In more than 80% of all burns, the hand is involved. Even if a burned hand does not play a major role for the survival of a patient, its function and aesthetic appearance are of utmost importance for the re-integration into society and professional life. Adequate treatment demands a number of major decisions: necessity of an escharotomy in the early post-traumatic phase, the timing of surgery and the type of wound coverage, as well as immobilization and rehabilitation. Rapid wound closure is of utmost importance, but infection control and the preservation of active and passive motion are also essential for optimal recovery of the injured hand. The treatment of hand burns requires the interdisciplinary teamwork of surgeons, physio- and occupational therapists, psychologists, motivated health care personnel and consequent treatment strategies.

The tendon of flexor pollicis longus angulates at the trapezio-metacarpal joint level. The degree of angulation varies with extent of radial/ulnar deviation (Rack and Ross [1984] J. Physiol. 351:99-110). We report a fibrous pulley at this level that helps stabilize the tendon and facilitates its action. The morphology of the pulley is described. We believe that it has an important role to play in the unique function of the tendon facilitating the movement of the thumb perpendicular to the plane of the thumbnail. Clin. Anat., 2008.(c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

In sixteen of twenty adult human cadaveric hands a muscle fascicle was isolated from the adductor pollicis muscle. It had osseous origins from the base of the first metacarpal bone and from the trapezium bone in eleven hands. These origins were connected by a fibrous arch, which was a soft tissue origin itself. In two of the sixteen hands, muscle fibers emerged from the palmar aspect of the first dorsal interosseous muscle near the radial artery. The findings can be explained by the ontogenesis of the human hand. The described muscle is neither a part of the oblique head of the adductor pollicis nor an equivalent to the three palmar interosseous muscles. In our dissections it was a constant muscle. Other studies have to show the exact function of the muscle. We postulate a stabilization of the carpometacarpal joint of the thumb.

OBJECTIVES: Every fourth publication on Kienböck's disease (KD) is based for the most part on rather divergent expert opinion. We therefore surveyed expert opinion on KD in three European countries:(1) for the suspected aetiologies;(2) routinely used diagnostic tools;(3) recommended treatment and (4) expected outcome. METHODS: A questionnaire consisting of 16 questions was handed out at the national meetings for surgery of the hand in Germany (DE), France (FR) in 2009 and in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2010. RESULTS: Among the 126 surgeons who participated in the survey, 82 had a national diploma for surgery of the hand. None of the most commonly discussed etiopathological hypotheses were estimated as being very likely. Hand/arm vibration exposure was considered less likely among respondents in France and the UK than among respondents in Germany. Treatment recommendations are very heterogeneous for stage IIIB according to Lichtman. CONCLUSIONS: Expert opinions on diagnostic criteria, the pathogenesis and the choice of treatment are not consistent and may vary from one country to another.

One source of uncertainty in the estimation of dietary exposure to flavouring substances is the uncertainty in the occurrence and concentration levels of these substances naturally present or added to foodstuffs. The aim of this study was to assess the variability of concentration levels of allyl hexanoate, considered as a case study, in two main food categories to which it is often added: pineapple juice-based beverages and yogurts containing pineapple. Thirty-four beverages and 29 yogurts, with pineapple fruit or juice and added flavourings declared as ingredients on the package, were purchased from the local market (in Rome) and analysed. Analytical methods based on the stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) technique for the isolation of the target analyte, and on GC-MS analysis for final determination, were developed for the two food categories. In beverages, allyl hexanoate concentrations ranged from less than 0.01 to 16.71 mg l(-1), whereas in yogurts they ranged from 0.02 to 89.41 mg kg(-1). Average concentrations in beverages and yogurts with pineapple as the main fruit ingredient (1.91 mg l(-1) for beverages, 9.61 mg kg(-1) for yogurts) were in fair agreement with average use level data reported from industry surveys for the relevant food categories (4.5 and 6.0 mg kg(-1), respectively). Within the group of yogurts a single product was found to contain a level of allyl hexanoate more than 10-fold higher than the average reported use level. The screening techniques developed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) using use level data provided by industry gave estimates of exposure that were of the same order of magnitude as the estimates obtained for regular consumers who would be loyal to the pineapple yogurt and beverage products containing the highest observed concentration of the substance of interest. In this specific case the uncertainty in the results obtained with the use of standard screening techniques for exposure assessment based on industry reported use levels is low.

