Primary Care of the Prostate Cancer Survivor.

This summary of the American Cancer Society Prostate Cancer Survivorship Care Guidelines targets primary care physicians who coordinate care of prostate cancer survivors with subspecialists. Prostate cancer survivors should undergo prostate-specific antigen screening every six to 12 months and digital rectal examination annually. Surveillance of patients who choose watchful waiting for their prostate cancer should be conducted by a subspecialist.

Prospective comparison of rectal dose reduction during intracavitary brachytherapy for cervical cancer using three rectal retraction techniques.

Purpose: To compare three rectal retraction methods on dose to organs at risk, focusing on rectal dose, in cervix cancer patients treated with high-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy.

Methods And Materials: A prospective study was conducted on patients with cervical carcinoma treated with chemoradiotherapy, including external beam radiation and four fractions of high-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy prescribed to Point A using a ring and tandem applicator under conscious sedation. Rectal retraction methods included: a rectal retractor blade (RR), vaginal gauze packing (VP), and a tandem Foley balloon (FB).

Reduced Survival in Bariatric Surgery Candidates Delayed or Denied by Lack of Insurance Approval.

Bariatric surgery reduces mortality for Americans who meet candidacy criteria and have insurance coverage. Unfortunately, some medically suitable candidates are denied or delayed during insurance approval processes. The long-term impact of such care delays on survival is unknown.

Continuity of care by a primary midwife (caseload midwifery) increases women's satisfaction with antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care: results from the COSMOS randomised controlled trial.

Background: Continuity of care by a primary midwife during the antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum periods has been recommended in Australia and many hospitals have introduced a caseload midwifery model of care. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of caseload midwifery on women's satisfaction with care across the maternity continuum.

Methods: Pregnant women at low risk of complications, booking for care at a tertiary hospital in Melbourne, Australia, were recruited to a randomised controlled trial between September 2007 and June 2010.

Measuring Patterns of Surgeon Confidence Using a Novel Assessment Tool.

Confidence should increase during surgical training and practice. However, few data exist regarding confidence of surgeons across this continuum. Confidence may develop differently in clinical and personal domains, or may erode as specialization or age restricts practice.

Acute rheumatic fever in First Nations communities in northwestern Ontario: Social determinants of health "bite the heart".

Objective: To document a case series of 8 young First Nations patients diagnosed with acute rheumatic fever (ARF), a preventable disease that resulted in the death of 2 patients, in northwestern Ontario in the context of late diagnosis, overcrowded housing, and inadequate public health response.

Design: Retrospective case series over an 18-month period.

Setting: Remote First Nations communities in northwestern Ontario.

Experimental recovery of intrinsic fluorescence and fluorophore concentration in the presence of hemoglobin: spectral effect of scattering and absorption on fluorescence.

The ability to recover the intrinsic fluorescence of biological fluorophores is crucial to accurately identify the fluorophores and quantify their concentrations in the media. Although some studies have successfully retrieved the fluorescence spectral shape of known fluorophores, the techniques usually came with heavy computation costs and did not apply for strongly absorptive media, and the intrinsic fluorescence intensity and fluorophore concentration were not recovered. In this communication, an experimental approach was presented to recover intrinsic fluorescence and concentration of fluorescein in the presence of hemoglobin (Hb).

The structure and organisation of home-based postnatal care in public hospitals in Victoria, Australia: A cross-sectional survey.

Background: There is limited evidence regarding the provision of home-based postnatal care, resulting in a weak evidence-base for policy formulation and the further development of home-based postnatal care services.

Aim: To explore the structure and organisation of public hospital home-based postnatal care in Victoria, Australia.

Methods: An online survey including mostly closed-ended questions was sent to representatives of all public maternity providers in July 2011.

The results of a survey highlighting issues with feedback on medical training in the United Kingdom and how a Smartphone App could provide a solution.

Background: Feedback drives learning in medical education. Healthcare Supervision Logbook (HSL) is a Smartphone App developed at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals for providing feedback on medical training, from both a trainee's and a supervisor's perspective. In order to establish a mandate for the role of HSL in clinical practice, a large survey was carried out.

The effect of primary midwife-led care on women's experience of childbirth: results from the COSMOS randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To determine the effect of primary midwife-led care ('caseload midwifery') on women's experiences of childbirth.

Design: Randomised controlled trial.

Setting: Tertiary care women's hospital in Melbourne, Australia.

Ongoing evolution of practice gaps in gastrointestinal and endoscopic surgery: 2014 report from the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) Continuing Education Committee.

Background: In an effort to fulfill the charge to develop and maintain a comprehensive educational program to serve the members of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), the SAGES Continuing Education Committee reports a summary of findings related to the evaluation of the 2014 SAGES annual meeting.

Methods: All attendees to the 2014 annual meeting had the opportunity to complete an immediate post-meeting questionnaire as part of their continuing medical education (CME) certification, and identify up to two learning themes, answer questions related to potential practice change items based on these learning themes, and complete a needs assessment for relevant learning topics for future meetings. In addition, participants in the postgraduate and hands-on courses were asked to complete questions about case volume and comfort level related to procedures/topics in those courses.

Prophylactic intravenous ephedrine to minimize fetal bradycardia after combined spinal-epidural labour analgesia: a randomized controlled study.

Background: The combined spinal-epidural (CSE) technique for relief of labour pain offers both rapid onset and superior first-stage analgesia. Nevertheless, the known increased risk for early profound fetal bradycardia (EPFB) following CSE continues to be a concern that often limits its use. The purpose of this study was to determine if giving prophylactic intravenous ephedrine at the time of CSE administration would reduce EPFB.

Effects of early-developmental stress on growth rates, body composition and developmental plasticity of the HPG-axis.

In altricial songbirds, food restriction in early development has adverse effects on various physiological systems. When conditions improve birds can accelerate growth, but this compensatory strategy is associated with long-term adverse consequences. One system affected by altered growth rates is the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis.

Inhibition of carbonic anhydrase IX (CA9) sensitizes renal cell carcinoma to ionizing radiation.

While normal kidneys are relatively sensitive to ionizing radiation (IR), renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is considered radioresistant. Carbonic anhydrase IX (CA9), an enzyme that maintains intracellular pH by carbon dioxide dissolution, is upregulated in the majority of RCC, but not in normal kidneys. Since regulation of intracellular pH may enhance radiation effects, we hypothesized that inhibition of CA9 may radiosensitize RCC.

Developmental stress impairs performance on an association task in male and female songbirds, but impairs auditory learning in females only.

In songbirds, early-life environments critically shape song development. Many studies have demonstrated that developmental stress impairs song learning and the development of song-control regions of the brain in males. However, song has evolved through signaller-receiver networks and the effect stress has on the ability to receive auditory signals is equally important, especially for females who use song as an indicator of mate quality.

Extensive Deep Venous Thrombosis Resulting from Anterior Lumbar Spine Surgery in a Patient with Iliac Vein Compression Syndrome: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Study Design Case report. Objective Although May-Thurner syndrome or iliac vein compression syndrome is covered in the vascular literature, it remains absent from the orthopedic and neurosurgery literature and has not been previously reported to occur in concordance with spine surgery. We review the salient points of disease presentation, diagnosis, and treatment.

Archaeological bone lipids as palaeodietary markers.

Rationale: Stable isotope analysis of archaeological and fossil bone samples can provide important insights into past environments, ecologies and diets. Previous studies have focused on stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in bone collagen, or carbon isotopes in bone mineral (bioapatite). Carbon isotope analysis of lipids from archaeological bone has received much less attention, partly due to the lack of suitable methodologies allowing sufficient recovery of compounds for structural and isotopic characterisation.

Assessing patient characteristics and radiation-induced non-targeted effects in vivo for high dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy.

Purpose: To test whether blood, urine, and tissue based colony-forming assays are a useful clinical detection tool for assessing fractionated treatment responses and non-targeted radiation effects in bystander cells.

Materials And Methods: To assess patients' responses to radiation treatments, blood serum, urine, and an esophagus explant-based in vivo colony-forming assay were used from oesophageal carcinoma patients. These patients underwent three fractions of high dose rate (HDR) intraluminal brachytherapy (ILBT).

Impact of an integrated transition management program in primary care on hospital readmissions.

Poorly executed transitions in care from hospital to home are associated with increased vulnerability to adverse medication events and hospital readmissions, and also excess healthcare costs. Efforts to improve care coordination on hospital discharge have been shown to reduce hospital readmission rates but often rely on interventions that are not fully integrated within the primary care setting. The Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model, whose core principles include care coordination in the posthospital setting, is an approach that addresses transitions in care in a more integrated fashion.

Prevention of gestational diabetes in pregnant women with risk factors for gestational diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials.

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus can be defined as 'glucose intolerance or hyperglycaemia with onset or first recognition during pregnancy.'

Objective: The objective of our systematic review was to see if there was any intervention that could be used for primary prevention of gestational diabetes mellitus in women with risk factors for gestational diabetes mellitus.

Search Strategy: Major databases were searched from 1966 to Aug 2012 without language restriction.

A prospective analysis of high-dose-rate endobronchial brachytherapy in the palliation of obstructive symptoms in lung cancer patients: A single-institution experience.

Purpose: Obstructive symptoms that affect quality of life (QOL) are commonly caused by endobronchial disease in many patients with locally advanced, inoperable lung cancer. High-dose-rate endobronchial brachytherapy (HDREBBT) has been used to palliate these symptoms, yet its role is not well defined in the literature.

Methods And Materials: Ninety-eight patients with locally advanced, inoperable lung cancer received HDREBBT.

A novel population balance model for the dilute acid hydrolysis of hemicellulose.

Background: Acid hydrolysis is a popular pretreatment for removing hemicellulose from lignocelluloses in order to produce a digestible substrate for enzymatic saccharification. In this work, a novel model for the dilute acid hydrolysis of hemicellulose within sugarcane bagasse is presented and calibrated against experimental oligomer profiles. The efficacy of mathematical models as hydrolysis yield predictors and as vehicles for investigating the mechanisms of acid hydrolysis is also examined.