic and research institutions due to their high cost and technical complexities. Simple and low-cost solutions that enable conversion of commonplace wide-field microscopes to rapid SPIM platforms promote widespread adoption of SPIM by biologist for studying neuronal expressions of C. elegans. AIM: We sought to develop a simple and low-cost optofluidic add-on device that enables rapid and immobilization-free volumetric SPIM imaging of C. elegans with conventional fluorescent microscopes. APPROACH: A polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based device with integrated optical and fluidic elements was developed as a low-cost and miniaturized SPIM add-on for the conventional wide-field microscope. The developed optofluidic chip contained an integrated PDMS cylindrical lens for on-chip generation of the light-sheet across a microchannel. Cross-sectional SPIM images of C. elegans were continuously acquired by the native objective of microscope as worms flowed in an L-shape microchannel and through the light sheet. RESULTS: On-chip SPIM imaging of C. elegans strains demonstrated possibility of visualizing the entire neuronal system in few seconds at single-neuron resolution, with high contrast and without worm immobilization. Volumetric visualization of neuronal system from the acquired cross-sectional two-dimensional images is also demonstrated, enabling the standard microscope to acquire three-dimensional fluorescent images of C. elegans. The full-width at half-maximum width of the point spread function was measured as 1.1 and 2.4 µm in the lateral and axial directions, respectively. CONCLUSION: The developed low-cost optofluidic device is capable of continuous SPIM imaging of C. elegans model organism with a conventional fluorescent microscope, at high speed, and with single neuron resolution.

High-speed label-free confocal microscopy of Caenorhabditis elegans with near infrared spectrally encoded confocal microscopy.

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is an optically transparent nematode that shares many gene orthologs and homologs with humans. C. elegans are widely used in large populations for genetic studies relevant to human biology and disease. Success of such studies frequently relies on the ability to image C. elegans structure at high-resolution and high-speed. In this manuscript, we report on the feasibility and suitability of a high-speed variant of reflectance confocal microscopy, known as spectrally encoded confocal microscopy (SECM), for label-free imaging of C. elegans. The developed system utilizes near-infrared illumination in conjunction with refractive and diffractive optics to instantaneously image a confocal image line at a speed of up to 147 kHz with lateral and axial resolutions of 2µm and 10µm, respectively. Our imaging results from wild-type C. elegans and four mutant strains (MT2124, MT1082, CB61, and CB648) demonstrate the ability of SECM in revealing the overall geometry, key internal organs, and mutation-induced structural variations, opening the door for downstream integration of SECM in microfluidic platforms for high throughput structural imaging of C. elegans.

Microfluidic electric parallel egg-laying assay and application to in-vivo toxicity screening of microplastics using C. elegans.

Environmental pollutants like microplastics are posing health concerns on aquatic animals and the ecosystem. Microplastic toxicity studies using Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) as a model are evolving but methodologically hindered from obtaining statistically strong data sets, detecting toxicity effects based on microplastics uptake, and correlating physiological and behavioural effects at an individual-worm level. In this paper, we report a novel microfluidic electric egg-laying assay for phenotypical assessment of multiple worms in parallel. The effects of glucose and polystyrene microplastics at two concentrations on the worms' electric egg-laying, length, diameter, and length contraction during exposure to electric signal were studied. The device contained eight parallel worm-dwelling microchannels called electric traps, with equivalent electrical fields, in which the worms were electrically stimulated for egg deposition and fluorescently imaged for assessment of neuronal and microplastic uptake expression. A new bidirectional stimulation technique was developed, and the device design was optimized to achieve a testing efficiency of 91.25%. Exposure of worms to 100 mM glucose resulted in a significant reduction in their egg-laying and size. The effects of 1 µm polystyrene microparticles at concentrations of 100 and 1000 mg/L on the electric egg-laying behaviour, size, and neurodegeneration of N2 and NW1229 (expressing GFP pan-neuronally) worms were also studied. Of the two concentrations, 1000 mg/L caused severe egg-laying deficiency and growth retardation as well as neurodegeneration. Additionally, using single-worm level phenotyping, we noticed intra-population variability in microplastics uptake and correlation with the above physiological and behavioural phenotypes, which was hidden in the population-averaged results. Taken together, these results suggest the appropriateness of our microfluidic assay for toxicological studies and for assessing the phenotypical heterogeneity in response to microplastics.

Pseudarthrosis in adult spine deformity surgery: risk factors and treatment options.

PURPOSE: Highlight risk factors for pseudarthrosis in long-segment spinal fusions, collect the approaches carried to address this complication. METHODS: Patients with ASD and fusion of ≥ 4 levels with minimum follow-up (FU) of ≥ 2 years were included. Full-body X-rays were done preoperatively, < 3 months and ≥ 2 years. Oswestry disability index (ODI), Scoliosis Research Society-22 and SF36 assessed pre- and postoperatively. The relationship between demographic, surgical and radiological variables with the development of pseudarthrosis was evaluated. RESULTS: Out of 524 patients included, 65 patients (12.4%) developed pseudarthrosis and 53 underwent revision surgery. Notably, 88% of pseudarthrosis cases are associated with fusion length (OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.05-1.292, p = 0.004), osteotomy requirement (OR = 0.28, 95% CI = 0.09-0.85, p = 0.025), pelvic fixation (OR = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.13-0.88, p = 0.026) and combined approaches (OR = 3.29, 95% CI = 1.09-9.91, p = 0.034). Sagittal alignment is not related to the rate of pseudarthrosis. Health related and quality of life scores were comparable at last FU between patients revised for pseudarthrosis and those that didn't require revision surgery (ODI = 28% no revision and 30% revision group). CONCLUSIONS: Pseudarthrosis is not related to malalignment, but with the surgical techniques employed for its treatment. Anterior approaches with anterior support decrease the rate by 30%, while long fusions, osteotomies and pelvic fixation increase its rate.

