ON APRIL 4, 2007, THE CENTER FOR Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) convened an invitational meeting to examine the critical elements of regional healthcare partnerships for emergency preparedness and response and to facilitate communication among the federal officials, regional healthcare leaders and institutions, and other stakeholders. Participants included sen...

Skeletal loading during growth may be one way of increasing bone mass early in life. We hypothesized that children randomized to a jumping program (25 jumps/day from a 45-cm box, 5 days/week for 12 weeks) would have greater increases in hip and spine bone mineral content (BMC) and 4% distal tibia volumetric bone density than children randomized to the control group. Our secondary hypothesis was...

BACKGROUND In 2009, the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) made potassium iodide (KI), a nonprescription radio-protective drug, available by mailing vouchers redeemable at local pharmacies for KI tablets, at no cost to residents living within 10 miles of Michigan's 3 nuclear power plants (NPPs). MDCH conducted an evaluation of this program to determine Michigan's KI coverage and to ...

OBJECTIVE To compare preparedness for hospital practice between graduates from a problem-based, graduate-entry medical program and those from other programs (undergraduate problem-based and traditional). DESIGN Survey of graduates (by mailed questionnaire) and organisers of clinical training (by semistructured interview); results were compared with published results of surveys of graduates fr...

The male and female pubertal assays, which are included in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) Tier 1 battery, can detect endocrine-active compounds operating by various modes of action. This article uses the collective experience of three laboratories to provide information on pubertal assay conduct, interlaboratory reproducibility, end...

Introduction: Given the growing rate of accidents and disasters in the world, preparing nurses as the main group responding to these events is crucial; however, a review of literature suggests no comprehensive and theoretical or practical definitions for this concept in nursing, which has been often misunderstood and used as an alternative to other similar concepts. Objective: The presen...

The educational literature generally suggests that supplemental instruction (SI) is effective in improving academic performance in traditionally difficult courses. A pilot program of peer teaching based on the SI model was implemented for an undergraduate course in human anatomy. Students in the course were stratified into three groups based on the number of peer teaching sessions they attended...

OBJECTIVE To determine the perceptions of pharmacy interns and newly registered pharmacists and preceptors regarding the preparedness of graduates to enter professional practice. METHODS A questionnaire was developed from the New Zealand Competence Standards for the Pharmacy Profession (pharmacist level), with additional questions on communication skills included. The instrument contained 16 ...

Annual influenza epidemics create a significant public health burden each year in the United States. That influenza continues to pose a public health threat despite being largely preventable through vaccination is indicative of continuing weaknesses in the U.S.'s public health system. Moreover, the burden of annual influenza epidemics and the fragility and instability of the capacity to respond...