Routine Disinfection of Mobile Communication Devices in the Postanesthesia Care Unit.

Purpose: Explore the effect of routine disinfection of mobile communication devices (MCDs) in postanesthesia care unit (PACU).

Design: Experimental, repeated measures design.

Methods: At a 247-bed, 20-bed PACU hospital, Mid-Atlantic region, United States, mean baseline bacterial adenosine triphosphate (ATP) counts of six MCDs were established with 3M Clean-Trace Luminometer.

Leadership for Public Health 3.0: A Preliminary Assessment of Competencies for Local Health Department Leaders.

Background: The foundational public health services model V1.0, developed in response to the Institute of Medicine report identified important capabilities for leading local health departments (LHDs). The recommended capabilities include the organizational competencies of leadership and governance, which are described as consensus building among internal and external stakeholders.

A new species of the subterranean genus Stygobromus (Amphipoda: Crangonyctidae) from a cave spring in northern Florida, USA.

A relatively large, distinct new species of the subterranean amphipod crustacean genus Stygobromus (Amphipoda: Crangonyctidae) measuring 13 mm in length is described from Skipper Spring, a cave spring in the northwestern "panhandle" of Florida, USA. This is the first species of the genus described from the state of Florida where it is described from only 3 females. A fourth much smaller specimen of this species was collected from nearby Miller's Crossing Spring on Holmes Creek.

Employing the Precautionary Principle to Evaluate the Use of E-Cigarettes.

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have emerged onto the public market as an alternative to tobacco cigarettes; however, science is inconclusive as e-cigarettes have not been thoroughly investigated, including their short- and long-term risks and benefits (1, 2). The question arises of whether e-cigarettes will become the future tobacco crisis. This paper connects the precautionary principle to the use of e-cigarettes in an effort to guide decision-makers in the prevention of adverse health outcomes and societal costs.

Openness to Change: Experiential and Demographic Components of Change in Local Health Department Leaders.

Background: During the 2008-2010 economic recession, Kentucky local health department (LHD) leaders utilized innovative strategies to maintain their programs. A characteristic of innovative strategy is leader openness to change. Leader demographical research in for-profit organizations has yielded valuable insight into leader openness to change.

Full-Range Public Health Leadership, Part 2: Qualitative Analysis and Synthesis.

Public health leadership is an important topic in the era of U.S. health reform, population health innovation, and health system transformation.

Full-range public health leadership, part 1: quantitative analysis.

Background: Workforce and leadership development are central to the future of public health. However, public health has been slow to translate and apply leadership models from other professions and to incorporate local perspectives in understanding public health leadership.

Purpose: This study utilized the full-range leadership model in order to examine public health leadership.

The Impact of Emotional Intelligence on Conditions of Trust among Leaders at the Kentucky Department for Public Health.

There has been limited leadership research on emotional intelligence and trust in governmental public health settings. The purpose of this study was to identify and seek to understand the relationship between trust and elements of emotional intelligence, including stress management, at the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH). The KDPH serves as Kentucky's state governmental health department.

Should they stay or should they go? Leader duration and financial performance in local health departments.

Context: The delivery of programs by local health departments (LHDs) has shifted from "if we do not have the money we don't do it" to LHD directors should "identify and fund public health priorities." This shift has subsequently increased performance expectations of LHD leaders. In the for-profit sector the leaders' failure to perform has resulted in a shortening tenure trend.

A new species of the subterranean amphipod genus Stygobromus (Amphipoda: Crangonyctidae) from two caves and a spring in western Maryland, USA with additional records of undescribed species from groundwater habitats in central Maryland.

A new species of the subterranean amphipod genus Stygobromus is described from two caves and a small spring on the Appalachian Plateau in Garrett County in western Maryland, USA. The description of this species brings to six the total number of species in the genus Stygobromus from the state of Maryland. The other five species are recorded from shallow groundwater habitats (e.

Application of situational leadership to the national voluntary public health accreditation process.

