Hospital readmission for fluid and electrolyte abnormalities following ileostomy construction: preventable or unpredictable?

Background: Ileostomy creation has complications, including rehospitalization for fluid and electrolyte abnormalities. Although studies have identified predictors of this morbidity, readmission rates remain high.

Methods: The researchers conducted a retrospective chart review of all patients with ileostomy creation at a tertiary institution from January 2008 to June 2011.

Tumor scatter after neoadjuvant therapy for rectal cancer: are we dealing with an invisible margin?

Background: After the impressive response of rectal cancers to neoadjuvant therapy, it seems reasonable to ask: can we can excise the small ulcer locally or avoid a radical resection if there is no gross residual tumor? Does gross response reflect what happens to tumor cells microscopically after radiation?

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify microscopic tumor cell response to radiation.

Design: This study is a retrospective review of a prospectively collected database.

Setting: This investigation was conducted at a single tertiary medical center.

Plants use macronutrients accumulated in leaf-cutting ant nests.

Leaf-cutting ants (Atta spp.) are known for their extensive defoliation in neo-tropical forests and savannahs. Debate about the costs and benefits of their activities has been largely dominated by their detrimental effects on agriculture and agroforestry.

Variation in oxygen isotope fractionation during cellulose synthesis: intramolecular and biosynthetic effects.

The oxygen isotopic composition of plant cellulose is commonly used for the interpretations of climate, ecophysiology and dendrochronology in both modern and palaeoenvironments. Further applications of this analytical tool depends on our in-depth knowledge of the isotopic fractionations associated with the biochemical pathways leading to cellulose. Here, we test two important assumptions regarding isotopic effects resulting from the location of oxygen in the carbohydrate moiety and the biosynthetic pathway towards cellulose synthesis.

Epidemiology of neonatal necrotising enterocolitis: a population-based study.

We examined the birthweight-, gender- and race-specific incidence as well as the biodemographic and clinical correlates of necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) in a well-defined six-county perinatal region in upstate New York. We conducted a retrospective, 8-year population-based survey to identify all cases of proven NEC (modified Bell stage II and above) in the area's regional neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The denominator used to calculate the incidence was obtained from the Statewide Planning Research Cooperative System.