JRSM short reports最新文献

Objectives: Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is a condition characterized by experiencing symptoms after perceived exposure to weak electromagnetic fields (EMFs). There is substantial debate concerning the aetiology of EHS, but experimental data indicate no association between EHS and actual presence of EMFs. Newspapers play a key role in shaping peoples' understanding of health-related issues. The aim of this study was to describe the content of newspaper articles concerning aetiology and treatment of EHS.

Design: Qualitative content analysis of newspaper articles.

Setting: Norwegian newspaper articles were identified using a comprehensive electronic media archive.

Participants: Norwegian newspaper articles published between 1 February 2006 and 11 August 2010.

Main outcome measures: Statements coded according to source of information, whether it was pro or con scientific evidence on EHS aetiology, and type of intervention presented as treatment option for EHS.

Results: Of the statements concerning EHS aetiology (n = 196), 35% (n = 69) were categorized as pro evidence, 65% (n = 127) as con evidence. Of the statements about EHS interventions assessed, 78% (n = 99) were categorized as 'radiance reduction', 4% (n = 5) as 'complementary medicine', and 18% (n = 23) as 'other'. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and psychotropic drugs were never presented as possible treatment options for EHS.

Conclusions: The newspaper media discourse of EHS aetiology and recommended treatment interventions is much in conflict with the current evidence in the field. The majority of statements concerning aetiology convey that EHS is related to the presence of weak EMFs, and radiance reduction as the most frequently conveyed measure to reduce EHS-related symptoms.

Objectives: Patients in teaching hospitals often encounter difficulty in correctly identifying their physicians. We hypothesized that a photo album of physicians might increase the ability of patients to correctly identify their physicians and hence conducted this study to test the hypothesis.

Design: A prospective study was conducted.

Setting: Department of Surgery, The Third XiangYa Hospital.

Participants: THE PATIENTS WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS ON ADMISSION: group A as intervention group (n = 75) and group B as control group (n = 94). All the patients were verbally informed of their medical team but only the patients in group A (the intervention group) were also shown the photos of their medical team.

Main outcome measures: One day before being discharged, the patients in group A (the intervention group) were asked to return the photo albums, and all the patients from both groups were asked to give the names of their caring physicians prior to departure from the hospital.

Results: Only 53% of the patients (50 out of 94) in group B (the control group) could give at least one of their physicians' name, while 85% of the patients (64 out of 75) in group A (the intervention group) could tell at least one of their physicians' name; there is a significant difference (p < 0.005, 95% CI, 17.4-44.7%).

Conclusion: Patients' ability to identify their physicians can be significantly increased with a photo album.

Objective: Perineural invasion of cholangiocarcinoma happens in the early stage of the disease but is often not recognized until its later stages. Research about the behaviour and mechanism of perineural invasion by cholangiocarcinoma is urgently needed for a useful new model. The aim of this work is to establish a novel model to address the problem.

Design: Neural cells and cholangiocarcinoma cells were co-cultured to mimic the neurotropic invasion of cholangiocarcinoma.

Setting: Human embryonic stem cells were induced to form neural cells by glial cell-derived neurotropic factor and retinoic acid; neural cells and cholangiocarcinoma cells were co-cultured in Transwell chamber.

Participants: Human embryonic stem cells and cholangiocarcinoma cells were applied.

Main outcome measures: Paired t-test was used to compare the counts of penetrating cholangiocarcinoma cells in co-culture and control group.

Results: Formation of neurospheres and neural-like cells were observed following induction at 24 and 48 h, respectively; synapses were viewed to protrude from neural-like cell bodies after incubation for 96 h. Forty-eight hours after incubation, immunocytochemical staining of the cells showed that synaptophysin and glial fibrillary acidic protein were expressed in the neuron-like cells and gliocytes-like cells, respectively. The cholangiocarcinoma cells that had penetrated through the Matrigel/polyethylene terephthalate membrane from the upper chamber to the lower chamber of the Transwell in the co-culture group were significantly more numerous than those in the control group (68 ± 8.3/field versus 46 ± 5.7/field, P < 0.05).

Conclusion: The novel model is a valuable tool to study the perineural invasion of cholangiocarcinoma.

Background and objective: A PhD project involving designing and implementing a small-scale clinical trial at Jersey General Hospital encountered a variety of difficulties in obtaining ethics approval due to Jersey's unique legal and constitutional position. Clarification of the necessary route of application took some 28 months. It was established that only local ethics approval is required for clinical trials taking place in the Channel Islands and that there is no need for Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approval in the form of Clinical Trials Authorization (CTA), because Jersey falls outside the existing legal and regulatory framework. The experiences and findings gained from this project would prove of use to other researchers planning to conduct clinical trials in the Channel Islands.

Objective: To evaluate the hormone receptor status and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)/neu gene expression among Jordanian women with breast cancer. To classify our patients into molecular subtypes and to correlate the results with age of the patients and tumour grade.

Design: Evaluation of estrogen receptor (ER), PR and HER2/neu was done by standard immunohistochemical technique and subclassification into molecular subtypes.

Setting: Jordan University Hospital, Amman, Jordan.

Participants: One hundred and ninety-three cases of breast cancer diagnosed at Jordan University Hospital.

Main outcome measures: Molecular subtypes of breast cancer, age and tumour grade.

Results: ALL THE CASES WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS: the young age group less or equal 50 years of age and the older age group more than 50 years of age. The cases were subclassified into luminal A, luminal B, basal cell like (BCL) and Her2/neu+. In older age group, the most common subtype was luminal A (72%). In this age group, most of the cases (48%) were of grade II. In younger age group, 47% of the cases were of luminal A subclass. In this age group, 42% were of grade I.

Conclusions: Molecular subtyping of breast cancer is an essential predicting factor of tumour response to hormonal therapy. This fact puts increased stress on the urgent need for the development of reliable and reproducible classification systems.