Online patient literature related to oesophageal surgery: the need for greater readability, accreditation and higher quality.

INTRODUCTION: Oesophageal cancer is the sixth most common cause of death worldwide but is treatable through surgery. As part of the consenting process, surgeons may guide patients towards online information leaflets to understand more about their condition and treatment. This review aimed to systematically analyse some of the current resources that can be accessed via the internet. METHODS: A stringent search criteria was used to select online patient information leaflets for oesophageal cancer surgery. Leaflets were scored based on the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease score, DISCERN score, Health on the Net Code of Conduct (HONcode) certification/Information Standard Certification and International Patient Decision Aid Standards (IPDAS) score. FINDINGS: Only five sites had achieved HONcode certification. Only three sources were deemed readable using the Flesch-Kincaid scoring system and no sources reached the recommended readability using IPDAS. No source reached a maximum score with DISCERN, with the mean overall quality being 2.98. There was no significant difference between accredited and unaccredited sources. From our sample, patient information sources on oesophageal cancer surgery have a low readability. CONCLUSIONS: More research is required to ascertain patient behaviour with regards to accessing the literature. Patients and healthcare professionals should liaise with each other to produce more readable, high-quality patient information on oesophageal cancer surgery.

A Bibliometric Analysis of Robotic Surgery From 2001 to 2021.

INTRODUCTION: Bibliometric analyses are a method of evaluating the quality of research output in a certain domain. Robotic surgery has made vast leaps during the past 20 years and this paper aimed to assess some of the main areas of research using this method. METHODS: A search was undertaken for documents published between 2001 and 2021 from the World of Science database, using the keywords 'robotic surgery', 'robotic assisted surgery' and 'robotic-assisted surgery. Results were compared using numerous bibliometric methodologies, and stratified by source-specific metrics, author-specific metrics and country-specific metrics. RESULTS: The search yielded 3839 documents, from 879 different sources. Only 2% of sources were found to be within Bradford's Zone 1 of research and the most relevant sources were from the field of urology. The Journal of Urology and Surgical Endoscopy and other Techniques ranked highly among metrics such as H, G, M index and total citations. The top-rated authors had a H index of 15 in the field of robotic surgery and the total citations reached a peak at 1342. The USA, Japan and Italy were the most productive nations and increased collaborative research is leading to a greater number of multiple-centre publications. CONCLUSION: Research into robotic surgery is still in its infancy with further reviews of the literature and greater output through large randomised controlled trials in multiple centres through collaborative research needed.

Influence of Human Parameters on Labor Productivity in the Construction Industry.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to investigate the influence of human parameters on qualitative assessment of labor productivity (LP) in the construction industry. BACKGROUND: The theories involving workers have identified various parameters on physical efficiency, such as heart rate, relative heart rate, and calorie count, so as to improve the safety and social conditions of construction labor, thereby increasing LP. However, there is no direct emphasis on assessment of LP using human parameters related to physical strength. METHOD: An exploratory study was conducted on 17 construction workers by observing their task-level LP in real time at a construction site. Human parameters, such as age, body mass index (BMI), handgrip strength, and upper body muscle strength of the laborers, were measured at the construction site. Performance levels of these workers were placed in three categories, and each worker was assigned a typical weightage to each category when correlated to physical strength. RESULTS: Labor categories among the human parameters that included middle age, normal-range BMI, and strong muscular strength were shown as having higher LP than others. A quantitative parameter called the Human Parameter Index (HPI) was developed based on the performance categories developed for an individual worker. Human parameters revealed a significant relationship with respect to task-level LP. CONCLUSION AND APPLICATION: The study determines the influence of human parameters on LP in construction. Introduction of human parameters in the construction industry will help in assessment of LP for various labor-intensive activities.

Orofacial rehabilitation of patients with post-cancer treatment--an overview and report of three cases.

According to World Health Organisation statistics, individuals of the Indian subcontinent have the highest prevalence of orofacial cancer. Surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or combination therapies are commonly administered treatment modalities for treatment of oral cancer. Surgical resection can be mutilating, disfiguring and may deeply affect self-image of patients. Orofacial defects have unique limitations and challenges. A coordinated effort from the surgeon, oral physician and the maxillofacial prosthodontist to treat such patients is the need of the hour. This article presents an overview of the orofacial rehabilitation of postcancer treatments along with case reports.

