Femoral imaging artifacts associated with dorsal recumbency craniocaudal radiographic positioning. Description of a modified bisecting angle technique.

Objectives: To describe the radiographic length distortion associated with femoral tilt during cranio-caudal positioning. To describe a modified bisecting angle technique to alleviate image foreshortening.

Methods: Five pairs of femurs were imaged.

Coalition Against Major Diseases/European Medicines Agency biomarker qualification of hippocampal volume for enrichment of clinical trials in predementia stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Regulatory qualification of a biomarker for a defined context of use provides scientifically robust assurances to sponsors and regulators that accelerate appropriate adoption of biomarkers into drug development.

Methods: The Coalition Against Major Diseases submitted a dossier to the Scientific Advice Working Party of the European Medicines Agency requesting a qualification opinion on the use of hippocampal volume as a biomarker for enriching clinical trials in subjects with mild cognitive impairment, incorporating a scientific rationale, a literature review and a de novo analysis of Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative data.

Results: The literature review and de novo analysis were consistent with the proposed context of use, and the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use released an opinion in November 2011.

Expanded indications for the deep plane cervicofacial flap: aesthetic reconstruction of large combined temporofrontal and brow defects.

The deep plane cervicofacial (DPCF) rotation advancement flap has been well described for coverage of cheek and lower eyelid defects. The extension of this flap for coverage of complex combined temporofrontal and brow defects has not been previously described. The primary investigator (E.

Oncoplastic surgery and radiation therapy for breast conservation: early outcomes.

Purpose: To analyze a multidisciplinary community experience with oncoplastic breast surgery (OBS) and postoperative radiation therapy (RT).

Methods: The records of 79 patients with localized breast cancer who underwent OBS+RT were reviewed. OBS included immediate reconstruction and contralateral mammoreduction.

Changing our lens: seeing the chaos of professional practice as complexity.

Aim: The purpose of this evidence-based management practice project was to analyse dimensions of the Getting my Work Done issue, the only one of seven issues of highest concern for which 907 nurse interviewees were unable to identify effective strategies, formulate a 'best management practice', integrate the practice into clinical settings and evaluate results. METHOD/PROCESS: The evidence-based management practice process was used to identify the major impediment to Getting Work Done-assignment to multiple patients with simultaneous complex needs. Best management practice consisted of class presentation of a clinical-management problem scenario to 144 residents in nine Magnet hospitals, a private action commitment, class discussion and terminal action commitments.

Synthesis of surfactant-free electrostatically stabilized gold nanoparticles by plasma-induced liquid chemistry.

Plasma-induced non-equilibrium liquid chemistry is used to synthesize gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) without using any reducing or capping agents. The morphology and optical properties of the synthesized AuNPs are characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. Plasma processing parameters affect the particle shape and size and the rate of the AuNP synthesis process.

Canonical Wnt signaling in megakaryocytes regulates proplatelet formation.

Wnt signaling is involved in numerous aspects of vertebrate development and homeostasis, including the formation and function of blood cells. Here, we show that canonical and noncanonical Wnt signaling pathways are present and functional in megakaryocytes (MKs), with several Wnt effectors displaying MK-restricted expression. Using the CHRF288-11 cell line as a model for human MKs, the canonical Wnt3a signal was found to induce a time and dose-dependent increase in β-catenin expression.

Components and strategies of nurse residency programs effective in new graduate socialization.

Patient needs and practice conditions demand that clinical nurses in acute care hospitals engage in a unique professional practice role-care and management of clinical situations for multiple patients, simultaneously. Nurse Residency Programs (NRPs) facilitate the integration of newly licensed registered nurses (NLRNs) into this professional practice role through competency development in seven management areas. Purpose of this study was to identify effective components and strategies of NRPs in each area.

Recruitment strategies for an osteoporosis clinical trial: analysis of effectiveness.

Aim: To examine the effectiveness of a planned rapid recruitment strategy in an osteoporosis clinical trial.

Methods: Multiple recruitment methods were explored, including media advertising, searching bone density scan and X-ray results in specialist and primary practice databases, community initiatives, and generation of research centre and study-specific pamphlets.

Results: Of 246 women screened, 41 consenting to the study, only 14 were randomised.

WNT-3a modulates platelet function by regulating small GTPase activity.

Here we provide evidence that WNT-3a modulates platelet function by regulating the activity of four key GTPase proteins: Rap1, Cdc42, Rac1 and RhoA. We observe WNT-3a to differentially regulate small GTPase activity in platelets, promoting the GDP-bound form of Rap1b to inhibit integrin-α(IIb)β(3) adhesion, while concomitantly increasing Cdc42 and Rac1-GTP levels thereby disrupting normal platelet spreading. We demonstrate that Daam-1 interacts with Dishevelled upon platelet activation, which correlates with increased RhoA-GTP levels.

Measurement of bone density around the Oxford medial compartment knee replacement using iDXA. A precision study.

The goal of this study was to evaluate whether the Lunar iDXA densitometer can accurately measure the bone mineral density (BMD) around the tibial component of the Oxford unicompartment knee replacement (UKR). Both knees in 20 patients were measured 3 times in the supine position with repositioning between each scan. We chose 7 regions of interest to evaluate the bone density around the implant.

In vivo dose measurement using TLDs and MOSFET dosimeters for cardiac radiosurgery.

In vivo measurements were made of the dose delivered to animal models in an effort to develop a method for treating cardiac arrhythmia using radiation. This treatment would replace RF energy (currently used to create cardiac scar) with ionizing radiation. In the current study, the pulmonary vein ostia of animal models were irradiated with 6 MV X-rays in order to produce a scar that would block aberrant signals characteristic of atrial fibrillation.

