Timing of Surgery and Social Determinants of Health Related to Pathologic Complete Response after Total Neoadjuvant Therapy for Rectal Adenocarcinoma: Retrospective Study of National Cancer Database.

Total neoadjuvant therapy (TNT) for rectal adenocarcinoma (RAC) involves multi-agent chemotherapy and radiation before definitive surgery. Previous studies of the rest period (time between radiation and surgery) and pathologic complete response (pCR) have produced mixed results. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the rest period and pCR.

Factors Associated with Emergency Department Utilization and Admission in Patients with Colorectal Cancer.

Purpose: We assessed emergency department (ED) utilization in patients with colorectal cancer to identify factors associated with ED visits and subsequent admission, as well as identify a high-risk subset of patients that could be targeted to reduce ED visits.

Methods: Data from Optum Labs Data Warehouse, a national administrative claims database, was retrospectively analyzed to identify patients with colorectal cancer from 2008 to 2014. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with ED visits and ED "super-users" (3+ visits).

Decreasing length of stay in bariatric surgery: The power of suggestion.

Objective: Enhanced recovery has been utilized to decrease length of stay and cost in bariatric surgery. We have recently focused efforts on pre-operative education with regards to discharge on the first post-operative day. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of pre-operative education on discharge timing and readmission rates.

Single-Stage Treatment of Osteomyelitis for Digital Salvage by Using an Antibiotic-Eluting, Methylmethacrylate Joint-Spanning Spacer.

Osteomyelitis of the digit is a challenging problem that can result in amputation. We describe 13 cases of osteomyelitis involving bones of the hand managed with a novel technique. We reviewed records of 12 patients (13 digits) who had joint-spanning, antibiotic-eluting (tobramycin or vancomycin), methylmethacrylate spacers placed as definitive, single-stage treatment for digital osteomyelitis.

Development and characterization of 3D-printed feed spacers for spiral wound membrane systems.

Feed spacers are important for the impact of biofouling on the performance of spiral-wound reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membrane systems. The objective of this study was to propose a strategy for developing, characterizing, and testing of feed spacers by numerical modeling, three-dimensional (3D) printing of feed spacers and experimental membrane fouling simulator (MFS) studies. The results of numerical modeling on the hydrodynamic behavior of various feed spacer geometries suggested that the impact of spacers on hydrodynamics and biofouling can be improved.

Validation of a gastric cancer nomogram using a cancer registry.

Background: A Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSKCC) nomogram predicts disease specific survival (DSS) for gastric adenocarcinoma. The goal of this study is to use a cancer registry to compare nomogram predicted survival with actual survival in the general population.

Methods: All patients undergoing surgery for gastric adenocarcinoma from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database (1988-2012) were studied.

Efficacy of psychotherapeutic interventions to promote forgiveness: a meta-analysis.

Objective: This meta-analysis addressed the efficacy of psychotherapeutic interventions to help people forgive others and to examine moderators of treatment effects.

Method: Eligible studies reported quantitative data on forgiveness of a specific hurt following treatment by a professional with an intervention designed explicitly to promote forgiveness. Random effects meta-analyses were conducted using k = 53 posttreatment effect sizes (N = 2,323) and k = 41 follow-up effect sizes (N = 1,716) from a total of 54 published and unpublished research reports.

Use of IV lipid emulsion for treatment of ivermectin toxicosis in a cat.

Ivermectin toxicosis in cats is infrequently reported. IV lipid emulsion (ILE) is a novel treatment in veterinary medicine that has been used for amelioration of adverse effects seen with multiple lipid soluble compounds. Previously, ILE has been investigated in experimental models with rats, rabbits, pigs, and dogs, mainly for resuscitation of cardiopulmonary arrest and treatment of hypotension due to local anesthetic drug overdose.

Weight loss in overweight patients maintained on atypical antipsychotic agents.

Background: Weight gain and associated medical morbidity offset the reduction of extrapyramidal side effects associated with atypical antipsychotics. Efforts to control weight in antipsychotic-treated patients have yielded limited success.

Methods: We studied the impact of an intensive 24-week program of diet, exercise, and counseling in 17 chronically psychotic patients (10 women, seven men) who entered at high average body weight (105.

Ziprasidone: first year experience in a hospital setting.

Background: The antipsychotic drug ziprasidone, FDA-approved and introduced in the United States in February 2001 for the treatment of schizophrenia, appears to have similar efficacy but better tolerability than older antipsychotics and requires further evaluation under clinical conditions.

Methods: We analyzed medical records of McLean Hospital inpatients treated with ziprasidone between March 2001 and February 2002, gathering data on DSM-IV diagnoses, presenting symptoms, dosing, concomitant psychotropic medications, clinical changes, adverse effects, and electrocardiographic (ECG) findings.

Results: Ziprasidone was given to 151 inpatients (3.

Oxcarbazepine: clinical experience with hospitalized psychiatric patients.

Background: Oxcarbazepine (10-keto-carbamazepine) appears to be better tolerated and simpler to use than carbamazepine. It has antimanic effects but, as its potential clinical usefulness and tolerability in broad samples of psychiatric patients remain to be tested, we reviewed both the pharmacology of oxcarbazepine and our early experience with this new agent among psychiatric inpatients.

