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...

Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is a safe and effective procedure for patients with achalasia [1]. Mucosal perforation is an inadvertent complication that is difficult or impossible to treat with standard clips [2]. Over-the-scope clips, endoluminal suturing devices, and fully covered stents have been used successfully [3,4]. Cyanoacrylate is used as a sealant because of its rapid solidificat...

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...

The psychological aspects of epilepsy are lifelong. To maximize a healthy life, it is critical that the patient with epilepsy not view such illness as a stigma. During the Twentieth International Epilepsy Congress, the author presented an autobiographical poem entitled: 'Life with epilepsy: 1960-1992 '1 . The following poem represents his feelings following the presentation, and his underlying ...

Pattern poetry is an art form that combines literary and visual elements to produce poems in which the text and the shape of the poem work together as an aesthetic whole. To fully appreciate a pattern poem one needs to see it as well as hear it. Although varied forms of this art existed throughout history and across cultures, it is only in the 19 century that pattern poetry became a recognized ...

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...

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...

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...

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiling with C60(+) sputtering was used to resolve the lithium-ion distribution in the nanometer-scale domain structures of block polymer electrolyte thin films. The electrolytes of interest are mixtures of lithium trifluoromethanesulfonate and lamellar-forming polystyrene-poly(oligo(oxyethylene)methacrylate) (PS-POEM) copolymer. XPS depth profilin...

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...