Catheter Tip-Associated Mass With Continuous Infusion of Sufentanil for Persistent Spinal Pain Syndrome Type 2: A Case Report Including Histopathologic Examination and Review of the Associated Basic and Clinical Research.

Objectives: Intrathecal opioids delivered by implanted pumps are used to treat malignant or nonmalignant chronic pain. In this study, we 1) review a case in which intrathecal infusions of sufentanil along with other adjuvants were used and after an extended period led to an intrathecal mass and 2) compared and contrasted the potential mechanisms for these phenomena.

Materials And Methods: A woman aged 66 years with a history of scoliosis and multiple spine surgeries was treated with an implantable drug delivery system for treating persistent pain after laminectomy.

Effect of papillary muscle approximation on acute ovine functional tricuspid regurgitation.

Objectives: Ring annuloplasty represents the standard surgical treatment, but offers suboptimal results in patients with severe functional tricuspid regurgitation. Addition of papillary muscles (PMs) approximation may improve clinical outcomes.

Methods: Eight healthy adult male sheep (56 ± 4 kg) underwent cardiopulmonary bypass and implantation of sonomicrometry crystals on the tricuspid annulus, PM tips and right ventricular (RV) free wall.

Papillary muscle approximation in chronic ovine functional tricuspid regurgitation.

Objective: Isolated tricuspid ring annuloplasty remains the surgical standard for functional tricuspid regurgitation repair but offers suboptimal results when right ventricular dilation and remodeling along with papillary muscle displacement is present. Addressing subvalvular remodeling with papillary muscle approximation may improve clinical outcomes.

Methods: Functional tricuspid regurgitation and biventricular dysfunction were induced in 8 healthy sheep by rapid ventricular pacing (200-240 bpm) for 27 ± 6 days.

Impact of reductive tricuspid ring annuloplasty on right ventricular size, geometry and strain in an ovine model of functional tricuspid regurgitation.

Objectives: Reductive ring annuloplasty of the tricuspid annulus represents the contemporary surgical approach to functional tricuspid regurgitation (FTR). We set out to investigate the influence of moderate reductive tricuspid ring annuloplasty on tricuspid regurgitation and right ventricular (RV) size, geometry and strain in an ovine model of chronic FTR.

Methods: Eight healthy Dorsett male sheep (62.

Wealth and urbanization shape medium and large terrestrial mammal communities.

Urban biodiversity provides critical ecosystem services and is a key component to environmentally and socially sustainable cities. However, biodiversity varies greatly within and among cities, leading to human communities with changing and unequal experiences with nature. The "luxury effect," a hypothesis that predicts a positive correlation between wealth, typically measured by per capita income, and species richness may be one indication of these inequities.

Landscape-scale differences among cities alter common species' responses to urbanization.

Understanding how biodiversity responds to urbanization is challenging, due in part to the single-city focus of most urban ecological research. Here, we delineate continent-scale patterns in urban species assemblages by leveraging data from a multi-city camera trap survey and quantify how differences in greenspace availability and average housing density among 10 North American cities relate to the distribution of eight widespread North American mammals. To do so, we deployed camera traps at 569 sites across these ten cities between 18 June and 14 August.

Post-Caesarean Section Surgical Site Infection Surveillance Using an Online Database and Mobile Phone Technology.

Background: Obstetric surgical site infections (SSIs) are common and expensive to the health care system but remain under reported given shorter postoperative hospital stays and suboptimal post-discharge surveillance systems. SSIs, for the purpose of this paper, are defined according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (1999) as infection incurring within 30 days of the operative procedure (in this case, Caesarean section [CS]).

Primary Objective: Demonstrate the feasibility of real-life use of a patient driven SSIs post-discharge surveillance system consisting of an online database and mobile phone technology (surgical mobile app - how2trak) among women undergoing CS in a Canadian urban centre.

Nickel hydroxides and related materials: a review of their structures, synthesis and properties.

This review article summarizes the last few decades of research on nickel hydroxide, an important material in physics and chemistry, that has many applications in engineering including, significantly, batteries. First, the structures of the two known polymorphs, denoted as -Ni(OH) and -Ni(OH), are described. The various types of disorder, which are frequently present in nickel hydroxide materials, are discussed including hydration, stacking fault disorder, mechanical stresses and the incorporation of ionic impurities.

Simulation-based training in brain death determination.

Background: Despite straightforward guidelines on brain death determination by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), substantial practice variability exists internationally, between states, and among institutions. We created a simulation-based training course on proper determination based on the AAN practice parameters to address and assess knowledge and practice gaps at our institution.

Methods: Our intervention consisted of a didactic course and a simulation exercise, and was bookended by before and after multiple-choice tests.

Applications of in situ Raman spectroscopy for identifying nickel hydroxide materials and surface layers during chemical aging.

The applications of in situ vibrational spectroscopy for identifying bulk and surface Ni(OH)2 are discussed. Raman spectra from α- and β-Ni(OH)2 samples immersed in water are generally similar to those collected from comparable dry samples. However, the Raman scattering intensities vary, and dry β-Ni(OH)2 additionally exhibits a surface O-H stretching mode at 3690 cm(-1).

