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Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environment Protection and Resource Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510640, China.

Rationale: Compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) is a powerful tool for the source apportionment and characterization of environmental transformation processes, especially for new emerging contaminants. In this study, we have developed an effective method for determination of the stable carbon isotope ratios of hexabromocyclododecane diastereoisomers.

Methods: Three diastereoisomers of hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), α-, β-, and γ-HBCD, were separated on a preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system. Read More

Endoscopy 2019 May 25;51(5):505-506. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Endoscopy 2019 May 25;51(5):505. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Endoscopy 2019 May 25;51(5):505. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Endoscopy 2019 May 25;51(5):v12. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Endoscopy 2019 May 25;51(5):v11. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Endoscopy 2019 May 25;51(5):v10. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Endoscopy 2019 May 25;51(5):v9. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Endoscopy 2019 May 25;51(5):v8. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Yearb Med Inform 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Kyoto University, Japan.

Objectives: Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers significant potential for improving healthcare. This paper discusses how an "open science" approach to AI tool development, data sharing, education, and research can support the clinical adoption of AI systems.

Method: In response to the call for participation for the 2019 International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Yearbook theme issue on AI in healthcare, the IMIA Open Source Working Group conducted a rapid review of recent literature relating to open science and AI in healthcare and discussed how an open science approach could help overcome concerns about the adoption of new AI technology in healthcare settings. Read More

Yearb Med Inform 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Macquarie University, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Sydney, Australia.

Objectives: This paper draws attention to: i) key considerations for evaluating artificial intelligence (AI) enabled clinical decision support; and ii) challenges and practical implications of AI design, development, selection, use, and ongoing surveillance.

Method: A narrative review of existing research and evaluation approaches along with expert perspectives drawn from the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Working Group on Technology Assessment and Quality Development in Health Informatics and the European Federation for Medical Informatics (EFMI) Working Group for Assessment of Health Information Systems.

Results: There is a rich history and tradition of evaluating AI in healthcare. Read More

Yearb Med Inform 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Department of Clinical & Experimental Medicine, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK.

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) is heralded as an approach that might augment or substitute for the limited processing power of the human brain of primary health care (PHC) professionals. However, there are concerns that AI-mediated decisions may be hard to validate and challenge, or may result in rogue decisions.

Objective: To form consensus about perceptions, issues, and challenges of AI in primary care. Read More

Yearb Med Inform 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

IBM Research, Brazil.

Objectives: This paper provides a discussion about the potential scope of applicability of Artificial Intelligence methods within the telehealth domain. These methods are focussed on clinical needs and provide some insight to current directions, based on reports of recent advances.

Methods: Examples of telehealth innovations involving Artificial Intelligence to support or supplement remote health care delivery were identified from recent literature by the authors, on the basis of expert knowledge. Read More

Yearb Med Inform 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Swinburne University of Technology, and University of Melbourne, Australia.

Objective: Artificial intelligence (AI) provides people and professionals working in the field of participatory health informatics an opportunity to derive robust insights from a variety of online sources. The objective of this paper is to identify current state of the art and application areas of AI in the context of participatory health.

Methods: A search was conducted across seven databases (PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsychInfo, ACM Digital Library, IEEExplore, and SCOPUS), covering articles published since 2013. Read More

Yearb Med Inform 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Associate Professor, Department of Medical Informatics, Academic Medical Center - University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health research institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Introduction: Artificial intelligence (AI) is widespread in many areas, including medicine. However, it is unclear what exactly AI encompasses. This paper aims to provide an improved understanding of medical AI and its constituent fields, and their interplay with knowledge representation (KR). Read More

Yearb Med Inform 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Games for Health Innovations Centre, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Objectives: To provide an overview of research trends and a review regarding the learning efficacy of serious games for health professions education taking into account short-term learning outcomes.

Methods: For the review of research trends, we performed the search on Web of Science from 1996 until the present. For the scoping review on learning efficacy, ERIC, Education Source, PsychINFO, Global Health, CINAHL, Web Of Science, and Medline were searched. Read More

Yearb Med Inform 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Introduction: Whilst general artificial intelligence (AI) is yet to appear, today's narrow AI is already good enough to transform much of healthcare over the next two decades.

