Universal screening for the psychological needs of families in neonatal care is internationally recommended, but is not routinely practiced in the United Kingdom (UK). The present quality improvement project explores the clinical and operational feasibility of a novel approach to universal screening on a neonatal intensive care unit in the UK. The approach to screening taken adopts collaborative, strengths-based and dialogical methods for recognising the psychological needs of families whose baby is in hospital.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring July 7-11, 2023, CDC received reports of two patients in different states with a tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis following spinal surgical procedures that used bone allografts containing live cells from the same deceased donor. An outbreak associated with a similar product manufactured by the same tissue establishment (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLittle is known about co-occurring tuberculosis (TB) and COVID-19 in low TB incidence settings. We obtained a cross-section of 333 persons in the United States co-diagnosed with TB and COVID-19 within 180 days and compared them to 4,433 persons with TB only in 2020 and 18,898 persons with TB during 2017‒2019. Across both comparison groups, a higher proportion of persons with TB-COVID-19 were Hispanic, were long-term care facility residents, and had diabetes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPerfluorodicarbonyl (PFDC) compounds may be emitted directly into the atmosphere or formed in the atmospheric degradation of trace fluorinated gases, such as unsaturated perfluoro cyclic compounds. A potential atmospheric removal process for PFDCs is UV photolysis, which is presently not well-characterized. In this work, UV and infrared absorption spectra of FC(O)C(O)F, FC(O)CFC(O)F, and FC(O)CFCFC(O)F (three of the simplest PFDCs) and their 248 nm photolysis products are reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDiaphragmatic eventration in old age is a rare phenomenon. Typically, it is thought to originate as a result of failure of development of the muscles of the diaphragm. Less commonly, it can occur secondary to acquired conditions resulting from spinal cord or phrenic nerve injury and is only detected incidentally when the patient presents with dyspnea, chest infection, or cardiac compression symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol
January 2017
The free radical theory of ageing predicts that long-lived species should be more resistant to oxidative damage than short-lived species. Although many studies support this theory, recent studies found notable exceptions that challenge the generality of this theory. In this study, we have analysed the oxidative status of the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus), which has recently been found as the longest living vertebrate animal known to science with a lifespan of at least 272years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOxidative stress (OS) as a proximate mechanism for life-history trade-offs is widespread in the literature. One such resource allocation trade-off involves growth rate, and theory suggests that OS might act as both a constraint on and a cost of growth, yet studies investigating this have produced conflicting results. Here, we use meta-analysis to investigate whether increased OS levels impact on growth (OS as a constraint on growth) and whether greater growth rates can increase OS (OS as a cost of growth).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLife-history theory concerns the trade-offs that mold the patterns of investment by animals between reproduction, growth, and survival. It is widely recognized that physiology plays a role in the mediation of life-history trade-offs, but the details remain obscure. As life-history theory concerns aspects of investment in the soma that influence survival, understanding the physiological basis of life histories is related, but not identical, to understanding the process of aging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMigrating birds perform extraordinary endurance flights, up to 200 h non-stop, at a very high metabolic rate and while fasting. Such an intense and prolonged physical activity is normally associated with an increased production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) and thus increased risk of oxidative stress. However, up to now it was unknown whether endurance flight evokes oxidative stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: For lung cancer surgery, a narrative operative report is the standard reporting procedure, whereas a synoptic-style report is increasingly utilized by healthcare professionals in various specialties with great success. A synoptic operative report more succinctly and accurately captures vital information and is rapidly generated with good intraobserver reliability. The objective of this study was to systematically develop a synoptic operative report for lung cancer surgery following a modified Delphi consensus model with the support of the Canadian thoracic surgery community.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe atmospheric processing of (E)- and (Z)-1,2-dichlorohexafluoro-cyclobutane (1,2-c-C4F6Cl2, R-316c) was examined in this work as the ozone depleting (ODP) and global warming (GWP) potentials of this proposed replacement compound are presently unknown. The predominant atmospheric loss processes and infrared absorption spectra of the R-316c isomers were measured to provide a basis to evaluate their atmospheric lifetimes and, thus, ODPs and GWPs. UV absorption spectra were measured between 184.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Surg
December 2012
Objective: : We report a multicentered randomized controlled trial across Australia and New Zealand comparing laparoscopic-assisted colon resection (LCR) with open colon resection (OCR) for colon cancer.
