Fusion Conditions Research Articles

Comparative analysis of complications of different reconstructive techniques following anterior decompression for multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy

Anterior approach was extensively used in surgical treatment of multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy. Following anterior decompression, many different reconstructive techniques (multilevel ACDF, hybrid construct and long corpectomy) all had satisfied outcomes. However, there are few studies focusing on the comparison of these three reconstructed techniques. The aim of this retrospective study was to analyze the complications of these three different methods. This study retrospectively reviewed the complications in 286 consecutive patients with multilevel CSM who underwent anterior cervical surgery from 2005 to 2010. This case series had 166 men and 120 women whose mean age at surgery was 53.8 years (range from 33 to 74 years). Radiographic evaluation was taken the day after surgery, and the flexion-extension X-rays were added 3, 12 and 24 months postoperatively to evaluate the fusion condition. Preoperative versus postoperative neurologic function and clinical outcome were evaluated using scoring systems such as the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA score), Neck Disability Index (NDI score) and 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36 score). There were no significant differences in JOA scores, NDI scores and SF-36 scores of the pairwise comparison among the three groups. The complications in our series included graft migration, collapse or displacement, hoarseness, dysphagia, C5 palsy, cerebral fluid leakage and wound infection. Sixty-one patients developed complications after surgery and the rate of complication was 21.33 %. Patients in the long corpectomy group had the highest rate of complications; the other two groups had a much lower rate of complications by the latest follow-up. The patients in the multilevel ACDF group had the highest fusion rate by the last follow-up. Patients who had C2-3 and C3-4 segments involved had a higher rate of postoperative hoarseness and dysphagia. Most of the complications of the three reconstructive techniques subsided gradually after conservative treatment; none of them needed revision surgery. The multilevel ACDF approach has the lowest rate of non-union, but a slightly higher morbidity of the laryngeal nerve-related complication if proximal segments were involved. The long corpectomy approach should be selected prudently because of the high rate of complication.

A genome shuffling-generated Saccharomyces cerevisiae isolate that ferments xylose and glucose to produce high levels of ethanol

Genome shuffling is an efficient approach for the rapid improvement of industrially important microbial phenotypes. This report describes optimized conditions for protoplast preparation, regeneration, inactivation, and fusion using the Saccharomyces cerevisiae W5 strain. Ethanol production was confirmed by TTC (triphenyl tetrazolium chloride) screening and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A genetically stable, high ethanol-producing strain that fermented xylose and glucose was obtained following three rounds of genome shuffling. After fermentation for 84h, the high ethanol-producing S. cerevisiae GS3-10 strain (which utilized 69.48 and 100% of the xylose and glucose stores, respectively) produced 26.65g/L ethanol, i.e., 47.08% higher than ethanol production by S. cerevisiae W5 (18.12g/L). The utilization ratios of xylose and glucose were 69.48 and 100%, compared to 14.83 and 100% for W5, respectively. The ethanol yield was 0.40g/g (ethanol/consumed glucose and xylose), i.e., 17.65% higher than the yield by S. cerevisiae W5 (0.34g/g).

An Emulation Method of Sensor Clutter Plots Elimination Using Statistical Characteristics Analysis

Aiming at problem about real-time processing power is poorer as the cause of too many clutter plots in multisource information fusion conditions when traditional information algorithm is used, method of sensor clutter elimination based on statistical characteristics analysis is put forward. Firstly, statistical characteristics of clutter plots are extracted, calculated and analyzed. Secondly, in combination with the advantages of multi-sensor detection, the plots of real-target have been filtered according to certain threshold values and safeguarded. Finally, a specific simulation experiment is given. Experiment shows this method can achieve the real-time processing power effectively.

