Military medicine
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Scholars have described military deployments as one of the most stressful aspects of life for military couples. Deployment affects multiple roles and family members, yet little is known about the degree to which postdeployment outcomes are accounted for by predeployment functioning independent of deployment experiences. ⋯ Study findings reinforce the importance of predeployment preparation, providing families with resources to maximize resilience in response to the stress of deployment.
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In 2008, it was reported that 19.5% of service members previously deployed experienced a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Fifty-seven percent of those did not seek medical care. It was suggested that concerns with seeking care involved confidentiality and career issues. Objective: This study addressed mTBI history, medical treatment history, and stigmas associated with mTBI/concussion. ⋯ Soldiers sometimes failed to report their suspected concussions and did not seek medical care. Educational efforts may increase reporting of and medical screening for potentially concussive events. Future research to determine the ramifications of unreported and untreated mTBIs/concussions is recommended.
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While debate persists over how to best prevent or treat amputation neuromas, the more pressing question of how to best marry residual nerves to state-of-the-art robotic prostheses for naturalistic control of a replacement limb has come to the fore. One potential solution involves the transposition of terminal nerve ends into the medullary canal of long bones, creating the neural interface within the bone. Nerve transposition into bone is a long-practiced, clinically relevant treatment for painful neuromas. Despite neuropathic pain relief, the physiological capacity of transposed nerves to conduct motor and sensory signals required for prosthesis control remains unknown. This pilot study addresses the hypotheses that (1) bone provides stability to transposed nerves and (2) nerves transposed into bone remain physiologically active, as they relate to the creation of an osseointegrated neural interface. ⋯ Transposed nerves retain a degree of physiological function suitable for creating an osseointegrated neural interface.
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Hooking up is an impersonal sexual interaction, differing from sexual activity that occurs in the context of a committed relationship. Hookup behavior has been widely studied among college populations; however, this type of sexual behavior has yet to be explored in a military population. ⋯ Findings suggest that perceptions of hookups among participants who were male soldiers are generally consistent with college populations, with some varying aspects.
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Small, well prepared, culturally competent, and embedded health engagement teams (EHET) tailored to work within a partner health system, rather than outside of it, will achieve greater mutual benefit, desired military objectives, and better health outcomes for the United States Department of Defence and its partners. EHETs have significant advantages over traditional methods of choice for health security cooperation and humanitarian assistance missions. These advantages include enhanced capability and capacity building, greater trust through intentional cultural expertise, a ready platform for enduring relationships, enhanced host nation legitimacy, and flexibility to target specific issues with greater fidelity. ⋯ S. military and the civilian business world each have extensive experience in employing small teams that the health community can emulate. The ideal EHET should have the following nine characteristics: 12 people or fewer, skillsets for the tasks, global health knowledge, be multidisciplinary, a balance of experience, local language capability, geopolitical and cultural competence, targeted preparation for specific security and health objectives, and joint representation. This paper will explore these components of the prototype EHET as it will be tested in our research project.