Rationale:Tarsal tunnel syndrome (TTS) is a compressive neuropathy of the posterior tibial nerve or one of its branches within the tarsal tunnel that is often caused by a variety of space-occupying lesions, such as ganglia, lipomas, varicosities, neural tumors, trauma, or systemic disease. The os sustentaculi is a small accessory bone, bridged to the posterior aspect of the sustentaculum tali by fibrocartilage. To the best of our knowledge, this is a rare case of successful treatment of TTS caused by the os sustantaculi.Patient concerns:A 37-year-old male presented with insidious onset of right ankle and foot pain for 1 year. He also complained of a tingling sensation and paresthesia from the plantar and medial aspect of the forefoot to the middle foot area along the main distribution of the medial plantar nerve. The symptoms were mild at rest, but increased upon prolonged walking. He had an ankle sprain history during a football game 2 years previously and recurrent ankle sprains had occurred more frequently in this ankle since that trauma.Diagnoses:Plain standing anteroposterior and lateral view radiographic findings of the right ankle reveled an accessory ossicle located posterosuperomedial to the sustentaculum tali. A computed tomography scan showed that the ossicle articulated between the talus and calcaneus. A magnetic resonance image revealed mild bone marrow edema in the ossicle and medial displacement of the tarsal structures.Interventions:Surgery was performed under general anesthesia. The ossicle was delineated from its surrounding structures and was removed. Tension on the nerve was released.Outcomes:The patient's pain and hypoesthesia were immediately relieved, and the tingling sensation disappeared 6 months after surgery. The patient had no complications or recurrence of symptoms at the 1-year follow-up.

This study examines the effects of bottom electrodes for metal ferroelectric metal (MFM) capacitor applications. We investigated the following parameters of bottom electrodes and Pb(Zr0.53Ti0.47)O3 (PZT) thin films: substrate temperature, rf power, gas flow rate, Ar/O2 ratio, electrode material, and post-annealing effect. Bottom electrodes grown at 300°C for Pt and 200°C for RuO2 exhibited a film resistivity of 10-4 Ω·cm, had a surface roughness of approximately 55 Å and a preferred crystal orientation. Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) treatments on a Pt electrode at 600°C for 30 s improved the resistivity to 5×10-6 Ω·cm and generated the (111) preferred crystal orientation. PZT films exhibited a strong PZT (101) peak for an optimized Pt bottom electrode and (111), (200), (112) planes without preferred PZT orientations for the RuO2 electrode. A well-fabricated Pd/PZT/Pt capacitor showed a leakage current density in the order of 6×10-5 A/cm2, a dielectric constant (ε r) of 365, a remanent polarization (P r) of 27 µC/cm2, and a coercive field (E c) of 50.5 kV/cm. This paper discusses the bottom electrode properties as well as their recommended conditions in memory device applications of thin-film PZT capacitors.

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Rationale:In competitive athletes, the upper extremity is subject to tremendous torsional forces with axial loading due to repetitive weight bearing. Approximately 25% of injuries in sports are related to the hand or wrist. Skeletal deformity on the wrist physis is common in athletes due to repetitive loading and presents at early ages between 6 and 13 years. Additionally, it is more common in female than in male athletes.Patient concerns:An 11-year-old girl who was a climber complained of pain on her left wrist without direct trauma. She had participated in climbing exercise for several years and had no medical history. Thorough radiological evaluation, we diagnosed physeal injury of the left radius. After healing of the physeal injury of the radius, she complained of pain on fourth finger of right hand and radiographs revealed physeal injury of the right fourth finger.Diagnosis:Radiographs revealed physeal injury of the left radius. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed epiphyseal widening of the radial aspect of the wrist and bone marrow signal increase on T2-weighted imaging. Likewise, radiographs showed physeal injury of the right fourth fingerInterventions:No surgery was performed and we applied wrist brace and finger splint for conservative treatment.Outcomes:The patient's pain was immediately relieved. The patient had no complications or recurrence of symptoms and was undergoing regular check-ups every 6 months.Lessons:During climbing exercise, repeated high pressure causes damage of the hand and wrist joints in young patients. Chronic pain in this group must be carefully evaluated, and radiographs should be obtained for diagnosis and early treatment. Conservative treatment of these injuries has good results, and avoiding intensive power training avoids the risk of this injury.