Changes in Biomechanical Strain and Morphology of Rat Calvarial Sutures and Bone After Tgf‐β3 Inhibition of Posterior Interfrontal Suture Fusion

Craniofacial sutures are bone growth fronts that respond and adapt to biomechanical environments. Little is known of the role sutures play in regulating the skull biomechanical environment during patency and fusion conditions, especially how delayed or premature suture fusion will impact skull biomechanics. Tgf-β3 has been shown to prevent or delay suture fusion over the short term in rat skulls, yet the long-term patency or its consequences in treated sutures is not known. It was therefore hypothesized that Tgf-β3 had a long-term impact to prevent suture fusion and thus alter the skull biomechanics. In this study, collagen gels containing 3 ng Tgf-β3 were surgically placed superficial to the posterior interfrontal suture (IFS) and deep to the periosteum in postnatal day 9 (P9) rats. At P9, P24, and P70, biting forces and strains over left parietal bone, posterior IFS, and sagittal suture were measured with masticatory muscles bilaterally stimulated, after which the rats were sacrificed and suture patency analyzed histologically. Results demonstrated that Tgf-β3 treated sutures showed less fusion over time than control groups, and strain patterns in the skulls of the Tgf-β3-treated group were different from that of the control group. Although bite force increased with age, no alterations in bite force were attributable to Tgf-β3 treatment. These findings suggest that the continued presence of patent sutures can affect strain patterns, perhaps when higher bite forces are present as in adult animals.

Z-Pinch fusion-based nuclear propulsion

Fusion-based nuclear propulsion has the potential to enable fast interplanetary transportation. Due to the great distances between the planets of our solar system and the harmful radiation environment of interplanetary space, high specific impulse (Isp) propulsion in vehicles with high payload mass fractions must be developed to provide practical and safe vehicles for human space flight missions.The Z-Pinch dense plasma focus method is a Magneto-Inertial Fusion (MIF) approach that may potentially lead to a small, low cost fusion reactor/engine assembly [1]. Recent advancements in experimental and theoretical understanding of this concept suggest favorable scaling of fusion power output yield [2]. The magnetic field resulting from the large current compresses the plasma to fusion conditions, and this process can be pulsed over short timescales (10−6s). This type of plasma formation is widely used in the field of Nuclear Weapons Effects testing in the defense industry, as well as in fusion energy research. A Z-Pinch propulsion concept was designed for a vehicle based on a previous fusion vehicle study called “Human Outer Planet Exploration” (HOPE), which used Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF) [3] propulsion. The reference mission is the transport of crew and cargo to Mars and back, with a reusable vehicle.The analysis of the Z-Pinch MIF propulsion system concludes that a 40-fold increase of Isp over chemical propulsion is predicted. An Isp of 19,436s and thrust of 3812Ns/pulse, along with nearly doubling the predicted payload mass fraction, warrants further development of enabling technologies.

Combustion synthesis and characteristics of aluminum oxynitride ceramic foams

Aluminum oxynitride (AlON) ceramic foams were prepared by combustion synthesis using Al and Al2O3 as starting materials under high nitrogen pressure. By introducing Al(NO3)3·9H2O into reactants as active pore-forming agent, AlON ceramic foams with well-distributed pores were cost-effectively fabricated. The influences of Al(NO3)3·9H2O content on the combustion process, pore content and structure were studied systematically. The experiment results showed that porous AlON ceramics containing evenly distributed and noncontiguous pores were obtained when Al(NO3)3·9H2O content was 30%, in which the closed porosity of 80% was found by Archimedes’ method. Pore distribution measured by mercury intrusion porosimetry indicated that pores with several types of diameter were formed in the foams because of the different conditions of pore fusion and molten viscosity.

