DRUJ instability after distal radius fracture: A comparison between cases with and without ulnar styloid fracture

AbstractBackgroundBecause of the importance of the DRUJ in upper extremity function and the prevalence of distal radius fractures, either with or without ulnar styloid fracture, this study was designed to assess the relationship between ulnar styloid fracture and the incidence of DRUJ instability after treatment of distal radius fractures treated with ORIF (volar plate).Methods112 patients suffering from type two and three distal radius fractures (Fernandez classification), were evaluated. Depending on the presence of ulnar styloid avulsion fracture, patients were divided into two groups: 86 cases with isolated radial fracture and 26 cases with a distal radius fracture accompanied by ulnar styloid fracture. All patients underwent distal radius fracture ORIF. CT scanning was done both immediately after surgery and 3 months post-op. DRUJ stability was examined using the modified radioulnar line method and the incidence of DRUJ instability was compared between the two groups.ResultsImmediate instability was seen in 11 patients. Three of these patients had concomitant ulnar styloid fracture and were excluded for further fixation. Three months later, another 9 cases were diagnosed with DRUJ instability, 2 of whom had concomitant ulnar styloid fracture and the other 7 suffered from isolated distal radius fracture. Chi-square test revealed no significant difference (p < 0.05). There were no cases of delayed union or non-union distal radius fracture.ConclusionOur study demonstrated that untreated stable or minimally displaced ulnar styloid fracture accompanied by distal radius fracture, has no adverse effect on DRUJ stability following ORIF of the radius

Bacterial community diversity in cultures derived from healthy and inflamed ileal pouches after restorative proctocolectomy

Pouchitis is believed to occur as a reaction to dysbiosis. In this study we assessed differences between mucosal bacterial communities cultured from noninflamed and inflamed ileal pouches

Nitrate is a negative signal for fructan synthesis and the fructosyltransferaseinducing trehalose inhibits nitrogen and carbon assimilation in excised barley leaves.

Fructan biosynthesis in barley has been shown to be up-regulated by sugar signalling and down-regulated by nitrogen. We have investigated the relationship between these two regulations. • Excised third-leaves of barley were fed nitrate or glutamine under two light intensities. Other leaf blades were supplied in the dark for 24 h with nitrate and trehalose in the presence of validamycin A, a trehalase inhibitor. • In the light, nitrate, but not glutamine, decreased fructan contents and sucrose:fructan 6-fructosyltransferase protein without affecting the levels of sucrose and other carbohydrates. In darkened leaves, trehalose increased and nitrate decreased the fructan contents and total sucrose:fructosyltransferase activity without altering the concentration of sucrose. The effect on fructan contents of trehalose disappeared, while that of nitrate still remained in subsequent incubations in water under light. Trehalose decreased and nitrate increased the light- and CO2-saturated rate of photosynthesis without significantly affecting the initial Rubisco activity. Trehalose feeding decreased the activation of Nitrate Reductase and amino acid levels, and blocked the positive effect of nitrate on the maximal activity of this enzyme. • The results indicate that nitrate, and not a down-stream metabolite, is a negative signal for fructan synthesis, independent from the positive sugar signalling and overriding it. Trehalose signalling inhibits nitrogen and carbon assimilation, at the same time inducing fructosyltransferase activity.This work was funded by the Spanish National Research and Development Programme – FEDER (1FD97-0468 grant) and the Junta de Castilla y León (CSI5/00F grant). S.K. was the recipient of a fellowship from the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation.Peer reviewe

The price of plurality: Choice, diversity and broadcasting institutions in the digital age

The publication examines whether plurality can be sustainable in a fully digital and on-demand world. It brings together a wide variety of perspectives on this critical issue, from producers and broadcasters, academic experts, politicians and policy-makers

Impact of the carbon and nitrogen supply on relationships and connectivity between metabolism and biomass in a broad panel of Arabidopsis accessions.

Natural genetic diversity provides a powerful tool to study the complex interrelationship between metabolism and growth. Profiling of metabolic traits combined with network-based and statistical analyses allow the comparison of conditions and identification of sets of traits that predict biomass. However, it often remains unclear why a particular set of metabolites is linked with biomass and to what extent the predictive model is applicable beyond a particular growth condition. A panel of 97 genetically diverse Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) accessions was grown in near-optimal carbon and nitrogen supply, restricted carbon supply, and restricted nitrogen supply and analyzed for biomass and 54 metabolic traits. Correlation-based metabolic networks were generated from the genotype-dependent variation in each condition to reveal sets of metabolites that show coordinated changes across accessions. The networks were largely specific for a single growth condition. Partial least squares regression from metabolic traits allowed prediction of biomass within and, slightly more weakly, across conditions (cross-validated Pearson correlations in the range of 0.27-0.58 and 0.21-0.51 and P values in the range of <0.001-<0.13 and <0.001-<0.023, respectively). Metabolic traits that correlate with growth or have a high weighting in the partial least squares regression were mainly condition specific and often related to the resource that restricts growth under that condition. Linear mixed-model analysis using the combined metabolic traits from all growth conditions as an input indicated that inclusion of random effects for the conditions improves predictions of biomass. Thus, robust prediction of biomass across a range of conditions requires condition-specific measurement of metabolic traits to take account of environment-dependent changes of the underlying networks