Attaining tibiofibular union using an inter-tibiofibular autograft. A series of 43 cases

SummaryIntroductionThis study consisted of a series of 43 patients with lower leg non-union that were treated with an inter-tibiofibular autograft (ITFG).Material and methodsAfter reviewing the surgical technique, the overall theory behind the treatment is described, including stabilization, soft tissue repair, infection control if necessary and then performing a procedure to help achieve bone union.ResultsAfter an average follow-up of 2years, all the patients achieved union, but some required additional procedures. Only one patient had a delayed reactivation of the infection, which was successfully treated.ConclusionA broad set of indications for ITFG are proposed for lower leg non-union cases, in particular non-infected cases.Level of evidenceLevel IV. Retrospective study

A perceptual and experimental phonetic approach to dialect stereotypes : the tonada cordobesa of Argentina

textThis study investigates the perception of vowel lengthening in the tonada cordobesa, a feature of the Spanish spoken in Córdoba, Argentina. Unlike other dialects of Argentine Spanish, lengthening occurs in the pre-tonic syllable (Fontanella de Weinberg 1971; Yorio 1973; Lang 2010) and is believed to be accompanied by a pitch peak (Fontanella de Weinberg 1971). The goals of this dissertation are to determine if duration alone (i.e., without intonational changes) is significant in identifying a speaker’s Cordoba provenance, and to discover what listener features affect perception. A matched-guise methodology presents speech tokens with natural and manipulated pre-tonic vowel durations to Argentine listeners in a dialect identification task. Results show a main effect of speaker region and token type (natural versus manipulated). Shorter durations made Córdoba speakers difficult to identify, reducing accuracy from 59% for natural tokens to 28% for manipulated tokens with shortened pre-tonic syllables. Buenos Aires speakers received the highest identification accuracy for natural tokens (80%) and Tucumán speakers the lowest (43%). Longer pre-tonic vowel durations are associated with a Córdoba identity, regardless of speaker origin and other linguistic cues. Control tokens produced by speakers from Buenos Aires and Tucumán confirmed this effect: these tokens, when manipulated to have a longer pre-tonic vowel, induced the perception of a Córdoba identity. Listener experience is also shown to improve accuracy of dialect identification: listeners of more geographically distant provinces, relative to the speaker’s province of origin, present significantly reduced identification rates. Acoustical analyses of the Cordoba samples confirm pre-tonic lengthening as well as an early peak rise within the stressed syllable, and valley alignment before the onset of this syllable. Pre-tonic, tonic and post-tonic syllable durations are lengthened, resulting in a segmentally unbalanced intonational phrase for which prominence is disproportionately concentrated in these final segments. The durational, intonational, and rhythmic properties make the Cordoba dialect unique among regional lects within Argentina and across the Spanish-speaking world. This research contributes experimental evidence for the prosodic features marking this dialect and supports its saliency and social significance within Argentina.Spanish and Portugues

An early secretory pathway mediated by GNOM-LIKE 1 and GNOM is essential for basal polarity establishment in Arabidopsis thaliana

Spatial regulation of the plant hormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA, or auxin) is essential for plant development. Auxin gradient establishment is mediated by polarly localized auxin transporters, including PIN-FORMED (PIN) proteins. Their localization and abundance at the plasma membrane are tightly regulated by endo-membrane machinery, especially the endocytic and recycling pathways mediated by the ADP ribosylation factor guanine nucleotide exchange factor (ARF-GEF) GNOM. We assessed the role of the early secretory pathway in establishing PIN1 polarity in Arabidopsis thaliana by pharmacological and genetic approaches. We identified the compound endosidin 8 (ES8), which selectively interferes with PIN1 basal polarity without altering the polarity of apical proteins. ES8 alters the auxin distribution pattern in the root and induces a strong developmental phenotype, including reduced root length. The ARF-GEF-defective mutants gnom-like 1 (gnl1-1) and gnom (van7) are significantly resistant to ES8. The compound does not affect recycling or vacuolar trafficking of PIN1 but leads to its intracellular accumulation, resulting in loss of PIN1 basal polarity at the plasma membrane. Our data confirm a role for GNOM in endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-Golgi trafficking and reveal that a GNL1/GNOM-mediated early secretory pathway selectively regulates PIN1 basal polarity establishment in a manner essential for normal plant development

