Institution of Military Working Dog Physical Profile Record to Clarify Medical Readiness Category Status.

The current medical readiness category (CAT) status system used for military working dogs (MWDs) simply outlines the deployability of an MWD. This system, however, does not detail any other restrictions or the reason for assigning the current CAT status. The question is often raised as to whether the MWD can continue to work and perform everyday duties despite not being a CAT I. Using the Physical Profile Record system established for human providers, a system was adapted for MWDs. This system will allow Veterinary Corps Officers to give specific instructions to the handler and owning unit about the nature, progression, and details of injury or dysfunction beyond the CAT status. Furthermore, the ability to track chronic conditions and duration of illness will increase overall readiness of a kennel.

Welding Safety Best Practices.

Welders must be protected from electric shock, welding fumes, fire, and injuries that can be caused by insufficient PPE.

Pre- and post-electroconvulsive therapy multidomain cognitive assessment in psychotic depression: relationship to premorbid abilities and symptom improvement.

OBJECTIVES: Cognitive changes have been reported in patients after electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), but few studies have investigated post-ECT changes across multiple cognitive domains. Because cognitive dysfunction is presumed to be more salient in psychotic depression, we propose a brief pre-ECT multidomain cognitive assessment battery, assessing neurocognitive function in this population before and after ECT. We also compared performance to estimated premorbid levels and determined if neuropsychological functioning was related to symptom improvement. METHODS: Twenty participants with psychotic depression (12 females, 8 males) undergoing ECT for severe depression received the repeatable battery for the assessment of neuropsychological status (RBANS) and additional tasks. The wide range achievement test reading test provided an estimate of premorbid intellectual functioning. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the Hamilton Depression Scale-28, whereas negative and positive symptoms were assessed with the Scale for Assessing Negative and Positive Symptoms. RESULTS: There was a significant improvement in depressive symptoms with most measures of cognitive function showing net gains. When cognitive performances were compared with estimated premorbid abilities, findings indicated significant movement toward normalization in overall RBANS score, particularly involving the language index and attention index. Considered individually, 6 (30%) participants showed pre-ECT cognitive dysfunction (RBANS total score

Relative ineffectiveness of ultrabrief right unilateral versus bilateral electroconvulsive therapy in depression.

OBJECTIVE: Bilateral (BL) electrode placement delivered at 2.5 times the initial seizure threshold (ST; 2.5 x ST) is the gold standard method for seizure delivery during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). However, there is a growing interest in using a high dose (6 x ST) with ultrabrief right unilateral (UB-RUL) electrode placement to reduce the incidence of possible short-term memory problems associated with BL ECT. Although studies have found UB-RUL ECT to have similar effectiveness to BL ECT, the objective of this study was to determine potential differences in efficiency (ie, the number of treatments needed to reach remission). METHODS: Electroconvulsive therapeutic data for 56 patients with depression treated during 2006 and 2007 were analyzed via retrospective chart review. A total of 26 patients were started on UB-RUL ECT, whereas 30 patients were started on brief pulse BL ECT. RESULTS: The patients started on high-dose UB-RUL ECT required significantly more treatments than the patients started on BL ECT (9.4 [3.3] vs 7.7 [2.8] treatments). Of the 26 patients started on UB-RUL ECT, 12 (46%) experienced a lack of effectiveness and/or insufficient seizure induction and were thus switched to BL ECT; the 8 patients switched because of lack of effectiveness received a mean (SD) of 12.2 (2.9) treatments, whereas the 4 patients switched because of insufficient seizure induction received a mean (SD) of 11.3 (3.6) treatments. CONCLUSIONS: These findings add to an emerging story of reduced efficiency of UB-RUL versus BL electrode placement for an index course of ECT for the treatment of depression.

An interpretation of the EBCTCG data.

Published data and figures from the Early Breast Cancer Clinical Trialists' Collaborative Group are explored and interpreted as supporting a concept that the prime impact of adjuvant hormonal and polychemotherapy therapy is on soon-to-emerge tumors, with the timing of benefit accrual being mostly limited to the time of drug administration. Nevertheless, once benefit in reducing recurrence occurs, the benefit is maintained for years. Depending on how this is viewed, there may or may not be a carryover effect of these therapies in the setting of adjuvant breast cancer.