Development and Pilot Testing of Smartphone-Based Hearing Test Application.

Background: Identifying and treating hearing loss can help improve communication skills, which often leads to improved quality of life. Many people do not seek medical treatment and, therefore, go undiagnosed for an extended period before realizing they have hearing loss. This study presents a self-administered, low-cost, smartphone-based hearing test application (HearTest) to quantify the pure-tone hearing thresholds of a user.

Pilot Sleep in Long-Range and Ultra-Long-Range Commercial Flights.

Despite the clear need for understanding how pilot sleep affects performance during long-range (LR; 12-16h) and ultra-long-range (ULR; 16+h) flights, the scientific literature on the effects of sleep loss and circadian desynchronization on pilots' sleep in commercial aviation is sparse. We assessed pilots' sleep timing, duration, and post-trip recovery on two LR and two ULR nonstop California to Australasia routes. Pilot's sleep/wake history was measured with actigraphy and verified by logbook across 8-9 d.

Equal to or better than: The application of statistical non-inferiority to fatigue risk management.

In December 2014, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) completed a major revision of the rules and regulations governing flight and duty time in commercial aviation (Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part 117). Scientists were included in the revision process and provided insights into sleep, sleep loss, the circadian rhythm, and their effects on performance that were incorporated into the new rule. If a planned flight was non-compliant with the regulation, for example if it exceeded flight and duty time limits, it could only be flown under an FAA-approved Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) as meeting an Alternative Method of Compliance (AMOC).

Systematic review and meta-analysis of behavioral interventions to improve child pedestrian safety.

Objective: Pedestrian injuries represent a pediatric public health challenge. This systematic review/meta-analysis evaluated behavioral interventions to teach children pedestrian safety.

Methods: Multiple strategies derived eligible manuscripts (published before April 1, 2013, randomized design, evaluated behavioral child pedestrian safety interventions).

Pretreatment prostate-specific antigen velocity is associated with freedom from biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer after low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy alone.

Purpose: This report examines the relationship between pretreatment prostate-specific antigen (PSA) velocity (PSAV) and freedom from biochemical recurrence (FFBR) in men with prostate cancer treated with low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy (LDRPB).

Methods And Materials: This is a report of 51 men treated with LDRPB between 1997 and 1999.

Inclusion Criteria: two or more evaluable PSA values >3 months apart and <18 months before treatment.

Timeless leadership.

The historian David McCullough, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and well-known public television host, has spent his career thinking about the qualities that make a leader great. His books, including Truman, John Adams, and 1776, illustrate his conviction that even in America's darkest moments the old-fashioned virtues of optimism, hard work, and strength of character endure. In this edited conversation with HBR senior editor Bronwyn Fryer, McCullough analyzes the strengths of American leaders past and present.

Financial and educational costs of the residency interview process for urology applicants.

Objectives: To investigate the financial and educational costs of the urology residency interview process, we performed a survey of the applicants to the 2006 urology match.

Methods: All applicants registered for the 2006 urology match were invited to participate. In January 2006 prior to the match, an anonymous online survey containing 8 questions on the financial and educational costs of the interview process was distributed via email.

A simple model predicts freedom from biochemical recurrence after low-dose rate prostate brachytherapy alone.

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe a simple model that predicts freedom from biochemical recurrence (FFBR) in men with prostate cancer after treatment with low-dose rate prostate brachytherapy (LDRPB) alone.

Materials And Methods: One hundred thirty-two men were treated with LDRPB alone between September 1997 and April 2001. Sixty-four percent of men had low-risk disease (prostate-specific antigen [PSA] <10, Gleason <7, and T stage or =10, Gleason > or =7, or T stage T2b).

Percentage of positive biopsies associated with freedom from biochemical recurrence after low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy alone for clinically localized prostate cancer.

Objectives: To examine the relationship between the percentage of positive biopsies (PPBs) and freedom from biochemical recurrence (FFBR) in men treated with low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy (LDRPB) alone. The PPBs has been associated with FFBR in men treated with radical prostatectomy and external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

Methods: This report concerns 108 men treated with LDRPB alone between November 1997 and December 1999.

Dosimetric quantifiers for low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy: is V(100) superior to D(90)?

Purpose: The purpose of the present report is to describe the relationship between two dosimetric quantifiers (V(100) and D(90)) and freedom from biochemical recurrence (FFBR) in a cohort of men treated with low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy (LDRPB) alone.

Methods And Materials: One hundred three men were treated with LDRPB alone between September 1997 and December 1999. All men had histologically confirmed clinically localized prostate cancer.

What makes a medical student avoid or enter a career in urology? Results of an international survey.

Purpose: To recruit the best and brightest medical students, it is crucial to understand what causes a medical student to pursue or avoid a career in urology. We performed a survey of 2 cohorts of residency applicants to elucidate these determinants.

Materials And Methods: All 410 applicants to the 2003-2004 United States urology residency match and all 624 individuals who applied to a Boston-area emergency medicine (EM) residency program were invited to participate in the study.

Dosimetry and cancer control after low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy.

Purpose: To describe the relationship between two commonly used dosimetric quantifiers (dose received by 90% of the prostate [D(90)] and volume receiving 100% of dose [V(100)]) and biochemical disease-free survival (bDFS) in a cohort of men treated with low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy (LDRPB).

Methods And Materials: The information in this report concerned the first 63 men treated with LDRPB alone at our institution between September 1997 and September 1998. All men had histologically confirmed, clinically localized prostate cancer.

Cancer control after low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy performed by a multidisciplinary team with no previous prostate brachytherapy experience.

Objectives: To describe the biochemical disease-free survival observed in the first cohort men treated by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians with no previous experience in low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy (LDRPB).

Methods: The information in this report concerns the first 63 men treated with LDRPB alone at our institution between September 1997 and September 1998. All men had histologically confirmed, clinically localized prostate cancer.

Radiation dose to the neurovascular bundles or penile bulb does not predict erectile dysfunction after prostate brachytherapy.

Purpose: To examine the relationship between calculated doses to the neurovascular bundles (NVBs) and the penile bulb (PB) and the development of erectile dysfunction (ED) after low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy (LDRPB) alone.

Methods And Materials: Between September 1997 and June 1999, 84 men were treated with LDRPB alone. Inclusion criteria for this study were (1) no ED according to a self-administered questionnaire before PB, (2) treatment with PB alone (125I; 144 Gy), (3) postimplant CT scan of the prostate 1 month after PB, and (4) minimum of 24 months of continuous follow-up.

Deficient nucleotide excision repair capacity enhances human prostate cancer risk.

Prostate cancer (CaP) is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in American men. The etiology of CaP is not fully understood. Because most of the DNA adducts generated by some CaP-related carcinogens, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heterocyclic amines, and pesticides, are removed by the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway, we pilot tested the hypothesis that CaP is associated with deficient NER capacity (NERC), measured by a plasmid-based host reactivation assay.

Prostate biopsy: indications and technique.

Purpose: The last decade has seen numerous modifications in the way prostate cancer is diagnosed. We review the current indications for and methods of prostate biopsy.

Materials And Methods: The English language literature was reviewed regarding major indications for and methods of prostate biopsy.

Radioactive sources embedded in suture are associated with improved postimplant dosimetry in men treated with prostate brachytherapy.

Background And Purpose: Reports using the retropubic and transperineal technique of prostate brachytherapy suggest that adequate radiation doses are required for good clinical results with I-125. After 3 years of using loose sources (LS), radioactive sources embedded in suture (SES) were introduced into our prostate brachytherapy technique. The purpose of the present report is to determine whether dosimetric quantifiers of implant adequacy were affected by the use of SES.

Germline mutations and sequence variants of the macrophage scavenger receptor 1 gene are associated with prostate cancer risk.

Deletions on human chromosome 8p22-23 in prostate cancer cells and linkage studies in families affected with hereditary prostate cancer (HPC) have implicated this region in the development of prostate cancer. The macrophage scavenger receptor 1 gene (MSR1, also known as SR-A) is located at 8p22 and functions in several processes proposed to be relevant to prostate carcinogenesis. Here we report the results of genetic analyses that indicate that mutations in MSR1 may be associated with risk of prostate cancer.

Results of the 5 region prostate biopsy method: the repeat biopsy population.

Purpose: The decision to repeat prostate biopsy in a patient in whom the first biopsy did not detect prostate cancer poses a challenge to urologists. Many published series show a low yield on repeat biopsy using standard techniques. We reviewed our data on the 5 region prostate biopsy method to evaluate its yield in the repeat biopsy population.

Surgical Staging of Carcinoma of the Prostate.

Surgical staging (bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy) has become a widely used and accepted procedure over the past eight years. It's utility is recognized by surgeons and radiotherapists alike. Approximately 15 to 20% of patients with small, palpable prostate cancer nodules (Stage B,) have (+) pelvic lymph nodes; over 30% of patients with larger but still intracapsular involvement (Stage B ) have (+) nodes.