A heterogeneous condition in which the heart is unable to pump out sufficient blood to meet the metabolic need of the body. Heart failure can be caused by structural defects, functional abnormalities (VENTRICULAR DYSFUNCTION), or a sudden overload beyond its capacity. Chronic heart failure is more common than acute heart failure which results from sudden insult to cardiac function, such as MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION.

Terrorism on September 11, 2001 against targets in New York, the Pentagon in Virginia, and an aborted attack that ended in Pennsylvania.

A republic in the Greater Antilles in the West Indies. Its capital is Santo Domingo. With Haiti, it forms the island of Hispaniola - the Dominican Republic occupying the eastern two thirds, and Haiti, the western third. It was created in 1844 after a revolt against the rule of President Boyer over the entire island of Hispaniola, itself visited by Columbus in 1492 and settled the next year. Except for a brief period of annexation to Spain (1861-65), it has been independent, though closely associated with the United States. Its name comes from the Spanish Santo Domingo, Holy Sunday, with reference to its discovery on a Sunday. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p338, 506 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p151)

The use or threatened use of force or violence against persons or property in violation of criminal laws for purposes of intimidation, coercion, or ransom, in support of political or social objectives.

Persons living in the United States of Mexican (MEXICAN AMERICANS), Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin. The concept does not include Brazilian Americans or Portuguese Americans.

The status of health in urban populations.

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

Ongoing scrutiny of a population (general population, study population, target population, etc.), generally using methods distinguished by their practicability, uniformity, and frequently their rapidity, rather than by complete accuracy.

A mosquito-borne viral illness caused by the WEST NILE VIRUS, a FLAVIVIRUS and endemic to regions of Africa, Asia, and Europe. Common clinical features include HEADACHE; FEVER; maculopapular rash; gastrointestinal symptoms; and lymphadenopathy. MENINGITIS; ENCEPHALITIS; and MYELITIS may also occur. The disease may occasionally be fatal or leave survivors with residual neurologic deficits. (From Joynt, Clinical Neurology, 1996, Ch26, p13; Lancet 1998 Sep 5;352(9130):767-71)

Hospitals controlled by the city government.

Sudden increase in the incidence of a disease. The concept includes EPIDEMICS and PANDEMICS.

Hospitals located in metropolitan areas.

A species of FLAVIVIRUS, one of the Japanese encephalitis virus group (ENCEPHALITIS VIRUSES, JAPANESE). It can infect birds and mammals. In humans, it is seen most frequently in Africa, Asia, and Europe presenting as a silent infection or undifferentiated fever (WEST NILE FEVER). The virus appeared in North America for the first time in 1999. It is transmitted mainly by CULEX spp mosquitoes which feed primarily on birds, but it can also be carried by the Asian Tiger mosquito, AEDES albopictus, which feeds mainly on mammals.

State plans prepared by the State Health Planning and Development Agencies which are made up from plans submitted by the Health Systems Agencies and subject to review and revision by the Statewide Health Coordinating Council.

An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristic, which, on the basis of epidemiologic evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.

Activities devoted to freeing persons or animals from danger to life or well-being in accidents, fires, bombings, floods, earthquakes, other disasters and life-threatening conditions. While usually performed by team efforts, rescue work is not restricted to organized services.

Housing subsidized by tax funds, usually intended for low income persons or families.

Elements of residence that characterize a population. They are applicable in determining need for and utilization of health services.

Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.

An island in the Greater Antilles in the West Indies. Its capital is San Juan. It is a self-governing commonwealth in union with the United States. It was discovered by Columbus in 1493 but no colonization was attempted until 1508. It belonged to Spain until ceded to the United States in 1898. It became a commonwealth with autonomy in internal affairs in 1952. Columbus named the island San Juan for St. John's Day, the Monday he arrived, and the bay Puerto Rico, rich harbor. The island became Puerto Rico officially in 1932. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p987 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p436)

Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease.

The amount of BLOOD pumped out of the HEART per beat, not to be confused with cardiac output (volume/time). It is calculated as the difference between the end-diastolic volume and the end-systolic volume.

Persons living in the United States having origins in any of the black groups of Africa.

Abuse, overuse, or misuse of a substance by its injection into a vein.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

Federal program, created by Public Law 89-97, Title XIX, a 1965 amendment to the Social Security Act, administered by the states, that provides health care benefits to indigent and medically indigent persons.

