Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of some occupationally related health problems among dentists in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Method: A cross-sectional study using the one-stage complex sampling technique to evaluate the results of a self-reporting questionnaire distributed to 844 dentists working in three cities (Abu ...

Objective: To assess the implementation and effectiveness of strategies and actions to eliminate and/or reduce alcohol-related problems at large sports and entertainment events in New Zealand. Methods: We conducted site visits and monitoring observations at venues before, during and after a variety of large events between March 2009 and November ...

The present study aimed at assessing the recovery of phototrophic and heterotrophic biofilm communities after a decrease in copper exposure. An original experiment was designed to evaluate the possible influence of non-exposed (i.e. pristine) communities (e.g. via immigration processes) in recovery dynamics. Laboratory channels were used to study the structural ...

BACKGROUND:: Despite the known substantial benefits of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), cumulative adverse effects could still limit the overall long-term treatment benefit. Therefore we investigated changes in the rate of death with increasing exposure to cART. METHODS:: 12069 patients were followed from baseline, which was defined as the time of ...

The effects of prolonged exposure to low concentrations of herbicides on tropical periphyton (biofilm) communities are largely unknown. Tropical estuarine biofilms established in microcosms were therefore exposed to diuron (photosystem-II-inhibitor) at 2-16μgL(-1) for 4weeks. The biofilms, consisting of diatoms, filamentous brown algae and cyanobacteria, developed a tolerance to diuron during ...

An increasing body of evidence points out that allelopathy may be an important process shaping microbial communities in aquatic ecosystems. Cyanobacteria have well-documented allelopathic properties, mainly derived from the evaluation of the activity of allelopathic extracts or pure compounds towards monocultures of selected target microorganisms. Consequently, little is known regarding ...

Youth who experience a greater number of caregiver transitions during childhood are at risk for developing a host of psychosocial problems. Although researchers have examined individual-level factors that may moderate this association, no known studies have examined the impact of community-level factors. The current study investigated whether community violence exposure ...

This study examines processes linking inner-city community violence exposure to subsequent internalizing and externalizing problems. Hypothesized risk and protective factors from three ecological domains -- children's parent and peer relationships and individual characteristics -- were examined for mediating, moderating or independent roles in predicting problem behavior among 667 children over ...

Objective:  Rural South Australia contains a higher share of electronic gaming machines and gambling expenditure per capita than metropolitan areas, raising concerns about the risk of problem gambling in these communities. This paper describes the implementation and outcomes of an outreach behavioural psychotherapy (exposure therapy) program for problem gambling in ...

Our major classification systems (DSM and ICD) face three main problems: the high rates of 'comorbidity' that are produced by our present diagnostic rules, the increasing use of 'not elsewhere classified' (NEC) by practising clinicians, and the fact that each new edition is longer and more complex than the one ...

Hantaviruses affect people worldwide, yet they remain poorly understood. This article explores the known history of hantaviruses. It describes diagnostic methods and potential options for treatment and prevention.

The incidence of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) has continued to grow in recent years. IFIs are associated with significant morbidity and mortality as well as costs. The diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to IFI have changed significantly in recent years, fostered by the introduction of new diagnostic methods and new antifungal ...

The prevalence of fur mites, Cheyletiella parasitovorax and Leporacarus gibbus, in pet rabbits in South Korea was investigated by a diagnostic evaluation of skin surface tape strips and hair coat combings. C. parasitovorax was found in 80 of 140 rabbits (57.1%) and L. gibbus in six of 140 rabbits (4.3%). ...

Claims have been made that certain diagnostic devices should be routinely used to differentiate between jaw dysfunction and normal variation and between various pathologic conditions of the temporomandibular joint. The claims that jaw-tracking devices have diagnostic value for detecting TMD are not well supported by the scientific evidence. The clinical ...

Huntington disease (HD) in indigenous Australians is a poorly analysed and difficult problem. This study addresses the issue of HD in remote indigenous Australian populations in the north-west of Western Australia. Proband identification, clinical assessment, neurogenetic studies and pedigree analysis led to the discovery of HD in the 63-year-old male ...

A wide range of diseases may be the cause of an accumulation of fluid in the pleural space. Pleural effusion is a major diagnostic problem, since the pleura is an inner cavity with no direct access. The aim of this review is to provide a practical approach to the investigation ...

A favorite cliché, often attributed to Yogi Berra, is "Prediction is difficult, especially about the future!" In this brief review, we shall recall some historical difficulties in predicting the future of diagnostic medical imaging--in particular, the modern technologies of CT and MRI--and examine the analogous situation in the emerging technology ...