Alkali fusion followed by a two-step leaching of a Brazilian zircon concentrate

This work describes the processing of a Brazilian zircon (ZrSiO4) concentrate via fusion with sodium hydroxide. The goal was to produce a zirconyl sulphate solution (ZrOSO4). The effects of NaOH/ZrSiO4 mass ratio, temperature and reaction time were investigated. The fused mass was leached with pure water, followed by leaching of the insoluble matter with sulfuric acid. The effects of temperature and liquid/solid ratio on water leaching were investigated, as well as the influence of temperature and acid concentration on ZrOSO4 purity. The best fusion conditions were: NaOH/ZrSiO4 mass ratio=1.5:1; temperature, 575°C; reaction time, 30min. Water leaching was best conducted with a water/fused mass ratio=3.75 at 25°C. Acid leaching required 100mL 3mol L−1 H2SO4 g−1 water-insoluble solid at 25°C. 97wt.% of ZrSiO4 was decomposed and around 91.5wt.% of Zr was recovered in the final product.

Synthesis, Anticancer Activity and Radiosensitizing Evaluation of Some New 2-Pyridone Derivatives

Based on the reported anticancer activity of 2-pyridone, a new series of 6-amino-5-cyano-1-(3-ethylphenyl)-2-oxo-4-substituted-1,2-dihydropyridine-3-carbo-nitriles 4a-p were synthesized and tested for in-vitro anticancer activity against Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma (EAC) cell line and liver human tumor cell line (HEPG2). Radiosensitizing activity was also evaluated. The starting material 2-cyano-N-(3-ethylphenyl)-acetamide 3 was obtained via reaction of 3-ethyl aniline 1 with ethyl cyanoacetate under condition of fusion. Upon treatment of compound 3 with aromatic aldehyde and malononitrile in the presence of catalytic amount of piperidine yielded the corresponding 1,2-dihydropyridine derivative 4a-p. Also chromenes 5 and 6 were obtained in good yield via reaction of compound 3 with salicyladehyde under different condition. The chromene derivatives 5 and 6 were further reacted with malononitrile in NH4OAc, afford the corresponding chromenopyridones 7 and 8. The structures of the synthesized compounds 3-8 were confirmed by analytical and spectral data. Compounds 4d, 4e, 5 and 6 showed higher anticancer activity against EAC cell line with IC50 values (75.32, 20.77, 73.1 and 67.05 µM) compared to doxorubicin as positive control with IC50 value (68.13 µM), moreover, these compounds showed potent activity on HEPG2 cell line with IC50 values (26.5, 19.2, 39.3, 44.9 µM), respectively, compared to doxorubicin (CAS 29042-30-6) (38.46 µM) and their activity increased synergistically when combined with γ-radiation.

Effective Soliton Fusion Process at the Advanced Stage of Supercontinuum Generation in Photonic Crystal Fibers

Soliton fusion is a fascinating and delicate phenomenon that manifests itself in optical fibers in case of interaction between co-propagating solitons with small temporal and wavelengths separation. The mechanism of graduate acceleration of trailing soliton by dispersive waves radiated from the preceding one provides necessary conditions for soliton fusion at the advanced stage of supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fibers. As a result large intensity robust light structures can propagate over significant distances. In the spectral domain fusion-like processes result in development of a new significant band at the long wavelength side of the spectrum.

Using orthogonal design to determine optimal conditions for intergeneric protoplasts fusion between Mingxian169 and Y2155a

This study is important for the optimization of protoplast fusogen and washing solution system suitable for protoplast fusion between the Triticum aestivum and Aegilops. By enzymolysis, the result shows that more than 90% viable protoplasts of Mingxian169 (common wheat) and Y2155a ( Aegilops ) were efficiently obtained and fused. The greatest of protoplast fusogen and washing solution condition was developed using an orthogonal experimental design, L25 (55), where L=orthogonal table; 5=factors; 5=five levels of each; and 25=experimental number. It was shown that the greatest protoplast fusogen was found at PEG6000 content (w/v) 25%, 0.50 M sucrose, pH 6.0 and washing solution was 5.0 mM CaCl 2 . Over 10% viable heterokaryons was produced using different fusion condition. Because of the narrow genetic diversity of common wheat and elite agronomic traits of many wild relatives, it is very important and helpful for the improvement of common wheat through somatic hybridization between wheat and wheat wild relatives, Key words: Protoplast, fusion, orthogonal design method, Mingxian 169, Y2155a.