Private, not-for-profit hospitals that are autonomous, self-established, and self-supported.

A group of people with a common cultural heritage that sets them apart from others in a variety of social relationships.

Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era.

Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.

Instruments used for injecting or withdrawing fluids. (Stedman, 25th ed)

A weight-carrying structure for navigation of the air that is supported either by its own buoyancy or by the dynamic action of the air against its surfaces. (Webster, 1973)

Management of public health organizations or agencies.

Living facilities for humans.

Statistical models which describe the relationship between a qualitative dependent variable (that is, one which can take only certain discrete values, such as the presence or absence of a disease) and an independent variable. A common application is in epidemiology for estimating an individual's risk (probability of a disease) as a function of a given risk factor.

The total number of cases of a given disease in a specified population at a designated time. It is differentiated from INCIDENCE, which refers to the number of new cases in the population at a given time.

Levels within a diagnostic group which are established by various measurement criteria applied to the seriousness of a patient's disorder.

The interchange of goods or commodities, especially on a large scale, between different countries or between populations within the same country. It includes trade (the buying, selling, or exchanging of commodities, whether wholesale or retail) and business (the purchase and sale of goods to make a profit). (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed, p411, p2005 & p283)

A form of CARDIAC MUSCLE disease that is characterized by ventricular dilation, VENTRICULAR DYSFUNCTION, and HEART FAILURE. Risk factors include SMOKING; ALCOHOL DRINKING; HYPERTENSION; INFECTION; PREGNANCY; and mutations in the LMNA gene encoding LAMIN TYPE A, a NUCLEAR LAMINA protein.

Persons who have no permanent residence. The concept excludes nomadic peoples.

Permanent roads having a line of rails fixed to ties and laid to gage, usually on a leveled or graded ballasted roadbed and providing a track for freight cars, passenger cars, and other rolling stock. Cars are designed to be drawn by locomotives or sometimes propelled by self-contained motors. (From Webster's 3d) The concept includes the organizational and administrative aspects of railroads as well.

The use of biological agents in TERRORISM. This includes the malevolent use of BACTERIA; VIRUSES; or other BIOLOGICAL TOXINS against people, ANIMALS; or PLANTS.

A condition in which the LEFT VENTRICLE of the heart was functionally impaired. This condition usually leads to HEART FAILURE; MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION; and other cardiovascular complications. Diagnosis is made by measuring the diminished ejection fraction and a depressed level of motility of the left ventricular wall.

Social and economic factors that characterize the individual or group within the social structure.

The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988)

Diseases of birds not considered poultry, therefore usually found in zoos, parks, and the wild. The concept is differentiated from POULTRY DISEASES which is for birds raised as a source of meat or eggs for human consumption, and usually found in barnyards, hatcheries, etc.

The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents in the environment or to environmental factors that may include ionizing radiation, pathogenic organisms, or toxic chemicals.

An infant during the first month after birth.

Includes the spectrum of human immunodeficiency virus infections that range from asymptomatic seropositivity, thru AIDS-related complex (ARC), to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

Health services, public or private, in urban areas. The services include the promotion of health and the delivery of health care.

The exercise capacity of an individual as measured by endurance (maximal exercise duration and/or maximal attained work load) during an EXERCISE TEST.

Time period from 1801 through 1900 of the common era.

Disorders related to substance abuse.

Sexual attraction or relationship between males.

Regulation of the rate of contraction of the heart muscles by an artificial pacemaker.

Termination of pregnancy under conditions allowed under local laws. (POPLINE Thesaurus, 1991)

Financial assistance to impoverished persons for the essentials of living through federal, state or local government programs.

Carnivores of the genus Procyon of the family PROCYONIDAE. Two subgenera and seven species are currently recognized. They range from southern Canada to Panama and are found in several of the Caribbean Islands.

The confinement of a patient in a hospital.

Studies of the number of cases where human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is present in a specific population at a designated time. The presence in a given individual is determined by the finding of HIV antibodies in the serum (HIV SEROPOSITIVITY).

Facilities for the preparation and dispensing of drugs.

A situation in which the level of living of an individual, family, or group is below the standard of the community. It is often related to a specific income level.

Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.

A state of subnormal or depressed cardiac output at rest or during stress. It is a characteristic of CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES, including congenital, valvular, rheumatic, hypertensive, coronary, and cardiomyopathic. The serious form of low cardiac output is characterized by marked reduction in STROKE VOLUME, and systemic vasoconstriction resulting in cold, pale, and sometimes cyanotic extremities.