Objective: There is much discussion of the potential benefits of AI in healthcare and this paper reviews the cost that may need to be paid for these benefits, including changes in the way healthcare is practiced, patients are engaged, medical records are created, and work is reimbursed.

Results: Whilst AI will be applied to classic pattern recognition tasks like diagnosis or treatment recommendation, it is likely to be as disruptive to clinical work as it is to care delivery. Read More

Yearb Med Inform 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Department of Biomedical Informatics, Columbia University.

Introduction: Artificial Intelligence in Medicine (AIM) research is now 50 years old, having made great progress that has tracked the corresponding evolution of computer science, hardware technology, communications, and biomedicine. Characterized as being in its "adolescence" at an international meeting in 1991, and as "coming of age" at another meeting in 2007, the AIM field is now more visible and influential than ever before, paralleling the enthusiasm and accomplishments of artificial intelligence (AI) more generally.

Objectives: This article summarizes some of that AIM history, providing an update on the status of the field as it enters its second half-century. Read More

Yearb Med Inform 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Department of Computer Science, Rutgers University, USA.

Background: The rise of biomedical expert heuristic knowledge-based approaches for computational modeling and problem solving, for scientific inquiry and medical decision-making, and for consultation in the 1970's led to a major change in the paradigm that affected all of artificial intelligence (AI) research. Since then, AI has evolved, surviving several "winters", as it has oscillated between relying on expensive and hard-to-validate knowledge-based approaches, and the alternative of using machine learning methods for inferring classification rules from labelled datasets. In the past couple of decades, we are seeing a gradual but progressive intertwining of the two. Read More

Yearb Med Inform 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Dept. of Medical informatics, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Gesundheitswesen 2019 Mar 25;81(3):e92. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Studienfachbereich Gesundheit, Angewandte Gesundheits- und Pflegewissenschaften, Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart.

Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.

There has been a growing interest in the nonoperative treatment of chest wall deformities over the last few decades; with the advent of external compressive orthotics, similar outcomes have been reported compared with surgical intervention. There have been fewer major complications reported with dynamic compression bracing on the chest wall; however, the Achilles heel of this approach still lies with treatment tolerability and compliance. A Medline literature search was undertaken to evaluate the evidence concerning the techniques, modifications, and outcomes associated with external compressive bracing in the setting of pectus carinatum. Read More

Ultraschall Med 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Prenatal Medicine, University-Hospital UKGM, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Germany.

Med Princ Pract 2019 Apr 26. Epub 2019 Apr 26.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the preoperative level of serum leptin in cesarean section (C-section) patients with and without acute labor pain and its association with postoperative analgesic consumption and preoperative pain threshold.

Materials And Methods: Preoperative leptin levels, preoperative pain threshold, postoperative analgesic consumption in the following 24 hours, and postoperative pain severity (visual analog scale-VAS scores at postoperative 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 12th, and 24th hours) in C-section patients with labor pain (emergency C-section; n=21) and without labor pain (elective C-section; n=25) were compared.

Results: There were no significant differences between the groups regarding the demographic characteristics. Read More

J Phys Condens Matter 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Institute of Solid State Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences - Institute of Solid State Physics, 350 Shushanhu Road, Hefei, Anhui, 230031, CHINA.

Pure spin current is of great importance in spintronics and may be achieved by spin dependent Seebeck effect (SDSE) in magnetic systems. Zigzag-edged graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) are very well-known 2D magnetic nanostructures. However, perfect and pristine ZGNRs either in the anti-ferromagnetic ground state or in the ferromagnetic (FM) state are not capable of producing pure spin current by SDSE at low temperature. Read More

Phys Med Biol 2019 Apr 25. Epub 2019 Apr 25.

Division of Radiation Oncology, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore, Singapore, SINGAPORE.

Biological uncertainty remains one of the main sources of uncertainties
 in Proton Therapy, and is encapsulated in a scalar quantity known as Relative
 Biological Eective (RBE). It is currently recognized that a constant RBE of 1.1 is
 not consistent with radiobiological experiment and will lead to sub-optimal clinical
 outcome during treatment planning. Read More

Reproduction 2019 Apr 1. Epub 2019 Apr 1.

M Lappas, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, HEIDELBERG , 3084, Australia.

Inflammation plays a pivotal role in the terminal process of human labor and delivery, including myometrial contractions and membrane rupture. TNF-alpha-induced protein 8-like-2 (TIPE2) is a novel inflammation regulator; however, there are no studies on the role of TIPE2 in human labor. We report that in myometrium there is decreased TIPE2 mRNA expression during late gestation which was further decreased in labor. Read More

J Plant Physiol 2019 Apr 18;237:51-60. Epub 2019 Apr 18.

Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain. Electronic address:

Cation/H exchanger transporters (CAXs) are crucial in Ca homeostasis and in the generation of Ca profiles involved in signalling processes. Given the crucial role of CAX1 in Ca homeostasis, CAX1 modifications could have effects on plant metabolism. Three Brassica rapa mutants for CAX1 were obtained through TILLING. Read More

J Plant Physiol 2019 Apr 18;237:43-50. Epub 2019 Apr 18.

Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, V.le Fanin 44, 40127 Bologna, Italy.

Rootstock vigor is well known to affect yield and productive performance in many fruit crops and the dwarfing trait is often the preferred choice for modern orchard systems thanks to its improved productivity and reduced canopy volume. This work investigates the different physiological responses induced by rootstock vigor on cherry, by comparing shoot and fruit growth, water relations, leaf gas exchanges as well as fruit vascular and transpiration in/outflows of "Black Star" trees grafted on semi-vigorous (CAB6 P) and on semi-dwarfing (Gisela™6) rootstocks. The daily patterns of stem (Ψ), leaf (Ψ) and fruit (Ψ) water potential, leaf photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and transpiration, shoot and fruit growth, fruit phloem, xylem and transpiration flows were assessed both in pre- and post-veraison, while productivity and fruit quality were determined at harvest. Read More

Sci Total Environ 2019 Mar 19;673:831-838. Epub 2019 Mar 19.

Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States of America.

Unmix Optimum (UnmixO) was developed to analyze data, such as sediment PAH data, that were resistant to existing methods of multivariate analysis. Using a geometrical approach, UnmixO uses multiple advanced nonlinear optimization algorithms to find potential sources that obey non-negativity constraints while optimally fitting the data. UnmixO does not require specific knowledge of the uncertainties in the data and will work better for smaller data sets than other multivariate models. Read More

Gait Posture 2019 Apr 17;71:87-91. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

University of Maryland, College Park, United States.

Background Previous work on balance control in children and adults highlights the importance of multisensory information. Work in this vein has examined two principal input sources - the role of visual and haptic information on balance. Recent work has explored the impact of a different form of haptic input - object holding - on balance in young infants. Read More

Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 2019 Apr 8;237:68-73. Epub 2019 Apr 8.

Port-Royal Maternity Unit, Cochin Hospital, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP), DHU Risks in pregnancy, Paris-Descartes university, Paris, France; Inserm UMR 1153, Obstetrical, Perinatal and Pediatric Epidemiology Research Team (EPOPé), Centre For Epidemiology and Statistics Sorbonne Paris Cité (CRESS), DHU Risks in pregnancy, Paris-Descartes university, Paris, France.

Objective: To assess the risk of cesarean delivery after induction of labor in twin compared with singleton pregnancies.

Study Design: This retrospective multicenter study compared data from two nationwide prospective cohorts: one of twin pregnancies established from February 2014 through March 2015 (JUMODA cohort), and the other of singleton pregnancies in November and December 2015 (MEDIP cohort). This study includes all women in both cohorts who had labor induced at ≥ 35 weeks of gestation, with a live fetus in cephalic presentation (Twin 1 for the twin pregnancies). Read More

Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 2019 Apr 22;179:17-23. Epub 2019 Apr 22.

State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, China. Electronic address:

A novel dual-mode analytical method by employing nanozyme was developed for the detection of organophosphorus pesticides (OPP) for the first time. The detection principle is that the pesticide could be hydrolyzed to para-nitrophenol (p-NP) in the presence of nanoceria as nanozyme. p-NP exhibits the bright yellow color, and its color intensity has a positive correlation with the pesticide concentration. Read More

J Environ Manage 2019 Apr 22;241:340-352. Epub 2019 Apr 22.

Surrey Business School, University of Surrey, UK.

