Supporting self-care for families of children with eczema with a Web-based intervention plus health care professional support: pilot randomized controlled trial.

Background: Childhood eczema, or childhood atopic dermatitis, causes significant distress to children and their families through sleep disturbance and itch. The main cause of treatment failure is nonuse of prescribed treatments.

Objective: The objective of this study was to develop and test a Web-based intervention to support families of children with eczema, and to explore whether support from a health care professional (HCP) is necessary to engage participants with the intervention.

Maternal request for caesarean section: an ethical consideration.

Caesarean section (CS) is a method of delivering a baby through a surgical incision into the abdominal wall. Until recently in the UK, it was preserved as a procedure which was only carried out in certain circumstances. These included if the fetus lay in a breech position or was showing signs of distress leading to a requirement for rapid delivery.

Looking beyond the D-dimer.

The D-dimer test ruled out a pulmonary embolism in our patient, but her signs and symptoms suggested that we take another look.

Prevalence of polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia.

Polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocythemia (ET) are common types of myeloproliferative disorders (MPD), the prevalence of which has not been well documented in the United States. Recent breakthroughs in the molecular etiology of these disorders and the accelerated development of targeted pharmacotherapeutics to treat them underscore the need to define the affected population. In this study, we obtained health claims data from major commercial insurance payers in Connecticut and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to estimate the prevalence of PV and ET.

Does managed care restrictiveness affect the perceived quality of primary care? A report from ASPN. Ambulatory Sentinel Practice Network.

Background: The competitive managed care marketplace is causing increased restrictiveness in the structure of health plans. The effect of plan restrictiveness on the delivery of primary care is unknown. Our purpose was to examine the association of the organizational and financial restrictiveness of managed care plans with important elements of primary care, the patient-clinician relationship, and patient satisfaction.

Practices around periodic cancer screening by physicians in primary care specialties.

Questionnaires and information packets were distributed to 121 physicians in primary care specialties in central Connecticut to ascertain how periodic cancer screening is performed and monitored. Results of a baseline survey of 52 respondents (51% of active practitioners) are presented here. Only one quarter of respondents noted some formal mechanism in place within their practice to encourage periodic screening of patients.

Effects of low-level long-term ozone fumigation and acid mist on photosynthesis and stomata of clonal Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.).

Four clones of 3-year-old Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), grown on two soils, were from July 1986 to September 1987 exposed to ozone fumigation (50 microg m(-3) as a control, 100 microg m(-3) plus peaks between 130 and 360 microg m(-3) as treatment) and acid mist of pH 3.

Physician compliance with mammography guidelines: a retrospective chart review.

Annual mammography is recommended by the American Cancer Society as an effective technique for the early detection of breast cancer in women aged 50 and older. This paper reports on a study conducted in a large group family practice in an urban academic setting to examine the frequency with which physicians were ordering mammograms for one age-appropriate group of female patients. The charts of a random sample of 88 females over age 55 who had been patients in the practice for at least five years were abstracted for information on mammography and breast examination as well as background clinical history.

Calculation of leaf photosynthetic parameters from light-response curves for ecophysiological applications.

Measurement of the light response of photosynthetic CO2 uptake is often used as an implement in ecophysiological studies. A method is described to calculate photosynthetic parameters, such as the maximum rate of whole electron transport and dissimilative respiration in the light, from the light response of CO2 uptake. Examples of the light-response curves of flag leaves and ears of wheat (Triticum aestivum cv.

Toxic components of motor vehicle emissions for the spruce Picea abies.

Six-year-old Norway spruce trees were exposed for 30 min under standardised conditions to the exhaust from an Otto engine running on lead-free petrol. Gas-exchange measurements in an open system using an infrared gas analyser showed a sudden, severe drop in CO(2) assimilation and transpiration rates. By using filters which absorbed different fractions of the exhaust it could be demonstrated that the toxic effects can be attributed to the NO(x) fraction.

The calibration of thermocouples for leaf temperature measurements in gas exchange cuvettes.

A thermocouple shows a high accuracy in reading temperatures, but it does not always give a true value for the temperature of the leaf against which it is pressed on. Temperature differences between the leaf and the air moving around it cause deviations of the shown temperature from the actual leaf temperature. A method is described to calibrate thermocouples inside gas exchange cuvettes without obstructing the movement of the air around the leaf, so that the heat exchange between thermocouple and air is taken into account.

Malignant teratoma of the uterine tube.

A primary malignant teratoma of the uterine tube, encountered in a 22-year-old female, is described. Forty-four cases of benign "teratomas" of the oviduct have previously been reported. This appears to be the first reported malignant teratoma of the uterine tube.