BACKGROUND Advance care planning (ACP) documents patient wishes and increases awareness of palliative care options. OBJECTIVE To study the association of outpatient ACP with advanced directive documentation, utilization, and costs of care. DESIGN This was a case-control study of cases with ACP who died matched 1:1 with controls. We used 12 months of data pre-ACP/prematch and predeath. We co...

INTRODUCTION Advance care planning (ACP) is a process of shared decision-making about future health-care plans between patients, health care providers, and family members, should patients becomes incapable of participating in medical treatment decisions. ACP discussions enhance patient's autonomy, focus on patient's values and treatment preferences, and promote patient-centered care. ACP is int...

BACKGROUND In the present investigation, the effect of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (Las), a bacterium considered to be responsible for causing huanglongbing (HLB) disease in citrus, on the physiology of its vector, the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, was determined. Specifically, the effects of Las infection on the susceptibility of ACP to selected insecticides were ...

This paper presents several very interesting diagnostics for a comprehensive process-oriented validation of CCMs and CTMs in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (UTLS) and their application to the GMI CTM. It hence is a valuable contribution to ongoing validation activities within the different communities (e.g. QUANTIFY or CCMVal). However, the presentation and discussion of some diagnost...

Generally, a solution nucleation model is used to study biomineralization kinetics. However, we found that the amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP)-mediated hydroxyapatite (HAP) nucleation in simulated body fluids (SBF) had a different profile from the linear relationship between ln J and ln(-2) S (J, nucleation rate; S, supersaturation). This behaviour was alternatively explained by a developed h...

Imprint pressure uniformity is crucial to the pattern uniformity and yield of nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and, hence, its applications. We studied a novel imprint method, air cushion press (ACP), in which the mold and substrate are pressed against each other by gas pressure rather than solid plates, and compared it with a common method, solid parallel-plate press (SPP). We found that (a) unde...

The aim of this study was to determine if polycultures of algae could enhance tolerance to aqueous-phase coproduct (ACP) from hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of algal biomass to produce biocrude. The growth of algal monocultures and polycultures was characterized across a range ACP concentrations and sources. All of the monocultures were either killed or inhibited by 2% ACP, but polycultures of...

BACKGROUND Advance care planning (ACP) is the process of planning for future healthcare that is facilitated by a trained healthcare professional, whereby a person's values, beliefs and treatment preferences are made known to guide clinical decision-making at a future time when they cannot communicate their decisions. Despite the potential benefits of ACP for community aged care clients the avai...

BACKGROUND Advance care planning (ACP) promotes care consistent with patient wishes. Medical education should teach how to initiate value-based ACP conversations. OBJECTIVE To develop and evaluate an ACP educational session to teach medical students a value-based ACP process and to encourage students to take personal ACP action steps. DESIGN Groups of third-year medical students participate...