PyMCGPU-IR Monte Carlo code test for occupational dosimetry.

PyMCGPU-IR is an innovative occupational dose monitoring tool for interventional radiology procedures. It reads the radiation data from the Radiation Dose Structured Report of the procedure and combines this information with the position of the monitored worker recorded using a 3D camera system. This information is used as an input file for the fast Monte Carlo radiation transport code MCGPU-IR in order to assess the organ doses, Hp(10) and Hp(0.

Somatic symptoms, pain, catastrophizing and the association with disability among children with heritable connective tissue disorders.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the nature and prevalence of nonspecific somatic symptoms, pain and catastrophizing in children with Heritable Connective Tissue Disorders (HCTD), and to determine their association with disability. This observational, multicenter study included 127 children, aged 4-18 years, with Marfan syndrome (MFS) (59%), Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS) (8%), Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) (12%) and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) (23%). The assessments included the Children's Somatization Inventory or parent proxy (CSI, PCSI), pain visual-analogue scale (VAS), SUPERKIDZ body diagram, Pain Catastrophizing Scale Child or parent proxy (PCS-C, PCS-P) and Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ-30).

Parental experiences and coping strategies when caring for a child receiving paediatric palliative care: a qualitative study.

Parenting and providing extensive care to a child with a life-limiting or life-threatening disease while being aware of the future loss of the child are among the most stressful parental experiences. Due to technical and medical improvements, children are living longer and are increasingly cared for at home. To align healthcare professionals' support with the needs of parents, a clear understanding of prominent experiences and main coping strategies of parents caring for a child in need of palliative care is needed.

Detectability and surgical outcomes in parathyroid surgery - a single-centre experience.

The incidence of primary hyperparathyroidismand referrals for the removal of parathyroid adenomas are increasing. Factors that improve the detectability, and ultimately the surgical outcome, are the focus of this retrospective study. We included 117 patients who had parathyroid operations with intraoperative monitoring of parathyroid hormone (PTH).

Parental experiences with a paediatric palliative care team: A qualitative study.

Background: Parents of children with a life-limiting disease have to rely on themselves at home while adequate paediatric palliative care is lacking. In several countries, paediatric palliative care teams are introduced to ensure continuity and quality of care and to support the child and the family. Yet, little is known about how parents experience such multidisciplinary teams.

Aspects and Intensity of Pediatric Palliative Case Management Provided by a Hospital-Based Case Management Team: A Comparative Study Between Children With Malignant and Nonmalignant Disease.

Objectives: Anticipating case management is considered crucial in pediatric palliative care. In 2012, our children's university hospital initiated a specialized pediatric palliative care team (PPCT) to deliver inbound and outbound case management for children with life-shortening disease. The aim of this report is to gain insight in the first 9 months of this PPCT.

Aims and tasks in parental caregiving for children receiving palliative care at home: a qualitative study.

Unlabelled: In paediatric palliative care (PPC), parents are confronted with increasing caregiving demands. More children are cared for at home, and the need for PPC of children is lengthened due to technical and medical improvements. Therefore, a clear understanding of the content of parental caregiving in PPC becomes increasingly important.

A prospective study on the characteristics and subjects of pediatric palliative care case management provided by a hospital based palliative care team.

Background: Case management is a subject of interest within pediatric palliative care. Detailed descriptions of the content of this type of case management are lacking. We aim to describe the contents of care provided, utilization of different disciplines, and times of usage of a pediatric palliative care case management program compared for patients with malignant disease (MD) and non-malignant disease (NMD).

The Trigger Tool as a Method to Measure Harmful Medication Errors in Children.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to improve medication safety for children; it is important to quantify the occurrence of preventable medication errors (MEs). A trigger tool may be an effective and time-saving strategy, but its measurement performance is unclear. Therefore, we aimed to estimate the performance of a pediatric medication-focused trigger tool in detecting harmful MEs.

Age of first breeding interacts with pre- and post-recruitment experience in shaping breeding phenology in a long-lived gull.

Individual variation in timing of breeding is a key factor affecting adaptation to environmental change, yet our basic understanding of the causes of such individual variation is incomplete. This study tests several hypotheses for age-related variation in the breeding timing of Lesser Black-backed Gulls, based on a 13 year longitudinal data set that allows to decouple effects of age, previous prospecting behavior, and years of breeding experience on arrival timing at the colony. At the population level, age of first breeding was significantly associated with timing of arrival and survival, i.

A re-audit of paediatric ENT services in England and Wales.

Objectives: ENT has a high paediatric workload. National recommendations for provision of paediatric surgical services are provided by three key documents produced by the Department of Health and Royal Colleges of Surgeons and Anaesthetists. This second cycle audit assesses the current state of paediatric services in ENT departments in England and Wales based on these recommendations and whether progress has been made since the first audit in 2003.

Preventable errors with nonopioid analgesics and antiemetic drugs may increase burden in surgical pediatric patients.