This exploratory study examines a subset of mobile phone use, the compulsive use of short message service (SMS) text messaging. A measure of SMS use, the SMS Problem Use Diagnostic Questionnaire (SMS-PUDQ), was developed and found to possess acceptable reliability and validity when compared to other measures such as self-reports ...

Many of the entries in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition - Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) are problematic along multiple axes, including, but not limited to, clarity, logical coherence, factual content, redundancy, and ambiguity. These problems pose multiple barriers to clear, efficient, and accurate communication among those ...

We report the first cases of locally-acquired Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense (Yamane, Kamo, Bylund and Wikgren, 1986) in Switzerland, confirmed by genetic analysis (18S rRNA, COI and ITS1-5.8S rRNA-ITS2 genes). Diphyllobothriasis in this country is attributed to the tapeworm D. latum (Linnaeus, 1758) but the increasing popularity of raw fish culinary specialities ...

The decrease in the rate at which novel medical products are reaching the market, despite major scientific achievements and investment that might have predicted otherwise, is causing much concern. Although this 'pipeline problem' has often been discussed in the context of drug development, it is also crucial to examine the ...

Diagnostic analysis of wetlands is an ordered/structured method of examining wetland systems to identify their values and constraints for the solution of the environmental problems. This study focuses on the diagnostic analysis of Lake Uluabat on the feasibility of "Objective Oriented Project Planning (OOPP)" approach, created by the United States ...

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether morphometrical analysis can be of diagnostic value for canine acanthomatous ameloblastoma. We calculated, by means of an automated image analyser, some morphometric nuclear parameters, in particular: mean nuclear area (MNA), mean nuclear perimeter (MNP), maximum and minimum diameters (MDx and MDm) ...

Urticaria has been called a vexing problem and remains so today. The most important part of the diagnostic evaluation remains a comprehensive and detailed history and physical examination, supplemented with limited laboratory testing. Although acute urticaria has been relatively well understood for some time, significant and important recent advances in ...

The idea that headache may originate from a problem at the neck or cervical spine level has fascinated and stimulated researchers for centuries. Contributions and reports seeking to clarify this issue have multiplied in the past 80 or 90 years. Bärtschi-Rochaix reported what seems to have been the first clinical ...

Pathologic disorders of the equine neonate often develop shortly after foaling as a result of prematurity, dystocia, trauma, or septicemia. Recognition of these disorders requires routine patient assessment along with diagnostic aids, including abdominal and thoracic ultrasonography. Fortunately, modern technology affords today's equine practitioners the opportunity to use ultrasonography to ...

In 2004, Alliance Medical signed an pound 80m deal to provide 635,000 scans to NHS patients over five years. The company argues its mobile scanners offer flexibility to meet demand while the NHS fills the shortfall in the diagnostics workforce. Critics point to problems including longer waits and slow communication ...

A maximum wait for diagnostics of four to six weeks will be needed to hit the 18-week waiting-time target. Independent-sector procurement remains key to increasing capacity, but there are disputes around how it should be used. Advanced practitioners could address the problem of the different disciplines working in silos.

In many patients, abdominal ultrasonography is an excellent diagnostic and prognostic tool. It aids in deciding whether the animal should undergo surgical or medical treatment or be slaughtered. This is particularly true in cattle with traumatic reticuloperitonitis (in combination with radiography of the reticulum) or with a tentative diagnosis of ...

Automation users often disagree with diagnostic aids that are imperfectly reliable. The extent to which users' agreements with an aid are anchored to their personal, self-generated diagnoses was explored. Participants (N = 75) performed 200 trials in which they diagnosed pump failures using an imperfectly reliable automated aid. One group ...

A cutaneous mastocytoma excised from a 6-month-old male infant was found to have unusual massive eosinophilic infiltrates. The mast cells were identified with the aid of immunohistochemistry with antibodies to tryptase and KIT protein (CD117). Massive eosinophilic infiltration in a cutaneous tumor could be a diagnostic clue of an eosinophil-rich ...

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves have been useful in two-group classification problems. In three- and multiple-class diagnostic problems, an ROC surface or hyper-surface can be constructed. The volume under these surfaces can be used for inference using bootstrap techniques or U-statistics theory. In this article, ROC surfaces and hyper-surfaces are ...

Cryptococcal meningitis is recognized as one of the AIDS defining conditions. It acts as a diagnostic marker for further investigations to establish the retroviral infection. Cryptococcus neoformans can be readily identified by its characteristic capsulated morphology. But rarely variations in morphology may be seen. We report a case of chronic ...

