Recovery of Shoulder, Elbow, and Forearm Movement After Nerve Reconstruction for Neonatal Brachial Plexus Palsy.

Background And Objectives: There is a relative dearth of published data with respect to recovery of upper extremity movement after nerve reconstruction for neonatal brachial plexus palsy (NBPP). This study aimed to demonstrate long-term recovery of active range of motion (AROM) at the shoulder, elbow, and forearm after nerve reconstruction for NBPP and to compare that with patients managed nonoperatively.

Methods: We interrogated a prospectively collected database of all patients evaluated for NBPP at a single institution from 2005 to 2020.

Early referral to multidisciplinary specialty centers to optimize outcomes in children with neonatal brachial plexus palsy.

Aim: To demonstrate the trajectory of long-term recovery of upper-extremity movement and determine optimal timing of evaluation at multidisciplinary specialty centers in children with neonatal brachial plexus palsy (NBPP).

Method: All children with conservatively managed NBPP seen at one institution from 2005 to 2020 were considered for inclusion. The cohort was divided according to age at formal evaluation (≤30 or > 30 days).

Developing interdisciplinary research teams in neurosurgery: key elements to success in brachial plexus and peripheral nerve surgery.

The highest-impact medical literature is increasingly produced by interdisciplinary teams. The field of neurosurgery, which involves complex pathologies and recoveries, is particularly amenable to interdisciplinary research approaches. However, research in the medical context regarding the characteristics of effective teams, as well as how to develop and maintain interdisciplinary teams, remains lacking.

Bioinspired Breathable Architecture for Water Harvesting.

Thuja plicata is a coniferous tree which displays remarkable water channelling properties. In this article, an easily fabricated mesh inspired by the hierarchical macro surface structure of Thuja plicata branchlets is described which emulates this efficient water collection behaviour. The key parameters are shown to be the pore size, pore angle, mesh rotation, tilt angle (branch droop) and layering (branch overlap).

Prevalence of Posterior Shoulder Subluxation in Children With Neonatal Brachial Plexus Palsy After Early Full Passive Range of Motion Exercises.

Background: Children with neonatal brachial plexus palsy (NBPP) are often prescribed shoulder range of motion (ROM) exercises; however, the extent and timing of exercise implementation remains controversial in the context of shoulder joint integrity. The association of ROM exercises to delayed posterior shoulder subluxation (PSS) is unknown.

Objective: To determine prevalence of PSS in children with NBPP who began full passive ROM exercises before 6 months of age, and characteristics associated with development or absence of PSS in children.

Detection of gunshot residue on dark-colored clothing prior to chemical analysis.

Detection of gunshot residue (GSR) is an arduous task for investigators. It is often accomplished with chemical tests, which can reveal elements and ions indicating the presence of GSR, but are likely to cause physical alteration to the pattern. In this study, the Spex Forensics Mini-CrimeScope MCS 400, along with 16 accompanying wavelength filters, was applied to various GSR patterns and target types.

A systematic review of evaluation methods for neonatal brachial plexus palsy: a review.

Object: Neonatal brachial plexus palsy (NBPP) affects 0.4-2.6 newborns per 1000 live births in the US.

Home exercise DVD promotes exercise accuracy by caregivers of children and adolescents with brachial plexus palsy.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of home exercise performance by caregivers of children with neonatal brachial plexus palsy (NBPP) who use digital versatile disc (DVD) guidance.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Brachial Plexus Clinic at the University of Michigan.

An assessment of the compliance and utility of a home exercise DVD for caregivers of children and adolescents with brachial plexus palsy: a pilot study.

Objective: To investigate the impact of a video-based educational resource on home exercise compliance among caregivers of children with neonatal brachial plexus palsy (NBPP).

Design: Retrospective analysis of self-reported caregiver home exercise habits and resultant shoulder range of motion (ROM) and biceps power in patients with NBPP.

Setting: Home-based exercise program.

Torticollis associated with neonatal brachial plexus palsy.

We investigate the incidence of torticollis associated with neonatal brachial plexus palsy, whether the severity of brachial plexus palsy affects outcomes and the rate of recovery. We performed a retrospective review of 128 consecutive neonatal brachial plexus palsy patients evaluated at the University of Michigan from 2005-2009. Patients were followed for at least 3 months, with regular physical examinations and imaging.

Comprehensive care for the child with upper extremity limb deficiency.

Children with limb deficiencies/amputations are best managed by a multidisciplinary team comprised of physicians specializing in their care, prosthetists, and therapists. For a successful functional outcome, the rehabilitation team will need to consider the goals of the child and parents as they select appropriate components that will aid and not overwhelm the child. The prosthesis will need to accommodate growth and development and withstand the rigors of use during play.

A binary linear programming formulation of the graph edit distance.

A binary linear programming formulation of the graph edit distance for unweighted, undirected graphs with vertex attributes is derived and applied to a graph recognition problem. A general formulation for editing graphs is used to derive a graph edit distance that is proven to be a metric, provided the cost function for individual edit operations is a metric. Then, a binary linear program is developed for computing this graph edit distance, and polynomial time methods for determining upper and lower bounds on the solution of the binary program are derived by applying solution methods for standard linear programming and the assignment problem.

Analysis of blood flow velocity and pressure signals using the multipulse method.

This paper shows how the multipulse method from digital signal processing can be used to accurately synthesize signals obtained from blood pressure and blood flow velocity sensors during posture change from sitting to standing. The multipulse method can be used to analyze signals that are composed of pulses of varying amplitudes. One of the advantages of the multipulse method is that it is able to produce an accurate and efficient representation of the signals at high resolution.

Design, synthesis and structure of a zinc finger with an artificial beta-turn.

We have incorporated a bicyclic beta-turn mimetic (BTD; beta-turn dipeptide) into a zinc finger, creating a zinc finger with an artificial beta-turn. The designed peptide chelates zinc and has the same fold as the unmodified native zinc finger (finger 3 of the human YY1 protein). A combination of 1H NMR and structure calculations reveals that, in solution, this zinc finger has a fold similar to the known wild-type crystal structure and to other zinc fingers containing the consensus sequence X3-Cys-X4-Cys-X12-His-X3-His-X.

Immunohistochemical demonstration of proteinase inhibitor alpha-1-antichymotrypsin in normal human central nervous system.

The presence of alpha-1-antichymotrypsin, a serine proteinase inhibitor with a high affinity for cathepsin G, is demonstrated in the normal human central nervous system (CNS) by immunohistochemical techniques. Paraffin-embedded normal human CNS tissue from five adult, two fetal, one neonatal and three newborn autopsies were stained with monospecific rabbit antibodies to human alpha-1-antichymotrypsin using biotinylated goat anti-rabbit antibodies and an avidinbiotin-peroxidase complex. Positive immunostaining was seen in neurons and glial cells in the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, hippocampus, cerebellum, brainstem, and spinal cord of the adults.

Beneficial effect of increased dietary linoleate upon in vivo platelet function in man.

The effect of increasing dietary linoleate upon in vivo platelet aggregation and disaggregation in 20 males and 46 female adult humans was studied. In creasing exogenous linoleate for 2 weeks from 2.89 +/- 0.

Titrating dietary linoleate to in vivo platelet function in man.

Platelet aggregation time significantly increased within 48 hours in response to an increase in dietary linoleate of 4% of calories while disaggregation time decreased significantly in 96 hours. A change as small as 0.5% of calories was associated with significant alterations within 4 days.