Effects of diet and antibiotics on anastomotic healing: A mouse model study with varied dietary fiber and fat, and pre-operative antibiotics.

INTRODUCTION: This study investigated the separate impacts of diet and pre-operative antibiotics on gut microbiome and colonic anastomotic healing using a mouse model. METHODS: Male C57BL/6J mice were fed either low-fat-high-fibre (SD) or high-fat-low-fiber (WD) groups for 6 weeks, then further received either pre-operative antibiotics or a control sham before a colonic anastomotic procedure was performed. After 7 days, the anastomosis was assessed and microbiota composition and biodiversity were analyzed in anastomotic tissue and stool. RESULTS: WD-fed mice had shorter survival (5.2 â€‹± â€‹2.3 vs. 6.9 â€‹± â€‹2.3 days, p â€‹= â€‹0.022), increased weight loss (5.55 â€‹± â€‹3.80g vs. 2.65 â€‹± â€‹2.36g, p â€‹= â€‹0.03), and reduced biodiversity compared to SD-fed mice. Pre-operative antibiotics improved anastomotic healing scores (1.33 â€‹± â€‹0.65 vs. 2.08 â€‹± â€‹0.79, p â€‹= â€‹0.02) and reduced Enterococcus faecalis growth in tissue and stool (p â€‹= â€‹0.02, p â€‹= â€‹0.02). Improved anastomotic healing correlated with lower Enterococcus abundance (p â€‹= â€‹0.04) and higher collagen III and IV levels (p â€‹= â€‹0.01, 0.04) in anastomotic tissue. CONCLUSION: SD promotes enhanced post-operative recovery and increased microbiome biodiversity, while pre-operative antibiotics enhance anastomotic healing by suppressing Enterococcus faecalis growth, mitigating collagen III/IV degradation.

Model-based water accounting for integrated assessment of water resources systems at the basin scale.

Agricultural activities in the concept of integrated water resources management play a vital role. Especially in dry and semi-dry regions, agricultural activities have the largest share of water consumption. By employing a model-based approach using modified Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT agro-hydrological model), this study has prepared Water Accounting Plus (WA+) framework requirements to investigate different conditions of supply and demand in wet (1985-2000) and dry (2001-2015) periods in a semi-dry basin (Karkheh River Basin) in Iran. Our assessments based on WA+ show decreasing 10% (21.65 to 19.29 Billion Cubic Meters (BCM)/year) of precipitation in the dry period caused a 4% (0.13 BCM/year) decline in natural evapotranspiration. However, the basin experienced a 24% increment in evapotranspiration from agricultural activities at the same period, and runoff was approximately halved (2.45 BCM/year). Therefore, especially in downstream parts, surface water withdrawal has decreased by 18%. These new conditions have put pressure on groundwater resources. The aquifer extraction and total withdrawal for irrigation have grown by about 17% and 4%, respectively. Finally, it is evident that the manageable water has diminished due to climate change; not only the managed water consumption in the basin has not reduced, but it has also highly risen. The current study results help water authorities arrange new hydrological and climatic conditions strategies.

Incidence, Positional Distribution, Severity, and Time Missed in Medial Collateral Ligament Injuries of the Knee in NCAA Division I Football Athletes.

INTRODUCTION: We studied injury to the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I football players, their incidence, magnitude of injury, distribution by position, and missed time, which has not previously been described in a consecutive series. METHODS: The knee injuries sustained in 163 consecutive NCAA Division I collegiate football players at our institution were evaluated over a span of 6 years. RESULTS: The incidence of MCL injuries with any knee injury was 29% (47 of 163). Of 47 MCL injuries, 34% occurred in defensive linemen and 29% in offensive linemen. The average days missed by linemen were 14.65 compared with 4.5 by nonlinemen (P = 0.07). The MCL injuries in linemen were more severe than nonlinemen (0.018). DISCUSSION: MCL injuries occur most commonly in linemen in whom the magnitude of injury is also more significant than nonlinemen. Linemen miss more days than do nonlinemen to MCL injury. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive Epidemiology Study.

The effect of buccal corticotomy on accelerating orthodontic tooth movement of maxillary canine.

