2,852 research outputs found
Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation: Scaffold-Based Solutions
Autologous chondrocyte implantation is a surgical technique utilized for repair of articular cartilage defects. The originally described technique for autologous chondrocyte implantation involves applying a liquid suspension of the cultured chondrocytes to a cartilage defect and sealing the defect with a periosteum or collagen patch. Scaffolds for housing chondrocytes were introduced to allow for increased ease of delivery and application, to avoid leakage of chondrocytes out of the defect, and to allow for an implant that more closely mimics the non-uniform tissue architecture of healthy articular cartilage. In this chapter we describe the design, clinical outcomes, and commercial availability of various scaffolds reported in the clinical literature for autologous chondrocyte implantation
Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of Heat Conduction in Air, Including Effects of Oxygen Dissociation
Solutions are presented for the conduction of beat through a semi-infinite gas medium having a uniform initial temperature and a constant boundary temperature. The coefficients of thermal conductivity and diffusivity are treated as variables, and the solutions are extended to the case of air at temperatures where oxygen dissociation occurs. These solutions are used together with shock-tube measurements to evaluate the integral of thermal conductivity for air as a function of temperature
Gulf of Maine seals - populations, problems and priorities
Meeting held: May 28th â 29th 2009, WHOI, Quissett Campus, Sponsored by the Marine Mammal Center at WHOIAs pinniped populations shift and change along the northeast U.S. and Canadian coastline, so
too do the interests and issues of regional residents, scientists and stakeholders. In May 2009 the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) sponsored a meeting resulting in
recommendations in three key areas regarding pinnipeds: population dynamics, human
interaction and disease/health. The population group recommended: developing long-term
surveys over all seasons and geographic ranges, coordinating sampling efforts for dietary
research, refining correction factors for survey results, increasing documentation of fishery
interactions and developing means of funding. The human interactions group recommended:
addressing marine debris, developing survey, reporting and retrieval protocols for discarded
fishing gear, studying impact of and expanding education and outreach for commercial seal
watching, researching methods to deter depredation from fishing gear, streamlining the permitting
processes for acoustic deterrent and gear modification research, and increasing cooperative
research and outreach to the fishing community. The health and disease working group
recommended: establishing baseline health indicators, addressing priority disease concerns,
creating a pool of resources for standardized analysis of normal and unusual health event
monitoring, determining standard health baselines for release, establishing a health consortium,
improving communication along the coastline and establishing long term funding and ongoing
collaboration.Funding was provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Marine Mammal Cente
Towards magnetic slowing of atoms and molecules
We outline a method to slow paramagnetic atoms or molecules using pulsed
magnetic fields. We also discuss the possibility of producing trapped particles
by adiabatic deceleration of a magnetic trap. We present numerical simulation
results for the slowing and trapping of molecular oxygen
Lincoln University entomological expedition to Pitt Island
The expedition had two objectives:
1. To search for the Pitt Island longhorn beetle, Xylotoles costatus and determine its distribution, abundance and conservation status.
2. To undertake general entomological survey work, particularly in the orders Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera by using trapping methods not previously used on Pitt Island
Seals and ecosystem health : meeting report of the Northwest Atlantic Seal Research Consortium
On May 1 and 2, 2015, over 75 people attended the Northwest Atlantic Seal Research Consortium's first official
biennial two day scientific meeting, "Seals and Ecosystem Health", at Salem State University in Salem,
Massachusetts. The focus of the meeting was addressed by two keynote presentations: "Seals and Ecosystem
Health" and "Marine mammals and ecosystem functioning: what can recovering seal populations teach us?" The first
day of the meeting featured 16 oral and two poster presentations, covering a diverse range of topics highlighting the
important underlying concepts, data gaps and future directions. Following the theme of the meeting, attendees
discussed the nature of ecosystems, acknowledging the complex and often cryptic interactions between components,
with cumulative and synergistic effects on animals and their environment. As our understanding of the ecological role
of seals in the Northwest Atlantic grows, the cumulative interactions increase our recognition of seals as sentinels of
ecosystem health. Meeting presentations highlighted the value of existing data and ongoing research efforts, including
long-term population monitoring, tagging and photo-identification, stranding response, and rehabilitation facilities. The
importance of observational effort was recognized as a critical component in detecting mortality events, documenting
population processes in remote locations and cryptic species interactions. Research priorities identified included
development of molecular tools for study of diet and disease, population dynamics studies (demographics and trends),
telemetry-based investigations of spatiotemporal distribution, and model- and field-based ecosystem-level studies.
