Objectives: This study aims to determine the frequency of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Anxiety and Depression among military personnel as well as describe their coping style. Methodology: This was a cross sectional descriptive study of military personnel. (Member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines), in active service i.e. must have been deployed to a combat zone at some point in time, drawn by convenience sampling. They were screened using the Filipino version of the Zung Depression Scale and the Hamilton Anxiety Scale after securing voluntary consent of the subjects. Results: There were 673 servicemen who participated in the study with many undergoing advancement schooling at the time of interview. Responses of only 598 subjects were included in the analysis since the others failed to complete the standardized demographic profile data sheet. Seven (1.1 %) were noted to be anxious; and 5 (0.8%) were depressed while no one were noted to have PTSD. The most common coping mechanisms in handling stress were smoking cigarettes, talking to a friend or drinking alcoholic beverages. Conclusion The prevalence of anxiety, depression and absence of PTSD were lower than expected but this may be due to the fact that at the time of interview the servicemen were not coming directly from a combat zone but had been taking up further studies over the past 1- 3 months in Metro Manila
Anxiety ; Depression ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; Military Personnel

Verrucous carcinoma of the penis is a rare invasive carcinoma that originates from squamous epithelial cells. It comprises 5 to 24 percent of all penile malignancies and 5 to 16 percent of all squamous cell carcinoma. In 5 % of cases, it is associated with human papilloma virus (HPV). We describe a case of a 42 year old male, with a I year history of a slowly enlarging verrucous mass which initially presented as a warty papule on the penile shaft.

Human ; Male ; Adult ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Carcinoma, Verrucous ; Epithelial Cells ; Papillomaviridae ; Penile Neoplasms ; Penis

Objectives: To describe the socio-demographic and psychological characteristics of self-rated successful agers among seniors 60 years old above in Quezon City Philippines. Methodology: The sample (N=346) was obtained from a random sampling of voluntary attendees invited to a mental health screening program scheduled in six districts spanning from June to October of 2017. Proposed psychosocial factors of healthy aging were assessed through demographics and the following scales:1)-Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test in Pilipino (MOCA-P), 2) Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale in Pilipino (HADS-P), 3) Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CDR-10) and 4) World Health Organization Quality of Life using (WHOQOLBREF). Successful Agers were defined as participants who scored themselves seven or above (:2:7) in the Self-Rated Successful Aging (SRSA) scale. Results: Seventy percent (70%) of the respondents (N=238) considered themselves as successful agers. Among the demographic variables, being female and the frequency of social visits were related to successful aging. Self-reported successful agers (SRSA) had no dementia with (MOCA-P mean of 21). They were not depressed (HADS-D mean 1.8) or anxious (HADS-A mean 3.4); had good quality of life (WHOQOL mean 3.4) and positive perceived health (WHOQOL mean3.3). Successful Quezon City Filipino agers were not as resilient (CD-RISC) with a mean of 27. Conclusion Like most studies in successful aging, quality of life and perceived health and strong family support were related to self-rated successful aging in this group of Filipino senior citizens. There was no relationship with cognitive function and resilience, which may be due to the exclusion of cognitively impaired participants and the lack of a validated cut-off score for the Filipino translated resilience scale used.
Healthy Aging ; Quality of Life

Nonmelanoma skin cancers are the most common human cancers. To this group basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common skin cancer in darkly pigmented patients and majority of the SCC's develop in non-sun exposed areas. We describe a case of a 72-year old male who consulted in the outpatient department of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for a 2-month history of non-healing ulcer on the scalp. Histopathologic examination revealed diagnosis of invasive squamous cell carcinoma. Patient was referred for surgical excision.

Human ; Male ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Outpatients ; Scalp ; Skin Neoplasms ; Tropical Medicine ; Ulcer

Cetuximab (CTX) is a potent chimeric mouse/human monoclonal antibody (mAb) approved worldwide for treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. Among the various biological and physical analyses per-formed for full study on this biopharmaceutic, the determination of the concentration preparations throughout manufacturing and subsequent handling in hospital is particularly relevant. In the present work, the study and validation of a method for quantifying intact CTX by reverse-phase high-perfor-mance liquid chromatography with diode array detection ((RP)HPLC/DAD) is presented. With that end, we checked the performance of a chromatographic method for quantifying CTX and conducted a study to validate the method as stability-indicating in accordance with the International Conference on Harmo-nization guidelines (ICH) for biotechnological drugs; therefore, we evaluated linearity, accuracy, preci-sion, detection and quantification limits, robustness and system suitability. The specificity of the method and the robustness of the mAb formulation against external stress factors were estimated by compre-hensive chromatographic analysis by subjecting CTX to several informative stress conditions. As de-monstrated, the method is rapid, accurate, and reproducible for CTX quantification. It was also suc-cessfully used to quantify CTX in a long-term stability study performed under hospital conditions.

INTRODUCTIONThis study aims to report the safety and effi cacy of the combined use of 70% Densiron®-68 and 30% polydimethysiloxane as a temporary vitreous substitute after pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) in selected cases of retinal detachment with superior and inferior retinal breaks.

MATERIAL AND METHODSFifty consecutive eyes of 50 patients affected by complicated retinal detachment with retinal breaks of the superior and inferior quadrants associated with proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) of grade C2 or more, underwent a pars plana vitrectomy and a combination internal tamponade with 70% Densiron®-68 and 30% silicone oil. The main outcome measures were visual acuity, retinal attachment, intraocular pressure (IOP) and incidence of complications.

RESULTSThe mean best-corrected visual acuity rose from 1.4 logMAR to 0.7 logMAR (P <0.01). Initial retinal reattachment was achieved in 48 (96%) patients. In 15 patients (30%), IOP increased over 21 mmHg. The main complications were redetachment at the 3 month follow-up in 12/48 cases (25%) and cataract formation in 13/21 phakic eyes (62%).

CONCLUSIONThis combination tamponade comprised lighter and heavier oil compounds was well tolerated and effective. It may be a useful tool for the treatment of retinal detachment complicated with breaks and PVR involving the upper and lower quadrants.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Dimethylpolysiloxanes ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Intraocular Pressure ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Complications ; epidemiology ; Recurrence ; Retinal Detachment ; etiology ; pathology ; therapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Silicone Oils ; therapeutic use ; Therapeutic Occlusion ; methods ; Treatment Outcome ; Visual Acuity ; Vitrectomy ; Vitreoretinopathy, Proliferative ; complications

Anticonvulsants ; adverse effects ; Aryl Hydrocarbon Hydroxylases ; genetics ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Camptothecin ; analogs & derivatives ; metabolism ; Carbamazepine ; adverse effects ; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2C19 ; Glucuronosyltransferase ; genetics ; HLA-A Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-B Antigens ; genetics ; Humans ; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors ; metabolism ; Stevens-Johnson Syndrome ; genetics ; Ticlopidine ; analogs & derivatives ; metabolism ; Topoisomerase I Inhibitors ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo determine the concentrations of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in three kinds of materials (cartilage, cortical bone, and cancellous bone) of the femur head obtained from patients in the process of operation.

METHODSConcentrations of Pb and Cd were determined in selected parts of the femur head of 30 patients after total hip arthroplasty, using ICP-AES (atomic absorption spectrophotometry).

RESULTSPb contained the highest concentration in cortical bone, while Cd did so in cancellous bone. There were statistically significant differences in the concentrations of both elements between the cartilage and cortical bone, and also differences in the concentration of Pb between the cartilage and cancellous bone. There were no significant differences in the concentrations of Pb or Cd between cortical and cancellous bone.

CONCLUSIONComparative studies on toxic metals should take into account both analogous bones and their fragments, as even if they come from the same kind of bones (e.g. femur head), clear differences exist in concentrations of heavy metals related to the sampling site and type of tissue (cartilage, cortical bone, and cancellous bone).

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip ; Cadmium ; chemistry ; Environmental Exposure ; Environmental Pollutants ; chemistry ; Female ; Femur Head ; chemistry ; Humans ; Lead ; chemistry ; Middle Aged ; Poland

Background: Microscopic detection is the conventional method for detecting malaria parasites. Although it is efficient and inexpensive, it has its limitations. In recent years, polymeras chain reaction (PCR) has been considered superior to microscopy in detecting mixed Plasmodium infections or infections with low parasite density. To determine whether microscopic or nested PCR (nPCR) is better at detecting congenital malaria (CM). Methods: Blood smear examination and nPCR were performed with blood samples taken from mothers and their newborns, who were likely to be suffering from CM and in whom one of the symptoms was low birth weight (LBW). The sensitivity and specificity of each method were then compared. Results: During one year of study, the prevalence of CM among 92 LBW newborns was determined to be 6.8% using microscopy and 7.8% using nPCR. Among the 92 mother–infant paired subjects, CM was detected in 34 subjects (37%) by microscopy and in 39 subjects (42.4%) by nPCR. nPCR was more sensitive (76.5% vs 66.7%) but less specific (77.6% vs 84.9%) than microscopy. When the two methods were compared, nPCR gave significantly better results in diagnosing CM (AUC = 0.770; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Although microscopy remains the most appropriate method for the diagnosis of CM in remote areas, nPCR can be considered a complementary test.

Purpose: To assess and compare the dosimetric parameters obtained between three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT), three-dimensional field-in-field (3DFIF), 5-field intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT MF5), tangential IMRT (tIMRT), tangential volumetric modulated arc therapy (tVMAT), electronic tissue compensation (Ecomp), and Hybrid treatment plans. Material and Methods: Thirty planning computed tomography datasets obtained from patients previously treated with whole breast radiation therapy (WBRT) were utilized in this study. Treatment plans were created for 3DCRT, 3DFIF, IMRT MF5, tIMRT, tVMAT, Ecomp, and Hybrid techniques using Eclipse Treatment Planning System (version 13.6) with a prescribed dose of 42.5 Gy in 16 fractions. Results: Techniques with tangential beams produced statistically significantly better organs-at-risk (OARs) dosimetry (p < 0.001). Planning target volume Homogeneity Index (HI) was found to be significantly different among all techniques (p < 0.001), with Ecomp resulting in better HI (1.061 ± 0.029). Ecomp was also observed to require relatively shorter planning time (p < 0.001). Conclusions Techniques using tangential fields arrangements produced improved OARs dosimetry. Of all the treatment planning techniques employed in this study, Ecomp was found to be relatively easy to plan and produce acceptable dosimetry for WBRT in a short time.