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Isaac Okereke, Kingsley Mmerem, Dhanasekaraprabu Balasubramanian Department of Trauma & Orthopaedics, The Royal London Hospital, London, UKCorrespondence: Isaac OkerekeDepartment of Trauma & Orthopaedics, The Royal London Hospital, UKTel +447405742716Email okereke.isaac@gmail.comAbstract: Due to the inherent bony instability of the cervical spine, there is an over-reliance on ligamentous structures for stability, making this segment of the vertebral column most prone to traumatic injuries. The frequently occurring mechanisms of injury include axial compression, hyper-flexion, hyper-extension, and rotational type injuries. Good pre-hospital care and a thorough assessment in the emergency department of patients suspected to have a cervical spine injury (CSI) leads to improved clinical outcomes. The objective of the initial evaluation of a patient with a suspected CSI is to identify the presence of injuries through thorough clinical and radiologic assessments as missed injuries are potentially catastrophic. The treatment of cervical spine injuries can be conservative, pharmacological, or surgical, and aims to halt SCI progression, stabilize the spine, and to allow rehabilitation of the patient.Keywords: cervical spine injury, spinal immobilization, spinal decompression, cervical spine assessment

Studies on hereditary congenital cataracts have led to the identification of genes involved in formation of these cataracts. Knowledge of the structure and function of a particular gene and the effect of disease-associated mutations on its function are providing insights into the mechanisms of cataract. Identification of the disease gene requires both the relevant clinical data as well as genetic data on the entire pedigree in which the disease is found to occur. Genes for hereditary cataract have been mapped by genetic linkage analysis, in which one examines the inheritance pattern of DNA markers throughout the genome in all individuals of the pedigree, and compares those with the inheritance of the disease. Cosegregation of a set of markers with disease implies that the disease gene is present at the same chromosomal location as those markers. The genes so far identified for hereditary cataracts in both humans and animal models encode structural lens proteins, gap junction proteins, membrane proteins and regulatory proteins involved in lens development. Understanding of the mechanisms of hereditary cataract may also help us understand the manner in which environmental and nutritional factors act on the lens to promote opacification.

Byline: Krishna. Narayanan, D. Balasubramanian Context: Neurosurgical training in India. Aims: To establish a sustainable, functional, and relatively inexpensive neurosurgical training system. Methods and Materials: The training system involved using [...]

The article is a book review of "Anecdotes from the History of Modern Computing" by V. Rajaraman. The book covers the start and growth of computer science and its various applications, describing 72 anecdotes from the history of modern computing. It discusses topics such as the birth of electronic computers, artificial intelligence, programming languages, electronic payment systems, the invention of email, computer software, the birth of personal computers and the internet, and the story of Facebook. The book is engagingly written and suitable for engineers, computer scientists, students, and non-professionals who use computers for personal purposes. [Extracted from the article]

AbstractThe present study describes a method for the preparation of green titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles from the peel of Solanum tuberosum, commonly known as potato, and the potato peel being a kitchen waste. The green synthesized TiO2 (G- TiO2) nanoparticles were characterized using UV-visible spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy, TEM, XRD, and FTIR spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the G- TiO2 nanoparticles was also shown using the dye bromophenol blue. To explore the biocompatibility of the G- TiO2, the cell viability in normal as well as cancer cells was assessed. Further, the in vivo toxicity of the G- TiO2 nanoparticles was assessed using zebrafish embryos. The novelty of the present invention is to utilize kitchen waste for a useful purpose for the synthesis of titanium dioxide nanoparticles which is known to have UV light scavenging properties. Moreover, the potato peel is a natural antioxidant and possesses a skin-lightening effect. A combination of the potato peel extract and titanium dioxide prepared using the extract will have a combinatorial effect for protecting UV light exposure to the skin and lightening the skin colour.