Early Treatment Outcome of Humeral Shaft Fracture Non-Union in Adults: Comparative Study of Plating versus Interlocking Nailing

Background: Fractures of humeral shaft in adults are common injuries. Humeral shafts non-union either from late presentation after initial treatment by traditional bone setters or failed non-operative orthodox care is a major problem in this part of the world. This non-union is a major treatment challenge with increased cost of care and morbidity in this part of the world. Humeral shaft non-union can be treated with locked intra-medullary nailing (LIMN) or dynamic compression plating (DCP). Study on comparison of these methods of fixation in this part of the world is scarce in literature search, hence the reason for this study. Objective: The objectives of this study are: (1) to compare early clinical outcome following fixation of humeral shaft fracture nonunion with DCP versus LIMN;(2) to compare the time of radiologic fracture union of DCP with LIMN;(3) to compare complications following fixation of humeral shaft fracture nonunion with DCP versus LIMN. Patients and Methods: This was a randomized control study done for 2 years in which fifty adult patients with humeral shaft non-union were recruited. The patients were grouped into 2 (P = DCP & N = LIMN). Forty five of the patients completed the follow up periods of the study and then analyzed. The P group had ORIF with DCP while the N group had ORIF with LIMN. Both groups had grafting with cancellous bones. Each patient was followed up for a period of 6 months at the time which radiographic union is expected. Any patient without clinical and/or radiographic evidence of union after six months of surgery was diagnosed as having recurrent non-union. The data generated was analyzed using SPSS Version 23. The results were presented in charts and tables. The paired t-test was used while considering p value Result: Forty five patients completed follow up. There was a male preponderance (4:1), right humerus predominated (3:2). Motor vehicular accidents were the commonest cause of the fractures (62%). Most non-union fractures occurred at the level of the middle 3rd of the humeral shaft (60%). Failed TBS treatment was the commonest indication for the osteosynthesis (71%). More patients had plating (53%) compared to 47% who had LIMN. Most patients (93.4%) had union between 3 to 6 months irrespective of fixation type with no significant statistical difference between the union rate of DCP and LIMN (p value 0.06) with similar functional outcome and complication rates irrespective of the type of fixation. Conclusion: This study showed that the success rates in term of fracture union, outcome functional grades and complication rates were not directly dependent on the types of the fixation: plating or locked intra-medullary nailing.

TORSIONAL VIBRATIONS OF A RIGID CIRCULAR PLATE ON SATURATED STRATUM OVERLAYING BEDROCK

The torsional vibration of a rigid plate resting on saturated stratum overlaying bedrock has been analysed for the first time. The dynamic governing differential equations for saturated poroelastic medium are solved by employing the technology of Hankel transform. By taking into account the boundary conditions, the dual integral equations of torsional vibration of a rigid circular plate are established, which are further converted into a Fredholm integral equation of the second kind. Subsequently, the dynamic compliance coefficients of the foundation on saturated stratum, the contact shear stress under the foundation and the angular amplitude of the foundation are evaluated. Numerical results indicate that, when the dimensionless height is bigger than 5, saturated stratum overlaying bedrock can be treated as saturated half space approximately. When the dimensionless frequency is low, the permeability of the soil must be taken into account. Furthermore, when the vibration frequency is a constant, the height of the saturated stratum has a slight effect on the dimensionless contact shear stress under the foundation.

Dynamic performance and wake structure of flapping plates with different shapes

The dynamic performance and wake structure of flapping plates with different shapes were studied using multi-block lattice Boltzman and immersed boundary method.Two typical regimes relevant to thrust behavior are identified.One is nonlinear relation between the thrust and the area moment of plate for lower area moment region and the other is linear relation for larger area moment region.The tendency of the power variation with the area moment is reasonably similar to the thrust behavior and the efficiency decreases gradually as the area moment increases.As the mechanism of the dynamic properties is associated with the evolution of vortical structures around the plate,the formation and evolution of vortical structures are investigated and the effects of the plate shape,plate area,Strouhal number and Reynolds number on the vortical structures are analyzed.The results obtained in this study provide physical insight into the understanding of the mechanisms relevant to flapping locomotion.

Propagation Properties of Backward Lamb Waves in Plate Investigated by Dynamic Photoelastic Technique

The dynamic photoelastic technique is employed to visualize and quantify the propagation properties of backward Lamb waves in a plate. Higher energy leakage of second-order symmetric backward wave mode S2b in contrast to third-order anti-symmetric backward mode A3b is shown by the dispersion curve of a plate immersed in water, and then verified by experiments. To avoid the considerable high leakage, the plate is placed in air, both group and phase velocities of modes S2b and A3b in the glass plate are experimentally measured. In comparison with the theoretical values, less than 5% errors are found in experiments.

