Quality of written communication and master impressions for fabrication of removable partial prostheses in the Kingdom of Bahrain

The aim of this study was to examine the quality of written instructions and choice of impression trays and materials for removable partial dentures (RPDs) in the Kingdom of Bahrain. All six private dental laboratories in Bahrain were contacted and invited to participate in the study. Five laboratories participated, and submitted written instructions received by them for fabrication of both acrylic (A-RPDs) and cobalt-chromium (CC-RPDs) RPDs. These were examined for evidence of selected design variables. Types of impression trays and materials used were also recorded. One hundred and thirty-one written instructions were examined. Eleven percent (n = 14) were for CC-RPDs, 89% (n = 117) for A-RPDs. All treatments were provided on a private basis. Fifty-seven percent (n =1 8) of CC-RPD instructions requested the technician to design the prosthesis, 43% (n = 6) contained a diagram and 43% (n = 6) mentioned all design variables. Seventy-nine percent (n = 92) of A-RPDs requested the technician to design the denture, and only 1% (n = 1) mentioned all design variables. Alginate impression material was most commonly used for master impressions (83% of impressions (n = 109); 85% (n = 99) of A-RPDs, and 71% (n = 10) of CC-RPDs). Master casts were poured after a minimum of 24 h. Acrylic custom trays were used in 14% (n = 19) of cases (43% (n = 6) of CC-RPDs; 13% (n = 15) of A-RPDs). The quality of written instructions to dental laboratories for the fabrication of RPDs was found to be inadequate in Kingdom of Bahrain. There was widespread use of inappropriate impression trays and materials.     

Heroin in Malaysia and Singapore

Clandestine heroin laboratories have been a feature of the Malaysian illicit drug scene since soon after the abuse of heroin emerged in 1972. The first few clandestine heroin laboratories which synthesised heroin via the acetylation of imported morphine were uncovered in 1973 and 1977. By the mid‐1980s, this type of laboratory was replaced by heroin‐cutting laboratories whereby imported high‐grade heroin was cut to street heroin. This was to meet the rising demand for the drug owing to the rapid escalation of the number of drug users. Over the years, the most significant change in the composition of the street heroin is the decrease in its purity from 30%–50% to 3%–5%. Caffeine has remained the major adulterant and chloroquine is detected in virtually all recent seizures.     

Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act of 1988. Background and Impact on Anatomic Laboratories

Abstract

The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act of 1988 was intended to improve the quality of medical laboratories. It includes education requirements for personnel involved in “high complexity testing” who serve the anatomic pathology lab. Many surgical pathology labs rely on histotechnologists and histotechnicians to gross surgical specimens, a time consuming activity. This has helped to expedite turnaround time and has proven cost-effective. CLIA ′88 could change this practice and cause a shortage of qualified laboratory personnel. This report examines the background and possible impact of CLIA ′88. (The J Histotechhnol 20:159 , 1997)     

Impact of COVID-19 on prevalence of community pharmacies as CLIA-Waived facilities

BackgroundThe Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) enabled greater access to low-risk tests by allowing their use in facilities with a Certificate of Waiver in the U.S. Recently, the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has shined a spotlight on CLIA-waived diagnostic testing. To meet this increased patient demand for diagnostic testing, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) authorized licensed pharmacists to order and administer FDA authorized COVID-19 tests.ObjectiveThis study aims to update the previous national benching report and examine both the number of pharmacies in the United States with CLIA Certificates of Waiver before and after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the state-by-state differences in the percentage of pharmacies with CLIA Certificates of Waiver.MethodsData were collected from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CLIA Laboratory Search website May 3rd, 2015, August 4th, 2019 and November 26th, 2020. The website allows for exportation of demographic data on all CLIA-waived facilities by state.ResultsPharmacies exhibited the largest growth both in number (4865 new locations) and by percent (45%) of CLIA-waived facilities between 2015 and 2020. The total number of pharmacies with a CLIA-waiver grew from 10,626 (17.94%) locations in 2015 to 12,157 (21.43%) locations in 2019, to 15,671 (27.63%) locations in 2020. States demonstrated considerable variability in the percentage of pharmacies with a CLIA-waiver, with a range of 2.92%–56.52%.ConclusionsPharmacies have become an increasingly important location for patients to access CLIA-waived tests in the United States, now serving as the second largest provider of CLIA-waived tests by the total number of locations. Most of this growth occurred between 2019 and 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and concentrated efforts will be necessary to sustain this momentum.     

Smallpox Vaccination of Laboratory Workers at US Variola Testing Sites

To evaluate the need to revaccinate laboratory workers against smallpox, we assessed regular revaccination at the US Laboratory Response Network’s variola testing sites by examining barriers to revaccination and the potential for persistence of immunity. Our data do not provide evidence to suggest prolonging the recommended interval for revaccination.     

Emerging Infections Program—State Health Department Perspective

The Emerging Infections Program (EIP) is a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 10 state health departments working with academic partners to conduct active population-based surveillance and special studies for several emerging infectious disease issues determined to need special attention. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funds the 10 EIP sites through cooperative agreements. Our objective was to highlight 1) what being an EIP site has meant for participating health departments and associated academic centers, including accomplishments and challenges, and 2) the synergy between the state and federal levels that has resulted from the collaborative relationship. Sharing these experiences should provide constructive insight to other public health programs and other countries contemplating a collaborative federal–local approach to collective public health challenges.     

2008年大连市病原微生物实验室生物安全管理现状调查

[目的]了解大连市病原微生物实验室生物安全管理现状,为卫生行政部门提供决策依据。[方法]2008年11月对大连市医疗机构、疾病预防控制机构、科研单位、生物企业等85家病原微生物实验室进行现场调查。[结果]52．9％的实验室布局、结构和流程相对合理,69．4％的实验室配备了生物安全防护设施和设备．80．0％的实验室建立了生物安全管理规章制度,94．1％的实验室制订了SOP文件,81．2％的实验室对所从事的工作进行了危害评估．87．1％的实验室对工作人员进行了生物安全相关知识的培训,34．1％的实验室有规范的生物危险标识．64．7％的实验室相关记录完整规范,83．5％的实验室废弃物处理符合国家相关法律、法规和标准的要求．48．4％的实验室菌（毒）种的管理符合要求。[结论]我市的病原微生物实验室已逐步建立生物安全管理体系,但尚存在一些问题。病原微生物实验室在充分满足硬件方面生物安全要求外,还应加强软件方面的管理,提高工工作人员生物安全防护意识。