Search

Abstract Background High tibial osteotomy (HTO) is an effective treatment option for deformity correction after fracture. However, performing precise corrective osteotomy for cases with a severe varus deformity and a significant posterior slope poses a significant challenge. Three-dimensional (3D) bone model construction and patient-specific instrumentation (PSI) created from preoperative Computed tomography (CT) may be useful tools in achieving successful outcome for such cases. The present technique describes a hybrid closing-wedge distal tuberosity tibial osteotomy (Hybrid CWDTO) using two PSIs. Methods Preoperative planning was performed in 3D with reference to the contralateral normal lower extremity CT taken preoperatively, which was then mirrored for analysis. A full-scale bone model and two PSIs were constructed based on this plan to allow for complex correction. During surgery, osteotomy was performed using these sterilized PSIs as guides. Results Radiographic imaging showed that medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA) improved from 68 to 84 degrees and posterior tibial slope (PTS) improved from 19 to 6 degrees. The standing leg radiograph showed a mechanical varus alignment improvement from 12 to 3 degrees. The 2011 Knee Society Scoring system (2011 KSS) improved from 31 to 95 in objective knee indicators, from 10 to 24 in symptoms, from 14 to 40 in patient satisfaction and from 51 to 95 in activities. Conclusion Hybrid CWDTO using PSIs is a useful surgical technique for alignment correction post-malunion while also achieving high patient satisfaction. This can assist surgeons in treating complex deformities that are otherwise difficult to treat.

Purpose: The main objectives of this study were to find farmers’ handling practices on postharvest losses of potatoes, to estimate the post-harvest losses from farm gate to storage level and to know how the post-harvest losses were affected by the socio-demographic factors. Research method: The study was conducted in Dolakha, Nepal with 100 respondents selected by simple random sampling method. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the primary data and MS Excel and SPSS were used for data analysis. Findings: Out of the total potatoes produced, 89.73% were utilized in various forms while the remaining 10.26% were lost due to poor post-harvest handling practices and lack of adequate cold storage facility. The farmers in the study area relied on practices, such as using spades for harvesting, week-long curing, traditional home storage, sorting and grading to remove the damaged ones, use of jute sacks, and overfilling and dragging of heavy bags. The post-harvest loss was significantly affected by age, gender, land size, and farming experience of farmers whereas the literacy level, ethnicity, and religion had no impact on it. Limitations: Transportation was a limitation because motorable roads were unavailable due to which farmers of distant areas couldn’t be included in the sampling frame. Originality/value: The study reported that only 3% of farmers had access to cold storage facilities and 10.26% of harvested potatoes were lost due to traditional post-harvest practices.

Las nuevas instalaciones del Museo Arqueológico Nacional, inauguradas en 2014, permiten una estupenda visión del mosaico romano denominado de «las estaciones y los meses» o del «calendario», como se nombra al pavimento musivo hallado en 1935. El lugar de donde procede es una villa situada dentro del plano urbano de la ciudad de Hellín (Albacete), los hallazgos habidos desde 1925 evidencian los retazos de una hacienda esplendorosa, y un itinerario algo tortuoso en relación con la protección y la gestión del patrimonio arqueológico en época contemporánea.

Background: The hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incident rate is gradually increasing yearly despite all the research and efforts taken by scientific communities and governing bodies. Approximately 90% of all liver cancer cases belong to HCC. Usually, HCC patients approach the treatment in the late stages of this malignancy which becomes the primary cause of high mortality rate. The knowledge about molecular pathogenesis of HCC is limited and needs more attention from researchers to identify the driver genes and miRNAs, which causes to translate this information into clinical practice. Therefore, the key regulators identification of miRNA-mRNA regulatory network is essential to identify HCC-associated genes. Methodology: We extracted microRNA (miRNA) and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression datasets of normal and tumor HCC patient samples from UCSC Xena followed by identifying differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs). Univariate and multivariate cox-proportional hazard models were utilized to identify DEMs having significant association with overall survival (OS). Kaplan-Meier (KM) plotter was used to validate the presence of prognostic DEMs. A risk-score model was used to evaluate the effectiveness of KM-plotter validated DEMs combination on risk of samples. Target DEGs of prognostic miRNAs were identified via sources such as miRTargetLink and miRWalk followed by their validation in an external microarray cohort and enrichment analysis. Results: 562 DEGs and 388 DEMs were identified followed by seven prognostic miRNAs (i.e., miR-19a, miR-19b, miR-30d-5p, miR-424-5p, miR-3677-5p, miR-3913-5p, miR-7705) post univariate, multivariate, risk-score model evaluation and KM-plotter analyses. ANLN, MRO, CPEB3 were their targets and were also validated in GSE84005 dataset. Conclusions: The findings of this study decipher that most significant miRNAs and their identified target genes have association with apoptosis, inflammation, cell cycle regulation and cancer-related pathways, which appear to contribute to HCC pathogenesis and therefore, the discovery of new targets.

