Tracheobronchoplasty for severe tracheobronchomalacia: a case-series of patients with acute and chronic critical comorbidities.

Objectives: There are little data within the literature regarding tracheobronchoplasty in the setting of the acute and chronically ill, morbidly obese or ventilator-dependent patients with tracheobronchomalacia. Short- and long-term outcomes are studied.

Methods: The series represents 12 tracheobronchomalacia patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status scores of 3-5.

Acute Effects of Post-activation Performance Enhancement Exercises on Army Combat Fitness Test Performance in Male ROTC Cadets.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing task-specific, post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) strategies, to acutely improve Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) performance. Nineteen ROTC cadets completed two ACFTs, separated by 72 hours. Approximately half (n = 10) completed the traditional "Preparation Drill" as their warm-up prior to the first session and added PAPE warm-up strategies as part of their second session.

Techniques of Esophageal Anastomoses for Esophagectomy.

This article discusses and illustrates a variety of accepted techniques of esophagogastric anastomosis during an esophagectomy. The performance of an anastomotic technique can be surgeon specific, although it is of great benefit for the esophageal surgeon to be facile and adept in multiple techniques, as occasionally the clinical situation may be better suited for a particular technique. Regardless of the method of creating the esophagogastric anastomosis, the goal is to create a viable, tension-free and nonobstructive anastomosis with adequate margins.

Tracheotomy, closure of long-term tracheostomy and standard tracheal segmental resections.

Tracheotomy is a surgical procedure commonly employed to establish stable and long-term airway access. Iatrogenic airway injury post procedure may have serious consequences with limited treatment options. Tracheostoma or long standing tracheostomies require special closing techniques.

Postactivation Potentiation Effect of Heavy Sled Towing on Subsequent Sprints.

Williams, JJ, Heron, R, Spradley, B, and Saracino, P. Postactivation potentiation effect of heavy sled towing on subsequent sprints. J Strength Cond Res 35(5): 1229-1233, 2021-Recent research supports heavy sled towing as a tool used to improve subsequent sprints as part of postactivation potentiation (PAP) protocols.

Our Experience with Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Medication Outcomes from 2013 to 2016.

Background Aortic stenosis is classified as stenosis that can be caused by a congenital disability in infants and children but is more commonly produced by a degenerative process of calcification and scarring of the valve in the later decades of life. High systemic pressure and hemodynamic disturbances characteristic of this area of the cardiovascular system makes the aortic valve susceptible to plaque and cholesterol buildup over time, similarly to atherosclerosis, contributing to the pathology of aortic stenosis. Thus, this study aims to assess the short and long-term clinical outcomes of risk factor reduction, post transcatheter aortic valve replacement (post-TAVR), and results of tested medication outcomes.

Surgical Techniques for Mitral Valve Repair: A Pathoanatomic Grading System.

Mitral valve surgery has evolved over 4 decades from one based on the principles of prosthetic replacement to a subspecialty with a foundation based on the principles of repair. This review will attempt to enumerate the contemporary techniques of mitral valve repair and a pathoanatomically directed approach with which to apply them by focusing on degenerative disease and associated complexities.

The Transcendental Meditation Program's Impact on the Symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder of Veterans: An Uncontrolled Pilot Study.

Background: Current treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are only partially effective. This study evaluated whether an extensively researched stress reduction method, the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique, can reduce the PTSD symptoms of veterans. Previous research suggested that TM practice can decrease veterans' PTSD symptoms.

Impact of upper body precooling during warm-up on subsequent time trial paced cycling in the heat.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that cooling the upper body during a warm-up enhances performance during a subsequent 16.1-km simulated cycling time trial in a hot environment.

Design: Counterbalanced, repeated measures design.

The Effect of Intermittent Vest Cooling on Thermoregulation and Cardiovascular Strain in Baseball Catchers.

Bishop, SH, Szymanski, DJ, Ryan, GA, Herron, RL, and Bishop, PA. The effect of intermittent vest cooling on thermoregulation and cardiovascular strain in baseball catchers. J Strength Cond Res 31(8): 2060-2065, 2017-Baseball catchers are exposed to multiple physiological challenges while playing outside during the spring and summer months, many of which deal with recovery and thermoregulation.

Acetylsalicylic acid does not alter thermo-effector responses during mild whole-body passive heat stress in young men.

Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), aspirin, exerts potent systemic effects that may interfere with normal thermo-effector responses. We investigated the influence of commonly ingested ASA doses on measures of skin blood flow (SkBF) and local sweat rate (SR) during whole-body, passive heat stress. Seven male participants completed counter-balanced trials to compare ASA treatments (single dose 325 mg or 4 consecutive days 81 mg (4-d 81 mg)) to control (no ASA).

