CNS and Thorax Injury and Associated Risks Factors in Equestrian Sports.

Context: Equestrian sports continue to gain popularity in the United States and are associated with a high injury rate, especially involving the central nervous system and thorax. Due to this high rate of injury and the potential for long-term consequences associated with participation, an understanding of the unique risks of this sport is needed.

Objective: To describe severe injury in equestrian sports and review the role that protective gear plays in injury mitigation.

Marine degradation and ecotoxicity of conventional, recycled and compostable plastic bags.

Plastic bags are currently a major component of marine litter, causing aesthetical nuisance, and undesirable effects on marine fauna that ingest them or are entangled. Plastic litter also rises concern on the ecotoxicological effects due to the potential toxicity of the chemical additives leached in aquatic environments. Conventional plastic bags are made of polyethylene, either from first use or recycled, but regulations restricting single-use plastics and limiting lightweight carrier bags (<50 μm thickness) have fostered the replacement of thin PE bags by compostable materials advertised as safer for the environment.

The first peoples of the Atacama Desert lived among the trees: A 11,600- to 11,200-year-old grove and congregation site.

In deserts, water has been singled out as the most important factor for choosing where to settle, but trees were likely an important part of the landscape for hunter-gatherers beyond merely constituting an economic resource. Yet, this critical aspect has not been considered archaeologically. Here, we present the results of mapping and radiocarbon dating of a truly unique archaeological record.

Description and taxonomic assessment of fossil Cercopithecidae from the Pliocene Galili Formation (Ethiopia).

The Mount Galili Formation in the Afar region, Ethiopia, samples a critical time in hominin evolution, 4.4 to 3.8 Ma, documenting the last appearance of Ardipithecus and the origin of Australopithecus.

UV Dosage Unveils Toxic Properties of Weathered Commercial Bioplastic Bags.

Previous studies indicated that weathered conventional plastics and bioplastics pose ecotoxicological risks. Here, the effects of artificial and natural weathering on the ecotoxicity of three compostable bags and a conventional polyethylene (PE) bag are investigated. With that aim, a 21-day artificial indoor weathering experiment featuring UV light, UV-filtered light, and darkness was run simultaneously to a 120-day outdoor littoral mesocosm exposure featuring natural light, UV-filtered light, and shaded conditions.

Risk-adjusted management in catheterization procedures for non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: A standard operating procedure pilot study.

Background: The effects of standardized risk-adjusted periprocedural management of cardiac catheterization procedures in Non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) remain unknown. We implemented a standard operating procedure (SOP) specifying risk assessment (RA, using National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) risk models) and risk-adjusted management (RM, e.g.

Risk Factors for Prolonged Hospital Stay After Femoral Neck Fracture.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between pre-operative anemia and prolonged hospital stay among geriatric patients with operative femoral neck fractures. This retrospective cohort study was performed at a level I trauma center and included geriatric patients with femoral neck fractures (OTA/AO 31) and operative treatment with code 27236. Exclusion criteria were admission to the intensive care unit, evacuation of subdural hematoma, and conditions requiring exploratory laparotomy.

Rapid and precise measurement of carbonate clumped isotopes using laser spectroscopy.

Carbonate clumped isotope abundance is an important paleothermometer, but measurement is difficult, slow, and subject to cardinal mass () interferences using isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). Here, we describe an optical spectroscopic measurement of carbonate clumped isotopes. We have adapted a tunable infrared laser differential absorption spectrometer (TILDAS) system to measure the abundances of four CO isotopologues used for clumped isotope thermometry.

Mesocosm trials reveal the potential toxic risk of degrading bioplastics to marine life.

If biodegradable plastics tackle the marine plastic pollution problem sufficiently remains questionable. To gain more insight in degradability, performance, and the impact of degradation on the toxicity, commercial bags made from two biodegradable plastics and one conventional plastic (PE) were exposed for 120 days in a mesocosm featuring benthic, pelagic, and littoral habitat simulations. Degradability was assessed as weight loss, and specimens were tested for toxicity using Paracentrotus lividus sea-urchin larvae after different exposure times.

Isothermal Microcalorimetry Improves the Time to Diagnosis of Fracture-related Infection Compared With Conventional Tissue Cultures.

Background: A consensus definition recently was formulated for fracture-related infection, which centered on confirmatory criteria including conventional cultures that take time to finalize and have a 10% to 20% false-negative rate. During this time, patients are often on broad-spectrum antibiotics and may remain hospitalized until cultures are finalized to adjust antibiotic regimens.

Questions/purposes: (1) What is the diagnostic accuracy of isothermal microcalorimetry, and how does its accuracy compare with that of conventional cultures? (2) Does isothermal microcalorimetry decrease time to detection (or diagnosis) of fracture-related infection compared with conventional cultures? (3) Does isothermal microcalorimetry have a diagnostic accuracy or time advantage over conventional cultures in patients on chronic suppressive antibiotics?

Methods: Between July 2020 and August 2021, we treated 310 patients with concerns for infection after prior fracture repair surgery.

