The Epidemiology of Lower Limb Fractures: A Major United Kingdom (UK) Trauma Centre Study.

Introduction: Understanding the epidemiology and incidence of fractures can help inform policymakers and clinicians about the needs of the population and highlight trends over time, allowing for tailoring of healthcare delivery to the population. This study reports on the lower limb fractures treated at a major trauma centre over a seven-year period.

Methods: We collected data on fracture locations, age, gender, BMI, hospital admission length, and treatment options of all lower limb fractures treated at a level I trauma centre from January 2015 to December 2021.

Factors Affecting Upper Limb Fracture Opioid Requirements.

Introduction Understanding the different opioid pain relief requirements between patients with upper limb fractures can be useful in forming specific evidence-based guidelines and balancing patient-clinician prescribing discussions with opioid stewardship. We investigated the predictors for opioid requirements in upper limb fractures. Methods We retrospectively investigated all upper limb fractures from the shoulder to the wrist treated at a major trauma center from January 2015 to January 2022.

Poller Screws and Post-Operative Pain Relief in Tibial Fractures.

Introduction Poller screws optimise fracture alignment in those fractures managed with intramedullary (IM) nails. They enhance stability, control nail insertion, and prevent translation. Indications encompass acute fractures, delayed unions/non-unions, and deformity.

Comparison of intra-operative outcomes following internal fixation with trochanteric stabilisation plate or intramedullary nail in intertrochanteric fractures.

Purpose: Intertrochanteric fractures can be classified as stable (AO-OTA 31-A1) or unstable (AO-OTA 31-A2/3). For A3 fractures there is no recommended treatment, often fixed with either an intramedullary nail (IMN) or a dynamic hip screw and trochanteric stabilisation plate (DHS/TSP). This study retrospectively reviews peri-operative outcomes of patients treated with either fixator.

Pre-Columbian monkey tools.

Stone tools reveal worldwide innovations in human behaviour over the past three million years [1]. However, the only archaeological report of pre-modern non-human animal tool use comes from three Western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) sites in Côte d'Ivoire, aged between 4.3 and 1.

The pharmacokinetics of intraosseous atropine in hypovolemic swine.

Objective: Compare the pharmacokinetics of atropine administered via the intravenous (IV), intramuscular (IM), and intraosseous (IO) routes in a normovolemic and hypovolemic swine model.

Design: Prospective, between subjects, experimental study.

Setting: Vivarium.

Reproduction in the marsupial dibbler, Parantechinus apicalis; differences between island and mainland populations.

Details of the reproductive endocrinology of the dibbler, Parantechinus apicalis, an endangered member of the Family Dasyuridae, are presented from two geographically-separated populations, living either on the mainland or on islands in Jurien Bay, Western Australia. Plasma free cortisol in males measured in the island population during 1998/9 did not differ between the breeding and non-breeding season, but during the March rut in 2000, when males died after breeding, free cortisol levels were significantly raised. Post-mating mortality in dibbler males is facultative, rather than obligatory and the cortisol data implicate the same physiological sequelae described in other dasyurids.

The physiology of the honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus, a small marsupial with a suite of highly specialised characters: a review.

Field and laboratory studies of the iconic nectarivorous and 'pollenivorous' honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus, are reviewed with the aim of identifying aspects of its physiology that are as yet poorly understood and needed to implement management strategies for its long-term conservation. Dietary specialisations include the loss of teeth, a modified gut with a high rate of passage, exceptionally low minimum nitrogen requirements, an apparently high basal metabolic rate and a permanently polyuric kidney. In contrast, its reproductive physiology is plesiomorphic, combining aspects such as a post-partum oestrus, embryonic diapause, photoperiodicity and extended maternal care that are usually separate characteristics of other marsupial groups.

Progesterone and reproduction in marsupials: a review.

Progesterone (P4) profiles throughout pregnancy and the oestrous cycle are reviewed in a wide range of marsupial species, representing 12 Families, and focus on the corpus luteum (CL) and its functioning, compared with its eutherian counterpart. Physiologically, P4 subtends the same fundamental processes supporting gestation in marsupials as it does in eutherian mammals, from its role in stimulating the secretory endometrium, effecting nutritional transfer across the placenta and establishing lactogenesis. Before the formation of the CL, however, secretion of P4 is widespread throughout many Families and the dual roles of P4 in the induction of sexual behaviour and ovulation are exposed.

Measurement of the rate of protein turnover and synthesis in the marsupial Honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus).

Rates of protein turnover and synthesis were measured in wild-caught Honey possums (Tarsipes rostratus) in the southwest of Western Australia and compared between males and females with and without pouch young. Possums were injected with 50 microg of (15)N-glycine and ammonia collected within 24 h was used as the nitrogen end-product in a single-injection protocol. The overall mean rate of protein synthesis measured was 7.

Reproduction and embryonic diapause in a marsupial: insights from captive female Honey possums, Tarsipes rostratus (Tarsipedidae).

The reproductive physiology of the polyoestrous Honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus) is virtually unknown except that it shares with the kangaroos and wallabies the phenomenon of embryonic diapause. Its tiny size necessitates an alternate approach to study their reproductive cycle. We have accordingly utilised faecal steroid analysis.

Physiological and hormonal control of thermal depression in the tiger snake, Notechis scutatus.

Plasma sodium concentrations in field-caught Western tiger snakes, Notechis scutatus, from semi-arid Carnac Island (CI) varied seasonally, with snakes exhibiting significant hypernatraemia during summer and normal concentrations following autumn rain. In contrast, field-caught tiger snakes from a perennial fresh-water swamp (Herdsman Lake, HL) exhibited no significant increase in plasma sodium concentrations during summer. Laboratory-induced hypernatraemia caused thermal depression in both populations; there was a weak negative relationship between plasma sodium concentration and temperature selection that was significant for CI snakes.

