A total of 16 RCTs were included assessing different archwire characteristics on 1108 patients. Regarding initial archwires, meta-analysis of two trials found slightly greater irregularity correction with an austenitic-active nickel-titanium (NiTi) compared with an martensitic-stabilized

NiTi archwire (corresponding to MD: 1.11 mm, 95% CI: -0.38 to 2.61). Regarding archwire sequences, meta-analysis of two trials found Selleckchem ON-01910 it took patient treated with a sequence of martensitic-active copper-nickel-titanium (CuNiTi) slightly longer to reach the working archwire (MD: 0.54months, 95% CI: -0.87 to 1.95) compared with a martensitic-stabilized NiTi sequence. However, patients treated with a sequence of martensitic-active CuNiTi archwires reported general greater pain intensity on the Likert scale 4h and 1day after placement of each archwire, compared with a martensitic-stabilized NiTi sequence. Although confidence

in effect estimates ranged from moderate to high, meta-analyses could be performed only for limited comparisons, while inconsistency might pose a threat to some of them. At this point, there is insufficient data to make recommendations about the majority of initial archwires or for a specific archwire sequence.”
“Background. Both the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the European Society for Medical Oncology strongly endorse integrating oncology and BTSA1 inhibitor palliative care (PC); however, a global consensus on what constitutes integration is currently lacking. To better understand what integration entails, we conducted a systematic review to identify articles addressing the clinical, find protocol educational, research, and administrative indicators of integration. Materials and Methods. We searched Ovid MEDLINE and Ovid EMBase between 1948 and 2013. Two researchers independently reviewed each citation for inclusion and extracted the indicators related to integration. The inter-rater agreement was high (kappa = 0.96, p smaller than

.001). Results. Of the 431 publications in our initial search, 101 were included. A majority were review articles (58%) published in oncology journals (59%) and in or after 2010 (64%, p smaller than . 001). A total of 55 articles (54%), 33 articles (32%), 24 articles (24%), and 14 articles (14%) discussed the role of outpatient clinics, community-based care, PC units, and inpatient consultation teams in integration, respectively. Process indicators of integration include interdisciplinary PC teams (n = 72), simultaneous care approach (n = 71), routine symptom screening (n = 25), PC guidelines (n = 33), care pathways (n = 11), and combined tumor boards (n = 10). A total of 66 articles (65%) mentioned early involvement of PC, 18 (18%) provided a specific timing, and 28 (28%) discussed referral criteria.