Spin in the Abstracts of Randomized Controlled Trials in Operative Dentistry: A Cross-sectional Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the presence and characteristics of spin in recently published RCT abstracts in operative dentistry and to investigate potential factors associated with the presence of spin. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The PubMed database was searched to identify parallel-group RCTs published between 2015 and 2019 in the field of operative dentistry, which compared two or more groups and had nonsignificant results for the primary outcome. Two authors evaluated independently the presence and characteristics of spin among these abstracts. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with the presence of spin in the Results and the Conclusions sections, respectively. RESULTS: A total of 77 RCT abstracts were included, among which 58 (75.3%) showed at least one type of spin. Spin was identified in the Results and Conclusions sections of 32 (41.6%) and 45 (58.4%) abstracts, respectively. 19 RCTs (24.7%) presented spin in both the Results and the Conclusions section of abstracts. The presence of spin in the Results section of abstracts was significantly associated with source of funding (OR=8.10; p=0.025) and number of treatment arms was associated with the presence of spin in the Conclusions section of abstracts (OR=5.66; p=0.005). CONCLUSION: The occurrence rate of spin in the sample of operative dentistry RCTs abstracts is high.

False-positive result of a captopril-enhanced radionuclide renogram in a child secondary to dehydration.

PURPOSE: Renovascular hypertension is an unusual cause of elevated mean arterial pressure in children. When suspected, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor-enhanced renal scintigraphy is usually one of the initial studies done to evaluate patients. The accuracy of this test depends not only on patient selection but also on technical factors involved in performing the study. We report a case of a false-positive angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor-enhanced radionuclide renogram in a 5-year-old boy with hypertension. METHODS: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor-enhanced renal scintigraphy was performed and the result was interpreted as positive for bilateral renovascular disease. A review of the anesthesia record from the study revealed that the patient was hypotensive. A repeated study with adequate hydration and blood pressure stability was then done. RESULTS: The result of the second examination was interpreted as normal, without evidence of abnormal renovascular physiology. CONCLUSIONS: The cause of the initial false-positive result was determined to be dehydration with secondary hypotension. Dehydration, with secondary hypotension, can cause a diminished glomerular filtration rate and mimic bilateral renovascular physiology on angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor-enhanced renal scans.

Health care. A model for the management of self-poisoning.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the development and activity of a multidisciplinary service to manage self-poisoning. DESIGN: Descriptive, comparative study with prospective data collection. SETTING: Regional toxicology treatment centre in the Hunter area of New South Wales (NSW) with primary and secondary referral service to 385,000 people and tertiary referral service to a further 100,000. PATIENTS: All patients (1987-1995) with poisoning or envenomation presenting to the Hunter Area Toxicology Service (HATS). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Average length of stay for HATS compared with national and NSW hospitals; mortality data for HATS compared with NSW. RESULTS: Average length of stay for HATS was 0.53-1.22 days shorter than for all Australian hospitals, potentially saving 518 bed-days, valued at $468,000 per year. Average length of stay was 0.94-3.39 days shorter than for all NSW hospitals, saving 1470 bed-days at $1.4 million per year. Inpatient mortality (0.2%; 95% confidence interval, 0.0-1.1) was not significantly different from NSW (0.5%; 95% CI, 0.2-0.8). Standardised mortality ratios showed no greater all-cause suicide mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In our centralised model for managing self-poisoning, all toxicology patients in an area health service are diverted to one hospital, where all patients with deliberate self-poisoning are admitted under the one multidisciplinary team, and all receive psychiatric assessment. This model has substantially reduced bed stay, with considerable savings to the Hunter Area Health Service manifested as an increase in beds available for other purposes.

Simple binary optical elements for aberration correction in confocal microscopy.

When a confocal fluorescence microscope with a high-numerical-aperture oil-immersion objective is focused deep into an aqueous medium, aberrations result that degrade image quality. We have designed and fabricated a simple two-level binary phase mask that partially corrects these aberrations, improving axial resolution. We present the design and some confirming results.

Effects of depression and borderline personality traits on psychological state and eating disorder symptomatology.

The incidence of current or lifetime affective disorder and borderline personality characteristics were measured in bulimia nervosa patients. The relationship of these variables to the severity of eating disorder symptomatology (Eating Disorder Inventory [EDI]) and general psychiatric symptoms (Hopkins Symptom Checklist [SCL]) was examined. Categorical diagnostic assessments of affective disorder and borderline personality disorder (BPD) were made by Structured Clinical Interviews for DSM-III-R (SCID-I and -II). Affective disorder diagnosis (both current and lifetime) strongly influenced EDI and SCL profiles, while borderline personality characteristics had little influence. An understanding of the broad psychological symptomatology in bulimics requires the consideration of comorbid psychiatric illnesses, especially affective disorders.

Variable birefringent beam splitter.

A sapphire disk is used as a variable birefringent beam splitter for the linearly polarized pump beam in an oscillator-amplifier dye laser system. Rotation of the disk varies the extent of retardation. The induced elliptical polarization results in a variable back surface reflectance between approximately 0.02-0.15 for the green spectral region. Reflectances are measured on two disks with different thicknesses and compared with an approximate model describing the reflectance as a function of angle of rotation of the disk.