Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Quantitative Evaluation Of Hiv Preventon Programs, Edward Kaplan, Ron Brookmeyer

Ron Brookmeyer

How successful are HIV prevention programs? Which HIV prevention programs are most cost effective? Which programs are worth expanding and which should be abandoned altogether? This book addresses the quantitative evaluation of HIV prevention programs, assessing for the first time several different quantitative methods of evaluation

Subsets More Likely To Benefit From Surgery Or Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation After Chemoradiation For Localized Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer, Bruce Keith, Mark Vincent, Larry Stitt, Anna Tomiak, Richard Malthaner, Edward Yu, Pauline Truong, Richard Inculet, Michael Lefcoe, A. Dar, Walter Kocha, Ian Craig

Edward Yu

After chemoradiation for localized non-small-cell lung cancer, surgery and prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) have been used as additional therapies. Less than a third of patients develop brain recurrences, or have local recurrence as their sole initial site of recurrence; these are groups that would benefit from PCI or surgery, respectively. Pretreatment identification of patients more likely to benefit from surgery or PCI would be useful. A retrospective analysis of 80 patients was performed to determine prognostic factors for such patterns of failure. Twenty-nine patients were subsequently selected for surgery in a nonrandomized manner. Seventeen patients had isolated local initial recurrence …

Sublingual Atropine For Sialorrhea Secondary To Parkinsonism: A Pilot Study, H. Hyson, Andrew Johnson, Mandar Jog

Andrew M. Johnson

Sialorrhea is a relatively common symptom in idiopathic Parkinson's disease and related conditions for which most of the accepted treatments are either highly invasive or may cause substantial systemic side effects. This study describes an open-label pilot study of sublingual atropine drops for the treatment of sialorrhea in 7 patients (6 with Parkinson's disease, 1 with progressive supranuclear palsy). Participants demonstrated statistically significant declines in saliva production, both objectively and subjectively. Self-reported drooling severity showed a significant decline between baseline and 180 minutes, t(6) = 3.240 P < 0.025 (eta(2) = 0.636), and between baseline and 1 week, t(6) = 4.583 …

What Is Cochrane All About?, Chris Del Mar, Jenny Doust

Jenny Doust

Recently the Australian Minister for Health, the Hon Kay Patterson, announced that Australia is purchasing the Cochrane Library for all Australians. Australians will now have access to the library free of charge through the web.

An Evaluation Of College And Low Income Youth Writing Together: Self Discovery And Cultural Connection, Genevieve Chandler

Genevieve E. Chandler

Although the health and healing effects of writing have been documented in the literature, most of the studies have focused primarily on individuals writing alone. This formative evaluation is a component of an intervention reported elsewhere. The evaluation describes the experience of low-income youth and college students ( n = 7) writing in a group during a 10-week workshop. The results revealed the development of protective processes of self-esteem, self-efficacy, coping strategies, social support, and cultural connections. In the weekly 2-hr writing sessions, using the Amherst Writers and Artists method, participants were encouraged to write their stories in their own …

Retinal Histopathology Of An Xlrp Carrier With A Mutation In The Rpgr Exon Orf15, Gustavo Aguirre, Beverly Yashar, Sinoj John, Julie Smith, K Breuer, S Hiriyanna, Anand Swaroop, Ann Milam

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Encapsulated Cell-Based Delivery Of Cntf Reduces Photoreceptor Degeneration In Animal Models Of Retinitis Pigmentosa, Weng Tao, Rong Wen, Moses B. Goddard, Sandy D. Sherman, Pam J. O'Rourke, Paul F. Stabila, William J. Bell, Brenda J. Dean, Konrad A. Kauper, Veronica A. Budz, William G. Tsiaras, Gregory M. Acland, Sue Pearce-Kelling, Alan Laties, Gustavo D. Aguirre

Gustavo D. Aguirre, VMD, PhD

Placebo Tribulations, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

No abstract provided.

Sensory Processing Correlates Of Occupational Performance In Children With Fragile X Syndrome: Preliminary Findings, Grace T. Baranek, Yuki H. Chin, Laura Greiss Hess, Jann G. Yankee, Deborah D. Hatton, Stephen R. Hooper

Laura Greiss Hess

Matters Of Life And Death: Making Moral Theory Work In Medical Ethics And The Law, James Anderson, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

No abstract provided.

An Investigation Of Personal Learning In Mentoring Relationships: Content, Antecedents, And Consequences, Terri Scandura, Melanie Lankau

Terri A. Scandura

No abstract provided.