Undertaking a task involving a challenge for achievement or a desirable goal in which there is a lack of certainty or a fear of failure. It may also include the exhibiting of certain behaviors whose outcomes may present a risk to the individual or to those associated with him or her.

Official records of individual deaths including the cause of death certified by a physician, and any other required identifying information.

Individuals whose ancestral origins are in the continent of Europe.

Diseases which have one or more of the following characteristics: they are permanent, leave residual disability, are caused by nonreversible pathological alteration, require special training of the patient for rehabilitation, or may be expected to require a long period of supervision, observation, or care. (Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)

The number of new cases of a given disease during a given period in a specified population. It also is used for the rate at which new events occur in a defined population. It is differentiated from PREVALENCE, which refers to all cases, new or old, in the population at a given time.

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.

Studies in which subsets of a defined population are identified. These groups may or may not be exposed to factors hypothesized to influence the probability of the occurrence of a particular disease or other outcome. Cohorts are defined populations which, as a whole, are followed in an attempt to determine distinguishing subgroup characteristics.

The sexual attraction or relationship between members of both the same and the opposite SEX.

A set of techniques used when variation in several variables has to be studied simultaneously. In statistics, multivariate analysis is interpreted as any analytic method that allows simultaneous study of two or more dependent variables.

Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.

Conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes school admission or job interviews.

The restoration of the sequential order of contraction and relaxation of the HEART ATRIA and HEART VENTRICLES by atrio-biventricular pacing.

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.

Maleness or femaleness as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from SEX CHARACTERISTICS, anatomical or physiological manifestations of sex, and from SEX DISTRIBUTION, the number of males and females in given circumstances.

Control which is exerted by the more stable organizations of society, such as established institutions and the law. They are ordinarily embodied in definite codes, usually written.

The systematic application of information and computer sciences to public health practice, research, and learning.

Heart failure caused by abnormal myocardial contraction during SYSTOLE leading to defective cardiac emptying.

The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.

Backflow of blood from the LEFT VENTRICLE into the LEFT ATRIUM due to imperfect closure of the MITRAL VALVE. This can lead to mitral valve regurgitation.

Knowledge, attitudes, and associated behaviors which pertain to health-related topics such as PATHOLOGIC PROCESSES or diseases, their prevention, and treatment. This term refers to non-health workers and health workers (HEALTH PERSONNEL).

A family of the order DIPTERA that comprises the mosquitoes. The larval stages are aquatic, and the adults can be recognized by the characteristic WINGS, ANIMAL venation, the scales along the wing veins, and the long proboscis. Many species are of particular medical importance.

The monitoring of the level of toxins, chemical pollutants, microbial contaminants, or other harmful substances in the environment (soil, air, and water), workplace, or in the bodies of people and animals present in that environment.

A soft, loose-fitting polyurethane sheath, closed at one end, with flexible rings at both ends. The device is inserted into the vagina by compressing the inner ring and pushing it in. Properly positioned, the ring at the closed end covers the cervix, and the sheath lines the walls of the vagina. The outer ring remains outside the vagina, covering the labia. (Med Lett Drugs Ther 1993 Dec 24;35(12):123)

A geographical area of the United States comprising the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

The degree to which individuals are inhibited or facilitated in their ability to gain entry to and to receive care and services from the health care system. Factors influencing this ability include geographic, architectural, transportational, and financial considerations, among others.

The use of communication systems, such as telecommunication, to transmit emergency information to appropriate providers of health services.

The killing of one person by another.

Common name for the largest birds in the order PASSERIFORMES, family Corvidae. These omnivorous black birds comprise most of the species in the genus Corvus, along with ravens and jackdaws (which are often also referred to as crows).

The hemodynamic and electrophysiological action of the left HEART VENTRICLE. Its measurement is an important aspect of the clinical evaluation of patients with heart disease to determine the effects of the disease on cardiac performance.

Planning that has the goals of improving health, improving accessibility to health services, and promoting efficiency in the provision of services and resources on a comprehensive basis for a whole community. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988, p299)

The interactions between members of a community and representatives of the institutions within that community.

Studies designed to assess the efficacy of programs. They may include the evaluation of cost-effectiveness, the extent to which objectives are met, or impact.

The activities and endeavors of the public health services in a community on any level.

Surgical insertion of synthetic material to repair injured or diseased heart valves.

