Sagittal Realignment Following Decompression for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis in Elderly Patients: A Comprehensive EOS Imaging Analysis.

Background/objectives: This study investigated whether decompression surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis can effectively improve sagittal alignment in elderly patients. With the growing focus on sagittal balance in spinal surgery, this study aimed to evaluate post-decompression alignment changes and identify the factors influencing these changes using the EOS imaging system.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 49 elderly patients who underwent decompression surgery alone for lumbar spinal stenosis.

A Military Audio Dataset for Situational Awareness and Surveillance.

Audio classification related to military activities is a challenging task due to the high levels of background noise and the lack of suitable and publicly available datasets. To bridge this gap, this paper constructs and introduces a new military audio dataset, named MAD, which is suitable for training and evaluating audio classification systems. The proposed MAD dataset is extracted from various military videos and contains 8,075 sound samples from 7 classes corresponding to approximately 12 hours, exhibiting distinctive characteristics not presented in academic datasets typically used for machine learning research.

Ankle and toe weakness caused by calcified ligamentum flavum cyst: A case report.

Background: Ligamentum flavum cysts, which are most common in mobile junctional levels of the spine, can be a rare cause of spinal stenosis. There have been several case reports of ligamentum flavum cysts. However, there is yet to be a documented case report of a calcified ligamentum flavum cyst.

Application of -Derived Recombinant Human Bone Morphogenic Protein-2 to Unstable Spinal Fractures.

(1) Background: Recently, -derived recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (-derived rhBMP-2) has been increasingly applied to different types of spinal surgeries and reported to achieve successful fusion. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of rhBMP-2 in patients undergoing posterior instrumented fusions for unstable spinal fractures. (2) Methods: This study included ten consecutive patients undergoing spinal surgery using -derived rhBMP-2 with more than one year of follow-up.

Microfluidic-Assisted Synthesis of Metal-Organic Framework -Alginate Micro-Particles for Sustained Drug Delivery.

Drug delivery systems (DDS) are continuously being explored since humans are facing more numerous complicated diseases than ever before. These systems can preserve the drug's functionality and improve its efficacy until the drug is delivered to a specific site within the body. One of the least used materials for this purpose are metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).

Nanoarchitectonics of Bimetallic MOF@Lab-Grade Flexible Filter Papers: An Approach Towards Real-Time Water Decontamination and Circular Economy.

This study presents a novel approach to decontaminate ferrocyanide-contaminated wastewater. The work effectively demonstrates the use of bimetallic Mo/Zr-UiO-66 as a super-adsorbent for rapid sequestration of Prussian blue, a frequently found iron complex in cyanide-contaminated soils/groundwater. The exceptional performance of Mo/Zr-UiO-66 is attributed to the insertion of secondary metallic sites, which deliver synergistic effects, benefiting the inherent qualities of the framework.

Characterization of bipolar plates manufactured with various Pb/C ratios for unitized regenerative fuel cell system.

The weight reduction of the bipolar plate (BP) is essential for commercializing unitized regenerative fuel cells (URFCs). In order to lighten the weight of the bipolar plate, we have used Pb/C composite powder as a cost-effective primary material, which is a mixture of low-density graphite and lead. Further, varied lead-carbon weight ratios (1: 8, 1:4, 1:1, 4:1, and 8:1) were investigated for fabricating the bipolar plate by hot-pressing process adding styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) as a binder.

Effect of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis on Treatment of Osteoporosis: Comparison of Three Oral Bisphosphonate Therapies.

(1) Background: Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) causes uncomfortable neuropathic symptoms, which can negatively affect osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of LSS on bone mineral density (BMD) in patients treated with one of three oral bisphosphonates (ibandronate, alendronate and risedronate) for initially diagnosed osteoporosis. (2) Methods: We included 346 patients treated with oral bisphosphonates for three years.

Adult asthma with symptomatic eosinophilic inflammation is accompanied by alteration in gut microbiome.

Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that the gut microbiome is associated with asthma. However, altered gut microbiome in adult asthma is not yet well established. We aimed to investigate the gut microbiome profiles of adult asthmatic patients with symptomatic eosinophilic inflammation.

Design and Methods of a Prospective Smartphone App-Based Study for Digital Phenotyping of Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Mixed With Centralized and Decentralized Research Form: The Search Your Mind (S.Y.M., ) Project.

In this study, the Search Your Mind (S.Y.M.

Improved Spoken Language Representation for Intent Understanding in a Task-Oriented Dialogue System.

Successful applications of deep learning technologies in the natural language processing domain have improved text-based intent classifications. However, in practical spoken dialogue applications, the users' articulation styles and background noises cause automatic speech recognition (ASR) errors, and these may lead language models to misclassify users' intents. To overcome the limited performance of the intent classification task in the spoken dialogue system, we propose a novel approach that jointly uses both recognized text obtained by the ASR model and a given labeled text.

Functionalized Porous Hydroxyapatite Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications: A Focused Review.

Biomaterials have been widely used in tissue engineering applications at an increasing rate in recent years. The increased clinical demand for safe scaffolds, as well as the diversity and availability of biomaterials, has sparked rapid interest in fabricating diverse scaffolds to make significant progress in tissue engineering. Hydroxyapatite (HAP) has drawn substantial attention in recent years owing to its excellent physical, chemical, and biological properties and facile adaptable surface functionalization with other innumerable essential materials.

Cerium based UiO-66 MOF as a multipollutant adsorbent for universal water purification.

Herein, we demonstrate the use of cerium (Ce)-UiO-66 metal organic framework (MOF) for the removal of a variety of potentially toxic pollutants. The Ce-UiO-66 MOF, with similar framework topologies to Zr-UiO-66, has not been explored for its adsorptive properties in water remediation. The replacement of Zr metal center with Ce yields a MOF that can be synthesized in shorter durations with lesser energy consumptions and with excellent multipollutant adsorption properties.

Surface engineering of silica based materials with Ni-Fe layered double hydroxide for the efficient removal of methyl orange: Isotherms, kinetics, mechanism and high selectivity studies.

Herein, low-cost diatomite (DE) and bentonite (BE) materials were surface modified with Ni-Fe layered double hydroxide (LDHs) (represented as NFD and NFB respectively), using a simple co-precipitation procedure for the removal of methyl orange (MO) dye from water. The adsorbents of both before and after MO adsorption have been studied by XRD, N adsorption-desorption isotherm, FTIR, FESEM-EDX and XPS characterization. The zeta potential analysis was used to observe the surface charge of adsorbents within the pH ranges of 4-10.

Effect of palladium on the black mass-based catalyst prepared from spent Zn/Mn alkaline batteries for catalytic combustion of volatile organic compounds.

A large amount of spent batteries is produced annually. When spente batteries are buried, their harmful components may contaminate soil and water. Therefore, recycling of spent batteries is essential for environmental reasons.

Catalytic Performance of Supported Bimetallic Catalysts for Complete Oxidation of Toluene.

The complete oxidation of toluene (as a model volatile organic compound) was studied to determine the influence of adding a transition metal (Mn, Cr, Fe, Co, and Ni) to the 5 Cu/Al catalyst. The physcochemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, field emission transmission electron microscopy (FE/TEM), and hydrogen temperature programmed reduction (H₂-TPR). The catalytic activity of the supported bimetallic catalysts followed the order: 5Cu-5Mn/Al > 5Cu-5Cr/Al > 5Cu-5Fe/Al > 5Cu-5Co/Al > 5Cu > 5Cu-5Ni/Al, based on the temperature for of toluene conversion (T).

Recycling of a spent alkaline battery as a catalyst for the total oxidation of hydrocarbons.