BACKGROUND: Selective alveolar corticotomy is defined as an intentional injury to cortical bone. This technique is an effective means of accelerating orthodontic tooth movement. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of buccal corticotomy in accelerating maxillary canine retraction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sample in this clinical trial study consisted of 15 adult female patients with therapeutic need for extraction of maxillary first premolars and maximum canine retraction. By use of split-mouth design, at the time of premolars extraction, buccal corticotomy was performed around the maxillary first premolar, randomly on one side of maxilla, and the other side was reserved as the control side. Canine retraction was performed by use of friction - less mechanic with simple vertical loop. Every 2 weeks, distance between canines and second premolars was measured until complete space closure. The velocity of space closure was calculated to evaluate the effect of this technique in accelerating orthodontic tooth movement. The obtained data were statistically analyzed using independent t-test, and the significance was set at 0.05. RESULTS: The rate of canine retraction was significantly higher on the corticotomy side than the control side by an average of 1.8 mm/month versus 1.1 mm/month in the corticotomy side and control side, respectively (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Based on result of this study, corticotomy can accelerates the rate of orthodontic tooth movement about two times faster than conventional orthodontics and it is significant in early stages after surgical porsedure. Therefore Buccal corticotomy is a useful adjunct technique for accelerating orthodontic tooth movement.

Evaluation of craniofacial proportions: A pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Regarding the need for determining the cephalometric norms for each population and the advantages of proportional analyses, we evaluated the variables of McNamara and Schwartz analyses and their relation in a pilot study on 6-17 years old Iranian students and provided formulas, which show these relations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this descriptive-analytical study, a tatal of cephalometric radiographs from the archive documents of Orthodontic Department of Isfahan Dental School was selected and traced. The variables of McNamara and Schwartz analyses were investigated. The data were analyzed by t-test and linear regression and Spearman correlation coefficient tests using SPSS 12 software, and the significance was set at 0.05. Then, a formula was suggested for predicting the relation between the jaws, cranium and face. RESULTS: The variables measured in this study were significantly different between the genders (P < 0.05), except for Co-Gn (P = 0.055), and they were higher in boys. All variables significantly increased (P < 0.05) with age from 6 to 17 years. The formulas presented in this study can be used for calculating the amount of PNS-APmax, Go-APmax and the Co-Gn, anterior nasal spine-menton in the Iranian population. CONCLUSION: Within the limitation of this study, the formula presented in this study might be considered to predict the relation between jaw dimensions and cranial base and facial dimensions in the Iranian population.

Ultrafast nonlinear optical studies of silicon nanowaveguides.

Results of a self-consistent ultrafast study of nonlinear optical properties of silicon nanowaveguides using heterodyne pump-probe technique are reported. The two-photon absorption coefficient and free-carrier absorption effective cross-section were determined to be 0.68cm/GW, and 1.9x10(-17) cm2, respectively and the Kerr coefficient and free-carrier-induced refractive index change 0.32x10(-13) cm2/W, and -5.5x10(-21) cm3, respectively. The effects of the proton bombardment on the linear loss and the carrier lifetime of the devices were also studied. Carrier lifetime reduction from 330ps to 33ps with a linear loss of only 14.8dB/cm was achieved using a proton bombardment level of 10(15)/cm2.

Photonic ADC: overcoming the bottleneck of electronic jitter.

Accurate conversion of wideband multi-GHz analog signals into the digital domain has long been a target of analog-to-digital converter (ADC) developers, driven by applications in radar systems, software radio, medical imaging, and communication systems. Aperture jitter has been a major bottleneck on the way towards higher speeds and better accuracy. Photonic ADCs, which perform sampling using ultra-stable optical pulse trains generated by mode-locked lasers, have been investigated for many years as a promising approach to overcome the jitter problem and bring ADC performance to new levels. This work demonstrates that the photonic approach can deliver on its promise by digitizing a 41 GHz signal with 7.0 effective bits using a photonic ADC built from discrete components. This accuracy corresponds to a timing jitter of 15 fs - a 4-5 times improvement over the performance of the best electronic ADCs which exist today. On the way towards an integrated photonic ADC, a silicon photonic chip with core photonic components was fabricated and used to digitize a 10 GHz signal with 3.5 effective bits. In these experiments, two wavelength channels were implemented, providing the overall sampling rate of 2.1 GSa/s. To show that photonic ADCs with larger channel counts are possible, a dual 20-channel silicon filter bank has been demonstrated.

Can the reparability of meniscal tears be predicted with magnetic resonance imaging?