Groups of individuals whose putative ancestry is from native continental populations based on similarities in physical appearance.

Divisions of the year according to some regularly recurrent phenomena usually astronomical or climatic. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)

Official certifications by a physician recording the individual's birth date, place of birth, parentage and other required identifying data which are filed with the local registrar of vital statistics.

An acquired defect of cellular immunity associated with infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a CD4-positive T-lymphocyte count under 200 cells/microliter or less than 14% of total lymphocytes, and increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections and malignant neoplasms. Clinical manifestations also include emaciation (wasting) and dementia. These elements reflect criteria for AIDS as defined by the CDC in 1993.

Ultrasonic recording of the size, motion, and composition of the heart and surrounding tissues. The standard approach is transthoracic.

People who take drugs for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. The drugs may be legal or illegal, but their use often results in adverse medical, legal, or social consequences for the users.

Drugs obtained and often manufactured illegally for the subjective effects they are said to produce. They are often distributed in urban areas, but are also available in suburban and rural areas, and tend to be grossly impure and may cause unexpected toxicity.

Factors which produce cessation of all vital bodily functions. They can be analyzed from an epidemiologic viewpoint.

A device that substitutes for a heart valve. It may be composed of biological material (BIOPROSTHESIS) and/or synthetic material.

Enumerations of populations usually recording identities of all persons in every place of residence with age or date of birth, sex, occupation, national origin, language, marital status, income, relation to head of household, information on the dwelling place, education, literacy, health-related data (e.g., permanent disability), etc. The census or "numbering of the people" is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. Among the Romans, censuses were intimately connected with the enumeration of troops before and after battle and probably a military necessity. (From Last, A Dictionary of Epidemiology, 3d ed; Garrison, An Introduction to the History of Medicine, 4th ed, p66, p119)

Controlled physical activity which is performed in order to allow assessment of physiological functions, particularly cardiovascular and pulmonary, but also aerobic capacity. Maximal (most intense) exercise is usually required but submaximal exercise is also used.

Individuals whose ancestral origins are in the continent of Africa.

A prediction of the probable outcome of a disease based on a individual's condition and the usual course of the disease as seen in similar situations.

The valve between the left atrium and left ventricle of the heart.

A vital statistic measuring or recording the rate of death from any cause in hospitalized populations.

Institutions with an organized medical staff which provide medical care to patients.

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

In screening and diagnostic tests, the probability that a person with a positive test is a true positive (i.e., has the disease), is referred to as the predictive value of a positive test; whereas, the predictive value of a negative test is the probability that the person with a negative test does not have the disease. Predictive value is related to the sensitivity and specificity of the test.

Prepared food that is ready to eat or partially prepared food that has a final preparation time of a few minutes or less.

Sexual activities of humans.

Implantable devices which continuously monitor the electrical activity of the heart and automatically detect and terminate ventricular tachycardia (TACHYCARDIA, VENTRICULAR) and VENTRICULAR FIBRILLATION. They consist of an impulse generator, batteries, and electrodes.

Procedures for finding the mathematical function which best describes the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. In linear regression (see LINEAR MODELS) the relationship is constrained to be a straight line and LEAST-SQUARES ANALYSIS is used to determine the best fit. In logistic regression (see LOGISTIC MODELS) the dependent variable is qualitative rather than continuously variable and LIKELIHOOD FUNCTIONS are used to find the best relationship. In multiple regression, the dependent variable is considered to depend on more than a single independent variable.

Social welfare organizations with programs designed to assist individuals in need.

Studies which start with the identification of persons with a disease of interest and a control (comparison, referent) group without the disease. The relationship of an attribute to the disease is examined by comparing diseased and non-diseased persons with regard to the frequency or levels of the attribute in each group.

Discussions, descriptions or catalogs of public displays or items representative of a given subject.

Calamities producing great damage, loss of life, and distress. They include results of natural phenomena and man-made phenomena. Normal conditions of existence are disrupted and the level of impact exceeds the capacity of the hazard-affected community.

Usage of a single needle among two or more people for injecting drugs. Needle sharing is a high-risk behavior for contracting infectious disease.

Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.

Living outdoors as a recreational activity.

Drugs that bind to but do not activate beta-adrenergic receptors thereby blocking the actions of beta-adrenergic agonists. Adrenergic beta-antagonists are used for treatment of hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, angina pectoris, glaucoma, migraine headaches, and anxiety.

Organized groups serving in advisory capacities related to health planning activities.

