Primary abdominal Tyre blast injury: A rare case of intra-abdominal trauma.

Tyre blast injuries are an infrequently encountered but important cause of significant injury. Due to their rare nature tyre blast injuries are often not recognised as major trauma and this can pose significant risk to patient.

Stretched-exponential behavior and random walks on diluted hypercubic lattices.

Diffusion on a diluted hypercube has been proposed as a model for glassy relaxation and is an example of the more general class of stochastic processes on graphs. In this article we determine numerically through large-scale simulations the eigenvalue spectra for this stochastic process and calculate explicitly the time evolution for the autocorrelation function and for the return probability, all at criticality, with hypercube dimensions N up to N=28. We show that at long times both relaxation functions can be described by stretched exponentials with exponent 1/3 and a characteristic relaxation time which grows exponentially with dimension N. The numerical eigenvalue spectra are consistent with analytic predictions for a generic sparse network model.

Operative experience of general surgeons in a rural hospital.

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of published data on the range of procedures currently carried out by rural general surgeons. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the diversity of conditions encountered and managed by rural general surgeons, in order to determine the scope of training necessary to adequately equip trainees for rural practice. METHODS: An audit of surgical procedures completed by two surgeons over 5 years from June 2004 to June 2009 in a rural Victorian hospital was carried out. Operations were further categorized into specialty groups. RESULTS: A total of 8336 operations were completed over 5 years, by two surgeons servicing a catchment population of 54 000 people. Traditional general surgical procedures accounted for 44.3% with endoscopies accounting for a further 27.4% of cases. The remainder was accounted for by 11.8% orthopaedics, 4.5% urology, 4.4% vascular (including pacemaker insertion), 3.4% ear, nose and throat, 2.7% neurosurgery, 0.88% obstetrics and 0.42% thoracics. There was a need to be able to perform procedures well outside the field of traditional general surgery, including multisystem trauma, vascular emergencies, caesarean sections and post-partum hysterectomy. CONCLUSION: General surgeons servicing small rural communities are required to carry out a variety of procedures outside the realms of traditional general surgery. Trainees need to acquire a broad skill base, and should be competent managing surgical emergencies across all specialties. A supportive team of medical, nursing and paramedical staff are required for achieving the best outcome for patients.

An opportune finding in suspected liver metastases.

Opportunistic mycobacterial infections are rare in immunocompetent patients. The authors describe a case of disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex disease in a previously healthy patient presenting with hepatosplenomegaly and non-specific symptoms which initially led to a diagnosis of metastatic carcinoma. After correct treatment she made a full recovery, with resolution of symptoms and the radiological findings.