Raman and infrared spectroscopy of α and β phases of thin nickel hydroxide films electrochemically formed on nickel.

The present work utilizes Raman and infrared (IR) spectroscopy, supported by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to re-examine the fine structural details of Ni(OH)(2), which is a key material in many energy-related applications. This work also unifies the large body of literature on the topic. Samples were prepared by the galvanostatic basification of nickel salts and by aging the deposits in hot KOH solutions.

Identification and synthesis of new volatile molecules found in extracts obtained from distinct parts of cooked chicken.

Several chicken parts (skin, fat, juice) were cooked in different ways (roasting, simmering) and investigated separately for their volatile composition. In-depth GC/MS analysis of the separate fractions revealed several unknown molecules. Mass spectra interpretation allowed us to identify nine molecules for the first time in chicken, including cyclic aldehydes, cyclic ketones, and new δ-lactones containing an unsaturated linear chain.

Timing of lower extremity frontal plane motion differs between female and male athletes during a landing task.

Background: Female athletes are at a greater risk for noncontact anterior cruciate ligament injuries than male athletes. Gender differences in frontal plane kinematics (hip adduction, knee valgus, and ankle eversion) and temporal relationships that make up the components of dynamic knee valgus may explain this discrepancy.

Hypothesis: The authors hypothesized that women would reach peak frontal plane kinematic values earlier during landing compared with their male counterparts.

A 5° medial wedge reduces frontal but not saggital plane motion during jump landing in highly trained women athletes.

Lower extremity mechanics during landing have been linked to traumatic and nontraumatic knee injuries, particularly in women's athletics. The effects of efforts to mitigate these risks have not been fully elucidated. We previously reported that a 5° medial wedge reduced ankle eversion and knee valgus.

Altering category-level beliefs: the impact of level of representation at belief formation and belief disconfirmation.

This research program investigates whether representational level of information underlying initial beliefs (individual vs. category) and disconfirming information (individual vs. category) influence the magnitude of belief and attitude change regarding categories of objects.

Synthesis of loliolide, actinidiolide, dihydroactinidiolide, and aeginetolide via cerium enolate chemistry.

Loliolide, aeginetolide, actinidiolide, and dihydroactinidiolide were synthesized in racemic form from a single common intermediate, prepared through the 1,2 addition of the cerium enolate of ethyl acetate to 2,6,6-trimethylcylohexenone.

Size-selected synthesis of PtRu nano-catalysts: reaction and size control mechanism.

A rapid synthesis method for the preparation of PtRu colloids and their subsequent deposition on high surface area carbons is presented. The reaction mechanism is shown to involve the oxidation of the solvent, ethylene glycol, to mainly glycolic acid or, depending on the pH, its anion, glycolate, while the Pt(+IV) and Ru(+III) precursor salts are reduced. Glycolate acts as a stabilizer for the PtRu colloids and the glycolate concentration, and hence the size of the resulting noble metal colloids is controlled via the pH of the synthesis solution.

Ten-year experience with mission-based budgeting in the faculty of medicine of Dalhousie University.

The Faculty of Medicine of Dalhousie University (the Faculty) has applied a mission-based approach to the allocation of the academic budget since 1993. Over the ensuing decade, large shifts in budgets to academic departments have been effected, and two goals that required special emphasis-the successful implementation of a tutorial-based undergraduate medical curriculum and an increase in research activity-have been achieved. This has occurred despite significant reductions in the overall academic budget over the ten-year period.

Linking budgets to desired academic outputs at Dalhousie University.

In 1993, faced with continuing university budget reductions and dissatisfaction with the budget-allocation process, the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University undertook a financial planning process. The goal was to develop a new resource-allocation model to better link academic budget support to desired academic outputs over a three-year period. Department heads categorized academic outputs (e.

The value of sputum cytology.

Objective: To assess the value of cytologic examination of expectorated sputum in the diagnosis and management of patients with suspected lung cancer.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: Inpatient wards, tertiary care university hospital.

A comparison of low-dose maintenance treatment with enprostil against ranitidine in the prevention of duodenal ulcer recurrence.

Enprostil, a prostaglandin E2 analogue, is effective in healing acute duodenal ulcer but its value in preventing recurrence, when given daily for maintenance therapy, is uncertain. In this three-centre study we compared enprostil and ranitidine maintenance therapy; the latter is known to reduce duodenal ulcer relapse rates. Patients whose duodenal ulcers had been healed by treatment with an H2-receptor antagonist were randomized to receive single-blind treatment with either 35 micrograms enprostil (n = 64) or 150 mg ranitidine (n = 64) at bedtime for periods of up to 1 year.

Eosinophilic fasciitis in a pair of siblings.

Two siblings, a 38-year-old woman and a 33-year-old man, developed eosinophilic fasciitis within a period of 6 months. They were found to have identical HLA-A, B, DR, and DQ antigens, raising the possibility of a genetic influence in the development of this disease. No common environmental factors close to the time of onset were identified; however, the possibility of a common, remote environmental factor cannot be discounted.