A class of statistical procedures for estimating the survival function (function of time, starting with a population 100% well at a given time and providing the percentage of the population still well at later times). The survival analysis is then used for making inferences about the effects of treatments, prognostic factors, exposures, and other covariates on the function.

A soft, grayish metal with poisonous salts; atomic number 82, atomic weight 207.19, symbol Pb. (Dorland, 28th)

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.

Management, removal, and elimination of biologic, infectious, pathologic, and dental waste. The concept includes blood, mucus, tissue removed at surgery or autopsy, soiled surgical dressings, and other materials requiring special control and handling. Disposal may take place where the waste is generated or elsewhere.

Collection, analysis, and interpretation of data about the frequency, distribution, and consequences of disease or health conditions, for use in the planning, implementing, and evaluating public health programs.

Education that increases the awareness and favorably influences the attitudes and knowledge relating to the improvement of health on a personal or community basis.

The contamination of indoor air.

The geographic area of New England in general and when the specific state or states are not indicated. States usually included in this region are Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

Statistical interpretation and description of a population with reference to distribution, composition, or structure.

Branch of medicine concerned with the prevention and control of disease and disability, and the promotion of physical and mental health of the population on the international, national, state, or municipal level.

A systematic collection of factual data pertaining to health and disease in a human population within a given geographic area.

Persons living in the United States having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent.

A violation of the criminal law, i.e., a breach of the conduct code specifically sanctioned by the state, which through its administrative agencies prosecutes offenders and imposes and administers punishments. The concept includes unacceptable actions whether prosecuted or going unpunished.

Penal institutions, or places of confinement for war prisoners.

A device designed to stimulate, by electric impulses, contraction of the heart muscles. It may be temporary (external) or permanent (internal or internal-external).

A form of CARDIAC MUSCLE disease, characterized by left and/or right ventricular hypertrophy (HYPERTROPHY, LEFT VENTRICULAR; HYPERTROPHY, RIGHT VENTRICULAR), frequent asymmetrical involvement of the HEART SEPTUM, and normal or reduced left ventricular volume. Risk factors include HYPERTENSION; AORTIC STENOSIS; and gene MUTATION; (FAMILIAL HYPERTROPHIC CARDIOMYOPATHY).

The number of beds which a hospital has been designed and constructed to contain. It may also refer to the number of beds set up and staffed for use.

Procedures outlined for the care of casualties and the maintenance of services in disasters.

Notification or reporting by a physician or other health care provider of the occurrence of specified contagious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV infections to designated public health agencies. The United States system of reporting notifiable diseases evolved from the Quarantine Act of 1878, which authorized the US Public Health Service to collect morbidity data on cholera, smallpox, and yellow fever; each state in the US has its own list of notifiable diseases and depends largely on reporting by the individual health care provider. (From Segen, Dictionary of Modern Medicine, 1992)

The administrative process of discharging the patient, alive or dead, from hospitals or other health facilities.

Functions, equipment, and facilities concerned with the preparation and distribution of ready-to-eat food.

A distribution in which a variable is distributed like the sum of the squares of any given independent random variable, each of which has a normal distribution with mean of zero and variance of one. The chi-square test is a statistical test based on comparison of a test statistic to a chi-square distribution. The oldest of these tests are used to detect whether two or more population distributions differ from one another.

People who leave their place of residence in one country and settle in a different country.

Organized services for exchange of sterile needles and syringes used for injections as a potential means of reducing the transmission of infectious diseases.

Inhaling and exhaling the smoke of burning TOBACCO.

Insects of the order Dictyoptera comprising several families including Blaberidae, BLATTELLIDAE, Blattidae (containing the American cockroach PERIPLANETA americana), Cryptocercidae, and Polyphagidae.

City, urban, rural, or suburban areas which are characterized by severe economic deprivation and by accompanying physical and social decay.

An area of recreation or hygiene for use by the public.

A major group of unsaturated cyclic hydrocarbons containing two or more rings. The vast number of compounds of this important group, derived chiefly from petroleum and coal tar, are rather highly reactive and chemically versatile. The name is due to the strong and not unpleasant odor characteristic of most substances of this nature. (From Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 12th ed, p96)

Islands lying between southeastern North America and northern South America, enclosing the Caribbean Sea. They comprise the Greater Antilles (CUBA; DOMINICAN REPUBLIC; HAITI; JAMAICA; and PUERTO RICO), the Lesser Antilles (ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA and the other Leeward Islands, BARBADOS; MARTINIQUE and the other Windward Islands, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES; VIRGIN ISLANDS OF THE UNITED STATES, BRITISH VIRGINI ISLANDS, and the islands north of Venezuela which include TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO), and the BAHAMAS. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p1330)

The movement and the forces involved in the movement of the blood through the CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM.

