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The role of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in achieving durable local control and palliation of pain in pelvic lymph node oligometastatic disease is not well-studied. We performed a retrospective analysis of 30 patients with 43 pelvic lymph node oligometastases from various primary cancers all but one with non-prostate primaries treated at our institution with SBRT. The median follow-up time was 21 months. The median SBRT dose was 24 Gy in four fractions. The one-, two-, and five-year local control was 74%, 71%, and 70% and one-, two-, and five-year overall survival was 70%, 47%, and 31%. Toxicities were mild with no grade 3 or higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the impact of disclosing an advisor's conflict of interest in providing financial advice to a client in an experiment. We find that an advisor's conflict of interest harms the client and that disclosing the conflict harms the advisor. Unlike earlier literature, we do not find that disclosure of the advisor's conflict of interest results in moral licensing or strategic exaggeration behaviour by the advisor nor, relatedly, that disclosure disadvantages the client. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible fixation or the so-called 'biological fixation' has been shown to encourage the formation of fracture callus, leading to better healing outcomes. However, the nature of the relationship between the degree of mechanical stability provided by a flexible fixation and the optimal healing outcomes has not been fully understood. In this study, we have developed a validated quantitative model to predict how cells in fracture callus might respond to change in their mechanical microenvironment due to different configurations of locking compression plate (LCP) in clinical practice, particularly in the early stage of healing. The model predicts that increasing flexibility of the LCP by changing the bone-plate distance (BPD) or the plate working length (WL) could enhance interfragmentary strain in the presence of a relatively large gap size (>3 mm). Furthermore, conventional LCP normally results in asymmetric tissue development during early stage of callus formation, and the increase of BPD or WL is insufficient to alleviate this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is the report of a pilot second-year foundation programme in which all trainees experienced a four-month attachment in general practice. There were six trainees and one educational supervisor. The report gives details of the educational background of the programme. There is also an evaluation by trainees and trainers. Five of the six trainees reported that the attachment in general practice was the most useful part of the foundation programme. They found that the attachment improved their basic clinical skills as well as providing an awareness of primary care. Trainers reported that the attachments had mostly been rewarding. The foundation trainees required more supervision than traditional trainees (such as GP registrars). The foundation trainees also differed in their educational requirements in that they were training to develop their general medical skills rather than training for a career in primary care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report results obtained from a continuing clinical trial on the effect of coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ 10 ) administration on human vastus lateralis (quadriceps) skeletal muscle. Muscle samples, obtained from aged individuals receiving placebo or CoQ 10 supplementation (300 mg per day for four weeks prior to hip replacement surgery) were analysed for changes in gene and protein expression and in muscle fibre type composition. Microarray analysis (Affymetrix U95A human oligonucleotide array) using a change in gene expression of 1.8-fold or greater as a cutoff point, demonstrated that a total of 115 genes were differentially expressed in six subject comparisons. In the CoQ 10 -treated subjects, 47 genes were up-regulated and 68 down-regulated in comparison with placebo-treated subjects. Restriction fragment differential display analysis showed that over 600 fragments were differentially expressed using a 2.0-fold or greater change in expression as a cutoff point. Proteome analysis revealed that, of the high abundance muscle proteins detected (2086±115), the expression of 174 proteins was induced by CoQ 10 while 77 proteins were repressed by CoQ 10 supplementation. Muscle fibre types were also affected by CoQ 10 treatment; CoQ 10 -treated individuals showed a lower proportion of type I (slow twitch) fibres and a higher proportion of type IIb (fast twitch) fibres, compared to age-matched placebo-treated subjects. The data suggests that CoQ 10 treatment can act to influence the fibre type composition towards the fibre type profile generally found in younger individuals. Our results led us to the conclusion that coenzyme Q 10 is a gene regulator and consequently has wide-ranging effects on over-all tissue metabolism. We develop a comprehensive hypothesis that CoQ 10 plays a major role in the determination of membrane potential of many, if not all, sub-cellular membrane systems and that H 2 O 2 arising from the activities of CoQ 10 acts as a second messenge... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article identifies a potential source of gain from export promotion policies which stems from their effects on domestic competition. For a firm in a small country facing increasing costs of production, the level of exports is essentially a residual following the decision regarding domestic sales. It will tend to be inversely related to industry concentration and, where the latter is endogenous (as with an aggressive entry-preventing incumbent), policies affecting exports may also affect domestic market structure. The argument is made by way of a worked example, and its general applicability is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]