Other Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Lexical-Semantic Representation In Bilingual Aphasia: Findings From Semantic Priming And Cognate Repetition Priming, Samantha Siyambalapitiya, Helen Chenery, David Copland

Helen Chenery

BACKGROUND: While many studies have investigated the nature of language organisation in monolingual speakers with aphasia, our understanding of bilingual aphasia lags far behind. Only a handful of studies have employed on-line psycholinguistic experimental methods to explore the nature of language representation and processing in bilingual speakers with aphasia. Improving our understanding of how language is organised and processed in bilingual speakers with aphasia is central to the development of effective impairment-level language treatments. Cognate/noncognate representation and semantic representation are two key aspects of bilingual language organisation that are yet to be explored in depth in bilingual speakers with aphasia. …

Environmental Issues For The Twenty-First Century And Their Impact On Human Health, Richard Philp

Richard B. Philp

This e-book documents environmental hazards from disasters such as the Gulf oil spill, from pollution resulting from resource exploitation, from contamination of the marine environment and from climate change including the role of human source greenhouse gases. Pollution from the electronic industry is a recent and serious threat to human and environmental health. The final chapter offers some means of preventing or reversing these hazards. Now available on Amazon

Assessment Of The Hemorheological Profile Of Koala And Echidna, Oguz Baskurt, Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik, Michael Pyne, Michael Simmonds, Ekua Brenu, Rhys Christy, Herbert Meiselman

Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik

Koala, a marsupial, and echidna, a monotreme, are mammals native to Australia. Blood viscosity (62.5-1250 s-1), red blood cell (RBC) deformability, RBC aggregation, aggregability and surface charge, and hematological parameters were measured in blood samples from six koalas and six echidnas and compared to adult human blood. Koala had the largest RBC mean cell volume (107.7±2.6 fl) compared to echidna (81.3±2.6 fl) and humans (88.4±1.2 fl). Echidna blood exhibited the highest viscosity over the entire range of shear rates. Echidna RBC were significantly less deformable than koala RBC but more deformable than human RBC. Echidna RBC had significantly lower aggregability …

Unexplained Variation Across Us Nursing Homes In Antipsychotic Prescribing Rates., Yong Chen, Becky Briesacher, Terry Field, Jennifer Tjia, Denys Lau, Jerry Gurwitz

Jennifer Tjia

BACKGROUND: Serious safety concerns related to the use of antipsychotics have not decreased the prescribing of these agents to nursing home (NH) residents. We assessed the extent to which resident clinical characteristics and institutional prescribing practice were associated with antipsychotic prescribing.

METHODS: Antipsychotic prescribing was assessed for a nationwide, cross-sectional population of 16 586 newly admitted NH residents in 2006. We computed facility-level antipsychotic rates based on the previous year's (2005) prescribing patterns. Poisson regressions with generalized estimating equations were used to identify the likelihood of resident-level antipsychotic medication use in 2006, given 2005 facility-level prescribing pattern and NH resident …

Perceived Accessibility As A Predictor Of Youth Smoking, Chyke Doubeni, Wenjun Li, Hassan Fouayzi, Joseph Difranza

Chyke A. Doubeni

PURPOSE: Youths who smoke are more likely to perceive that cigarettes are easily accessible, but the relationship between perceived accessibility of cigarettes and the risk of smoking is not clear. The objective of this study was to determine whether perceived accessibility predicted future smoking among youths. METHODS: This study used data from the second Development and Assessment of Nicotine Dependence in Youth (DANDY-2) study, a 4-year (2002-2006) cohort study that began with 1,246 sixth-grade students in 6 Massachusetts communities. DANDY-2 comprised 11 waves of in-person interviews. A total of 1,195 students who were aged 11 to 14 years at the …

Perceived Accessibility Of Cigarettes Among Youth: A Prospective Cohort Study, Chyke Doubeni, Wenjun Li, Hassan Fouayzi, Joseph Difranza

Chyke A. Doubeni

BACKGROUND: The accessibility of tobacco for youth is difficult to measure, partly because of the varied sources of cigarettes. Perceptions about the accessibility of cigarettes assesses availability from all potential sources and has been found to predict future smoking. This study examines the determinants of perceived accessibility from the perspective of a longitudinal study. METHODS: Data were derived from the second Development and Assessment of Nicotine Dependence in Youth study, a 4-year longitudinal study of 1246 sixth-grade students who underwent up to 11 in-person interviews from 2002 to 2006. Perceived accessibility was assessed prospectively by asking students whether they agreed …

Disparities And Survival Among Breast Cancer Patients, Terry Field, Diana Buist, Chyke Doubeni, Shelley Enger, Hassan Fouayzi, Gene Hart, Eli Korner, Lois Lamerato, Donald Bachman, Jennifer Ellis, Lisa Herrinton, Mark Hornbrook, Richard Krajenta, Liyan Liu, Janice Yao

Chyke A. Doubeni

BACKGROUND: Although rates of survival for women with breast cancer have improved, the survival disparity between African American and white women in the United States has increased.

PURPOSE: To determine whether this survival disparity persists in an insured population with access to medical care.

METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, we extracted data from the tumor registries of six nonprofit, integrated health care delivery systems affiliated with the Cancer Research Network and assessed the survival of African American (n = 2276) and white (n = 18 879) female enrollees who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer from January 1, 1993, …

A Spatial-Temporal Approach To Surveillance Of Prostate Cancer Disparities In Population Subgroups, Chiehwen Hsu, Francisco Soto Mas, Jerry Miller, Ella Nkhoma

Francisco Soto Mas

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer mortality disparities exist among racial/ethnic groups in the United States, yet few studies have explored the spatiotemporal trend of the disease burden. To better understand mortality disparities by geographic regions over time, the present study analyzed the geographic variations of prostate cancer mortality by three Texas racial/ethnic groups over a 22-year period.

METHODS: The Spatial Scan Statistic developed by Kulldorff et al was used. Excess mortality was detected using scan windows of 50% and 90% of the study period and a spatial cluster size of 50% of the population at risk. Time trend was analyzed to examine …

Reference Bias: Presentation Of Extreme Health States Prior To Eq-Vas Improves Health-Related Quality Of Life Scores. A Randomised Cross-Over Trial, Steven Mcphail, Elaine Beller, Terry Haines

Elaine Beller

Background - Clinical practice and clinical research has made a concerted effort to move beyond the use of clinical indicators alone and embrace patient focused care through the use of patient reported outcomes such as health-related quality of life. However, unless patients give consistent consideration to the health states that give meaning to measurement scales used to evaluate these constructs, longitudinal comparison of these measures may be invalid. This study aimed to investigate whether patients give consideration to a standard health state rating scale (EQ-VAS) and whether consideration of good and poor health state descriptors immediately changes their self-report.

Methods …

Physicians’ Work, Alice A. Oberfield, Pamela S. Tolbert

Pamela S Tolbert

[Excerpt] In order to evaluate the full impact of such changes on physicians' work and the health care system, it is necessary to understand the forces bringing change about. Thus, we begin by providing a brief history of the contemporary medical care system, then turn to an assessment of current trends and their consequences for the practice of medicine.

The "Occupy" Movement: What's It All About?, Richard Philp

Richard B. Philp

The Occupy Wall Street movement has spread around the world and despite criticism that it lacks clear goals it has raised awareness of many of the societal problems afflicting the middle and working classes including increasing disparity of income between the very rich and the rest of the populace. This paper discusses many of these concerns and speculates on the evolution of the movement.

Review Of Teaching Information Literacy: 50 Standards-Based Exercises For College Students By Joanna M. Burkhardt, Sharon Leslie

Sharon Leslie

This is a review of Teaching Information Literacy: 50 Standards-Based Exercises for College Students by Joanna M. Burkhardt

Crowdsourcing Your Diagnosis, Sharon Leslie

Sharon Leslie

No abstract provided.

P22: The Home Program: Ten Years Of Medical Home Experience In Patients With Developmental Disabilities, Will Lehmann, D Weedon, J Dorius, R Bucciere

Will Lehmann, MD

Helping Prostate Cancer Patients Understand The Causes Of Anxiety And Depression: Comparing Cancer-Caused Vs Patient Response Events, Christopher Sharpley, Vicki Bitsika, David Christie

Vicki Bitsika

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) patients have elevated anxiety and depression, often showing impairments in decision-making and weakened relationships with their partner and family. Although treatment for these psychological side-effects of PCa is strongly recommended, relatively little is known of the causal processes underlying them. This study compared cancer-based lifestyle changes vs patient behavioural responses to cancer as predictors of anxiety and depression among PCa patients. Methods: PCa patients (381) were surveyed for their responses to standardised anxiety and depression questionnaires, plus a questionnaire designed to assess the kinds of lifestyle changes that had occurred to them and their responses to …

Thirty-Year Trends (1975-2005) In The Magnitude And Hospital Death Rates Associated With Complete Heart Block In Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Population-Based Perspective, Hoa Nguyen, Darleen Lessard, Frederick Spencer, Jorge Yarzebski, Juan Zevallos, Joel Gore, Robert Goldberg

Jorge L. Yarzebski

BACKGROUND: The contemporary magnitude and prognostic implications of complete heart block (CHB) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are unknown. As part of a community-based study of patients hospitalized with AMI in the Worcester, MA, metropolitan area, changes over time in the incidence rates of CHB complicating AMI and the prognostic impact of CHB on short-term survival were examined.

METHODS: The study population consisted of 13,663 residents of the Worcester metropolitan area who were hospitalized with AMI at all greater Worcester medical centers during 15 annual periods between 1975 and 2005.

RESULTS: The average age of the hospitalized study …

Injuries And Illnesses On Wa Beaches 2006-2010, David Reid

David N Reid

This study analysed the trends in reported incidents occurring on patrolled Western Australian beaches, and review what proportion of those injured were transported to hospital by ambulance; and studied underlying factors present at the time of the reported incidents. The study was presented at an oral presentation as well as a poster presentation.

Review Of Understanding Healthcare Information By Lyn Robinson, Sharon Leslie

Sharon Leslie

This is a review of Understanding Healthcare Information by Lyn Robinson

Review Of Writing And Publishing: The Librarian’S Handbook. Edited By Carol Smallwood., Sharon Leslie

Sharon Leslie

This is a book review of Writing and Publishing: The Librarian’s Handbook, edited by Carol Smallwood

Review Of Creating The Customer-Driven Academic Library By Jeannette Woodward, Sharon Leslie

Sharon Leslie

Review of Creating the Customer-Driven Academic Library by Jeannette Woodward

Adverse Health Consequences Following Aerial Spraying With Bacillus Thuringiensis (Var. Kursraki) (Btk) To Control The Gypsy Moth: Flaws In Government Risk Assessments And In Public Health Officials' Attitudes, Richard B. Philp

Richard B. Philp

The soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis is noteworthy for its ability to infect fatally the digestive tract of moths, butterflies and other insects, making it an attractive biological agent to control insects that can damage crops and trees. One subspecies B. thuringiensis (var. kurstaki) is used in commercial preparations such as Foray 48B that can be applied as a spray on the ground or from aircraft. The latter approach is especially appealing as large areas can be sprayed at relatively low cost. The use of such spraying in populated, urban areas often results in reports of illnesses such as nausea, vomiting, …

Agents Of Change: The Caa Consensus Process., Dennis M. Richards

Dennis M Richards

In 1997 the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia engaged a professional facilitator to develop and run a series of consensus conferences around the country. The purpose of these was to engage CAA members in set, organised procedures that ultimately produced Core Values of chiropractic, Core Purposes of the CAA and a Vision Statement to guide the organisation in its future strategic planning and activities. This paper documents those consensus activities, lists the outcomes and notes proposed efforts to review them.

Medical Training Using Simulation: Toward Fewer Animals And Safer Patients, Jonathan P. Balcombe

Jonathan Balcombe, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Laboratory Routines Cause Animal Stress, Jonathan P. Balcombe, Neal Barnard, Chad Sandusky

Jonathan Balcombe, PhD

No abstract provided.

What Injuries Occur At Australian Mass Gatherings?, David N. Reid

David N Reid

This thesis, prepared as part of a Masters Degree (Honours) examines the medical care required at mass gatherings. The thesis specifically focussed on three of Sydney's largest stadia. Data was collected for one year and coded to review the types of injuries and illnesses, their severity and treatment required.

An Occupational Study Of Physical Playing-Related Injuries In College Music Students, Christine Guptill, Christine Zaza, Stanley Paul

Christine A Guptill

Several studies have been conducted on the playing-related physical injuries of college music students. In this study, a client-centered, occupation-based survey was administered to music majors at a large midwestern university. The primary objectives of the study were to examine which health professionals were consulted by this population, and to determine student satisfaction with any treatment they might have received. Secondary objectives included evaluating students' perceptions of the need for professionals with specialized knowledge of music and musicians, and examining the lifetime prevalence of playing-related injuries in this population. The survey response rate was 92.3% (108/117). Ninety-three respondents (87.7%) of …

A Cost Benefit Analysis Of Placing Rotary Supported Aero-Medical Teams In Strategic Rural Areas, David N. Reid

David N Reid

Completed a part of an undergraduate thesis, this work studied the economic value of placing aeromedical retrieval and rescue helicopters in strategic rural locations.

The Activator Methods Story: Development Of A New Concept In Chiropractic., Dennis M. Richards

Dennis M Richards

This paper documents the development of Activator Methods Chiropractic Technique and the lives of its founders, Drs Warren Lee and Arlan Fuhr.