Efficacy of polyester bands placed under the transverse vertebral process for the correction of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis : A case series of 105 patients with a minimum of 24 months follow-up.

PURPOSE: To report an original technique for the surgical correction of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) based on hybrid construct using polyester bands placed under the thoracic transverse processes. METHODS: We reviewed 105 patients operated between 2013 to 2017 for AIS with a minimum of 2 years follow-up. Clinical and radiological data, including 2D measurements of scoliosis parameters preoperatively, and at 3- and 24-months postoperatively were analyzed. Radiological analysis was performed by two independent observers using KEOPS (Smaio, Lyon-France, CE 2014) database. RESULTS: Mean age was 14.6 ± 2 years. Mean follow-up was 23.7 ± 1.2 months. Most curves were classified as Lenke-1 (78%). The average number of vertebra involved in the construct was 10.9 ± 1.3 (range 7-13). A mean of 12.8 implants were used per construct (mean implant density 0.59). The number of subtransverse bands placed averaged 3 (range 1-5 bands). The mean frontal Cobb angle decreased from 57.9 to 21.2 ° (p < 0.05) postoperatively. The average T4-T12 kyphosis increased from 20.2°to 32.4° (p < 0.05) postoperatively and no loss of correction was observed at 2 years follow-up. We encountered one case of transverse process fracture intraoperativley. No neurological complications were observed. In the postoperative period, 4 cases were diagnosed with distal junctional failure, three of which required an extension of the construct, while the fourth case was treated by bracing. CONCLUSIONS: The use of subtransverse band is an efficient and safe method for the surgical correction of AIS. This technique incorporates technical ease (minimal risk of neurological injury), provides good frontal correction and restores thoracic kyphosis. Results are maintained over a two-year period.

Electric egg-laying: a new approach for regulating C. elegans egg-laying behaviour in a microchannel using electric field.

In this paper, the novel effect of electric field (EF) on adult C. elegans egg-laying in a microchannel is discovered and correlated with neural and muscular activities. The quantitative effects of worm aging and EF strength, direction, and exposure duration on egg-laying are studied phenotypically using egg-count, body length, head movement, and transient neuronal activity readouts. Electric egg-laying rate increases significantly when worms face the anode and the response is EF-dependent, i.e. stronger (6 V cm-1) and longer EF (40 s) exposure result in a shorter egg laying response duration. Worm aging significantly deteriorates the electric egg-laying behaviour with an 88% decrease in the egg-count from day-1 to day-4 post young-adult stage. Fluorescent imaging of intracellular calcium dynamics in the main parts of the egg-laying neural circuit demonstrates the involvement and sensitivity of the serotonergic hermaphrodite specific neurons (HSNs), vulva muscles, and ventral cord neurons to the EF. HSN mutation also results in a reduced rate of electric egg-laying allowing the use of this technique for cellular screening and mapping of the neural basis of electrosensation in C. elegans. This novel assay can be parallelized and performed in a high-throughput manner for drug and gene screening applications.

Parallel-Channel Electrotaxis and Neuron Screening of Caenorhabditis elegans.

In this paper, we report a novel microfluidic method to conduct a Caenorhabditis elegans electrotaxis movement assay and neuronal imaging on up to 16 worms in parallel. C. elegans is a model organism for neurodegenerative disease and movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD), and for screening chemicals that alleviate protein aggregation, neuronal death, and movement impairment in PD. Electrotaxis of C. elegans in microfluidic channels has led to the development of neurobehavioral screening platforms, but enhancing the throughput of the electrotactic behavioral assay has remained a challenge. Our device consisted of a hierarchy of tree-like channels for worm loading into 16 parallel electrotaxis screening channels with equivalent electric fields. Tapered channels at the ends of electrotaxis channels were used for worm immobilization and fluorescent imaging of neurons. Parallel electrotaxis of worms was first validated against established single-worm electrotaxis phenotypes. Then, mutant screening was demonstrated using the NL5901 strain, carrying human α-synuclein in the muscle cells, by showing the associated electrotaxis defects in the average speed, body bend frequency (BBF), and electrotaxis time index (ETI). Moreover, chemical screening of a PD worm model was shown by exposing the BZ555 strain, expressing green fluorescence protein (GFP) in the dopaminergic neurons (DNs), to 6-hydroxydopamine neurotoxin. The neurotoxin-treated worms exhibited a reduction in electrotaxis swimming speed, BBF, ETI, and DNs fluorescence intensity. We envision our technique to be used widely in C. elegans-based movement disorder assays to accelerate behavioral and cellular phenotypic investigations.