ABSTRACT
Leaves of 208 trees were collected for isotopic analysis together with wood from 36 tree boles and 18 samples of fine litter from a terra-firme forest located at Samuel Ecological Reserve, Rondônia State, in the southwestern Amazon region. The range of δ13C values in leaves was from -28 to -36, with an average (±1 SD) of -32.1 ± 1.5, which was more negative than the δ13C values of bole samples (-28.4 ± 2.0) and fine litter (-28.7 ± 2.0). These values are within the range found for tropical and subtropical forests. Pooling the δ13C values for leaf samples from trees of the same height gave averages which were positively correlated with plant height at a highly significant level, with a slope of 0.06 and an intercept of -33.3 and a correlation coefficient r 2=0.70 (P<0.001).
ABSTRACT
Conflicting reports in the literature on the relationship between the inferiorly based pharyngeal flap and otitis media with effusion (OME) motivated a prospective study on 51 children between 3 and 12 years of age suffering from velopharyngeal incompetence. The patient group consisted of 34 children with cleft palate and 17 children with congenitally short palate. The male-female ratio was 37 to 14, showing no differences regarding physical disability. Each child underwent an inferiorly based pharyngoplasty. Repeated otoscopic, tympanometric, and audiometric examinations revealed that prior to pharyngoplasty half of the patients had bilateral chronic OME related to a conductive hearing loss of 30 to 35 dB. The disease was most frequently found in children with cleft palate (p less than 0.001) and in children less than 6 years of age (p less than 0.05). Bilateral chronic OME was independent of the type and side of cleft. Within 3 months of pharyngoplasty, a 60-percent decrease in the frequency of bilateral chronic OME was found. Children older than 6 years of age had most benefit with respect to OME (p less than 0.05). The biomechanical basis of the relationship between the pharyngeal flap and eustachian tube is discussed, focused on retropositioning of the levator muscle sling and reduced oronasal air leakage.
Subject(s)
Otitis Media with Effusion/therapy , Pharynx/surgery , Velopharyngeal Insufficiency/surgery , Acoustic Impedance Tests , Audiometry, Pure-Tone , Child , Child, Preschool , Chronic Disease , Cleft Palate/complications , Endoscopy , Eustachian Tube/physiopathology , Female , Humans , Male , Otitis Media with Effusion/complications , Palate/abnormalities , Prospective StudiesABSTRACT
Fingernail deformities after thermal injury can be very disfiguring and troublesome. The fingernails may be discoloured, cleft or vertically deviated. From the pathophysiology of the nail growth in general, the specific features of the nail deformities after deep burn can be deduced, as can guidelines for the treatment. Over a two-year period, 153 patients with burned hands were treated in the Groningen Burn Centre. Seven of these patients developed abnormal quality and growth pattern of the fingernails. In two patients an effort was made to correct the deformity by incising the dorsal skin at the base of the nail fold, reflecting the nail fold and covering the acquired defect with a full thickness skin graft. Although the patients were satisfied with the results achieved, one year after the operation little or no improvement in the nail growth was found. A cautious policy should be followed in correcting these deformities, since dislocation of the eponychium together with damage to the nail matrix and the nail bed play a complex role in the process of deformation.
