Preceptor development: providing effective feedback.

Feedback plays a significant role in precepting and is indispensable in residency training. As described by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the goal of any postgraduate residency program is to prepare individual trainees to function as qualified practitioners. Although feedback and evaluations have traditionally been synonymous, our goal is to differentiate the two and describe the role of each within resident performance.

Impact of stroke care unit on patient outcomes in a community hospital.

Background And Purpose: Geographically distinct multidisciplinary stroke care units (SCUs) have been shown by systematic reviews to have superior patient outcomes compared with conventional care in general medical wards. However, the effectiveness of SCUs in smaller North American community hospitals is less well defined. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of establishing a specialized SCU at a community hospital on patient outcomes.

Relationship between olfactory function and social cognition in euthymic bipolar patients.

Objective/introduction: There is a close functional and neuroanatomical relationship between olfactory ability and emotional processing. The present study seeks to explore the association between olfactory ability and social cognition, especially facial emotion perception, in euthymic bipolar patients.

Methods: Thirty-nine euthymic outpatients meeting DSM-IV-TR criteria for bipolar disorder and 40 healthy volunteers matched on socio-demographic criteria were recruited.

The social cognition psychometric evaluation study: results of the expert survey and RAND panel.

Background: In schizophrenia, social cognition is strongly linked to functional outcome and is increasingly seen as a viable treatment target. The goal of the Social Cognition Psychometric Evaluation (SCOPE) study is to identify and improve the best existing measures of social cognition so they can be suitably applied in large-scale treatment studies. Initial phases of this project sought to (1) develop consensus on critical domains of social cognition and (2) identify the best existing measures of social cognition for use in treatment studies.

Community-acquired pneumonia with risk for drug-resistant pathogens.

Background: Pneumonia is a leading infectious cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. The Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) and American Thoracic Society (ATS) have published treatment guidelines for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) based upon the site of acquisition and specific pathogen risk. The literature demonstrates improved outcomes with guideline-concordant empiric therapy.

Effectiveness of joint health and safety committees: a realist review.

Background: Joint health and safety committees (JHSCs) are widely acknowledged as important to a healthy and safe work environment. However, it is also generally believed that having a JHSC is necessary but not sufficient; the JHSC must be effective.

Methods: A systematic review was undertaken to find empirical studies regarding the effectiveness of JHSCs; realist review methodology was applied to determine context-mechanism-outcome patterns.

Impact of disability status on ischemic stroke costs in Canada in the first year.

Background: Longitudinal, patient-level data on resource use and costs after an ischemic stroke are lacking in Canada. The objectives of this analysis were to calculate costs for the first year post-stroke and determine the impact of disability on costs.

Methodology: The Economic Burden of Ischemic Stroke (BURST) Study was a one-year prospective study with a cohort of ischemic stroke patients recruited at 12 Canadian stroke centres.

Consummatory and anticipatory anhedonia in schizophrenia: stability, and associations with emotional distress and social function over six months.

Recent work has suggested that anhedonia in schizophrenia can be understood as involving two separate constructs: deficits in anticipatory and consummatory pleasure. Little is known about the relative stability of these different constructs and their links with clinical features and social function over time. To examine these questions, 51 participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder in a non-acute phase of illness were administered the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, and Quality of Life Scale at two time points six months apart.

Fatal rectal perforation following boar-to-boar mounting.

Although abnormal sexual behavior, including boar-to-boar mounting with anal penetration, is recognized in pubescent pigs, reports of the pathologic consequences are scarce. A 7-month-old male minipig, housed with age-matched males, died within 1 day of the onset of lethargy and reluctance to rise. At necropsy, 2 rectal tears were identified as the cause for fibrinous peritonitis, and spermatozoa were identified in the pelvic and peritoneal cavity by light and transmission electron microscopy.

[Osteopenia as a result of copper deficiency in a dwarf Thuringian Forest goat].

In a female Thuringian forest goat osteoporosis, dwarfism and anaemia were found. The animal was kept on a hobby farm with 30 further goats that did not show clinical signs. Radiological examination, computed tomographic imaging and pathological examination revealed reduced bone density and numerous fractures associated with limited or completely absent callus formation.

[Bovine neonatal pancytopenia in German Holstein calves].

Profiles of blood cell counts were evaluated for 15 calves from three different farms. These calves showed petechia in the mucous membranes and in the skin and prolonged secondary bleeding after puncture. The clinical course of the disease could be observed in eleven calves.

Visual attention deficits in Alzheimer's disease: relationship to HMPAO SPECT cortical hypoperfusion.

Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) display a multiplicity of cognitive deficits in domains such as memory, language, and attention, all of which can be clearly linked to the underlying neuropathological alterations. The typical degenerative changes occur early on in the disease in the temporal-parietal lobes, with other brain regions, such as the frontal cortex, becoming more affected as the disease progresses. In light of the importance of the parietal cortex in mediating visuospatial attentional processing, in the present study, we investigated a deficit in covert orienting of visual attention and its relationship to cortical hypoperfusion in AD.

Metacognition and social function in schizophrenia: associations over a period of five months.

