肝细胞癌肝移植供肝选择策略

供肝数量不足是制约肝移植发展的主要因素,更是制约肝细胞癌肝移植治疗的突出因素。既往对肝细胞癌肝移植的研究多集中在受者选择标准、降期治疗、免疫抑制方案等方面,近年来研究发现供肝的选择对肝细胞癌肝移植术后肿瘤复发也有显著影响。笔者从临床供肝的主要类型、肝细胞癌肝移植适应证的把握、适应证内肝细胞癌肝移植和超适应证肝细胞癌肝移植的供肝选择以及供肝选择对肝细胞癌肝移植预后的影响进行深入探讨。     

Innovative Thinking on Endpoint Selection in Clinical Trials

ABSTRACT

In clinical trials, selection of appropriate study endpoints is critical for an accurate and reliable evaluation of safety and effectiveness of a test treatment under investigation. In practice, however, there are usually multiple endpoints available for measurement of disease status and/or therapeutic effect of the test treatment under study. For example, in cancer clinical trials, overall survival, response rate, and/or time to disease progression are usually considered as primary clinical endpoints for evaluation of safety and effectiveness of the test treatment under investigation. Once the study endpoints have been selected, sample size required for achieving a desired power is then determined. It, however, should be noted that different study endpoints may result in different sample sizes. In practice, it is usually not clear which study endpoint can best inform the disease status and measure the treatment effect. Moreover, different study endpoints may not translate one another although they may be highly correlated one another. In this article, we intend to develop an innovative endpoint namely therapeutic index based on a utility function to combine and utilize information collected from all study endpoints. Statistical properties and performances of the proposed therapeutic index are evaluated theoretically. A numerical example concerning a cancer clinical trial is given to illustrate the use of the proposed therapeutic index.     

Systematic review: Predictors of students’ success in baccalaureate nursing programs

Nursing schools strive to select a diverse student population who are likely to succeed by ensuring timely student progression through the program and effective use of educational sources. The purpose of this systematic literature review is to explore the preadmission variables and selection criteria that predict student success in 4-year baccalaureate nursing programs in the U.S. Sixteen articles met the eligibility criteria, and six measures were used to define student success: (a) early academic success, particularly during the first and second year; (b) attrition; (c) timely completion of the program; (d) graduation; (e) performance in nursing courses; and (f) academic performance in other science courses. Typically, the core set of cognitive predictors used in the admission process in nursing schools were pre-nursing GPA, pre-nursing collegiate science GPA, and scores on standardized aptitude exams. This review suggests that it is challenging to isolate one single variable as the best predictor of student success; however, using a combination of variables can offer a reliable prediction method. More researchers should consider using a theoretical basis to guide their inquiry on this topic. Additionally, researchers should examine admission variables that are most relevant across programs.     

Selecting the best and brightest: A comparison of residency match processes in the United States and Canada

BACKGROUND:

Selecting candidates for plastic surgery residency training remains a challenge. In the United States, academic measures (United States Medical Licensing Exam Step I scores, medical school class rank and publications) are used as primary criteria for candidate selection for residency. In contrast, Canadian medical education de-emphasizes academic measures by using a pass-fail grading system. As a result, choosing residents from many qualified applicants may pose a challenge for Canadian programs without objective measures of academic success.

METHODS:

A 25-question online survey was distributed to program directors of Canadian plastic surgery residency-training programs. Program directors commented on number of yearly residents and applicants; application sections (ranked in importance using a Likert scale); interview invitation and rank-order list determination; and their satisfaction with the selection process.

RESULTS:

Ten Canadian plastic surgery program directors responded (90.9% response rate). The most important application components determining invitation to interview were letters of reference from a plastic surgeon (mean importance of 5.0 on the Likert scale), clinical electives in plastic surgery (mean 4.6) and electives with their program (mean 4.5). Applicants invited for interview were assessed on the quality of their responses to questions, maturity and personality. The majority of program directors agreed that a clinical elective with their program was important for consideration on their rank-order list. Program directors were neutral on their satisfaction with the selection process.

CONCLUSION:

Canadian plastic surgery residency programs emphasize clinical electives with their program and letters of reference from colleagues when selecting applicants for interviews. In contrast to their American counterparts, Canadian program directors rely on clinical interactions with prospective residents in the absence of objective academic measures.     

程海英针治咳嗽的思辨

程海英教授擅长以多种针刺方法相结合治疗内科杂病。本文仅从程师对咳嗽病症的认识、对穴位的选取和对刺法的选择几方面将老师治疗咳嗽的经验进行整理,归纳总结出老师重视特定穴、强调循经论治、多种针法联合使用的三大特点,希望能对广大针灸从业者有所帮助。     

Poster 22: Loss to follow-up and potential systematic bias in survivors of traumatic brain injury 12 months postinjury

Objectives: To predict which survivors of traumatic brain injury (TBI) are more likely to be lost to follow-up and to examine the possibility of systematic bias in TBI research. Design: Characteristics of participants initially enrolled in a prospective, longitudinal follow-up study were compared with those lost and found for the 12-month follow-up using logistic regression. Setting: A prospective, longitudinal database. Participants: 1153 adult survivors of TBI. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Lost participants were those with no 12-month follow-up interview, excluding the deceased. Results: Follow-up was attempted with 1153 survivors of TBI. Initial data were collected from hospital charts. The 12-month follow-up was a telephone interview. At follow-up, 21 had died (1.8%), 574 were lost to follow-up (49.8%), and 558 (48.4%) were located and interviewed. Variables related to follow-up availability included injury severity (critical injuries vs moderate injuries) with critical injuries associated with follow-up failure (OR=.24; 95% CI .14-.38). Conclusions: Differences in information-gathering techniques led to substantial loss of participants. Differential loss to follow-up potentially biases TBI outcome research.     

The way forward for ETEC controlled human infection models (CHIMs)

In the absence of good animal models, Controlled Human Infection Models (CHIMs) are useful to assess efficacy of new vaccine candidates against Enterotoxic Escherichia coli (ETEC), as well as other preventive or therapeutic interventions. At the 2018 Vaccines Against Shigella and ETEC (VASE) conference, a workshop was held to further review and discuss new challenge model developments and key issues related to further model standardization. During the workshop, invited speakers briefly summarized for attendees recent developments and main agenda issues before workshop participants were divided into four groups for more focused discussions.The main issues discussed were: (1) whether there is a need for more ETEC strains to test a diversity of vaccine candidates, and if so, what criteria/qualities are desirable in strain selection; (2) how ETEC CHIMs could be more standardized to better support ETEC vaccine development; (3) how volunteer selection criteria and screening should be performed, and; (4) how an expanded sample collection schema and collaborative analysis plan may facilitate a more in-depth assessment of the role of antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses in ETEC infection, and provide better insights into ETEC pathogenesis and correlates of protection.The workshop concluded that additional challenge strains may need to be developed to better support new vaccines and therapeutics that are advancing in the development pipeline. In this regard, the need for a well characterized ST-only expressing ETEC strain was highlighted as a priority given that promising new heat stable toxoid based vaccine candidates are on the horizon. In addition, further standardization of the ETEC CHIMs was strongly encouraged, noting that it may not be realistic to standardize across all strains. Also, intensified volunteer screening may result in higher attack rates, although more stringent eligibility criteria may contribute to a more limited application of the model and diminish its representativeness. Finally, a sampling schedule and priority list for minimum set of samples was also proposed. Future workshops could be held to further refine standards for ETEC CHIMS and to facilitate more collaborative work on stored sample sets from previous and future ETEC CHIMs to maximize the contribution of these trials to our understanding of ETEC pathogenesis and our development of better prevention and control measures for this important pathogen.     

基于初级指挥军官任职需求的军校技术类学员胜任力模型研究

目的:建立基于初级指挥军官任职需求的军校技术类学员胜任力模型。方法:通过文献法和问卷法建立初级指挥军官胜任力指标,针对军校技术类学员施测,运用统计学方法处理和分析数据。结果:建立的胜任力模型具有良好的信效度,与已有的模型相比具有一定特殊性。结论:初级指挥军官胜任力模型可以作为技术类学员选拔、训练、培养和分配的科学依据,对改革军校技术类学员培养模式具有一定启示意义。     

Pregnancy is not a risk factor for gallstone disease： Results of a randomly selected population sample

AIM: To investigate the prevalence, risk factors, and selection of the study population for cholecystolithiasis in an urban population in Germany, in relation to our own findings and to the results in the international literature. METHODS: A total of 2 147 persons (1 111 females, age 42.8±12.7 years; 1 036 males, age 42.3±13.1 years) participating in an investigation on the prevalence of Echinococcus multilocularis were studied for risk factors and prevalence of gallbladder stone disease. Risk factors were assessed by means of a standardized interview and calculation of body mass index (BMI). A diagnostic ultrasound examination of the gallbladder was performed. Data were analyzed by multiple logistic regression, using the SAS statistical software package. RESULTS: Gallbladder stones were detected in 171 study participants (8.0%, n = 2 147). Risk factors for the development of gallbladder stone disease included age, sex, BMI, and positive family history. In a separate analysis of female study participants, pregnancy (yes/no) and number of pregnancies did not exert any influence. CONCLUSION: Findings of the present study confirm that age, female sex, BMI, and positive family history are risk factors for the development of gallbladder stone disease. Pregnancy and the number of pregnancies, however, could not be shown to be risk factors. There seem to be no differences in the respective prevalence for gallbladder stone disease in urban and rural populations.