Valve-based microfluidic droplet micromixer and mercury (II) ion detection

A valve-based microfluidic micromixer was developed for multiply component droplets generation, manipulation and active mixing. By integrating pneumatic valves in microfluidic device, droplets could be individually generated, merged and well mixed automatically. Moreover, droplet volume could be controlled precisely by tuning loading pressure or the flow rate of the oil phase, and certain droplets fusion conditions were also investigated by adjusting the droplet driving times and oil flow rates. In these optimized conditions, fluorescence enhancement of droplets was used to detect Hg (II) ions in droplet by mixing with probe droplets (Rhodamine B quenched by gold nanoparticle). This method would have powerful potential for tiny volume sample assay or real-time chemical reaction study.

Preparation of modified hydrolysis lignin and its use for filling epoxy polymers and enhancing their flame resistance

The reaction of hydrolysis lignin with orthophosphoric acid and urea under the conditions of reactant fusion without a solvent was studied. The influence of the reactant ratio and of the reaction temperature and time on the degree of chemical binding of phosphorus and nitrogen with lignin was examined. The modification products can be used as fire-retardant fillers for epoxy compounds.

Calculation of the substitutional fraction of ion-implanted He in an α-Fe target

Ion-implantation is a useful technique to study irradiation damage in nuclear materials. To study He effects in nuclear fusion conditions, He is co-implanted with damage ions to reproduce the correct He/dpa ratios in the desired or available depth range. However, the short-term fate of these He ions, i.e. over the time scales of their own collisional phase, has not been yet unequivocally established. Here we present a computational study of the short-term evolution of He implantation in an Fe substrate at 700 K to approximate the conditions encountered in dual ion-implantation studies in ferritic materials. Using a combination of SRIM, molecular dynamics and kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC), we calculate the fraction of He atoms that end up in substitutional sites shortly after implantation, i.e. before they contribute to long-term microstructural evolution. We find that fractions of at most 3% should be expected for most implantation studies. Additionally, to inform the kMC calculations, we carry out an exhaustive calculation of interstitial He migration energy barriers in the vicinity of matrix vacancies and find that they vary from approximately 20–60 meV depending on the separation and orientation of the He-vacancy pair.

The Plasma Jet/Laser Driven Compression of Compact Plasmoids to Fusion Conditions

Magneto-inertial fusion (MIF) is based on both magnetic and inertial confinement. An embedded magnetic field is compressed along with the target plasma to achieve magnetic insulation and fusion condition. Several magnetic systems for plasma confinement may be used for laser-driven (LD) and plasma jet driven (PJ) magnetic flux compression. Estimations show the possibility in principle to realize regimes of PJMIF system with a plasma gain factor Q > 10.

The Science of Control

The primary objectives of control are somewhat different from those of much of fusion plasma physics. Magnetic fusion physics has historically focused on understanding the physics of plasmas in magnetic confinement devices, whereas fusion plasma control seeks to capitalize on the understanding already gained to cause the system (fusion device plus plasma) to behave in certain desirable ways. For example, early uses of plasma control in fusion devices had simple goals such as extending the survival of discharges by minimizing plasma-wall interaction or by regulating density. Present applications are primarily aimed at achieving conditions with better potential fusion performance or conditions under which fusion plasmas can be more easily studied. The demanding performance requirements and significant constraints expected on control of future fusion reactors suggest that plasma control is a critical enabling technology for progress toward commercial fusion power. A greater understanding of control techniques for fusion plasmas and a more widespread use of these techniques in existing devices are required in order to develop the solutions needed.

