Tibial fracture in a basketball player: treatment dilemmas and complications.

A 19-year-old male basketball player suffered a spiral fracture of the tibia with an intact fibula, an uncommon injury in basketball. Treatment options for these injuries include cast immobilization, external fixation, and internal fixation using an intramedullary rod or plates and screws. Numerous complications can occur in these injuries, possibly including interference with healing by the intact fibula. The player was treated with an intramedullary rod, but delayed union ensued. Treatment of the patient's delayed union with closed exchange intramedullary nailing and fibular osteotomy enabled him to return to basketball participation.

Small atomic displacements recorded in bismuth by the optical reflectivity of femtosecond laser-pulse excitations.

Subtle atomic motion in a Bi crystal excited by a 35 fs-laser pulse has been recovered from the transient reflectivity of an optical probe measured with an accuracy of 10(-5). Analysis shows that a novel effect reported here-an initial negative drop in reflectivity-relates to a delicate coherent displacement of atoms by the polarization force during the pulse. We also show that reflectivity oscillations with a frequency coinciding with that of cold Bi are related to optical phonons excited by the electron temperature gradient through electron-phonon coupling.