We fixed each of the 4 fingers on each hand with a 1 5-mm headless compression screw, a 1.5-mm lag screw, two 1.1-mm smooth K-wires, or one 1.1-mm smooth K-wire. We rotated the order of constructs randomly for each hand. We simulated active range of motion on a custom-loading device at 0.25 Hz from full finger extension to full flexion for 2,000 cycles and measured displacement by a differential variable reluctance transducer.\n\nResults selleckchem We found no significant differences in displacement of the fracture site among the 4

methods of fixation. Movement in the control specimen with no osteotomy fixation was significantly higher than with each of the other fixation methods.\n\nConclusions Biomechanical stability did not differ among the fixation methods

for proximal phalanx unicondylar fractures in a fiexion-extension active range of motion model.\n\nClinical relevance Fixation of these fractures with any of the methods tested may selleck chemicals llc provide sufficient stability to withstand postoperative therapy when there is no substantial resistance to active motion. (J Hand Surg 2013;38A:77-81. Copyright (C) 2013 by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. All rights reserved.)”
“Phosphorus is widely considered to constrain primary productivity in tropical rain forests, yet the chemistry of soil organic phosphorus in such ecosystems remains poorly understood. We

assessed the composition of soil organic phosphorus in 19 contrasting soils under lowland tropical forest in the Republic of Panama using NaOH-EDTA extraction and solution (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The soils spanned a strong rainfall gradient (1730-3404 mm y(-1)) and contained a wide range of chemical properties (pH 3.3-7.0; total carbon 2.8-10.4%; total phosphorus 74-1650 mg P kg(-1)). Soil organic phosphorus concentrations ranged between 22 and 494 mg P kg(-1) and were correlated positively with total soil phosphorus, pH, and total carbon, but not with annual rainfall. Organic phosphorus constituted MGCD0103 order 26 +/- A 1% (mean +/- A STD error, n = 19) of the total phosphorus, suggesting that this represents a broad emergent property of tropical forest soils. Organic phosphorus occurred mainly as phosphate monoesters (68-96% of total organic phosphorus) with smaller concentrations of phosphate diesters in the form of DNA (4-32% of total organic phosphorus). Phosphonates, which contain a direct carbon-phosphorus bond, were detected in only two soils (3% of the organic phosphorus), while pyrophosphate, an inorganic polyphosphate with a chain length of two, was detected in all soils at concentrations up to 13 mg P kg(-1) (3-13% of extracted inorganic phosphorus).