This paper traces the origins of the 'brand' of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) employed at large-scale mines across sub-Saharan Africa. Conceived within fortified resource enclaves, the policies adopted and actions taken in the area of CSR at many of the region's large-scale mines today have had had minimal effect on community wellbeing. Further examination reveals that contemporary CSR strategy in the region's mining sector is often a 'repackaging' and 'rebranding' of moves made by major operators during the colonial period and early years of country independence to pacify and engage local communities. Read More

Environ Pollut 2019 Apr 6;250:338-345. Epub 2019 Apr 6.

Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204, United States; Institute of Fundamental and Frontier Sciences, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610064, China; Materials Science & Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204, United States.

Photocatalytic degradation is an attractive strategy to purify waste water contaminated by macromolecular organics. Compared with the single-component photocatalysts, heterostructures of different semiconductors have been widely used to improve the photocatalytic performance. In this work, we fabricate a hetero-structured photocatalyst consisting of two-dimensional graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) nanosheets and commercial MoO microparticles through a simple mixing and annealing process. Read More

Med Image Anal 2019 Apr 18;55:49-64. Epub 2019 Apr 18.

School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing, 37 Xueyuan Road, 100191, China. Electronic address:

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) offers a unique tool for noninvasively assessing tissue microstructure. However, accurate estimation of tissue microstructure described by complicated signal models can be challenging when a reduced number of diffusion gradients are used. Deep learning based microstructure estimation has recently been developed and achieved promising results. Read More

Int J Surg Case Rep 2019 Apr 16;58:81-84. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

EOC - Beata Vergine Regional Hospital, Department of Surgery, CH 6850, Mendrisio, Switzerland. Electronic address:

Introduction: Jejuno-ileal diverticulitis is an uncommon, acquired clinical entity, with higher prevalence among patients aged between 60 and 70. The condition is usually silent and has been regarded as relatively innocuous. Sometimes patients complain chronic vague symptoms like malabsorption, pain or nausea, that easily lead to misdiagnosis. Read More

Chemosphere 2019 Apr 16;228:35-43. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment (SKLUWRE), Harbin Institute of Technology, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin, 150090, PR China.

Two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2DCOS) has been used as a powerful tool for analyzing spectral features, but it has never been applied to fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) data due to the incompatible dimensions. This study first investigated EEM-COS by reducing the dimensions of the EEM (using parallel factor analysis, PARAFAC) for fitting to 2DCOS (EEM-PARAFAC-COS). The fluorescence changes of effluent organic matter (EfOM) during ozonation were studied using EEM-COS and synchronous fluorescence (SF)-2DCOS. Read More

J Pharm Biomed Anal 2019 Apr 17;172:42-49. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Institute of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Ke Karlovu 2, 121 08 Prague 2, Czech Republic; Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Albertov 6, 128 43 Prague 2, Czech Republic. Electronic address:

In the last decade there has been a dramatic increase in the availability and abuse of synthetic cathinones - new amphetamine-like stimulants. Even though their abuse during pregnancy could have serious adverse effects on the fetus, cathinones are not readily included in neonatal toxicological screenings. Meconium (first neonatal stool) is the specimen of choice to reveal long term drug exposure, however as it is a highly complex matrix, the sample preparation is a critical step before the instrumental analysis. Read More

Environ Res 2019 Apr 16;174:9-13. Epub 2019 Apr 16.

Center for Health and the Global Environment, USA.

Global environmental changes, driven by the consequences of human activities and population growth, are altering our planet in ways that pose current threats to human health, with the magnitude of these threats projected to increase over coming decades if additional, proactive actions are not taken. Global changes, unprecedented in their geospatial and temporal scales, include climate change, marine pollution, ozone layer depletion, soil degradation, and urbanization. Climate change is the best studied. Read More

Biomed Pharmacother 2019 Apr 22;115:108876. Epub 2019 Apr 22.

Department of Rheumatology, The Affiliated Huaian No.1 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Huaian, 223300, China.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common inflammatory disease, which significantly reduces the quality of life and increases the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The present work studied the therapeutic potency of Salvianolic acid B (Sal-B) for RA and revealed one of the possible underlying mechanisms.

Methods: Human rheumatoid fibroblast-like synoviocytes (MH7 A) were treated with Sal-B before, during or after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Read More

Eur J Med Chem 2019 Apr 5;173:305-313. Epub 2019 Apr 5.

School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai, 201418, China. Electronic address:

Neuraminidase (NA) plays a crucial role in the replication and transmission of influenza virus. NA inhibitors have been developed as effective treatments for influenza A and B infections. In this paper, a new lead neuraminidase inhibitor 6a (IC = 7. Read More

Photodiagnosis Photodyn Ther 2019 Apr 22. Epub 2019 Apr 22.

Polymer Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 84541 Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address:

Despite of great researcher's efforts the design of antibacterial surfaces is still a big challenge due to appearance of mutated bacteria strains resistant to antibiotics. In this work, results of structural, mechanical, cytotoxic and antibacterial activities of hydrophobic carbon quantum dots/polydimethylsiloxane surface are presented. Antibacterial action of this surface is based on the generation of reactive oxygen species which cause bacteria damage by oxidative stress. Read More

Acta Biomater 2019 Apr 22. Epub 2019 Apr 22.

Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, United States. Electronic address:

Hospital associated infections (HAIs), infections acquired by patients during care in a hospital, remain a prevalent issue in the healthcare field. These infections often occur with the use of indwelling medical devices such as endotracheal tubes (ETTs) that can result in ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). When examining the various routes of infection, VAP is associated with the highest incidence, rate of morbidity, and economic burden. Read More

Metab Eng 2019 Apr 22. Epub 2019 Apr 22.

Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, United States; DOE Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, United States; Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, United States. Electronic address:

Microbial production of oleochemicals from renewable feedstocks remains an attractive route to produce high-energy density, liquid transportation fuels and high-value chemical products. Metabolic engineering strategies have been applied to demonstrate production of a wide range of oleochemicals, including free fatty acids, fatty alcohols, esters, olefins, alkanes, ketones, and polyesters in both bacteria and yeast. The majority of these demonstrations synthesized products containing long-chain fatty acids. Read More

Water Res 2019 Mar 23;158:106-117. Epub 2019 Mar 23.

School of Earth Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. Electronic address:

Industrial thiocyanate (SCN) waste streams from gold mining and coal coking have polluted environments worldwide. Modern SCN bioremediation involves use of complex engineered heterotrophic microbiomes; little attention has been given to the ability of a simple environmental autotrophic microbiome to biodegrade SCN. Here we present results from a bioreactor experiment inoculated with SCN -loaded mine tailings, incubated autotrophically, and subjected to a range of environmentally relevant conditions. Read More

J Colloid Interface Sci 2019 Apr 15;549:80-88. Epub 2019 Apr 15.

College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Research Center of Gansu Military and Civilian Integration Advanced Structural Materials, Gansu International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Water-Retention Chemical Functional Materials, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China; School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Chang'an University, Xi'an 710064, China; Key Laboratory for Photonic and Electronic Bandgap Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Harbin Normal University, Harbin 150025, People's Republic of China. Electronic address:

The performance of BiVO for photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) water decomposition is commonly limited by reaction kinetics. In this work, NiS and CoS nanospheres were respectively loaded on BiVO thin films (NiS/BiVO and CoS/BiVO composites) to improve its reaction kinetics for PEC water decomposition. Both physical and chemical properties of these composites were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, PL and UV-DRS. Read More

J Colloid Interface Sci 2019 Apr 17;549:72-79. Epub 2019 Apr 17.

Key Laboratory of Luminescent and Real-Time Analytical Chemistry (Southwest University), Ministry of Education, School of Materials and Energy, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, PR China. Electronic address:

Overuse and abuse of antibiotics greatly hasten the development of microbial drug resistance and substantially threat to global public health. Developing alternative methods for combating bacterial infections is urgently required. In this work, a simple hydrothermal approach was employed to prepare the protoporphyrin IX-polyethylenimine nanoparticles (PPIX-PEI NPs) containing abundant amine groups and PPIX moieties. Read More

Int J Surg 2019 Apr 22. Epub 2019 Apr 22.

Department of Surgery, Countess of Chester Hospital, Chester, UK.

Introduction: Limited knowledge of surgical device and service costs restricts a surgeon's ability to make cost efficient choices and contribute to the efficiency savings required by the NHS to reduce the financial deficit. This study aims to assess how aware surgeons are of surgical equipment and regularly used services.

Methods: A single sided hard copy questionnaire asking for the estimate cost of 24 surgical devices/services was handed out to individuals at two separate UK annual conferences. Read More