Medical education for minorities at a US medical school

The University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSM) has initiated new efforts to build a regional minority applicant pool and to expand its educational programmes to accommodate students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Specific interventions include: establishment of medical career planner position to coordinate region-wide outreach; pre-entry education; and support activities once enrolled. This study describes specific services and presents sociodemographic and performance data on 56 minority and 280 majority students entering the UWSM between 1981 and 1985. Economic status and educational background of minority students were significantly below that of majority students, several flexible academic policies enabled most students to achieve mastery in courses and to progress through the curriculum. The educational data base utilized in this study, and those at other institutions, can assume important roles in the identification of problem areas in the education of disadvantaged students and in evaluation of the interventions attempted.     

新疆维吾尔族、汉族儿童心脏径线的X线测量

作者测量了新疆地区７６８例３～７岁维吾尔族、汉族儿童心脏径线。心脏横径６岁组维吾尔族大于汉族。不分年龄组左心横径、心横径、心深径维吾尔族大于汉族，左侧位心膈交点至前胸膜面的距离维吾尔族女童大于汉族女童。两民族心横径与心脏体积的相关系数分别大于心脏深径与心脏体积的相关系数。本文提供了新疆地区３～７岁维吾尔族、汉族儿童各年龄组和不分年龄组心脏径线的正常数据。     

End-to-side anastomosis of rat carotid artery: comparison of different types of section and shape of the terminal end

Summary In 50 rats, different types of end-to-side carotid artery anastomoses were compared. In one technique, a longitudinal split in the long axis of the vessel was performed to enhance the diameter of the anastomosis. This theoretical advantage was not confirmed in this series. The clamping time, anastomoses time, and tamponade time were increased significantly when compared with a simple, slightly oblique end-to-side anastomosis. This study highlighted that the most simple type of end-to-side anastomosis gave less bleeding, achieved a quicker water-tight anastomosis and decreased the risk of late problems.     

Three-dimensional recording of the human face with a 3D laser scanner.

Three-dimensional recording of the surface of the human body or of certain anatomical areas has gained an ever increasing importance in recent years. When recording living surfaces, such as the human face, not only has a varying degree of surface complexity to be accounted for, but also a variety of other factors, such as motion artefacts. It is of importance to establish standards for the recording procedure, which will optimise results and allow for better comparison and validation. In the study presented here, the faces of five male test persons were scanned in different experimental settings using non-contact 3D digitisers, type Minolta Vivid 910). Among others, the influence of the number of scanners used, the angle of recording, the head position of the test person, the impact of the examiner and of examination time on accuracy and precision of the virtual face models generated from the scanner data with specialised software were investigated. Computed data derived from the virtual models were compared to corresponding reference measurements carried out manually between defined landmarks on the test persons' faces. We describe experimental conditions that were of benefit in optimising the quality of scanner recording and the reliability of three-dimensional surface imaging. However, almost 50% of distances between landmarks derived from the virtual models deviated more than 2mm from the reference of manual measurements on the volunteers' faces.     

Methods of Measuring Community Characteristics

There is increasing interest in the influence of community characteristics on child development and family functioning. In order to address questions on community influence, it is important to be aware of the measures available and their strengths and limitations. Useful strategies have been developed within a number of disciplines, including sociology, social and community psychology, and criminology. Methods include summarising information from existing administrative databases and census data, conducting observations, and using survey instruments with residents. The most commonly used methods are reviewed and their psychometric properties described .     

Education in family and community health: the challenge faced by a new medical school

This paper describes the efforts of the Department of Family and Community Health at Sultan Qaboos University in providing opportunities for the development of 'hands-on' problem-solving skills appropriate for Oman. The curriculum of the Department is discussed, highlighting the unusual emphasis of this discipline in both the preclinical and clinical curriculum of the College of Medicine. The importance of continuous assessment and supervision of students is discussed. Course-work in the preclinical curriculum of the Department is kept to a minimum. Field-work forms an important part of preclinical training, where application and problem-based learning are emphasized. During the clinical years the students are exposed to an integrated series of lectures and practicals covering core knowledge in clinical medicine. Practical clinical training, over a total period of 15 weeks, takes place at a variety of sites where common problems in primary health care in Oman are handled by students under supervision.     