The organizational transformative power of nurse residency programs.

Residency programs for newly licensed registered nurses (NLRNs) have been strongly advocated by the Institute of Medicine, American Organization of Nurse Executives, and other professional organizations. Their cost-effectiveness as well as their impact on NLRN retention, job and practice satisfaction, improved performance, and reduction in environmental reality shock has been demonstrated. This qualitative study sought answers to the question: what people, components, processes and activities of Nurse Residency Programs (NRPs), and the work environment are instrumental in the transition and integration of NLRNs into the professional practice role and into professional communities? In the course of interviewing 907 nurses-NLRNs, experienced nurses, managers, and educators-practicing on clinical units with confirmed "very healthy work environments" in 20 Magnet hospitals, it became evident that not only did NRPs positively impact the professional socialization of NLRNs, they led to transformative changes in the organization and in the practice of other health care professionals.

Impact of healthy work environments and multistage nurse residency programs on retention of newly licensed RNs.

The objective of the study was to examine effects of nurse-confirmed healthy unit work environments and multistage nurse residency programs (NRPs) on retention rates of newly licensed RNs (NLRNs). Establishing a culture of retention and healthy clinical nurse practice environments are two major challenges confronting nurse leaders today. Nurse residency programs are a major component of NLRN work environments and have been shown to be effective in abating nurse turnover.

Impact of residency programs on professional socialization of newly licensed registered nurses.

Do Nurse Residency Programs (NRPs) reflect the professional socialization process? Residency facilitators in 34 Magnet hospitals completed Residency Program Questionnaires constructed to reflect the goals, themes, components, and strategies of the professional socialization process described in the literature. NRPs in 4 hospitals exemplified the complete two-stage (role transition and role/community integration) process. In 14 hospitals, NRPs were of sufficient length and contained components that reflected the professional socialization process.

Identification of β2-microglobulin as a urinary biomarker for chronic allograft nephropathy using proteomic methods.

Purpose: Chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) remains the leading cause of renal graft loss after the first year following renal transplantation. This study aimed to identify novel urinary proteomic profiles, which could distinguish and predict CAN in susceptible individuals.

Experimental Design: The study included 34 renal transplant patients with histologically proven CAN and 36 patients with normal renal transplant function.

Disinfection of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms using a remote non-thermal gas plasma.

The effective disinfection of hospital surfaces is recognised as an important factor in preventing hospital-acquired infections. The purpose of this study was to quantify the disinfection rate of a novel gas plasma system on clinically relevant biofilms. Clinical isolates of Staphylococcus epidermidis and meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were grown as biofilms on glass surfaces and tested in a disinfection container remote from the plasma source.

Neither the internist nor the Internet: use of and trust in health information sources by people with schizophrenia.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore health information sources accessed by people with schizophrenia and the level of trust invested in them.

Method: A cross-sectional survey was performed comparing the responses of 71 adults with schizophrenia (recruited from both community and inpatient settings) with 238 general practice attendees on their use of television, radio, the Internet, newspapers, magazines, family and friends, and doctor to obtain information on health matters, and their levels of trust in these sources.

Results: People with schizophrenia most commonly reported using a doctor, family and friends, and television to obtain information on health matters.

Impact of healthy work environments on new graduate nurses' environmental reality shock.

Do healthy work environments (HWEs) facilitate new graduate transition into professional practice in hospitals? Are such environments related to a decrease in Environmental Reality Shock? Experienced nurses in 17 Magnet hospitals completed the Essentials of Magnetism II(©) (EOMII(©)) instrument that measures health of unit work environments. New graduates (N = 468) were then tracked with modified versions of the EOMII(©) from immediate post hire to 4, 8, and 12 months post hire to ascertain degree of Environmental Reality Shock. New graduate nurses have extremely high anticipations of unit work environments that would enable delivery of quality patient care.

Making sense of surprise: an investigation of the factors influencing surprise judgments.

Surprise is often defined in terms of disconfirmed expectations, whereby the surprisingness of an event is thought to be dependent on the degree to which it contrasts with a more likely, or expected, outcome. The authors investigated the alternative hypothesis that surprise is more accurately modeled as a manifestation of an ongoing sense-making process. In a series of experiments, participants were given a number of scenarios and rated surprise and probability for various hypothetical outcomes that either confirmed or disconfirmed an expectation.

Clinical nurses in Magnet hospitals confirm productive, healthy unit work environments.

Aim: To describe extent to which experienced nurses in Magnet hospitals confirm healthy work environments (HWE).

Background: Differentiating differences in HWE allows managers to focus attention where changes may be needed to improve nurse and patient outcomes.

Method: The sample was 12,233 experienced nurses from 717 clinical units in 34 Magnet hospitals.

Linking emergency preparedness and health care worker vaccination against influenza: a novel approach.

Background: Health care workers (HCWs) can acquire and transmit influenza to their patients and coworkers, even while asymptomatic. The U.S.

Transcription profiling in human platelets reveals LRRFIP1 as a novel protein regulating platelet function.

Within the healthy population, there is substantial, heritable, and interindividual variability in the platelet response. We explored whether a proportion of this variability could be accounted for by interindividual variation in gene expression. Through a correlative analysis of genome-wide platelet RNA expression data from 37 subjects representing the normal range of platelet responsiveness within a cohort of 500 subjects, we identified 63 genes in which transcript levels correlated with variation in the platelet response to adenosine diphosphate and/or the collagen-mimetic peptide, cross-linked collagen-related peptide.