Despite the presence of a number of good publications during the past two decades, the posterior glottis (PG) is still not clearly appreciated in clinical laryngological practice. This study focuses on searching the literature to find out the present day awareness of the PG, as well as highlighting some of its clinical features. The investigation proceeds with two main sections: (1) critical analysis of the literature on the PG during the last 50 years (2) describing the clinical appearance and behavior of the PG in 100 normal subjects. Results of section 1 illustrate the limited awareness in the literature of the existence of PG as a distinct part of the human larynx. Results of section 2 illustrate some misconcepts related to the PG as inter-arytenoid pachydermia, change of voice with lesions in the PG. Discussion elaborates on the significance of the findings and attempts to clarify certain misconcepts about the PG, its structure, function, and clinical features. In the light of the data collected from the literature regarding the dimensions of the PG, a set of recommendations were proposed regarding the optimal sizes of the endotracheal tubes in both sexes.

No abstract

Background Blood loss is one of the major problems during operations of spine fusion. Several blood-conservative measures were applied to reduce the incidence of blood loss—among them, acute hypervolemic hemodilution (AHH) and controlled hypotension (CH). This study was designed to detect the effect of combination of AHH with CH induced by remifentanil versus magnesium sulfate on the volume of blood loss, allogeneic blood transfusion, hemodynamics, coagulation, and electrolytes during operations for spine fusion which are risky operations with high incidence of blood loss and blood transfusion. Sixty patients scheduled for posterior fusion of the spine were randomly allocated into three groups of 20 patients each (group I (AHH), group II (AHH combined with remifentanil-based CH), and group III (AHH combined with magnesium sulfate-based CH)). Estimated blood loss and total volume of packed red blood cells (PRBCS) transfused were recorded. Arterial blood pressure (ABP) and heart rate (HR) measures were recorded. Blood samples were obtained for the detection of hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (HCT). Results Estimated blood loss, percentage blood loss, and intraoperative RBC transfusion units were significantly high in group I in relation to group II and group III (Table 2). Cardiac output was significantly higher in group I in relation to group II and group III at 10, 15, 30, 45, and 60 min after start of AHH. MBP and HR results were significantly high in group I in comparison with group II and group III at 30, 45, 60, and 90 min and 2 and 3 h after start of study drugs. CVP results were significantly high in group I in relation to group II and group III at 15, 30, 45, 60, and 90 min after start of AHH. PTT was significantly increased in the three study groups in comparison with baseline inside each group after AHH. Conclusion Combination of AHH with CH induced by remifentanil or magnesium sulfate was associated with reduction in estimated blood loss, and total volume of PRBCS transfused. There was no significant difference between hemodynamic parameters with the use of remifentanil or magnesium sulfate except that SBP, DBP, and MBP results were significantly high with magnesium sulfate at 15 min after drug infusion. There was significant increase in PT and PTT after AHH that was not reflected by significant blood oozing from the operative field, or by difficulty in hemostasis.

No abstract

Challenges could be observed as opportunities for success. The growth of project management body of knowledge and the advancement of project managers' capabilities in dealing with resources are crucial to the successful delivery of projects. As the main objective of this paper is to overview the key challenges for project managers in the current century to help the Future Built Environment, a systematic literature review analysis on PM features was conducted by evaluating over 256 published research papers under the Project Management topic during the past 15 years (2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018). As result of this exploration, the research highlighted 18 main challenges and over 125 parameters related to challenges in projects from the extant literature. The management of uncertainty and dealing with different challenges are necessary conditions for effective project management. Sources of challenges are wide ranging and have fundamental effects on projects and the project management body of knowledge. These challenges are not limited to specific industries, and include scope management, information technology, team dynamics, customers' satisfaction, lean management, communication, innovation and quality. Common project management body of knowledge does not address many of the listed sources of challenges, particularly in 'soft' project management skills where flexibility and tolerance of PMs are necessary. The findings of this review paper help scholars to put their attempts on key challenges in managing projects effectively. Such attempts need to entail project managers' capabilities as well as the organization maturities including some aspects of organisation culture and learning.