Electrical impedance scanning in breast tumor imaging: correlation with the growth pattern of lesion

Background This study researched the electric impedance properties of breast tissue and demonstrated the differentcharacteristic of electrical impedance scanning (EIS) images.Methods The impedance character of 40 malignant tumors, 34 benign tumors and some normal breast tissue from 69patients undergoing breast surgery was examined by EIS in vivo measurement and mammography screening, with aseries of frequencies set between 100 Hz-100 kHz in the ex vivo spectroscopy measurement.Results Of the 39 patients with 40 malignant tumors, 24 showed bright spots, 11 showed dark areas in EIS and 5showed no specific image. Of the 30 patients with 34 benign tumors there were almost no specific abnormality shown inthe EIS results. Primary ex vivo spectroscopy experiments showed that the resistivity of various breast tissue take thefollowing pattern: adipose tissue＞cancerous tissue＞mammary gland and benign tumor tissue.Conclusions There are significant differences in the electrical impedance properties between cancerous tissue andhealthy tissue. The impedivity of benign tumor is lower, and is at the same level with that of the mammary glandulartissue. The distinct growth pattern of breast lesions determined the different electrical impedance characteristics in theEIS results.     

Limitations of a thermal camera in measuring surface temperature of laser-irradiated tissues

Thermal cameras are used in research laboratories to measure tissue temperature during laser irradiation. This study was an evaluation of the accuracy of a 3-5 microns thermal camera and two 8-12 microns cameras in detecting the maximum temperatures of small targets. The size of the targets was within the range of laser spot diameters which are used for vessel welding, angioplasty, and dermatology. The response to a sharp thermal edge was measured and analyzed for the three cameras, which had a scanning rate of 30 frames per second. The response of the 3-5 microns camera to reference black body targets of different sizes was also studied. It was found that the detector system required an average of 2.44 microseconds to reach 90% of maximum step response for the 8-12 microns system and 5.85 microseconds for the 3-5 microns system. With a 3 x telescope and a 9.5 inch focal distance close-up lens, the 3-5 microns camera underestimated the temperature of targets smaller than 2.0 mm because of its slow detector response. Although the 8-12 microns camera provides more accurate measurements due to its faster detector response, it still underestimates the temperature of targets smaller than 900 microns, when similar magnification and focal distance are used. Methods to compensate for the inaccuracies are discussed, including empirical correction factors and the inverse filtering technique.     

下颌骨侧位摄影X线中心线倾斜角度与垫板倾斜角度关系之探讨

目的探讨下颌骨侧位摄影分别采用一倾斜角度为α的垫板及未采用时，X线中心线倾斜角度各为β、γ之间的关系，为更简捷地拍好下颌骨提供理论参数和实践依据。方法立足于教科书，运用X线摄影原则与数学几何原理进行推理演绎。结果二者之间存在着可替换的关系，即γ=α＋β，可以大胆地去除垫板进行直接拍摄。结论不用垫板，只需通过增大X线中心线倾斜角度的方法，同样也能拍摄出一张好照片，且可操作性强，简便易行，实际使用价值更大。     

乳腺钼靶片计算机光密度测定的临床应用研究

目的：利用计算机对乳腺钼靶片上病灶中心及病灶周围影像光密度的测定，来探索良、恶性乳腺病变之间以及各种病变病灶中心与病灶周围影像的密度差异：探讨病理基础和临床意义。材料和方法：随机选取１００例临床可扪及乳腺＂肿块＂的女性病人，进行乳腺钼靶Ｘ线检查，将检出病变的１０２张钼靶片进行计算机处理后，对病灶中心及病灶周围组织影像的光密度进行测定。所有病例除炎性病变外均取得病理结果。结果：１．良性病变的病灶中心密度与病灶周围密度无显著差异（Ｐ＞０．５），良性肿块（指纤维腺瘤和囊肿）的病灶中心与病灶周围密度间仅提示一种可能存在显著差异的趋势（０．１＞Ｐ＞０．０５）；２．乳腺癌病灶中心与病灶周围密度之间存在非常显著的差异（Ｐ＜０．００１）；３．良、恶性肿瘤病灶中心密度之间存在较显著差异（Ｐ＜０．０５）。结论：本研究的结果有助于乳腺良、恶性病变的鉴别诊断和提高早期乳腺癌的检出率。