Mechanisms of regional wall motion abnormalities in contrast-enhanced dobutamine stress echocardiography.

Background: In the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) with Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography (DSE), regional wall motion abnormalities (RWMA) are assumed to indicate a perfusion deficit.

Methods And Results: For a more particular examination of RWMAs, we compared simultaneous echo-contrast (Optisone)-enhanced DSE (0-40 microg/kg Dobutamine, 16-segment- model) and MiBi-SPECT in a prospective double-blinded study design in 69 non-selected consecutive patients (44 male, 25 female, age 64+/-12 years). Additionally, all patients were examined by coronary-angiography.

Workforce diversity and cultural competence in healthcare.

This paper presents a discussion of workforce diversity in healthcare and its attendant requisite of cultural competency. The first section of the paper argues that self-assessments and diversity training are integral to workforce diversity management. This paper maintains that diversity training should be a part of overall strategic goals, and that the development of management goals should be based on self-assessments.

A tale of two New Jersey cities.

Judging from the social and health measures considered in this article, Newark and Jersey City face similar challenges as other large cities. For Newark, the challenges are more extreme. The high rates of poverty and violence, coupled with a low rate of high school graduation and a large number of single parent households bode ill for the city.