A diagnosis of primary solitary cutaneous plasmacytoma was made. The lesion was removed surgically, selleck chemical and the patient remains in remission up to now. Primary cutaneous plasmacytoma represents only 2%-4% of extramedullary plasmacytomas. The rarity and the nonspecific presentation of cutaneous plasmacytomas does not allow a definite clinical diagnosis. Only histopathology reveals the typical pattern of a dense monomorphic dermal plasmacytic infiltrate, whereas immunohistochemistry shows monoclonality of the neoplastic cells.”
“We studied radiographic features of pulmonary tuberculosis

(PTB) described in the report forms for 907 adolescents from two Brazilian cities. A descriptive analysis showed that the most common radiographic lesions were post-primary tuberculosis (53.3%),

tuberculous expansile pneumonia (27%) and primary complex with adenomegaly (1.8%). Cavitary lesions occurred in 67/243 (27.6%) patients aged 0-15 years and in 116/321 (36.1%) adolescents aged 16-19 years (P = 0.031). Most of the PTB cases had forms similar to those in adults.”
“Obesity is associated with chronic low-grade systemic inflammation. Bariatric surgery has been shown to reduce this inflammation. Here, the effect of a nonsurgical bariatric technique, the duodenal-jejunal bypass liner (DJBL), on systemic inflammation was investigated. Seventeen obese Tubastatin A patients with type 2 diabetes were treated with the DJBL for 6 months. Plasma C-reactive protein (CRP), myeloperoxidase (MPO), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) were determined prior to and during DJBL treatment. Three months after initiation of DJBL treatment, TNF-alpha levels had increased from 1.8 +/- 0.1 to 2.1 +/- 0.1 pg/mL, whereas IL-6 increased from 2.7 +/- 0.3 to 4.0 +/- 0.5 pg/mL (both p < 0.05). CRP and MPO also increased, though the differences were not significant. After 6 months, the levels of all parameters were similar to baseline levels (CRP, 4.2 +/- 0.6 mg/L; TNF-alpha, 2.0 +/- 0.1 pg/mL; IL-6, 3.5 +/- 0.5 pg/mL; MPO, 53.6 +/- ng/mL;

all p = ns compared to baseline). In the current study, 6 months of endoscopic DJBL treatment did not lead selleck inhibitor to decreased systemic inflammation.”
“Endometriosis is a disease process characterized by ectopic endometrial tissue. Involvement most commonly occurs in the lower pelvis, outside the uterine cavity, but can occur elsewhere, including the skin. Cutaneous endometriosis is a rare manifestation of this disease, with decidualization occurring in a very small minority of cases, almost always seen in pregnant females. Cutaneous involvement of endometriosis may present a diagnostic problem for the pathologist, particularly in the event of decidualization. Decidualization may mimic a malignancy and as a result may result in unnecessary diagnostic studies for the patient.

A. Tran and G. E. M. Reeves.”
“The purpose of our study was to determine the effects of anesthetic technique and ambient temperature on thermoregulation for patients undergoing lower extremity surgery.

Our study included 90 male patients aged 18-60 years in American

Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Pfizer Licensed Compound Library in vivo Status groups I or II who were scheduled for lower extremity surgery. Patients were randomly divided into three groups according to anesthetic technique: general anesthesia (GA), epidural anesthesia (EA), and femoral-sciatic block (FS). These groups were divided into subgroups according to room temperature: the temperature for group I was 20-22 A degrees C and that for group II was 23-25 A degrees C. Therefore, we labeled the groups as follows: GA I, GA II, EA I, EA II, FS I, and FS II. Probes for measuring tympanic membrane and peripheral temperature were placed in and on the patients, and mean skin temperature (MST) and mean body temperature (MBT) were assessed. Postoperative shivering scores were recorded.

During anesthesia, tympanic temperature and MBT decreased whereas MST increased for all patients. There was no significant difference between tympanic temperatures in either the room temperature or

anesthetic method groups. Entrectinib manufacturer MST was lower in group GA I than in group GA II after 5, 10, 15, 20, 60 and 90 min whereas MBT was significantly lower at the basal level (p < 0.05). MST AZD2014 molecular weight after 5 min was significantly lower in group GA I than in group FS I (p < 0.05). Shivering score was significantly higher in group GA I (p < 0.05).

