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• In comments following the post, Musk said the surgery was a “gamechanger” and reduced his pain significantly.
• So what is disc replacement surgery and what does the evidence tells us about its benefits and harms?

What’s involved in a disc replacement?

• Disc replacement may be performed for a number of reasons, including slipped discs in the neck, as appears to be the case for Musk.
• In Australia, even if you have health insurance, a disc replacement surgery may leave you more than A$12,000 out of pocket.
• Disc replacement surgery is not performed as much as other spinal surgeries (for example, spinal fusion) but its use is increasing.
• In New South Wales for example, rates of privately-funded disc replacement increased six-fold from 6.2 per million people in 2010–11 to 38.4 per million in 2019–20.

What are the benefits and harms?

• But there has been very little research comparing disc replacement surgery with non-surgical treatments.
• Unfortunately, these crucial first research steps have largely been skipped for disc replacement surgery for both neck and back pain.
• There are no clinical trials we know of investigating whether disc replacement is effective for neck pain compared to nothing or compared to non-surgical treatments.

• Complications are not uncommon, and can include disclocation of the artificial disc, fracture (break) of the artificial disc, and infection.
• Revision surgery means a re-do to the primary surgery if something needs fixing.

Are there effective alternatives?

• Many surgeons see disc replacement as an alternative to spinal fusion, and this choice is often presented to patients.
• Indeed, the research evidence used to support disc replacement mainly comes from studies that compare disc replacement to spinal fusion.
• Fortunately for patients, there are new, non-surgical treatments for neck and back pain that evidence is showing are effective – and are far cheaper than surgery.

• Christine Lin receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), and Medical Research Future Fund.
• Christopher Maher receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), and Medical Research Future Fund.

• One of the few Cretaceous age deposits that’s been discovered in Africa is at Botswana’s Orapa Diamond Mine.
• Recently a team I lead discovered two new species of rove beetles preserved in the sediments of the Orapa Diamond Mine.
• Rove beetles are typically identified by their unique short elytra (protective wing cases) which expose the rest of the abdomen.
• Our finds are the first fossil rove beetles ever discovered on the continent and in the southern hemisphere.
• The fossils closely resemble today’s rove beetles, showing how successful they’ve been in adapting to various environments without significant changes to their bodies.

Identifying the fossils

• We found the fossils in lacustrine sediments (deposits that accumulate in lake environments).
• Afristenus orapensis belongs to the stenine rove beetle subgroup while Paleothius mckayi belongs to the subgroup staphylinine.
• The stenine rove beetle was previously described in Russia, France and Myanmar while the staphylinine rove beetle was previously described in Russia, China, Myanmar and England.
• So we scoured research articles about fossils of a similar age that have already been studied elsewhere for comparative purposes.

More to find

• We are currently studying each specimen and preparing academic manuscripts that describe what we’ve found.
• My hope is that more money will be invested in training more palaeoentomologists in South Africa and on the continent more broadly.
• The study of fossil insects and plants is an important way to preserve our beloved continent’s heritage.

Sandiso Mnguni receives funding from GENUS (Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences - UID 86073). He is affiliated with the Sophumelela Youth Development Programme (SYDP).

• The LSU researchers propose decreasing the cost of the nootkatone synthesis, making any products made with the compound affordable to the general public.
• “The family of compounds that make up nootkatone is already proven to be both safer and more effective than existing commercial repellents,” principal investigator Dooley said.
• Years ago, Laine discovered the efficacy of nootkatone as an insect repellent while collaborating with retired LSU AgCenter Entomologist Gregg Henderson in Laine’s lab.
• Mosquito nets could be covered with it, or they could have cloth ankle bands with nootkatone so ticks can’t crawl up your leg.

• Both Atlanta-based, Alloy is Purpose Group’s second portfolio company.
• “The investment from Purpose Group is more than just growth capital,” said Alloy CEO Raj Choudhury.
• Purpose Group’s investment in Alloy will go directly to value creation - fueling the agency’s strong go-to-market and corporate growth strategies.
• “For over a decade, Alloy has been at the forefront of marketing innovation,” Purpose Group’s largest investor David Cummings said.