Use of Three-Dimensional (3D) Airway Modeling and Virtual Reality for Diagnosis, Communication, and Surgical Planning of Complex Airway Stenosis.

Objective: We hypothesized that a method to segment human airways from clinical cases and import them into a case presentation environment in Virtual Reality (VR) could be developed to model and visualize complex airway stenosis for efficient surgical planning.

Methods: One normal and two pathological airways modeled from CT scans at a slice thickness of 0.625 mm were processed.

Integrative Approaches to Pediatric Chronic Pain in an Urban Safety-Net Hospital: Cost Savings, Clinical Benefits, and Safety.

Chronic pain experienced by children and adolescents represents a significant burden in terms of health, quality of life, and economic costs to U.S. families.

Pain and Opioid Use: Evidence for Integrating Acupuncture Into Treatment Planning.

The epidemics of pain and opioid use pose unique challenges. Comprehensive approaches are required to address minds, bodies and spirits of individuals who live with pain and/or opioid use. The lack of an effective "quick fix" for either condition necessitates developing effective, innovative and multi-disciplinary avenues for treatment.

Overbite depth indicator and anteroposterior dysplasia indicator cephalometric norms for African Americans.

Objectives: To examine normal Overbite Depth Indicator (ODI) and Anteroposterior Dysplasia Indicator (APDI) values in African Americans and to compare them with mean values from white patients. Secondary aims were to compare mean ODI and APDI values among different age, gender, and combined age-gender groups in African American patients.

Materials And Methods: Lateral cephalometric radiographs of 160 African American patients (97 boys and 63 girls; age, 7 to 14 years) with normal occlusion and no history of orthodontic treatment were collected from the Bolton-Brush Growth Center.

A cross-sectional review of the prevalence of integrative medicine in pediatric pain clinics across the United States.

Purpose: This project assesses the prevalence of integrative medicine (IM) in pediatric pain clinics (PPCs) across the United States.

Methods: PPCs were identified through the American Pain Society and cross referenced through the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). A cross-sectional review using each PPC's website was then utilized for further information.

Longitudinal Stability of Common TMJ Structural Disorders.

The longitudinal course of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disc displacement (DD) and degenerative joint disease (DJD) has never been conclusively described with magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography, respectively. This 8-y observational study's objective was to assess the longitudinal stability of DD and DJD among 401 subjects. The Validation Project provided baseline measures; follow-up was performed in the TMJ Impact Project.

Cephalometric analysis and long-term outcomes of orthognathic surgical treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea.

The aim of this study was to describe skeletal and posterior airway changes after orthodontic treatment and surgical jaw advancement, and to evaluate whether there is a correlation between increasing advancement and a long-term reduction in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). Lateral cephalograms and polysomnography (apnoea-hypopnoea index, AHI) were collected from patients treated with bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO) or maxillomandibular advancement (MMA) in combination with orthodontics. Patients completed a questionnaire and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) to assess long-term outcomes.

Acupuncture and relaxation response for craving and anxiety reduction among military veterans in recovery from substance use disorder.

Background And Objectives: Substance use disorder (SUD) is a major health issue, especially among military veterans. We previously reported the effects of auricular acupuncture and the relaxation response (RR) on reducing craving and anxiety following 10-week interventions among veterans who were in recovery from SUDs. Our current analysis examines effects following each intervention session and RR daily practice.

Initial multicenter community robotic lobectomy experience: comparisons to a national database.

Background: In pulmonary lobectomy, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) offers advantages compared with open thoracotomy. However, various issues have limited its adoption, especially in community settings. Single surgeon studies suggest that completely portal robotic lobectomy (CPRL) may address such limitations.

Acupuncture and the relaxation response for treating gastrointestinal symptoms in HIV patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Objectives: To examine the effect of acupuncture and the relaxation response (RR) for treating gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in HIV patients who are using highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Methods: The authors conducted a 4-arm 2×2 double-blind randomised controlled trial in an acupuncture clinic in the USA. Sham acupuncture and health education were used as the control conditions of real acupuncture and RR elicitation, respectively.

A pilot study of preoperative gefitinib for early-stage lung cancer to assess intratumor drug concentration and pathways mediating primary resistance.

Background: Targeted agents such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been extensively studied in preclinical systems and in advanced-stage patients. Little is known about levels of kinase inhibitors found in tumors as opposed to plasma. Similarly, effects of inhibitors on tumor signaling pathways in patient-based materials are unclear.

The Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders. VI: future directions.

The Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) Validation Project has provided the first comprehensive assessment of reliability and validity of the original Axis I and II. In addition, Axis I of the RDC/TMD was revised with estimates of reliability and validity. These findings are reported in the five preceding articles in this series.

The Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders. V: methods used to establish and validate revised Axis I diagnostic algorithms.

Aims: To derive reliable and valid revised Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) Axis I diagnostic algorithms for clinical TMD diagnoses.

Methods: The multisite RDC/TMD Validation Project's dataset (614 TMD community and clinic cases, and 91 controls) was used to derive revised algorithms for Axis I TMD diagnoses. Validity of diagnostic algorithms was assessed relative to reference standards, the latter based on consensus diagnoses rendered by two TMD experts using criterion examination data, including temporomandibular joint imaging.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for resectable non-small-cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer generally has an unfavorable prognosis. For those with resectable disease, the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy has the potential to reduce tumor volume, address micrometastatic disease early, and improve outcomes. Randomized trials comparing neoadjuvant platinum-based regimens with surgery alone were able to demonstrate the feasibility and safety of this modality.

Computed tomography response, but not positron emission tomography scan response, predicts survival after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for resectable non-small-cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Tumor response is considered a surrogate marker of survival. We investigated whether tumor response based on computed tomography (CT) scan or whole-body [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) scan after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for resectable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is prognostic of survival.

Patients And Methods: Two consecutive phase II clinical trials were jointly analyzed.

Posterior midline approach for single-stage en bloc resection and circumferential spinal stabilization for locally advanced Pancoast tumors. Technical note.

The treatment of Pancoast (superior sulcus) tumors that extensively invade the vertebral column remains controversial. Different surgical approaches involving multistage resection techniques have been previously described for superior sulcus tumors that invade the chest wall and spinal column. Typically a posterior approach to stabilize the spine is followed by a second-stage thoracotomy (posterolateral or trap door) for definitive en bloc resection of stage T4 Pancoast tumors.

Thymidylate synthase in situ protein expression and survival in stage I nonsmall-cell lung cancer.

Background: Thymidylate synthase (TS) is important for maintenance of the intracellular thymidine pool, which is crucial for DNA synthesis and repair. TS messenger RNA and protein levels are predictive of response to 5-fluorouracil-containing therapy for patients with colorectal cancer and gastric cancer. High levels of expression of 2 other genes important in DNA synthesis and repair, RRM1 and ERCC1, are prognostic of survival in early stage nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

The combined effect of relaxation response and acupuncture on quality of life in patients with HIV: a pilot study.

Objectives: Treatment advances have transformed human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) into a chronic manageable disease; quality of life (QoL) has become an important health outcome. Some studies have shown the individual effects of acupuncture and the relaxation response (RR) in improving QoL of patients with HIV/AIDS. In light of the presumed shared features of acupuncture and the RR, we conducted a pilot study to examine the effects of adding the RR to usual acupuncture treatment on improving the QoL of HIV/AIDS patients.

Relaxation response with acupuncture trial in patients with HIV: feasibility and participant experiences.

Objectives: The study of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) using a randomized, controlled trial (RCT) design poses challenges, such as treatment standardization and blinding. We designed an RCT, which avoided these two common challenges, to evaluate the effect of adding the relaxation response (RR) to usual acupuncture treatment. In this paper, we report on the feasibility and patients' experience from the study participation.

Price elasticities for three types of CAM services: Experiences of a Boston Public Health Clinic.

Objectives: This paper addresses price elasticity, an indicator for the responsiveness of demand for healthcare to changes in price, in the context of a large public health clinic that provides acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, and shiatsu.

Design: The study is descriptive and observational. The observations resulted from a "natural experiment" and involved examining utilization before and after a 5 dollars(17%) price increase for all services.

Palladium(0)-catalyzed synthesis of chiral ene-allenes using alkenyl trifluoroborates.

Enantioenriched allenes serve as chiral transfer reagents, making them attractive synthetic targets. Herein, the synthesis of enantioenriched allenes utilizing a Pd(0)-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of propargylic carbonates and phosphates with alkenyl trifluoroborates is reported. Di-, tri-, and tetrasubstituted allenes were synthesized in moderate to high optical yields.

Phase II study of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine and vinorelbine in resectable non-small cell lung cancer.

Objective: We assessed the efficacy of a non-platinum-containing doublet chemotherapy of gemcitabine and vinorelbine as induction therapy prior to surgical resection in patients with stage IB-IIIA and selected stage IIIB non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The primary clinical end point was radiographic disease response rate, and the secondary end points were pathologic response rate, treatment-related toxicity, surgical resectability and outcome, and overall and disease-free survival.

Methods: Patients underwent staging with CT of the chest and upper-abdomen, whole-body F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography, bronchoscopy, and mediastinoscopy.