Flexure of cranial sutures

Beam samples containing cranial sutures were prepared from embalmed and unembalmed cranial bone and were tested to determine their flexural stiffness and strength. With the aid of layered beam theory, the flexural stiffnesses of beams containing cranial sutures were compared to hypothetical layered cranial bone beams which did not contain sutures. The bending stiffnesses and strengths of cranial sutures were found to be generally the same as comparable layered cranial bone structures. Embalmed samples were slightly stiffer and stronger in bending than unembalmed samples.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/33515/1/0000013.pd

Differences in Practitioner Experience, Practice Type, and Profession in Attitudes Toward Growing Contact Lens Practice

OBJECTIVE: To investigate eye care practitioners' attitudes and perceptions toward potential interventions that can enhance contact lens (CL) practice across the world, and how this is influenced by their practice setting. METHODS: A self-administered, anonymized survey was constructed in English and then forward and backward translated into six more languages. The survey was distributed online via social media platforms and mailing lists involving reputed international professional bodies. RESULTS: In total, 2,222 responses from 27 countries with sufficient responses were analyzed (53% females, median age- 37 years). Most of the respondents were optometrists (81.9%) and 47.6% were from stand-alone/independent practices. Median working experience in CL prescribing was 11.0 years (IQR: 18.0, 4-22 years). Over two-third of them declared themselves to be very hopeful (22.9%) or hopeful (45.1%) about the future of their CL practice. Among the potential interventions proposed, continuous update of knowledge and skills and competently managing CL-related complications were rated the most important (median score: 9/10 for each). Practitioners working in national/regional retail chains expressed higher proactivity in recommending CLs (9/10) than those in local chains, hospitals, and universities (for all 8/10, P <0.05). National differences were also identified in eye care practitioner attitudes and perceptions ( P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The study provided important information to delineate a variety of elements characterizing CL practice across the world. These insights can serve as a basis to design strategies at national and international levels

PATCH: posture and mobility training for care staff versus usual care in care homes: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Background: Residents of care homes have high levels of disability and poor mobility, but the promotion of health and wellbeing within care homes is poorly realised. Residents spend the majority of their time sedentary which leads to increased dependency and, coupled with poor postural management, can have many adverse outcomes including pressure sores, pain and reduced social interaction. The intervention being tested in this project (the Skilful Care Training Package) aims to increase the awareness and skills of care staff in relation to poor posture in the older, less mobile adult and highlight the benefits of activity, and how to skilfully assist activity, in this group to enable mobility and reduce falls risk. Feasibility work will be undertaken to inform the design of a definitive cluster randomised controlled trial. Methods: This is a cluster randomised controlled feasibility trial, aiming to recruit at least 12–15 residents at each of 10 care homes across Yorkshire. Care homes will be randomly allocated on a 1:1 basis to receive either the Skilful Care Training Package alongside usual care or to continue to provide usual care alone. Assessments will be undertaken by blinded researchers with participating residents at baseline (before care home randomisation) and at three and six months post randomisation. Data relating to changes in physical activity, mobility, posture, mood and quality of life will be collected. Data at the level of the home will also be collected and will include staff experience of care and changes in the numbers and types of adverse events residents experience (for example, hospital admissions, falls). Details of NHS service usage will be collected to inform the economic analysis. An embedded process evaluation will explore intervention delivery and its acceptability to staff and residents. Discussion: Participant uptake, engagement and retention are key feasibility outcomes. Exploration of barriers and facilitators to intervention delivery will inform intervention optimisation. Study results will inform progression to a definitive trial and add to the body of evidence for good practice in care home research. Trial registration: ISRCTN Registry, ISRCTN50080330. Registered on 27 March 2017

Prevalence of Myopia Among Indian School Children in Kuala Lumpur

BACKGROUND: Studies on the prevalence of refractive errors are scarce among Indian children population in Malaysia. Hence, this study aimed at determining the prevalence of refractive error among Indian schoolchildren in Kuala Lumpur. METHODS: A total of 1462 Indian schoolchildren 7–11 years of age participated in this study. The subjects consisted of 733 (50.1%) boys and 729 (49.9%) girls. Non-cycloplegic autorefraction was used to determine the refractive error. Myopia was defined as a SER of 1.00 dioptre (D) or worse, hyperopia as a SER of +0.50 D or more, and astigmatism as cylindrical power equal to or worse than 0.75 DC. RESULTS: The prevalence rates of myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism were 28.9%, 6.9% and 35.4% respectively. The prevalence of anisometropia was 7.7%. CONCLUSION: Myopia was the most common type of refractive error found in this population. Further investigation to identify the cause of myopia is needed in order to slow down the increase in the severity of myopia among Indian schoolchildren

