Where the Yak Became One with the Soil: Reflections on Life and Research in a Himalayan Village

This article explores the role that Briddim, a small village in northern Rasuwa District, Nepal, played in the intellectual development of two students who visited nearly three decades apart. After a brief historical survey focusing on the village’s position on a trans-Himalayan trade route connecting Kathmandu with Kyirong, the authors use a personal and reflective lens to explore Briddim’s changing fortunes in relation to international exchange networks and geopolitical forces. In many ways Briddim encapsulates the socioeconomic and cultural changes sweeping contemporary highland Nepal as a result of rising educational opportunities, tourism, and migration. By comparing notes from 1984 and 2013, the authors bear witness to very different circumstances in the village’s changing relationship with the outside world

FOOT-MOVEMENT, LOAD AND INJURY IN VOLLEYBALL

Many human movements are very typical to one sporting activity. Such movements may be a particular way of hittiny a ball (whole body movement) or placing the foot on the ground (one segment movement). Movements are the result of acting forces and as a consequence lead to a loading of joints, tendons and other anatanical structures. Load on the other hand is recognized as a critical factor regarding the occurence of pain and injury (Nigg, Stuessi). So movement, load and injury are related to each other. In running this relation has been pursued for a number of years, in other sports, i.e. volleyball it is almost unknown. The goal of this presentation is twofold: (1) To present a structuring of the game of volleyball in order (2) to establish a relationship between foot-movement, injury and load. Applications are presented using selected examples

Pediatric seatbelt injuries: unusual Chance's fracture associated with intra-abdominal lesions in a child

The authors report the case of a 7-year-old child involved in a motor vehicle accident. She sustained an unusual flexion-distraction vertebral injury. This spinal injury was related to seatbelt use and was associated with intra-abdominal lesions. The spinal lesion consisted of a posterior ligamentous disruption with widening of the posterior intervertebral space at two adjacent lumbar levels. The purpose of this case report is to describe an atypical and perhaps often unrecognized spinal lesion and to explain our approach to diagnosis and treatmen

Recombinant Measles Viruses Defective for RNA Editing and V Protein Synthesis Are Viable in Cultured Cells

AbstractThe measles virus (MV) phosphoprotein (P) gene encodes three proteins, P, C, and V. The V protein is synthesized by pseudo-templated transcription, also designated as RNA editing: during P gene transcription one G residue is inserted at a defined position in about 50% of the mRNAs. To study the importance of sequence elements for the nontemplated G insertion, we generated recombinant MVs in which six different mutations were introduced within the region where editing occurs (3′ UUUUUCCC, template strand). These viruses were then analyzed for their ability to edit their P mRNA and to produce V protein. Single U to C changes within the U stretch abolished editing. Extending the template by three C residues at the site of G insertion resulted in a less precise editing phenotype and overproduction of V. None of these mutants were impaired in their multiplication behavior when analyzed in cultured cells. However, the syncytia of a recombinant MV overproducing V protein were in general smaller and lysed 1 to 2 days later than usual

Benign fibrous histiocytoma of bone in a paediatric population: a report of 6 cases

Case records and radiological investigations of six children with benign fibrous histiocytoma were studied retrospectively. BFH occurred in the femur (n=2), tibia (n=2) and fibula (n=2). Clinically, patients reported pain from the lesion lasting several months (mean 6months). The pain was not associated with pathological fracture in any patient. On X-rays, the lesions appeared as lytic and sharply demarcated with a sclerotic rim and fine trabeculations. The reported cases were located in the metaphysis and the diaphysis of the long bones. The tumour was restricted to bone, without periosteal or soft tissue reaction. Treatment consisted of careful intralesional curettage of the lesion; the defect was thereafter filled with bone bank graft or injectable phosphocalcic cement. The length of follow-up ranged from 24months to 4.75years (mean 35.2months). One case presented with recurrence of the disease and required successful repeat intralesional curettage. Benign fibrous histiocytoma is probably underestimated among patients less than 20years of age. This diagnosis should be considered in any child or teenager who presents with a non-ossifying fibroma accompanied by unexplainable pain or a rapid growing. Surgery restricted to the osteolytic lesion seems sufficient to achieve bone healin

Cardiac maladaptation in term pregnancies with preeclampsia.

OBJECTIVES: To study biventricular cardiac changes with conventional echocardiography and new echocardiographic speckle tracking technologies such strain, twist and torsion in pregnant women with preeclampsia at term and normotensive control term pregnant women. STUDY DESIGN: For this prospective single centre case-control study, we consecutively recruited 30 women with preeclampsia at term as cases and 40 healthy control term pregnant women. All women underwent transthoracic echocardiographic examination at the time point of inclusion into the study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Signs of systolic and/or diastolic cardiac maladaptation to the increased volume load associated with pregnancy. RESULTS: Conventional echocardiography revealed mild left sided diastolic impairment in the form of significantly increased E/E' in preeclampsia (7.58 ± 1.72 vs. 6.18 ± 1.57, p = 0.001) compared to normotensive controls, but no evidence of systolic impairment. With speckle tracking analysis, significant decreases in left ventricular global (-13.32 ± 2.37% vs. -17.61 ± 1.89%, p < 0.001), endocardial (-15.64 ± 2.79% vs. -19.84 ± 2.35%, p < 0.001) and epicardial strain (-11.48 ± 2.15% vs. -15.73 ± 1.66%, p < 0.001) as well as left ventricular longitudinal strain rate (-0.84 ± 0.14 s-1 vs. -0.98 ± 0.12 s-1, p < 0.001) and left ventricular early diastolic strain rate (0.86 ± 0.30 s-1 vs. 1.24 ± 0.26 s-1, p < 0.001) could be observed in women with term preeclampsia. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study demonstrate that pregnant women with term preeclampsia with minimal functional changes on conventional echocardiography, demonstrated significant subclinical myocardial changes on speckle tracking analysis