Tomato handling practices in restaurants.

In recent years, multiple outbreaks of Salmonella infection have been associated with fresh tomatoes. Investigations have indicated that tomato contamination likely occurred early in the farm-to-consumer chain, although tomato consumption occurred mostly in restaurants. Researchers have hypothesized that tomato handling practices in restaurants may contribute to these outbreaks.

Early parental adjustment and bereavement after childhood cancer death.

This study comprehensively explored parental bereavement and adjustment at 6 months post-loss due to childhood cancer. Interviews were conducted with 18 mothers and 13 fathers. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed based on qualitative methodology.

Towards an understanding of the information and support needs of surgical adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients: a qualitative analysis.

Background: Informed decision making for adolescents and families considering surgery for scoliosis requires essential information, including expected outcomes with or without treatment and the associated risks and benefits of treatment. Ideally families should also receive support in response to their individual concerns. The aim of this study was to identify health-specific needs for online information and support for patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis who have had or anticipate having spinal surgery.

An evaluation of pediatric asthma educational resources.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate newly developed educational resources for children with asthma. Children with asthma, their parents, and pediatric health care professionals were invited to review age-appropriate asthma resources. Key findings revealed: (1) the perceived usefulness of these resources, particularly for creating discussion opportunities between children and their caregivers through implemented resource use; (2) the need for health education materials to balance goals of depth of information versus child enjoyment in order to increase effective knowledge transfer and application; and (3) a renewed call for future educational resources to be both relevant and interactive in their outreach and engagement of children, potentially involving mediums of advanced technology.

Experiences and resistance strategies utilized by fathers of children with cancer.

This study examines the experiences of fathers of children diagnosed with cancer. In this grounded theory study, participating fathers were qualitatively interviewed using a theoretical sampling approach. Results indicate fathers to be profoundly affected by their child's condition of cancer.

Developing a risk-model of time to first-relapse for children and adolescents with a psychotic disorder.

Individuals treated for psychotic disorders and mood disorders with psychotic features have a high likelihood of relapse across the life course. This study examines the relapse rate and its associated predictors for children and adolescents experiencing a first-episode and develops a statistical risk-model for prediction of time to first-relapse. A multiyear, retrospective cohort design was used to track youth, under the age of 18 years, who experienced a first-episode of psychosis, and were admitted to 1 of 6 inpatient hospital psychiatric units (N = 87).

Struggles, strengths, and strategies: an ethnographic study exploring the experiences of adolescents living with an ostomy.

Background: Adolescents with IBD requiring ostomy surgery experience perioperative needs that may exceed those of patients experiencing other major abdominal surgery 1. This procedure requires ongoing and vigilant daily care and management. Gastrointestinal symptoms and complications impose psychological and social stresses on young patients 2, and the procedure results in body image changes and daily regimens of self-care.

The Internet is valid and reliable for child-report: an example using the Activities Scale for Kids (ASK) and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL).

Objective: This study tested the impact of web administration on well-established measures of children's physical function and quality of life.

Study Design And Setting: Participants were recruited from clinics at six hospitals. They completed the Activities Scale for Kids (ASK) and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) questionnaires twice, in a crossover design that used paper and web-based modes of administration.

A home for medically complex children: the role of hospital programs.

The medical home is a conceptual model of continuous and comprehensive care provision that is associated with improved outcomes for children with special healthcare needs. Most applications of the medical home have focused on improving primary care services. Despite concerted efforts to apply the medical home concept to the care of children with special healthcare needs, many barriers to its implementation still exist, in particular, for the subset of children with special healthcare needs who are medically complex.

MRI is unnecessary to clear the cervical spine in obtunded/comatose trauma patients: the four-year experience of a level I trauma center.

Background: Cervical (C)-spine clearance protocols exist both to identify traumatic injury and to expedite rigid collar removal. Computed tomography (CT) of the C-spine in trauma patients facilitates the removal of immobilization collars in patients who are neurologically intact, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an indispensable adjunct for evaluating trauma patients with neurologic deficits. Yet, the management of patients with impaired mental status who lack neurologic deficits attributable to the spinal cord remains controversial.

Pediatric epidemic crisis: Lessons for policy and practice development.

Objectives: This research study addresses health policy and patient care considerations, and outlines policy and practice implications resulting from a crisis in a pediatric setting. This crisis, an epidemic outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), dramatically impacted the delivery of health care in Canada. Despite the passage of time since the last diagnosed case of SARS in April 2004, researchers have warned the global community to be prepared for future outbreaks of SARS or other infectious diseases.

No late ulnar artery atheroma after radial artery harvest for coronary artery bypass surgery.

Background: Radial artery harvest for coronary artery surgery leads to chronically elevated blood flow in the remaining ulnar artery. This study examined the ulnar artery for evidence of increased atherosclerosis compared with the contralateral ulnar artery where the radial artery had not been harvested.

Methods: Patients were enrolled at least seven years after unilateral radial artery harvest.

