Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Large Composite Grafts: An Alternative in Pediatric Facial Reconstruction.

Background: Management of pediatric facial defects can be challenging, as reattachment of large composite grafts is usually unsuccessful. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) has been researched to augment composite graft survival, but clinical use for this application remains anecdotal. The authors present their successful experience managing select cases with large composite grafts and HBO as an adjunct.

Advances in Selective Laser Melting of Nitinol Shape Memory Alloy Part Production.

Nitinol (nickel-titanium or Ni-Ti) is the most utilized shape memory alloy due to its good superelasticity, shape memory effect, low stiffness, damping, biocompatibility, and corrosion resistance. Various material characteristics, such as sensitivity to composition and production thermal gradients, make conventional methods ineffective for the manufacture of high quality complex Nitinol components. These issues can be resolved by modern additive manufacturing (AM) methods which can produce net or near-net shape parts with highly precise and complex Nitinol structures.

Retention policies for allied health professionals in rural areas: a survey of private practitioners.

Introduction: Retention of rehabilitation therapists (RTs) in rural areas is a growing problem in rural Australia. Current literature demonstrates that private allied health professionals in general remain longer in rural areas than those working in the public sector. However, government focus to enhance retention has been on those employed in the public sector, offering private practitioners little incentive to stay rural.

Why did they leave and what can they tell us? Allied health professionals leaving rural settings.

The aim of this paper is to explore the lack of retention of allied health professionals in rural areas in Victoria, Australia. A structured telephone interview was used to elicit responses from 32 allied health professionals from south-west, central-west and north-east Victoria about their working experiences and reasons for resignation. The data revealed that work experiences in rural areas can be summarised within three domains: organisational, professional and personal/community.

Household water use behavior: an integrated model.

Water authorities are dealing with the challenge of ensuring that there is enough water to meet demand in the face of drought, population growth and predictions of reduced supply due to climate change. In order to develop effective household demand management programs, water managers need to understand the factors that influence household water use. Following an examination and re-analysis of current water consumption behavioral models we propose a new model for understanding household water consumption.

Seizure during hyperbaric oxygen therapy for carbon monoxide toxicity: a case series and five-year experience.

Background: Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy is recommended to reduce the delayed neurologic sequelae resulting from carbon monoxide (CO) toxicity. Although HBO is generally well tolerated, there exists a risk of seizure in all patients that may be increased in patients with predisposing factors including: fever, hypothermia, prior seizure, or brain injury.

Case Report: We present two cases of patients without known risk factors who experienced seizures associated with HBO therapy during treatment for CO toxicity.

Rethinking policies for the retention of allied health professionals in rural areas: a social relations approach.

Objective: Retaining allied health professionals in rural areas is a recognised problem. Generally the literature has concentrated on three elements: practitioner needs, community needs and organisational needs. There has been little attempt to focus other types of social relations in which health practitioner retention and recruitment takes place.

Fatigue and related human factors in the near crash of a large military aircraft.

Introduction: During approach to a remote island location, a U.S. Air Force heavy-airlift aircraft was flown into an aerodynamic stall, resulting in the loss of more than 4000 ft of altitude, with the crew recovering the aircraft just before impact would have occurred.

Aircraft and related factors in crashes involving spatial disorientation: 15 years of U.S. Air Force data.

Introduction: Previous studies have determined that spatial disorientation (SD) causes 0.5-23% of aircraft crashes, but SD-related crash and fatality rates in different aircraft types have not been systematically studied.

Methods: SD crashes for the fiscal years 1990 to 2004 and aircraft sortie numbers for all U.

Experienced scuba divers in Australia and the United States suffer considerable injury and morbidity.

Objective: Scuba diving-specific injuries have been well described. However, the injury experiences of individual divers over long diving careers have rarely been investigated. Our objective was to study the acute and chronic injuries of experienced, recreational scuba divers.

Experienced, recreational scuba divers in Australia continue to dive despite medical contraindications.

Objective: In Australia, a medical examination is required before undertaking a scuba diving course in order to screen for contraindications to diving. No further medical screening is required, and yet divers may develop diseases during their diving careers. This study aimed to survey experienced recreational scuba divers to determine the prevalence of diseases contraindicated in diving.

Amalgamation of health services in south-west Victoria: reinvention or survival?

In Australia "the hospital" has long been considered the cornerstone of small, rural health services. However, this premise has been altered significantly by the introduction of casemix loading and diagnostic-related groups that promote a rationalised output-based model of management. In the light of these changes, many rural health services have struggled to reinvent themselves by establishing a range of service models such as Multi-purpose Service (MPS) and Health Streams, while maintaining traditional models (i.