Given the exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and the problems faced in conducting mass student examinations, this article explores alternatives to an in-person exam to select candidates hoping to gain admission to higher education institutions, based on available information about students and their schools. Census-based information on entrance evaluations for six annual cohorts is used to obtain a predictive model that incorporates candidates’ average grades and the historical performance of their schools of origin, measured through EXANI II. The results allow us to identify a model able to correlate to .69 the estimated and actual scores; additional scenarios were proposed with greater levels of prediction (r= .86). A discussion is offered on the implications of using high school grades, in light of their power to predict academic performance in higher education.

El objetivo del estudio fue analizar el discurso educativo de la Preparatoria Abierta en función de sus supuestos y omisiones. Se tomaron como fundamento algunas categorías de la pedagogía crítica y se realizó un análisis crítico del discurso aplicado al documento base de la Preparatoria Abierta de la SEP de México. Se llevó a cabo un proceso de codificación por medio del programa Atlas Ti. Se discute sobre el posible papel de la Preparatoria Abierta como discurso educativo contraideológico y como herramienta de transformación social. Se concluye que el discurso educativo de la Preparatoria Abierta implica un conjunto de contradicciones al poseer rasgos del discurso educativo tradicional, así como rasgos contraideológicos, las cuales representan un punto de partida para para la construcción de discursos educativos orientados hacia una educación problematizadora, emancipadora y transformadora.

Algunas esculturas del Cerro de los Santos (Montealegre del Castillo, Albacete) muestran una incisión oval o circular en los cuerpos o en los rostros, o una estructura tubular no tallada. La bibliografía raramente ha reparado en tales marcas. La última revisión del catálogo de escultura recoge la presencia de muchas de ellas, y ha contribuido a observar su relativa frecuencia en ese yacimiento.

Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo identificar los desafíos enfrentados por docentes de centros de enseñanza secundaria (bachilleratos) ubicados en contextos vulnerables, en México, ante la contingencia de salud. Se establece que la afectación de la pandemia ha sido mayor para la población de contextos marginados. Los participantes manifestaron carecer de recursos tecnológicos y limitaciones para su uso, especialmente en el asunto de las plataformas virtuales, además de incremento en el estrés por las nuevas exigencias académicas. Mediante una metodología mixta, primero fueron seleccionadas las escuelas participantes y, posteriormente, se realizó grupos focales con estudiantes, y entrevistas con docentes y responsables de la dirección escolar.

The physicochemical properties of primary sequences of proteins helps in determining both the structure and biological functions. The sequence analysis of the proteins and nucleic acids is most fundamental element of bioinformatics. Without these elements, it is impossible to gain insight deeper molecular and biochemical mechanisms. For this purpose, the computational methods like bioinformatics tools assist experts and novices alike in resolving issues relating to protein analysis. Similarly, this proposed work, for the graphical user interface (GUI) based prediction and visualization through the computations-based method done on Jupyter Notebook with tkinter package which allows the creation of a program on a local host platform and accessed by the programmer. • When it is queried with a protein sequence, it predicts physicochemical parameters of the peptides. • Users can choose to visualize the findings acquired either anonymously or on the user-specified email address and compare the biophysical properties of one protein with other using amino acids (AA) sequences.The aim of this paper is to meet the requirements of experimentalists, not just hardcore bioinformaticians related to biophysical properties prediction and comparison with other proteins. The code for it has been uploaded on GitHub (an online repository of codes) in private mode.

Epigenetic modifications are heritable, reversible changes in histones or the DNA that control gene functions, being exogenous to the genomic sequence itself. Human diseases, particularly cancer, are frequently connected to epigenetic dysregulations. One of them is histone methylation, which is a dynamically reversible and synchronously regulated process that orchestrates the three-dimensional epigenome, nuclear processes of transcription, DNA repair, cell cycle, and epigenetic functions, by adding or removing methylation groups to histones. Over the past few years, reversible histone methylation has become recognized as a crucial regulatory mechanism for the epigenome. With the development of numerous medications that target epigenetic regulators, epigenome-targeted therapy has been used in the treatment of malignancies and has shown meaningful therapeutic potential in preclinical and clinical trials. The present review focuses on the recent advances in our knowledge on the role of histone demethylases in tumor development and modulation, in emphasizing molecular mechanisms that control cancer cell progression. Finally, we emphasize current developments in the advent of new molecular inhibitors that target histone demethylases to regulate cancer progression.