Unusual ganglioglioma with extensive calcification and ossification

Ganglioglioma is a slow-growing relatively low-grade mixed glioneuronal tumor with most cases corresponding to the WHO Grade I category. It frequently presents with seizures. The temporal lobe is the most common location followed by frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes. These generally behave in a benign fashion and have a favorable prognosis. We describe a case of a 24-year-old male presenting with convulsions and a calcified parieto-occipital mass. This mass removed from the parietal lobe showed neoplastic glial and dysplastic neuronal tissue amidst extensive areas of calcification and foci of ossification. On immunohistochemistry, the glial component expressed glial fibrillary acidic protein whereas the dysplastic neuronal component expressed synaptophysin and CD34. Epithelial membrane antigen was negative and Ki-67 showed a low proliferative index. After the surgery, the patient is free of neurological symptoms. Widespread calcification and ossification are very unusual in ganglioglioma, which prompted us to report this case

Molecular analysis for EGFR, ALK, and ROS1 alterations in over 3000 Indian patients with non-small-cell lung cancer: A retrospective observational study

Background: Accurate molecular testing in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is of paramount importance for treatment, prediction, and prognostication. Objectives: We aimed to comprehensively describe the clinicopathological and molecular profile of Indian patients with NSCLC with regard to alterations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), and c-ros oncogene 1 (ROS1). Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of lung tissue samples tested between January 2015 and December 2021 at the Metropolis Healthcare Limited global referral laboratory facility in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Testing was conducted for EGFR by real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Sanger sequencing, ALK by immunohistochemistry (IHC), ALK by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and c-ros oncogene 1 (ROS1) by FISH. We analyzed the positivity status and determined the trends in the results of the molecular targets in NSCLC cases. Results: Out of 3220 samples with malignancy, 1750 (54.3%) were tested for EGFR, out of which 510 (29.1%) were positive. The most common mutation detected was in exon 19 of EGFR (334/510, 65.5%), followed by exon 21 (164/510, 32.2%). A total of 1548 (48.1%) cases were tested for ALK by IHC, of which 125/1548 (8.1%) showed positivity, while among the 372/3220 (11.6%) cases tested for ALK by FISH, 29/372 (7.8%) were positive. In patients with squamous cell carcinoma, the ALK positivity rate by IHC was 5.3%. Of the 372 cases tested for ALK by FISH, 353 (94.9%) cases were tested for ALK by IHC as well; 98.9% concordance was observed for the positive cases. ROS1 testing was conducted in 370/3220 (11.5%) samples and showed a low positivity rate of 13/370 (3.5%). Conclusions: Indian patients with NSCLC have 29% EGFR positivity, 8.1% ALK positivity, and 3.5% ROS1 positivity, when tested with RT-PCR, IHC, and FISH, respectively. A detailed molecular analysis using next-generation sequencing (NGS) may help detect a higher number of molecular targets amenable to therapy

Evidence for commonly used teaching, learning and assessment methods in contact lens clinical skills education

Evidence based practice is now an important part of healthcare education. The aim of this narrative literature review was to determine what evidence exists on the efficacy of commonly used teaching and learning and assessment methods in the realm of contact lens skills education (CLE) in order to provide insights into best practice. A summary of the global regulation and provision of postgraduate learning and continuing professional development in CLE is included. An expert panel of educators was recruited and completed a literature review of current evidence of teaching and learning and assessment methods in healthcare training, with an emphasis on health care, general optometry and CLE. No direct evidence of benefit of teaching and learning and assessment methods in CLE were found. There was evidence for the benefit of some teaching and learning and assessment methods in other disciplines that could be transferable to CLE and could help students meet the intended learning outcomes. There was evidence that the following teaching and learning methods helped health-care and general optometry students meet the intended learning outcomes; clinical teaching and learning, flipped classrooms, clinical skills videos and clerkships. For assessment these methods were; essays, case presentations, objective structured clinical examinations, self-assessment and formative assessment. There was no evidence that the following teaching and learning methods helped health-care and general optometry students meet the intended learning outcomes; journal clubs and case discussions. Nor was any evidence found for the following assessment methods; multiple-choice questions, oral examinations, objective structured practical examinations, holistic assessment, and summative assessment. Investigation into the efficacy of common teaching and learning and assessment methods in CLE are required and would be beneficial for the entire community of contact lens educators, and other disciplines that wish to adapt this approach of evidence-based teaching. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2023 British Contact Lens Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.