"...there was no significant association between coffee intake and GERD"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23795898

Dis Esophagus. 2013 Jun 24. doi: 10.1111/dote.12099. [Epub ahead of print]

Association between coffee intake and gastroesophageal reflux disease: a meta-analysis.

Kim J, Oh SW, Myung SK, Kwon H, Lee C, Yun JM, Lee HK; The Korean Meta-analysis (KORMA) Study Group.

Source

Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is one of the most common diseases affecting patients worldwide, but its risk factors and causes are not clearly known. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of coffee intake on GERD by a meta-analysis. We searched online published research databases such as PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library for studies that were published up to December 2012. These publications were reviewed by two independent authors, and studies that fulfilled the criteria were selected. Whenever there was a disagreement between the authors, a consensus was reached by discussion. Fifteen case-control studies were included in the final analysis. A meta-analysis showed that there was no significant association between coffee intake and GERD. The odds ratio was 1.06 (95% confidence interval, 0.94-1.19). In subgroup analyses in which the groups were subdivided based on the definition of GERD (diagnosed by endoscopy or by symptoms alone), only the endoscopy group showed a significantly higher odds ratio. In subgroup analyses in which the groups were subdivided based on the amount of coffee intake, quality of study, and assessment of exposure, there was no significant association between coffee intake and GERD.

From CUNY: Stories of suffering with leprosy and cancer in Korea

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23818477

Nurs Sci Q. 2013 Jul;26(3):274-9. doi: 10.1177/0894318413489171.

Stories of suffering with leprosy and cancer in Korea.

Baumann SL, Lee OJ, Im SB.

Source

Hunter College of the City University of New York, Williston Park, NY, USA.

Abstract

The authors in this article tell the story of the experience of suffering of three persons with cancer in South Korea. Two of the stories are about men who early in their lives were diagnosed with Leprosy (Hansen's disease) and forced to live most of their lives in a prison- like treatment facility. The third story is of a woman with advanced cancer who ended up in a similar place because she lost both of her children and husband. Parse's humanbecoming theory and thoughts on human dignity provide the theoretical perspective for this discussion. The conclusion of the article is that largely because of ignorance and fear, people with Hansen's disease in Korea, as elsewhere, suffer a unique form of betrayal and shame; what they deserve is honor and reverence as they struggle to retain a sense of awe about being human.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23814400

Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2013 Jul;26(3):306-10.

Saving lives, not sacrificing them: the inevitable clash between medical research and the protection of medical subjects.

Weisse AB.

Source

Department of Medicine (retired), New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark.

Abstract

Throughout history, medical practitioners have been admonished to do nothing in treating their patients that might result in harming them. It was not until the 20th century that such teaching was codified in specific legislation. Spurred on by the perversity of Nazi doctors during the Holocaust, world leaders produced the Nuremberg Code in 1947 and the Declaration of Helsinki in 1964. Revelations about other egregious acts in the guise of legitimate medical research led to other measures to prevent such mistreatment. Regulations to ensure physician competency and responsibility have mushroomed in the succeeding years. While such measures were coming into being, some of the greatest advances in medicine were being achieved, not least among them those in cardiovascular surgery. Ironically, much of this valuable research would likely not have been approved under regulatory measures now firmly in place. Given the nature of medical research, more often than not a certain degree of risk in all patients entering such trials may be unavoidable. There is always a balance to be maintained between risk and potential benefit.

From Charite U-Berlin: Possessed by Evil Spirits: A History of Seizures in Infancy

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23670245

J Child Neurol. 2013 May 13. [Epub ahead of print]

Possessed by Evil Spirits: A History of Seizures in Infancy.

Obladen M.

Source

1Department of Neonatology, Charité University Medicine, Berlin, Germany.

Abstract

For 4 millennia, seizures in infancy were believed to be of supranatural origin and were dealt with by incantations, exorcising rituals, and protective amulets. Instead of pursuing scientific research into their causes, gods, devils, mothers, wet nurses, midwives, or obstetricians were blamed. Help from protective gods and patron saints was sought, and amulets against the "evil eye" were recommended by physicians, mostly in the form of necklaces. Infants were despised and hidden away from the community. Among the medical conditions associated with seizures, those most prominent were dentition, gastrointestinal irritation, and "bad" mother's milk. Medical treatment consisted of cutting or rubbing the gums with a hare's brain during dentition, and applying peony or theriac. Even during the 20th century, when laboratory methods, electroencephalography, brain imaging, and powerful pharmaceutical techniques were available, effective treatment evolved empirically rather than systematically.

From UNC-Chapel Hill: Tick Spit Shines a Light on the Initiation of Coagulation

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23817576

Circulation. 2013 Jul 1. [Epub ahead of print]

Tick Spit Shines a Light on the Initiation of Coagulation.

Aleman MM, Wolberg AS.

Source

1University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC.

Abstract

Mammalian blood has numerous essential and well-known functions, including oxygen and nutrient delivery. This elixir is recognized by blood-feeding species of mosquitos, ticks, fleas, lice, leeches, and bats that rely on blood meals for nutrition, life cycle progression and survival. To obtain these blood meals that require minutes to a week or longer to complete¹, these blood-sucking creatures must thwart endogenous defense systems contained within blood-immune and procoagulant cells and plasma proteins that rapidly clot (within 3-4 minutes) to provide first-line defense against breaches in vascular integrity. In a fascinating display of evolutionary agility, hemovores have adapted elegant mechanisms to evade detection and prevent blood coagulation by synthesizing an extensive armament of molecules with anesthetic, immunosuppressive, vasodilatory, anticoagulant, and profibrinolytic properties in mammals.^1-3 Research characterizing the molecules generated by hemovores to bypass mammalian defense pathways has revealed exciting new mechanisms and in some cases, novel therapeutic approaches for anticoagulation.

CPRIT Withdraws Pending Startup Funding Applications

http://www.xconomy.com/texas/2013/07/02/texas-cancer-agency-withdraws-pending-startup-funding-applications/

Texas Cancer Agency Withdraws Pending Startup Funding Applications

Angela Shah

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas has dismissed five pending grant applications by companies seeking funding in light of CPRIT’s ongoing reorganization.

"What might it mean to treat all vertebrates as having some form of consciousness and individuality?"

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/nature-and-cosmos/the-science-of-animal-consciousness/

Being a sandpiper

Animals have thoughts, feelings and personality, so why has science taken so long to catch up with animal consciousness?

by Brandon Keim

What might it mean to treat all vertebrates as having some form of consciousness and individuality? Animal welfare advocates campaign for the better treatment of companion and farm animals, which is a noble cause. But I am more interested in wild animals, our neighbours in nature. To the painter James Prosek, seeing wild animals as individuals offers a new and sorely needed conservation ethos. Biodiversity and ecosystem services make for well-meaning but often uninspiring rhetoric; they value nature generally, but provide little reason to care for actual creatures in a nearby forest or your backyard. Acknowledged as individuals, those sparrows, salamanders and squirrels are not interchangeable parts of a species machine. They are beings with their own inner lives and experiences.

"

Does this mean we should never eat a salmon, or cut down a tree to build a house? Not necessarily. We might simply acknowledge the consequences of our actions, and offer apologies and thanks to those creatures we affect. It’s the sort of ethical equation people need to solve for themselves."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23818761

Drug Des Devel Ther. 2013 Jun 19;7:503-510. Print 2013.

Reducing lung function decline in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: potential of nintedanib.

Woodcock HV, Molyneaux PL, Maher TM.

Source

Interstitial Lung Disease Unit, Royal Brompton Hospital, London, UK ; Centre for Respiratory Research, University College London, London, UK.

Abstract

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive, fibrotic lung disease with no clear etiology and a paucity of therapeutic options. Nintedanib (previously known as BIBF 1120) is a tyrosine kinase receptor antagonist which inhibits a number of key receptors, including those for platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and fibroblast growth factor (FGF). These growth factors are profibrotic and each has been investigated as a potential standalone therapeutic target in IPF. Simultaneous inhibition of these receptors, with an analog of nintedanib, has proved to be effective in experimental animal models of pulmonary fibrosis. This observation, together with extensive safety and pharmacokinetic data from studies of nintedanib in malignancy, paved the way for the clinical development of this drug in IPF. The Phase IIb TOMORROW trial demonstrated that treatment with nintedanib may potentially slow decline in lung function, decrease the frequency of acute exacerbations, and improve quality of life in patients with IPF. While these observations are drawn from a single clinical trial, taken together with the preclinical data they suggest that nintedanib may yet become an important therapeutic option for individuals with IPF. The results of ongoing parallel, international, multicenter Phase III clinical trials are therefore eagerly awaited.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23813122

Int J Behav Med. 2013 Jun 29. [Epub ahead of print]

Paying the Piper: Additional Considerations of the Theoretical, Ethical and Moral Basis of Financial Incentives for Health Behaviour Change.

Stephens C.

Source

School of Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand, C.V.Stephens@massey.ac.nz.

Abstract

Lynagh, Sanson-Fisher and Bonevski's article entitled "What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Guiding principles for the use of financial incentives in health behaviour change" (Int J Behav Med 20:114-120, 2012) reviews evidence for the use of financial incentives for encouraging health behaviour change. Their discussion of the practical and moral issues involved is a timely contribution which will encourage consideration of the implications of such interventions. In this response to their paper, I suggest that there are also broader aspects that we must consider before developing principles for public policy intervention. First, we must include good theories that explain in a great deal more depth what we mean by health-related behaviours, and secondly, we need to understand the location of these behaviours in social life and within structural inequalities. To ignore these fundamental aspects of health is to risk increasing social injustice and worsening health inequalities, a facet of the morality of health promotion activities which is not touched upon by the Lynagh et al. paper.

From U Sydney: Risk of suicide is insufficient warrant for coercive treatment for mental illness

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23816377

Int J Law Psychiatry. 2013 Jun 28. pii: S0160-2527(13)00075-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2013.06.021. [Epub ahead of print]

Risk of suicide is insufficient warrant for coercive treatment for mental illness.

Callaghan S, Ryan C, Kerridge I.

Source

Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine, University of Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: sascha.callaghan@sydney.edu.au.

Abstract

Mental health laws in many jurisdictions currently permit coercive treatment for persons with mental illness who are thought to be at risk of harm to themselves or others. These laws are often used to provide involuntary treatment to persons who are thought to be at risk of suicide. In this article we argue that legislated coercive psychiatric treatment should not be triggered by an assessment of the likelihood of harm, including a likelihood of suicide, but should be available only where a person is found to lack capacity to make their own decisions about their own health risks, after appropriate support has been given. We suggest that current opposition to this approach may find its origin in factors including uncertainties about the idea of vulnerability and its relationship to capacity as well as tendency to minimise the real costs of psychiatric treatment and coercion against the aim of suicide prevention. Given the limits of suicide risk assessment, we argue that a public policy that allows involuntary preventative detention of competent persons thought to be at risk of suicide, places too great a burden on all persons living with mental illness to be justified. We suggest that we are better placed to serve the interests and respect the human rights of people with mental illness if we respect and support the right of persons to make decisions, rather than focussing on perceived vulnerabilities and calculations of suicide risk.

It's time to walk the dog

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21934154

J Phys Act Health. 2012 Mar;9(3):414-20. Epub 2011 May 5.

Dog walking is associated with a favorable risk profile independent of moderate to high volume of physical activity.

Lentino C, Visek AJ, McDonnell K, DiPietro L.

Source

The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, Washington, DC, USA.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

An innovative strategy for helping people achieve recommended levels of daily physical activity is dog walking. We assessed differences in physical activity and risk indicators between dog owners who 1) walk their dog (n = 399) and 2) do not walk their dog (n = 137) and compared them with adults who do not own dogs (n = 380).

METHODS:

Participants (39 ± 13 years) were recruited online and completed an electronic questionnaire. Healthy People 2010 risk indicators included physical activity, overweight status, tobacco use, nutrition behaviors, chronic conditions, depressive symptoms, and social support.

RESULTS:

Compared with dog walkers, those who did not own or walk their dog reported less physical activity (MET-min·week-1) and a higher body mass index (P < .01). Moreover, after adjusting for age and moderate to high physical activity, those who did not own dogs had significantly greater odds of self-reported diabetes [OR = 2.53; 95%CI (1.17-5.48)], hypertension [OR = 1.71; 95%CI (1.03-2.83)], hypercholesterolemia [OR = 1.72; 95%CI (1.06-2.81)], and depression [OR = 1.49; 95%CI (1.09-2.05)] compared with participants who regularly walked their dogs.

CONCLUSIONS:

Because of the health benefits associated with dog walking, this activity should be encouraged within communities as a method of promoting and sustaining a healthy lifestyle.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14765524

Dan Medicinhist Arbog. 2003:13-27.

[My insanity in the year 1783].

[Article in Danish]

Rasmussen S.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is twofold: to defend the validity of the manic-depressive psychosis as a disease entity and to make an incursion into the history of psychiatry. The two intentions meet as far as the recognition of a clinical case straight through space and time supports the ontological status of a disease entity. An autobiographical work from 1801 "My insanity in the year 1783" written by the Danish vicar C.S. Andresen, who lived from 1760 to 1832 is briefly summed up. Andresen tells that he as a young student of divinity made a journey from the small town Rørvig in Zeeland to his then place in Copenhagen. The weather was intolerably hot, the coach was uncomfortable, the landscape deserted and empty-and just in the hardships the most unhappy and deplorable event happened: He faced the gruesome truth that he was deprived of the most precious gift of his Creator, his reason and faculties. A fellow passenger brought him to an inn where he literally ran up the walls alternately in high spirits and in deep dispair. When he arrived in Copenhagen he was blead, probably by a surgeon, but later that day admitted to King Frederik's Hospital where he was treated with bleds and leechs and baths. However, as the illness dragged on he was according to his own will accompanied by his custodian to his parental home in the Isle of Bornholm where he recovered while nursed by his mother and mother's mother who themselves had suffered from periodical melancholy when they were young. He completed his academic studies and became a highly respected scholar and vicar in the isle of Funen - but almost twenty years after his recovery he was made to suffer the humiliation that he - a true representative of the Age of Enlightment and rationalistic theologician - was suspected to have invoted his insanity by a sinful life in his youth. Thus his work may be regarded as a defensive pamphlet written at a time when a neutral and clinical view of mental diseases had given place to a moralistic and religious concept. The case serves as a modification of the general assumption that psychotic patients in "the classic age of confinement" under all circumstances were brutally treated and locked up. Even the fluent and subjective style is charming and reminds the Danes of Johannes Ewald (1743-81) and perhaps - were it to be translated - the English of Lawrence Sterne (1713-68). Maybe the booklet of just 75 pages is worthy of a translation?

"The purpose of these histories was . . . not only descriptive — it was emancipatory."

http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/5080/full


Decline and Fall of the History Men

DANIEL JOHNSON

July/August 2013

"What has become problematic is the assumption that general historical knowledge, an informed consciousness of our past, is the essential framework for Western civilisation. It is the decline of history in this sense that lies behind the heated debates about the teaching of history at school and university. The loss of such a temporal dimension has brought about a profound change in the outlook of the West: a loss of organic connection, not only with those who came before us, but with our place in the world. Clive James memorably described this phenomenon as "cultural amnesia", and Eric Voegelin adopted the theological concept of "anamnesis" to describe our attempts to preserve transcendent memories. Yet such remembrances of time past, whether they express rage against the dying of the light of history as a force in intellectual life, or acquiescence in its oblivion, are at best rearguard actions.

That an educated person could lack such historical awareness would not have occurred to the 19th-century apostles of high culture, the Mills and Arnolds,père et fils, or the brothers Humboldt and James. The 18th-centuryphilosophes had tried to create a "philosophical" or "conjectural" history of mankind, as Anthony Pagden writes in his encyclopaedic new book The Enlightenment (OUP, £20). "The purpose of these histories was . . . not only descriptive — it was emancipatory. In providing a proper scientific understanding of the origin and evolution of the human condition, they would, it was hoped, release man from his servitude to . . . prejudice." In the 19th century, however, this emancipatory impetus was allied to the romantic cult of genius, which gave weight to what Max Weber would later call "charisma". History was the story of liberty, but also of the liberator. To be human was to be an actor on the stage of history; the human sciences were those governed by the historical method. To have a place in the history books was not only the definition of fame, but the very purpose and meaning of life."

From U Cambridge: Lay perspectives of successful ageing: a systematic review and meta-ethnography

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23794575

BMJ Open. 2013 Jun 20;3(6). pii: e002710. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002710. Print 2013.

Lay perspectives of successful ageing: a systematic review and meta-ethnography.

Cosco TD, Prina AM, Perales J, Stephan BC, Brayne C.

Source

Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Cambridge Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:

The aim of the current study was to conduct a systematic review of lay perspectives of successful ageing (SA), synthesise these data using a metaethnographic framework and to provide a snapshot of extant lay perspectives of SA.

DESIGN:

A systematic review of layperson perspectives of SA was conducted across MEDLINE, PsycInfo, CINAHL, EMBASE and ISI Web of Knowledge.

PARTICIPANTS:

Peer-reviewed studies conducting qualitative investigations of lay perspectives of SA were included. Included studies were coded and analysed using NVivo V.9 to examine underlying themes of SA.

RESULTS:

The search strategy identified 7285 articles; 26 articles met the inclusion criteria. Laypersons identified psychosocial components, notably engagement (eg, social engagement), and personal resources (eg, attitude) as integral components of SA more often than 'physiological' components, such as longevity or physical functioning. These results also highlight the profound under-representation of non-Western countries and the cultural homogeneity of research participants.

CONCLUSIONS:

The current study reveals the importance laypersons place on incorporating psychosocial components into multidimensional models of SA, as well as highlighting the need for increased research with under-represented populations.

From Emory U: Making Sense of HIV in Southeastern Nigeria: Fictional Narratives, Cultural Meanings, and Methodologies in Medical Anthropology

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23804317

Med Anthropol Q. 2013 Jun 26. doi: 10.1111/maq.12023. [Epub ahead of print]

Making Sense of HIV in Southeastern Nigeria: Fictional Narratives, Cultural Meanings, and Methodologies in Medical Anthropology.

Winskell K, Brown PJ, Patterson AE, Burkot C, Mbakwem BC.

Source

Hubert Department of Global Health, Emory University.

Abstract

Fictional narratives have rarely been used in medical anthropological research. This article illustrates the value of such narratives by examining how young people in southeastern Nigeria navigate the cultural resources available to them to make sense of HIV in their creative writing. Using thematic data analysis and narrative-based methodologies, it analyzes a sample (N = 120) from 1,849 narratives submitted by Nigerian youth to the 2005 Scenarios from Africa scriptwriting contest on the theme of HIV. The narratives are characterized by five salient themes: tragedy arising from the incompatibility of sex outside marriage and kinship obligations; female vulnerability and blame; peer pressure and moral ambivalence; conservative Christian sexual morality; and the social and family consequences of HIV. We consider the strengths and limitations of this narrative approach from a theoretical perspective and by juxtaposing our findings with those generated by Daniel Jordan Smith using standard ethnographic research methods with a similar Igbo youth population.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23774324

Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2013 Jun 17. [Epub ahead of print]

Angry at the Unjust, Scared of the Powerful: Emotional Responses to Terrorist Threat.

Giner-Sorolla R, Maitner AT.

Source

1University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.

Abstract

The threat of terrorist attacks motivates emotional reactions that elicit functional behavioral responses to characteristics of a threatening group. We argue that the more the group is seen as unjust, the more anger arises, whereas the more it is seen as powerful, the more fear arises. In Experiment 1, British participants read about terrorist groups with varied levels of injustice and power. As expected, the manipulation of injustice increased anger, and power increased fear. Anger and fear predicted offensive and defensive reactions. Experiment 2 used a representative sample of U.S. residents and again found distinct effects of an injustice manipulation on anger, and a power manipulation on fear. Anger was a primary motivator of support for offensive and defensive measures in both experiments. Willingness to negotiate was reduced with more injustice and anger, but increased with more outgroup power and fear. These findings have implications on public reactions to terrorist organizations.

"up to 40% of HIV patients are not known to be HIV infected at the time of ICU admission"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23806117

Crit Care. 2013 Jun 14;17(3):228. [Epub ahead of print]

Clinical review: Respiratory failure in HIV-infected patients - a changing picture.

Sarkar P, Rasheed HF.

Source

Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, St Helier Hospital, Carshalton, Surrey, United Kingdom. putulsarkar@gmail.com.

Abstract

Respiratory failure in HIV-infected patients is a relatively common presentation to ICU. The debate on ICU treatment of HIV-infected patients goes on despite an overall decline in mortality amongst these patients since the AIDS epidemic. Many intensive care physicians feel that ICU treatment of critically ill HIV patients is likely to be futile. This is mainly due to the unfavourable outcome of HIV patients with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia who need mechanical ventilation. However, the changing spectrum of respiratory illness in HIV-infected patients and improved outcome from critical illness remain under-recognised. Also, the awareness of certain factors that can affect their outcome remains low. As there are important ethical and practical implications for intensive care clinicians while making decisions to provide ICU support to HIV-infected patients, a review of literature was undertaken. It is notable that the respiratory illnesses that are not directly related to underlying HIV disease are now commonly encountered in the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) era. The overall incidence of P. jirovecii as a cause of respiratory failure has declined since the AIDS epidemic and sepsis including bacterial pneumonia has emerged as a frequent cause of hospital and ICU admission amongst HIV patients. The improved overall outcome of HIV patients needing ICU admission is related to advancement in general ICU care, including adoption of improved ventilation strategies. An awareness of respiratory illnesses in HIV-infected patients along with an appropriate diagnostic and treatment strategy may obviate the need for invasive ventilation and improve outcome further. HIV-infected patients presenting with respiratory failure will benefit from early admission to critical care for treatment and support. There is evidence to suggest that continuing or starting HAART in critically ill HIV patients is beneficial and hence should be considered after multidisciplinary discussion. As a very high percentage (up to 40%) of HIV patients are not known to be HIV infected at the time of ICU admission, the clinicians should keep a low threshold for requesting HIV testing for patients with recurrent pneumonia.

"Fifty percent of the participants reported first being homeless between 14 and 18 years of age"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23806186

Public Health. 2013 Jun 24. pii: S0033-3506(13)00121-2. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2013.04.006. [Epub ahead of print]

Needs of the hidden homeless - no longer hidden: a pilot study.

Crawley J, Kane D, Atkinson-Plato L, Hamilton M, Dobson K, Watson J.

Source

University of Windsor, Faculty of Nursing, Canada. Electronic address: jcrawley@uwindsor.ca.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

The purpose of this pilot study was to describe the health, housing and social service needs of the hidden homeless. It has been estimated that 80% of all people experiencing homelessness are hidden homeless, and because they remain 'hidden', resources are not allocated to provide this vulnerable population with support.

STUDY DESIGN:

This was a descriptive, case series research design.

METHODS:

Participants were recruited through agency referral and snowball sampling. Research ethics board (REB) approval was granted. Using descriptive statistics, information obtained from participant surveys was analysed using SPSS version 19.

RESULTS:

Thirty-four participants met the inclusion criteria and ranged from 15 to 69 years. Fifty percent of the participants reported first being homeless between 14 and 18 years of age. Participants had several comorbidities, including mental health challenges, dental and respiratory problems, and sleep disorders. Participants described several challenges with accessing adequate nutrition, and finding adequate transportation and finances, and did not list housing as a priority need. The most frequent barriers to accessing health and social services identified by participants included their personal challenges with addiction, lack of transportation, and the perceived stigma they experienced when they sought help from health and social service agencies.

CONCLUSIONS:

Findings from this study can contribute to the development of best practice guidelines and policies that specifically address the needs of this unique population. Improved allocation of resources and coordination of health and community services are cost-effective, and advance the overall health of the hidden homeless.

http://www.archivesofpathology.org/doi/pdf/10.5858/arpa.2013-0232-CP

Philip T. Cagle, Lynette M. Sholl, Neal I. Lindeman, Randa Alsabeh, Dimitrios X. G. Divaris, Philip Foulis, Gemma Lee, Joel W. Neal, Jan A. Nowak, and Peter P. Yu (2013) Template for Reporting Results of Biomarker Testing of Specimens From Patients With Non–Small Cell Carcinoma of the Lung. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine In-Press.

Early Online Release

Template for Reporting Results of Biomarker Testing of Specimens From Patients With Non–Small Cell Carcinoma of the Lung

Philip T. Cagle , MD; Lynette M. Sholl , MD; Neal I. Lindeman , MD; Randa Alsabeh , MD; Dimitrios X. G. Divaris , MB, ChB; PhilipFoulis , MD, MPH; Gemma Lee , BSc, PMP; Joel W. Neal , MD, PhD; Jan A. Nowak , PhD, MD; Peter P. Yu , MD; for the Members of the Cancer Biomarker Reporting Workgroup, College of American Pathologists

From the Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, the Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas (Dr Cagle);

the Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (Drs Sholl and Lindeman);

the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Grand River Hospital, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada (Dr Divaris);

the Department of Pathology, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, Florida (Dr Foulis);

the Cancer Information Program, Cancer Care Ontario, Ontario, Canada (Ms Lee);

the Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology, Stanford Cancer Center, Stanford, California (Dr Neal);

the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, Illinois (Dr Nowak);

and the Department of Hematology-Oncology, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Mountain View, California (Dr Yu).

Dr Alsabeh is in private practice, Beverly Hills, California.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23641219

Front Psychol. 2013 Apr 30;4:131. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00131. Print 2013.

The predictive brain and the "free will" illusion.

De Ridder D, Verplaetse J, Vanneste S.

Source

Brai2n, TRI and Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Antwerp Edegem, Belgium

"The free will problem is a philosophical battle between compatibilists and incompatibilists. According to compatibilists like Hobbes, Hume, James, and Dennet, free will is not in danger if determinism is true. Free will is perfectly compatible with a deterministic working of our universe and brain. Incompatibilists disagree but differ about the conclusion to be drawn. Hard incompatibilists such as Spinoza and Laplace conclude that there is no free will because determinism is true, while soft incompatibilists like Reid, Eccles, and Penrose believe that our free will exists because determinism is false. In arguing for indeterminism incompatibilist libertarians often refer to fashionable theories such as quantum mechanics or thermodynamics which apply stochastic, non-linear models in order to describe physical processes. Nowadays these non-linear models are also applied to brain processes (Ezhov and Khrennikov, 2005), though philosophers still disagree whether this really shows that determinism is wrong and indeterminism or chance is sufficient to decide freely."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23793059

J Med Ethics. 2013 Jun 21. [Epub ahead of print]

Neuroenhancing public health.

Shaw D.

Abstract

One of the most fascinating issues in the emerging field of neuroethics is pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement (CE). The three main ethical concerns around CE were identified in a Nature commentary in 2008 as safety, coercion and fairness; debate has largely focused on the potential to help those who are cognitively disabled, and on the issue of 'cosmetic neurology', where people enhance not because of a medical need, but because they want to (as many as 25% of US students already use nootropic cognitive enhancers such as ritalin). However, the potential for CE to improve public health has been neglected. This paper examines the prospect of improving health outcomes through CE among sections of the population where health inequalities are particularly pronounced. I term this enhancement of the public's health through CE 'neuroenhancing health'. It holds great promise, but raises several ethical issues. This paper provides an outline of these issues and related philosophical problems. These include the potential effectiveness of CE in reducing health inequalities; issues concerning autonomy and free will; whether moral enhancement might be more effective than CE in reducing health inequalities; and the problem of how to provide such CE, including the issue of whether to provide targeted or universal coverage.

From Mayo Clinic: Teaching professionalism outside the anatomy laboratory

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23348091

Acad Med. 2013 Mar;88(3):304-8. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e318280f075.

Creating a longitudinal environment of awareness: teaching professionalism outside the anatomy laboratory.

Jones TW.

Source

Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA. jones.trahern@mayo.edu

Abstract

Anatomy educators have long understood the role that professionalism education plays in the dissection laboratory. The process of dissecting human material forces students to address such issues as human mortality, their responsibility to the vulnerability of the deceased, their privileged position in society, and their commitment to scientific ideals. Educators have offered a wealth of opinions and curricula dedicated to teaching professionalism in first-year anatomy courses. That they have risen to this challenge is laudable. However, professionalism education is a longitudinal process of acculturation. What happens, then, to students after they leave the anatomy classroom? As it is not taught in other basic science courses, professionalism education effectively becomes a null curriculum, teaching students to compartmentalize professionalism questions so that they can be addressed in anatomy courses or during dedicated professionalism course work. In their training, medical students spend 4 to 12 years navigating this shifting environment of hidden, null, or explicit curricula, which have a significant impact on their attitudes and character.In this perspective, the author highlights, from his experience as a medical student, specific professionalism challenges in anatomy--such as encountering mortality, enacting contracts with society and those who are most vulnerable, and upholding scientific excellence--and discusses how these challenges are addressed by anatomy educators. He then provides analogous examples of opportunities to teach professionalism in other basic science courses, such as pathology, microbiology, and pharmacology. He concludes by describing the goal of incorporating professionalism into all basic science courses--a longitudinal, cohesive environment of awareness.