Nail Surgery for Beginners

Nail surgery: a review.

The nail, the largest of the skin adnexa, is unique to primates and appears to have evolved from the claw of lower animals.' It has many functions,' the most important of which is prehension. Without nails our ability to grasp and manipulate objects would be limited. Nails also protect the delicate distal phalanx and the soft tissues of the distal digit. For man, the nail is also of cosmetic im...

Advanced Nail Surgery

Six techniques not yet widely known or used in the dermatologic surgery of the nails are briefly described. Small-to-medium-sized tumours of the proximal nail fold (PNF) can be excised and the defect repaired with advancement or rotation flaps. A superficial biopsy technique of the matrix for the diagnosis of longitudinal brown streaks in the nail, which allows rapid histological diagnosis of t...

Gauze Strip Tourniquet for Nail Surgery

All nail surgical procedures require the use of a tourniquet. The nail bed, being a very vascular structure, needs to be exsanguinated at the start and then a tourniquet needs to be tied at the base. A number of tourniquets have been described, including a Foley's catheter, a Penrose drain, a rubber strip or a rubber band. The present article explains the use of the easily available, improvised...

Quantum computing for beginners

The paper introduces the basic concepts and principles behind quantum computing and examines in detail Shor’s quantum algorithm for factoring very large numbers. Some basic methodological principles and guidelines for constructing quantum algorithms are stated. The aim is not to provide a formal exposition of quantum computing but to identify its novelty and potential use in tackling NP-hard pr...

Biotechnology for Beginners