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The nature in which the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic started and spread all over the world has surprised and shocked experts and the general population alike. This has brought out a worldwide desire and serious efforts to prevent, or at least reduce, the severity of another airborne viral infection and protect individuals gathering for various reasons. Toward this main purpose, a novel method to disinfect the air, using graded, predictable, safe, and reliable dosage of ultraviolet C (UVC), with specially designed devices, is described here. Individuals exclusively breathing this disinfected air can prevent infection, thus destroying the airborne virus or any other pathogens outside the human body to prevent acute and chronic damage to the organs and provide a sense of security to congregate, use public transport, and be protected in acute and long-term healthcare facilities. The study involved designing and testing a unit with one UVC chamber and another unit with six UVC chambers both enclosed in UVC-opaque housings that could be used to destroy airborne pathogens. Wild-type severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was used as a representative pathogen. The virus was fed into these units and in both units, the virus was destroyed to undetectable levels. Such disinfected air can be made available for individuals to breathe at an individual and a community level. The two units that were studied were able to destroy the SARS-CoV-2 virus completely in UVC-opaque housings, making them safe for human use. By employing the air to bring the virus to the UVC, the problem of the virus getting protected behind structures was avoided. The individuals get to breathe totally disinfected air through a mask or a ventilator. To protect individuals who are unable or unwilling to use these units meant for individual use, the same principle can be expanded for use with air conditioners to provide community protection. It is envisaged that this method can prevent airborne infections from turning into pandemics and is a clear example of advocating prevention, rather than treatment. These units are expandable and the UVC dosage to the pathogen can be adjusted and predictable, thereby making it a standard technique to study the dosage needed to inactivate different pathogens., Competing Interests: The patents and publications listed below are relevant to this work. Patents: 1. Pisharodi M, inventor; Perumala Holdings LLC., assignee. Systems, apparatus, and methods for purifying air. United States patent US 11,052,169 B1. 2021 July 6. 2. Pisharodi M, inventor; Perumala Holdings LLC., assignee. Air purification and disinfection apparatus and methods of use. United States patent US 11,511,013 B2. 2022 Nov 29. 3. Pisharodi M, inventor; Perumala Holdings LLC., assignee. Systems, apparatus, and methods for purifying air. United States patent US 11,648,331 B2. 2023 May 16. Publications: 1. Pisharodi M, inventor; Perumala Holdings LLC., assignee. Expandable system for purification and disinfection of air. United States patent US 20230302188 A1. 2023 Sep 28. 2. Pisharodi M, inventor; Perumala Holdings LLC., assignee. Systems and methods for the preparation of vaccines utilizing predictably inactivated pathogens. United States patent US 20230081767 A1. 2023 Mar 16., (Copyright © 2024, Pisharodi et al.)

Introduction The polyaxial head pedicle screw-rod system is a commonly used spinal instrumentation technique to achieve stabilization, deformity correction, and bony fusion. We present a novel plate-based pedicle screw system (UNIMAX TM ) that can be used for multi-level instrumentation with potential advantages for selected applications. Methods Bilateral titanium monoaxial pedicle screws are linked at each level by robust transversely oriented cross plates forming ring constructs capable of rigid triangulation at each level. The cross plates are then interconnected by sagittally oriented rigid plates situated medial to the screw heads. Biomechanically, the construct was tested for quasi-static torsion and fatigue in axial compression. The system is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The system and case examples are presented showing its potential advantages. Results The quasi-static torsion, the mean for the angular displacement, torsional stiffness, and torsional ultimate strength was 2.5 degrees (SD ± 0.8), 5.3 N-m/mm (SD ± 0.7), and 21.6 N-m (SD ± 4.4). For the fatigue in axial compression, the closed ring construct failed when the applied load and bending moment were ≥ 1500 N and ≥ 60 N.m. This system maximizes the construct rigidity, allows easy extension to adjacent levels, and can be incorporated intuitively into practice. The ring construct with triangulation at each level, together with its biomechanical robustness, predicts a high pullout resistance. It requires an open posterior approach incompatible with minimally invasive techniques. Conclusion This system may have advantages over the screw-rod systems in carefully selected situations requiring extra rigidity and high pull-out strength for complex reconstructions, sagittal and/or coronal correction, patients with poor bone quality, revisions, and/or extension to adjacent levels., Competing Interests: Madhavan Pisharodi is the owner of the patent of the device described in this article, (Copyright © 2020, Pisharodi et al.)

Gracile axonal dystrophy (GAD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease in the mouse with progressive sensory ataxia and motor paresis. Electromyographic examination was conducted in 25 unanaesthetized GAD mice and 24 controls of the same strain during 6, 9 and 12 wk of postnatal life. Among 9 and 12 wk old mice, about 75% showed resting spontaneous activities--either fibrillation or fasciculation or both. On stimulation of the tibial nerve at ankle, with single pulse, the EMG showed repetitive muscle potentials of large amplitude, following "M" response. The frequency and duration of the train of these stimulus--induced repetitive muscle potentials (SIRMP) were almost constant in a given animal. The SIRMP failed to reappear in response to the second stimulus within 5 s when twin pulses were applied or within 5 min when tetanic stimuli were applied, indicating their fatigability. It is concluded that the SIRMP originate from immature, supplementary motor endplates that develop at ultraterminal nerve sproutings induced by denervation and reinnervation and possibly are due to hyperexcitable trigger points in the peripheral nerve endings. The EMG abnormalities in the GAD mouse are very much similar to those observed in human syndromes with hyperexcitable peripheral nerves that result in sustained muscle activity like neurotonia and hence the GAD mouse is a good model of such motor abnormalities in man.

It has been shown that N-methylaspartate (NMA), kainic acid (KA), and quisqualic acid (QA) can produce preferential neuronal damage in various parts of the striatum, hippocampus, and thalamus with relative sparing of axons in transit. Thus far, the evidence that axons in transit escape destruction has been based largely on histological observations. To test the functional integrity of axons in passage, we made unilateral lesions with these agents in the cervical spinal cord of rats and compared the subsequent functional deficits with those seen after spinal cord hemisections. Observations were made in 14 rats. In each case, a laminectomy at the C6-C7 level was performed under general anesthesia. Animals receiving microinjections of KA, QA, or NMA showed motor and sensory deficits only in the ipsilateral forepaw and remained able to use the hindpaws normally. By contrast, animals undergoing spinal cord hemisection developed obvious motor deficits in the ipsilateral hindpaw in addition to the deficits in the forepaw. Histological observations of the spinal cords confirmed an extensive gray matter destruction with relative preservation of the long tracts in animals injected with KA, QA, and NMA. In addition, it was noted that spinal cord neurons appear relatively less sensitive to KA and more sensitive to QA than neurons in the thalamus, striatum, or hippocampus. The possible application of these findings for the production of dorsal root entry zone lesions will be discussed.

Stereotactic biopsy of deep-seated brain lesions by computed tomography guidance with intravenous contrast medium enhancement is now a well-recognized technique. However, arteriography continues to be the best method for studying the vasculature of such lesions. A method is described here in which a limited arteriography can be incorporated into the computed tomographic technique especially for the purpose of avoiding injury to vessels in stereotactic biopsy procedures. The technique requires that a single 4-mL bolus of contrast medium be injected intraarterially as the computed tomography scan for stereotactic localization is performed. The vessels are thereby seen in the same computed tomographic image as that used for stereotactic localization. The method has these additional advantages: it provides more pronounced contrast medium enhancement; it requires only 4 mL of contrast medium and can therefore be used in patients with renal failure; it can often distinguish crude arterial and venous phases; and lastly, it can be performed with routinely available equipment.