Fracture risk is under-recognised and under-treated in memory clinic attendees.

UK national guidelines recommend that older people at risk of falling should have their fracture risk assessed and acted upon. People with cognitive impairment are more likely to sustain a fracture than their cognitively intact peers. We assessed the fracture risk of 79 memory clinic attendees and compared their actual management with guidelines. Despite reporting 57 falls in the last year, only 36% of those who would be recommended antiresportive treatment were prescribed it and a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA)scan was performed in only 13% where it would be recommended. These findings highlight an important deficit in fracture risk assessment which should inform future interventions.

Distribution of members of the PSD-95 family of MAGUK proteins at the synaptic region of inner and outer hair cells of the guinea pig cochlea.

PDZ-domain containing proteins of the MAGUK (membrane-associated guanylate kinase) family target, anchor, and cluster receptors and channels to subcellular sites. Among the MAGUK proteins, the members of the PSD-95 family (MAGUKs: PSD-95, PSD-93, SAP-97, and SAP-102) target and anchor glutamate receptors to the synaptic terminals. Associations of glutamate receptors with MAGUKs have been described in the brain but not in the cochlea. In this study, RT-PCR, immunofluorescence microscopy, and immunoelectron microscopy were used to investigate the presence and distribution of MAGUK proteins in the organ of Corti. The presence of the mRNA for PSD-95, PSD-93, SAP-97, and SAP-102 in the organ of Corti was confirmed by RT-PCR. Immunocytochemistry using a "pan-MAGUK" antibody, which recognizes all four MAGUK proteins, and selective antibodies against these proteins revealed that all four MAGUKs are present within the base of inner hair cells while all except SAP-97 are found within the base of the outer hair cells. In addition, PSD-93 and PSD-95 are found in postsynaptic afferent terminals on inner hair cells, while postsynaptic afferent terminals on outer hair cells have PSD-93.

Keeping up with the cancer literature--PDQ ACCESS.

Physician Data Query (PDQ) (National Cancer Institute [NCI], Bethesda, MD) and CANCERLIT (NCI, Bethesda, MD) are two online cancer information databases. PDQ summarizes current cancer therapy literature into specific treatment recommendations. CANCERLIT is a bibliographic system similar to MEDLINE (National Library of Medicine [NLM], Bethesda, MD) that provides a comprehensive source of literature citations for the field of cancer. In this report, we discuss linking PDQ and CANCERLIT with PDQ ACCESS (NCI, Bethesda, MD)--a custom software package that makes searching the cancer literature easy for the practicing physician unfamiliar with database searching.

The PDQ database: what the primary care physician needs to know about current treatments for cancer and AIDS.

The National Cancer Institute's PDQ database is the most current source of peer-reviewed information available today on state-of-the-art treatment of cancer and AIDS. It can serve the primary care physician as a principal reference point for decisions regarding consultation, referral, and patient care, and it is relatively simple and inexpensive to use. The new PDQ ACCESS microcomputer soft-ware enables untrained searchers automatically to execute current literature searches of the CANCERLIT database, as an adjunct to searching PDQ.

The Physician Data Query (PDQ) cancer information system.

PDQ is an online database that provides information about the prognosis and treatment of all major types of cancer. It represents a major effort by the NCI to communicate advances in cancer treatment using computer technology, and serves as a major component of the Institute's program to reduce cancer mortality nationwide. PDQ utilizes a modern large-scale computer to provide processing speed, a general purpose database management system to provide retrieval and display functions, and commercial telecommunication networks to provide online access to up-to-date information on cancer treatment. A series of user-friendly menus allow searching, browsing, and displaying without having to learn a specialized search language. PDQ is accessible through the National Library of Medicine's computer system via a computer terminal or personal computer and is available to the medical community at over 2000 medical libraries and centers and through individual access codes. PDQ is also available as an online database under a special license agreement with NCI through two medical information systems produced by commercial database vendors: BRS/Saunders' COLLEAGUE and Mead Data Central's MEDIS.

Joint Committee on Aviation Pathology: XVII. Round window tear in aviators.

It is the intent of this paper to draw attention to round window tears with the inherent symptomatology that has, for the first time, been documented in two aircrew members. It is also felt important to emphasize that the condition, regardless of etiology, could be catastrophic to the flying pilot and may be an up-recognized cause of otherwise unexplainable accidents. Not all cases of window tears cause vertigo-but some do. Not all vertigo so caused is prostrating--but some is. Because of the findings in two reported cases, it is postulated that round window membrane tear may be a significant cause of pilot disorientation. It may have been the root cause of peculiar and previously unexplained air crashes. The corollary of this hypothesis is the proposition that, in the future, careful attention be paid to the ears of pilots recovered from what would otherwise appear to be a mysterious accident.