Subcapital callus resection for slipped capital femoral epiphysis

Surgical Principles The lateral approach is routinely combined with an osteotomy of the greater trochanter. We resect the newly formed callus located at the anterior, posterior and caudal aspect of the femoral neck distal to the epiphysis. No shortening of the femoral neck results from this procedure. One can safely avoid a vascular injury by performing a careful dissection, since the posteriorly reflected articular capsule containing the nutrient vessels to the head is detached from the femoral neck like a banana peel. The resection manoeuvre is performed next to the physeal plate of the slipped epiphysis. After callus resection, reduction of the femoral head by longitudinal traction and internal rotation of the limb is easy. The aim is complete correction of the slippage. When there is excess physeal cartilage, we resect it with a curette and then the head is fixed using 2 screws. Revised Version from: Operat. Orthop. Traumatol. 4 (1992), 77–85 (German Edition).     

Differential effect of catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met genotype on emotional recognition abilities in healthy men and women.

The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphism modulates executive functions and working memory and recent neuroimaging studies implicate an association with emotional processing. We examined the relationship between the COMT Val158Met polymorphism and facial emotion recognition and differentiation in 100 healthy individuals. Compared to Met homozygosity, Val homozygosity was associated with better and faster recognition of negative facial expressions such as anger and sad. Our study provides evidence for a possible influence of the COMT polymorphism on emotion recognition abilities in healthy subjects. Additional research is needed to further define the neurocognitive phenotypes associated with COMT polymorphisms.     

Eine Einfache Neue Methode zur Unterscheidung des Normalen und des Pathologischen Liquors

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

I. Sammelreferat. Frakturen,Verletzungen und traumatische Erkrankungen der Knochen

Ohne Zusammenfassung Ausser den Originalarbeiten wurden die Referate der Münchener med. Wochenschrift, des Centralblattes für Chirurgie und von Hildebrandts Jahresberichten benützt. (Fortsetzung und Schluss.)     

A simple model describes large individual differences in simultaneous colour contrast

We report experimental evidence for substantial individual differences in the susceptibility to simultaneous colour contrast. Interestingly, we found that not only the general amount of colour induction varies across observers, but also the general shape of the curves describing asymmetric matching data. A simple model based on von Kries adaptation and crispening describes the data rather well when we regard its free parameters as observer specific. We argue that the von Kries component reflects the action of a temporal adaptation mechanism, while the crispening component describes the action of the instantaneous, purely spatial mechanism most appropriately labeled simultaneous colour contrast. An interesting consequence of this view is that traditional ideas about the general characteristics of simultaneous contrast must be considered as misleading. According to Kirschmann’s 4th law, for instance, the simultaneous contrast effect should increase with increasing saturation of the surround, but crispening predicts the converse. Based on this reasoning, we offer a plausible explanation for the mixed evidence on the validity of Kirschmann’s 4th law. We also argue that simultaneous contrast, the crispening effect, Meyer’s effect and the gamut expansion effect are just different names for the same basic phenomenon.