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To identify the benefits of ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation of Morton's neuroma as an alternative to surgical excision.We studied a consecutive cohort of surgical candidates for Morton's neurectomy who we referred, instead, for radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Under local anaesthetic, RFA was performed under ultrasound guidance, by a single radiologist. This out-patient procedure was repeated after 4 weeks if necessary. We followed patients for a minimum of 6 months to assess their change in visual analogue pain scores (VAS), symptom improvement, complications and progression to surgical excision.Thirty feet in 25 patients were studied. There were 4 men and 21 women with an average age of 55 years (range 33-73 years). All had tried previous methods of conservative management. Forty percent presented with 2nd space neuromas and 60% with 3rd space ones. The average number of treatment sessions was 1.6 (range 1-3, mode 1). Prior to treatment, all patients had pain on activity (VAS average: 6.0, range 3-9). Post-treatment there was a statistically significant reduction in pain scores (post-RFA VAS average: 1.7, range 0-8, p 0.001). The average overall symptom improvement was 76%. There was one minor complication of temporary nerve irritation. Three neuromas (10%) have progressed to surgical excision; 1 patient has ongoing, unchanged pain with no obvious cause. At 6 months, 26 out of 30 feet had a satisfactory outcome.Ultrasound-guided RFA has successfully alleviated patients' symptoms of Morton's neuroma in85% of cases. Only 10% have proceeded to surgical excision in the short term.

This article reports on the findings of an investigation into the attitudes of English students aged 16 to 19 years towards French and how they view the reasons behind their level of achievement. Those students who attributed success to effort, high ability, and effective learning strategies had higher levels of achievement, and students intending to continue French after age 16 were more likely than noncontinuers to attribute success to these factors. Low ability and task difficulty were the main reasons cited for lack of achievement in French, whereas the possible role of learning strategies tended to be overlooked by students. It is argued that learners' self-concept and motivation might be enhanced through approaches that encourage learners to explore the causal links between the strategies they employ and their academic performance, thereby changing the attributions they make for success or failure.

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Functional MRI was performed in two acute stroke patients and six control subjects performing unilateral and bilateral repetitive gripping tasks. Patients were tested at three time points during recovery. Initially, bilateral movement enhanced activation in the primary motor cortex (M1) of the affected hemisphere compared with unilateral paretic hand movement. With recovery, activation of M1 in the affected hemisphere did not differ between unilateral paretic hand and bilateral movement. These preliminary data may have potential implications for acute stroke motor rehabilitation.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a well-established treatment for Parkinson's disease, essential tremor and dystonia. It has also been successfully applied to treat various other neurological and psychiatric conditions including depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Numerous computational models, mostly based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) approach have been suggested to investigate the biophysical mechanisms of electromagnetic wave-tissue interaction during DBS. These models, although emphasizing the importance of various electrical and geometrical parameters, mostly have used simplified geometries over a tightly restricted tissue volume in the case of monopolar stimulation. In the present work we show that topological arrangements and geometrical properties of the model have a significant effect on the distribution of voltages in the concerned tissues. The results support reconsidering the current approach for modeling monopolar DBS which uses a restricted cubic area extended a few centimeters around the active electrode to predict the volume of activated tissue. We propose a new technique called multi-resolution FEM modeling, which may improve the accuracy of the prediction of volume of activated tissue and yet be computationally tractable on personal computers.