ANALYSIS OF THE LARGE DEFLECTION DYNAMIC PLASTIC RESPONSE OF SIMPLY-SUPPORTED CIRCULAR PLATES BY THE“MEMBRANE FACTOR METHOD”

Based on energy equilibrium,a new procedure called the Membrane Factor Method is devel- oped to analyze the dynamic plastic response of plates with deflections in the range where both bending mo- ments and membrane forces are important.The final deflection of a simply -supported circular rigid-plastic plate loaded by a uniformly distributed impulse is obtained.In comparison with other approximate solutions, the present results are found to be simpler and in better agreement with the corresponding experimental values reoorded by Florence.

THE DYNAMIC STIFFNESS MATRIX OF THE FINITE ANNULAR PLATE ELEMENT

The dynamic deformation of harmonic vibration is used as the shape functions of the finite annular plate element, and sonic integration difficulties related to the Bessel's functions are solved in this paper. Then the dynamic stiffness matrix of the finite annular plate element is established in closed form and checked by the direct stiffness method. The paper has given wide convcrage for decomposing the dynamic matrix into the power series of frequency square. By utilizing the axial symmetry of annular elements, the modes with different numbers of nodal diameters at s separately treated. Thus some terse and complete results are obtained as the foundation of structural characteristic analysis and dynamic response compulation.

Characterization of bacterial community dynamics in a full-scale drinking water treatment plant

Understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics of microbial communities in drinking water systems is vital to securing the microbial safety of drinking water.The objective of this study was to comprehensively characterize the dynamics of microbial biomass and bacterial communities at each step of a full-scale drinking water treatment plant in Beijing,China.Both bulk water and biofilm samples on granular activated carbon（GAC） were collected over 9 months.The proportion of cultivable cells decreased during the treatment processes,and this proportion was higher in warm season than cool season,suggesting that treatment processes and water temperature probably had considerable impact on the R2 A cultivability of total bacteria.16 s rRNA gene based 454 pyrosequencing analysis of the bacterial community revealed that Proteobacteria predominated in all samples.The GAC biofilm harbored a distinct population with a much higher relative abundance of Acidobactena than water samples.Principle coordinate analysis and one-way analysis of similarity indicated that the dynamics of the microbial communities in bulk water and biofilm samples were better explained by the treatment processes rather than by sampling time,and distinctive changes of the microbial communities in water occurred after GAC filtration.Furthermore,20 distinct OTUs contributing most to the dissimilarity among samples of different sampling locations and 6 persistent OTUs present in the entire treatment process flow were identified.Overall,our findings demonstrate the significant effects that treatment processes have on the microbial biomass and community fluctuation and provide implications for further targeted investigation on particular bacteria populations.

From foredeep to orogenic wedge-top: The Cretaceous Songliao retroforeland basin, China

Songliao Basin,the largest Mesozoic intracontinental nonmarine basin in eastern China,initiated during the latest Jurassic as a backarc extensional basin;rifting failed and thermal cooling controlled subsidence through the early Late Cretaceous.Integrating 2-D and 3D reflection seismic and borehole data with regional geological studies,we interpret sedimentary sequence and structural patterns of the Coniacian-Maastrichtian fill of Songliao Basin as defining a retroforeland basin system developed after 88 Ma(marked by the T11 unconformity in the basin),including(1)significant increase in the thickness of the Nenjiang Formation eastward towards orogenic highlands of the Zhangguangcai Range and the convergent continental margin;(2)a shift of detrital provenance in the basin from north to southeast;and(3)propagation of E-W shortened structures,increasing eastward in amplitude,frequency,and degree of inversion toward the orogen.During latest Cretaceous,foreland basin fill progressively deformed,as the foredeep evolved to a wedge-top tectonic setting,marked by the basin-wide T04 unconformity within the upper Nenjiang Formation at 81.6 Ma.Much of the basin was brought into the orogenic wedge and eroded by the end of the Cretaceous.Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous backarc rifting of uncratonized basement comprised of accreted terranes likely facilitated and localized the foreland.Synrift normal faults reactivated and extensively inverted as thrust faults are prominent in the eastern 1/3 of the basin,whereas folds developed above detachments in shaley early post-rift strata dominate the western 2/3 of the basin.Songliao foreland development likely was driven by changing plate dynamics and collision along the Pacific margin after 88 Ma.