Methods: We reviewed medical records of all inpatients given oxcarbazepine in the first 15 months of its use at McLean Hospital.

Comparison of daily urine, sweat, and skin swabs among cocaine users.

This study (1) compares urine, skin swabs, and PharmChek sweat patches for monitoring drug use; (2) measures possible environmental contamination in recent cocaine (COC) users; and (3) evaluates various immunoassays (IA) for screening COC in diverse matrices. Unique aspects include daily urine monitoring of 10 participants for 4 weeks, multiple monitoring methods, analysis for all specimens by IA and gas chromatography (GC)/mass spectrometry (MS), and the potential for continued illicit drug use by participants. Urine served as the "gold standard" specimen for determining drug use.

Mucosal iodine staining improves endoscopic visualization of squamous dysplasia and squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus in Linxian, China.

Background: In previous studies in the high risk population of Linxian, China, the majority of foci of high grade (moderate and severe) squamous dysplasia (HGD) and invasive squamous carcinoma (CA) of the esophagus were associated with endoscopically visible lesions that could be targeted for biopsy, but some foci of HGD were missed by routine endoscopic examination. This study examined whether spraying the mucosa with Lugol's iodine solution, which stains normal epithelium brown but leaves dysplasia and carcinoma unstained, could improve endoscopic detection and delineation of these lesions.

Methods: Two hundred twenty-five Linxian adults with balloon cytologic evidence of dysplasia or carcinoma underwent endoscopy.

Domain-specific gender comparisons in identity development among college youth: ideology and relationships.

Gender comparisons were conducted in six social domains of identity development on 210 college students: occupation, religion, politics, dating, sex roles, and friendship. The identity research literature often combines domains to create more global estimates of identity development. Such an approach may obscure differences among the domains, each of which may have different implications for different societal contexts, and for males and females.

A new system for defining endoscopic complications emphasizing the measure of importance.

Background: Currently, there are no satisfactory systems for defining, classifying, and/or scoring endoscopic complications, although it would be important for quality assurance, comparative studies, and outcomes research. Recently the term "negative outcomes" was proposed rather than "complications," and an approach that incorporates "measures of importance" was added to compare negative outcomes.

Methods: A system was developed that defines, classifies, and grades negative outcomes with a scoring system based on measures of importance.

High-level expression of lacZ under control of the tac or trp promoter using runaway replication vectors in Escherichia coli.

To determine the utility of coupling runaway replication to the expression of cloned genes under the control of strong promoters, lacZ transcriptional fusions to the trp or tac promoter (Ptrp or Ptac) were constructed using plasmids in which the copy number is thermally regulated. Cells containing these plasmids were able to produce beta-galactosidase to levels between 3700 and 46,000 Miller units when induced only by a temperature upshift. The addition of the appropriate chemical inducer, either IPTG (isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside) or IAA (3-beta-indoleacrylic acid), did not significantly enhance the thermal induction.

International Interface Standard for Food Databases.

An International Interface Standard for Food Databases is under development to help overcome the technical and semantic barriers to the use of food-related databases. The Interface Standard is a system for efficient storage of all relevant descriptive information about foods. The schema for the Standard consists of ten components--food/food product identification, food names, LANGUAL factors, other food descriptors, other descriptive coding systems, ingredients/recipes, standards, substances, organizations, and data sources.

Regulated expression of the Alcaligenes eutrophus pha biosynthesis genes in Escherichia coli.

A novel poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) production system in which the expression and gene dosage of the Alcaligenes eutrophus pha biosynthetic operon were effectively regulated by cultivation temperature was constructed in Escherichia coli. The pha operon was fused to the negatively regulated tac promoter and cloned into a vector in which the copy number is temperature dependent. A two-phase process was employed to produce PHB during fed-batch growth.

Adolescent identity exploration: a test of Erikson's theory of transitional crisis.

This research investigated Erikson's theory that adolescent identity exploration is associated with a variety of symptoms, such as fluctuations in ego strength, mood swings, rebelliousness, and heightened physical complaints. A sample of 82 high school students completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the Ego-Identity Interview. Identity exploration was correlated with 23 major clinical scales and the 14 Frequently Scored Scales of the MMPI.

Characterization of the sigma 38-dependent expression of a core Escherichia coli starvation gene, pexB.

A reverse genetics approach was used to clone a pex starvation gene that codes for an 18-kDa polypeptide, designated PexB. Single-copy pexB-lacZ operon fusions were constructed to study transcriptional regulation and the promoter region of this gene. The induction by carbon starvation or osmotic stress was transcriptional and controlled by sigma 38 but was independent of this sigma factor by the oxidative stress; presumably, it was sigma 70 mediated under the latter stress.

Nursing management in an endoscopy setting.

Textbooks and articles that address the issues and responsibilities of a nurse manager generally focus on the role of the nurse manager in a hospital setting. While many of the principles set forth in these publications may be appropriately used by the nurse manager working in an endoscopy setting, certain characteristics of GI nursing are unique in terms of managing the delivery of patient care, managing staff, and managing self. This article describes these critical "3Ms" of nursing management and offers practical guidelines to the GI nurse manager.