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The urgency of meeting climate targets, increasing land use competition and falling solar photovoltaic (PV) energy costs have created unprecedented opportunities for innovative deployment options. This study uses geospatial data processing to quantify the potential for large-scale deployment of vertical solar panels along Europe's major roads and railways. Factors such as geography, environmental constraints, land use limitations, and techno-economic parameters, were carefully considered. An economic assessment is provided to take account of the costs and benefits and technical feasibility of the proposed PV system as compared to the fossil-fuel based transport. The findings reveal a potential PV capacity of 403 GWp within the European Union (EU). This is the equivalent to 55% of the EU's total solar PV capacity target set for 2030. Using bifacial PV modules, these systems could generate 391 TWh (terawatt hours) of clean electricity annually. Considering only railway lines, the total annual PV electricity output could potentially reach 250% of the current annual electricity consumption of the EU railway network. Additionally, the electricity generated from PV installations alongside roads would not only be cost-effective in electricity markets but also serve as a viable alternative to fossil fuels in transportation. Tapping solar PV energy along transport infrastructure can therefore significantly contribute to the EU's energy transition. [Display omitted] • Potential PV tech. installed capacity corresponds to 55% of the EU target 2030. • Using bifacial PV modules along roads & rails could produce 391 TWh/yr. • PV output along rails could surpass its annual elect. consumption by 2.5 times. • Up to 15% substitution of traditional fuelling along the TEN-T. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elbow has been referred to as the unforgiving joint. Arthroscopy for treating elbow arthritis is both challenging and rewarding. Most joints require arthroplasty for treatment of arthritis, but the elbow is amenable to osteocapsular debridement. This is especially beneficial when elbow arthroplasty options have high complication rates and the need for permanent physical limitations. Thus, when treating arthritis, the elbow is more forgiving than once thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many procedures have been described for treating lateral epicondylitis with good success. The purpose of this report is to compare 3 operative methods for treatment of recalcitrant lateral epicondylitis—open, arthroscopic, and percutaneous. All patients with lateral epicondylitis who were operated on over a 7-year period were retrospectively reviewed. A minimum of 3 months of conservative care before surgery had failed in these patients, and they had a minimum of 2 years of follow-up. Concomitant pathology, complications, and necessary further care were noted. The outcomes were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively with the Andrews-Carson score and visual analog scale scores for pain at rest, worst pain, and pain with activity. We included 109 patients in the study: 24 percutaneous, 44 arthroscopic, and 41 open procedures. The mean duration of conservative care was 13.2 months, including 2.5 conservative measures and 1.35 cortisone injections. The mean follow-up was 47.8 months. The preoperative Andrews-Carson score was 160.3. The postoperative Andrews-Carson score was 195. There was a statistically significant difference between preoperative and postoperative Andrews-Carson scores for each of the groups. There were no significant differences among the populations regarding age, gender, dominance, conservative measures used, cortisone injections, recurrences, complications, failures, visual analog scale scores, and preoperative and postoperative Andrews-Carson scores. In addition, no difference in outcome scores was noted when intraarticular and concomitant pathology was addressed in comparison to the population in which tendinosis alone was addressed. Open, arthroscopic, and percutaneous treatments of lateral epicondylitis offer 3 highly effective ways for the clinician to address this common clinical problem. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Rotator cuff tears are common. When indicated, surgical repair is a highly successful procedure. There are circumstances when there is not enough tendon to perform an anatomic repair because of tear size, retraction, and/or atrophy. This clinical scenario, massive irreparable rotator cuff tear, has no perfect solution. Many options exist in treating massive irreparable rotator cuff tears: partial tendon repairs, debridement, tuberoplasty, intercalary allograft repairs, tendon transfers, superior capsular reconstruction, hemiarthroplasty, arthrodesis, and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty. No superior technique has been described. Another treatment has been added to this list: inserting a biodegradable balloon within the subacromial space to reduce the articulation of the humeral head on the acromion and aid in recentering the humeral head to restore balance to the remaining rotator cuff and improve deltoid function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe progressive genetic disease causing early loss of ambulation and mortality. Caregiver utilities ranged from 0.87 (for caregivers of adult DMD patients with DMD; measured by the EQ-5D-3L) to 0.71 (for caregivers of predominantly childhood DMD patients; measured by the EQ-5D-3L). [Extracted from the article]

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), caused by loss of dystrophin, is associated with early loss of ambulation (LOA) and death. This review's objective was to summarize published data for age at LOA with DMD genotype. To focus on a more homogeneous group, 1) this analysis was restricted to patients treated with corticosteroids (CS) and 2) DMD genotypes were categorized according to amenability of mutations to potential exon skipping therapies. [Extracted from the article]

DMD is a severe progressive myopathy characterized by early loss of ambulation (LOA) and reduced life expectancy; and corticosteroids (CS) can delay disease progression. The objective was to summarize data on age at LOA and death from CS-treated patients with DMD. This analysis focused on studies with a minimum sample size >=50 CS-treated DMD patients from the US and Canada. [Extracted from the article]

Chronic low back pain symptoms are extremely common among Iraq/Afghanistan-era Veterans. However, pharmacological management for pain is frequently suboptimal, and many Veterans experience persistent and unalleviated pain symptoms and/or intolerable side effects to pain medications. Current medications such as opioids that are frequently used to treat chronic pain symptoms have side effect risks such as respiratory depression, addiction, sedation, and potentially lethal interactions with other drugs. There is thus an acute and immediate need for the development of effective, safe, and non-habit-forming pharmacological treatments for chronic pain disorders. Neurosteroids are endogenous molecules that are enriched in human brain and hold promise for pain therapeutics. Data in rodent models demonstrate that neurosteroids exhibit pronounced analgesic actions, and our data in Iraq/Afghanistan-era Veterans suggest that neurosteroids are decreased in the setting of pain symptoms in clinical populations. Neurosteroids are hence logical candidates for pain alleviation and have not been tested yet for this indication. We thus conducted a 6-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of pregnenolone versus placebo to determine if adjunctive pregnenolone has therapeutic utility for the treatment of chronic low back pain in Iraq/Afghanistan-era Veterans. The primary outcome measure was average pain intensity ratings from a daily pain diary. Secondary outcomes included pain interference scores. Pregnenolone was extremely well-tolerated. Veterans randomized to pregnenolone reported significant reductions in low back pain relative to those randomized to placebo (pain diary p=0.024; pain recall p=0.010). Pain interference scores for "work" (p=0.040) and "activity" (p=0.031) were also improved in Veterans randomized to pregnenolone compared to placebo. Pregnenolone may thus represent a new intervention for pain conditions that is safe, well-tolerated, non-habit-forming, and potentially efficacious for the alleviation of pain symptoms in Iraq/Afghanistan-era Veterans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aortic valve regurgitation due to blunt thoracic trauma is a rare complication. Autopsy studies have been shown that the aortic valve is the most often lacerated one among the heart valves. Actually, we describe a case of a 47 year old man with the signs of heart failure after a blunt thoracic trauma 2 months before caused by aortic insufficiency due to a partial left-coronary aortic valve prolapse. Furthermore, transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography revealed two small jets between the left and the right atrium. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]