In 2009 competent organisations in the European Union provided the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) with data from the most recent national dietary survey at the level of individuals' consumption. Twenty different Member States provided EFSA with data from 22 different national dietary surveys, with consumption figures for adults and, when available, for children. Member States' dietary data were assembled into the EFSA Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database. In this paper an overview of the methodologies and protocols employed in the different national dietary surveys is provided. Specifically, details about dietary assessment methods, interview administration, sampling design, portion size estimation, dietary software, evaluation of under-reporting and non-dietary information collected are described. This information is crucial to evaluate the level of accuracy of food consumption data and to anticipate and acknowledge the utmost important sources of heterogeneity of national databases included in the Comprehensive Database. The Comprehensive Database constitutes a unique resource for the estimation of consumption figures across the European Union and represents a useful tool to assess dietary exposure to hazardous substances and nutrient intake in Europe. Nevertheless, the many substantial methodological differences that characterise the Comprehensive Database are acknowledged and critically discussed.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES To outline and discuss the main results and conclusions of the European Food Consumption Validation (EFCOVAL) Project. SUBJECTS/METHODS The EFCOVAL Project was carried out within the EU Sixth Framework Program by researchers in 11 EU countries. The activities focused on (1) the further development of the EPIC-Soft software (the software developed to conduct 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDRs) in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study) and the validation of the 2-day non-consecutive 24-HDR method using EPIC-Soft,(2) defining and investigating the applicability of the most appropriate dietary assessment method to younger age groups and expanding the applicability of the software for use in exposure assessment of some potentially hazardous chemicals and (3) to improve the methodology and statistical methods that estimate usual intake distributions from short-term dietary intake information and develop a methodology to quantify uncertainty in usual intake distributions. RESULTS The preexisting EPIC-Soft application was reprogrammed into a Windows environment and more than 60 new specifications were implemented in the software. A validation study showed that two non-consecutive EPIC-Soft 24-HDRs are suitable to estimate the usual intake distributions of protein and potassium of European adult populations. The 2-day non-consecutive 24-HDRs in combination with a food propensity questionnaire also appeared to be appropriate to rank individuals according to their fish and fruit and vegetable intake in a comparable way in five European centers. Dietary intake of (young) children can be assessed by the combination of EPIC-Soft 24-HDRs and food recording booklets. The EPIC-Soft-standardized method of describing foods is useful to estimate dietary exposure to potentially hazardous chemicals such as specific flavoring substances. With the developed Multiple Source Method, repeated non-consecutive 24-HDR data in combination with food propensity data can be used to estimate the population distribution of the usual intake by estimating the individual usual intakes. CONCLUSIONS The findings provide sufficient evidence to conclude that the repeated 24-HDR using EPIC-Soft for standardization in combination with a food propensity questionnaire and modeling of usual intake is a suitable method for pan-European surveillance of nutritional adequacy and food safety among healthy adults and maybe in children aged 7 years and older. To facilitate this methodology in other European countries, the next step is to provide and standardize an implementation plan that accounts for maintenance and updates, sampling designs, national surveillance programs, tailored capacity building and training, and linkage to food composition and occurrence databases.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES The overall objective of the European Food Consumption Validation (EFCOVAL) Project was to further develop and validate a trans-European food consumption method to be used for the evaluation of the intake of foods, nutrients and potentially hazardous chemicals within the European population. SUBJECTS/METHODS The EFCOVAL Project was carried out by 13 institutes from 11 European countries. The main activities were centered on the three main objectives of the project organized in different sub-projects. RESULTS In EFCOVAL, EPIC-Soft (the software developed to conduct 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDRs) in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study) was reprogrammed and adapted according to prioritized specifications, resulting in a software program working under the Windows operating system. In parallel of the EPIC-Soft development, the repeated 24-HDR method using EPIC-Soft and a food propensity questionnaire was evaluated against biomarkers in 24-h urine collections and in blood samples among adults from Belgium, the Czech Republic,(the South of) France, the Netherlands and Norway. As a result from an expert workshop on a proposed dietary assessment method for children (4-12 years), the suggested method was tested in a feasibility study in Denmark and Spain among children of 4-5, 7-8 and 12-13 years. To ensure that collected data had sufficient detail in food description for the assessment of additives and contaminants to foods the EPIC-Soft databases were adapted. Finally, the EFCOVAL Consortium developed a statistical tool (Multiple Source Method) for estimating the usual intake and distribution, which has been tested using real food consumption data and compared with three other statistical methods through a simulation study. In addition, a methodology was developed to quantify uncertainty due to portion-size estimation in usual intake distributions. CONCLUSION The findings of EFCOVAL provide sufficient evidence to conclude that the repeated 24-HDR using EPIC-Soft for standardization in combination with a food propensity questionnaire and modeling of usual intake is a suitable method for pan-European surveillance of nutritional adequacy and food safety among healthy adults and maybe in children aged 7 years and older.

