Pictorial essay: Complications of a swallowed fish bone.

Unintentional ingestion of a fishbone (FB) is common, especially in populations with a high consumption of seafood. In most instances, the ingested FB passes uneventfully through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, usually within a week. However, in certain cases, the FB may become impacted and lead to complications.

Emergency angio-embolisation in the operating theatre for trauma patients using the C-Arm digital subtraction angiography.

Background And Aims: Angio-embolisation in trauma is a relatively new technique that is gaining popularity and recognition in identifying and arresting bleeding in trauma patients. We studied the possibility whether angio-embolisation using the Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA), in the operating theatre (OT) could achieve successful haemostasis in trauma patients. We further studied the feasibility of using this technique as part of trauma resuscitation/damage control.

Major workplace related accidents in Singapore: A major trauma centre's experience.

Introduction: Major workplace related accidents pose a significant healthcare resource challenge in Singapore.

Materials And Methods: Our study looks at the epidemiology of patients who were admitted for workplace related accidents, in a single institution, with an Injury Severity Score of >9.

Results: There were 196 cases of major workplace related accidents admitted between January 2006 and December 2007.

The evolution of a goal-directed exploration model: effects of information scent and GoBack utility on successful exploration.

We explore the match of a computational information foraging model to participant data on multi-page web search tasks and find its correlation on several important metrics to be too low to be used with confidence in the evaluation of user-interface designs. We examine the points of mismatch to inspire changes to the model in how it calculates information scent scores and how it assesses the utility of backing up from a lower-level page to a higher-level page. The outcome is a new model that qualitatively matches participant behavior better than the original model, has utility equations more appealing to "common sense" than the original equations, and significantly improves the correlation between model and participant data on our metrics.

A survey of contact lens complications in Singapore.

Objectives: To describe the type of complications related to contact lens wear seen in a hospital setting in Singapore.

Methods: Data were collated over a 2-year period from April 1999 to March 2001, from all public hospitals in Singapore. A standardized clinical record form was completed by the attending doctor when a patient presented for contact lens-related complications.

A survey of local preclinical and clinical medical students' attitudes towards radiology.

Introduction: This study compares the attitudes between preclinical and clinical medical students towards radiology, following the introduction of a new radiology curriculum for 1st year students.

Materials And Methods: Revision of the 1st year medical school curriculum for the academic year of 2008/9 with the inclusion of 13 one-hour formal radiology lectures integrated with each body system was done in an undergraduate Southeast Asian medical school. In the old curriculum, 1st and 2nd year medical students are not exposed to radiology.

Accuracy of preoperative CT for local staging in colorectal carcinomas.

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the accuracy of computed tomography (CT) in the evaluation of local tumour invasion and regional lymphadenopathy in colorectal carcinomas.

Methods: A total of 99 consecutive patients who had undergone a contrast-enhanced CT within two weeks prior to surgery with histopathological confirmation of colorectal carcinoma were selected. Intravenous contrast-enhanced CT was performed with a 5-7 mm collimation.

An image-based comprehensive approach for automatic segmentation of left ventricle from cardiac short axis cine MR images.

Segmentation of the left ventricle is important in the assessment of cardiac functional parameters. Manual segmentation of cardiac cine MR images for acquiring these parameters is time-consuming. Accuracy and automation are the two important criteria in improving cardiac image segmentation methods.

The use of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), gamma linolenic acid (GLA) and rehabilitation in the treatment of back pain: effect on health-related quality of life.

The aim of this trial was to evaluate the effects of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and the beneficial effect of physical exercise on positive sensory symptoms and neuropathic pain in patients with compressive radiculopathy syndrome from disc-nerve root conflict. Often these painful syndromes after the acute event, tend to recurr becoming subacute or chronic syndromes that become for the period of interest disabiling is an event very important in these cases proper prevention, based on a maintenance drug therapy and the strengthening exercises of paravertebral muscles, flexibility exercises on the spine and when needed on the reduction of body weight. In this Observational Cohort, two-arm trial, 203 patients were enrolled and divided into two groups, the first, ALA and GLA group, (n = 101) received oral dose of 600 mg of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) and 360 mg of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and a rehabilitation program for six weeks, the second (n = 102) treated with only rehabilitation program.

Clinics in diagnostic imaging (128). Portal pyaemia.

A 66-year-old man presented with epigastric pain. Computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen showed portal venous gas with partial thrombosis of the portal veins, consistent with portal pyaemia. CT also showed nonspecific peripancreatic fat stranding.

Probing events with single molecule sensitivity in zebrafish and Drosophila embryos by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy.

Zebrafish and Drosophila are animal models widely used in developmental biology. High-resolution microscopy and live imaging techniques have allowed the investigation of biological processes down to the cellular level in these models. Here, using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), we show that even processes on a molecular level can be studied in these embryos.