Several of the presentations and the panel discussion, "Addressing Perception vs. Reality: How data (or lack of data)
affects public perceptions and management decisions," highlighted the diverse and evolving perspectives with which
society views seals, perspectives that are often biased by the backgrounds of individual humans. Diverse opinions
necessitate engagement of stakeholders and the public, and societal objectives need to be defined in order to effect
science-based natural resource management at an ecosystem level. At the closing of the meeting, recommendations
from the panel discussion and for the overall goals of NASRC were discussed.Funding was provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Marine Mammal Center and
the US Marine Mammal Commissio
Gulf of Maine seals - fisheries interactions and integrated research : final report
Meeting held: October 28, 2011, Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, Provincetown, MA. Sponsored by the Marine Mammal Center at the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution and the Provincetown Center for Coastal StudiesThe 2011 meeting, âGulf of Maine Seals: Fisheries Interactions and Integrated Researchâ, held at
the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS), featured posters and oral presentations as
well as a series of discussion groups. This meeting was a follow up to the 2009 meeting, âGulf
of Maine Seals - Populations, Problems and Prioritiesâ, held at the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution (WHOI) (Bogomolni et al. 2010). At the conclusion of the 2009 meeting, attendees
emphasized the need to improve communication, to obtain funding for long term research, to
continue meeting on a regular basis, to increase data and data sharing, and to support cross
cutting research between the meetingâs three primary topic areas: disease and health; human and
fishery interactions; and population biology. The overarching goals of the 2011 meeting were to discuss and share work to date, present some
of the tools developed since the 2009 meeting, and outline goals for future integrated research.
One of the tools presented within the framework of cross-cutting research areas and integrative
research was the development of a sightings database and website for uniquely identifiable
(unique pelage, scars, lesions, tagged, branded, marked, etc.) animals. The practicality of this
tool as a means to increase communication was discussed.
Additionally, seal/fisheries interactions throughout the Gulf of Maine, Cape Cod and waters off
of the northeast U.S. have continued to concern stakeholders since the 2009 meeting. The
urgency of documenting, understanding and mitigating these interactions has become more
apparent. Therefore, the focus of the 2011 Provincetown meeting was on fisheries interaction
and related topics raised at the last 2009 workshop and in the meetings with Cape Cod fishermen
described below. For the purposes of this report, 'fisheries interaction' can be direct/operational
(e.g. depredation, when seals remove fish from gear; or entanglement/bycatch, when seals are
unintentionally captured), or indirect/ecological (competition, displacement or other large-scale
interactions between seals and fisheries). Stakeholder concerns about fisheries interactions and recent increases in local seal abundance
were rising prior to the 2009 meeting. In December of 2006, the Chatham-based Cape Cod
Commercial Hook Fishermenâs Association (CCCHFA) took the lead in organizing a meeting
entitled, âStructuring a Novel Research Team to Define and Assess the Impact of Human/Seal
Interactions on Cape Cod/Gulf of Maine through Ecosystem-Based Analysisâ. Participants
included fishermen, policy makers, environmental organizations and researchers aiming to
develop a unique partnership to study the New England seal population. The goal of this
meeting was to create a research team that would define the ecological role of seals in Cape Cod
waters by studying population dynamics, behavior, and health. This meeting resulted in a
successful partnership, financially aided by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW),
between fishermen and seal researchers. A cost-effective cooperative research agreement was
reached whereby seal researchers were provided boat transport around the Chatham and
Monomoy areas by local fishermen. This agreement allowed students and researchers to gain
access to areas off of Chatham that would otherwise not have been accessible. It also supported
a collaborative effort to increase understanding and communication between stakeholders. In addition to the CCCHFA-led meeting in 2006, a series of informal meetings have been held
on Cape Cod between commercial and recreational fishermen and marine scientists. This work
was initially funded by the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank Charitable Foundation. Owen
Nichols and Lisa Sette (PCCS) have held individual meetings with commercial fishermen in
Chatham, Orleans, and Provincetown, and recreational fishermen, outfitters, and associations
throughout the Outer Cape. These individual meetings were followed by larger group meetings
in Eastham and Chatham in 2010 and 2011, and more are planned for 2012. Attendees included
commercial and recreational fishermen and scientists, and discussion topics included observed
seal/fishery interactions and potential collaborative research projects. The goal of the meetings
is to develop a working group composed of members of the fishing and scientific communities
with expertise in marine mammal and fisheries ecology.
