Одномоментная коррекция врожденной брахиметатарзии у подростков и пациентов молодого возраста

Introduction. Brachymetatarsia is a relatively rare abnormal shortening of metatarsal bone with female predominance. No consensus exists about the ideal surgical treatment for this condition while the two common strategies are gradual lengthening using external fixation and acute one stage lengthening. We describe the surgical technique of acute lengthening using iliac bone graft and report our results. Materials and Methods. Twelve patients (11 females, one male) with 14 short metatarsals were treated in our hospital over a 12-year period. The mean age was 17.4 years (range 14-28 years). Treatment protocol included metatarsal osteotomy, lengthening of extensor tendon and percutaneous tenotomy of the flexor tendon at the level of affected MP joint. Autologous iliac bone graft was inserted after elongation of the metatarsal by distraction through the osteotomy site and fixed using Kirshner wire. Results. Average metatarsal shortening was 13mm (range, 11-18 mm). The metatarsal length gained was an average of 12mm (range, 11-15 mm). Uneventful bone union was achieved in all cases after six weeks. At the end of treatment, the normal cascade of the metatarsal heads (metatarsal parabola) had been restored in 11 of the 14 metatarsals treated. There were no wound complications or pin tract infections around the wire. All but one patient were satisfied with the cosmetic appearance of the foot. Conclusion. Based on our experience, acute metatarsal lengthening using an iliac autugraft is a reliable and effective treatment method for congenital brachymetatarsia in adolescents and young adults.Level of Evidence: Level IV Case series.Введение. Брахиметатарзия является относительно редкой патологией аномального укорочения плюсневых костей, наиболее часто встречающейся у женщин. В настоящее время отсутствует консенсус в отношении идеального хирургического метода лечения данной деформации, и существуют две общепризнанные стратегии лечения: постепенное удлинение с использованием чрескостного остеосинтеза и одномоментное удлинение с применением аутотрансплантата. Авторы описывают хирургическую технику и приводят свои результаты выполнения одномоментной процедуры удлинения с использованием аутотрансплантата из гребня подвздошной кости. Материал и методы. За 12-летний период в клинике были прооперированы 12 пациентов (11 женщин, 1 мужчина) с укорочениями 14 плюсневых костей. Средний возраст пациентов — 17,4 лет (от 14 до 28 лет). Протокол лечения включал остеотомию плюсневых костей, удлинение сухожилия разгибателя и чрезкожную тенотомию сухожилия сгибателя на уровне деформированного пястно-фалангового сустава. Аутотрансплантат из гребня подвздошной кости помещали в область остеотомии после дистракции плюсневой кости и фиксировали спицами Киршнера. Результаты. Средняя величина укорочения плюсневых костей составляла 13 мм (в диапазоне от 11 до 18 мм). Средняя величина достигнутого удлинения составила 12 мм (в диапазоне от 11 до 15 мм). Костное сращение без осложнений у всех пациентов наблюдали через шесть недель. В результате лечения было восстановлено нормальное анатомическое соотношение головок плюсневых костей (плюсневая парабола) у 11 из 14 плюсневых костей. Авторы не наблюдали случаев осложнения заживления хирургической раны или инфекции в области введения спиц. За исключением одного все пациенты были удовлетворены эстетическим внешним видом стопы. Заключение. Исходя из опыта авторов, одноэтапное удлинение плюсневых костей с применением аутотрансплантата из подвздошной кости является надежным и эффективным методом лечения врожденной брахиметатарзии у подростков и пациентов молодого возраста. Уровень доказательности: IV, серия клинических наблюдений

New rock magnetic and paleomagnetic results for the 1.64 Ga Suomenniemi dyke swarm, SE Finland