Children and video games: addiction, engagement, and scholastic achievement.

The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between video gaming habits and elementary school students' academic performance. More specifically, we seek to examine the usefulness of a distinction between addiction and high engagement and assess the predictive validity of these concepts in the context of scholastic achievement. Three hundred thirty-three children ages 8 to 12 years from two primary schools in Singapore were selected to participate in this study.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis: efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin and a review of treatment options.

Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) is a rare, severe adverse drug reaction. Steven-Johnson syndrome (SJS) represents the milder end of the spectrum. The exact pathogenesis of TEN and SJS is still unknown and many drugs, including prednisolone, cyclosporin and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), have been used in an attempt to halt the disease process.

Retained lens fragment in the anterior segment as a cause of recurrent anterioruveitis.

A 61-year-old male developed recurrent anterior uveitis over a period of 8 months after an uncomplicated phacoemulsification and posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation surgery. This was subsequently found to be due to a retained lens fragment in the anterior segment, with complete resolution following surgical extraction of the fragment. To our knowledge, this is the first report of recurrent anterior uveitis attributable to a retained lens fragment following uncomplicated cataract surgery, and the diagnosis should be considered in a pseudophakic patient presenting with recurrent episodes of anterior uveitis.

Pustular pyoderma gangrenosum: an uncommon variant which is easily misdiagnosed.

Pustular pyoderma gangrenosum is a relatively uncommon clinical form of pyoderma gangrenosum; it presents with vesiculo-pustular lesions that do not develop into frank ulceration. We report a case of a 44-year-old man with associated ulcerative colitis, who was misdiagnosed as having necrotizing fasciitis. He underwent multiple debridements and a subsequent skin grafting procedure, but without improvement.

Biodegradable thermogelling poly(ester urethane)s consisting of poly(lactic acid)--thermodynamics of micellization and hydrolytic degradation.

Multiblock poly(ether ester urethane)s comprising of poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), and poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) segments were synthesized, and their aqueous solutions exhibited thermogelling behavior at critical gelation concentrations (CGC) ranging from 7 to 9 wt%. The chemical structures and molecular characteristics of the copolymers were studied by GPC, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and FTIR. The thermal stability of the poly(PEG/PPG/PLA urethane)s was studied by thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), and the PLA contents were calculated based on the thermal degradation profile.

Detection of plasmid-mediated AmpC in Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus mirabilis.

Aims: This study investigated the prevalence of plasmid-mediated AmpC production in selected clinical isolates of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella species and Proteus mirabilis, and compared the results of boronic acid disc screening with conventional susceptibility testing for the detection of AmpC-positive isolates.

Methods: E coli, Klebsiella species and P mirabilis with reduced susceptibility to amoxycillin-clavulanate, cefuroxime and cephalexin, but without phenotypic evidence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases were screened for AmpC activity using enzyme-extraction methods. The presence of plasmid-mediated ampC was determined by multiplex PCR.

Real-time determination of kinetics of adsorption of lead(II) onto palm shell-based activated carbon using ion selective electrode.

In this study, the kinetics of adsorption of Pb(II) from aqueous solution onto palm shell-based activated carbon (PSAC) were investigated by employing ion selective electrode (ISE) for real-time Pb(II) and pH monitoring. Usage of ISE was very appropriate for real-time adsorption kinetics data collection as it facilitated recording of adsorption data at very specific and short time intervals as well as provided consistent kinetics data. Parameters studied were initial Pb(II) concentration and agitation speed.

Clinics in diagnostic imaging (117).

A 76-year-old woman presented with a five-day history of fever and abdominal pain. Her urine culture grew Candida albicans. She was treated with intravenous antibiotics, as having a urinary tract infection, but her fever persisted.

Comparison of anterior chamber depth measurements using the IOLMaster, scanning peripheral anterior chamber depth analyser, and anterior segment optical coherence tomography.

Aim: To compare anterior chamber depth measurements by three non-contact devices-the IOLMaster, scanning peripheral anterior chamber depth analyser (SPAC), and Visante anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) METHODS: Prospective, cross sectional study of 497 phakic subjects over 50 years of age attending a community clinic in Singapore. Anterior chamber depth of the right eye was measured using all three techniques by the same investigator. Depth measurements were made from the corneal epithelium to the anterior lens surface.

Cutaneous melioidosis.

Melioidosis is an infection caused by the gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. This disease is endemic in Southeast Asia and North Australia with sporadic occurrence in temperate countries, mostly imported from travellers. Any organ can be involved in melioidosis whereby Burkholderia pseudomallei causes an acute inflammatory reaction with rapid development of small abcesses which tend to coalesce to form larger abscesses.