Correspondence to Dr Wolfgang Wagner; [email protected] Visiting Ravenna, this ancient town near the Adriatic Sea in Italy, cannot be called anything but a feast in culture. From AD 402 to AD 476, it was the capital of the Western Roman Empire. The city and its harbour later became the Italian stronghold of the Eastern Roman Empire (Constantinople/Istanbul). No wonder that busloads of tour...

Whether contemporary human populations are still evolving as a result of natural selection has been hotly debated. For natural selection to cause evolutionary change in a trait, variation in the trait must be correlated with fitness and be genetically heritable and there must be no genetic constraints to evolution. These conditions have rarely been tested in human populations. In this study, da...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the interaction between socio-economic status and 'protected characteristics' in Scotland. This study aimed to examine whether differences in mortality were moderated by interactions with social class or deprivation. The practical value was to pinpoint population groups for priority action on health inequality reduction and health improvement rather than a sole ...

To the Editor: We read with great interest the article by Abdoler et al. (1) on the ethics-based interpretation of phase 0 trials in cancer patients. In our opinion, drugs that consistently show favorable toxicity profile and beneficial therapeutic activity in preclinical models should be tested in anima nobile . This is particularly important for molecular targeted therapies, in which impressi...

Symphysiotomy is an operation in which the fibres of the pubic symphysis are partially divided to allow separation of the joint and thus enlargement of the pelvic dimensions thereby facilitating vaginal delivery of the foetus in the presence of mild to moderate cephalopelvic disproportion. It is performed with local anaesthesia, does not require an operating theatre or advanced surgical skills....

INTRODUCTION Corn or scentless chamomile (Anthemis arvensis L.) is an annual flowering plant (forb) native to much of Europe, parts of Northern Africa, and Asia. It has become naturalized in North America, southern Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. By 1995, it had been found in 37 of the lower 48 states, including the adjacent states of California, Oregon, and Idaho. In northern Nevada it can...

P olicymakers have long been aware that public investments in family planning services are cost effective. Indeed, this fact helped establish the federal program. In her book Within Our Reach, Lisbeth Schorr described the first federal investment in family planning under the War on Poverty launched by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. He demanded programs that were “demonstrably cost-effective,...

A study was conducted at the Army Garrison Hospital at Port Dickson in Peninsular Malaysia to determine the attitudes of 110 married men towards family planning. The sample included 80 Malays and 30 Indians who are army personnel attending the hospital either for medical treatment or a check-up. The study instrument was a pre-tested questionnarie administered by 2 male nurses during the Novem...

Charles Savona-Ventura Department of Obstetrics Gynaecology University of Malta Medical School Mater Dei University Hospital, Malta [email protected] Abstract Temporal surveys of family control methods being used within the Maltese setting carried out in the 1970's and 1990's had shown a definite shift towards the more effective methods of contraception. The present study was car...

Projecting the religious composition of the population is relevant for several reasons. It is a key characteristic influencing several aspects of individual behaviour, including marriage and childbearing patterns. The religious composition is also a driver of social cohesion and increased religious diversity could imply a more fragmented society. In this context, Austria finds itself in a perio...