Unconventional dentistry: Part I. Introduction.
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This is the first in a series of five articles providing a contemporary overview and introduction to unconventional (alternative) dentistry (UD) and correlation with unconventional (alternative) medicine (UM). UD is analogous to and conceptually inseparable from UM. Dentists should learn about UD and UM and be aware of evidence on the safety and effectiveness of treatments and procedures. While being skeptical of promotions, dentists should be able to accept and encompass science-based advances and reject unproven and disproven methods. Incorporating selected unconventional methods with conventional dentistry in selected patients for specific purposes may be useful to both patients and dentists. Improved education in critical thinking, research, science, medicine, behaviour, communication and patient management is needed. (+info)
Science-specialty literatures their legendary contemporary polarity, based on the transmission of information between generations.
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Each of fifteen scientific specialty fields was represented by a journal and the percent of "legendary" papers (those with at least one reference twenty-five or more years old) was calculated for each field. Non-legendary papers were designated as "contemporary". A historical divergence was uncovered when the highly legendary field, physiology, was compared with the highly contemporary field, microbiology, both fields being moderately contemporary in 1922. The legendary contemporary field characteristics of a field are useful for estimating libraries' requirements for back holdings and for appraising literature searches. (+info)
Scientific literature and gospel truth.
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We live in an age of science, an age in which science impacts practically every phase of our life. In the field of medicine, our entire understanding of diseases and their management depends on scientific knowledge. To obtain that knowledge, we rely on the published scientific literature. Therefore, the sanctity of science must be fiercely guarded. In medicine, true science leads to valid treatment--and preservation of the life, health and (for ophthalmologists) eyesight of our patients. A corrupted science results in corrupted scientific knowledge which in turn, in medicine, leads to wrong treatment and harm to the patients. (+info)
The structure of scientific collaboration networks.
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The structure of scientific collaboration networks is investigated. Two scientists are considered connected if they have authored a paper together and explicit networks of such connections are constructed by using data drawn from a number of databases, including MEDLINE (biomedical research), the Los Alamos e-Print Archive (physics), and NCSTRL (computer science). I show that these collaboration networks form "small worlds," in which randomly chosen pairs of scientists are typically separated by only a short path of intermediate acquaintances. I further give results for mean and distribution of numbers of collaborators of authors, demonstrate the presence of clustering in the networks, and highlight a number of apparent differences in the patterns of collaboration between the fields studied. (+info)
Authors, editors, policy makers, and the impact factor.
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Some aspects of the "impact factor", a quantitative measure of journals' influence on journals in scientific fields, were discussed in the preceding issue of the Croatian Medical Journal by Dr Eugene Garfield, one of its devisers. This factor can be of interest to authors, journal editors, and policy makers, but they should keep in mind the complexity of the determinants of impact factors while using them in coming to their particular kinds of decisions. A clearer picture of the influence a journal may have in its own scientific field rather than among all scientific journals could come from a variant of the impact factor, "the scope-adjusted impact factor". The calculation of this variant impact factor is described. A table presents some sample data from this calculation and shows how the relative positions of some major journals shift when they are ranked by this factor rather than the unadjusted impact factor. The possible value of this variant factor may merit further testing. (+info)
Cigarettes and the US Public Health Service in the 1950s.
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The conclusion of the United States Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health in 1964 that excessive cigarette smoking causes lung cancer is cited as the major turning point for public health action against cigarettes. But the surgeon general and US Public Health Service (PHS) scientists had concluded as early as 1957 that smoking was a cause of lung cancer, indeed, "the principal etiologic factor in the increased incidence of lung cancer." Throughout the 1950s, however, the PHS rejected further tobacco-related public health actions, such as placing warning labels on cigarettes or creating educational programs for schools. Instead, the agency continued to gather information and provided occasional assessments of the evidence as it came available. It was not until pressure mounted from outside the PHS in the early 1960s that more substantive action was taken. Earlier action was not taken because of the way in which PHS scientists (particularly those within the National Institutes of Health) and administrators viewed their roles in relation to science and public health. (+info)
Basic science curriculum in vascular surgery residency.
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Recognizing the importance of basic science teaching in surgical education, the leadership of the Association of Program Directors in Vascular Surgery (APDVS) appointed a panel to gather information and to present its findings at the 1999 annual fall meeting of the Apdvs. A questionnaire was distributed to the program directors present. In addition, information was gathered from the American Board of Surgery regarding the basic science content in the vascular surgery item pool on the vascular surgery qualifying examination (VQE). The vascular surgery unit of the surgical resident curriculum was also analyzed. Fifty-three program directors (64%) completed the questionnaire. Although only two program directors felt that their residents were better prepared to answer basic science questions, the results of the Vqe showed that the examinees do not, as a group, perform differently on basic science items than on clinical management questions. In addition, only a minority of program directors (15%) use a specific method to monitor the learning process of their residents. The majority of the program directors responding (75%) felt that they were capable of teaching basic science to residents. Interestingly, almost half the 53 respondents (47%) said that a basic science curriculum should be comprehensive, not exclusively relevant to the clinical setting. Vqe content outline and the vascular surgery unit of the surgical resident curriculum revealed great emphasis on clinically relevant basic science information. The Apdvs panel recommends that a basic science curriculum should be comprehensive, yet clinically pertinent, and completely integrated with the clinical curriculum. In terms of how to teach basic science in vascular residencies, the panel supports teaching conferences that are problem-based with a faculty member acting as the "resource person" and with specific goals set for the conferences. The panel also suggested establishing a Web site that provides a series of questions, the answers of which could be readily available to trainees and program directors. such immediate feedback could be of great help to program directors to focus the learning process of their residents and monitor its progress. (+info)
Assessing outcomes of curricular change: a view from program graduates.
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Graduates of dental programs constitute a stakeholder group that is able to provide unique information concerning the effectiveness of the dental curriculum in preparing them for dental careers. Following the implementation of planned curricular changes, graduates of the former and the new curricula were surveyed. Results indicate that, while both groups perceive themselves to have been adequately prepared by their D.D.S. program for practice, graduates of the new curriculum indicated a higher level of preparedness in several areas, especially regarding selecting, prescribing and administering pharmacotherapeutic agents. In addition, the results suggest that the change in the first two years from an emphasis on basic sciences and preclinical laboratory work to an early introduction to live dental patients and the integration of foundation sciences and clinical courses were endorsed. The evidence gathered from this alumni survey indicates that the reforms implemented in the dental curriculum were appropriate. Areas requiring further investigation are also discussed. (+info)