The aim of this study is to obtain data on the exposure of non-breast-fed infants to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), organochlorine pesticides (OCP), and bisphenol A (BPA) and its chlorinated derivatives through consumption of commercial infant foods with largest shares of the market in 22 European Union countries. The E-Screen bioassay was employed to assess the oestrogenicity of the baby foods and the ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) induction was measured to determine the levels of PCDD/F and PCB. Consequently, the highest total effective xenoestrogen burden (TEXB) of 73.60 pM Eeq g(-1) was found in the soy-based formula and the EROD bioassay was always below the limit of quantification (LOQ)(3.5 pg g(-1)). Overall, the estimated dietary exposure to BPA via commercial baby foods was lower than the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 50 µg kg(-1) body weight (bw). Furthermore, the findings indicated that the dietary exposure of 0-9-month-old infants through the products investigated here does not exceed the maximum TDI of 4 pg WHO-TEQ (toxic equivalents) kg(-1) bw. However, exposure to more than 2 pg WHO-TEQ kg(-1) bw day(-1) might occur for 0-4-month-old infants consuming 'starting' hypoallergenic formula. Moreover, analysis of OCP indicated that the dietary exposure of non-breast-fed infants was not harmful. Considering the importance of early development and the vulnerability of infants and children, it is essential to determine their dietary exposure to contaminants in order to decide which efforts of risk reduction should receive highest priority.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Italian National Food Consumption Survey, INRAN-SCAI 2005-06, is the third national food consumption survey performed in Italy. This study describes energy and nutrient intakes in Italy. METHODS AND RESULTS: A national cross-sectional food consumption survey was conducted using consecutive 3-day food records between October 2005 and December 2006. A sample of 3323 males and females aged 0.1-97.7 years living in private households was investigated. Individual food records were converted into energy and nutrient intakes with the use of recently updated national food composition databases. For each subject, intakes of energy and of 27 nutrients were calculated, including six minerals (i.e., iron, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and zinc) and 10 vitamins (i.e., thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin C, vitamin B(6), retinol, beta-carotene, vitamin A as retinol equivalents (REs), vitamin E, vitamin D and vitamin B(12)). On average, 36% of calories appeared to derive from fat (11% from saturated fatty acids) and 45% from available carbohydrates (15% from soluble carbohydrates). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the INRAN-SCAI 2005-06 survey in terms of nutrient intakes provide an important piece of information for nutrition surveillance of the population and may also be used to identify priorities for further research.

