Resection of the odontoid process and anterior arch of the atlas results in atlantoaxial instability, which if left uncorrected may lead to severe neurological complications. Currently, such atlantoaxial instability is corrected by anterior and/or posterior C1-C2 fusion. However, this results in considerable loss of rotation function of the atlantoaxial complex. From the viewpoint of retaining the rotation function and providing stability, we designed an artificial atlanto-odontoid joint based on anatomical measurements of 50 pairs of dry atlantoaxial specimens by digital calipers and 10 fresh cadaveric specimens by microsurgical techniques. The metal-on-metal titanium alloy joint has an arc-shaped atlas component, and a hollow cylindrical bushing into which fits a rotation axle of an inverted v-shaped axis component and is implanted through a transoral approach. After the joint was implanted onto specimens with anterior decompression, biomechanical tests were performed to compare the stability parameters in the intact state, after decompression, after artificial joint replacement, and after fatigue test. Compared to the intact state, artificial joint replacement resulted in a significant decrease in the range of motion (ROM) and neutral zone (NZ) during flexion, extension, and lateral bending (P < 0.001); however, with regard to axial rotation, there was no significant difference in ROM (P = 0.405), a significant increase in NZ (P = 0.008), and a significant decrease in stiffness (P = 0.003). Compared to the decompressed state, artificial joint replacement resulted in a significantly decreased ROM (P B 0.021) and NZ (P B 0.002) and a significantly increased stiffness (P \ 0.001) in all directions. Following artificial joint replacement, there was no significant difference in ROM (P C 0.719), NZ (P C 0.580), and stiffness (P C 0.602) in all directions before and after the fatigue test. The artificial joint showed no signs of wear and tear after the fatigue test. This artificial atlanto-odontoid joint may be useful in cases of odontoid resection due to malunion or nonunion of odontoid fracture, atraumatic odontoid fracture, irreducible atlas dislocation, posterior atlantoaxial subluxation, or congenital skull base abnormalities.

The double diffusion model was proposed in the late 1970s and extended in 1980s and 1990s by Aifantis and co-workers. It is a continuum model that assumes two local non-equilibrium concentration fields abiding separate mass–momentum equations mediated by a linear mass exchange term. The present work deals with stochastic double diffusion of two competing phase densities to study transport in nanocrystals. We show that the presence of surface inhomogeneities and temporal delay, represented by stochastic dynamics, could have substantial impact at the interface of the two phases. The effect is most pronounced at a critical point (stochastic resonance), where maximum energy transfer occurs, thereby quantifying the impact of surface imperfections in nanocrystal dynamics. The results have been favourably compared with experimental data. This is part of a thematic issue on Small Scale Mechanics - EUROMAT.

Studies on the influence of a modern lifestyle in abetting Coronary Heart Diseases (CHD) have mostly focused on deterrent health factors, likesmoking, alcohol intake, cheese consumption and average systolic blood pressure, largely disregarding the impact of a healthy lifestyle in mitigating CHD risk. In this study, 30+ years' World Health Organization (WHO) data have been analyzed, using a wide array of advanced Machine Learning techniques, to quantify how regulated reliance on positive health indicators, e.g. fruits/vegetables, cereals can offset CHD risk factors over a period of time. Our research ranks the impact of the negative outliers on CHD and then quantifies the impact of the positive health factors in mitigating the negative risk-factors. Our research outcomes, presented through simple mathematical equations, outline the best CHD prevention strategy using lifestyle control only. We show that a 20% increase in the intake of fruit/vegetable leads to 3-6% decrease in SBP; or, a 10% increase in cereal intake lowers SBP by 3%; a simultaneous increase of 10% in fruit-vegetable can further offset the effects of SBP by 6%. Our analysis establishes gender independence of lifestyle on CHD, refuting long held assumptions and unqualified beliefs. We show that CHD risk can be lowered with incremental changes in lifestyle and diet, e.g. fruit-vegetable intake ameliorating effects of alcohol-smoking-fatty food. Our multivariate data model also estimates functional relationships amongst lifestyle factors that can potentially redefine the diagnostics of Framingham score-based CHD-prediction.Globally, cardiovascular diseases account for nearly 17.9 million deaths with Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) accounting for 80% of these 1 . A myriad of factors have been identified as risk generators, including ethnicity, sex, total cholesterol level, triglycerides, blood pressure, that in turn are affected by life style denominators 2,3 . Together, they determine the risk appraisal function that have been assessed using conventional predictive scoring like body mass index (BMI) and Framingham scores 4,5 together with more advanced population biology or epidemiological estimators. Although there have been numerous advances in the treatment of established CHD, at a population level, assessed through Artificial Intelligence (Machine Learning) based adaptation of established statistical wisdom, remains a major knowledge gap 5 .Ground breaking epidemiological studies have identified key lifestyle and health indicators as risk factors for Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) 6-9 . Lifestyle factors include smoking 10,11 , alcohol consumption 12 , lack of physical activity while key health indicators include obesity, high blood pressure 5 and diabetes 13 . Evidence suggests a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains can mitigate the onset of CHD 8 . Some of these risk factors are not individually causative but when combined with other risk factors, increase the risk of CHD 10-14 . Further, lifestyle factors can be suitably modified to ameli...

ReagentsDulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM, low glucose) and foetal bovine serum (FBS) were purchased from ABSTRACT Background: The choroid plexuses, which could secrete a number of neurotrophins, have recently been used in transplantation in central nervous system diseases.Aims: To study the mechanism of nerve regeneration in the central nervous system by grafting choroid plexus tissues.Study Design: Animal experimentation. Methods:The choroid plexuses from the lateral ventricles of neonatal rats were cultured in adherent culture, and immunocytochemical methods were used to analyse the progenitor cells on days 2, 6, and 10 after seeding.Results: Expression of both nestin and glial fibrillary acidic protein was observed in small cell aggregates on day 2 in primary culture. Most of the nestinpositive cells on day 6 were immunoreactive to glial fibrillary acidic protein antibody. No cells expressing nestin or glial fibrillary acidic protein were seen on day 10. Conclusion:These experimental results indicate that the choroid plexus contains a specific cell population -progenitor cells. Under in vitro experimental conditions, the progenitor cells differentiated into choroid plexus epithelial cells but did not form neurons or astrocytes.

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