There were no significant differences in thermoregulation among anesthetic techniques. Room temperature affected thermoregulation in Group GA.”
“Ozonolysis of omega-anhydro-20-hydroxyecdysone diacetonide gave a mixture of 24- and 25-oxo derivatives, and only the first of these (23-carbaldehyde) reacted with malonic acid according to Knoevenagel to give 14 alpha-hydroxy-2 beta,3 beta: 20,22-bis(isopropylidenedioxy)-6-oxo-27-nor-5 beta-cholesta-7,24-dien-26-oic acid. The oxidation of 23-carbaldehyde with ozone, followed by treatment with diazomethane, afforded

20-hydroxy-25,26,27-trinorecdysone-23-carboxylic acid methyl ester diacetonide.”
“The authors conducted a prospective, randomized, double-blind study to evaluate the anti-shivering efficacy of palonosetron for patients after gynecological laparoscopy under total intravenous propofol-remifentanil anesthesia.

Sixty female patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups and administered palonosetron 0.075 mg (palonosetron group, n = 30) or the same volume of normal saline (control group, n = 30) immediately after anesthesia induction. Anesthesia was induced and maintained with propofol and remifentanil, using a target-controlled infusion device. Esophageal and index finger temperatures were measured immediately after anesthesia induction (baseline) and at 15-min intervals until the end of the surgery.

Here we show that TREHALOSE PHOSPHATE SYNTHASE11 (TPS11) gene-dependent trehalose metabolism regulates Arabidopsis thaliana defense against Myzus persicae (Sulzer), commonly known as the green peach aphid (GPA). GPA infestation of Arabidopsis resulted in a transient increase in trehalose and expression of the TPS11 gene, which encodes a trehalose-6-phosphate synthase/phosphatase. Knockout of TPS11 function abolished trehalose increases in GPA-infested leaves of the tps11 mutant plant and attenuated defense against GPA. Trehalose application restored resistance in the tps11 mutant, confirming that the lack of trehalose accumulation

is associated with the inability PF-6463922 of the tps11 mutant to control GPA infestation. Resistance against GPA was also higher in the trehalose hyper-accumulating tre1 mutant and in bacterial otsB gene-expressing plants, further supporting the conclusion that trehalose plays a role in Arabidopsis defense against GPA. Evidence presented here indicates that TPS11-dependent trehalose regulates expression of the PHYTOALEXIN

DEFICIENT4 gene, which is a key modulator of defenses against GPA. TPS11 also promotes the re-allocation of carbon into starch at the expense of sucrose, the primary plant-derived carbon and energy source for the insect. Our results provide a framework for the signaling function of TPS11-dependent trehalose in plant cancer metabolism inhibitor stress responses, and also reveal an important contribution of starch in controlling the severity of aphid infestation.”
“Iron (Fe) is an essential element for plant growth. Commonly, this element is found in an oxidized form in soil, which is poorly available for plants. Therefore, plants have evolved ferric-chelate reductase enzymes (FRO) to reduce iron into a more soluble ferrous form. Fe scarcity in plants induce the FRO enzyme activity. Although the legume Medicago truncatula has been employed as a model for FRO activity studies, only one copy of the M. truncatula MtFRO1 gene has been characterized so far. In this study, we identified multiple

gene copies of the MtFRO gene in the genome of M. truncatula by an in silico search, using BLAST analysis in the database of the M. truncatula Genome Sequencing Project and the National Center for Biotechnology Information, and also determined whether they are functional. We identified five genes apart from MtFRO1, which had been LY3023414 order already characterized. All of the MtFRO genes exhibited high identity with homologous FRO genes from Lycopersicon esculentum, Citrus junos and Arabidopsis thaliana. The gene copies also presented characteristic conserved FAD and NADPH motifs, transmembrane regions and oxidoreductase signature motifs. We also detected expression in five of the putative MtFRO sequences by semiquantitative RT-PCR analysis, performed with mRNA from root and shoot tissues. Iron scarcity might be a condition for an elevated expression of the MtFRO genes observed in different M. truncatula tissues.

Clinical and ocular symptoms were

scored and recorded. Conjunctival samples were collected using a cytobrush, and nucleic acid extraction using RT-PCR was carried out to analyze for the presence of various infectious agents. Results RT-PCR detected either FCV, feline herpes virus type 1 (FHV-1), Chlamydophila felis or Mycoplasma spp. in 63/99 samples. 30/63 samples were positive for FCV, 23/63 for C.similar to felis, 21/63 for Mycoplasma spp., and 16/63 for FHV-1. Out of the 30 FCV-positive samples, 11 were positive only for FCV and in 19 samples FCV was seen in combination with other agents. FCV infection was highest in animals examined at the rescue centers and in the age group of 02 months. Erosive conjunctivitis was an important ocular finding. Oral ulcers were detected in all FCV-infected cats. Conclusion Results indicate that FCV is highly Selleck Nirogacestat prevalent NU7441 nmr in cats with URTD either as a sole infectious agent or in combination with other pathogens and therefore is a potential cause for ocular surface lesions during the URTD.”
“Hepatocellular

carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths. In addition to hepatitis viral infections, several cohort studies have shown that diabetes mellitus is a risk factor of HCC, making the incidence alarming high. However, it has not been demonstrated directly how diabetes develops to HCC, because of its difficulty to follow changes of liver histology in diabetic populations. Here, we report that non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is pivotal to link diabetes with HCC by establishing a novel, reproducible NASH-HCC model in mice. Neonatal male mice exposed to low-dose streptozotocin (STZ) developed Compound C liver steatosis with diabetes 1 week after feeding high-fat diet (HFD). Continuous HFD decreased hepatic fat deposit whilst increased lobular inflammation with foam cell-like macrophages, showing NASH pathology. In parallel with decreased phagocytosis

of macrophages, fibroblasts accumulated to form “”chicken-wired”" fibrosis. All mice developed multiple HCC later. Female mice treated with STZ-HFD and male mice treated with STZ alone showed diabetes but never developed HCC by the absence of NASH-based fibrosis. Thus, the present study provides the evidence in novel mouse model that NASH-based fibrosis is an essential histological process for diabetic populations to accelerate the development of HCC.”
“Purpose of review

For patients presenting with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is superior to onsite fibrinolytic therapy (O-FT) when administered in a timely fashion. This benefit diminishes as PCI-related delay increases. This review examines recent data exploring this relationship, offering insight into possible mechanisms for the time-dependent benefit of PCI.

One of the largest studies reviewed was a retrospective review of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons database. The authors compared 4531 patients who underwent lobectomy by video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) with 8431 patients who had thoracotomy. In patients with a predicted postoperative forced expiratory volume in 1 s (ppoFEV(1)%) of < 60, it was demonstrated that thoracotomy patients have markedly increased pulmonary complications

when compared with VATS patients (P = 0.023). Another study compared perioperative outcomes in patients with a ppoFEV(1)% of < 40% who underwent thoracoscopic resection with similar patients who underwent open resection. Patients undergoing thoracoscopic ACY-738 cell line resection as opposed to open thoracotomy had a lower incidence of pneumonia (4.3 vs 21.7%, P < 0.05), a shorter intensive care stay (2 vs 4 days, P = 0.05) and a shorter hospital stay (7 vs 10 days, P = 0.058). A similar study compared recurrence and survival in patients with a ppoFEV(1)% of < 40% who underwent resection by VATS or anatomical segmentectomy (study group) with open resection (control group). Relative to the control group, patients in the study group had a shorter length of hospital stay (8 vs 12 days,

P = 0.054) and an improved 5-year survival (42 vs 18%, P = 0.02). Analysis suggested that VATS lobectomy was the principal driver of survival benefit in the study group. We Dinaciclib Cell Cycle inhibitor conclude that patients with limited pulmonary function have better outcomes when surgery is performed via VATS compared with traditional open techniques. The literature Mocetinostat manufacturer also suggests that patients in whom pulmonary function is poor have similar perioperative

