Optimization of Commercial Microwave Assisted-Extraction Conditions for Recovery of Phenolics from Lemon-Scented Tee Tree (Leptospermum petersonii) and Comparison with Other Extraction Techniques

The lemon-scented tea tree (LSTT) is an Australian native herb and is a rich source of essential oil and phenolics. The ETHOS X extraction system is known as a commercial microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) system for extracting bioactive compounds from plant materials. This study investigated the influence of soaking time, radiation time, microwave power, and sample to solvent ratio on the extraction efficiency of polyphenols and antioxidant properties from lemon-scented tea tree leaves and optimized the extraction conditions using response surface methodology (RSM). The effectiveness of ETHOS X was further compared with ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and shaking water bath (SWB) techniques. The results revealed that soaking time did not significantly affect the recovery of phenolics from the leaves (p > 0.05). Thus, soaking is not required for the ETHOS X extraction of polyphenols from LSTT leaves. RSM was successfully applied to explore the impact of ETHOS X extraction conditions and optimize the extraction conditions. Radiation time significantly affects the recovery yield of phenolics (p < 0.05) positively, whereas irradiation power and sample to solvent ratio adversely influenced the extraction yields of phenolics. The optimal ETHOS X extraction conditions were: radiation time of 60 min, irradiation power of 600 W, and sample to solvent ratio of 2 g/100 mL. Under these conditions, 119.21 ± 7.09 mg of phenolic, 85.31 ± 4.55 mg of flavonoids, and 137.51 ± 12.52 mg of proanthocyanidins can be extracted from a gram of dried LSTT leaves. In comparison with UAE and SWB, ETHOS X is not more effective for the extraction of phenolics than UAE and SWB. However, this technique can save half of the solvent volume compared to UAE and SWB techniques.

Optimization of Microwave-Assisted Extraction of Polyphenols from Lemon Myrtle: Comparison of Modern and Conventional Extraction Techniques Based on Bioactivity and Total Polyphenols in Dry Extracts

The aromatic herb lemon myrtle is a good source of polyphenols, with high antioxidant and antimicrobial capacity. In this study, the green extraction technique microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) was applied and the extraction parameters were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) to maximize the extraction yield of phenolic compound and antioxidant properties. Then, it was compared with other popular novel and conventional extraction techniques including ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and shaking water bath (SWB) to identify the most effective technique for extraction of phenolic compounds from lemon myrtle. The results showed that the MAE parameters including radiation time, power, and sample to solvent ratio had a significant influence on the extraction yield of phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity. The optimal MAE conditions were radiation time of 6 min, microwave power of 630 W, and sample to solvent ratio of 6 g/100 mL. Under optimal conditions, MAE dry extract had similar levels of total phenolic compounds (406.67 ± 8.57 mg GAE/g DW), flavonoids (384.57 ± 2.74 mg CE/g DW), proanthocyanidins (336.54 ± 7.09 mg CE/g DW), antioxidant properties, and antibacterial properties against (Staphylococcus lugdunensis and Bacillus cereus) with the other two methods. However, MAE is eight-times quicker and requires six-times less solvent volume as compared to UAE and SWB. Therefore, MAE is recommended for the extraction of polyphenols from lemon myrtle leaf.

Compare the Functional Outcomes of Closed Reduction and Percutaneous Cross Pinning versus Lateral Pinning in Supracondylar Fracture of Humerus in Children

Objective: To determine results of treating supracondylar fracture of the humerus in children using percutaneous cross pinning versus two lateral pinning. Study Design: Prospective study Place and Duration of Study: Department of Orthopaedics, King Abdullah Teaching Hospital Mansehra from 1st November 2020 to 30th April 2021 Methodology: Eighty four patients of both genders were enrolled. Baseline demographic details of patient’s age, sex and body mass index were recorded after taking consent. Patients aged between 2-14years were included. Children with supracondylar humerus fractures were enrolled and divided equally into 2-groups. Group I had 42 patients and received percutaneous cross pinning technique and group II had 42 patients underwent lateral pinning. Radiological and functional results were assessed by Flynn’s criteria among both groups and frequency of complications was also observed. Results: There were 50 (59.5%) males (25 in each group) and 34 (40.5%) were females (17 in each group. Mean age of the patients in group I was 5.14±9.88 years and in group II mean age was 6.14±8.35 years. Sports 60 (71.43%) was the most common cause of fracture followed by traffic accidents 17 (20.24%) and the rest were 7 (8.3%) fall from the height. Mean surgical time in group I was 30.42±6.09 minutes while in group II mean time was 34.24±2.16 minutes. Mean radiation time in group I was 3.98±9.44 sec and in group II radiation time was 2.11±1.1sec. According Flynn’s criteria excellent results in group I were found in 25 (59.5%) cases, good results in 12 (28.6%) and fair results found in 5 (11.9%) while in group II excellent results were found in23 (54.8%), good results in 15 (35.7%) and fair results in 4 (9.5%). Significantly no difference in outcomes was observed among both groups. Conclusion: Both methods of treatment of supracondylar fractures of humerus are safe and successful however less operative and high time of radiation in cross percutaneous pinning compared to two lateral pinning has been found. Keywords: Percutaneous cross pinning, Two lateral pinning, Supracondylar humerus fracture

