Acute acromioclavicular (AC) joint dislocation is a frequent sports injury with more than 100 different operation methods described. A total of 65 patients with an acute AC joint dislocation were treated with the modified MINAR^® system between 2009 and 2013. Clinical outcome, horizontal and vertical instability, as well as concomitant intraarticular injuries were assessed. We used Zanca, stress and axial X-rays for radiological assessment. A Constant score of 95 (±8.8), University of California Los Angeles Shoulder score (UCLA) of 31 (±4.9), Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) of 9.1 (±14.3), and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) of 0.9 (±0.126) was found. A total of 30 patients (59%) had no signs of reduction loss, nine patients (18%) a slight loss, 11 patients (22%) a partial loss, and one patient (2%) a total loss. No significant influence on the clinical scores could be shown. The postoperative coracoclavicular (CC) distance negatively affected the Constant (p = 0.007) and UCLA scores (p = 0.035). A longer time interval to surgery had a negative influence on all scores (p ≤ 0.001). We could not find any signs of persistent horizontal instability or intraarticular injuries at follow-up. The MINAR^® system promises satisfactory functional and radiological results. When setting the correct indication, patients benefit from an early operation. No persisting horizontal instability was observed following suturing of the AC capsule and the delta fascia. Full article

Fish scales (FS), a byproduct of the fish processing industry, are often discarded carelessly. In this present study, FS were used as a promising bio-sorbent for the removal of anionic acid dyes (acid red 1 (AR1), acid blue 45 (AB45) and acid yellow 127 (AY127)) from the wastewaters of textile coloration. Here, physiochemical characterizations of the FS were investigated by SEM-EDS, TGA and FI-IR analyses, and dye absorption and removal efficiency were evaluated and optimized considering different process parameters such as concentration of initial dye solution, amount of FS used, contact time, FS size, process temperature, additives, stirring and vacuum. SEM images and EDS elemental analyses showed architectural variation and heterogeneous composition of FS at different places. TGA identified the 50% minerals, 33% organic matters and 17% moisture and volatile components. FI-IR evidenced considerable absorption of acid dyes. Process optimization revealed that additives and fine pulverized FS had significant positive and negative impact on the dye removal efficacy, respectively. Temperature and stirring improved dye removal efficiency, and dye absorption by FS was very fast at the beginning and became almost constant after an hour indicating saturation of absorption. The maximum dye absorptions in scales for AR1, AB45, and AY127 were noted as 1.8, 2.7 and 3.4 mg/g, respectively, and removal percentages were 63.5%, 89.3% and 93%. The effects of the process parameters were consistent across all three acid dyes used in this study. Two-way ANOVA model showed that dye type, process parameters and ‘dye type X process parameters’ interactions had significant effect on the dye removal efficiency. Full article

We consider the Sparre Andersen risk process with interclaim times that belong to the class of distributions with rational Laplace transform. We construct error bounds for the ruin probability based on the Pollaczek–Khintchine formula, and develop an efficient algorithm to approximate the ruin probability for completely monotone claim size distributions. Our algorithm improves earlier results and can be tailored towards achieving a predetermined accuracy of the approximation. Full article

In this paper, a mathematical model for the transmission dynamics of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense that incorporates three species—namely, human, animal and vector—is formulated and analyzed. Two controls representing awareness campaigns and insecticide use are investigated in order to minimize the number of infected hosts in the population and the cost of implementation. Qualitative analysis of the model showed that it exhibited backward bifurcation generated by awareness campaigns. From the optimal control analysis we observed that optimal awareness and insecticide use could lead to effective control of the disease even when they were implemented at low intensities. In addition, it was noted that insecticide control had a greater impact on minimizing the spread of the disease compared to awareness campaigns. Full article

In this paper, we obtain multifractals (attractors) in the framework of Hausdorff b-metric spaces. Fractals and multifractals are defined to be the fixed points of associated fractal operators, which are known as attractors in the literature of fractals. We extend the results obtained by Chifu et al. (2014) and N.A. Secelean (2015) and generalize the results of Nazir et al. (2016) by using the assumptions imposed by Dung et al. (2017) to the case of ciric type generalized multi-iterated function system (CGMIFS) composed of ciric type generalized multivalued G-contractions defined on multifractal space $\mathcal{C}\left(\mathcal{U}\right)$ in the framework of a Hausdorff b-metric space, where $\mathcal{U}=U_1\times U_2\times \cdots \times U_N$ , N being a finite natural number. As an application of our study, we derive collage theorem which can be used to construct general fractals and to solve inverse problem in Hausdorff b-metric spaces which are more general spaces than Hausdorff metric spaces. Full article

Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum (L.) Gaertn.) is a nutritional crop, which has high flavonoid content. However, buckwheat is a salt sensitive glycophyte cereal crop and the growth and grain yield of buckwheat are significantly affected by soil salinity. In this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the transcriptome and metabolome of salt treated-buckwheat to understand the effects of salinity on buckwheat. A total of 50,681,938 clean reads were acquired from all samples. We acquired 94,950 unigenes with a mean length of 1133 bp and N50 length of 1900 bp assembly. Of these, 63,305 unigenes (66.7%) were matched in public databases. Comparison of the transcriptome expression patterns between control and salt treated groups showed that 4098 unigenes were up-regulated and 3292 unigenes were down-regulated significantly. Further, we found that genes involved with amino acid, lipid and nucleotide metabolism were most responsive to salt stress. Additionally, many genes involved in secondary metabolite biosynthesis changed significantly following treatment. Those affected included phenylpropanoid biosynthesis and flavonoid biosynthesis. Chromatographic analysis was used to examine the differences in concentration of flavonoids, carotenoids, amino acids and organic acids in the samples following treatment. There was a significant increase in rutin (12.115 mg/g dry weight), following salt stress; whereas, six carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, 13Z-β-carotene, α-carotene, E-β-carotene and 9Z-β-carotene) did not significantly respond to salt stress. Ultimately, our data acts as a valuable resource for future research on buckwheat and can be used as the basis for future analysis focused on gene-to-metabolite networks in buckwheat. Full article

The search for bioactivities influencing the human wellbeing of food proteins and peptides is a topic of broad and current interest. γ-Conglutin (γC) is a lupin seed protein drawing remarkable pharmacological and/or nutraceutical interest, as it is able to reduce hyperglycemia in humans and animal models. The present work deepens our investigations to understand the molecular basis of the in vitro effects of γC by testing the possible metabolic effects on cultivated Caco-2 cells. γC and its derived peptides (obtained via simulated gastrointestinal digestion) did not influence the cell viability at incubation times up to 24 h. The incubation of cells with native or digested γC caused no detectable inflammation processes mediated by Nuclear Factor kappa B (NFκB). We checked if treatment with γC or its derived peptides can elicit the expression of two peptide transporters (Pept-1 and Htp-1) by using an RT-qPCR approach. Native γC caused the halving of Pept-1 expression compared to untreated cells, but this effect disappeared when γC was digested. Either native γC or γC peptides reduced the expression levels of Hpt-1. Finally, this work also sheds light on the possible structural modifications of γC that may occur in the gastrointestinal tract, using an in vitro simulated dispersed system with polystyrene nanoparticles (NPs). Full article

Hot-dip galvanizing has been used for anti-corrosion of various steel products; however, the corrosion of molten zinc in the galvanizing industry is the key problem to be solved. Three kinds of Mo–B–Co–Cr, Mo–B–Ni–Cr, and Ti–B–Co–Cr mixture powders were deposited on the surface of a 316L stainless-steel substrate by a HVOF spraying method to prepare MoB/CoCr, MoB/NiCr, and TiB/CoCr coatings. The microstructure, mechanical properties, abrasive wear, and corrosion behavior in molten zinc of the in situ synthesized boride-based coatings were investigated. The experimental results showed that MoB/NiCr coating with a denser microstructure had the lowest porosity (0.811%). The in situ synthesized boride-phase compositions of MoB/CoCr, MoB/NiCr, and TiB/CoCr coatings were CoMoB and CoMo₂B₂, NiMo₂B₂, and TiB₂, respectively. The MoB/NiCr coating had the highest boride content among the coatings. The presence of binary (TiB₂) or ternary boride phases (CoMoB, CoMo₂B₂, and NiMo₂B₂) with their excellent mechanical properties could obviously increase the microhardness values in the coatings. The in situ synthesized borides in the coatings also could improve the wear resistance properties; MoB/NiCr coating with shallower grooves and smaller craters/pits had the smoothest worn surface and the lowest weight loss (6.8 ± 0.84 mg) among the coatings. After immersion test in molten zinc for 360 h, no presence of zinc or intermetallic compounds in the three kinds of the coatings (MoB/CoCr, MoB/NiCr, and TiB/CoCr), and the element compositions of the three kinds of coatings after the immersion test were the same as the as-sprayed coatings. Compared to the other coatings, MoB/NiCr coatings had the higher durability in molten zinc. Full article