Delivery of UK military upper limb prosthetics: current concepts and future directions.

Upper limb prosthetics have a challenging task. A natural upper limb combines strength, coordination and dexterity to accomplish daily activities such as eating, writing, working and social interaction. Artificially replicating these functions requires a prosthetic with composite, synchronous motor function while maintaining sensory feedback and skeletal stability.

Plastic Surgery Pioneers of the Central Powers in the Great War.

Plastic surgical techniques were described in antiquity and the Middle Ages; however, the genesis of modern plastic surgery is in the early 20th century. The exigencies of trench warfare, combined with medical and technological advances at that time, enabled pioneers such as Sir Harold Gillies to establish what is now recognized as plastic and reconstructive surgery. The physicians of Germany, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire were faced with the same challenges; it is fascinating to consider parallel developments in these countries.