Governmental levies on property, inheritance, gifts, etc.

Agents of the law charged with the responsibility of maintaining and enforcing law and order among the citizenry.

Surgical therapy of ischemic coronary artery disease achieved by grafting a section of saphenous vein, internal mammary artery, or other substitute between the aorta and the obstructed coronary artery distal to the obstructive lesion.

Earth or other matter in fine, dry particles. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

The proportion of survivors in a group, e.g., of patients, studied and followed over a period, or the proportion of persons in a specified group alive at the beginning of a time interval who survive to the end of the interval. It is often studied using life table methods.

Animate or inanimate sources which normally harbor disease-causing organisms and thus serve as potential sources of disease outbreaks. Reservoirs are distinguished from vectors (DISEASE VECTORS) and carriers, which are agents of disease transmission rather than continuing sources of potential disease outbreaks.

Activity engaged in for pleasure.

An organized procedure carried out through committees to review admissions, duration of stay, professional services furnished, and to evaluate the medical necessity of those services and promote their most efficient use.

Control of drug and narcotic use by international agreement, or by institutional systems for handling prescribed drugs. This includes regulations concerned with the manufacturing, dispensing, approval (DRUG APPROVAL), and marketing of drugs.

Encouraging consumer behaviors most likely to optimize health potentials (physical and psychosocial) through health information, preventive programs, and access to medical care.

The frequency of different ages or age groups in a given population. The distribution may refer to either how many or what proportion of the group. The population is usually patients with a specific disease but the concept is not restricted to humans and is not restricted to medicine.

A course or method of action selected, usually by a government, from among alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions.

A superfamily of parasitic nematodes which requires one or two intermediate arthropod hosts before finally being eaten by the final host. Its organisms occur rarely in man.

Measurement of intracardiac blood flow using an M-mode and/or two-dimensional (2-D) echocardiogram while simultaneously recording the spectrum of the audible Doppler signal (e.g., velocity, direction, amplitude, intensity, timing) reflected from the moving column of red blood cells.

The teaching ascribed to Gautama Buddha (ca. 483 B.C.) holding that suffering is inherent in life and that one can escape it into nirvana by mental and moral self-purification. (Webster, 3d ed)

A chronic inflammatory condition affecting the axial joints, such as the SACROILIAC JOINT and other intervertebral or costovertebral joints. It occurs predominantly in young males and is characterized by pain and stiffness of joints (ANKYLOSIS) with inflammation at tendon insertions.

Use of written, printed, or graphic materials upon or accompanying a food or its container or wrapper. The concept includes ingredients, NUTRITIONAL VALUE, directions, warnings, and other relevant information.

A subgroup having special characteristics within a larger group, often bound together by special ties which distinguish it from the larger group.

The ratio of two odds. The exposure-odds ratio for case control data is the ratio of the odds in favor of exposure among cases to the odds in favor of exposure among noncases. The disease-odds ratio for a cohort or cross section is the ratio of the odds in favor of disease among the exposed to the odds in favor of disease among the unexposed. The prevalence-odds ratio refers to an odds ratio derived cross-sectionally from studies of prevalent cases.

Insurance providing coverage of medical, surgical, or hospital care in general or for which there is no specific heading.

Organized efforts to insure obedience to the laws of a community.

Health insurance plans intended to reduce unnecessary health care costs through a variety of mechanisms, including: economic incentives for physicians and patients to select less costly forms of care; programs for reviewing the medical necessity of specific services; increased beneficiary cost sharing; controls on inpatient admissions and lengths of stay; the establishment of cost-sharing incentives for outpatient surgery; selective contracting with health care providers; and the intensive management of high-cost health care cases. The programs may be provided in a variety of settings, such as HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATIONS and PREFERRED PROVIDER ORGANIZATIONS.

A synthetic opioid that is used as the hydrochloride. It is an opioid analgesic that is primarily a mu-opioid agonist. It has actions and uses similar to those of MORPHINE. (From Martindale, The Extra Pharmacopoeia, 30th ed, p1082-3)

All deaths reported in a given population.