Ligamentary structure of the base of the nail

Summary The authors report the results of 115 dissections of the base of the distal phalanx of fingers and toes. In 85% of cases including hypoplastic supernumerary digits, there is a connective ligament-like structure. It is a dorsal expansion of the lateral ligament of the distal inter-phalangeal joint arising from the intermediate phalanx and ending in the matrix and the lunula. This ligament may have a role in biomechanical strains on the nail. It can explain some dystrophic nails associated with some malpositioned joints in fingers or toes.

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Structure ligamentaire de la base de l'ongle

Résumé Les auteurs rapportent les résultats de 115 dissections portant sur la base de la phalange distale des doigts ou des orteils. Ils retrouvent dans 85 % des cas, y compris sur des doigts hypoplasiques surnuméraires, une formation conjonctive de type ligamentaire. Il s'agit d'une expansion dorsale du ligament latéral de l'articulation interphalangienne distale, naissant de l'extrémité distale de la phalange intermédiaire et se terminant au sein de la matrice et sur la lunule. Ce ligament ostéomatriciel peut jouer un rôle dans la transmission des contraintes biomécaniques sur l'ongle et expliquer les dystrophies unguéales stéréotypées associées à certaines malpositions articulaires des doigts ou des orteils.

     

Prolonged breastfeeding and malnutrition: confounding and effect modification in a Brazilian cohort study

We examined the association between prolonged breastfeeding and anthropometric status in a population-based cohort study of 5,914 liveborns from the city of Pelotas in Southern Brazil. When children from all socioeconomic groups were studied, there was no important association between current breastfeeding and anthropometric status at age 12 months. Children who were still breastfed at age 20 months--and, to a lesser extent, at 43 months--presented with poorer anthropometric status than their nonbreastfed counterparts. We did not find the same pattern in all socioeconomic groups, however. Children from low-income families who were breastfed tended to present better anthropometric status than those who were not, whereas the reverse was observed for children of middle- and high-income families. After controlling for confounding variables, the nutritional advantage of breastfeeding among low-income families was no longer clear, while the superiority of nonbreastfed infants amongst middle- and high-income children persisted. These findings indicate that some of the controversy regarding the nutritional effects of prolonged breastfeeding may have been caused by confounding and effect modification. Any decisions on whether or not breastfeeding should be encouraged after the first year of life should take into account the characteristics of the population as well as the anti-infective and birth-spacing properties of breastfeeding.     

Wallerian degeneration in a patient with Schilder disease: MR imaging demonstration

Wallerian degeneration in the corticospinal tract was demonstrated by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in a patient with Schilder disease. The histochemical stages of myelin breakdown that allow its demonstration by MR imaging are reviewed.     

用细口径反相柱HPLC分离多种前列腺素

HPLC与放射性同位素联用,可同时分离鉴定多种花生四烯酸代谢产物。目前国外一般是使用普通口径(4.6 mm)的反相柱,以30%左右乙腈为流动相,流速为1～3 ml/min。这种HPLC方法乙腈用量较大,费用太贵,不适合国内实验室常规操作。据报道,细口径