Association Between COVID-19 and Mortality in Hip Fracture Surgery in the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C): A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: This study investigated the outcomes of coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-positive patients undergoing hip fracture surgery using a national database.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study comparing hip fracture surgery outcomes between COVID-19 positive and negative matched cohorts from 46 sites in the United States. Patients aged 65 and older with hip fracture surgery between March 15 and December 31, 2020, were included.

High- and low-latitude forcings drive Atacama Desert rainfall variations over the past 16,000 years.

Late Quaternary precipitation dynamics in the central Andes have been linked to both high- and low-latitude atmospheric teleconnections. We use present-day relationships between fecal pellet diameters from ashy chinchilla rats () and mean annual rainfall to reconstruct the timing and magnitude of pluvials (wet episodes) spanning the past 16,000 years in the Atacama Desert based on 81 C-dated paleomiddens. A transient climate simulation shows that pluvials identified at 15.

National Cardiovascular Data Registry-Acute Kidney Injury (NCDR) vs. Mehran risk models for prediction of contrast-induced nephropathy and need for dialysis after coronary angiography in a German patient cohort.

Background: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) is a major adverse event in patients undergoing coronary angiography. The Mehran risk model is the gold-standard for CIN risk prediction. However, its performance in comparison to more contemporary National Cardiovascular Data Registry-Acute Kidney Injury (NCDR-AKI) risk models remains unknown.

Fracture and Patient Characteristics Associated With Early Conversion Total Hip Arthroplasty After Acetabular Fracture Fixation.

Objectives: To determine risk factors for early conversion total hip arthroplasty (THA) after operative treatment of acetabular fractures.

Design: Retrospective cohort.

Setting: Level I trauma center.

Modern NCDR and ACTION risk models outperform the GRACE model for prediction of in-hospital mortality in acute coronary syndrome in a German cohort.

Background And Purpose: Risk prediction with the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) risk model is guideline-recommended in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. However, the performance of more contemporary scores derived from ACTION (Acute Coronary Treatment and Intervention Outcomes Network) and National Cardiovascular Data (NCDR) registries remains incompletely understood. We aimed to compare these models in German ACS patients.

Civilian Ballistic Tibia Shaft Fractures Compared With Blunt Tibia Shaft Fractures: Open or Closed?

Objectives: To identify a group of ballistic tibia fractures, report the outcomes of these fractures, and compare them with both closed and open tibia fractures sustained by blunt mechanisms. We hypothesized that ballistic tibia fractures and blunt open fractures would have similar outcomes.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Early Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes in COVID-19 Infected Patients: A Case Series.

Orthopaedic trauma presents a unique and complex challenge in the initial phase of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) global crisis. Little is currently known about the surgical practices in orthopaedic emergencies in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak (1). This is a retrospective case series of 10 orthopaedic trauma patients who underwent fracture fixation in March 2020.

Intrawound Antibiotic Powder in Acetabular Fracture Open Reduction Internal Fixation Does Not Reduce Surgical Site Infections.

Objectives: To compare the risks of surgical site infection (SSI) and postoperative complications after acetabular fracture open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) in patients receiving topical intrawound antibiotic powder compared with those not receiving antibiotic powder (control group).

Design: Retrospective cohort.

Setting: Level I trauma center.

Do Indomethacin or Radiation for Heterotopic Ossification Prophylaxis Increase the Rates of Infection or Wound Complications After Acetabular Fracture Surgery?

Objectives: To compare the rates of infection and wound complications in patients undergoing operative fixation (ORIF) of acetabular fractures receiving heterotopic ossification (HO) prophylaxis using indomethacin or external beam radiation therapy (XRT) versus no prophylaxis.

Design: Retrospective cohort.

Setting: Level I trauma center.

Thrombin Hemostatic Matrix Reduces Heterotopic Ossification in Acetabular Fractures Fixed Through the Kocher-Langenbeck Approach.

Objective: To determine whether an injectable thrombin product [thrombin hemostatic matrix (THM)] at closure of a Kocher-Langenbeck approach reduces the risk of heterotopic ossification (HO) formation after an acetabular fracture.

Design: Case control.

Setting: Two Level 1 trauma centers.

Comparison Between the Direct Anterior and Posterior Approaches for Total Hip Arthroplasty Performed for Femoral Neck Fracture.

Objectives: To compare 90-day and 1-year outcomes, including mortality, of femoral neck fracture patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) by direct anterior approach (DAA) versus posterior approach (PA).

Design: Retrospective cohort.

Setting: Level I Trauma Center.

Fossil Cercopithecidae from the Early Pliocene Sagantole Formation at Gona, Ethiopia.

The Early Pliocene Sagantole Fm. in the Gona Project area, Afar State, Ethiopia, is noted for discoveries of the early hominin Ardipithecus ramidus. A large series of fossil cercopithecid primates dated to between 4.

Co-occurrence of Acheulian and Oldowan artifacts with cranial fossils from Gona, Afar, Ethiopia.

Although stone tools generally co-occur with early members of the genus , they are rarely found in direct association with hominins. We report that both Acheulian and Oldowan artifacts and crania were found in close association at 1.26 million years (Ma) ago at Busidima North (BSN12), and ca.