More Frequent Nutrition Counseling Limits Weight Loss and Improves Energy Intake During Oncology Management: A Longitudinal Inpatient Study in Taiwan

Introduction: Malnutrition increases the risk of cancer treatment-related complications. Nutritional intervention is beneficial for the outcomes of outpatients with cancer. This study investigated the impacts of nutrition consultation and care on energy intake and weight change in inpatients receiving cancer treatment.

Methods: We conducted a longitudinal study, enrolling 3221 inpatients with head and neck, lung, hepatobiliary, upper gastrointestinal, colorectal, breast, or gynecological cancer who received at least two nutrition consultations between April 2010 and July 2015. In every consultation, a dietitian calculated the total energy requirement and the actual energy intake was assessed using a 24-h dietary recall.

Results: Patients with head and neck cancer lost the most weight (1.16?kg/mo). For every consultation, a 0.03-kg weight gain per month was observed (P?=?0.001). The average energy consumption percentage (% estimated energy requirement) at the third consultation was 87.0%. After controlling for potential covariates, the energy consumption percentages at the third, fourth, fifth–seventh, eighth, and subsequent consultations were significantly higher than those at the first consultation (P?<?0.05).

Conclusion: For oncology inpatients, routine screening and at least three active nutrition consultations with dietitians effectively improved energy intake and preserved body weight.     

Family Caregivers' Subjective Caregiving Burden,Quality of Life,and Depressive Symptoms Are Associated With Terminally Ill Cancer Patients' Distinct Patterns of Conjoint Symptom Distress and Functional Impairment in Their Last Six Months of Life

Context

Family caregivers constitute a critical component of the end-of-life care system with considerable cost to themselves. However, the joint association of terminally ill cancer patients' symptom distress and functional impairment with caregivers' subjective caregiving burden, quality of life (QOL), and depressive symptoms remains unknown.

Effects of bimatoprost 0.03% on ocular hemodynamics in normal tension glaucoma.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of bimatoprost 0.03% on ocular hemodynamics in patients with normal tension glaucoma (NTG). METHODS: Twenty-two (22) patients with NTG were consecutively recruited. After basic eye examination and diurnal intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement, color Doppler imaging was used to measure the peak systolic and end diastolic velocities and resistive index of the central retinal, lateral posterior ciliary, and medial posterior ciliary arteries. Patients received bimatoprost 0.03% for 4 weeks, and these measurements were then repeated. The worse eye of each NTG patient was used in the statistical analysis. RESULTS: Bimatoprost 0.03% significantly reduced mean IOP from 15.1 +/- 3.8 mmHg at baseline to 12.0 +/- 2.9 mmHg after treatment in our sample of NTG patients (P < 0.001). No significant changes in blood velocities or resistance indices were observed in the retrobulbar vessels after the 4-week treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Topical bimatoprost 0.03% significantly reduced IOP in our NTG patients without causing significant hemodynamic changes in the retrobulbar vessels.     

Optimal control of a revenue management system with dynamic pricing facing linear demand

This paper considers a dynamic pricing problem over a finite horizon where demand for a product is a time‐varying linear function of price. It is assumed that at the start of the horizon there is a fixed amount of the product available. The decision problem is to determine the optimal price at each time period in order to maximize the total revenue generated from the sale of the product. In order to obtain structural results we formulate the decision problem as an optimal control problem and solve it using Pontryagin's principle. For those problems which are not easily solvable when formulated as an optimal control problem, we present a simple convergent algorithm based on Pontryagin's principle that involves solving a sequence of very small quadratic programming (QP) problems. We also consider the case where the initial inventory of the product is a decision variable. We then analyse the two‐product version of the problem where the linear demand functions are defined in the sense of Bertrand and we again solve the problem using Pontryagin's principle. A special case of the optimal control problem is solved by transforming it into a linear complementarity problem. For the two‐product problem we again present a simple algorithm that involves solving a sequence of small QP problems and also consider the case where the initial inventory levels are decision variables. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

高分辨率CT对颞部疾病的检查价值

目的：探讨高分辨率CT（HRCT）对颞部疾病的检查价值。方法：对43例颞部疾病患者行常规CT和高分辨率CT（HRCT）检查所获图像对比分析，并讨论HRCT的检查技术和图像后处理。结果：HRCT对病变的显示率及病变引起骨质破坏的程度，病变边缘，轮廓的显示均明显优于常规CT，尤其能清楚显示常规CT难以显示的中耳及内耳的细微结构，结论：高分辨率CT是颞部疾病的首选检查方法，使用高分辨率CT对颞部疾病的检查给临床提供更多，更准确的诊断信息。     

Intratemporal vascular tumors: detection with CT and MR imaging

The diagnostic contributions of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging were compared in 12 patients with benign intratemporal vascular tumors (hemangioma or vascular malformation). The tumors included six in the internal acoustic canal and six in the geniculate ganglion region. Clinical and histologic correlations were made. Two of the six patients with tumors in the internal acoustic canal underwent CT, and both required gas cisternography to show the tumor. Five patients in that group underwent MR imaging, and all five studies showed the tumor. All six patients with geniculate ganglion tumors underwent CT. Results in one study were questionable, and five showed the tumor. Five patients in this group underwent MR imaging, but the MR findings were positive in only two cases. MR imaging should therefore be performed before CT in the evaluation of facial nerve dysfunction, as it demonstrated all tumors in the internal acoustic canal and some in the geniculate ganglion region. If MR findings are negative, CT should then be performed to rule out a possible geniculate ganglion lesion.