BACKGROUND Quality improvement (QI) activities are required to maintain board certification in pediatrics. However, because of lack of training and resources, pediatricians may feel overwhelmed by the need to implement QI activities. Pediatricians also face challenges when caring for overweight and obese children. OBJECTIVE To create a virtual (online) QI learning collaborative through which ...

background: the variation of the radon progeny concentration in outdoor environment and meteorological parameters at fine resolution were studied for one year at a continental location, national atmospheric research laboratory, gadanki, india.  materials and methods: the concentrations were measured using alpha progeny meter by collecting air samples at a height of 1 m above the earth’s surface...

Beginning from 1950’s, Paluš and Novotná (J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phys. 71, 923–930, 2009) observed statistically significant phase coherence among oscillatory modes with the period of approximately 7–8 years detected in monthly time series of sunspot numbers, geomagnetic activity aa index, NAO index and near-surface air temperature from several mid-latitude European stations. Using again the osci...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The seasonal effect on the relapse of rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthropathies is still unclear. To assess the seasonal distribution of relapse onset in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthropathy (SpA) and its association with solar factors. METHODS The monthly distribution of relapse onsets during the years 1998-2000 was retrospectively chart reviewed in...

BACKGROUND Scientific evidence for the frequency of monitoring of type 2 diabetes patients is lacking. If three-monthly control in general practice could be reduced to six-monthly control in some patients, this would on the one hand reduce the use of medical services including involvement of practice nurses, and thus reduce costs, and on the other hand alleviate the burden of people with type 2...

ten male merghoz goats with initial live weights of 29.2 ± 1.2 kg (mean±se) were used to investigate the effect of natural changes in photoperiod on dry matter intake (dmi) and reproductive activity during a 365 day study. the bucks were housed in individual pens, under natural daylength condition at west of iran, kermanshah (34˚ 18¢n and 47˚ 3¢e and 1420 m above sea level). a diet was offered ...

An understanding of the Ohl's Precursor Method, which is used to predict the upcoming sunspots activity, is presented by employing a simplified movable divided-blocks diagram. Using a new approach, the total number of sunspots in a solar cycle and the maximum averaged monthly sunspots number Rz(max) are both shown to be statistically related to the geomagnetic activity index in the prior solar ...

BACKGROUND Providing feedback is a technique to promote health behavior that is emphasized by behavior change theories. However, these theories make contradicting predictions regarding the effect of the feedback sign-that is, whether the feedback signals success or failure. Thus, it is unclear whether positive or negative feedback leads to more favorable behavior change in a health behavior int...