Cerebral mass lesions are a prominent complication of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The causes are however varied and provide a diagnostic and management challenge to medical practitioners in the developing world where health facilities are limited. We present a case of seizures, hemiparesis and sphincter incontinence in a Nigerian ...

Inguinal hernias are a common problem but often present with diagnostic dilemmas, in part as a result of the complex anatomy of the region. A simplified analogy is put forward in the hope of increasing the understanding of the anatomy and some guidance given in an endeavor to differentiate direct ...

Chyluria occurs as a result of communication between the lymphatics and the urinary system. It is a common problem in developing countries. Since its original description by Hippocrates, chyluria has been mentioned frequently in the literature and has remained puzzling in many reports. As a rare occurrence, chyluria may present ...

The aim of this study was to develop a selective enrichment broth as an aid for the isolation of Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) bacteria from water. To allow growth of all nine genomovars, mixtures of two carbon sources had to be used, i.e. L-arabinose/D-cellobiose or L-arabinose/L-threonine. Selectivity was provided by ...

The main problem with preterm labour is our lack of progress in the successful management of this condition. We need to reassess our approach to this problem because preterm labour is not a disease, but an event, which may result from multiple independent pathways. This problem has also been affected ...

Restenosis is an unsolved clinical and economic limitation of angioplasty. Local irradiation is a new concept to overcome this problem. The magnitude of this health problem becomes apparent when one recognizes that 166132 percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) procedures were performed in Germany in 1999. Each angioplasty has subsequent costs ...

In the present review paper, the following problems have been brought up: 1) types of nontoxic goitre and applied classification, 2) physiological periods or states predisposing to non-toxic goitre development, 3) evaluation of excessive stimulation of the thyroid gland, 4) the treatment of iodine deficiency consequences (non-toxic diffuse vs. non-toxic ...

Unique embryologic and immunologic aspects of the vulva contribute to the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges of managing vulvar problems. Individual variations in care of the genital region, defined by personal and societal "norms," may at times exacerbate vulvar problems. Three dimensions are considered in the evaluation of a vulvar problem: ...

Self-report instruments can provide useful information as part of a thorough clinical assessment. However, their use in forensic settings can be problematic. The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) has recently been proposed as an effective instrument for screening and outcome measurement in anger management programs. This study evaluated the effectiveness ...

Automated diagnostic aids that are less than perfectly reliable often produce unwarranted levels of disuse by operators. In the present study, users' tendencies to either agree or disagree with automated diagnostic aids were examined under conditions in which (a) the aids were less than perfectly reliable but aided-diagnosis was still ...

OBJECTIVE: 1. Selecting the key problems in medicine--I. Diagnostic problems, II. Didactic and training problems of medical education, III. Economical problems, IV. Communications technologies problems, V. Psychological problems, VI. Social problems, VII. Strategic problems. 2. Outline ways to optimal solution of these problems. METHODS: Innovative intellectual approach to medical diagnostic ...

A rectourinary fistula is a common accompaniment of anorectal malformations (ARM) in boys. Most boys pass urine normally after reconstruction and closure of the fistula, but a few have serious problems because of a narrow urethra. In our series, a narrow urethra was encountered in three types of male ARM: ...

BACKGROUND: The Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA) is a validated assessment instrument for nutritional problems, but its length limits its usefulness for screening. We sought to develop a screening version of this instrument, the MNA-SF, that retains good diagnostic accuracy. METHODS: We reanalyzed data from France that were used to develop the ...

Periostitis pubis has been proposed as a new clinical entity, one characterized by abdominal pain and tenderness over the os pubis. Periostitis pubis, as defined by Rubenstein , is inflammation at the insertion point of the anterior abdominal musculature onto the periosteum of the os pubis. A case is described ...

Overtraining syndrome is a serious problem marked by decreased performance, increased fatigue, persistent muscle soreness, mood disturbances, and feeling 'burnt out' or 'stale.' The diagnosis of overtraining is usually complicated, there are no exact diagnostic criteria, and physicians must rule out other diseases before the diagnosis can be made. An ...

Lee and Vickers (2000) suggest that the results of MacGregor and Ormerod (1996), showing that the response uncertainty to traveling salesperson problems (TSPs) increases with increasing numbers of nonboundary points, may have resulted as an artifact of constraints imposed in the construction of stimuli. The fact that similar patterns of ...

Pericardial effusions accompany a number of clinical conditions. The challenges facing the clinician when dealing with a pericardial effusion include assessing the urgency of draining the effusion, choosing the right approach for drainage, determining the mechanics of the effusion, and establishing a cause for the effusion. Currently available diagnostic methods, ...