Validation of the Radiographic Union Score for HUmeral fractures (RUSHU): .

Background: Early diagnosis and fixation of fractures unlikely to unite can prevent months of morbidity. The Radiographic Union Score for Humeral fractures (RUSHU) is a summative scoring system developed to aid identification of patients at higher risk of developing humeral shaft non-union. Plain radiographs taken six weeks after injury are given a score between four and 12 based on signs of union.

Pain in cancer and chronic non-cancer conditions: similarities and differences.

A conceptual model within which to view and compare cancer and chronic non-cancer pain is provided. Studies comparing the two are reviewed. Implications for deploying management and intervention strategies are then analyzed in terms of disease, cognitive-behavioral and social-contextual considerations.

The quota system in burn rehabilitation.

This article describes the quota system as a treatment for the helplessness behaviors and depressive symptoms that develop in some patients with burn injuries. With an A-B single-case design, the quota system was implemented for a patient who had sustained a particularly severe burn injury. A series of baseline behaviors were measured for 3 days, and then 80% of the patient's average performance on each of the targeted behaviors was computed and used as the initial quota value.

On the nature of illness and disability: an editorial.

Issues underlying the rapid increase in assignment of disability to nonspecific low back pain are addressed. The central point of the discussion is that the healthcare system relies too exclusively on a biomedical perspective on pain and illness while failing to consider adequately environmental influences on symptom behavior and care seeking. Specific medical conditions with pathoanatomic findings observed are distinguished from nonspecific conditions in which those are lacking or only inferred.