Peer reviewe

Roughness and multiscaling of planar crack fronts

We consider numerically the roughness of a planar crack front within the long-range elastic string model, with a tunable disorder correlation length $\xi$. The problem is shown to have two important length scales, $\xi$ and the Larkin length $L_c$. Multiscaling of the crack front is observed for scales below $\xi$, provided that the disorder is strong enough. The asymptotic scaling with a roughness exponent $\zeta \approx 0.39$ is recovered for scales larger than both $\xi$ and $L_c$. If $L_c > \xi$, these regimes are separated by a third regime characterized by the Larkin exponent $\zeta_L \approx 0.5$. We discuss the experimental implications of our results.Comment: 8 pages, two figure

Kick Scooter Injuries in Children and Adolescents : Minor Fractures and Bruise

Background: Kick scooters are popular among children in both transportation and recreational activities. The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the incidence of and injury patterns associated with kick scooter accidents in school-aged children and adolescents. Methods: All 171 patients at the age of 7-15 years who were treated for kick scooter-related injuries in the metropolitan Helsinki area, Southern Finland from January 2008 to December 2013 were included. Electronic medical records were reviewed and Pediatric Trauma Scores and Injury Severity Scores were utilized to assess the injuries. Results: The annual number of patients increased from 7 in 2008 to 55 in 2013. Almost all patients (94%, n = 161) were injured after a fall from their own height. Most patients (n = 118; 69%) were diagnosed with a fracture but only 26 patients (15%) required surgical procedures under general anesthesia. Pediatric Trauma Scores were low and only one patient had an Injury Severity Score > 15 which can be considered major trauma. Conclusion: Most injuries acquired from kick scooter injuries were easily treatable fractures and bruises. Considering the background population of 105,000 in the respective age group and the 6-year period of data collection from tertiary care, scooting seems a safe means of increasing the physical activity levels of school-aged children and adolescents.Peer reviewe

On h h -transforms of one-dimensional diffusions stopped upon hitting zero

For a one-dimensional diffusion on an interval for which 0 is the regular-reflecting left boundary, three kinds of conditionings to avoid zero are studied. The limit processes are $h$-transforms of the process stopped upon hitting zero, where $h$'s are the ground state, the scale function, and the renormalized zero-resolvent. Several properties of the $h$-transforms are investigated

Molecular analysis of an echovirus 3 strain isolated from an individual concurrently with appearance of islet cell and IA-2 autoantibodies

Growing evidence has implicated members of the genus Enterovirus of the family Picornaviridae in the etiology of some cases of type I diabetes (T1D). To contribute to an understanding of the molecular determinants underlying this association, we determined the complete nucleotide sequence of a strain of echovirus 3 (E3), Human enterovirus B (HEV-B) species, isolated from an individual who soon after virus isolation developed autoantibodies characteristic of T1D. The individual has remained positive for over 6 years for tyrosine phosphatase-related IA-2 protein autoantibodies and islet cell autoantibodies, indicating an ongoing autoimmune process, although he has not yet developed clinical T1D. The sequence obtained adds weight to the observation that recent enterovirus isolates differ significantly from prototype strains and provides further evidence of a role for recombination in enterovirus evolution. In common with most HEV-B species members, the isolate exhibits 2C and VP1 sequences suggested as triggers of autoimmunity through molecular mimicry. However, comparisons with the E3 prototype strain and previously reported diabetogenic and nondiabetogenic HEV-B strains do not reveal clear candidates for sequence features of PicoBank/DM1/E3 that could be associated with autoantibody appearance. This is the first time a virus strain isolated at the time of commencement of beta-cell damage has been analyzed and is an invaluable addition to enterovirus strains isolated previously at the onset of T1D in the search for specific molecular features which could be associated with diabetes induction

Toxic text in personas: An experiment on user perceptions

When algorithms create personas from social media data, the personas can become noxious via automatically including toxic comments. To investigate how users perceive such personas, we conducted a 2 × 2 user experiment with 496 participants that showed participants toxic and non-toxic versions of data-driven personas. We found that participants gave higher credibility, likability, empathy, similarity, and willingness-to-use scores to non-toxic personas. Also, gender affected toxicity perceptions in that female toxic data-driven personas scored lower in likability, empathy, and similarity than their male counterparts. Female participants gave higher perceptions scores to non-toxic personas and lower scores to toxic personas than male participants. We discuss implications from our research for designing data-driven personas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Does a smile matter if the person Is not real?: the effect of a smile and stock photos on persona perceptions

We analyze the effect of using smiling/non-smiling and stock photo/non-stock photo pictures in persona profiles on four key persona perceptions, including credibility, likability, similarity, and willingness to use. For this, we collect data from an experiment with 2,400 participants using a 16-item survey instrument and multiple persona profile treatments of which half have a smiling photo/stock photo and half do not. The results from structural equation modeling, supplemented by a qualitative analysis, show that a smile enhances the perceived similarity with the persona, similar personas are more liked, and that likability increases the willingness to use a persona. In contrast, the use of stock photos decreases the perceived similarity with the persona as well as persona credibility, both of which are significant predictors to a willingness to use a persona. These professionally crafted stock-photos seem to diminish the sense of identification with the persona. The above effects are consistent across the tested ages, genders, and races of the persona picture, although the effect sizes tend to be small. The results suggest that persona creators should use smiling pictures of real people to evoke positive perceptions toward the personas. In addition to presenting quantitative evidence on the predictors of willingness to use a persona, our research has implications for the design of persona profiles, showing that the picture choice influences individuals’ persona perceptions even when the other persona information is identical.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Using artificially generated pictures in customer-facing systems: an evaluation study with data-driven personas

We conduct two studies to evaluate the suitability of artificially generated facial pictures for use in a customer-facing system using data-driven personas. STUDY 1 investigates the quality of a sample of 1,000 artificially generated facial pictures. Obtaining 6,812 crowd judgments, we find that 90% of the images are rated medium quality or better. STUDY 2 examines the application of artificially generated facial pictures in data-driven personas using an experimental setting where the high-quality pictures are implemented in persona profiles. Based on 496 participants using 4 persona treatments (2 × 2 research design), findings of Bayesian analysis show that using the artificial pictures in persona profiles did not decrease the scores for Authenticity, Clarity, Empathy, and Willingness to Use of the data-driven personas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Structural Features of Condensed Tannins Influence Their Antimethanogenic Potential in Forage Plants

Despite years of research on the antimethanogenic potential of condensed tannins (CT), their large-scale application is inhibited by a substantial variability in previous studies with regards to their impact on ruminant nutrition. This variability mainly results from the complexity of CT structures, and their impact on methane emissions is often unaccounted for. Hence, this study (a) evaluated the variability in antimethanogenic potential across six forage species, (b) linked methane emissions to tannin activity, and (c) determined the impact of CT structural features on methane abatement. Six forage species were grown in a greenhouse under controlled environmental conditions, namely, sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia), birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), big trefoil (Lotus pedunculatus), plantain (Plantaga lanceolata), sulla (Hedysarum coronarium) and lucerne (Medicago sativa). The plants were harvested at the flowering stage and leaf samples were analysed for chemical composition, condensed tannin concentration and structural features, before being incubated in rumen fluid for 24 hours. Lucerne was used as negative control (without tannins) and an additional polyethylene glycol (PEG) treatment was included, to inactivate tannins and link any effect on fermentation characteristics to tannin activity only. A strong variability across the species (P\u3c 0.0001) was observed on methane emissions. Sulla had the highest antimethanogenic potential and decreased methane emissions by 47% compared to lucerne. All species rich in CTs decreased both methane and total gas production, yet the PEG treatment did not alter the methane proportion in the total gas produced. In addition to CT concentration (R= -0.78), methane emissions were found to be negatively correlated with the CT structural features, prodelphinidin percentage (R= -0.6) and mean degree of polymerisation (R= -0.57). This study demonstrated that antimethanogenic potential of forages depends on CT concentration as well as on structural features and incorporating them in the studies can efficiently assess their impact on ruminant nutrition