Cementless Primary or Revision Stem in the First-time Revision Hip Arthroplasty for Aseptic Stem Loosening? A Retrospective Comparative Study.

IntroductionThe use of primary or revision stem during the first-time revision total hip arthroplasty(THA) procedure for aseptic stem loosening remains controversial. The aim of this study was to compare the outcome of patients that underwent revision THA with a primary or revision stem.Materials and MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed 78 patients that received first-time revision THA for aseptic stem loosening using primary(N=28) or revision stems(N=50). The bone defects were classified as Paprosky type I or II. The mean follow-up duration was 72.3±34.7 months. The primary outcome domains included surgical complications and implant failures. The secondary outcome domains included medical complications, 30-day and 90-day readmission, and Harris hip score (HHS).ResultsThe use of revision stem was associated with higher incidence of patient having complications (60.0% vs. 32.1%, p=0.018), including intraoperative femur fracture (28.0% vs. 7.1%, p=0.029) and greater trochanter fracture (16.0% vs. 0%, p=0.045), compared with the use of primary stem. The implant survival was comparable in both groups. HHS at the final follow-up was similar.ConclusionWith a lower risk of surgical complication and similar mid-term implant survival, cementless primary stem might be a better alternative to revision stem in the first-time revision THA for aseptic stem loosening.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CURIOSITY TOWARDS PRIMARY STEM EDUCATION QUESTIONNAIRE INSTRUMENT

The Curiosity towards STEM Education Questionnaire Instrument (CQI-STEM) was developed to measure the level of curiosity towards STEM education among primary school students. CQI-STEM consisted of 10 items measuring the two constructs of curiosity towards STEM, namely stretching, and embracing. A total of 166 years five students aged 10 to 11 years enrolled in five urban schools in the Tawau district, Sabah was involved as a research sample. Rasch Measurement Model was applied to determine the validity and reliability of CQI-STEM. The results of the validity analysis found that the polarity of the items through the PTMEA-CORR values showed that all 10 items were > .00 (+). Through item fit analysis, all items were retained because items meet the requirements of the range in MNSQ outfit, ZSTD outfit, and PTMEA-CORR. The value of Raw Variance Explained by Measures was 63.1% (excellent) and the value of Unexplained variance in the first contrast was below 15%, showing that the instrument had strong dimensionality and high construct validity. The CQI-STEM instrument was found to have high reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha value (KR-20) of .93. Results also showed that CQI-STEM has excellent item reliability and moderate-high item separation value of .96 and 4.83 respectively. CQI-STEM also has high person reliability and person separation value of .92 and 3.48 respectively. In conclusion, CQI-STEM has good validity and high reliability in measuring curiosity towards STEM Education among year five students in primary schools.

Cancer of unknown primary stem-like cells model multi-organ metastasis and unveil liability to MEK inhibition

Cancers of unknown primary (CUPs), featuring metastatic dissemination in the absence of a primary tumor, are a biological enigma and a fatal disease. We propose that CUPs are a distinct, yet unrecognized, pathological entity originating from stem-like cells endowed with peculiar and shared properties. These cells can be isolated in vitro (agnospheres) and propagated in vivo by serial transplantation, displaying high tumorigenicity. After subcutaneous engraftment, agnospheres recapitulate the CUP phenotype, by spontaneously and quickly disseminating, and forming widespread established metastases. Regardless of different genetic backgrounds, agnospheres invariably display cell-autonomous proliferation and self-renewal, mostly relying on unrestrained activation of the MAP kinase/MYC axis, which confers sensitivity to MEK inhibitors in vitro and in vivo. Such sensitivity is associated with a transcriptomic signature predicting that more than 70% of CUP patients could be eligible to MEK inhibition. These data shed light on CUP biology and unveil an opportunity for therapeutic intervention.

Efficient and nontoxic biomolecule delivery to primary human hematopoietic stem cells using nanostraws

Introduction of exogenous genetic material into primary stem cells is essential for studying biological function and for clinical applications. Traditional delivery methods for nucleic acids, such as electroporation, have advanced the field, but have negative effects on stem cell function and viability. We introduce nanostraw-assisted transfection as an alternative method for RNA delivery to human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). Nanostraws are hollow alumina nanotubes that can be used to deliver biomolecules to living cells. We use nanostraws to target human primary HSPCs and show efficient delivery of mRNA, short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), DNA oligonucleotides, and dextrans of sizes ranging from 6 kDa to 2,000 kDa. Nanostraw-treated cells were fully functional and viable, with no impairment in their proliferative or colony-forming capacity, and showed similar long-term engraftment potential in vivo as untreated cells. Additionally, we found that gene expression of the cells was not perturbed by nanostraw treatment, while conventional electroporation changed the expression of more than 2,000 genes. Our results show that nanostraw-mediated transfection is a gentle alternative to established gene delivery methods, and uniquely suited for nonperturbative treatment of sensitive primary stem cells.

Plant Growth Performance of Top Grafted Young Cacao at Various Elevations in Indonesia

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the plant growth performance of top grafted young cacao cultivated in various elevations. This research was conducted from January-August 2019 in South Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi. A total of 54 plants were taken randomly from 6 locations with 3 altitudes (<300, 300-600, >600 meter above sea level, as.). The results showed that there was not significant different of plant height, stem circle, crown circle, the number of primary branches, the number of flowers, the length of horizontal and vertical roots in response to different elevations. However, the height of primary stem and leaves number of cacao from <300 m asl was significantly greater than those from either 300-600 m asl or > 600 m asl. The largest crown portion of actual biomass was found in the branches, then followed by the leaves and stem. While the highest actual root biomass was found at 10-20 cm soil depth.