A plant genus of the family POACEAE.

The enactment of laws and ordinances and their regulation by official organs of a nation, state, or other legislative organization. It refers also to health-related laws and regulations in general or for which there is no specific heading.

Laws and regulations, pertaining to the field of medicine, proposed for enactment or enacted by a legislative body.

The presence of an infectious agent on instruments, prostheses, or other inanimate articles.

The presence of organisms, or any foreign material that makes a drug preparation impure.

Substances and materials manufactured for use in various technologies and industries and for domestic use.

The presence in food of harmful, unpalatable, or otherwise objectionable foreign substances, e.g. chemicals, microorganisms or diluents, before, during, or after processing or storage.

Exclusive legal rights or privileges applied to inventions, plants, etc.

Complex mental function having four distinct phases: (1) memorizing or learning, (2) retention, (3) recall, and (4) recognition. Clinically, it is usually subdivided into immediate, recent, and remote memory.

The systems and processes involved in the establishment, support, management, and operation of registers, e.g., disease registers.

Revealing of information, by oral or written communication.

A condition in which the FORAMEN OVALE in the ATRIAL SEPTUM fails to close shortly after birth. This results in abnormal communications between the two upper chambers of the heart. An isolated patent ovale foramen without other structural heart defects is usually of no hemodynamic significance.

Communication through a system of conventional vocal symbols.

Small-scale tests of methods and procedures to be used on a larger scale if the pilot study demonstrates that these methods and procedures can work.

The process whereby an utterance is decoded into a representation in terms of linguistic units (sequences of phonetic segments which combine to form lexical and grammatical morphemes).

The interaction of two or more persons or organizations directed toward a common goal which is mutually beneficial. An act or instance of working or acting together for a common purpose or benefit, i.e., joint action. (From Random House Dictionary Unabridged, 2d ed)

Any enterprise centered on the processing, assembly, production, or marketing of a line of products, services, commodities, or merchandise, in a particular field often named after its principal product. Examples include the automobile, fishing, music, publishing, insurance, and textile industries.

The inhabitants of a city or town, including metropolitan areas and suburban areas.

The presence of contaminants or pollutant substances in the air (AIR POLLUTANTS) that interfere with human health or welfare, or produce other harmful environmental effects. The substances may include GASES; PARTICULATE MATTER; or volatile ORGANIC CHEMICALS.

Any substance in the air which could, if present in high enough concentration, harm humans, animals, vegetation or material. Substances include GASES; PARTICULATE MATTER; and volatile ORGANIC CHEMICALS.

The mixture of gases present in the earth's atmosphere consisting of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases.

Important polyunsaturated fatty acid found in fish oils. It serves as the precursor for the prostaglandin-3 and thromboxane-3 families. A diet rich in eicosapentaenoic acid lowers serum lipid concentration, reduces incidence of cardiovascular disorders, prevents platelet aggregation, and inhibits arachidonic acid conversion into the thromboxane-2 and prostaglandin-2 families.

The contamination of indoor air.

Any diagnostic evaluation using radioactive (unstable) isotopes. This diagnosis includes many nuclear medicine procedures as well as radioimmunoassay tests.

Activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to overcome these deficiencies; and follow-up monitoring to ensure effectiveness of corrective steps.

The science concerned with problems of radiation protection relevant to reducing or preventing radiation exposure, and the effects of ionizing radiation on humans and their environment.

The collective designation of three organizations with common membership: the European Economic Community (Common Market), the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). It was known as the European Community until 1994. It is primarily an economic union with the principal objectives of free movement of goods, capital, and labor. Professional services, social, medical and paramedical, are subsumed under labor. The constituent countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. (The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997, p842)

International organizations which provide health-related or other cooperative services.

A system for verifying and maintaining a desired level of quality in a product or process by careful planning, use of proper equipment, continued inspection, and corrective action as required. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

A sampling methodology using small sample sizes when conducting surveys in small geographical or population-based areas or lots.

The industry concerned with processing, preparing, preserving, distributing, and serving of foods and beverages.

The production and movement of food items from point of origin to use or consumption.

The productive enterprises concerned with food processing.

Cultivated plants or agricultural produce such as grain, vegetables, or fruit. (From American Heritage Dictionary, 1982)

The science, art or practice of cultivating soil, producing crops, and raising livestock.

The family Phocidae, suborder PINNIPEDIA, order CARNIVORA, comprising the true seals. They lack external ears and are unable to use their hind flippers to walk. It includes over 18 species including the harp seal, probably the best known seal species in the world.

Any substances taken in by the body that provide nourishment.