Intraoperative arthrography and the Ilizarov technique. Role in the correction of paediatric deformity and leg lengthening

We performed intraoperative arthrography of the knee in 12 children with congenital short femur, Blount's disease or Ollier's disease in whom the Ilizarov technique was used for correction of deformity, leg lengthening or both. In each case, arthrography revealed a joint surface considerably different from that assumed from plain radiographs, and resulted in a change in the placement of our reference wires before application of the frame. This gave significant improvement in the mechanical axis obtained at the time of removal of the frame. The technique is safe, cheap and easy to perform. It is a useful adjunct to the application of the Ilizarov frame when used for complex lengthening and correction of deformity in the leg.     

Analysis of transients in a canal network

The online version of the original article can be found at     

Feasibility of a one–step process for desizing,scouring, bleaching and mercerisating cotton fabrics

In this study the desizing, scouring, bleaching and slack mercerising of cotton fabric by a one–step process at different sodium hydroxide concentrations, impregnation temperatures and curing times were examined. The results indicate that when the fabrics are mercerised at lower temperature, the strength retention and colour strength are enhanced. When the sodium hydroxide concentration is increased, these properties also increase. When cotton fabrics are mercerised for 3 min at 40C and cured for 30 s at 120C, their physical properties are similar to those obtained using a conventional two–step approach.     

Cerebral blood flow study using SPECT in patients with memory disorders

INTRODUCTION: Global amnesia (AG) is a dysfunction of memory, in which there is a sudden incapacity to remember recent events and assimilate new information. The aetiology is currently under discussion. The main hypotheses under consideration are an ischemic mechanism and an epileptic mechanism. OBJECTIVE: To study the cerebral blood flow in patients with temporary global amnesia (AGT) or permanent global amnesia (AGP) using functional neuroimaging techniques. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Four patients were studied. Two had severe alterations of fixation memory which had been present for months. The other two had a sudden loss of recent memory, although space-person orientation and immediate memory remained normal. In all cases the cerebral blood flow (FSC), was assessed by single photon emission tomography (SPECT), using Tc-HMPAO as the radio tracer. RESULTS: We describe 4 patients, 2 men and 2 women aged between 42 and 64.2 with AGT and the others with AGP. On SPECT there was temporal hypoperfusion in all 4 patients. In 2 cases there was associated parietal hypoperfusion and in 1 case there was frontal hypoperfusion. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that AGT and AGP are of vascular origin and that SPECT is a useful diagnostic technique in patients with AG.     

Streambed Sediment as a Barrier to Groundwater Pollution: Insights from Fieldwork and Modelling in the River Thames Basin

Integrated fieldwork and modelling has been undertaken to assess the vulnerability of riverside wells to pollution when river water is contaminated. Results highlight the importance of streambed sediments as a barrier to groundwater pollution by river water. The bed of the River Thames is lined with brown and grey organic-rich silts of low hydraulic conductivity (about 0.002 m/d). A 3-D model for solute transport in stream-aquifer systems was developed and applied to two riverside sites in the middle Thames valley. Model results indicate that well-water quality would only breach EC limits if the river was heavily polluted for a week or even a month (clearly an unlikely scenario). Sensitivity analyses showed the models to be far more sensitive to streambed parameters than to aquifer parameters. Thus it would be more sensible to focus fieldwork on the measurement of streambed properties than on the more usually measured aquifer parameters.