Treatment Alternatives to Non-Incarceration for Drug-Abusing Defendants

The burden on criminal justice systems which has accompanied the increased use of narcotic and other dangerous drugs in our society has forced responsible members from both law enforcement agencies and the medical community to join together in developing new programs within the criminal justice structure to deal with the drug phenomenon. In this article, the authors discuss some of these varied program alternatives and suggest additions which can be utilized to reduce both the criminal activity and the drug-abusing habits of persons who come in contact with criminal justice systems

Treatment Alternatives to Non-Incarceration for Drug-Abusing Defendants

The burden on criminal justice systems which has accompanied the increased use of narcotic and other dangerous drugs in our society has forced responsible members from both law enforcement agencies and the medical community to join together in developing new programs within the criminal justice structure to deal with the drug phenomenon. In this article, the authors discuss some of these varied program alternatives and suggest additions which can be utilized to reduce both the criminal activity and the drug-abusing habits of persons who come in contact with criminal justice systems

Penile prosthesis implant for erectile dysfunction: A new minimally invasive infrapubic surgical technique

Erectile dysfunction, the most common male sexual disorder after premature ejaculation, with its important impact on man and partner’s sexuality and quality of life is a persistent inability to obtain and maintain an erection sufficient to permit satisfactory sexual performance. Non-surgical treatments with controversial results are usually applyed before surgical treatment that has reached high levels of satisfaction. We describe a new surgical technique to implant three-pieces penile prosthesis in patients suffering from erectile dysfunction (ED) not responding to conventional medical therapy or reporting side effects with such a therapy. Implantation of an inflatable prosthesis, for treatment of ED, is a safe and efficacious approach with high satisfaction reported by patients and partners. Surgical technique should be minimally invasive and latest technology equipment should be implanted in order to decrease common complications and to obtain a better aesthetic result

Distal corporal anchoring stitch: a technique to address distal corporal crossovers and impending lateral extrusions of a penile prosthesis

Background: Unidentified distal crossovers, delayed distal crossovers, and impending lateral extrusion are complications of penile prosthesis implant insertion but are not as common as prosthesis infection or mechanical failure. Aim: To evaluate results of a surgical technique, the distal corporal anchoring stitch, that addresses fixation of the penile prosthesis in patients with these complications. Methods: A lateral sub-coronal incision is used on the side where the crossover or laterally extruding cylinder should be positioned. Dissection is carried through the Buck fascia, followed by a transverse incision of the tunica albuginea, where the distal aspect of the affected cylinder is delivered. A 4-0 PDS suture is threaded through the distal cylinder ring of the implant. A new, properly positioned intracorporal channel is created and the suture is passed through the distal end of the channel. Once the suture is through the glans and the cylinder is in the correct position, a small cruciate incision is made on the glans at the location of the anchor stitch. The suture is tied with the knot buried in the glans tissue. Outcomes: Fifty-three patients underwent treatment of their distal penile implant crossover with a distal corporoplasty using this method and their anatomic and functional outcomes and overall satisfaction were evaluated. Results: This technique ensured that the cylinder remained in the newly created, appropriately positioned channel. No patients developed infections, wound-healing defect, glandular hypoesthesia, anesthesia, or altered sensation or pain in the glans related to the suture and only two reported recurrence of a lateral herniation that did not require further treatment. Clinical Implications: Distal fixation of the penile prosthesis is a useful surgical adjunct to treating patients with prosthetic lateral extrusions or crossovers that can be applied in almost all cases. Strengths and Limitations: Considering these rare complications, our experience is based on a relatively large number of patients and showed a low incidence of complications and a high satisfaction rate. The main limitation of this study is the retrospective nature of the data and the series included patients from two high-volume surgeons that might not be generalizable to all practices. Conclusion: The distal corporal anchoring stitch is safe and effective in securing distal fixation of the extruding inflatable penile prosthesis

Postoperative vacuum therapy following AMS™ LGX 700® inflatable penile prosthesis placement: penile dimension outcomes and overall satisfaction

Penile shortening after inflatable penile prosthesis for erectile dysfunction is a common postoperative patient complaint and can reduce overall satisfaction with the procedure. In this prospective study we report our results regarding penile dimensions and patient satisfaction outcomes after 1 year of follow-up from AMS™LGX700® penile prosthesis implant with 6 months of vacuum erectile device therapy. Seventy-four selected patients with medically refractory erectile dysfunction underwent AMS™ LGX 700® IPP placement. Postoperatively, patients were assigned vacuum device therapy for 5 min twice daily. Follow-up continued for 1 year after surgery. Dimensional and functional results were assessed. Baseline median preoperative stretched penile length and girth were 14 cm (range 10–17) and 9 cm (range 7–12), respectively. At the end of the study penile median dimensional outcomes were 17 cm (range 13–23) for length and 11 cm (range 10–13) for girth while a median number of 24 pumps (range 18–29) to fully inflate the device was seen. Baseline median International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) score was 9 (range 5–11), at 6 months 20 (range 18–26) and at 1 year was 25 (range 20–27) (p < 0.0001). Median Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction (EDITS) score at the end of the follow-up was 74 (range 66–78). Our postoperative rehabilitation program is feasible and should be recommended after prothesis surgery in order to increase overall satisfaction with the procedure. Penile postoperative dimensional outcomes were statistically significant improved and complications were negligible

Proof of Space from Stacked Expanders

Recently, proof of space (PoS) has been suggested as a more egalitarian alternative to the traditional hash-based proof of work. In PoS, a prover proves to a verifier that it has dedicated some specified amount of space. A closely related notion is memory-hard functions (MHF), functions that require a lot of memory/space to compute. While making promising progress, existing PoS and MHF have several problems. First, there are large gaps between the desired space-hardness and what can be proven. Second, it has been pointed out that PoS and MHF should require a lot of space not just at some point, but throughout the entire computation/protocol; few proposals considered this issue. Third, the two existing PoS constructions are both based on a class of graphs called superconcentrators, which are either hard to construct or add a logarithmic factor overhead to efficiency. In this paper, we construct PoS from stacked expander graphs. Our constructions are simpler, more efficient and have tighter provable space-hardness than prior works. Our results also apply to a recent MHF called Balloon hash. We show Balloon hash has tighter space-hardness than previously believed and consistent space-hardness throughout its computation

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead