17The U.S. Department of Energy Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase) is an open-source 18 software and data platform designed to meet the grand challenge of systems biology-19 predicting and designing biological function from the biomolecular (small scale) to the ecological 20 (large scale). KBase is available for anyone to use, and enables researchers to collaboratively 21 generate, test, compare, and share hypotheses about biological functions; perform large-scale 22 analyses on scalable computing infrastructure; and combine experimental evidence and 23conclusions that lead to accurate models of plant and microbial physiology and community 24 dynamics. The KBase platform has (1) extensible analytical capabilities that currently include 25 genome assembly, annotation, ontology assignment, comparative genomics, transcriptomics, 26 and metabolic modeling; (2) a web-browser-based user interface that supports building, sharing, 27and publishing reproducible and well-annotated analyses with integrated data; (3) access to 28 extensive computational resources; and (4) a software development kit allowing the community 29to add functionality to the system. 30

OBJECT Alignment changes in the cervical spine that occur following surgical correction for thoracic deformity remain poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate such changes in a cohort of adults with thoracic deformity treated surgically. METHODS The authors conducted a multicenter retrospective analysis of consecutive patients with thoracic deformity. Inclusion criteria for this study were as follows: corrective osteotomy for thoracic deformity, upper-most instrumented vertebra (UIV) between T-1 and T-4, lower-most instrumented vertebra (LIV) at or above L-5 (LIV ≥ L-5) or at the ilium (LIV-ilium), and a minimum radiographic follow-up of 2 years. Sagittal radiographic parameters were assessed preoperatively as well as at 3 months and 2 years postoperatively, including the C-7 sagittal vertical axis (SVA), C2–7 cervical lordosis (CL), C2–7 SVA, T-1 slope (T1S), T1S minus CL (T1S-CL), T2–12 thoracic kyphosis (TK), apical TK, lumbar lordosis (LL), pelvic incidence (PI), PI-LL, pelvic tilt (PT), and sacral slope (SS). RESULTS Fifty-seven patients with a mean age of 49.1 ± 14.6 years met the study inclusion criteria. The preoperative prevalence of increased CL (CL > 15°) was 48.9%. Both 3-month and 2-year apical TK improved from baseline (p < 0.05, statistically significant). At the 2-year follow-up, only the C2–7 SVA increased significantly from baseline (p = 0.01), whereas LL decreased from baseline (p < 0.01). The prevalence of increased CL was 35.3% at 3 months and 47.8% at 2 years, which did not represent a significant change. Postoperative cervical alignment changes were not significantly different from preoperative values regardless of the LIV (LIV ≥ L-5 or LIV-ilium, p > 0.05 for both). In a subset of patients with a maximum TK ≥ 60° (35 patients) and 3-column osteotomy (38 patients), no significant postoperative cervical changes were seen. CONCLUSION Increased CL is common in adult spinal deformity patients with thoracic deformities and, unlike after lumbar corrective surgery, does not appear to normalize after thoracic corrective surgery. Cervical sagittal malalignment (C2–7 SVA) also increases postoperatively. Surgeons should be aware that spontaneous cervical alignment normalization might not occur following thoracic deformity correction.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships among body condition score (BCS), radiography, and computed tomography (CT), and to establish a method for body fat assessment on CT in dogs. Thirty eight Beagles with 2 to 7 BCS were examined. Subcutaneous fat thickness (ST) on radiograph and body area (BA), total fat area (TA), subcutaneous fat area (SA), and visceral fat area (VA) on CT were measured at the level of L3 and L6 vertebra. Ratios of each value to the L6 length were obtained (rST, rTA, rSA, rVA) and the correlations with BCS were estimated. The value of VA/SA, VA/TA, TA/BA, VA/BA, and SA/BA were selected for measuring fat and the correlations with BCS were estimated. The rST, rTA, rSA, and rVA were significantly correlated with BCS, and the rTA and rSA were significantly correlated with rST. At the level of L3, rTA and rVA had stronger relationships with BCS than at L6 while rSA had a higher correlation with BCS at L6. The TA/BA, VA/BA, and SA/BA were significantly correlated with BCS, and the upper limits were 15.11, 6.31, and 8.92%, respectively. Our results showed that CT could be useful to assess body fat and TA/BA, VA/BA, and SA/BA are suitable criteria for measuring fat on CT. In addition, L3 was a more suitable location for evaluating total and visceral fat, and L6 was more suitable for evaluating subcutaneous fat.