The Research Subject As Wage Earner, James Anderson, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

The practice of paying research subjects for participating in clinical trials has yet to receive an adequate moral analysis. Dickert and Grady argue for a wage payment model in which research subjects are paid an hourly wage based on that of unskilled laborers. If we accept this approach, what follows? Norms for just working conditions emerge from workplace legislation and political theory. All workers, including paid research subjects under Dickert and Grady's analysis, have a right to at least minimum wage, a standard work week, extra pay for overtime hours, a safe workplace, no fault compensation for work-related injury, and …

Improving The Consistency In Cervical Esophageal Target Volume Definition By Special Training, Patricia Tai, Jake Van Dyk, Jerry Battista, Edward Yu, Larry Stitt, Jon Tonita, Olusegun Agboola, James Brierley, Rashid Dar, Christopher Leighton, Shawn Malone, Barbara Strang, Pauline Truong, Gregory Videtic, C. Wong, Rebecca Wong, Youssef Youssef

Edward Yu

PURPOSE: Three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy requires the precise definition of the target volume. Its potential benefits could be offset by the inconsistency in target definition by radiation oncologists. In a previous survey of radiation oncologists, a large degree of variation in target volume definition of cervical esophageal cancer was noted for the boost phase of radiotherapy. The present study evaluated whether special training could improve the consistency in target volume definitions. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A pre-training survey was performed to establish baseline values. This was followed by a special one-on-one training session on treatment planning based on the RTOG 94-05 …

Sds-Page And Western Blotting Of Plasmodium Falciparum Proteins, Roland A. Cooper

Roland A. Cooper

Continuing Review Of Clinical Research Canadian-Style, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

No abstract provided.

Lessons From Everyday Lives: A Moral Justification For Acute Care Research, Andrew Mcrae, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

Progress in emergency and critical care requires that clinical research be performed on patients who are incapable of granting consent for research participation. Analyses of the ethics of such research have left some questions incompletely answered. Why should we be permitted to expose vulnerable patients to research risks without their consent? In particular, how do we justify research interventions that have no potential benefit for participants (nontherapeutic interventions)? This article presents a moral justification for nontherapeutic interventions in emergency research. By relying on a framework for assessing research risks, and by drawing on the example of pediatric research, this justification …

Walt Whitman: Poet And Nurse, William Ahrens

William D. Ahrens

Comments on the life of Walt Whitman, American poet and a nurse by profession. Composition of poems on health, fitness and exercise; Services to the wounded soldiers during the Civil War; Recognition of the disease and infection inflicted on soldiers.

Placebo Trials And Tribulations, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

No abstract provided.

Making Meaning: The Creative Component In Qualitative Research, A. Hunter, P. Lusardi, D. Zucker, C. Jacelon, Genevieve Chandler

Genevieve E. Chandler

Findings in qualitative research are often wondrous and exciting, expounding new knowledge and perceptions previously unknown. Qualitative research requires the researcher to ponder and reflect on the data collected so as to find the meaning within. Helping researchers learn how to perform this step is not well discussed in the qualitative literature, yet this is one of the more crucial components of this type of research. In this article, the incubation, the meaning-making phase of qualitative research, is discussed in relation to the experiences of five researchers who have used traditional processes, models, metaphors, plays, pastiche, poetry, and quilt making …

Attitudes Regarding Organ Donation From Non-Heart-Beating Donors, Sean Keenan, Barry Hoffmaster, Frank Rutledge, Jeannette Eberhard, Liddy Chen, William Sibbald

C. Barry Hoffmaster

PURPOSE: To determine the attitudes toward organ donation from non-heart-beating cadaver donors in a sample of the general public and health care workers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A moderator-administered questionnaire was completed by members of the general public, recruited randomly from a professional consumer research group's database, and health care workers recruited from the same database, family practice clinics, and local hospitals. Two primary scenarios were tested: (1) patient in coma, not going to survive intensive care unit (ICU), and (2) patient lapsing in and out of consciousness, lifetime institutional care.

RESULTS: Sixty members of the general public and 68 health …

I Need A Placebo Like I Need A Hole In The Head, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

No abstract provided.

The Association Between Income And Mortality In Texas And Taiwan - A Comparative Study Of Spatial Statistics., Chiehwen Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Income effect on health has been established in the literature for decades. Research suggested that both income level and income inequality affect health, in opposite directions. This study examined income and spatial effect on mortality for both Texas and Taiwan. Measures of income inequality were computed for 1997, and all-cause mortality and cancer mortality for 1995-1998. In our study, ordinary least squares regression was first used to examine income effect on health, the D, I, C statistics were employed to detect spatial autocorrelation, and then linear spatial regression was used to adjust for the spatial effect. The results suggest that …

The Ethics Of Placebo-Controlled Trials, Charles Weijer, Kathleen Glass

Charles Weijer

No abstract provided.

