Ultrasound-assisted bony landmark palpation in untrained palpators.

Context: Medical students with no previous experience may find it difficult to identify and palpate bony landmarks while learning physical examination skills. In a study of 168 medical schools, 72.6 % have indicated that they are utilizing ultrasound in their curriculum.

Evaluation of articles in metabolism research on the basis of their citations.

Introduction: The number of research papers and journals each year is increasing and millions of dollars are spent. Despite this there is evidence to suggest that many publications do not impact clinical practice. We used citation analysis to measure the influence of metabolism publications from 2003-2013.

Completeness of Intervention Reporting of Clinical Trials Published in Highly Ranked Obesity Journals.

Objective: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) play a crucial role in the research and advancement of medical treatment. A cross-sectional study design was utilized to analyze the completeness of intervention reporting using the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist and to evaluate factors associated with intervention reporting. A comparison of the completeness of intervention reporting before and after the publication of TIDieR was sought.

DNA-crosslinked alginate and layered microspheres to modulate the release of encapsulated FITC-dextran.

Alginate can be gently crosslinked by calcium into hydrogels and microspheres for the encapsulation and release of proteins and drugs. However, the release is often over short periods unless alginate is also covalently modified or crosslinked. This research aims to sustain the release of encapsulated model drug FITC-dextran by covalently crosslinking alginate with short oligomers DNA because evidence suggests that DNA may also interact with alginate to further increase effective crosslinking.

Evaluation of the NCCN guidelines using the RIGHT Statement and AGREE-II instrument: a cross-sectional review.

Introduction: Robust, clearly reported clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are essential for evidence-based clinical practice. The Reporting Items for practice Guidelines in HealThcare (RIGHT) Statement and Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument were published to improve the methodological and reporting quality in healthcare CPGs.

Methods: We applied the RIGHT Statement checklist and AGREE-II instrument to 48 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines.