A new method is described for measuring the Faradic resistance of a single electrode-electrolyte interface. The method employs a test (monopolar) electrode, a potential-sensing electrode and a large reference (indifferent) electrode, along with a constant-current source capable of providing a step function of current. The method was used to measure ...

In this commentary on the article by Arthur L. Caplan [1] the philosophy of medicine is viewed from a medical perspective. Philosophical studies have a long tradition in medicine, especially during periods of paradigmatic unrest, and they serve the same goal as other medical activities: the prevention and treatment of ...

The cesarean section rate at our medical center has increased gradually from 9.1% in 1965 to 21.9% in 1989, which is lower but similar to national trends. This upward trend was reversed in 1990 by more strongly encouraging vaginal births after cesarean section, attempting more vaginal deliveries in select cases ...

For many years, California court decisions and legislation have often presaged national trends. The expected debate over medical malpractice should be no exception. Thus, the court decisions on third party liability and the outcome of the MICRA negotiations are important both for California and as a harbinger of future national ...

A general, logistic population model is used to explore the dynamics of harvested elephant populations. The model includes two features peculiar to elephant populations and the harvesting of ivory. First, because of the shape of the growth curve of tusks with age, the conversion factor that relates the number of ...

Trend analysis is used to predict the histamine provocation concentration PC20 during the so-called challenge test, where increasing doses of the bronchoconstricting agent are given to a patient and the spirometric examination is subsequently performed. Classical least-squares analysis of trends as well as least absolute deviations analysis are compared. The ...

Cases of completed suicide among U.S. Navy enlisted personnel occurring from 1974 through 1985 were identified and compared with similar rates in the U.S. general population and in the U.S. Army. Although the Navy suicide rate was the lowest of the three groups, this rate increased between 1976 and 1983. ...

Secular trends in body height, however common, run at different rates and even in opposite directions in various populations. The standard explanation is that direction and tempo of the trend are reflections of changes in the socioeconomic situation. The aim of this work is to test this hypothesis by examining ...

A questionnaire was sent to diplomates of the American Board of Endodontics to determine changing trends in the treatment of endodontic emergencies since Dorn's survey 10 yr ago. There is a definitely greater trend toward complete instrumentation of the root canals to the apex regardless of the emergency condition than ...

Isonymy is a useful approach to the study of population structure and thus can be utilized to detect deviations from random mating. In this study we give the results of an analysis of inbreeding levels and relate such variables as mean marital distance, surnames repeated in isonymous couples, and percentage ...

Predictions made more than a quarter of a century ago regarding excessive use of cesarean delivery for cases of dystocia have been realized. Breech presentation, correctable dystocia, and twin gestation are increasingly being delivered by the abdominal route. Recent studies have shown that neonatal morbidity is not inherently improved by ...

Responding to the narrow focus, medicalization, and inattention to political-economy within conventional medical anthropology, a growing number of researchers are participating in a significant restructuring of the subdiscipline. The paper examines several shortcomings of contemporary medical anthropology and, building on the work of the emergent critical trend, identifies key areas ...

During the past several years, the American Medical Association's Council on Long Range Planning and Development has identified trends in the environment of medicine that are likely to affect physicians, their practices, and the provision of medical care in the future. In the course of its environmental analysis studies, the ...

We are entering an era during which there will be a greater need for medical consultation in obstetric patients, a result of two major trends. The first is the improvement in medical management and surgical intervention which has enabled women with profound medical problems to live to a child-bearing age. ...

The number and types of opportunistic fungal pathogens are increasing dramatically. It is likely that this trend will continue as the numbers of immunosuppressed patients escalate. Both the clinician and laboratorian must maintain a high index of suspicion for mycoses in these settings. Responsible fungal agents may be classified across ...

The possible role of medical management of risk factors as an explanation of international trends in coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality has been reviewed. In general, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia and smoking are the only risk factors that can be detected and treated, with a significant effect on CHD risk. Few organized ...

From 1982 to 1986, there was an overall increase in the number and amount of illicit cocaine seized at São Paulo. There was a total of 1,552 seizures of illicit cocaine, which were confirmed by testing in the laboratory of the Technical Service of Forensic Toxicology, a section of the ...

Because of computed tomography (CT) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA), other diagnostic procedures assisted by urovascular contrast media (CM) have decreased, but the annual total remains at 10 to 11 million procedures since 1980. This trend, expected to continue, suggests that CM will remain vital to medical imaging. The current ...

Records of our parasitology laboratory were reviewed to determine trends in the frequency of specimens submitted for diagnosis of pinworm infection, the proportion of such specimens that were positive, and the proportion of such positive results for the pediatric age group from 1971 to 1986 in a major New York ...

In order to assess the impact of medical care innovations on post-1950 mortality in The Netherlands, we analysed trends in mortality from a selection of conditions suggested by Rutstein et al.'s lists of "unnecessary untimely mortality". This selection covers 11 types of innovation, and includes 35 conditions which have become ...

A survey of prescribing trends was carried out on 70 admitted patients and 210 outpatients presenting themselves for treatment at the chest disease unit of the Nehru Hospital attached to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research. Drug usage was found to be very rational and scientific, other findings ...

With the present trend in decreased requests for autopsies to be performed, the method of plastination and videotaping coupled with more traditional teaching methods provides a way to expand the information and knowledge that may be obtained from each autopsy in an academic medical center. Plastinated specimens and videotapes can ...

This study outlines the role of autopsies in medical practice and health policy, details the nature and reason for declining rates, including those in Rochester, Minnesota, and suggests possible remedial measures to halt or reverse this trend. It is concluded that one of the principal impediments to reversing the declining ...

The American Medical Association Council on Long Range Planning and Development has identified trends in the environment of medicine and has assessed their likely implications for the pathology specialty. Competition and economic pressures focused on the hospital setting are likely to continue to affect the choice of delivery site for ...

The aims of this paper are to illustrate the average tobacco consumption in an Infantry Battalion of the Brigade of Gurkhas in an attempt to relate this to fitness standards. The discernable smoking trends are compared with data published and unpublished from the British and other European Armies. The daily ...

Classification is a fundamental cognitive activity of ordering the objects of the external and the internal (phenomenological) world into sets on the basis of their relationships. The strategies employed vary from the search of "focal essences" identifying natural classes to the purely statistical approach of numerical taxonomy. Medical classifications are ...

Thirty-seven thousand one hundred twenty-six Index Medicus citations dealing with antimicrobial agents were selected for the period 1936 through 1983. Seventy-five percent of the citations have appeared since 1964, and the percentage of papers published in the English language has increased steadily since 1965. The mean number of relevant papers ...

In order to determine surgeons' knowledge of colorectal cancer (CRC) in New Zealand, a questionnaire was sent to all general surgeons on the New Zealand Medical register. One hundred and thirty-three responses were received and 123 were analysed. In general, respondents seemed to have a better detailed knowledge of CRC ...

Patient exposure to medical and dental x rays has long been of interest to the radiological health community. With the cooperation of state and local agencies and professional groups, the Center for Devices and Radiological Health has conducted three major surveys of patient exposure to x rays. The latest of ...

The relationship between private medical insurance coverage and rates of elective ENT surgery was studied in a birth cohort of seven-year-old children. This analysis suggested that private medical insurance coverage was associated with differences in patterns of elective surgery with children whose families were covered by insurance being more likely ...

The call for macro health systems models which emerged in medical anthropology in the mid-1970s from the field's most respected thinkers has a deep theoretical history and can also be related to theoretical developments in sociology, clinical medicine and international public health. The trends leading to a recognition of the ...

Accidental ingestion of medication intended for topical use occurred in two patients. A patient hospitalized for psoriasis mistakenly swallowed potassium permanganate tablets intended for use in her bathwater. Another patient ingested tablets intended to prepare Burow's solution for topical treatment of his wound infection. These types of accidental ingestion of ...

Recent trends in the award of higher medical degrees by the University of Aberdeen are reported. The proportion of graduates proceeding to a higher degree has remained relatively stable over recent decades. The numbers taking the Ch.M. or Ph.D. has increased while the number taking the M.D. has declined. The ...

To identify medical and administrative revenue trends at a surgical center, for use in strategic planning, an off-line data processing system utilizing coding sheets was developed. Data on 66,402 surgical procedures performed at the Osaka University Hospital Surgical Center between 1966 and 1981 were processed to study trends in revenues. ...

Mortality trends are often cited to justify public health priorities and to legitimate professional activities. For example, the decline of cardiovascular disease mortality in recent decades has been cited frequently as affirmation of the proper conduct and direction of medical and public health research. In this paper, the hypothesis that ...

Hospice is a new system of medical care provision that has undergone remarkable growth and received widespread support in the United States in less than a decade. Its success is apparently related to an accurate reading of social trends and the ability to fill a widely perceived void in the ...

The incidence of rheumatic fever in the population of Rochester, Minnesota, during the years 1935 through 1978 was determined by means of the medical records-linkage system of the Rochester Epidemiology Program Project. The annual age-adjusted incidence rate per 100,000 population for all episodes of rheumatic fever was 9.7, comprising 7.0 ...

Census reports and information in burial records of Manti, Utah from 1849 to July 1977 are examined in order to (1) document mortality trends and differentials by age, sex, cause-of-death, and seasonality as Manti passed from a frontier settlement to a rural agricultural community; and (2) ascertain whether the shifts ...

Effects of decreased alloy nobility are measured with respect to copper and silver corrosion activity. A potentiodynamic technique is developed for this analysis. It is shown that cooper and silver have characteristic potentials for which individual current densities are maximal. Identification of characteristic potentials allows the definite analysis of 11 ...

The transneuronal effect of bilateral, dorsal funicular lesions (T 12) on the frequency of boutons on cells in layer IV of hindlimb cortex was studied. Adult rats were utilized 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 30, 45, 60, 90, or 120 days postoperative (DPO), and tissue was processed for the light ...

Thirty-three patients were treated with disodium cromoglycate (DSCG). Of these 5 had vernal conjunctivitis, 18 had allergic conjunctivitis and 10 had mild chronic conjunctivitis in which the exact aetiology could not be determined. 70% of patients with DSCG as the only medication achieved at least some beneficial effect being almost ...

Population redistribution within U.S. suburban rings between 1970 and 1975 was characterized by frequent population declines for individual suburbs. On the whole, recent spatial patterns of suburban population decline are similar in nature, if not overall levels, to those found in the 1950s and 1960s. Population decline is greatest in ...

In the first half of 1979, the U.S. inflation rate was running higher than the alarming pace of most of the previous 10 years. Because the current price increases are led by the necessities--food, energy, medical care, housing and interest rates--inflation was having a particularly devastating impact on lower income ...

A survey of psychotropic drug usage by questionnaires was conducted at 5 regional residential centers for the mentally subnormal in Eastern Ontario, Canada. Of the 2238 residents studied, 42% were given psychotropics, 27% anticonvulsants, and 11% a combination of both. Prolonged medication and polypharmacy were observed in all facilities. The ...

The Department of Aviation Pathology was established at RAF Halton in 1955, and is now 21 years old; the early history of aviation pathology and the establishment of the department following the Comet disaster in 1954 are briefly recounted. The past work of the department and possible future trends are ...

The first part of the paper is a review of literature data on the uses of synthetic soluble polymers in medicine. The second part is devoted to a discussion of the trend of investigation of medical polymers with a special attention to the development of new types of carriers of ...

Peacekeeping operations have become the main operational activity of the armed forces of the developed world over the past 10 years--a trend which appears likely to continue. Peacekeepers often remain deployed long after the armed conflict has ceased to help reconstruct civilian infrastructure. It is often possible to use the ...

Recent attention in the media concerning the Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) centres on the number of contracting dentists as a surrogate measure of the availability of services to adult medical card holders in the Republic of Ireland. AIM: To determine the trend in the number of contracting dentists on ...

Since 1946 biomedical writers have shown no marked trend toward multiple authorship; the average number of authors per paper remains steady at about 2.3. This is in strong contrast tothe conclusion of Price from a study of Chemical Abstracts that the chemists' trend toward four or more authors per paper ...

Current medical problems and achievements in the support of human life are discussed in terms of their relationship to the advancement of medical knowledge and the present 'American way of life.'