Measuring progress to protect workers from job-related secondhand smoke in Texas.

Exposure to secondhand smoke is a significant public health problem, causing 38,000 premature deaths annually in nonsmokers. The two major sources of exposure are the home and work. We analyzed occupational data from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey for smoke-free policy trends among various categories of Texas workers.

Spectrum of imaging findings in the abdomen after radiotherapy.

Objective: The objective of this article is to describe the imaging appearances of radiation injury to normal tissues in the abdomen that may be seen during imaging surveillance of oncology patients.

Conclusion: Therapeutic radiation is used to treat various malignant conditions in the abdomen. Radiation damages normal surrounding tissues as well as the intended tumor.

Argon beam coagulator electrode tip mimicking a metallic foreign body.

Objective: Our purpose is to describe the appearance of an argon beam coagulator electrode tip that may become fractured and detached during surgery.

Conclusion: Knowledge of the potential for fracture and detachment and recognition of the characteristic radiographic appearance of the argon beam coagulator electrode tip allows radiographic identification of this metallic foreign body.

Using Six Sigma to improve the film library.

The film library of a film-based radiology department is a mission-critical component of the department that is frequently underappreciated and under-staffed. A poorly performing film library causes operational problems for not only the radiology department, but for the institution as a whole. Since Six Sigma techniques had proved successful in an earlier CT throughput improvement project, the University of Texas M.