The international spine registry SPINE TANGO: status quo and first results

With an official life time of over 5years, Spine Tango can meanwhile be considered the first international spine registry. In this paper we present an overview of frequency statistics of Spine Tango for demonstrating the genesis of questionnaire development and the constantly increasing activity in the registry. Results from two exemplar studies serve for showing concepts of data analysis applied to a spine registry. Between 2002 and 2006, about 6,000 datasets were submitted by 25 centres. Descriptive analyses were performed for demographic, surgical and follow-up data of three generations of the Spine Tango surgery and follow-up forms. The two exemplar studies used multiple linear regression models to identify potential predictor variables for the occurrence of dura lesions in posterior spinal fusion, and to evaluate which covariates influenced the length of hospital stay. Over the study period there was a rise in median patient age from 52.3 to 58.6years in the Spine Tango data pool and an increasing percentage of degenerative diseases as main pathology from 59.9 to 71.4%. Posterior decompression was the most frequent surgical measure. About one-third of all patients had documented follow-ups. The complication rate remained below 10%. The exemplar studies identified "centre of intervention” and "number of segments of fusion” as predictors of the occurrence of dura lesions in posterior spinal fusion surgery. Length of hospital stay among patients with posterior fusion was significantly influenced by "centre of intervention”, "surgeon credentials”, "number of segments of fusion”, "age group” and "sex”. Data analysis from Spine Tango is possible but complicated by the incompatibility of questionnaire generations 1 and 2 with the more recent generation 3. Although descriptive and also analytic studies at evidence level 2++ can be performed, findings cannot yet be generalised to any specific country or patient population. Current limitations of Spine Tango include the low number and short duration of follow-ups and the lack of sufficiently detailed patient data on subgroup levels. Although the number of participants is steadily growing, no country is yet represented with a sufficient number of hospitals. Nevertheless, the benefits of the project for the whole spine community become increasingly visibl

Tolstoi's bondage and release : a play in 4 acts /

English translation of Max Zweig's play "Tolstois Gefangenschaft und Flucht," about Tolstoy's encounters with family, love, and God in the days before his death.Dramatist, born 1892 in Prossnitz. Emigrated from Germany to Prague in 1934 and to Palestine in 1938. Died 1992 in Jerusalem.Processed for digitizationSent for digitizationReturned from digitizationLinked to online manifestationdigitize

Adaptations of Older Drivers: A Retrospective Study

With increasing numbers of older drivers, occupational therapists and other health professionals need to develop skills and explore strategies to facilitate safe driving in older adults. Therefore, a mixed methods non-experimental study of three CarFit events held in Marin County in 2007, 2008, and 2009 was conducted. Participants were 151 older drivers in Marin County who attended the event. Findings indicated that while few participants had difficulty with standard car safety features, more had difficulty with features that needed periodic readjusting, such as seats and mirrors. Participants felt reassured knowing that they were driving safe in their vehicles and appreciated the information given by the evaluators regarding specific car safety features. Participants also offered suggestions for how to improve future events. Because driving is an important life occupation for older adults, occupational therapists should support the development of community-based driver safety events such as CarFit

Lipid signatures and inter-cellular heterogeneity of naïve and lipopolysaccharide-stimulated human microglia-like cells

AbstractMicroglia are non-neuronal cells, which are residing in the central nervous system and are known to play an important role in health and disease. We investigated lipidomic phenotypes of human naïve and stimulated microglia-like cells by atmospheric-pressure scanning microprobe matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (AP-SMALDI MSI). With lateral resolutions between 5 μm and 1.5 μm, we were able to chart lipid compositions of individual cells, enabling to differentiate cell lines and stimulation conditions. This allowed us to reveal local lipid heterogeneities in naïve and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated cells. We were able to identify individual cells with elevated triglyceride (TG) levels and could show that the number of these TG-enriched cells increased with LPS stimulation as a hallmark for a proinflammatory phenotype. Additionally, observed local abundance alterations of specific phosphatidylinositols (PIs) indicate a cell specific regulation of the PI metabolism.</jats:p

Lipid Signatures and Inter-Cellular Heterogeneity of Naı̈ve and Lipopolysaccharide-Stimulated Human Microglia-like Cells

Microglia are non-neuronal cells, which reside in the central nervous system and are known to play an important role in health and disease. We investigated the lipidomic phenotypes of human naı̈ve and stimulated microglia-like cells by atmospheric-pressure scanning microprobe matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (AP-SMALDI MSI). With lateral resolutions between 5 and 1.5 μm pixel size, we were able to chart lipid compositions of individual cells, enabling differentiation of cell lines and stimulation conditions. This allowed us to reveal local lipid heterogeneities in naı̈ve and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated cells. We were able to identify individual cells with elevated triglyceride (TG) levels and could show that the number of these TG-enriched cells increased with LPS stimulation as a hallmark for a proinflammatory phenotype. Additionally, the observed local abundance alterations of specific phosphatidylinositols (PIs) indicate a cell specific regulation of the PI metabolism