Genetic diversity, population structure and relationship of Ethiopian barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) landraces as revealed by SSR markers.

Evaluation and characterization of genetic resources maintained at both in situ and ex situ GenBanks have important implications for future utilization in association mapping studies, genetic selection, breeding and conservation activities. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity, population structure and relationship of 384 Ethiopian barley genotypes collected from different barley growing regions of Ethiopia using 49 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Analysis of these 49 SSR markers amplified a total of 478 alleles with an average of 9.755 alleles per locus were obtained of which 97.07% of the loci were observed to be polymorphic. Nei's genetic diversity index (h) was 0.654 and the Shannon diversity index (I) was 0.647, indicating that the genetic diversity in barley genotypes studied was moderately high. At the population level, mean per cent of polymorphic loci (PPL) showed 98.37%, h = 0.388 and I = 0.568. Highest level of genetic diversity was observed in the Arsi population (with PPL = 100%, h = 0.439, I = 0.624); the lowest value observed was in population from Jimma (with PPL = 75.51%, h = 0.291, I = 0.430). Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) result showed significant genetic differentiation within and between populations (P<0.001), with 84.21% and 15.79% of the variation occurring within and among populations, respectively. Further, genetic variation analysis showed a coefficient of gene differentiation of 0.053 and a gene flow value of 4.467 among populations. The 384 barley genotypes were divided into seven genetic clusters according to STRUCTURE, neighbour-joining tree and principal coordinate analysis, correlating significantly with geographic distribution. These results signified presence of significant variations within and among populations (P<0.001), with the highest of the variation occurring within populations. The results will also assist with the design of conservation strategies, such as genetic protection via both in situ and ex situ conservation.

A comparative study of different graft materials used in myringoplasty.

Two hundred twenty cases of unilateral chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) with dry central perforation were chosen for this study and myringoplasty were done. Age group ranged from 13 to 48 years. Four types of autogenous tissues were used as graft material. Grafting was done by underlay technique when temporalis fascia, tragal perichondrium, areolar tissue were used as graft material and when fat graft was used the ear lobule fat was placed directly into perforation through transcanal route. Postoperative follow-up was carried out up to 6 months. In this study, it was found that the younger age group has less impairment of hearing and better chance of tympanic membrane perforation closure than the older age group in CSOM with central perforation. Anterior perforations has less impairment of hearing and better result in successful closure of tympanic membrane than posterior perforation group. It was also observed that larger the size of perforation greater is the hearing impairment preoperatively and postoperative hearing gain is also less compared to small perforation. Best hearing improvement occurred using temporalis fascia. Failure occurred may be due to postoperative infection, respiratory tract infection, neglected post-operative advice etc.

Metal-on-metal surface hip arthroplasty in patients with abnormal Coxanatomy: preliminary results.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate early to intermediate results of metal-on-metal (MoM) hip resurfacing arthroplasty in patients with abnormal hip anatomy. We evaluated nine MoM hip resurfacing arthroplasty in eight patients with abnormal coxanatomy performed at a district general hospital in the UK between March 1999 and November 2002. One patient had undergone bilateral sequential hip resurfacing procedure. These patients were defined to have abnormal coxanatomy by virtue of previous dysplastic disease of hip in three cases, previous Legg-Calve-Perthes disease, multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, trauma and sepsis in one case each. The mean follow-up was 40.8 months. The mean age at primary operation was 35 years (range: minimum 21 years; maximum 44 years). There were six male and two female patients. There were six right-sided and three left-sided procedures. All patients had satisfactory outcomes. There were no deep infections, dislocations, or femoral neck fractures. Although this is a short series, MoM resurfaced hips with appropriate case selection can yield satisfactory short-term to intermediate-term results in the young and active patients with abnormal hip anatomy.

An unfavourable outcome after periprosthetic fracture following metal-on-metal surface hip arthroplasty.

We report a case of a varus malunited periprosthetic femoral neck fracture following metal-on-metal hip resurfacing operation. Failure to closely observe and poor compliance in the young and active group of patients may contribute to such an unfavourable outcome.

Femoral neck fractures complicating metal-on-metal resurfaced hips: a report of 2 cases.

Metal-on-metal hip resurfacing arthroplasty is increasingly popular for younger patients with advanced hip disease. Intra-operative or immediate postoperative femoral neck fracture after metal-on-metal hip resurfacing is a well-described technical complication, ranging from 0% to 1.5%. We report 2 cases of late femoral neck fracture occurring 8 and 15 months following the index operation, with a review of the literature. We recommend that patient selection should be of prime importance before embarking on metal-on-metal surface hip replacement to avoid such complications.

Delayed management of fracture of the lateral humeral condyle in children.

Thirty-nine displaced fractures of the lateral humeral condyle in children were followed for an average of 5 (2-5) years. The results were evaluated from functional and cosmetic aspects. Patients treated within 2 weeks by open reduction and internal fixation did well. Those operated on after 6 weeks did not do better than nonoperated on cases. Complications included cubitus varus and valgus deformities, osteonecrosis, nonunion and malunion, and loss of motion. We recommend that patients presenting late be left alone and any sequelae evaluated at a late stage.