The time-dependent rearrangement of the epithelial basement membrane in human skin wounds

In 62 human skin wounds (surgical wounds, stab wounds and lacerations after surgical treatment) we analyzed the immunohistochemical localization of collagen IV in the epithelial basement membrane. In 27 of these wounds the distribution of collagen VII, which represents a specific component of the basement membrane of stratified epithelia, was also analyzed. We were able to demonstrate a virtually identical co-distribution of both collagen IV and VII in the wound area with no significant time-dependent differences in the appearance of both collagen types. Fragments of the epithelial basement membrane could be detected in the wound area from as early as 4 days after wounding and after 8 days a complete restitution of the epithelial basement membrane was observed. In all cases with a wound age of more than 21 days the basement membrane was completely reformed over the former lesional area. The period between 8 and 21 days after wounding was characterized by a wide variability ranging from complete restitution to deposition of basement membrane fragments or total lack of the epidermal basement membrane

Modeling and Optimization of Lactic Acid Synthesis by the Alkaline Degradation of Fructose in a Batch Reactor

The present work deals with the determination of the optimal operating conditions of lactic acid synthesis by the alkaline degradation of fructose. It is a complex transformation for which detailed knowledge is not available. It is carried out in a batch or semi-batch reactor. The ‘‘Tendency Modeling’’ approach, which consists of the development of an approximate stoichiometric and kinetic model, has been used. An experimental planning method has been utilized as the database for model development. The application of the experimental planning methodology allows comparison between the experimental and model response. The model is then used in an optimization procedure to compute the optimal process. The optimal control problem is converted into a nonlinear programming problem solved using the sequencial quadratic programming procedure coupled with the golden search method. The strategy developed allows simultaneously optimizing the different variables, which may be constrained. The validity of the methodology is illustrated by the determination of the optimal operating conditions of lactic acid production

Functional traits of indigenous and exotic ground-dwelling arthropods show contrasting responses to land-use change in an oceanic island, Terceira, Azores

Aim: Land-use change typically goes hand in hand with the introduction of exotic-species, which mingle with indigenous species to form novel assemblages. Here, we compare the functional structure of indigenous and exotic elements of ground-dwelling arthropod assemblages across four land-uses of varying management intensity. Location: Terceira Island (Azores, North Atlantic). Methods: We used pitfall traps to sample arthropods in 36 sites across the four land-uses and collated traits related to dispersal ability, body size and resource use. For both indigenous and exotic species, we examined the impact of land-uses on trait diversity and tested for the existence of non-random assembly processes using null models. We analysed differences in trait composition among land-uses for both indigenous and exotic species with multivariate analyses. We used point-biserial correlations to identity traits significantly correlated with specific land-uses for each element. Results: We recorded 86 indigenous and 116 exotic arthropod species. Under high-intensity land-use, both indigenous and exotic elements showed significant trait clustering. Trait composition strongly shifted across land-uses, with indigenous and exotic species being functionally dissimilar in all land-uses. Large-bodied herbivores dominated exotic elements in low-intensity land-uses, while small-bodied spiders dominated exotic elements in high-intensity land-uses. In contrast, with increasing land-use intensity, indigenous species changed from functionally diverse to being dominated by piercing and cutting herbivores. Main conclusions: Our study revealed two main findings: first, in high-intensity - land-uses, trait clustering characterized both indigenous and exotic elements; second, exotic species differed in their functional profile from indigenous species in all land-use types. Overall, our results provide new insights into the functional role of exotic species in a land-use context, suggesting that, in agricultural landscape, exotic species may contribute positively to the maintenance of some ecosystem functions.Peer reviewe

Magneto-optical evidence for a gapped Fermi surface in underdoped YBa2Cu3O6+x

The infrared (900-1100 cm-1) Faraday rotation and circular dichroism are measured in the normal state of underdoped High Tc superconductors and used to study the magneto-transport. YBa2Cu3O6+x thin films are investigated in the temperature range 10-300 K in magnetic fields up to 8 Tesla and as a function of oxygen concentration. A dramatic increase of the Hall frequency is observed for underdoped samples which is not consistent with the approach to a Mott transition but is consistent with a partial gapping of the Fermi surface as predicted in charge density wave models.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure