Extended preoperative patient education using a multimedia DVD-impact on patients receiving a laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a randomised controlled trial.

Purpose: The informed consent is a legal requirement prior to surgery and should be based on an extensive preoperative interview. Multimedia productions can therefore be utilised as supporting tool. In a prospective randomised trial, we evaluated the impact of an extended education on patients undergoing cholecystectomy.

Comparison of transgastric access techniques for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery.

Background: Different transgastric access techniques for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) have been described.

Objective: To evaluate different methods of transluminal access with regard to leak pressures after the procedure.

Design And Setting: Experimental endoscopic study in an ex vivo porcine stomach model.

Combined analysis of Rac1, IQGAP1, Tiam1 and E-cadherin expression in gastric cancer.

Rho GTPases are a family of major regulators of E-cadherin-mediated cell adhesion that are implicated in the carcinogenic process by deregulated expression of the family members itself or of upstream modulators or downstream effectors. Combined investigation of the Rho GTPase Rac1, the effector protein IQGAP1 and the activator Tiam1 in relation to expression or mutation of E-cadherin in gastric adenocarcinomas has not been reported. The aim of the study was to determine the expression and prognostic significance of Rac1, IQGAP1, Tiam1 and E-cadherin in gastric adenocarcinomas.

The multistate learning collaborative, states as laboratories: informing the national public health accreditation dialogue.

The Multistate Learning Collaborative on Performance and Capacity Assessment or Accreditation of Public Health Departments (MLC) is an initiative undertaken with the Exploring Accreditation Project (EAP). The EAP is jointly funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and staffed collaboratively by the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) to explore the implications and feasibility of a national public health accreditation system. The MLC, also financially supported through grants from RWJF, is designed under the auspices of the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) and the Public Health Leadership Society (PHLS) to enhance the accreditation/assessment activities already underway in each of the grantee states; to promote learning among the states participating in the collaborative; to disseminate information to state and local health departments nationally; and to inform the work of the EAP.

Proliferation of prostate cancer cells and activity of neutral endopeptidase is regulated by bombesin and IL-1beta with IL-1beta acting as a modulator of cellular differentiation.

Background: Neutral endopeptidase (NEP) is a cell-surface bound enzyme that cleaves and inactivates neuropeptides such as bombesin and substance P and is involved in the transition from hormonally regulated androgen-dependent prostate cancer (PC) to androgen-independent PC. Neuropeptides are implicated in growth regulation of different cell types and function as transmitters between the neuroendocrine and the immune system.

Methods: NEP-expression, enzymatic activity of the membrane bound protein, cell proliferation, procalcitonin (PCT) production, and secretion as well as changes in cell morphology of prostatic cells were evaluated after treatment with the immunomodulatory cytokine interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), neuropeptides (bombesin, substance P), and neuropeptide-conditioned media derived from a human neuroendocrine cell line.

Expression, localization and activity of neutral endopeptidase in cultured cells of benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer.

Purpose: Neutral endopeptidase is a cell surface enzyme that cleaves and inactivates neuropeptides. Neutral endopeptidase is expressed by prostatic epithelial cells and is thought to have a key role in the growth of androgen independent prostate cancer. In contrast to the encouraging data dealing with neutral endopeptidase and prostate cancer progression, only few studies are available of the significance of neutral endopeptidase in prostatic stromal cells and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

Picture archiving and communication system implementation: the practical considerations of adapting the technology to the real world of health care operations.

The issues discussed in this article are just some of the real-life considerations a facility's management team should address during the planning process as they make decisions about PACS implementation. We currently are working with the management teams of many facilities on PACS implementation projects that have yet to be completed. In the future, we hope to report on our experiences, including both successes and failures, as construction is completed and the systems actually are implemented.

Anthropometric measurements from a cross-sectional survey of community dwelling subjects aged over 90 years of age.

Objective: To measure anthropometric variables of weight, height, body mass index (BMI) and triceps skin fold thickness (TSF) and produce local percentiles for > 90 y old subjects. To assess prevalence of conventional measures of under nutrition (BMI at or below 18.5 kg/m2) or over nutrition (BMI values > 30 kg/m2) in this age group.