			Home About us Contact

Scientific Databases (scientific + databases)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	66%

Selected Abstracts

Pragmatic indicators for remote Aboriginal maternal and infant health care: why it matters and where to start

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 2010
Malinda Steenkamp
Abstract Objective: There are challenges in delivering maternal and infant health (MIH) care to remote Northern Territory (NT) communities. These include fragmented care with birthing in regional hospitals resulting in cultural and geographical dislocation for Aboriginal women. Many NT initiatives are aimed at improving care. Indicators for evaluating these for remote Aboriginal mothers and infants need to be clearer. We reviewed existing indicators to inform a set of pragmatic indicators for reporting improvement in remote MIH care. Methods: Scientific databases and grey literature (organisational websites and Google Scholar) were searched using the terms ,Aboriginal/maternal/infant/remote health/monitoring performance'. Key stakeholders identified omitted indicators sets. Relevant sets were reviewed and organised by indicator type, stage of patient journey, topic and theme. Results: Forty-two indicators sets were found. Seven focused on Aboriginal health, 23 on reproductive/maternal health, eight on child/infant health and four on other aspects, e.g. remote health. We identified more than 1,000 individual indicators. Of these, 656 were relevant for our purpose and were subsequently organised into 300 topics and 16 themes for antenatal, birth and postpartum, and infant care by indicator type. Conclusion: There are many measures for monitoring health care delivery to mothers and infants. Few are framed around remote MIH services, despite poorer health outcomes of remote mothers and infants and the specific challenges with providing care in this setting. Establishing relevant indicators is vital to support relevant data collection and the development of appropriate policy for remote Aboriginal maternal and infant care. [source]

Access to essential drugs in Guyana: a public health challenge,,

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2010
Enrique Seoane-Vazquez
Abstract Guyana's pharmaceutical sector faces major challenges that limit access to essential drugs. This study analyzes Guyana's drug policy and regulation, public financing, and drug procurement and delivery. The study also identifies main barriers to drug access and proposes alternatives to strengthen the country's public health functions. Data were collected from the country's regulatory agencies, public procurement agency, pharmacies, wholesalers, and pharmaceutical companies. The information was supplemented with interviews with a convenient sample of Guyanese health authorities and stakeholders. Data were also compiled from scientific databases, and web pages of the country's Ministries of Health, Commerce and Finance, the Bureau of Statistics, and international organizations. Major barriers to drug access include: (1) lack of national drug policy and regulation, and limited role of the regulatory authority; (2) inefficient drug selection and irrational drug use; (3) insufficient financial resources and lack of drug pricing policy; (4) inefficient planning and managing public supply system; (5) deficient epidemiological and information systems; and (6) inadequate infrastructures and human resources shortage. Improving drug access in Guyana requires the strengthening of the country's public health functions and the implementation of a national drug policy and pricing policy, streamlining the drug financing, procurement, and planning and managing drug supply; and adequate infrastructures and human resources. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Origin and history of end-to-side neurorrhaphy

MICROSURGERY, Issue 1 2007
I. Papalia M.D.
This historical note offers a perspective concerning the origin of the employment of end-to-side (termino-lateral) anastomosis for nerve repair and summarizes the works that have been published on this surgical technique through the first part of the 20th Century. While the origin of end-to-side neurorrhaphy is usually dated to the beginning of the 20th Century, some works referring to this technique were published earlier, the first of which dates as far back as 1873. A number of interesting clinical and experimental studies have been carried out on end-to-side nerve anastomosis during the first years of the twentieth century. However, this literature is not easily detectable through current online scientific databases. In this paper we will give an overview of these early works. This history contributes interesting information to the debate surrounding this surgical concept and adds perspective to the use of a technique that has attracted a great deal of attention over the last 15 years. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Microsurgery, 2007. [source]

