To date very few studies with small sample size have compared peroral esophageal myotomy (POEM) with the current surgical standard of care, laparoscopic Heller myotomy (LHM), in terms of efficacy and safety, and no recommendations have been proposed.To investigate the efficacy and safety of POEM compared with LHM, for the treatment of achalasia.The databases of Pubmed, Medline, Cochrane, and Ov...

Oftentimes, the question “what is this poem about?” has no trivial answer, regardless of length, style, author, or context in which the poem is found. We propose a simple system of multi-label classification of poems based on their subjects following the categories and subcategories as laid out by the Poetry Foundation. We make use of a model that combines the methodologies of tf-idf and Latent...

The treatment of patients with achalasia is complex due to a considerably high recurrence rate and risk of treatment-related complications. The per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is a new endoscopic technique that combines the benefits of a minimally invasive endoscopic procedure with the efficacy of a surgical myotomy. Implementation of the POEM technique may lead to fewer complications, a low...

Robert Burns's poem, Death and Doctor Hornbook, 1785, tells of the drunken narrator's late night encounter with Death. The Grim Reaper is annoyed that ‘Dr Hornbook’, a local schoolteacher who has taken to selling medications and giving medical advice, is successfully thwarting his efforts to gather victims. The poet fears that the local gravedigger will be unemployed but Death reassures him tha...

Per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is a new minimally invasive endoscopic treatment for achalasia. Since the first modern human cases were published in 2008, around 2,000 cases have been performed worldwide. This technique requires advanced endoscopic skills and a learning curve of at least 20 cases. POEM is highly successful with over 90 % improvement in dysphagia while offering patients the a...

E ffective teachers do no simply present information for students to learn by rote for a good grade. Rather, they provide an environment in which students can engage with course material and both learn and interpret it for their own interest and goals. With this in mind, I have spent a considerable amount of time developing an active learning format for my introductory biology course, including...

In spring 1590, book-buyers in London were confronted with a long narrative poem, ‘Disposed into twelue books, Fashioning XII. Morall vertues’, published by William Ponsonby. If they bought the poem, or leafed through it on the stationer’s stall, they encountered first a dedication ‘TO THE MOST MIGHTIE AND MAGNIFICENT EMPRESSE ELIZABETH’, then, on the following pages, the title and subtitle of ...

Per-oral Endoscopic Myotomy (POEM) is a transmural endoscopic surgical technique that is gaining widespread adoption in the management of adult achalasia. The endoscopic approach offers excellent access to the muscular wall of the esophagus enabling division of the abnormal circular fibers. The procedure offers the benefits of being incisionless, preserving the outer longitudinal esophageal mus...

Download Editor’s Note: The author writes: “This poem relates a true situation regarding my neighbor and good friend. I changed his name in the poem, but everything else is true.” Dennis Trujillo was born and raised in Pueblo, Colorado. He is a former soldier and middle/high school math teacher who happens to love poetry. He now resides in Korea and is employed at Shinhan University. He runs an...