The measurement of retained fission gas compositions and their isotopic distributions in an irradiated oxide fuel by inert gas fusion-mass spectrometric analysis

In this work, an easy, fast and reliable measurement technique for the quantitative determination of retained fission gases in an irradiated oxide fuel was developed. Many experiments were conducted to determine the optimum conditions for fusion of an oxide fuel, for the quantitative collection and measurements of the released gases. Ion implantation technology was applied to make a krypton or xenon references in a solid matrix. A fragment of oxide fuel, about 0.1 g of an unirradiated SIMFUEL, was completely fused with excess metallic fluxes, 1.0 g of nickel and 1.0 g of tin, in a graphite crucible of a helium atmosphere for 120 s at 850 A as a mixture of metals and alloys. About 96 ± 3 to 98 ± 4% of the krypton and xenon that were injected into the instrument using a standard gas mixture was reproducibly recovered by collecting the releasing gas through the instrument for 120 s. Using the same fusion and collection conditions, it was possible to recover about 97 ± 3% of the injected krypton and xenon by fusing a fragment of SIMFUEL which was wrapped with krypton or xenon implanted aluminum foils. The recovery test results of krypton and xenon using ion planted aluminum foils gave encouraging results suggesting their potential use as a reference specimen. It was confirmed that a fragment of irradiated oxide fuel, 0.051 g, with a code burn-up of 56.9 MWd/MtU, was completely fused as the mixture of metals and alloys through the fusion conditions and more than 99% of the retained fission gases were recovered during the first fusion. Since no cryogenic trap was needed, the collected gas could be measured directly and thus the analysis time could be further reduced. Approximately 7 min was sufficient to finish the measurement of retained fission gases in the irradiated oxide fuel using the developed procedure.

Standard values of fugacity for sulfur which are self-consistent with the low-pressure phase diagram

A method for calculating the fugacity of pure sulfur in the α-solid, β-solid and liquid phase regions has been reported for application to industrial equilibrium conditions, e.g., high-pressure solubility of sulfur in sour gas. The fugacity calculations are self-consistent with the low-pressure phase diagram. As recently discussed by Ferreira and Lobo [1], empirical fitting of the experimental data does not yield consistent behaviour for the low-pressure phase diagram of elemental sulfur. In particular, there is a discrepancy between the vapour pressure of β-solid (monoclinic) and liquid sulfur at the fusion temperature. We have provided an alternative semi-empirical approach which allows one to calculate values of the fugacity at conditions removed from the conditions of the pure sulfur phase transitions. For our approach, we have forced the liquid vapour pressure to equal the β-solid vapour pressure at the β-l-g triple point corresponding to the ‘natural’ fusion temperature for β-solid. Many studies show a higher ‘observed’ fusion temperature for elemental sulfur. The non-reversible conditions for ‘observed’ fusion conditions for elemental sulfur result from a kinetically hindered melt which causes some thermodynamic measurements to be related to a metastable S 8 liquid. We have measured the ‘natural’ fusion temperature, T fus β ( exp. ) = ( 388.5 ± 0.2 ) K at p = 89.9 kPa, which is consistent with literature fusion data at higher-pressures. Using our semi-empirical approach, we have used or found the following conditions for the low-pressure sulfur phase diagram: T α-β-g = 368.39 K, p α-β-g = 0.4868 Pa, T β-l-g = 388.326 K, p β-l-g = 2.4437 Pa, T fus β -l ( 101.325 kPa ) = 388.348 K , T α-β-l = 419.06 K, and p α-β-l = 124,360 kPa.

