Injury and alcohol: a hospital emergency department study

A pilot survey was undertaken of injury presentations to a public hospital emergency department to determine patterns of alcohol use in this population. Of the 402 injury presentations in the study period, a total of 236 injury cases were interviewed, of whom 45% (n=107) and 29% (n=69) had consumed alcohol 24 and 6 hours prior to injury. Mean age for all injury presentations was 35.1 years, and 32.6 years for alcohol injury cases. For both injury groups, males were significantly younger than females. Recent alcohol ingestion was three times more common among male than female injury presentations, but with females drinking at significantly lower levels. Of males who had consumed alcohol 6 hours prior to injury, nearly 70% were drinking at NHMRC harmful levels and 61% had drunk more than eight standard drinks. Overall, alcohol-involved injury cases commonly occurred among low-income, single males around 30 years of age who were regular heavy drinkers who were drinking heavily in licensed premises prior to their injury, and who sustained injury through intentional harm. In addition, one in five of the alcohol-involved injury cases were aged 15-18 years, i.e. below the legal age of purchase. The high proportion of hazardous and harmful drinkers among those who had consumed alcohol within the last 6 hours, and the injury sample overall, highlights the need for further research to explore the relationship between the occurrence of injury and the drinking patterns and environments associated with injury. Further research is also required to assess the efficacy of early and brief interventions for alcohol and drug use within the emergency ward setting. This information would enable appropriate public health interventions to be initiated.

Analysis of the study design and manuscript deficiencies in research articles submitted to Emergency Medicine

Objective: To describe and analyse the study design and manuscript deficiencies in original research articles submitted to Emergency Medicine. Methods: This was a retrospective, analytical study. Articles were enrolled if the reports of the Section Editor and two reviewers were available. Data were extracted from these reports only. Outcome measures were the mean number and nature of the deficiencies and the mean reviewers’ assessment score. Results: Fifty-seven articles were evaluated (28 accepted for publication, 19 rejected, 10 pending revision). The mean (± SD) number of deficiencies was 18.1 ± 6.9, 16.4 ± 6.5 and 18.4 ± 6.7 for all articles, articles accepted for publication and articles rejected, respectively (P = 0.31 between accepted and rejected articles). The mean assessment scores (0–10) were 5.5 ± 1.5, 5.9 ± 1.5 and 4.7 ± 1.4 for all articles, articles accepted for publication and articles rejected, respectively. Accepted articles had a significantly higher assessment score than rejected articles (P = 0.006). For each group, there was a negative correlation between the number of deficiencies and the mean assessment score (P > 0.05). Significantly more rejected articles ‘… did not further our knowledge’ (P = 0.0014) and ‘… did not describe background information adequately’ (P = 0.049). Many rejected articles had ‘… findings that were not clinically or socially significant’ (P = 0.07). Common deficiencies among all articles included ambiguity of the methods (77%) and results (68%), conclusions not warranted by the data (72%), poor referencing (56%), inadequate study design description (51%), unclear tables (49%), an overly long discussion (49%), limitations of the study not described (51%), inadequate definition of terms (49%) and subject selection bias (40%). Conclusions: Researchers should undertake studies that are likely to further our knowledge and be clinically or socially significant. Deficiencies in manuscript preparation are more frequent than mistakes in study design and execution. Specific training or assistance in manuscript preparation is indicated.

Post-ruminal protein supply and N retention of weaner sheep fed on a basal diet of lucerne hay (Medicago sativa) with increasing levels of quebracho tannins

The ability of low to moderate levels (

Expression of asparagine synthetase in response to carbohydrate supply in model callus cultures and shoot tips of asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.)

Sugar uptake and metabolism were studied in callus cultures and shoot tips of asparagus. Asparagus callus cultures were used to model senescence in shoot tips. Callus cultures absorbed glucose from a nutrient medium, and accumulated sucrose, glucose and fructose. This uptake of glucose by the callus cultures down-regulated expression of asparagine synthetase and beta -galactosidase transcripts that otherwise accumulated when sugar was withheld. When 80 mm-long asparagus shoots were excised from growing plants and placed in 2% and 8% sucrose solutions, endogenous concentrations of sucrose, glucose, fructose, UDPglucose, and glucose-6-phosphate declined in the 30mm-long meristematic tip regions. At the same time, asparagine and asparagine synthetase gene transcripts began to accumulate in these tips. When 10 mm-long asparagus shoot tips were placed on glucose- or fructose-containing agar, the tips accumulated sucrose, glucose and fructose, and asparagine accumulation and expression of asparagine synthetase were marginally reduced. We concluded that in callus cultures, asparagine synthetase expression was sugar regulated, but that sugar regulation was not as pronounced in asparagus shoot tips. This may be due in part to slower rates of sugar uptake into shoot tips and in part to compartmentation of sugars in the tips. We suggest that callus cultures are not a suitable model for metabolic studies in asparagus shoot tips.