Fungicidal values of bio-oils and their lignin-rich fractions obtained from wood/bark fast pyrolysis.

Pine wood, pine bark, oak wood and oak bark were pyrolyzed in an auger reactor. A total of 16 bio-oils or pyrolytic oils were generated at different temperatures and residence times. Two additional pine bio-oils were produced at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in a fluidized-bed reactor at different temperatures.

Determinants of endomysial antibody status in untreated coeliac disease.

Background: Serum endomysial antibody (EMA) is a highly specific marker of untreated coeliac disease (CD). The published estimates of sensitivity however vary widely and the explanation for this remains unclear.

Objective: To determine the relative prevalence of EMA-negative CD and to identify clinical and histological characteristics which relate to EMA status.

An evaluation of dyadic peer support for caregiving parents of children with chronic lung disease requiring technology assistance.

This study evaluated a dyadic peer support pilot intervention for parents of technology-assisted children with chronic lung disease. These medically-fragile children, living at home in the primary care of their parents, require continuous or intermittent assistance from technological support such as home oxygen, respiratory or cardiac monitors and/or mechanical ventilators. The intervention consisted of matching parents with similar caregiving responsibilities, in order to reciprocally engage in parent-to-parent support.

Perceptions of online support for hospitalized children and adolescents.

This study identifies perceived outcomes following hospitalized children's participation in a pediatric online support network. Nineteen participants were interviewed, including child and adolescent patients who had used the network while in hospital, their parent/family caregiver, and a familiar health care provider. This triadic sampling approach provided a range of stakeholder perceptions.

A brief review of the past, present and future of wood preservation.

Wood products used in exterior applications must be protected against biodeterioration by decay fungi, insects such as termites, and other organisms. Traditionally, wood products for residential or industrial applications have been protected by treatment with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) or older inexpensive organic biocides, but environmental and disposal concerns and governmental regulations have resulted in a rapid and dramatic worldwide shift to copper-based systems. The current development trend is towards employing totally organic biocides based on relatively benign and expensive agrochemicals, with continuing research directed towards developing non-biocidal methods to protect wood.

Bowlby and Robertson revisited: the impact of isolation on hospitalized children during SARS.

Psychosocial issues related to pediatric isolation remain relevant to both clinical practice and research. The early theories of Bowlby and Robertson are central to this discussion for it was predominantly their work that elicited several policy changes aimed at improving psychosocial care in pediatric settings. Recognizing the significant effects of isolating hospitalized children is just as relevant today where serious infectious diseases can lead to separation of family members.

A therapeutic camp weekend for adolescents with craniofacial differences.

A therapeutic camp weekend was developed for adolescents living with a facial difference. The camp comprised a program that involved personal challenges and group-building activities, as well as social recreational activities. This article outlines the camp intervention, with recommendations for future camp evaluation.

When family-centered care is challenged by infectious disease: pediatric health care delivery during the SARS outbreaks.

In this ethnographic study, the authors examined the experiences and perspectives of children hospitalized because of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), their parents, and pediatric health care providers. The sample included 5 children, 10 parents, and 8 health care providers who were directly affected by SARS during the time of the outbreaks and extreme infection control procedures. The data analyses illuminated a range of perceived experiences for this triadic sample.

EMS and emergency department physician triage: injury severity in trauma patients transported by helicopter.

Background: Many trauma patients who are not severely injured arrive at trauma centers via helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS).

Objective: To compare the injury severity of patients sent to trauma centers by HEMS from community emergency departments (EDs) with the injury severity of those triaged by prehospital providers to HEMS directly from accident scenes.

Methods: All records were reviewed from trauma-related missions during 1997for a single HEMS system, extracting information on location, time of day, patient age and gender, mechanism of injury, initial vital signs, Revised Trauma Score (RTS), and the extent of care required during transport.

The information needs of perioperative staff: a preparatory study for a proposed specialist library for theatres (NeLH).

Aims/objectives: To undertake an information-needs analysis of operating theatre staff in order to inform the development of a specialist library of the National Electronic Library of Health (NeLH).

Setting: Three hospitals in an NHS Trust in a rural county in the north of England.

Methods: In-depth interviews, during which staff were questioned in regard to their job roles and information needs, information-seeking behaviour, access to computers, use and perceptions of the NeLH, and what they would like from a specialist library.

Pregnancy information and advice on Sky television: an evaluation.

This paper is one of a series produced as part of an evaluation of a number of digital interactive television (DiTV) health pilots funded by the Department of Health during 2001/2002. This paper is concerned with two pregnancy health services produced by Channel Health and hosted on Sky television. The study aimed to discover the success or otherwise of health information on pregnancy in this form and on this medium or "platform".

Mucinous cystadenoma of colonic mesentery: report of a case.

Cystic tumors of the retroperitoneum, omentum, and mesentery are extremely rare lesions. We report a case of one such lesion in the mesentery of the left hemicolon that was mistaken on imaging to be an ovarian tumor. Development of this tumor at this site has been described only twice before in the literature.