Introduction: Deficits in the ability to think about thinking have been widely observed in persons with schizophrenia and linked with concurrent assessments of various forms of function. Less is known though about their links to outcome over time. To address this issue, the current study explores whether Mastery, a domain of metacognition that reflects the ability to use knowledge about one's own mental states and those of others to respond to psychological challenges, is related to the frequency of social contact and persons' capacity for social relatedness.

Leukoaraiosis and collaterals in acute ischemic stroke.

Background: We examined the correlation of angiographic collaterals in acute stroke with the presence, extent, and distribution of white matter changes, so-called Leukoaraiosis, in an effort to determine if Leukoaraiosis indicates chronic cerebral hypoperfusion and/or is associated with the development of cerebral collateral circulation.

Methods: Consecutive acute strokes due to large-vessel occlusion on angiography had preprocedure CT or MRI white matter changes graded utilizing the Fazekas scale incorporating deep and periventricular components. Angiographic collaterals evaluated with a 5-point scale were correlated with leukoaraiosis.

Dietary n-3:n-6 fatty acid ratios differentially influence hormonal signature in a rodent model of metabolic syndrome relative to healthy controls.

Dietary ratios of omega-3 (n-3) to omega-6 (n-6) polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been implicated in controlling markers of the metabolic syndrome, including insulin sensitivity, inflammation, lipid profiles and adiposity. However, the role of dietary PUFAs in regulating energy systems in healthy relative to metabolic diseased backgrounds has not been systematically addressed. We used dietary manipulation of n-3 to n-6 PUFA ratios in an animal model of metabolic syndrome and a related healthy line to assay feeding behavior and endocrine markers of feeding drive and energy regulation.

The Intracerebral Haemorrhage Acutely Decreasing Arterial Pressure Trial: ICH ADAPT.

The majority of intracerebral haemorrhage patients present with markedly elevated blood pressure immediately after symptom onset. Management of blood pressure in the first 24 h is extremely controversial and lends itself to two competing rationales. There is some evidence that early treatment may improve outcome, potentially by reducing the rate of haematoma expansion.

Novel silver-tubing method for quantitative introduction of water into high-temperature conversion systems for stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopic measurements.

A new method to seal water in silver tubes for use in a TC/EA (thermal conversion/elemental analyzer) reduction unit using a semi-automated sealing apparatus can yield reproducibilities (1 standard deviation) of delta(2)H and delta(18)O measurements of 1.0 per thousand and 0.06 per thousand, respectively.

[Vertebral and multiple organ malformations in a black and white German Holstein calf].

A male black and white German Holstein calf showed a congenital, high-graded scoliosis and rotation of the thoracal spinal cord associated with shortening and fusion of multiple vertebral bodies and abnormal bending of the processus spinosus. Furthermore reduced birth weight, partial hypoplasia of the lung, excessive liver segmentation, doubled gall bladder, rectal atresia, horseshoe kidney, and uterine atresia were found. Due to the exclusion of a point mutation in exon 4 of the solute carrier family 35 (UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) transporter), member A3 (SLC35A3) gene, complex vertebral malformation (CVM) was ruled out.

Perosomus elumbis in a black and white German Holstein calf.

Perosomus elumbis is a rare congenital anomaly of unknown aetiology characterized by the aplasia of the lumbosacral spinal cord and vertebrae, mostly associated with multiple other malformations of the hind limbs and the urogenital and intestinal tract. This report describes a stillborn female German Holstein calf showing a complete aplasia of the lumbosacrococcygeal portion of the spinal cord and vertebral column. In addition, both hind-limbs exhibited arthrogryposis and the musculature was completely replaced by adipose tissue.

A comparison of two microbial detection methods used in aseptic processing of musculoskeletal allograft tissues.

Tissues from 78 musculoskeletal donors were concurrently tested for microorganisms using both a swab and liquid culture method. An aggregate total of 20 organisms were detected by both methods. The swab detected 4/20 organisms while the liquid culture detected 18/20 organisms.

Scale and the isotopic record of C4 plants in pedogenic carbonate: from the biome to the rhizosphere.

The 13C/12C ratio in pedogenic carbonate (i.e., CaCO3 formed in soil) is a significant tool for investigating C4 biomes of the past.

Dust dynamics in off-road vehicle trails: Measurements on 16 arid soil types, Nevada, USA.

Soil analyses and measurements with the Portable In Situ Wind Erosion Laboratory (PI-SWERL) were conducted on 16 soil types in an area heavily affected by off-road vehicle (ORV) driving. Measurements were performed in ORV trails as well as on undisturbed terrain to investigate how ORV driving affects the vulnerability of a soil to emit PM10 (particles<10microm), during the driving as well as during episodes of wind erosion. Particular attention is paid to how the creation of a new trail affects those properties of the topsoil that determine its capability to emit PM10.

[A case of a congenital high-grade hydrocephalus internus and Dandy-Walker syndrome in a black and white German Holstein calf].

A black and white female German Holstein calf showed a highly deformed cranium. The animal was not able to stand. Further findings were bilateral strabismus divergens and negative pupillary light reflexes.