Ultrasound Evaluation of Carotid Artery Intima-Media Thickness: Effective Early Marker of Carotid Artery Disease in Adult Head and Neck Cancer Patients After Neck Radiation?

Radiation is a recommended front-line treatment for many adult head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. Early identification of radiation-associated carotid artery disease (CAD), a well-known phenomenon, can minimize long-term sequelae. This integrative literature review assesses the use of ultrasound measured carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) as an early marker of CAD in adult HNC patients after neck radiation.

Regulatory and quality considerations for continuous manufacturing. May 20-21, 2014 Continuous Manufacturing Symposium.

This paper assesses the current regulatory environment, relevant regulations and guidelines, and their impact on continuous manufacturing. It summarizes current regulatory experience and learning from both review and inspection perspectives. It outlines key regulatory aspects, including continuous manufacturing process description and control strategy in regulatory files, process validation, and key Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements.

Regulatory and Quality Considerations for Continuous Manufacturing May 20-21, 2014 Continuous Manufacturing Symposium.

This paper assesses the current regulatory environment, relevant regulations and guidelines, and their impact on continuous manufacturing. It summarizes current regulatory experience and learning from both review and inspection perspectives. It outlines key regulatory aspects, including continuous manufacturing process description and control strategy in regulatory files, process validation, and key Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements.

Alcohol use among Cuban-Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Puerto Ricans.

Studies of alcohol consumption among Hispanics in the United States show different patterns based on gender, country of origin, and economic status. The literature shows a lower frequency but higher volume of consumption among Mexican-American and Puerto Rican males than among non-Hispanic white males. Cuban-American males have a pattern of relatively moderate consumption that resembles that of non-Hispanic whites.

Lessons learned from public health mass media campaigns: marketing health in a crowded media world.

Every year, new public health mass media campaigns are launched attempting to change health behavior and improve health outcomes. These campaigns enter a crowded media environment filled with messages from competing sources. Public health practitioners have to capture not only the attention of the public amid such competition, but also motivate them to change health behaviors that are often entrenched or to initiate habits that may be new or difficult.

Using Medicare data to estimate the prevalence of breast cancer screening in older women: comparison of different methods to identify screening mammograms.

Objectives: To compare different methods for defining screening mammograms with Medicare claims and their impact on estimates of breast cancer screening rates.

Methods: Medicare outpatient facility and physician claims for 61,962 women in 1993 and 59,652 women in 1998 were reviewed for evidence of receipt of screening mammography. We compared the estimates of screening mammography use derived from CPT (Current Procedure Terminology) codes to categorize mammograms as screening or diagnostic versus using an algorithm that uses CPT codes plus breast-related diagnoses in the prior two years.

Regular mammography use is associated with elimination of age-related disparities in size and stage of breast cancer at diagnosis.

Background: There is little consensus about recommending mammography for women 75 years of age and older. These women have mammography less frequently and are more likely to receive a diagnosis of advanced breast cancer.

Objective: To examine the relationship between use of screening mammography and size and stage of cancer at diagnosis in older women.

Pap smear use in a population of older Mexican-American women.

Background: Hispanic women and older women (age > or = 50 years) in general have been identified as populations of women who often underutilize Papanicolaou (Pap) smears.

Objective: To report the rates of cervical cancer screening in a group of older Mexican American women and to identify the correlates of having a Pap smear in the past three years.

Data Source: The Mammography Use by Older Mexican-American Women Survey, a stratified area probability sample of 452 women ages 50-74 from three southeast Texas counties.

Prevalence of tooth loss and dental service use in older Mexican Americans.

Objectives: To describe the prevalence of tooth loss, to examine risk factors for having fewer teeth or no teeth, and to describe the use of dental services in an older Mexican-American population.

Design: Data from the baseline phase of the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly survey conducted from 1993 to 1994, a cross-sectional survey of older Mexican Americans.

Setting: Five southwestern states: Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.

Functioning liver metastases on an I-131 whole-body scan: a case of malignant struma ovarii.

A 46-year-old women was examined for severe constipation. Pelvic examination revealed a large pelvic mass extending to the level of the umbilicus. Computed tomography showed a large multicystic, septated mass in the pelvis and a small amount of fluid in the cul de sac.

Defining the cost of educating undergraduate medical students at the University of Virginia.

Purpose: To develop a model for calculating the cost of a four-year undergraduate medical education at the University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVA) in 1994-95.