Spatial and Temporal Variation of Clearness Index in Iraq

This study deals with the spatial and temporal variation of clearness index (KT) in different meteorological stations, well distributed in Iraq, during the period between 1995 and 2015. The results indicate that the clearness index varies with the geographical location and period of the year. Monthly values of clearness index (KT) in the months of January and December show the lowest values of the index ranging between 0.38 and 0.64. Meanwhile, August shows the highest values ranging between 0.53 and 0.71. Seasonal variation of KT is well noted. The range of (0.40 to 0.58) has been measured in winter, while the range of (0.53 to 0.70) has been detected in summer season. The annual variation of KT shows a range between (0.47 - 0.64) in all stations. The standard deviation (SD) of the monthly values of KT ranged between (0.01-0.06) for all stations, while the coefficient of variation (CV) for the monthly values of KT ranged between (2-10) percent. Keywords: Clearness index, Global solar radiation, Extraterrestrial radiation, Time series, CV, SD.

Preparing the CAMS Radiation Service for MTG

&lt;p&gt;The Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) provides a surface solar irradiance service which is currently derived from Meteosat Second Generation (MSG). The service combines satellite data products with numerical model output from CAMS on aerosols, water vapour and ozone in order to provide both clear-sky and all-sky radiation time series with availability from 2004 until yesterday. A regular quality control of input parameters, quarterly benchmarking against ground measurements and automatic consistency checks ensures the data quality. To anticipate the increase in resolution that will occur with the commissioning of MTG, it is necessary to enhance methods currently used in CAMS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The recent development focuses on the assessment and improvement of cloud retrieval products from APOLLO_NG in irradiance retrieval schemes. Such a validation against ground-based surface solar irradiances provides insight into the use of probabilistic cloud masking, specific results for pixels with small COD values below 5, as well as in partly cloudy pixel conditions. Such conditions are often neglected in existing cloud retrieval validation studies due to the expected large uncertainties of cloud properties. But they cannot be omitted in irradiance retrieval schemes for solar energy sector users as complete temporal coverage is required.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Such cloud situations may additionally be better characterized in future with the help of spatially higher resolved channels. Using e.g. SEVIRI&amp;#8217;s HRV channel is known to be beneficial in cloud index based irradiance retrieval schemes, but has not been evaluated yet for cloud physical retrieval based irradiance schemes. Results from such a method development for the HRV channel in preparation for MTG, Himawari-8, and GOES-R channels will be presented.&lt;/p&gt;

Supracondylar Fracture of Humerus in Children Treated with Closed Reduction and Percutaneous Cross Pinning VS Lateral Pinning

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the outcomes between percutaneous cross pinning vs two lateral pinning in treatment of closed reduction supracondylar fracture of humerus in children. Study Design: Prospective study Place and Duration: Study was conducted in Orthopaedic Unit Ayub Medical Teaching Institute Abbottabad and DHQ Teaching Hospital Gomal Medical College Dera Ismail Khan during from October 2019 to May 2020 (09 months duration). Methods: Total 60 patients of both genders were presented in this study. Baseline demographically details of patients age, sex and body mass index were recorded after taking consent. Patients were aged between 2-14 years were included. Children who had supracondylar humerus fractures were enrolled and divided equally into 2-groups. Group I had 30 patients and received percutaneous cross pinning technique and group II had 35 patients underwent for lateral pinning. Radiological and functional results were assessed by Flynn’s criteria among both groups, frequency of complications was also observed. Complete date was analyzed by SPSS 22.0 version. Results: Total 36 (60%) were males (18 in each group) and 24 (40%) were females (12 in each group. Mean age of the patients in group I was 6.14±3.12 years and in group II mean age was 5.66±5.28 years. Sports 45 (75%) was the most common cause of fracture followed by traffic accidents 10 (16.67%) and the rest were 5 (8.33%) fall from the height. Mean surgical time in group I was 31.24±2.16 minutes while in group II mean time was 33.42±1.61 minutes. Mean radiation time in group I was 2.01±1.1 sec and in group II radiation time was 1.34±1.1 sec. According flynn’s criteria excellent results were found in 20 (66.7%) cases, good results in 8 (26.7%) and fair results found in 2 (6.7%) while in group II excellent results were found in 19 (63.33%), good results in 9 (30%) and fair results in 2 (6.7%). Significantly no any difference in outcomes was observed among both groups. Conclusion: We concluded in this study that the both techniques are safe and effective for the treatment of closed reduction supracondylar fracture of humerus in children but less operative and high radiation time was observed in percutaneous cross pinning as compared to two lateral pinning. Keywords: Percutaneous cross pinning, Two lateral pinning, Supracondylar humerus fracture, Children