Use and Misuse of the Likert Item Responses and Other Ordinal Measures.

Likert, Likert-type, and ordinal-scale responses are very popular psychometric item scoring schemes for attempting to quantify people's opinions, interests, or perceived efficacy of an intervention and are used extensively in Physical Education and Exercise Science research. However, these numbered measures are generally considered ordinal and violate some statistical assumptions needed to evaluate them as normally distributed, parametric data. This is an issue because parametric statistics are generally perceived as being more statistically powerful than non-parametric statistics.

Clothing adjustments for concealed soft body armor during moderate physical exertion.

Previous research has studied the impact of Level II concealed soft body armor (SBA) on the augmentation of heat storage in a hot environment simulating a typical summer day in the southeastern United States (wet bulb globe temperature [WBGT] = 30°C) and noted a significant difference between macro- and micro-WBGTs. The purpose of this study was to characterize the microclimate (micro-WBGT) under a concealed Level II SBA during 60 min of moderately intense work at two separate macro-WBGTs (26°C and 30°C), and to establish WBGT corrections to allow prediction of heat strain in an individual wearing a concealed Level II SBA. A single trial was performed with nine volunteers (27 ± 4 years) outfitted with a simulated standard law enforcement uniform and a traditional concealed Level II SBA, in a moderately warm environment (WBGT = 26°C).

Ambient air cooling for concealed soft body armor in a hot environment.

Concealed soft body armor inhibits convective and evaporative heat loss and increases heat storage, especially in hot environments. One option to potentially mitigate heat storage is to promote airflow under the soft body armor. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of ambient air induction (∼100 liters per minute) on heat strain while wearing concealed soft body armor in a hot environment (wet bulb globe temperature = 30°C).

The Effect of Intermittent Arm and Shoulder Cooling on Baseball Pitching Velocity.

The throwing arm of a baseball pitcher is subjected to high stress as a result of the repetitive activity of pitching. Intermittent cryotherapy may facilitate recovery from this repeated high stress, but few researchers have investigated cryotherapy's efficacy in an ecologically valid setting. This study investigated the effects of intermittent cryotherapy on pitching velocity and subjective measures of recovery and exertion in a simulated baseball game.

Changes in physician costs among high-cost transcendental meditation practitioners compared with high-cost nonpractitioners over 5 years.

Purpose: To determine whether the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique can affect the physician costs of consistently high-cost people.

Design: Quasi-experimental, longitudinal, cost-minimization evaluation. This 14-year, preintervention-postintervention study retrospectively assessed government payments to physicians for treating the TM and no-treatment (NT) groups.

Low back pain in Hispanic residential carpenters.

Objective: Low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of lost work time and has been recognized as America's number one workplace safety challenge. Low back pain is occurring at epidemic proportions among construction workers, and minority populations have been underinvestigated for risk of back injury. This project investigated the multiple potential risk factors for occupational LBP among Hispanic residential carpenters.

Construction work practices and conditions improved after 2-years' participation in the HomeSafe pilot program.

This study reevaluated changes in job-site safety audit scores for a cohort of residential construction workers that had protracted exposure to the HomeSafe pilot program for 2(1/2) years. The investigation was a repeated measure of a cohort study underway in the six-county metro area of Denver, Colo. The larger study was a longitudinal, quasi-experimental design with a cohort of residential construction workers within the HomeSafe strategic partnership between Occupational Safety and Health Administration Region VIII and the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Denver (HBA).

Management commitment to safety and health in residential construction: HomeSafe spending trends 1991-1999.

The support of good management is fundamental to the success of any safety and health program. Residential construction is a high-risk industry requiring significant commitment by management to impact day-to-day safety and health challenges. Investigators have evaluated management practices and spending trends in a cohort of 228 residential homebuilders in the Denver metro area of Colorado.

Lipophil-mediated reduction of toxicants in humans: an evaluation of an ayurvedic detoxification procedure.

Context: Lipophilic toxicants have been associated with hormone disruption, immune system suppression, reproductive disorders, several types of cancer, and other diseases. Due to environmental persistence and bioaccumulation, body burdens of certain toxicants, such as dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), appear to be a health risk despite the toxicants' having been banned for decades.

Objective: To determine whether a safe, standardized, Ayurvedic detoxification procedure can mobilize lipid-soluble toxicants and stimulate their excretion.