Personality in nonhuman primates: a review and evaluation of past research

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 8 2010
Hani D. Freeman
Abstract Scientific reports of personality in nonhuman primates are now appearing with increasing frequency across a wide range of disciplines, including psychology, anthropology, endocrinology, and zoo management. To identify general patterns of research and summarize the major findings to date, we present a comprehensive review of the literature, allowing us to pinpoint the major gaps in knowledge and determine what research challenges lay ahead. An exhaustive search of five scientific databases identified 210 relevant research reports. These articles began to appear in the 1930s, but it was not until the 1980s that research on primate personality began to gather pace, with more than 100 articles published in the last decade. Our analyses of the literature indicate that some domains (e.g., sex, age, rearing conditions) are more evenly represented in the literature than are others (e.g., species, research location). Studies examining personality structure (e.g., with factor analysis) have identified personality dimensions that can be divided into 14 broad categories, with Sociability, Confidence/Aggression, and Fearfulness receiving the most research attention. Analyses of the findings pertaining to inter-rater agreement, internal consistency, test,retest reliability, generally support not only the reliability of primate personality ratings scales but also point to the need for more psychometric studies and greater consistency in how the analyses are reported. When measured at the level of broad dimensions, Extraversion and Dominance generally demonstrated the highest levels of inter-rater reliability, with weaker findings for the dimensions of Agreeableness, Emotionality, and Conscientiousness. Few studies provided data with regard to convergent and discriminant validity; Excitability and Dominance demonstrated the strongest validity coefficients when validated against relevant behavioral criterion measures. Overall, the validity data present a somewhat mixed picture, suggesting that high levels of validity are attainable, but by no means guaranteed. Discussion focuses on delineating major theoretical and empirical questions facing research and practice in primate personality. Am. J. Primatol. 72:653,671, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Quality of protein crystal structures

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 9 2007
Eric N. Brown
The genomics era has seen the propagation of numerous databases containing easily accessible data that are routinely used by investigators to interpret results and generate new ideas. Most investigators consider data extracted from scientific databases to be error-free. However, data generated by all experimental techniques contain errors and some, including the coordinates in the Protein Data Bank (PDB), also integrate the subjective interpretations of experimentalists. This paper explores the determinants of protein structure quality metrics used routinely by protein crystallographers. These metrics are available for most structures in the database, including the R factor, Rfree, real-space correlation coefficient, Ramachandran violations etc. All structures in the PDB were analyzed for their overall quality based on nine different quality metrics. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed that while technological improvements have increased the number of structures determined, the overall quality of structures has remained constant. The quality of structures deposited by structural genomics initiatives are generally better than the quality of structures from individual investigator laboratories. The most striking result is the association between structure quality and the journal in which the structure was first published. The worst offenders are the apparently high-impact general science journals. The rush to publish high-impact work in the competitive atmosphere may have led to the proliferation of poor-quality structures. [source]

Efficacy and safety of transvaginal mesh kits in the treatment of prolapse of the vaginal apex: a systematic review

BJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 1 2009
B Feiner
Background, Vaginal mesh kits are being used to surgically treat apical vaginal prolapse; however, their safety and efficacy are currently unknown. Objectives, To summarise success and complication rates for commonly used vaginal mesh kits in the treatment of apical prolapse. Search strategy, MEDLINE and other scientific databases were queried for primary research addressing the use of vaginal mesh kits for apical prolapse published between 1950 and 2007, including abstracts presented in major scientific meetings. Selection criteria, Studies describing the use of mesh to support either the anterior or posterior compartment alone, for incontinence or fistula repair or not addressing the vaginal apex were excluded. Data collection and analysis, Identified studies were grouped by the mesh kit and complications categorised using the Dindo classification system. Weighted averages and confidence intervals were calculated on objective success, follow-up length and complications. Main results, Thirty studies totalling 2653 women met inclusion criteria. Objective success rates (95% CI) were ApogeeÔ (American Medical Systems Inc., Minnetonka, MN, USA) 95% (95,96), ProliftÔ (Ethicon Women's Health and Urology, Somerville, NJ, USA) 87% (86,87) and posterior intravaginal slingplasty 88% (87,89). Reoperations not requiring anaesthesia (Dindo IIIa) occurred in 0.4,2.3% and requiring anaesthesia (Dindo IIIb) in 1.5,6.0%, with a follow up between 26 and 78 weeks. Mesh erosion was the most commonly reported complication occurring in 4.6,10.7%. Author's conclusions, Overall objective success using transvaginal mesh kits in restoring apical vaginal prolapse is high. However, an increasing number of women require surgical intervention for mesh-related complications based on limited data quality and short follow up. Further research addressing functional outcomes and the impact of these procedures on women's symptoms and quality of life is mandatory. [source]