Successfully determining the sex of adult Varanus mertensi (Reptilia: Varanidae) using a combination of both hemipenile eversion and the ratio of androgens:estradiol in plasma.

In remote field localities, given limited access to specialized equipment, determining the sex of captured adult varanid lizards before release can be problematic. Determining the sex of the tropical semiaquatic Varanus mertensi, a species with significant tail musculature, is difficult using traditional hand-pressure-induced hemipenile eversion. As an alternative, we propose an extended technique for identifying the sex of adult V.

The influence of photoperiod on the reproductive activity of female Honey possums, Tarsipes rostratus (Marsupialia: Tarsipedidae): assessed by faecal progestagens and oestradiol-17beta.

Six female Honey possums were kept on a 15L:9D light regime to simulate a long daylength over summer. After seven weeks, three females (Group 2) were changed to a shorter daylength of 10L:14D, while the other three females (Group 1) were maintained on the long daylength. Faecal oestradiol-17beta and progestagen levels were measured during the experiment to detect any changes in reproductive rhythm, such as resumption of blastocyst development.

Reproductive activity in captive female Honey possums, Tarsipes rostratus, assessed by faecal steroid analysis.

Hormonal changes associated with reproductive activity in the unique pollen and nectar-feeding marsupial Honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus, have been monitored by the measurement of sex steroids excreted via the faeces. From a radio-metabolism study, 63% of administered [(14)C]oestradiol was excreted in the faeces and 37% via the urine. Peak levels in the faeces were reached 6h after injection and by a mean 12h, 95% of steroid was eliminated.

Spermatogenesis and plasma testosterone levels in Western Australian burrowing desert frogs, Cyclorana platycephala, Cyclorana maini, and Neobatrachus sutor, during aestivation.

Changes in testis size, histological status, and plasma levels of testosterone were monitored for males of three species of Western Australian desert frogs, Cyclorana maini, Cyclorana platycephala, and Neobatrachus sutor during aestivation. The frogs were induced to burrow and form cocoons soon after their capture and then disinterred at intervals in order to monitor changes in reproductive activity of the testes. All stages of spermatogenesis were evident in active frogs, which were collected a few days following rain from breeding choruses.

Variation of plasma sex steroid concentrations in wild and captive populations of Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni hermanni) in Southern France.

Plasma levels of sex steroids in both males and females of the endangered Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni hermanni) were measured throughout their active period in a wild population in the Massif des Maures, France, and in a nearby captive population at Le Village des Tortues in Gonfaron. Both plasma progesterone and testosterone were elevated in males at emergence from winter dormancy, and plasma progesterone levels were significantly higher in wild than in captive males. Plasma testosterone in males then fell to the lowest levels (10 ng ml(-1)) during the nesting season from April to June followed by an elevated plateau during summer, with levels reaching 80 ng ml(-1), presumably concomitant with spermiogenesis.

Arginine vasotocin: site and mode of action in the reptilian kidney.

Recent morphological, physiological, and molecular studies that shed light on the functional significance of the neurohypophysial peptide arginine vasotocin (AVT) in the reptilian kidney are reviewed. Several structural features of the reptilian nephron are highlighted, including the presence of an incipient juxta-glomerular apparatus, aglomerular nephrons, and the thin, very short intermediate segment (IS) joining proximal and distal convoluted tubules. Although the V(2)-like AVT receptor and its gene have yet to be sequenced in any reptile, AVT receptors have been located in both the IS and the branched collecting duct system in the agamid lizard Ctenophorus ornatus.

Maintenance nitrogen requirement of an obligate nectarivore, the honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus.

A nitrogen balance feeding trial was carried out with the marsupial honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus, using four pollen-honey diets varying in nitrogen content from 9.4 mg.g(-1) to 2.

Water and electrolyte homeostasis and kidney function of desert-dwelling marsupial wallabies in Western Australia.

Prolonged drought, necessitating conservation of water, is one of the major environmental challenges faced by many Australian marsupials. Radioactive isotopes of water and sodium were used to assess the ability of two species of marsupial wallabies to maintain water and electrolyte balance during periods of extreme water deprivation in the arid Pilbara region of Western Australia. The spectacled hare-wallaby, Lagorchestes conspicillatus, has the lowest mass-specific rate of water turnover at 27.

Field energetics and the estimation of pollen and nectar intake in the marsupial honey possum, Tarsipes rostratus, in heathland habitats of south-western Australia.

A method is described, based on the simultaneous turnover of both stable (18O) and radioactive isotopes (3H and 22Na), whereby the daily nectar and pollen intake of free-ranging marsupial honey possums (Tarsipes rostratus) may be estimated. The field metabolic rate is measured using doubly labelled water and nectar intake is estimated independently from the measured water and sodium fluxes. The method assumes that free-water intake is negligible (but may be accounted for if not the case), that virtually all dietary sodium is derived from nectar rather than from pollen, and that the animals are in energetic balance over the period of measurement.

Arginine vasotocin: locus of action along the nephron of the ornate dragon lizard, Ctenophorus ornatus.

The first measurements of AVT-sensitive adenylate cyclase activity in specific segments of the nephron of the Australian arid-zone agamid lizard, Ctenophorus (=Amphibolurus) ornatus, are reported. All sections of the collecting-duct system of this lizard were found to be sensitive to AVT at a concentration of 1 x 10(-6) M. In addition, receptors to AVT were located in the thin-intermediate segment linking proximal and distal convoluted tubules.