Diagnostic image (85). A man with ileus and an umbilical nodule. Sister Mary Joseph's nodule

A 77-year-old man was admitted with an ileus. At physical examination a nodule was observed in the umbilicus, 'Sister Mary Joseph's nodule'. At laparotomy, this turned out to be a metastasis of obstructing left-sided colonic cancer.     

建立药品用量动态监测和超常预警制度遏制处方牟利有法可依

2007年4月9日,全国纠风工作会议在广州召开。陈啸宏副部长出席了该次会议,并代表卫生部在会上作了发言。陈副部长提出,严格执行新的《处方管理办法》,实行     

Health promotion in couples adapting to a shared lifestyle.

In a pilot health promotion program for couples, we aimed to build on re-evaluation of attitudes to health occurring early in marriage, and social support provided by partners, to address the weight gain and physical inactivity which may follow marriage. A randomized controlled trial lasting 16 weeks used six modules focusing on nutrition and physical activity but including information about alcohol and smoking. Thirty-four of 39 couples enrolled completed the study. Self-efficacy for diet and physical activity increased significantly in the program group while ranking of barriers to healthy behaviours decreased and ranking of beliefs about the benefits of health behaviours increased relative to controls. Intake of fat, take-away foods and alcohol decreased, and consumption of fruit, vegetables and reduced-fat foods increased significantly in the program group. Physical activity in the program group increased by the equivalent of 50 min of brisk walking weekly but did not differ significantly from controls. Cholesterol fell significantly by 6% more in the program group than controls. In focus groups, participants unanimously found the program valuable. Health promotion programs designed for couples can achieve short-term changes in behaviour and risk factors. Larger trials with longer-term monitoring, incorporating feedback from focus groups and cost-benefit analysis, are in progress.     

Asian family traditions and their influence in transcultural health care delivery.

Taking care of ethnic families may be stressful and frustrating. Culturally sensitive caring does not require much of the health professional except receptivity and suspension of superior-inferior value judgements relating to culture. This article provides awareness of sociocultural variables in Asian-American families to facilitate effective transcultural health care delivery.     

Inhalation studies of Mt. St. Helens volcanic ash in animals. I. Introduction and exposure system

Due to the lack of information on the effects of inhaled Mt. St. Helens volcanic ash and its potential interaction with sulfur dioxide (SO2), animal studies were performed to determine the acute and chronic health effects of a short-term exposure. This paper describes the inhalation exposure system designed for these studies and theoretically compares the pulmonary deposition in the rats to that in humans. Considering the similarities and differences in regional pulmonary deposition in humans and animals, inhalation studies were performed with fine-mode (less than 2.5 micron aerodynamic diameter, Dae) ash. Comparisons to coarse-mode (greater than 2.5 micron Dae) ash were made using intratracheal instillation. A whole-body exposure system was designed to provide inhalation exposures of animals to Mt. St. Helens volcanic ash, SO2, or a combination of both. All exposures were conducted using fine-mode ash samples generated by a Wright dust feed mechanism at a mean concentration of 9.4 mg/m3 +/- 1.0 SD. Sulfur dioxide was maintained at 2.5 mg/m3 +/- 0.13 SD. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray fluorescence were used to characterize the ash.     

A better way to kill dragons: parody on the experience of building an integrated information system in Missouri.

The Missouri Department of Health has been developing an integrated information system for all state and local public health activities. When the project began, there were more than 60 separate information systems that supported the state and 115 local public health agencies. This parody describes the process of moving from separate data systems (implements of war) to MOHSAIC, a single information system with a common database (scroll). Considerable progress has been made in overcoming the political, financial, and technical challenges to make MOHSAIC a reality.