The Two Worlds of University Publishing

24 p. 23 cm. "Given on November 16, 1967, under the joint sponsorship of the University of Kansas Libraries and of the University Press of Kansas, on the occasion of the founding of the new press." Bibliography: p. 24

Cancer Survival and Excess Mortality Estimates among Adolescents and Young Adults in Western Australia, 1982-2004: A Population-Based Study

Background: Data are limited on cancer outcomes in adolescents and young adults. Methods: Based on data from the Western Australian Data Linkage System, this study modelled survival and excess mortality in all adolescents and young adults aged 15-39 years in Western Australia who had a diagnosis of cancer in the period 1982-2004. Relative survival and excess all-cause mortality for all cancers combined and for principal tumour subgroups were estimated, using the Ederer II method and generalised linear Poisson modelling, respectively. Results: A cancer diagnosis in adolescents and young adults conferred substantial survival decrement. However, overall outcomes improved over calendar period (excess mortality hazard ratio [HR], latest versus earliest diagnostic period: 0.52, trend <0.0001). Case fatality varied according to age group (HR, oldest versus youngest: 1.38, trend <0.0001), sex (HR, female versus male: 0.66, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.62-0.71), ethnicity (HR, Aboriginal versus others: 1.47, CI 1.23-1.76), geographical area (HR, rural/remote versus urban: 1.13, CI 1.04-1.23) and residential socioeconomic status (HR, lowest versus highest quartile: 1.14, trend <0.05). Tumour subgroups differed substantially in frequency according to age group and sex, and were critical outcome determinants. Conclusions: Marked progressive calendar-time improvement in overall outcomes was evident. Further research is required to disentangle the contributions of tumour biology and health service factors to outcome disparities between ethno-demographic, geographic and socioeconomic subgroups of adolescents and young adults with cancer. © 2013 Haggar et al

Elective cancer surgery in COVID-19-free surgical pathways during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: An international, multicenter, comparative cohort study

PURPOSE As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19–free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19–free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19–free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19–free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score–matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19–free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

Elective Cancer Surgery in COVID-19-Free Surgical Pathways During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: An International, Multicenter, Comparative Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19-free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19-free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS: Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19-free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19-free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score-matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19-free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION: Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19-free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks

Origins of class struggle in Louisiana : a social history of white farmers and laborers during slavery and after, 1840-1875/ Shugg

xiv, 372 hal. : 21 c

Relevance of Ground-based Electron-Induced Electrostatic Discharge Measurements to Space Plasma Environments

Electron-induced electrostatic discharge (ESD) can lead to severe spacecraft anomalies. It is crucial to the success of space missions that the likelihood of ESD occurrence is understood and mitigated. To aid in predicting ESD occurrence, a model for electric fields above and below the charge layer inside an electronirradiated dielectric material was developed. An instrumentation system was also designed to induce and detect ESD events. Because ESD events with a wide range of maximum current values can occur over a range of time intervals, multiple simultaneous detection methods were employed as charge was accumulated on a sample surface; these included monitoring of sample current and optical emissions from the sample surface. Data from ESD experimentation for James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) materials was used to verify that the instrumentation system was effective in inducing and observing ESD. Two types of discharge events were observed during JWST testing: a sudden-onset, decaying current accompanied by luminescence in the optical data, and an arc or flash in optical data. JWST test results were applied to the electric field models developed to determine the threshold electric field for luminescence onset. The models were also applied to the JWST materials in five different space plasma environments to determine the accumulated electric field as a function of time, and to thereby predict the likelihood of sample luminescence in each location

Changes in cystic fibrosis mortality in Australia, 1979-2005

Objective: To assess mortality trends among people with cystic fibrosis (CF) in Australia. Design and setting: We augmented Australian summary data for deaths from CF registered during 1979-2005 with information from Australian transplant centres on lung transplantation among CF patients for 1989-2005 to allow us to follow trends in all "mortality events" (death or lung transplantation). Main outcome measure: Age at death or lung transplantation. Results: Between 1979 and 2005, the mean age at death increased from 12.2 years to 27.9 years for males and from 14.8 years to 25.3 years for females. Overall, female deaths in childhood (0-14 years) occurred at an age-standardised rate of 0.40 per 100 000 (95% CI, 0.34-0.45) during 1979-2005, which exceeded the corresponding rate for males of 0.24 (95% CI, 0.20-0.28) per 100 000. Among 0-14-year-old boys, event rates declined markedly after 1989, but they declined later and more gradually for girls, with the result that the age-standardised rate for girls was 2.38 times that of boys during 1989-2005 (95% CI, 1.69-3.36). Conclusions: The pattern of CF mortality in Australia has changed substantially. Mortality rates continue to be higher for girls than for boys, but death in childhood has become uncommon. Survival has increased since 1979, but females continue to have reduced length of life