Postoperative Health-Related Quality of Life of Cervical Cancer Patients - A Comparison between the Wertheim-Meigs Operation and Total Mesometrial Resection (TMMR).

The present study compares for the first time the standard therapy for cervical cancer in FIGO-stages IB-IIB, radical hysterectomy according to the Wertheim-Meigs operation, with the newly developed, nerve-sparing surgical technique, total mesometrial resection (TMMR) with regard to postoperative, health-related quality of life. In the framework of a multicentre, retrospective cohort study a total of 110 cervical cancer patients were interviewed once by means of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) and the cervical cancer module (EORTC QLQ-CX24). The influence of the surgical method was investigated by analysis of covariance under control of age and the time elapsed between treatment and interview.

Prevalence of substance misuse in new patients in an outpatient psychiatry clinic using a prescription monitoring program.

Objective: To investigate the value of a prescription monitoring program in identifying prescription drug misuse among patients presenting to a resident physician outpatient psychiatry clinic at an academic medical center.

Method: Participants were 314 new patients aged 18 years or older presenting to the clinic from October 2011 to June 2012. Resident physicians completed a data collection form for each participant using information from the patient interview and from the prescription monitoring program report.

Site-specific expression of CD11b and SIRPalpha (CD172a) on dendritic cells: implications for their migration patterns in the gut immune system.

Dendritic cells (DC) in the intestinal tract play a major role in directing the mucosal immune system towards tolerance or immunity. We analyzed whether different mucosal DC subsets in pigs have specific functions, localizations, or migration patterns in vivo. Therefore, we collected physiologically migrating DC by pseudo-afferent cannulation of the intestinal duct in eight Gottingen minipigs.

The pig as a model of developmental immunology.

There are many limitations to analyse the developing immune system in humans, thus there is need for experimental animal models to study the environmental influences during the ontogeny of the immune system. However risk assessment is difficult in using rodent models alone, especially as the intrauterine period of development is much shorter than that of humans. In addition to studies in dogs, the pig provides a variety of experimental approaches for developmental immunotoxicology.