Validity Of The Cidi Probe Flow Chart For Depression In Chinese American Women., M Hicks

Madelyn Hsiao-Rei Hicks

This article presents observations on the function and validity of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) 2.1 in a study of major depression in Chinese American women. CIDI symptom items for depression had good apparent validity and acceptability. However, CIDI probe flow chart (PFC) ‘clinical significance’ criteria appeared to underidentify cases of major depression if they occurred in China, or in deprived conditions within the U.S. and other developed countries. Validity of the CIDI PFC was affected by social, political and cultural factors. Patterns of bias are discussed and related to assumptions underlying the PFC regarding resource availability, help-seeking and …

The Master's Portfolio: Validating A Career In Advanced Practice Nursing, E. Hayes, Genevieve Chandler, D. Merriman

Genevieve E. Chandler

Purpose To describe the process of portfolio development and faculty review that offers graduate credit within a framework of structural empowerment and mentoring for documented educational and clinical accomplishments for family nurse practitioners (FNPs). Data Sources Selected literature and examples from one student's portfolio to illustrate the process. Conclusions The degree granting process assists certified FNPs to fulfill career aspirations through achieving graduate level education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, School of Nursing.

The Internal Process Of Therapeutic Touch As Nursing Action, Denise Coppa

Denise Ann Coppa

Therapeutic Touch (TT) is a complementary healing modality utilized by health care providers to reduce anxiety, accelerate relaxation, decrease pain, and boost the immune systems of clients. Although there is a standard in the literature as described by Krieger (1979), very little has been written about whether the core process of TT conforms to the standard and whether there are differences between the process as practiced in adults compared to children. ^ The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the core process of TT in adults and children as practiced and perceived by five professional nurses who had …

Monte Carlo Simulations Of Dna Damage From Incorporated Cold Iodine Following Photoelectrically Induced Auger Electron Cascades, V. Moiseenko, S. Karnas, E. Yu, J. Battista

Edward Yu

Radiation-induced damage in nucleosomal DNA from Auger electron cascades due to incorporated cold IUdR has been modelled through Monte Carlo simulations. Probabilities of DNA double strand break (DSB) production following a vacancy in the K, L, M and N shells of iodine are estimated. DSB complexity from the base damage accompanying a break was also estimated. Multiple DSB events were analysed for correlated breaks due to nucleosome periodicity. The probability of an Auger cascade causing at least one DSB strongly depended on the shell in which the initial vacancy was produced. This probability was approximately 0.35 for K and L …

Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation Revisited: Cost-Effectiveness And Quality Of Life In Small-Cell Lung Cancer, T. Tai, Edward Yu, Peter Dickof, Glen Beck, Jon Tonita, Tete Ago, David Skarsgard, Marlene Schmidt, Matthew Schmid, John Liem

Edward Yu

PURPOSE: To investigate the therapeutic usefulness and cost-effectiveness of prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) in patients with limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) who had achieved a complete remission. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was undertaken of all patients diagnosed in Saskatchewan with SCLC between 1987 and 1998 inclusive. Patients who achieved a complete remission were divided into two groups, depending on whether they underwent PCI (PCI+ and PCI-, respectively). The quality-of-life-adjusted survival was estimated by the Q-TWiST method (quality time without symptoms and toxicity). The mean incremental costs per month of incremental OS were calculated in a cost-effectiveness analysis. RESULTS: Among …

When Argument Fails, Charles Weijer

Charles Weijer

No abstract provided.

Retroviral Delivery Of Connexin Genes To Human Breast Tumor Cells Inhibits In Vivo Tumor Growth By A Mechanism That Is Independent Of Significant Gap Junctional Intercellular Communication, H. Qin, Q. Shao, H. Curtis, J. Galipeau, Daniel Belliveau, T. Wang, M. Alaoui-Jamali, D. Laird

Daniel J. Belliveau

The mechanism by which gap junction proteins, connexins, act as potent tumor suppressors remains poorly understood. In this study human breast tumor cells were found to exhibit diverse gap junction phenotypes including (a) undetectable Cx43 and no intercellular communication (HBL100); (b) low levels of Cx43 and sparse intercellular communication (MDA-MB-231); and (c) significant levels of Cx43 and moderate intercellular communication (Hs578T). Although retroviral delivery of Cx43 and Cx26 cDNAs to MDA-MB-231 cells did not achieve an expected substantial rescue of intercellular communication, overexpression of connexin genes did result in a dramatic suppression of tumor growth when connexin-expressing MDA-MB-231 cells were …