Background: : Colon cancer is a significant worldwide health issue. This trial investigated whether the short-term benefits associated with LCR for colon cancer could be achieved safely, without survival disadvantages, in our region.
Pretibial lacerations remain one of the commonest yet most neglected conditions facing emergency departments and plastic surgeons alike. Furthermore, these injuries afflict the most vulnerable groups of adults - the elderly and the infirm. It is essential therefore to have an approach to pretibial lacerations based on best available evidence, in order to optimize wound outcomes, but perhaps more importantly, to safeguard the general health of the vulnerable individual.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSurface anatomy is an integral part of a thoracic surgeon's armamentarium to assist with the diagnosis, staging, and treatment of thoracic pathology. As reviewed in this article, the surface landmarks of the lungs, heart, great vessels, and mediastinum are critical for appropriate patient care and should be learned in conjunction with classic anatomy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This paper describes the distinctions between major surgical and pharmaceutical trials and questions the application of a common ethical paradigm to guide their conduct and reporting.
Methods: Surgical trials differ from other trials in cumulative therapeutic effects, operator dependence, the clinical setting, interdependence of short- and long-term outcomes, and equipoise. A principal tenant of randomized controlled trial management is the maintenance of interim data confidentiality.
The differential diagnosis of chest wall tumors is diverse, including both benign and malignant lesions (primary and malignant), local extension of adjacent disease, and local manifestations of infectious and inflammatory processes. Primary chest wall tumors are best classified by their primary component: soft tissue or bone. Work-up consists of a thorough history, physical examination and imaging to best assess location, size, composition, association with surrounding structures, and evidence of any soft tissue component.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbsolute quantum yields for the radical (H + HCO) channel of HCHO photolysis, Phi(HCO), have been measured for the tropospherically relevant range of wavelengths (lambda) between 300 and 330 nm. The HCO photoproduct was directly detected by using a custom-built, combined ultra-violet (UV) absorption and cavity ring down (CRD) detection spectrometer. This instrument was previously employed for high-resolution (spectral resolution approximately 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis article describes the initiation and implementation of the multicentre Australia and New Zealand prospective randomized controlled clinical study comparing laparoscopic and conventional open surgical treatments of right-sided and left-sided potentially curable colon cancer (Australasian Laparoscopic Colon Cancer Study). Six hundred and one adult patients were admitted with a clinical diagnosis of a single adenocarcinoma based on a physical examination and colonoscopy, barium enema or computed tomography scan and randomly allocated to either laparoscopic or open surgery. The primary aim of the study is to compare 5-year mortality and tumour recurrence rates between the two groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To determine the impact of prophylactic corticosteroid administration on postoperative nausea, vomiting, pain and complications in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Data Sources: We searched 4 bibliographic databases, conference proceedings, reference lists of articles and textbooks, and contacted experts in the field of anesthesia and hepatobiliary surgery.
Review Methods: We evaluated the methodologic quality of trials and extracted data regarding baseline characteristics, interventions, and outcomes.
Background: Laparoscopy has revolutionized many abdominal surgical procedures. Laparoscopic colectomy has become increasingly popular. The short- and long-term benefits and satisfactory surgical oncological treatment of colorectal cancer by laparoscopic-assisted resection remain topical.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Blinding personnel in randomized controlled trials is an important strategy to minimize bias and increase the validity of the results. Trials of surgical interventions present blinding challenges not seen in drug trials. How often orthopaedic trauma investigators undertake blinding, and the frequency with which they could potentially utilize blinding, remains uncertain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The two main treatment options for esophageal achalasia are laparoscopic distal esophageal myotomy (LM) and pneumatic dilatation (PD). Our objective was to compare the costs of these management strategies.
Methods: We constructed a decision analytic model consisting of two treatment strategies for patients diagnosed with achalasia.
Background: Our objective was to determine the relative effects of pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy (PPPD) and standard Whipple pancreaticoduodenectomy (SWPD) in patients with pancreatic or periampullary cancer.
Methods: We searched seven bibliographic databases, conference proceedings, and reference lists of articles and textbooks, and we contacted experts in the field of hepatobiliary surgery. We included published and unpublished randomized controlled trials.