The above meetings laid the foundation for the 2011 meeting, during which members of the
scientific and fishing communities gathered to focus on fisheries interactions and integrated
research techniques to quantify and mitigate interactions. Several invited presentations were
given, some of which were scheduled (Appendix A) with selected abstracts provided (Appendix
B), and some of which were delivered on an ad hoc basis upon request from organizers or
attendees (see Appendix F for edited transcripts of presentations). In order to ensure that the
fishing community had a distinct voice, a forum was included in the agenda, during which
fishermen were encouraged to share their observations, experiences and concerns. Separately,
moderated discussion groups focused specifically on fisheries interactions, tagging and tracking,
and management issues. All four sessions, despite their specific foci, shared common themes
such as the need for collaborative research involving both the scientific and fishing communities.
Recommendations from the discussion groups and summaries from each session are listed on the
following pages.Funding was provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Marine Mammal Center and
the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studie
The quality of different types of child care at 10 and 18 months. A comparison between types and factors related to quality.
The quality of care offered in four different types of non-parental child care to 307 infants at 10 months old and 331 infants at 18 months old was compared and factors associated with higher quality were identified. Observed quality was lowest in nurseries at each age point, except that at 18 months they offered more learning activities. There were few differences in the observed quality of care by child-minders, grandparents and nannies, although grandparents had somewhat lower safety and health scores and offered children fewer activities. Cost was largely unrelated to quality of care except in child-minding, where higher cost was associated with higher quality. Observed ratios of children to adults had a significant impact on quality of nursery care; the more infants or toddlers each adult had to care for, the lower the quality of the care she gave them. Mothers' overall satisfaction with their child's care was positively associated with its quality for home-based care but not for nursery settings
Autopsy Standardized Mortality Review: A Pilot Study Offering a Methodology for Improved Patient Outcomes
A standardized mortality review of hospital autopsies identified discrepancies between clinical diagnoses and autopsy findings, unexpected deaths, adequacy of diagnostic workup, presence of adverse event, and type of a quality issue if present. The standardized review elements were chosen based on a review of quality metrics commonly used by hospitals. The review was completed by the pathologist based on their initial autopsy findings. The final autopsy report was later reviewed to confirm the initial review findings. Major discrepancies in diagnosis were categorized as class I or II based on the modified Goldman criteria.
Ninety-six hospital autopsy cases from January 2015 to February 2018 were included in the study. The overall major discrepancy rate was 27%. Class I discrepancies, where a diagnosis found at autopsy might have improved survival had it been made premortem, were identified in 16% of cases. Categories associated with increased discrepancy rates included unexpected deaths, inadequate workup, abnormal labs or imaging not addressed, and certain quality issues. Deaths not expected at admission but
expected at the time of death, those with adverse events, those within 48 hours of a procedure, those within 48 hours of admission, those with physician-specific quality issues, and those with system or process issues were not significantly related to diagnostic accuracy
Recurrence of intestinal metaplasia and early neoplasia after endoscopic eradication therapy for Barrettâs esophagus: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Abstract
BackgroundâConflicting data exist with regard to recurrence rates of intestinal metaplasia (IM) and dysplasia after achieving complete eradication of intestinal metaplasia (CE-IM) in Barrettâs esophagus (BE) patients.
Aimâ(i) To determine the incidence of recurrent IM and dysplasia achieving CE-IM and (ii) to compare recurrence rates between treatment modalities [radiofrequency ablation (RFA) with or without endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) vs stepwise complete EMR (SRER)].
MethodsâA systematic search was performed for studies reporting on outcomes and estimates of recurrence rates after achieving CE-IM. Pooled incidence [per 100-patient-years (PY)] and risk ratios with 95â%CI were obtained. Heterogeneity was measured using the I
2 statistic. Subgroup analyses, decided a priori, were performed to explore heterogeneity in results.
ResultsâA total of 39 studies were identified (25-RFA, 13-SRER, and 2 combined). The pooled incidence of any recurrence was 7.5 (95â%CI 6.1âââ9.0)/100 PY with a pooled incidence of IM recurrence rate of 4.8 (95â%CI 3.8âââ5.9)/100 PY, and dysplasia recurrence rate of 2.0 (95â%CI 1.5âââ2.5)/100 PY. Compared to the SRER group, the RFA group had significantly higher overall [8.6 (6.7âââ10.5)/100 PY vs. 5.1 (3.1âââ7)/100 PY, Pâ=â0.01] and IM recurrence rates [5.8 (4.3âââ7.3)/100 PY vs. 3.1 (1.7âââ4)/100 PY, Pâ<â0.01] with no difference in recurrence rates of dysplasia. Significant heterogeneity between studies was identified. The majority of recurrences were amenable to repeat endoscopic eradication therapy (EET).
ConclusionâThe results of this study demonstrate that the incidence rates of overall, IM, and dysplasia recurrence rates post-EET are not inconsiderable and reinforce the importance of close surveillance after achieving CE-IM.</jats:p
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