Brodersenmclean9341
Current U.S. primary care workforce shortages and trainees' declining interest in primary care residency training, especially regarding primary care internal medicine, have many parallels with circumstances in the early 1970s, when modern adult primary care first emerged. Rediscovery of the lessons learned and the solutions developed at that time and applying them to the current situation have the potential to help engage a new generation of young physicians in the primary care mission.The author compares the internal medicine residency primary care track at the University of New Mexico, described by Brislen and colleagues in this issue, with the nation's first three-year primary care internal medicine residency track introduced at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1973. Strategies for addressing the challenges of primary care practice and improving learner attitudes toward the field are discussed. The author suggests that primary care physicians should be likened to "quarterbacks" rather than "gatekeepers" or "providers" to underscore the intensity of training, level of responsibility, degree of professionalism, and amount of compensation required for this profession. The advent of multidisciplinary team practice, modern health information technology, and fundamental payment reform promises to dramatically alter the picture of primary care, restoring its standing as one of the best job descriptions in medicine.
Nationally, shortages of primary care providers are of major concern. Internal medicine programs, once the major supplier of primary care physicians, are no longer producing large numbers of primary care providers to help meet the needs of the growing patient population.
In 2009, residents at the University of New Mexico created a resident-driven Primary Care Track (PCT) within the internal medicine residency, and after six years this track is thriving. The PCT allows residents to designate blocks of time specifically devoted to primary care training. Residents opt in to the track at the end of intern year and arrange their own schedules over large blocks of time in the last two years of training to allow for an individualized curriculum that prepares them for independent practice in primary care.
Approximately 85% (11/13) of residents who have graduated from the track have gone on to practice in primary care after graduation, and the internal medicine residency program as a whole has also seen an increase in the fraction of residents pursuing primary care since the inception of this track.
The PCT is currently at maximum capacity and may be forced to turn away applicants. To expand while still maintaining the core principles of the track, the PCT will strive to find additional ways to use New Mexico's existing resources and to develop a more robust mentoring structure and didactic programs. Formalized financial, faculty, and administrative support of the program also will be needed.
The PCT is currently at maximum capacity and may be forced to turn away applicants. To expand while still maintaining the core principles of the track, the PCT will strive to find additional ways to use New Mexico's existing resources and to develop a more robust mentoring structure and didactic programs. Formalized financial, faculty, and administrative support of the program also will be needed.To establish strategic priorities for the Public Health Agency of Sweden we prioritized pathogens according to their public health relevance in Sweden in order to guide resource allocation. We then compared the outcome to ongoing surveillance. We used a modified prioritization method developed at the Robert Koch Institute in Germany. In a Delphi process experts scored pathogens according to ten variables. We ranked the pathogens according to the total score and divided them into four priority groups. We then compared the priority groups to self-reported time spent on surveillance by epidemiologists and ongoing programmes for surveillance through mandatory and/or voluntary notifications and for surveillance of typing results. 106 pathogens were scored. The result of the prioritization process was similar to the outcome of the prioritization in Germany. Common pathogens such as calicivirus and Influenza virus as well as blood-borne pathogens such as human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B and C virus, gastro-hest relevance.Glioma stem-like cells (GSCs) are undifferentiated cells that are considered to be an origin of glioblastomas. Furthermore, they may contribute to treatment resistance and recurrence in glioblastomas. GSCs differentiate into differentiated glioma cells (non-glioma stem-like cells non‑GSCs), and interconversion might occur between GSCs and non-GSCs. We investigated whether interferon-beta (IFN-β) could exert any efficacy towards GSCs or such interconversion processes. The neural stem cell marker CD133 and pluripotency marker Nanog in GSCs were analyzed to evaluate their differentiation levels. GSCs were considered to undergo differentiation into non-GSCs upon serum exposure, since the expression of CD133 and Nanog in the GSCs was negatively affected. Furthermore, the cells regained their undifferentiated features upon removal of the serum. However, we verified that IFN-β reduced cell proliferation and tumor sphere formation in GSCs, and induced suppression of the restoration of such undifferentiated features. In addition, we also confirmed that IFN-β suppressed the acquisition process of undifferentiated features in human malignant glioma cell lines. Our data thus suggest that IFN-β could be an effective agent not only through its cell growth inhibitory effect on GSCs but also as a means of targeting the interconversion between GSCs and non-GSCs, indicating the possibility of IFN-β being used to prevent treatment resistance and recurrence in glioblastomas, via the inhibition of undifferentiated features.Decitabine and CHG regimen (low-dose cytarabine and homoharringtonine with G-CSF) have been used for treating higher risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). In this study, we retrospectively compared the efficacy and toxicity of the two regimens in 132 MDS patients. Complete remission (CR) was not significantly different between the groups (27.1% with decitabine vs. 30.6% with CHG, p = 0.657). The CR rate with decitabine (58.8%) was significantly higher than that with CHG (7.7%) (p = 0.007) among the patients with poor karyotypes. Five of 23 (21.7%) patients who failed to respond to decitabine achieved CR with CHG, while one of two patients achieved CR with decitabine after failure with CHG. Overall and relapse-free survival were not different between the groups. In conclusion, both decitabine and CHG regimen are effective for higher risk MDS; there is no cross resistance between the regimens. Decitabine might be a better choice for patients with poor karyotypes.
To evaluate the bone regeneration capacity of bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMSCs) in vertical guided augmentation of bone tissue.
The calvaria of 20 rabbits were vertically augmented with autogenous bone graft (ABG); collagen/beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) linked scaffold transplanted with 15 × 10 BMSCs; or scaffold alone (control). The augmentation materials were covered with stainless steel domes. BMSCs were isolated with Ficoll-Paque technique and applied directly without in vitro expansion. The newly formed bone was evaluated using radiodensitometric, histomorphometric, histological, and micro-computed tomographic (micro-CT) analyses after a 12-week healing period. The data excluding micro-CT assessments were compared statistically.
Radiodensitometric and bone volume parameters demonstrated increased bone formation in both BMSC group and ABG group compared with control group (P < 0.01), but difference between the BMSC and ABG groups was not significant (P > 0.05). The mean histological scores for the BMSC, ABG, and control groups were 7.44 ± 1.03, 8.44 ± 0.81, and 6.00 ± 1.10, respectively, indicating significant difference among the groups (P < 0.05).
BMSCs delivered with a collagen/β-TCP linked scaffold can provide improved new bone formation that is comparable with autogenous bone block graft through vertical guided bone regeneration technique.
BMSCs delivered with a collagen/β-TCP linked scaffold can provide improved new bone formation that is comparable with autogenous bone block graft through vertical guided bone regeneration technique.
The objective of this study was to investigate morphologically the progression of periimplantitis around an ultraviolet (UV)-light-irradiated implant in dogs.
Pure titanium implants (3.3 mm in diameter and 8 mm long) were placed into dog jawbone bilaterally. Implants on one side were irradiated with UV light for 15 minutes using a photodevice immediately before placement (UV group), whereas those on the other side were not irradiated (non-UV group). Osseointegration was confirmed 90 days after implant placement by radiography. Experimental periimplantitis was induced by the application of dental floss over 90 days. Clinical and radiographic examination and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) were performed after 90 and 180 days, and bone resorption was measured. The bone-implant interface in tissue sections was examined by light microscopy.
Bone resorption around the UV-irradiated implant was less pronounced than around the non-UV-irradiated implant in the ligature-induced periimplantitis model. Tissue section images revealed no contact and partial destruction at the bone-implant interface.
Within the limitations of this preliminary investigation, it is suggested that UV-light-irradiated implants suppress spontaneous progression of periimplantitis.
Within the limitations of this preliminary investigation, it is suggested that UV-light-irradiated implants suppress spontaneous progression of periimplantitis.The oldest refinery and the major petrochemical complexes of Mexico are located in the lower reach of the Coatzacoalcos River, considered the most polluted coastal area of Mexico. A (210)Pb-dated sediment core, from the continental shelf of the Coatzacoalcos River, was studied to assess the contamination impact by the oil industry in the southern Gulf of Mexico. The sedimentary record showed the prevalence of petrogenic PAHs between 1950s and 1970s, a period during which waste discharges from the oil industry were not regulated. Later on, sediments exhibited higher contents of pyrogenic PAHs, attributed to the incineration of petrochemical industry wastes and recurrent wildfires in open dumpsites at the nearby swamps. The total concentration of the 16 EPA-priority PAHs indicated low levels of contamination (1000 ng g(-1)) during the late 1970s, most likely due to the major oil spill produced by the blowout of the Ixtoc-I offshore oil rig in deep waters of the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. Most of the PAH congeners did not show defined temporal trends but, according to a Factor Analysis, apparently have a common origin, probably waste released from the nearby oil industry. The only exceptions were the pyrogenic benzo(b)fluoranthene and benzo(a)pyrene, and the biogenic perylene, that showed increasing concentration trends with time, which we attributed to erosional input of contaminated soil from the catchment area. Our study confirmed chronic oil contamination in the Coatzacoalcos River coastal area from land based sources for more than 60 years (since 1950s).