No abstract

Radiotherapy alone or partial temporal bone resection, most commonly a radical mastoidectomy with or without preoperative or postoperative radiotherapy is used by the majority of otolaryngologists in treating squamous cell carcinoma of the temporal bone. The 5-year survival rate after this treatment remains depressingly low and the prognosis gloomy, particularly for advanced tumors. The findings in this series of extended temporal bone resections as salvage surgery in recurrent disease is encouraging, and radical surgery combined with radiotherapy from the outset may give much better 5-year survival figures in the future than the conventional partial temporal bone resection and radiotherapy.

Electric fish handling gloves (FHGs) have been developed to immobilize fish during handling, with the potential benefit of reducing the time needed for sedation and recovery of fish relative to chemical anaesthetics. We examined the secondary stress responses (i.e., hematocrit, blood glucose, lactate, and pH) and reflex responses of Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides that were immobilized in water using electric FHGs for multiple durations (0, 30, and 120 s) relative to fish that were handled using only bare hands in water. We also evaluated the efficacy of the immobilization by quantifying the number of volitional movements that were observed during handling. Our findings suggested that when FHGs were used, fish tended to remain still (i.e., to show full reflex impairment) during handling relative to controls. Fish that were held with FHGs showed negligible reflex impairment immediately after the electricity was terminated. After a 30‐min posttreatment retention period, blood chemistry and ventilation rates were similar between fish held with FHGs and those held with bare hands. This study supports the notion that electric FHGs are a safe and effective tool for practitioners who need to temporarily immobilize fish for handling, enumeration, or performing various scientific procedures. Received November 15, 2016; accepted February 26, 2017 Published online May 4, 2017

Objective: Recently graduated Otolaryngology -Head and Neck Surgeons (OTO-HNS) are facing an employment crisis. To date, there has been no systematic evaluation of the factors contributing to this situation, graduating OTO-HNS trainee employment rates, nor the employment concerns of these graduating residents. This investigation sought to empirically evaluate prospective OTO-HNS graduate employment, identify factors contributing to this situation, and provide suggestions going forward. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of the 2014 graduating cohort of OTO-HNS residents was conducted 6-months prior to graduation, and immediately following residency graduation. Surveyed items focused on the demographics of the graduating cohort, their future training and employment plans, and their concerns relative to the OTO-HNS employment situation. Results: All twenty-nine Canadian medical school graduated OTO-HNS residents completed the initial survey, with 93% responding at the completion of residency. Only 6 (22%) indicated confirmed employment following residency training. 78% indicated that they were pursuing fellowship training. 90% identified the pursuit of fellowship training as a moderately influenced by limited job opportunities. The ability to find and secure full-time employment, losing technical skills if underemployed/unemployed, and being required to consider working in a less-desired city/province were most concerning. 34% of the residents felt that they were appropriately counseled during their residency training about employment. 90% felt that greater efforts should be made to proactively match residency-training positions to forecasted job opportunities. Conclusions: Canadian OTO-HN Surgeons lack confirmed employment, are choosing to pursue fellowship training to defer employment, and are facing startling levels of under-and unemployment. A multitude of factors have contributed to this situation and immediate action is required to rectify this slowly evolving catastrophe.