BackgroundThe aim of this study was to determine which of the most commonly used scoring systems for evaluation of critically ill patients in the ICU is the best and simplest to use in our hospital.Material/MethodsThis prospective study included 60 critically ill patients. After admittance to the ICU, APACHE II, SAPS II, and MPM II0 were calculated. During further treatment in the ICU, SOFA and MPM II were calculated at 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h and 7 days after admittance using laboratory and radiological measures.ResultsIn comparison with survivors, non-survivors were older (p<0.01) and spent significantly more days on mechanical ventilation (p<0.01). ARDS was significantly more common in patients who survived compared to those who did not (chi-square=7.02, p<0.01), which is not the case with sepsis (chi-square=0.388, p=0.53). AUROC SAPS II was 0.690, and is only slightly higher than the other 2 AUROC incipient scoring systems, MPM II and APACHE II (0.654 and 0.623). The APACHE II has the highest specificity (81.8%) and MPM II the highest sensitivity (85.2%). MPM II7day AUROC (1.0) shows the best discrimination between patients who survived and those who did not. MPM II48 (0.836), SOFA72 (0.821) and MPM II72 (0.817) also had good discrimination scores.ConclusionsAPACHE II and SAPS II measured on admission to the ICU were significant predictors of complications. MPM II7day has the best discriminatory power, followed by SOFA7day and MPM II48. MPM II7day has the best calibration followed by SOFA7day and APACHE II.

Overall, 63.4% students supported medical cannabis legalization, and only 20.8% supported its legalization for recreational use. Students who previously used marijuana (p <.001) and alcohol (p =.004) were significantly more in favor of medical cannabis legalization compared with students who never used them. Support for marijuana recreational use was also related to prior marijuana (p <.001) and alcohol consumption (p =.006). Only cancer (90.4%) and chronic pain (74.2%) were correctly reported approved medical indications by more than half the students. Students who supported medical cannabis legalization showed better knowledge about indications, in contrast to opponents for legalization who showed better knowledge about side effects. Beliefs that using medical cannabis is safe and has health benefits were correlated with support for legalization, and previous marijuana and alcohol use, while beliefs that medical cannabis poses health risks correlated most strongly with previous marijuana use. Conclusions/Importance: The medical students' attitudes toward medical cannabis legalization were significantly correlated with previous use of marijuana and alcohol, knowledge about medical indications and side effects, and their beliefs regarding medical cannabis health benefits and risks.

BackgroundThe aim of the study was to determine the significance of spinal anesthesia in the suppression of the metabolic, hormonal, and hemodynamic response to surgical stress in elective surgical patients compared to general anesthesia.Material/MethodsThe study was clinical, prospective, and controlled and it involved 2 groups of patients (the spinal and the general anesthesia group) who underwent the same surgery. We monitored the metabolic and hormonal response to perioperative stress based on serum cortisol level and glycemia. We also examined how the different techniques of anesthesia affect these hemodynamic parameters: systolic arterial pressure (AP), diastolic AP, heart rate (HR), and arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2). These parameters were measured before induction on anesthesia (T1), 30 min after the surgical incisions (T2), 1 h postoperatively (T3) and 24 h after surgery (T4).ResultsSerum cortisol levels were significantly higher in the general anesthesia group compared to the spinal anesthesia group (p<0.01). Glycemia was significantly higher in the general anesthesia group (p<0.05). There was a statistically significant, positive correlation between serum cortisol levels and glycemia at all times observed (p<0.01). Systolic and diastolic AP did not differ significantly between the groups (p=0.191, p=0.101). The HR was significantly higher in the general anesthesia group (p<0.01). SpO2 values did not differ significantly between the groups (p=0.081).ConclusionsBased on metabolic, hormonal, and hemodynamic responses, spinal anesthesia proved more effective than general anesthesia in suppressing stress response in elective surgical patients.

We compare the forcing related properties of a complete Boolean algebra B with the properties of the convergences λ s (the algebraic convergence) and λ ls on B generalizing the convergence on the Cantor and Aleksandrov cube respectively. In particular we show that λ ls is a topological convergence iff forcing by B does not produce new reals and that λ ls is weakly topological if B satisfies condition ( ) (implied by the t-cc). On the other hand, if λ ls is a weakly topological convergence, then B is a 2 h -cc algebra or in some generic extension the distributivity number of the ground model is greater than or equal to the tower number of the extension. So, the statement "The convergence λ ls on the collapsing algebra B = ro( <ω ω 2 ) is weakly topological" is independent of ZFC.

Our results show a significantly decreasing trend of the incidence rate for lip cancers in the population of the city of Belgrade between 1999 and 2010. On the contrary, the incidence of oral cavity and pharyngeal cancers increased for both men and women.