Successful navigation through the accreditation process developed by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) requires strong and effective leadership. Situational leadership, a contingency theory of leadership, frequently taught in the public health classroom, has utility for leading a public health agency through this process. As a public health agency pursues accreditation, staff members progress from being uncertain and unfamiliar with the process to being knowledgeable and confident in their ability to fulfill the accreditation requirements.

Dermatology: a specialty that exemplifies the osteopathic medical profession.

Even though the tradition of osteopathic medicine is based in primary care, more osteopathic graduates than in the past are pursuing subspecialties within medicine. Some claim that medical specialties, such as dermatology, compromise osteopathic principles and philosophy. However, the authors contend that dermatology exemplifies the ideals expressed by Andrew Taylor Still, MD, DO, and explain how osteopathic manipulative treatment and the principles of osteopathic medicine can be applied to dermatologic disease and patient care.

Molecular taxonomy and phylogenetic affinities of two groundwater amphipods, Crangonyx islandicus and Crymostygius thingvallensis, endemic to Iceland.

The amphipod superfamily Crangonyctoidea is distributed exclusively in freshwater habitats worldwide and is characteristic of subterranean habitats. Two members of the family, Crangonyx islandicus and Crymostygius thingvallensis, are endemic to Iceland and were recently discovered in groundwater underneath lava fields. Crangonyx islandicus belongs to a well-known genus with representatives both in North America and in Eurasia.

Statewide systematic evaluation of sudden, unexpected infant death classification: results from a national pilot project.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded seven states, including Kentucky, to clarify statewide death certification practices in sudden, unexpected infant death and compare state performances with national expectations. Accurate assignment of the cause and manner of death in cases of sudden, unexpected infant death is critical for accurate vital statistics data to direct limited resources to appropriate targets, and to implement optimal and safe risk reduction strategies. The primary objectives are to (1) Compare SUID death certifications recommended by the KY medical examiners with the stated cause of death text field on the hard copy death electronic death certificates and (2) Compare KY and national SUID rates.

Situational leadership applied to the dissertation process.

For more than 40 years, concern has been expressed over the attrition rate of students in Ph.D. programs in American universities.

Physician professionalism for a new century.

During the past 50 years, physicians have become increasingly dissatisfied with certain aspects of their profession. Dissatisfaction has intensified with the advent of managed care in the late 20th century, the medical liability crisis, and the growing divergence between the professional and personal expectations placed upon physicians and their practical ability to meet these expectations. These and other factors have encroached on physician autonomy, the formerly ascendant professional value within medicine.

Utility of restriction fragment analysis for typing herpes simplex virus amplicons following PCR of targets in the DNA polymerase gene.

We compared the utility of restriction endonuclease cleavage to type herpes simplex virus DNA polymerase gene amplicons from two well established PCR primer sets. Amplicons typed using Ava II had a 96% correlation to type determined by monoclonal antibody staining, while amplicons typed using Drd I had a 72% correlation to type determined by monoclonal antibody staining.

Programs for the development of physician leaders: a curricular process in its infancy.

Physician leaders are crucial as never before to ensure the proper integration of good care and cost containment; such integration is both a reasonable expectation of patients and essential for the survival of health care delivery systems. In today's health care environment, a critical mass of physician leaders must be developed in a systematic fashion so that physicians may truly lead the health care enterprise. The authors (1) describe, with examples, the various types and levels of physician leadership training programs currently being offered; (2) explain the costs and benefits of each program type; and (3) offer a program rationale and model (using a program at their medical school), which they analyze using traditional management concepts such as strategic planning, net present value, and make-versus-buy.

Veterans Affairs residency realignment and National Graduate Medical Education policy.

The supply of physicians in the United States is affected by a variety of complex factors. Given the current abundance, if not oversupply, of physicians and the dramatic changes under way in the US health care delivery system, policy makers have renewed efforts to implement strategies that will lead to an appropriate balance of physicians in the United States. Several organizations have recommended specific strategies for achieving that goal.