Synthesis, and Pharmacological Screening of Novel Sulfamoylphenylcarbamoylquinoxaline Derivatives as Anti-Inflammatory, Analgesic and Antitumour Agents

Treatment of quinoxaline-2,3-dicarboxylic acid anhydride with some sulfonamides gave 3-sulfamoylphenylcarbamoylquinoxaline-2-carboxylic acid derivatives. While fusing the anhydride with the same sulfonamides produced the corresponding 3-sulfamoylphenylcarbamoylquinoxalines. On refluxing 3-sulfamoylphenylcarbamoyl derivatives with acetic anhydride gave the pyrrolo[3,4- d]quinoxaline derivatives. The imide linkage in the latter compound was opened via its reaction with amines under fusion conditions and quinoxalin-2,3-diamides were obtained. The pharmacological evaluation for some of the synthesised compounds revealed that in anti-inflammatory activity in chronic models, 3-{[4-(N-pyrimidin-2-ylsulfamoyl)phenyl]carbamoyl}quinoxaline-2-carboxylic acid was equipotent to the reference drug, indomethacin as well as having nonulcerogenic effect. All tested compounds showed moderate analgesic activity compared to the reference drug. The antitumour activity for the tested compounds showed that 3-{[4-(N-(5-methylisoxazol-3-yl)sulfamoyl)phenyl]carbamoyl}quinoxaline-2-carboxylic acid, 4-(1,3-dioxo-1H-pyrrolo[3,4-b]quinoxalin-2(3H)-yl)-N-(pyrimidin-2-yl)-benzenesulfonamide and N-carbamimidoyl-4-(1,3-dioxo-1H-pyrrolo[3,4-b]quinoxalin-2(3H)-yl)benzenesulfonamide were the most effective against the liver carcinoma cell line showing IC50 values 0.5, 0.79 and 1.84 IC50 μg mL−1, respectively.

Fusogenic Activity of Annexins A1 and A5

Annexins are a family of proteins that bind to anionic phospholipids in a calcium-dependent manner and have been implicated in a number of cell biological processes including intracellular fusion. Recently we found that extracellular annexins (A1 and A5) play important roles in myoblast fusion. In this study we explored fusogenic activity of these proteins in the absence of other proteins and found both A1 and A5 to aggregate phophatidylserine-containing liposomes and to induce lipid mixing between these liposomes. Annexins A1 and A5 drive fusion beyond early hemifusion stage, as evidenced by lipid mixing between the inner leaflets of liposomal membranes. The annexin-mediated vesicle aggregation and lipid mixing depended on the presence of calcium, anionic lipids and were inhibited by specific antibodies and, in the case of annexin A1, by a synthetic peptide derived from its N-terminal domain. Annexins A1 and A5 applied together were more effective in inducing fusion than either of the proteins on its own. This synergistic activity can be important in fusion between myoblasts since both of these proteins are present at myoblast surface under fusion conditions. Our results support the hypothesis that annexins directly mediate myoblast fusion by mechanisms similar to those discussed for viral and intracellular protein fusogens rather than regulate cell fusion via other proteins.

Effective donor cell fusion conditions for production of cloned dogs by somatic cell nuclear transfer

As shown by the birth of the first cloned dog ‘Snuppy', a protocol to produce viable cloned dogs has been reported. In order to evaluate optimum fusion conditions for improving dog cloning efficiency, in vivo matured oocytes were reconstructed with adult somatic cells from a female Pekingese using different fusion conditions. Fusion with needle vs chamber methods, and with low vs high pulse strength was compared by evaluating fusion rate and in vivo development of canine cloned embryos. The fusion rates in the high voltage groups were significantly higher than in the low voltage groups regardless of fusion method (83.5 vs 66.1% for the needle fusion method, 67.4 vs 37.9% for the fusion chamber method). After embryo transfer, one each pregnancy was detected after using the needle fusion method with high and low voltage and in the chamber fusion method with high voltage, whereas no pregnancy was detected using the chamber method with low voltage. However, only the pregnancy from the needle fusion method with high voltage was maintained to term and one healthy puppy was delivered. The results of the present study demonstrated that two DC pulses of 3.8 to 4.0 kV/cm for 15 μsec using the needle fusion method were the most effective method for the production of cloned dogs under the conditions of this experiment.