Method: All data were based on faculty contact hours (FCHs), the primary driver of cost. (An FCH was an hour during which a faculty member was actively teaching.

Daily profile of the extracellular concentration of glutamate in the suprachiasmatic region of the Siberian hamster.

Daily profiles of the extracellular concentrations of glutamate (GLU), aspartate, and glutamine in the region of the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the Djungarian hamster were examined by in vivo microdialysis. Hamsters with a dialysis probe located in or near the SCN exhibited a diurnal variation in the extracellular concentration of GLU. Glutamate levels rose gradually during the latter half of the subjective day and through the night to reach peak levels near the time of lights-on.

Suprachiasmatic nucleus neurochemistry in the conscious brain: correlation with circadian activity rhythms.

The aim of the research reported here was to provide information on the neurochemical processes that underlie the generation and entrainment of mammalian circadian rhythms. The studies were centered principally around the in vivo brain microdialysis technique for assessing the daily pattern of neurotransmitter activity in the suprachiasmatic hypothalamus of freely behaving Syrian and Siberian hamsters. This approach yielded several findings related to the activities of serotonergic and excitatory amino acid systems in the region of the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SNC).

Diurnal variation in 5-hydroxyindole-acetic acid output in the suprachiasmatic region of the Siberian hamster assessed by in vivo microdialysis: evidence for nocturnal activation of serotonin release.

In vivo brain microdialysis was used to characterize the daily pattern of 5-hydroxyindole-acetic acid (5-HIAA) release in the region of the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) in freely behaving male Siberian hamsters housed under 16L:8D. A marked diurnal variation in the concentration of extracellular 5-HIAA was apparent, with peak levels (147 +/- 5% of the daily mean; p < 0.05) occurring 2-3 h after lights-off.

What every manager needs to know about project management.

THIS PAPER OFFERS ten common sense principles that will help project managers define goals, establish checkpoints, schedules, and resource requirements, motivate and empower team members, facilitate communication, and manage conflict.

The effect of age on theophylline clearance in normal subjects.

Dose-interval AUC and clearance of theophylline at steady-state were determined in healthy male subjects in each of three age groups (18-35, 36-54 and 55-70 years old). Mean AUC in the oldest group was significantly higher than in the youngest and clearance in both the middle and oldest groups was significantly lower than in the youngest. Though clearance was significantly correlated with age, age alone accounted for only 31% of the variability in clearance.

Analysis of epinine and its metabolites in man after oral administration of its pro-drug ibopamine using high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

Ibopamine (N-methyldopamine O,O'-diisobutyrol ester, hydrochloride) is an ester prodrug of epinine. Epinine is a cardiovascular agent used in congestive heart failure because of its dopaminergic and adrenoreceptor agonist properties. Quantitative analytical methods, using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrochemical detection, were developed for the determination of epinine and its known metabolites in biological media.

The fit between technology and structure as a predictor of performance in nursing subunits.

Regression analyses of field study data from 27 nursing subunits supported the hypothesis that a simple measure of fit between technology and structure is better predictor of quality of care than either technology or structure alone, or the two together. The results of this study were thus consistent with the growing body of congruency literature, and they suggest that a simple measure of structure may be quite useful in such research.

Determination of fenoldopam (SK&F 82526) and its metabolites in human plasma and urine by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

Fenoldopam [6-chloro-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1H-3-benzazepine-7,8-di ol] is a potent renal vasodilator that is currently undergoing Phase II clinical trials. Quantitative analytical methods, based on high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-ED) after ethyl acetate extraction from plasma or urine were developed for the determination of fenoldopam and its identified metabolites in biological media. The lower limit of quantitation for fenoldopam in plasma was 50 pg/ml.

Analysis of SK&F 82526 in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

SK&F 82526, a benzazepine with a catechol moiety, is a potent, specific renal vasodilator. The method described here for its determination in plasma uses an ethyl acetate extraction and an ether wash, followed by high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis with electrochemical detection. The detection limit is 160 pM.

Beyond decentralization: the evolution of population distribution in England and Wales, 1961-1981.

"Using preliminary figures from the 1981 Census, this paper details recent population shifts at a variety of areal scales in England and Wales. It compares trends in the 1971-1981 period with those in the previous decade and assesses the relative contributions of net migration and natural change. Within its broad descriptive objectives, the paper considers whether England and Wales has kept abreast of patterns of counter-urbanization that have been claimed for other industrialized nations.