The project connect health systems intervention: linking sexually experienced youth to sexual and reproductive health care.

Purpose: To evaluate a health systems intervention to increase adolescents' receipt of high-quality sexual and reproductive health care services.

Methods: Quasi experimental design. Twelve high schools in a large public school district were matched into pairs.

Improving the implementation of a condom availability program in urban high schools.

Purpose: We conducted an intervention to improve the implementation of a high school condom availability program, and evaluated its effect on students' awareness of the program and acquisition of condoms.

Methods: Twelve public high schools in the Los Angeles, CA area participated, half each in the intervention and control conditions. Project staff facilitated intervention schools' self-assessment of compliance with the school district's condom availability policy, creating an action plan by determining which mandatory program elements were lacking and identifying steps to improve compliance.

The chromophobe tumor grading system is the preferred grading scheme for chromophobe renal cell carcinoma.

Purpose: The prognostic usefulness of the Fuhrman nuclear grading system has been questioned for chromophobe renal cell carcinoma due to its frequent nuclear and nucleolar pleomorphism. Chromophobe tumor grade, a novel 3-tier tumor grading system based on geographic nuclear crowding and anaplasia, was recently reported to be superior to the Fuhrman system. We compared the 2 scoring systems in a large sporadic chromophobe renal cell carcinoma cohort to determine which grading scheme provides the most predictive assessment of clinical risk.

Effect of mild renal dysfunction (s-crea 1.2-2.2 mg/dl) on presentation characteristics and short- and long-term outcomes of on-pump cardiac surgery patients.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to evaluate differences in patient presentation and short- and long-term outcomes between patients dichotomized by the level of preoperative s-creatinine (s-crea) without renal failure and to use EuroSCORE (ES) risk stratification for validating differences and for predictive purposes.

Methods: A thousand consecutive cardiac surgery patients from January 1999 through May 2000 were analyzed. Patients with off-pump surgery or s-crea >200 micromol/l (>2.

Coronary atherosclerotic lesions in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients: a histopathologic study.

Background: Studies suggest human immunodeficiency virus-positive (HIV+) patients have an increased risk of coronary artery disease (CAD), yet little is known about the histopathology, severity, or distribution of lesions.

Methods: The coronary arteries of 66 deceased AIDS patients and 19 HIV controls (age <55) were dissected and graded for percent luminal stenosis by intimal lesions, percent of intima involved with lipid, and extent of intimal calcification on a scale of 0 to 3. Medical histories, antiretroviral therapies, and CAD risk factors were reviewed.