Maternal Employment, Marital Status, and Religiosity and the Social Adaptational Status of First Grade Children in Selected Oregon Schools

This study attempted to examine whether certain maternal variables (i.e., maternal employment, marital status, and religiosity) could be used to accurately predict first-graders\u27 social adaptational status (SAS), as measured by the Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation Scale (TOCA). One-hundred-and-fifty volunteering mothers (or mother surrogates) and their first-grade child(ren) participated in this study. Familial and individual data were obtained through a structured mother interview. The participating children\u27s teachers rated the children\u27s SAS on the TOCA during the 9th and 15th weeks of the academic school year. Five Christian-oriented private schools and two public schools participated in this study

A Case of Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia Complained of Anorexia

It has been reported that an 82-year-old man had complained of “anorexia with wasting away (weight loss of 35 pounds) over the past six months”. The cause was unknown, and his appetite dropped to only liquid milk and soy milk every day. On further examination, his CA-199 (a tumor marker) was in the normal range, but the serum IgM level was found to be 4 times higher than normal, and lymphoplasmacytic cells in his bone marrow were 2 times higher than normal. His myeloid differentiation factor (MYD88) was detected to be positive in gene mutations, confirming a diagnosis of “Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia” (WM) complicated with “Bing-Neel syndrome” (BNS); as a result, the anorexia was attributed to it, and the symptomatic treatment with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) was proposed to improve his condition

An Analysis of Two Aged Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis

What methods would you choose apart from purified protein derivative (PPD) skin test and culture for acid-fasting bacilli (AFB) to make a clinical diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in an aged patient with possible TB? These are two cases of pulmonary TB, that occurred with persistent low-grade fever, fatigue and anorexia due to a mild toxemia of tuberculosis. A final diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis was established on the basis of mild toxemia(low-grade fever), debilitation and characteristic pulmonary CT imaging, free of PPD and interferon-gamma release assay (T-spot). The authors realized that the dosage of anti-tuberculosis drugs should be carefully controlled and the improvement of their overall nutritional status to gain better efficacy is much more needed

Optimizing microbial- and enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation treatment regimes to improve the performance of recycled aggregate concrete

Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) typically suffers from inferior properties due to old mortar on the surface of recycled aggregate (RA), and the practical application of two proposed treatment methods, microbial-induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) and enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation (EICP), has encountered challenges in determining optimal culture medium and precipitation regimes. This study initially aimed to address these challenges by establishing the feasibility of using chloride-free cultivation medium to avoid introducing chloride ions that could damage the steel reinforcement. The optimal Ca concentration in the precipitation culture medium was determined as 0.3 mol/L for MICP and 0.5 mol/L for EICP. Furthermore, the optimal precipitation regimes for MICP and EICP treatments were identified as I-S (5 cycles) and M-S (3 cycles), respectively. The quantitative evaluation of the above factors enabled the direct practical application of these optimal treatment regimes. The performance of RAC was significantly improved after both MICP and EICP treatments compared to untreated RAC, with EICP treatment demonstrating superior performance. The precipitated CaCO3 formed during MICP treatment consisted mainly of spherical vaterite crystals, while the precipitation formed during EICP treatment comprised vaterite, calcite, and aragonite. These differences in phase and mechanism between MICP and EICP treatments could explain the variations in the performance of RAC.</p

Spinal cord stimulation for cancer-related pain in adults

Background: This is an update of a review first published in The Cochrane Library in Issue 3, 2013. Cancer-related pain places a heavy burden on public health with related high expenditure. Severe pain is associated with a decreased quality of life in patients with cancer. A significant proportion of patients with cancer-related pain are under-treated. There is a need for more effective control of cancer-related pain. Spinal cord stimulation (SCS)may have a role in pain management. The effectiveness and safety of SCS for patients with cancer-related pain is currently unknown. Objectives: This systematic review evaluated the effectiveness of SCS for cancer-related pain compared with standard care using conventional analgesic medication. We also appraised risk and potential adverse events associated with the use of SCS. Search methods: This is an update of a review first published in The Cochrane Library in Issue 3, 2013. The search strategy for the update was the same as in the original review. We searched the following bibliographic databases in order to identify relevant studies: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in The Cochrane Library;MEDLINE; EMBASE; and CBM(Chinese Biomedical Database) in October 2014. We also handsearched relevant journals. There were no language restrictions. Selection criteria: We planned to include randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that directly compared SCS with other interventions with regards to the effectiveness of pain management.We also planned to include cross-over trials that compared SCS with another treatment.We planned to identify non-randomised controlled trials but these would only be included if no RCTs could be found. Data collection and analysis: The literature search for the update of this review found 121 potentially eligible articles. The initial search strategy yielded 430 articles. By scrutinising titles and abstracts, we found 412 articles irrelevant to the analytical purpose of this systematic review due to different scopes of diseases or different methods of intervention (intrathecal infusion system; oral medication) or aims other than pain control (spinal cord function monitoring, bladder function restoration or amelioration of organ metabolism). The remaining 18 trials were reviewed as fullmanuscripts. No RCTs were identified. Fourteen sporadic case reports and review articles were excluded and four beforeand- after case series studies (92 participants) were included. Two review authors independently selected the studies to be included in the review according to the prespecified eligibility criteria. A checklist for methodological quality of non-randomised controlled trials was used (STROBE checklist) and all review authors discussed and agreed on the inclusion of trials and the results of the quality assessment. Main results: No new studies were identified for inclusion in this update of the review. Four before-and-after case series studies (a total of 92 participants) met our criteria for inclusion in the previous version of the review. All included trials adopted a visual analogue scale (VAS) to evaluate pain relief. Heterogeneity existed in terms of baseline characteristics, electrode and stimulator parameters, level of implantation and route of implantation; each trial reported data differently. In two trials, pain relief was achieved in 76% (48/63) of participants at the end of the follow-up period. In the third trial, pre-procedure VAS was 6 to 9 (mean 7.43 ); the one-month postimplant VAS was 2 to 4 (mean 3.07); the 12-month post-implant VAS was 1 to 3 (mean 2.67). In the fourth trial, the pre-procedure VAS was 6 to 9 (mean 7.07); 1 to 4 (mean 2.67) at one-month; 1 to 4 (mean 1.87) at 12 months. Analgesic use was largely reduced. The main adverse events were infection of sites of implantation, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage, pain at the sites of electrodes, dislodgement of the electrodes, and system failure; however, the incidence in participants with cancer could not be calculated. Since all trials were small, non-randomised controlled trials, they carried high or unclear risk of all types of bias. Authors’ conclusions: Since the first publication of this review, no new studies were identified. Current evidence is insufficient to establish the role of SCS in treating refractory cancer-related pain. Future randomised studies should focus on the implantation of SCS in participants with cancer related pain