The assessment of acute and chronic dietary exposure to contaminants in baby foods is needed to ensure healthy infant growth. Monthly European Union market baskets of commercial baby foods were designed for the first 9 months of life by the 'babyfood' study group of the CASCADE Network of Excellence for the specific purpose of assessing exposure to potentially toxic substances in infants fed with such foods. The present paper reports the different steps that led to the preparation of monthly pooled samples of commercial baby foods ('Infant formulae and follow-on formulae' and 'Other baby foods') that may constitute the extreme case of the diet for an infant who would not be breast fed at all. Several market baskets were generated for an 'average European Union infant' and for infants of four selected countries (Italy, Sweden, Spain, and the Slovakia), fed with either milk infant formulae, soy infant formulae or hypoallergenic infant formulae and weaned (at the fifth month) with commercial baby foods and beverages available on the European Union market. Market share data for 2007 for baby foods were used to design the baskets. Holding companies and the name of all their products were identified. Monthly diets for European Union infants were elaborated in terms of food categories (e.g. infant cereals) of typologies of products (e.g. infant cereals without gluten) and of a specific product. The number of baskets generated was 30 for 'Infant formulae and follow-on formulae'(including 62 products) and 13 for 'Other baby foods'(including 35 products). These market baskets were designed to be used for the determination of certain contaminants and nutrients in the diet of European Union infants and for the assessment of their effects on infant health.

HASH(0x139ab080)

This study describes a simple technique for releasing miracidia from Opisthorchis-like eggs before DNA extraction by keeping PBS washed specimens at 4 degrees C for two days. Using PCR amplification, the sensitivity of the PBS incubation technique was as good as that obtained from freeze-thaw technique. Moreover, this low-cost technique is less laborious.

Water jet-assisted lipoplasty channels a thin, targeted, fan-shaped jet into adipose tissue to loosen tissue structure and release adipocytes. According to the authors, water jet-assisted lipoplasty facilitates preinfiltration of modified tumescent solution to create analgesia, resulting in painless or near painless lipoplasty. The authors contend that, with this method, patient safety has increased considerably, even in extensive procedures.

A study of the mechanism of inversion of inverse polymer emulsions showed that the likely key step in the inversion process is the swelling of polymer particles caused by added water diffusing through the oil phase. Therefore, we propose that inversion occurs as a result of polymer particle crowding caused by water diffusion and subsequent droplet rupture that results in the release of the polymer into the water phase.

We present a case of acquired syndactyly secondary to keloid formation in a previously normal web space following release of syndactyly in the adjacent web space.

The first step in obtaining a compositional analysis of a glycoconjugate is the release of the individual monosaccharide constituents. Mild acid hydrolysis to release fucosyl residues from glycoconjugates is described in this unit, in addition to mild acid hydrolysis to release sialic acids from glycoconjugates, along with dialysis and column chromatography procedures to purify the sialic acids. Strong acid hydrolysis to release all monosaccharides from glycoconjugates is also detailed.

An unusual problem occurred during the endoscopic carpal tunnel release procedure of a patient with carpal tunnel syndrome. The endoscope was damaged because of inadequate knowledge in handling the instruments. The procedure was completed smoothly with a knee arthroscope.

The authors describe a technique for the release of severe postburn contractures of the web spaces by using all the available tissues in the web space as local flaps to avoid using skin grafts or distant flaps. We rely on the central part of the web to raise the main triangular flaps that may be used to create a functional web space. We called it the V-N plasty.

A new radical-sensitive caging technique releases a caged molecule under lipid peroxidation conditions. In a competitive oxidation study with a model lipid, methyl linoleate, the oxidatively releasable xanthenyl caging groups is found to be 1.93+/-0.55 times more reactive than the lipid model compound.

Sensationalist media coverage greeted the release of a man convicted more than a decade ago for spreading HIV in Conception Bay North. Concerns have been expressed that the extensive coverage of the release will further stigmatize all people living with HIV/AIDS.

The authors present the results of surgical treatment of resistant idiopathic and recurrent clubfoot (type IV according to Dimeglio classification). In the group who underwent a primary procedure, results were noted according to the Magone classification: 35.7% very good results, 11.9% good results, 9.52% satisfactory and 42.5% bad results (recurrent clubfeet accounts for 37.5%). The authors noted that the Goldner technique yields results comparable to the peri-talar release technique.