Background Physiotherapists (PTs) are ideally positioned to assist patients and families with inhalation therapies through monitoring, communication and education about available therapies and their proper use; indeed aerosoltherapy management is listed as part of Italian PTs' core competence and in the core syllabus for post-graduate training in respiratory physiotherapy. The aim of this study...

BACKGROUND Young people are becoming increasingly exposed to the risk of HIV infection. According to the 2008 HIV/Syphilis sentinel survey in Nigeria, 3.3% of young people aged 15-19 years are infected. Primary prevention especially abstinence, remains one of the most realistic interventions for reducing further spread of the virus. However, the adoption of sexual abstinence as a prevention str...

Broadband electromagnetic transparency phenomenon is realized with a well-designed gradedpermittivity sphere, which has an extremely low scattering cross section over a wide frequency range, based on the generalized Mie scattering theory and numerical simulation in full-wave condition. The dynamic polarization cancellation is revealed by studying the variation of the polarization with respect t...

OBJECTIVE Despite the growing evidence against artificial nutrition and hydration (ANH) use among patients with advanced dementia, little is known about the perspectives of the health care team. This study examined the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of physicians and other health care providers regarding the use of ANH at the end of life (EOL). METHODS A cross-sectional survey explored the...

We conducted this study to determine levels and correlates of hypertension knowledge among rural Chinese adults, and to assess the association between knowledge levels and salty food consumption among hypertensive and non-hypertensive populations. This face-to-face cross sectional survey included 665 hypertensive and 854 non-hypertensive respondents in the rural areas of Heilongjiang province, ...

OBJECTIVES To determine whether there is a link between age at first anal intercourse (AFAI) and gay men's HIV/sexually transmissible infection (STI) vulnerability, including tendencies to engage in higher risk sexual behaviour. METHODS A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted online involving 845 Australian gay men born between 1944 and 1993. RESULTS Median AFAI fell from 35 years...

BACKGROUND Around the world, regulatory bodies have taken the lead in determining the competencies required to become a physician. As a first step in addressing this project, it was decided to develop a set of core competencies that were unique to China and that might serve as a basis for medical education. The purpose of this paper was to construct a competency model for clinical physicians in...

BACKGROUND Lectures are considered most effective mode of information transfer amongst teachers and students in medical education, but in recent years there has been a noticeable decline in the attendance of lectures. Our objective was to assess the reasons of medical students' disinterest in lectures. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Department of Community Medicine, Fatima ...

BACKGROUND Over past few decades, the expectations of medical students about their academics, extracurricular support from college and about their social life at campus have all been changed greatly. The relative scarcity of data about the expectations of Pakistani medical students has merited this study. METHOD A cross-sectional survey was undertaken at Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad at th...