Introduction: Many hospitalized patients are affected by medication errors (MEs) that may cause discomfort, harm, and even death. Especially, children are considered to be at high risk of experiencing harm due to MEs. More insight into the prevalence, type, and severity of harm caused by MEs could help reduce the frequency of these harmful events.

High-alert medications for pediatric patients: an international modified Delphi study.

Background: The available knowledge about high-alert medications for children is limited. Because children are particularly vulnerable to medication errors, a list of high-alert medication specifically for children would help to develop effective strategies to prevent patient harm. Therefore, we conducted an international modified Delphi study and validated the results with reports on medication incidents in children based on national data.

What brings children home? A prognostic study to predict length of hospitalisation.

Unlabelled: Adequate discharge planning could improve patient health and reduce readmissions. Increased accessibility and adequate use of hospital capacity are asking for an adequate discharge planning by means of efficient prediction of length of stay (LOS). Predictive factors of LOS for paediatric patients are lacking in the current available evidence.

The association of ethnicity with electronically measured adherence to inhaled corticosteroids in children.

Purpose: To investigate the association of ethnicity with objectively, electronically measured adherence to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in a multicultural population of children with asthma in the city of Amsterdam.

Methods: The study was designed as a prospective, observational multicenter study in which adherence to ICS and potential risk factors for adherence to ICS were measured in a cohort of Moroccan and native Dutch children with asthma. Electronic adherence measurements were performed for 3 months per patient using a Real Time Medication Monitoring (RTMM) system.

Ethnic diversity outpatient clinic in paediatrics.

Background: The health status of chronic sick ethnic minority children in the Netherlands is unequal compared with indigenous Dutch children. In order to optimize the health care for these children a specific patient-oriented clinic in ethnic-cultural diversity: the Mosaic Outpatient Clinic (MOC) was integrated in the general Paediatric Outpatient Departments (POPD) of three hospitals in Amsterdam.

Methods: Feasibility of the MOC, factors influencing the health care process and encountered bottlenecks in health care were studied in ethnic minority children with asthma, diabetes type 1 or metabolic disease originating from Morocco, Turkey and Surinam.

Quality of life of children with sleep-disordered breathing treated with adenotonsillectomy.

Objective: To assess the quality of life of UK children with sleep-disordered breathing undergoing adenotonsillectomy, by using the Obstructive Sleep Apnoea 18 questionnaire and determining score changes and effect sizes.

Design: Prospective, longitudinal study.

Setting: The otolaryngology department of a university teaching hospital in Northern England.

Growth of analytical thinking skills over time as measured with the MATCH test.

Context: Ber's Comprehensive Integrative Puzzle aims to assess analytical clinical thinking in medical students. We developed a paediatric version, the MATCH test, in which we added two irrelevant options to each question in order to reduce guessing behaviour. We tested its construct validity and studied the development of integrative skills over time.

Cushing's syndrome in women with polycystic ovaries and hyperandrogenism.

Background: A 41-year-old woman presented to an endocrinology-gynecology clinic having been diagnosed 7 years earlier with polycystic ovarian syndrome on account of hirsutism, subfertility, greasy skin, acne and multiple ovarian cysts. Ovulation induction had led to a successful pregnancy. Subfertility recurred, however, and persisted alongside a new diagnosis of hypertension and progressive weight gain.

MOVE: a multi-level ontology-based visualization and exploration framework for genomic networks.

Among the various research areas that comprise bioinformatics, systems biology is gaining increasing attention. An important goal of systems biology is the unraveling of dynamic interactions between components of living cells (e. g.

Diaphragm plication in adult patients with diaphragm paralysis leads to long-term improvement of pulmonary function and level of dyspnea.

Objective: There is still controversy about the feasibility and long-term outcome of surgical treatment of acquired diaphragm paralysis. We analyzed the long-term effects on pulmonary function and level of dyspnea after unilateral or bilateral diaphragm plication.

Methods: Between December 1996 and January 2006, 22 consecutive patients underwent diaphragm plication.

A national audit of paediatric service provision in otolaryngology in England and Wales.

Introduction: Otolaryngology is the surgical speciality with the highest paediatric workload, accounting for 29% of the total. Children are not miniature adults and require specially trained staff, equipment, facilities and an environment appropriate to their needs. Documents from the Department of Health and the Royal Colleges of Surgeons and Anaesthetists have been published outlining national standards and recommendations for paediatric surgical service provision.

FIVA: Functional Information Viewer and Analyzer extracting biological knowledge from transcriptome data of prokaryotes.

Unlabelled: FIVA (Function Information Viewer and Analyzer) aids researchers in the prokaryotic community to quickly identify relevant biological processes following transcriptome analysis. Our software assists in functional profiling of large sets of genes and generates a comprehensive overview of affected biological processes.

Availability: http://bioinformatics.