Chemical constituents of Pseudopterogorgia species of the Indian ocean.

A new ceramide, (2S,3R,4E)-1,3-dihydroxy-2-[(hexadecanoyl)amino]-nonadeca-4-ene (1), cholest-5-en-3beta,7beta,19-triol (2), identified as its, peracetyl derivative (3), and batyl alcohol (4) were isolated from Pseudopterogorgia species. 1 exhibited antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

Laser scattering from the turned surface occurrence of a stationary pattern.

During the study of laser-scattering properties of machined surfaces, an interesting reflective characteristic has been observed. For a certain range of angles of incidence a stationary reflective pattern has been observed regardless of the angle of incidence. We explain the same by using geometric optics. The intensities calculated from the model are found to be in good agreement with the experimentally measured intensity of the scattered pattern.

Immediate reconstruction of the mandible after resection by sliding osteotomy: a new technique.

A technique of sliding osteotomy is described illustrated by a case for bridging mandibular defects of up to 7 cm. The defect is bridged by mobilizing full thickness inferior part of the mandibular corpus, and the defect thus produced is covered by the advanced outercortex from the ramus. The technique has particular advantage in the reconstruction of defects of the para symphysial region.

Management of large vascular lesions of the lip: case reports.

Vascular lesions of the head and neck region have been classified as either hemangiomas or vascular malformations. In adults, the lesions usually seen are malformations which may be large. Total resection of these lesions necessitates extensive reconstructive procedures and involves the risk of massive hemorrhage. It is for localized vascular malformations which arise in accessible areas of the face, e.g., the lip, that we developed a technique of circumferential ligation and partial resection. In our experience, this technique successfully circumvents the above problems. We present three cases which illustrate our contention.

New cladiellane diterpenes from the soft coral Cladiella australis of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Five new cladiellane diterpenes, (1R*,2R*,3R*,6S*,7S*,9R*,10R*,14R*)-3- acetoxy-6-(3-methylbutanoyloxy)cladiell-11(17)-en-7-ol [2], (1R*,2R*,3R*,6S*,7S*,9R*, 10R*,14R*)-3-butanoyloxycladiell-11(17)-en-6,7-diol [3], (1R*,2R*,3R*,6S*,9R*,10R*,14R*)-3-acetoxycladiell-7(16),11(1 7)-dien-6-ol [4], 3-acetoxycladiell-11(17)-en-6-one [5], and its stereoisomer [6], have been isolated from the soft coral Cladiella australis collected on the coasts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of the Indian Ocean. In addition, sclerophytins C [7] and E [8], reported earlier from Sclerophytum capitalis, were also isolated. The structures of these metabolites were elucidated by interpretation of spectral data.

Incidence of tempero-mandibular joint pain dysfunction syndrome in rural population.

The incidence and clinical course of the tempero-mandibular joint dysfunction syndrome was studied among 1187 subjects over the age of 16, who attended the rural dental consultations held at various places in the State of Karnataka, India. The study revealed an incidence of 20.3%. Contracy to earlier reports, the incidence was higher in males than in females and more married females were affected than unmarried. Clicking appeared to be the predominant symptom in all age groups. The incidence of pain increased with age. Of all patients 43.75% were not aware of a clicking joint; 53.7% persons with clicking and 14% with pain were not disturbed by their symptoms. The findings of the study failed to establish any relationship between unilateral missing teeth and the occurrence of the pain dysfunction syndrome (PDS). The chewing habits (betel leaf, tobacco, betel nut) which are prevalent in India appeared to have no effect on the incidence of PDS. It is suggested that more epidemiological studies should be carried out in different parts of the world with varying social, political and economic systems to enable better understanding of the global incidence of PDS.

Iridoids from Premna latifolia.

Two iridoids, 7-deoxyloganic acid also known as bisdesoxydihydromonotropein and geniposidic acid, from Premna latifolia Roxb. (Verbenaceae) have been reported.