A spent alkaline battery-based (SB) catalyst was prepared from the black mass of a spent alkaline battery to determine the potential of recycling spent alkaline batteries as catalysts for the total oxidation of hydrocarbons. Five different acids (HSO, HNO, CHO, HCl, and HPO) were used to examine the effect of acid treatment on catalytic activity during catalyst preparation. Hexane, benzene, toluene, and o-xylene (HBTX) were adopted as the VOCs for experiments.

Cervical myelopathy due to subaxial calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) deposition with simultaneous asymptomatic crowned dens syndrome: two case reports.

Background: There are few reports of cervical myelopathy caused by an attack of subaxial calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) deposition. Moreover, there has been no report on cervical myelopathy by subaxial CPPD deposition with simultaneous asymptomatic crowned dens syndrome (CDS) at the same time.

Case Presentation: The first case was a 68-year-old male complaining of cervical myelopathic symptoms.

Recovery of spent VOSO using an organic ligand for vanadium redox flow battery applications.

To recover the spent vanadium compound, Rhodamine-B-based Schiff's base ligand (L) was synthesized via ultrasonication process and was evaluated with vanadyl sulfate (VOSO), which has shown considerable selectivity towards V(IV). The change of the solution color from colorless to pink is attributed to L after the reaction with vanadium ion owing to the successful formation of the vanadium complex and the opening of the spirolactam ring in the L structure. In FT-IR spectra, the vanadyl peaks are co-existed with the L structure, which confirmed the complex formation of the L with vanadium.

Performance of platinum doping on spent alkaline battery-based catalyst for complete oxidation of o-xylene.

Oxidation of o-xylene was performed using alkaline battery-based catalyst doped with platinum to investigate the properties and activities. O-xylene was selected as the model of volatile organic compound (VOC) in this work. Physicochemical properties of the selected catalysts were characterized by FE/TEM (field emission transmission electron microscopy), BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) analysis, XRD (X-ray powder diffraction), SEM/EDX (scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy), and H-TPR (hydrogen temperature programmed reduction).

Surface Modification of Sulfonated Poly(phenylene oxide) Membrane for Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries.

Sulfonated poly(phenylene) oxide (sPPO) polymer is coated in a dopamine hydrochloride solution to prepare a highly durable, low-price polymer membrane for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs). The polydopamine (PDA) coating on the sPPO membrane is confirmed using SEM and EDX analysis. sPPO coated with PDA exhibits decreased proton conductivity due to high resistance.

Polyvinylidene Fluoride Nanofiber Composite Membrane Coated with Perfluorinated Sulfuric Acid for Microbial Fuel Cell Application.

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is bioelectrochemical system that enables the biochemical activities of bacteria to generate electricity. A composite membrane was prepared from polyvinylidene fluoride nanofiber coated with perfluorinated sulfuric acid ionomer (PVDF-PFSA) and evaluated as a replacement for the commercially available Nafion membrane, which is commonly used in MFC reactors. The power density obtained with the PVDF-PFSA composite membrane was higher than that obtained with the Nafion membrane in MFC reactors.

Complete Oxidation of Volatile Organic Compounds Over Spent Vanadium-Based Catalyst.

The catalytic oxidation of benzene and toluene (VOCs) was carried out in order to assess the properties and catalytic activities of spent vanadium-based catalyst and that modified with copper and manganese. The properties of the prepared catalysts were characterized by the Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) surface area method as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR), and Scanning electron microscopy-Energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) analyses. The experimental results showed that oxalic acid treatment significantly affected the activity of the spent vanadium-based catalyst, ultimately attributing to the removal of catalyst poison such as sulfur and the even redistribution of catalyst components.

The effect of prolonged rhBMP-2 treatment on telomerase activity, replicative capacity and senescence of human nucleus pulposus cells.

We investigated the effect of prolonged rhBMP-2 treatment on telomerase activity, replicative capacity and senescence of nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs) during long term culture. We obtained intervertebral disc (IVD) tissues with grade III degeneration from four patients. NPCs were isolated and passaged serially in three groups: control group, low-dose rhBMP-2 group and high-dose rhBMP-2 group until the cells reached the end of their replicative lifespan.