BACKGROUND: Historically, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been very useful in diagnosing meniscal tears but not as valuable in predicting whether a meniscal tear is reparable. Given that several recent studies suggested that MRI can be used to predict tear reparability, the topic has resurfaced as a controversy in the orthopaedic and radiology literatures. HYPOTHESIS: Experienced musculoskeletal radiologists can use MRI to predict the reparability of meniscal tears with good to excellent accuracy using the same arthroscopic criteria used by surgeons intraoperatively. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 3. METHODS: Fifty-eight patients with meniscal tears treated with repair were matched by age and sex with 61 patients with tears treated with meniscectomy. Two senior musculoskeletal radiologists independently and blindly reviewed preoperative MRI of these 119 meniscal tears. Using established arthroscopic criteria, the radiologists were asked to grade each tear 0 to 4, with 1 point for each of the following: a tear larger than 10 mm, within 3 mm of the meniscosynovial junction, greater than 50% thickness, and with an intact inner meniscal fragment. Only a tear with a score of 4 would be predicted to be reparable. RESULTS: The 2 radiologists' ability to correctly estimate reparability was poor, with 58.0% and 62.7% correct predictions (κ = 0.155 and 0.250, respectively). Interrater reliability assessment showed that the raters agreed on a score of 4 (reparable) versus <4 (not reparable) 73.7% of the time (κ = 0.434) but came to identical scores only 38.1% of the time (κ = 0.156). Determining the status of the inner fragment was the most predictive individual criterion and the only one to reach statistical significance (χ(2) = 14.9, P <.001). CONCLUSION: Magnetic resonance imaging is not an effective or efficient predictor of reparability of meniscal tears with the current arthroscopic criteria.

Compact, stable 1 GHz femtosecond Er-doped fiber lasers.

We demonstrate a high-repetition-rate soliton fiber laser that is based on highly doped anomalously dispersive erbium-doped fiber. By splicing an 11 mm single-mode fiber to the erbium-doped fiber, the thermal damage of the butt-coupled saturable Bragg reflector (SBR) is overcome. The laser generates 187 fs pulses at a repetition rate of 967 MHz with a measured long-term stability of more than 60 h.

Brachial artery-jugular vein jump graft: a salvage procedure for vascular access.

A prospective analysis was made on 11 patients who received a brachial artery-external/internal jugular polytetrafluoroethylene jump graft for hemodialysis access. The procedure was chosen because of exhaustion of the veins in the upper extremity owing to previous multiple failed fistulas or grafts. In two patients, the procedure failed after several months. Six patients retained functioning grafts for >18 months after shunt construction. Three patients are still under observation and have a functional graft after 3 months. We believe that the brachial artery-external/internal jugular vein jump graft is a salvage procedure that can be used for vascular access when all upper extremity veins, including the subclavian or axillary veins, cannot be used.

Continuous-wave two-photon absorption in a Watt-class semiconductor optical amplifier.

We report the observation of photoluminescence produced by the recombination of free carriers generated via continuous-wave (CW) two-photon absorption (TPA) in a packaged, low-confinement (Gamma approximately 0.5%) InGaAsP/InP quantum-well slab-coupled optical waveguide amplifier (SCOWA) having a saturation output power of 0.8 W and 1/e-mode-field diameters of 5 x 7 microm. Photoluminescence power measured at the wavelength corresponding to the bandgap wavelength of the SCOWA's InGaAsP waveguide (lambda(G) approximately 1040 nm) exhibits a quadratic dependence on the amplifier's 1540-nm output power. Comparison between measured and simulated CW gain saturation data reveals that the combination of TPA and TPA-generated free-carrier absorption (FCA) limits the CW output intensity of high-power, low-confinement semiconductor optical amplifiers and semiconductor lasers.

Accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging in determining the presence and size of recurrent rotator cuff tears.

We attempted to assess the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in determining the size of recurrent cuff tears in correlation with size measured at surgery. Thirty-seven shoulders in 33 patients who had reoperation for a presumed failed rotator cuff repair were retrospectively evaluated. All patients had preoperative MRI, the results of which were read by a musculoskeletal radiologist to determine the presence of a tear and to estimate its size. All tears were measured intraoperatively in sagittal and coronal planes. Thirty-three shoulders had recurrent tears of the rotator cuff, and MRI correctly identified the presence of 30 of them. MRI correctly identified only 1 of the 4 patients without a recurrent tear of the cuff. The correlation coefficient for MRI accurately defining the size of cuff tears was 0.46. The sensitivity of MRI for the diagnosis of retear was 91%, and the specificity was 25%. MRI is accurate in diagnosing a recurrent full-thickness cuff tear in postsurgical shoulders. However, it is relatively inaccurate in correctly defining the size of the tear. MRI also has a tendency to overdiagnose cuff tears in postsurgical patients with continued pain and symptoms.