Terminal Sterilization of Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Allografts: A Systematic Review of Outcomes

Introduction. Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are common and reconstruction can be completed with either autograft or allograft tissue. However, there is concern about an increased failure rate with allograft tissue. The purpose of this study was to systematically review the available evidence to determine the effect of irradiation and level of dose on the failure rates of allograft in ACL reconstruction. Methods. A literature search was performed using PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science from January 2000 to September 2013. Inclusion criteria consisted of the following: (1) primary, unilateral, single-bundle allograft ACL procedure, (2) studies with data documenting graft type and terminal sterilization technique, (3) subjective assessments of outcome, and (4) objective assessments of outcome. Studies without reported subjective and objective outcomes and those pertaining to revision ACL reconstruction were excluded. Failures were defined and compared between irradiated and non-irradiated grafts, as well as between grafts irradiated with 1.2 - 1.8 Mrad and those with 2.0 - 2.5 Mrad. Results. Of the 242 articles identified via initial search, 17 studies met the final inclusion criteria. A total of 1,090 patients were evaluated in this study, all having undergone unilateral primary ACL reconstruction with allograft tissue with 155 failures. The failure rate between non-irradiated (98/687, 14.7%) and irradiated (57/408, 14.0%) was not statistically significant (p = 0.86). Grafts in the high-dose irradiation group (27/135, 20.0%) had a statistically significant higher (p < 0.001) rate of failure than those in the low-dose irradiation group (30/273, 10.6%). Conclusion. The irradiation of an allograft increases the risk of failure after an ACL reconstruction but the use of lower doses of radiation decreases that risk

Characterisation of the multiphase fluid dynamics of the CoarseAIR™ fluidised bed flotation cell using the Large Modular Array (LaMA) for positron emission particle tracking (PEPT)

Fluidised bed flotation cells (FBFCs) present a compelling solution for coarse particle flotation, enabling an increase in the target particle size in comminution circuits, with the corresponding energy savings. Despite their potential and strong industrial interest, the three-phase fluid dynamics of large-scale FBFCs remain unexplored due to measurement complexities and size restrictions. This paper presents the first quantification of the fluid dynamics of the CoarseAir™-100, a 2 m tall laboratory-scale FBFC. Measurements were obtained using positron emission particle tracking (PEPT), a non-invasive technique that tracks the motion of a radiolabelled tracer. Leveraging the Large Modular Array (LaMA) PEPT system, consisting of 48 buckets, each housing four detector blocks, this study is the largest PEPT experiment to date. Particle tracks of hydrophobic and hydrophilic tracers were obtained under different fluidisation and airflow rates. Hydrophobic tracers exhibited buoyant behaviour despite their large size of up to 700 μm, while hydrophilic tracers engaged in recirculation patterns with rapid downward motion near the walls. The intricate motion of particles in the lamella plates was experimentally quantified, revealing an average path tortuosity of 7.3, providing essential information for design. These results represent a major advance in our understanding of fluidised bed flotation cells, contributing to the refinement of design and scale-up strategies for FBFCs

Characterisation of solid hydrodynamics in a three-phase stirred tank reactor with positron emission particle tracking (PEPT)

It is challenging to measure the hydrodynamics of stirred tank reactors when they contain multiphase flows comprising liquid, gas bubbles and particles. Radioactive particle tracking techniques such as positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) are the only established techniques to determine internal flow behaviour due to the inherent opacity and density of fluid and the vessel walls. The profiles of solids flow are an important tool for robust reactor design and optimisation and offer insight into underlying transport processes and particle–fluid–bubble interactions for applications such as froth flotation. In this work, measurements with PEPT were performed with two tracer particles differing in surface hydrophobicity to characterise the solids hydrodynamics in a baffled vessel agitated with a Rushton turbine. The location data from PEPT were averaged with time to estimate the probability density function (PDF) of particle velocity in individual voxels. The peaks of these voxel distributions were used to produce profiles of solids flow in different azimuthal and horizontal slices. Bimodal vertical velocity distributions were observed in the impeller radial jet which suggest the particles experienced trajectory crossing effects due to inertia. Statistical tests were performed to compare the velocity distributions of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic tracer particles, which indicated similar average flow behaviour in the liquid or pulp phase of the vessel and differences near the air inlet, in the impeller discharge stream and pulp–froth interface. With tracers designed to represent gangue and valuable mineral species, the differences in velocity reveal interactions such as bubble–particle attachment and entrainment