outcomes to those with normal function when a VATS approach to resection is adopted.”
“Memantine is a low to moderate affinity N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist. The effects of memantine in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have been studied in 7 randomized controlled trials in many post-hoc analyses. Three out of four RCTs in patients with moderate to severe AD (Mini Mental State Examination [MMSE] < 14) showed a statistically significant but clinically small positive effect of memantine on cognition, global functioning, activities of daily living (ADL) and neuropsychiatric symptoms. No effects on these outcome measures could be found in the three RCTs studying patients with mild to moderate AD (MMSE 14-24). Two of these studies evaluated the effect of addition of memantine to donepezil. Only the study in patients with mild to moderate AD showed a positive effect of addition of memantine on cognition, ADL, global functioning and neuropsychiatric functioning. Cost-effectiveness of memantine therapy remains controversial. Post-hoc analyses and observational studies suggest some effects on agitation/aggression, delusions or hallucinations.

There were fewer and smaller afferent vascular buds in the rats of the aged group than in the young control group. The ratio of the non-calcified to the calcified layers in the rats of the aged group significantly decreased, compared with that of the young control group (P < 0.01).

Rats can spontaneously establish intervertebral IWR-1 solubility dmso disc age-related degeneration. The expression of collagen types II and X, numbers and areas of afferent vascular buds, the ratio of the non-calcified to the calcified layers, and water and glycosaminoglycan

contents in the nucleus pulposus are sensitive indexes of intervertebral disc degeneration.”
“Background: The development of the fetal endocannabinoid receptor system may be vulnerable

to maternal cannabis use during pregnancy and may produce long-term consequences in children. In this study, we aimed to determine the relationship between gestational cannabis use and childhood attention find more problems and aggressive behavior.

Methods: Using a large general population birth cohort, we examined the associations between parental prenatal cannabis and tobacco use and childhood behavior problems at 18 months measured using the Child Behavior Checklist in N=4077 children. Substance use was measured in early pregnancy.

Results: Linear regression analyses demonstrated that gestational exposure to cannabis is associated with behavioral problems in early childhood but only in girls and only in the area of increased aggressive behavior (B = 2.02; 95% CI: 0.30-3.73; p = 0.02) and attention

problems (B = 1.04; 95% CI: 0.46-1.62; p < 0.001). Furthermore, this study showed that long-term (but not short term) tobacco exposure was associated with behavioral this website problems in girls (B = 1.16; 95% Cl: 0.20-2.12; p = 0.02). There was no association between cannabis use of the father and child behavior problems.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that intrauterine exposure to cannabis is associated with an increased risk for aggressive behavior and attention problems as early as 18 months of age in girls, but not boys. Further research is needed to explore the association between prenatal cannabis exposure and child behavior at later ages. Our data support educating future mothers about the risk to their babies should they smoke cannabis during pregnancy. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“In the present investigation, polysulfone (PSu) nanocomposites were successfully prepared by solvent casting method. Layered silicates, viz., sodium montmorillonite (NaMMT), Cloisite 93A, and Cloisite 30B were dispersed in PSu to obtain nanocomposite membranes. PSu nanocomposite membranes were tested for mechanical performance, water uptake, thermal properties, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

The factors most strongly associated with return to duty were being a senior officer (adjusted OR 2.01, 95% Cl 1.71-2.35, p<0.0001), having a non-battle-related injury or disease (3.18, 2.77-3.67, p<0.0001), and presenting with chest or abdominal pain (2.48, 1.61-3.81, p<0.0001), a gastrointestinal disorder (non-surgical 2.32, 1.51-3.56, p=0.0001; surgical 2.62, 1.69-4.06, p<0.0001), or a genitourinary disorder (2.19, 1.43-3.36, p=0.0003). Covariates associated with a decreased probability of return

to duty were serving in the navy or coast guard (0.59, 0.45-0.78, p=0.0002), or marines (0.86,0.77-0.96, p=0.0083); and presenting with a combat injury (0.27, 0.17-0.44, p<0.0001), a psychiatric disorder (0.28, 0.18-0.43, selleck compound p<0.0001), musculoskeletal or connective tissue disorder (0.46, 0.30-0.71, p=0.0004), spinal pain (0.41, 0.26-0.63, p=0.0001), or other wound (0.54, 0.34-0.84, p=0.0069).

Interpretation Implementation of preventive measures for service members who are at highest risk of evacuation, forward-deployed treatment, and therapeutic interventions could reduce the effect of non-battle-related

injuries and disease on military readiness.”
“Background Intimate-partner violence might increase during and after LY2090314 molecular weight exposure to collective violence. We assessed whether political violence was associated with male-to-female intimate-partner violence in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Methods A nationally representative, cross-sectional survey was done between Dec 18, 2005, and Jan 18, 2006, by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. 4156 households Adenosine triphosphate were randomly selected with a multistage random cluster design, from which 3815 ever-married women aged 15-64 years were identified. We restricted our analysis to presently

married women (n=3510, 92% participation rate), who completed a short version of the revised conflict tactics scales and exposure to political violence inventory Exposure to political violence was characterised as the husband’s direct exposure, his indirect exposure via his family’s experiences, and economic effects of exposure on the household. We used adjusted multinomial logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for association between political violence and intimate-partner violence.

Findings Political violence was significantly related to higher odds of intimate-partner violence. ORs were 1.89 (95% CI 1.29-2.76) for physical and 2.23 (1.49-3.35) for sexual intimate. partner violence in respondents whose husbands were directly exposed to political violence compared with those whose husbands were not directly exposed. For women whose husbands were indirectly exposed, ORs were 1.61 (1.25-2.07) for physical and 1.97 (1.49-2.60) for sexual violence, compared with those whose husbands were not indirectly exposed. Economic effects of exposure were associated with increased odds of intimate-partner violence in the Gaza Strip only.

In sum, our findings uncover a regulatory role played by the MKK4/7-JNK1/2 pathway in cytoskeleton reorganization

during VACV infection.”
“Background. Few genetically informative studies have examined the effects of different types of trauma on risk for depression over time. The aim of the present study was to examine the relative contributions over time of assaultive trauma, non-assaultive trauma, and familial effects to risk for depression.

Method. Histories of depression and trauma were obtained during structured diagnostic interviews with 5266 (mean age 29.9 years, Pevonedistat molecular weight S.D. =2.4) members of a volunteer Australian twin panel from the general population. Age at first onset of a DSM-TV major depressive episode was the dependent variable. Associations of depression with traumatic events were examined while accounting for the temporal sequence of trauma and depression and familial effects.

Results. Assaultive traumatic events that occurred during childhood had the strongest association with immediate and long-term risk for depression, and outweighed familial effects on childhood-onset depression for most twins. Although

men and women endorsed equal rates of assaultive trauma, women reported a greater accumulation of assaultive events at earlier ages than men, whereas men reported a greater accumulation of non-assaultive events at ail ages.

Conclusions. Early exposure to assaultive trauma can influence risk for depression into adulthood. Concordance for early trauma is a significant contributor to the familiality see more of early-onset depression.”
“Background: Long-term exposure to organic solvents may lead to chronic solvent induced encephalopathy (CSE) in painters. In combination with reduction of exposure, a workers’ health surveillance programme was developed, resulting in a three-stage CSE screening procedure for early neurobehavioural changes possibly predicting chronic health effects. The screening consists of a questionnaire (Neurosymptom Screening Checklist 60, NSC-60),

computerised neurobehavioural functioning testing (Neurobehavioural Evaluation this website System; NES2) and multidisciplinary differential diagnostic evaluation by experts (called ‘Solvent Team’). Results from the screening were compared with the results of the ‘care as usual’ (CAU), in which symptomatic patients were referred directly to the Solvent Team by occupational physicians, general practitioners or medical specialists. Parallel to the screening programme, a legal ban on indoor use of solvent-based paints resulted in lower exposure to solvents.

Objective: To investigate the usefulness of the NSC-60 questionnaire as a screening tool for CSE among painters and to investigate the course of the number of CSE cases over the years as a potential consequence of improved prevention and control.

Diagnosis was confirmed by polymyographic surface electromyography. All subjects underwent acoustic startle response and blink reflex investigations.

Results: Presence rate (71.4% vs. 100%, p = 0.042) and response rate (27.5% vs. 40.5%, p = 0.047) of total acoustic startle response were lower in patient group. Similarly, probability LXH254 in vivo over orbicularis oculi was lower among patients (p = 0.003). However, blink reflex was observed in all patients and healthy volunteers and latencies

of startle and blink reflexes were similar between groups.

Conclusions: In our patient group, normal response rate and latencies of R1 and R2 show structural integrity of at least blink reflex circuit at brainstem. On the other hand, suppressed response rates probably reflect decreased excitability of auditory startle reflex pathway. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961 aimed to eliminate the illicit production and non-medical use of cannabis, cocaine, and opioids, an aim later extended to many pharmaceutical drugs. Over the past 50 years international

drug treaties have neither prevented the globalisation of the illicit production and non-medical use of these drugs, nor, outside of developed countries, made these Selleckchem Torin 1 drugs adequately available for medical use. The system has also arguably worsened the human health and wellbeing of drug users by increasing the number of drug users imprisoned, discouraging effective countermeasures to the spread of HIV by injecting

drug users, and creating an environment conducive to the violation of drug users’ human rights. The international system has belatedly accepted measures to reduce the harm from injecting drug use, but national attempts to reduce penalties for drug use while complying with however the treaties have often increased the number of drug users involved with the criminal justice system. The international treaties have also constrained national policy experimentation because they require nation states to criminalise drug use. The adoption of national policies that are more aligned with the risks of different drugs and the effectiveness of controls will require the amendment of existing treaties, the formulation of new treaties, or withdrawal of states from existing treaties and re-accession with reservations.”
“Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is the best-characterized virus. Compared to most other viruses, its structure and physical and chemical properties are well known. TMV exclusively infects plants and is completely harmless for mammals. This virus is resilient against environmental changes, and it can easily be modified with functional materials. Our review gives a summary about the known physical properties of TMV (structure, thermodynamics, and electromagnetism).

4%) cases, and

gastroduodenal, inferior mesenteric, middle colic and right gastroepiploic in one (1.7%) case for each artery. Two (3.6%) patients had multiple VAAs. In five (9.1%) patients, an abdominal aortic aneurysm coexisted. Early results in terms of mortality and major complications were assessed. Follow-up consisted of clinical and ultrasound examinations at 1 and 12 months, and yearly thereafter. Long-term results in terms EPZ5676 nmr of survival and aneurysm-related complications were analyzed.

Results: In all but two cases, elective intervention in asymptomatic patients was performed. Two (3.6%) patients had a ruptured aneurysm (one pancreaticoduodenal artery and one middle colic artery). The one perioperative death was due to an acute pancreatitis in a patient operated on for a giant inflammatory splenic artery aneurysm, yielding a perioperative mortality rate of 1.8%. Two major complications (retroperitoneal hematoma and acute pancreatitis) were recorded. Mean selleck products duration of follow-up was 82.1 months (range, 0-324 months). Estimated 10-year survival rate was 79.5%. During follow-up two aneurysm-related complications occurred, with an estimated 10-year, aneurysm-related, complication-free survival rate of 75.2%.

Conclusion: In the era of minimally

invasive therapeutic approaches, elective open surgical treatment of visceral artery aneurysms is safe and effective, and offers satisfactory early and long-term results.”
“Objective: We aimed to achieve accurate statistical modeling of a putative relationship between carotid endarterectomy (CEA) annual surgeon and hospital volume and in-hospital mortality.

Design of Study. We performed a secondary data analysis of 10 years (1994-2003) of the Maryland hospital discharge database. Annual volume was defined as the total number of procedures performed for the time in the dataset divided

by the total years in the dataset. Non-linear relationships between death and average volumes were explored with logit-transformed lowess smoothing functions, followed by random effect models and inspection of data likelihood under each combination of spline knots. A marginal model with generalized estimating equations was used to represent population-average response as a function of covariates and to account for clustering in AG-120 supplier the data. Patient comorbidity was assessed using the Deyo modification of the Charlson Index.

Setting. The Maryland hospital discharge database is a 100% sample of all hospitals in the state.

Subjects: CEA was identified through ICD-9 and diagnosis codes, using a previously reported algorithm.

Main Outcome Measure: Estimated odds ratios predicting in-hospital death, a set at 0.05.

Results: During the study period, 22,772 patients with surgeon identifiers underwent CEA in Maryland, resulting in 123 in-hospital deaths (0.54%). The crude odds ratio of death for the entire surgeon dataset was 0.9838, meaning that the odds of death decreased by an average of 0.