PSR: Unified Framework of Parameter-Learning-Based MR Image Superresolution

Magnetic resonance imaging has significant applications for disease diagnosis. Due to the particularity of its imaging mechanism, hardware imaging suffers from resolution and reaches its limit, and higher radiation intensity and longer radiation time will cause damage to the human body. The problem is expected to be solved by a superresolution algorithm, especially the image superresolution based on sparse reconstruction has good performance. Dictionary generation is a key issue that affects the performance of superresolution algorithms, and dictionary performance is affected by dictionary construction parameters: balance parameters, dictionary size, overlapping block size, and a number of training sample blocks. In response to this problem, we propose an optimal dictionary construction parameter search method through the experiment to find the optimal dictionary construction parameters on the MR image and compare them with the dictionary obtained by multiple sets of random dictionary construction parameters. The dictionary we searched for the optimal parameters of the dictionary construction training has more powerful feature expressions, which can improve the superresolution effect of MR images.

Clinical outcomes of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer patients treated with thoracic radiotherapy at different times and fractionations

Objective The purpose of this study was to assess whether thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) combined with chemotherapy (CHT) showed promising anti-tumour activity in extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC), to explore practice patterns for the radiation time and dose/fractionation and to identify prognostic factors for patients who would benefit from CHT/TRT. Methods A total of 492 ES-SCLC patients were included from January 2010 to March 2019, 244 of whom received CHT/TRT. Propensity score matching was performed to minimize bias between the CHT/TRT and CHT-alone groups. Patients in the CHT/TRT group were categorized into four subgroups based on the number of induction CHT cycles. For effective dose fractionation calculations, we introduced the time-adjusted biological effective dose (tBED). Categorical variables were analysed with chi-square tests and Fisher’s exact tests. Kaplan–Meier curves were generated to estimate survival rates using the R-project. Multivariate prognostic analysis was performed with Cox proportional hazards models. Results Patients who received CHT/TRT experienced improved overall survival (OS) (18.1 vs 10.8 months), progression-free survival (PFS) (9.3 vs 6.0 months) and local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) (12.0 vs 6.6 months) before matching, with similar results after matching. In the CHT/TRT group, the median LRFS times for the groups based on the radiation time were 12.7, 12.0, 12.0, and 9.0 months, respectively. Early TRT had a tendency to prolong PFS (median 10.6 vs 9.8 vs 9.0 vs 7.7 months, respectively, p = 0.091) but not OS (median 17.6 vs 19.5 vs 17.2 vs 19.0 months, respectively, p = 0.622). Notably, patients who received TRT within 6 cycles of CHT experienced prolonged LRFS (p = 0.001). Regarding the radiation dose, patients in the high-dose group (tBED > 50 Gy) who achieved complete response and partial response (CR and PR) to systemic therapy had relatively short OS (median 27.1 vs 22.7, p = 0.026) and PFS (median 11.4 vs 11.2, p = 0.032), but the abovementioned results were not obtained after the exclusion of patients who received hyperfractionated radiotherapy (all p > 0.05). Conclusion CHT/TRT could improve survival for ES-SCLC patients. TRT performed within 6 cycles of CHT and hyperfractionated radiotherapy (45 Gy in 30 fractions) may be a feasible treatment scheme for ES-SCLC patients.

Electromagnetic navigation reduces radiation exposure for retrograde drilling in osteochondrosis dissecans of the talus

Background Retrograde drilling in osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) is a widely used surgical intervention. A radiation-free electromagnetic navigation system (ENS)-based method was compared with the standard freehand fluoroscopic (SFF) method regarding clinical applicability. Methods We performed a clinical cohort study at a department of Orthopaedics in a Level 1 children’s hospital with 40 patients (20 SFF and 20 ENS). Retrograde drilling of the talar dome was used in patients with unstable medial OCD (MRI stage 2 according to Hepple’s revised classification; stage 2 according to the International Cartilage Repair Society). The outcome measurements were: (a) Intraoperative fluoroscopy exposure and length of surgery and (b) Postoperative serial follow-up MRIs every 6 months. Results 22 female and 18 male patients aged 13.8 ± 1.6 years (range: 11–17 years) were included. Using the ENS technique, length of surgery was significantly reduced to 20.2 ± 6.4 min compared to 36.1 ± 11.8 min (p < 0.01) for the SFF technique. The average x-ray radiation time for the SFF technique was 23.5 ± 13.5 sec and 1.9 ± 1.7 sec for the ENS technique (p < 0.01). Radiation exposure was significantly reduced from 44.6 ± 19.7 mSv (SFF technique) to 5.6 ± 2.8 mSv (ENS technique) (p < 0.01). Intraoperative perforation of cartilage occurred once in the SFF group. Correct placement of the drilling channel was verified in all patients on follow-up MRI after six months and a timely healing was seen after two years. Conclusions The ENS method provides for a significant reduction in length of surgery and radiation exposure. ENS was without intraoperative cartilage perforation. The clinical and radiological follow-up parameters are comparable for SFF- and ENS-guided retrograde drilling. Trial registration WF – 085/20, 05/2020 “retrospectively registered” https://www.aerztekammer-hamburg.org/ethik_kommission.html.