Hydrodynamics in a three-phase flotation system - fluid following with a new hydrogel tracer for Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT)

Understanding the hydrodynamics of three-phase stirred tanks, such as froth flotation cells, is paramount for the characterisation of turbulence, stability and performance. Although positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) is known for its effectiveness in measuring the hydrodynamics of particles in opaque, high solid content systems, it has not been widely used for characterising the liquid phase. This work presents a new, neutrally buoyant, alginate hydrogel tracer, designed to emulate the density of the liquid phase, which is suitable for high-speed tracking with PEPT. PEPT experiments were conducted in a bench-scale flotation cell, comparing the new tracer to ion-exchange resin tracers previously used in this system. Results showed statistically significant differences in pathlines, residence time and velocity distribution among the tracers. Moreover, the hydrodynamics of the new tracer agree with existing CFD predictions for the liquid phase. This methodology enables the comprehensive study of relative flow behaviour in complex multiphase systems

Disease-specific gene repositioning in breast cancer

The nuclear repositioning of specific genes may be a novel diagnostic strategy to distinguish malignant from normal tissue

Publication rates of abstracts presented at American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons annual open and closed conferences: 2015-2019

Background: The annual meetings hosted by the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) present the latest prepublication literature in shoulder and elbow surgery, facilitating early dissemination of novel findings that impact clinical decision-making. Evaluating the publication rate of presented abstracts at ASES conferences becomes crucial in assessing the quality of research showcased, as these presentations often precede the peer-review process. Methods: The ASES conference programs from 2015-2019 were reviewed to identify presented abstracts. For each abstract, the title, author(s), conference year, and meeting type (open vs. closed) were recorded. The names of the author(s) of each abstract were searched in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases to determine if there was an associated published manuscript. For each identified manuscript, the title, author(s), date of publication, publishing journal, impact factor of the publishing journal, level of evidence, and number of citations were recorded. Results: A total of 316 abstracts were presented as podium lectures at ASES open and closed meetings between 2015 and 2019. Within 3 years of presentation, 240 (75.9%) of the presented abstracts resulted in publication. There was an increase in the proportion of abstracts resulting in publication within 3 years of the presentation from 2015-2019 (R = 0.8733, P = .053). Overall, the proportion of presented abstracts that went on to publication in peer-reviewed journals also increased (R = 0.8907, P = .043). Manuscripts of abstracts presented at open meetings had a shorter time to publication (8.78 vs. 11.82 months; P = .0160) and were cited more often (40.89 vs. 30.11, P = .0099) than those presented at closed meetings. Conclusion: There has been an increase in the publication rate of abstracts presented at ASES annual meetings in the study period. Published manuscripts of abstracts presented at ASES open conferences were published faster, and were cited more often, than closed conferences. ASES conferences allow for the presentation of high-quality prepublication literature in shoulder and elbow surgery.VoRSUNY DownstateMedicineN/

Computationally-designed miniproteins showing neutralization activity against SARS-CoV-2

As the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated, the need for robust antiviral therapies against SARS-CoV-2 remains substantial. A promising strategy to meet this demand is through the development of proteins tailored for enhanced binding affinity to crucial viral targets, such as epitopes located on their fusion proteins. Among these targets is the Spike proteins receptor binding domain (RBD), which interacts with the human receptor ACE2 protein, initiating the viral entry process. Targeting the RBD epitope that binds to ACE2 is a promising strategy to fight COVID-19 and is used here as a model target to validate our approach. In this work, we implemented a computational pipeline leveraging artificial intelligence-based computational design methodologies, RFDiffusion and ProteinMPNN, to de novo design miniproteins targeting the RBD epitope that interacts with ACE2. The most promising designs were selected based on a combination of relevant criteria, including metrics derived from the protein structure prediction tool AlphaFold2 and properties like surface hydrophobicity and shape complementarity to the target. We expressed in vitro selected designs and evaluated their binding affinity to the RBD using Bio-layer Interferometry and Yeast Display assays. Proteins demonstrating favourable binding affinity to the RBD were subsequently subjected to neutralization assays, evaluating the proteins ability to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection. We observed that two of the selected designs can bind to the RBD and neutralize viral infection, thus successfully demonstrating that this computational framework is able to design proteins that are tailor-made to interact with specific epitopes. This paves the way for the next round of design, where the most promising candidates are being optimized using strategies that consider the oligomerization tendency observed in some of the designs tested.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio