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Background: Clubfoot or Congenital Talipes Equinovarus (CTEV) treatment in newborn infants involves simple, non-invasive manipulation and is primarily managed non-surgically if identified early. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), less than 15% of patients with CTEV access treatment. This cross-sectional questionnaire study conducted descriptive and regression analysis of institutional reasons for CTEV management in LMICs. Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken of 1,489 medical institutions in 62 LMICs. Data were evaluated from the “World Health Organization Situation Analysis tool” database. We analyzed characteristics of institutions that manage and did not manage CTEV. With the use of a multivariate linear regression model, we identified a set of factors linked to referral for non-management of CTEV. Results: A total of 72.7% (1,083/1,395) of institutions surveyed did not manage CTEV. The most common reason cited for not managing CTEV was a lack of sufficient skills, 92.1% (668/725, P

Additional file 1: Supplemental Table 1. Distribution of study participants according to the way of recruitment. Supplemental Table 2. Factors predicting the possibility for not being offered or not participating in a clinical trial.

The report consists of a manual for use in the training of disadvantaged clients to engage in more effective behaviors during the employment interview. The instructional system makes use of the identification of specific behaviors, video-taped feedback, role playing, and social reinforcement for approximations to the desired behavior. The program is relatively brief and consists of three sessions with high face validity for disadvantaged clients. Along with other information, the manual specified program objectives, techniques, and procedural details. (Author)

Disadvantaged job-ready clients who were trained for effective job interviews showed significant improvement over control subjects in areas of responsiveness, honesty, and self-confidence. (Author)

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The most common method used for testing dynamic renal function is creatinine clearance, but it has some limitations, e. g. variable muscle mass and tubular secretion of creatinine. The use of radionuclides as an exact method is limited in terms of availability, cost and time needed for examination. We compared the plasma clearance of iohexol with the established (99m)Tc-diethylenetriaminepentaacetate acid (DTPA) clearance. The aim of the present study was to validate iohexol clearance as a simple and suitable method for measuring to determine GFR with a comparable sensitivity to radioisotopic methods. METHODS 120 patients (49 females, 71 males), mean age of 56 (range 20 to 84) years with normal renal function and different stages of renal failure, mean creatinine clearance of 61.6 +/- 44,9 (range 1.8 - 181.1) ml/min/1.73 m2 received a bolus injection of 10 ml iohexol, a non-ionic low osmolar x-ray contrast medium. Using the one-compartment model, plasma samples were taken after 150, 240 and 480 minutes. The total plasma disappearance of iohexol was measured by x-ray fluorescence analysis and the clearance was calculated. The (99m)Tc-DTPA clearance was determined in accordance with a standard protocol. RESULTS A high correlation was found between the clearance of iohexol and (99m)Tc-DTPA (r = 0.95). The average deviation between Iohexol and (99m)Tc-DTPA clearance was 7.4 ml/min/1.73 m2. Allergic and nephrotoxic side effects were not observed. CONCLUSION Iohexol clearance is a valid method for measuring GFR in patients at any stages of renal failure. It is easy to perform and inexpensive.

BACKGROUND Postexercise proteinuria, hematuria and changes in serum electrolyte balance as well as increased levels of plasma indicators for muscle leakage are believed to be transient and of benign character. METHODS A group of 51 healthy athletes took part in a 100 km race over 14.25 hours. All of them had to reach the finish together. Urine and blood samples were collected before (a) and immediately after running (b) as well as 6 hours after the race (c). RESULTS The serum concentrations of potassium (4.8 +/- 0.5 (a) vs. 4.0 +/- 0.3 (c) mmol/l), protein (73.1 +/- 5.2 (a) vs. 71.1 +/- 3.9 (c) g/l) and albumin (44.0 +/- 2.85 (a) vs. 42.9 +/- 2.8 (c) g/l) decreased significantly (p < 0.0001, p < 0.05, p < 0.05, respectively) but remained within physiological ranges. The serum sodium concentration decreased immediately after the race (136.9 +/- 4.5 (a) vs. 131.1 +/- 2.4 (b) micromol/l, p < 0.0001). The fractional sodium excretion decreased 6 hours, but not immediately after the race (0.78 +/- 0.59 (a) vs. 0.48 +/- 0.82 (c), p < 0.05). Myoglobin (31.8 +/- 6.9 (a), 291.5 +/- 197.2 (b) and 182.2 +/- 135.3 (c) microg/l, p < 0.0001) and creatine kinase (1.13 +/- 0.45 (a), 10.76 +/- 6.9 (b) and 9.46 +/- 15.5 (c) pmol/l, p < 0.0001) increased dramatically. Troponin I was also significantly increased at finish (0.0186 +/- 0.0121 (a) vs. 0.0213 +/- 0.0165 (b) ng/ml, p < 0.05) and positively correlated with myoglobin and creatine kinase, but remained far below the pathologic range. Serum creatinine and urea remained almost unchanged. Glucosuria and hematuria occurred 6 hours after the run in 9.1% and 6.8%, respectively. The erythrocytes examined by phase-contrast microscopy were not damaged in terms of dysmorphic cells. Glomerular-type proteinuria was found in 11.4% of the participants 6 hours after the race. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that long lasting, mild exertion is harmless for renal function, electrolyte balance and skeletal muscle as well as myocardial metabolism in healthy persons.

The section 2007 FFAG gantry reviews an FFAG gantry, which transport beams with momenta varying by about a factor of two at constant excitation, well matched to FFAG accelerators. The section FODO gantry describes pulsed gantries with magnet excitation proportional to the beam momentum, and a small difference between beam and design momentum. They are well matched to pulsed synchrotrons. The dispersion in the bending plane need not be controlled as tightly as in the FFAG gantries. Nearly round beams are obtained in the tumor at the rotation axis by operating with much smaller phase advances in the plane perpendicular to the median plane. Scanning, installed between the end of the gantry lattice and the rotation axis, is briefly discussed in the section Scanning.

This note describes two EMMA implementations in MAD-X, and compares the results for cell tunes, radial offsets at the centre of the long straight section and time of flight with those from other programs.

This note compares the results for cell tunes, radial offsets at the centre of the long straight section, and time of flight from five programs in the baseline lattice of EMMA, the FFAG electron model under construction at the Daresbury Laboratory. The results are shown in graphs and tables. Both agreements and disagreements between programs are found.

EMMA (Elec­tron Ma­chine with Many Ap­pli­ca­tions) is a pro­to­type non-scal­ing elec­tron FFAG to be host­ed at Dares­bury Lab­o­ra­to­ry. NS-FFAGs re­lat­ed to EMMA have an un­prece­dent­ed po­ten­tial for med­i­cal ac­cel­er­a­tors for car­bon and pro­ton hadron ther­a­py. It also rep­re­sents a pos­si­ble ac­tive el­e­ment for an ADSR (Ac­cel­er­a­tor Driv­en Sub-crit­i­cal Re­ac­tor). This paper sum­maris­es the com­mis­sion­ing plans for this ma­chine to­geth­er with the major steps and ex­per­i­ments in­volved along the way. A de­scrip­tion of how the 10 to 20 MeV beam is achieved with­in ALICE is also given, as well as ex­trac­tion from the EMMA ring to the di­ag­nos­tics line and then dump.