Complete healing was not observed in this retrospective case series of posterior horn meniscus repairs performed by 2 surgeons using a single technique. Further research is needed to clarify why all patients showed clinical improvement despite findings of incomplete or failed healing on second-look arthroscopy. Treatment modalities for managing posterior root tears of the medial meniscus require further investigation to determine their efficacy.

No abstract

BackgroundThe unilateral biportal endoscopic (UBE) technique is a minimally invasive procedure for spinal surgery, while open microscopic discectomy is the most common surgical treatment for ruptured or herniated discs of the lumbar spine. A new endoscopic technique that uses a UBE approach has been applied to conventional arthroscopic systems for the treatment of spinal disease. In this study, we aimed to compare and evaluate the perioperative parameters and clinical outcomes, including recovery from surgery, pain and life quality modification, patient’s satisfaction, and complications, between UBE and open lumbar microdiscectomy (OLM) for single-level discectomy procedures.MethodsThis study included 141 patients with degenerative disc disease requiring discectomy at a single level from L2–L3 to L5–S1. A total of 60 and 81 patients underwent UBE and OLM, respectively. Analysis was based on comparison of perioperative metrics, operation time (OT); estimated blood loss (EBL); length of hospital stay (HS); clinical outcomes, including assessment using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI); patient satisfaction (the MacNab score); and the incidence of reoperation and complications.ResultsThe study cohort was 56.7% women, and the mean patient age was 50.98 ± 18.23 years. The mean VAS (the back and leg), MacNab score, and ODI improved significantly from the preoperative period to the last follow-up (12.92 ± 3.92) in both groups (p < 0.001). One week after operation, the back VAS score in the UBE group showed significantly more improvement than that in the OLM group. However, the 1-week, 3-month, and 12-month VAS (the back and leg), ODI improvement, modified MacNab score, and OT were not significantly different between the two groups. In the UBE group, EBL (34.67 ± 16.92) was smaller and HS (2.77 ± 1.2) was shorter than that of the OLM group (140.05 ± 57.8, 6.37 ± 1.39). However, OT (70.15 ± 22.0) was longer in the UBE group than in the OLM group (60.38 ± 15.5), and the difference was statistically significant. Meanwhile, the differences in the rate of surgical conversion and complications between the two groups were not statistically significant.ConclusionsThe UBE for single-level discectomy yielded similar clinical outcomes to OLM, including pain control, functional disability, and patient satisfaction, but incurred minimal EBL, HS, and postoperative back pain.Trial registrationNot applicable.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13018-018-0725-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The distinctive architecture of the PANI/3D graphene electrode enhances its supercapacitive performance (1024 F g¬1), the lightweight and porous conducting foam provides “freeways” for fast charge transport.

The intrinsically poor electrical conductivity and insufficient number of electrochemically active sites of transition-metal oxides hamper their wide application in high-performance supercapacitors. Herein, we demonstrate an effective strategy of creating phosphorus-containing cobalt molybdate (CoMoO 4) with oxygen vacancies (P-CoMoO 4-x) on nickel foam for use as a supercapacitor electrode. Experimental We have demonstrated a facile strategy for creating O vacancies and incorporating P atoms in P-CoMoO 4-x nanosheets on conductive Ni foam. Experimental and theoretical studies provide insight into the effect of the introduction of P and of O vacancies on structural and electrical properties of P-CoMoO 4-x. Moreover, P incorporation into the P-CoMoO 4-x lattice induces reduction in bond energy of CoO and the formation of Mo species with a lower oxidation state, resulting in substantially enhanced redox reaction kinetics and electrochemical performance. 4 Accordingly, the optimized P-CoMoO 4-x achieves a high specific capacity of 1368 C g −1 at a current density of 2 A g −1 , and excellent electrochemical stability. The asymmetric supercapacitor P-CoMoO 4-x //AC delivers superior energy densities of 58 W h kg −1 at a power density of 850 W kg −1 .

Abstract.Creating gaits for physical robots is a longstanding and open challenge. Recently, the HyperNEAT generative encoding was shown to automatically discover a variety of gait regularities, producing fast, coordinated gaits, but only for simulated robots. A follow-up study found that HyperNEAT did not produce impressive gaits when they were evolved directly on a physical robot. A simpler encoding hand-tuned to produce regular gaits was tried on the same robot, and outperformed HyperNEAT, but these gaits were first evolved in simulation before being transferred to the robot. In this paper, we tested the hypothesis that the beneficial properties of HyperNEAT would outperform the simpler encoding if HyperNEAT gaits are first evolved in simulation before being transferred to reality. That hypothesis was confirmed, resulting in the fastest gaits yet observed for this robot, including those produced by nine different algorithms from three previous papers describing gaitgenerating techniques for this robot. This result is important because it confirms that the early promise shown by generative encodings, specifically HyperNEAT, are not limited to simulation, but work on challenging real-world engineering challenges such as evolving gaits for real robots.

No abstract

No abstract