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Aim Gynecologic malignancies are serious problems in female health. Here we aim to discuss the involvement of microRNA (miRNA) in the pathogenesis of gynecologic cancers and use of miRNA profiles for diagnosis of diseases. Methods In order to obtain information needed for this review, we searched the PubMed database with the following keywords: miRNA and ovarian cancer; miRNA and cervical cancer; and miRNA and endometrial cancer. Results Recent explosive investigations in the field have dramatically expanded our knowledge of the roles of miRNA in the pathology of gynecologic malignancies. In ovarian cancer, miRNA participates in the development of drug resistance. In cervical cancer and endometrial cancer, miRNA play essential roles in important oncogenic processes, including cell proliferation, migration and metastasis. miRNA also have high potentials to be used as biomarkers in these diseases. Conclusion Further validation of the studies and improvement of the methods will result in the broader use of miRNA in the diagnosis of diseases as well as in understanding of the pathomechanisms of gynecologic cancers.

This paper investigates the relationship between health and productivity in South Africa. It tests for unit roots and structural breaks and uses the outcome to perform causality and simultaneous equations estimations. The results suggest that without structural breaks, the effect of health on productivity is downplayed. They highlight how long people live does not matter for productivity, the improvements in their lifespan does. Long life can improve productivity only if it is a healthy long life. The impact of improvements of levels of health on productivity is less than 25 per cent of that of improvement of growth rates of health. Improvements in both the levels and growth of male life expectancy enhance productivity more than those of females; an increase in productivity increases the levels of female life expectancy more than those for males. HIV/AIDS significantly reduces levels of life expectancy (with greater impact on females) and labour productivity. Overall, macroeconomic policy for health and growth cannot be conceived separately. Efforts to fight against HIV/AIDS can improve life expectancy and productivity, leading to higher growth. Females may be more vulnerable to die of HIV/AIDS related diseases than males are. Anti-AIDS programmes can have biased effects in favour of female health, although in itself this may not be enough to bring about gender-balanced improvements in health.

OBJECTIVES To determine the ethanol concentration of commonly available Christmas puddings, and to extrapolate the blood alcohol content (BAC) of typical health care professionals after Christmas lunch at the hospital. DESIGN AND SETTING We conducted fractional distillation of Christmas puddings and analysed the distillate for ethanol content. We then applied standard pharmacological and physiological assumptions to assess predicted BAC in typical male and female health care professionals at our hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Ethanol concentration of each pudding; estimated BAC of health care professionals after ingestion and at the end of a 30-minute lunch break. RESULTS The concentration of ethanol in common Christmas puddings ranged from 0.260 to 1.685 g per 125 mg slice. The concentration of ethanol per pudding was not greater than the stipulated specifications on the packaging, where shown. After pudding ingestion, the theoretical BAC of a typical 70 kg male and 60 kg female health care professional ranged from 0.001 to 0.004 g/dL and from 0.001 to 0.006 g/dL, respectively. Neither male nor female staff had a predicted BAC > 0.000 g/dL by the end of the lunch break. CONCLUSION Christmas puddings contain ethanol that does not all evaporate during the cooking process. However, the rise in BAC after ingestion of a typical slice of Christmas pudding was negligible and unlikely to affect work performance or safety or impair a health care worker's ability to make complex decisions.

We explore the relationship between general eggshell colour (background and spots) and proportion of surface covered by spots on the eggs of blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus and several variables reflecting female health and condition. Females laying more spotted eggs showed a poorer body condition, higher cellular concentration of the stress protein HSP70 and marginally lower total immunoglobulin levels in blood. In addition, these females were paired with males with higher levels of HSP70 and lower concentrations of immunoglobulins. We interpret these results based on the properties of the eggshell pigment protoporphyrin, which is known as an inductor of oxidative stress in females. Although observational, this study presents, for the first time, clear evidence of eggshell spottiness and general colour as indicators of general condition and stress in avian populations.

The aim of the study was to gather information about the pregnancies of female health workers and to compare them with those of another group of working women with different working conditions, namely bank workers,Using a cross-sectional comparative design, physicians (184), nurses (197) and bank-workers (192) were interviewed about their previous pregnancies and working conditions during those pregnancies.The majority of physicians (70.6%) and nurses (81.2%) had night work during their pregnancies and two-thirds of them continued this work until the last month of pregnancy, even though they have a legal right not to work during the night after the 7th month of pregnancy. Health workers had shorter maternity leaves than bank workers (P0.001) and complained more about the negative attitudes of managers and colleagues during their pregnancy (P0.001). Health workers had more preterm deliveries (P0.05) compared with bank workers, and nurses had more low birth weight babies compared with bank workers (P0.05).There is a need for a change in the climate in hospitals in terms of the working conditions of pregnant health staff and the attitudes towards them.

The evaluation of stress management training (SMT) programmes suggest that benefits to participants may be due to non-specific factors and not to the technical components of SMT. The current study employed a method of psychotherapy process research to assess the extent to which task, i.e. technique driven, impacts and non-specific impacts are related to outcome. Sixty-two female health service workers participated in six standardized sessions of SMT, each of which contained specific techniques. After training participants reported significantly lower levels of psychological distress but no changes in job or non-job satisfaction. Specific task impacts, such as insight and problem definition, and non-specific impacts, support, relief and involvement were significantly related to non-job satisfaction one month after training. In addition, the slope of interpersonal impacts (support and relief) was associated with less psychological distress at one- and three-month follow-up. Process research methods appear to be a promising way of maximizing the benefits attributed to SMT and developing more effective interventions.

This exploratory study on 50 female health professionals examined the impact that multiple roles (work/family) had on occupational adjustment and life satisfaction. Results indicate some evidence that as the number of occupational roles increased, life satisfaction scores tended to decrease; however, as the number of family roles increased, scores on occupational adjustment and life satisfaction scales tended to increase.

A cross-sectional community-based survey was conducted from August 1999 to February 2000 on native women of the United Arab Emirates to examine the knowledge attitudes barriers and practices related to cervical cancer screening. The study included married women aged 40-65 from 12 primary health care clinics. Qualified nurses interviewed the subjects and questionnaires were administered during face-to-face interviews with a health educator. The results showed that 15.4% had had a Papanicolau (Pap) test for early detection of cancer. In addition the frequency of screening for cervical cancer was associated with age employment type of area of residence and number of clinic visits. On the other hand factors such as being employed living in a semi-urban area and a smaller annual number of clinic visits were independent predictors of having a Pap test. The study also showed that 97% preferred having female health personnel administer the Pap test. Overall the rate of Pap tests is low among Arab women which is attributed to the infrequent offer of such screening.

A study was designed to examine the hypothesis that increased awareness of the health hazards of smoking aids smoking cessation in female health care workers. One hundred and thirteen nurses and midwives completed a questionnaire about their smoking habits. When the group was tested as a whole against the national average for the same socio-economic group, it was found that there was a strong similarity between the subject's smoking habits and the national average. However, when the nurses and midwives were separated into two groups, the nurses smoked significantly more than the national average, whereas the midwives smoked significantly less. In addition, there was an intriguing finding that a highly significant number of the midwives had never smoked compared to the national average.

Health care and the potential for health occur in a cultural context. Culture varies with time and place. This paper consists of a description of some 19th century medical opinions about female health and sexuality which present day writers have interpreted as being pertinent at the time, to the general medical attitude towards female health in English and American society. It is also possible to discover non-medical implications associated with the opinions. These could be described as cultural implications. They relate in this case to: -the acquiescence of both sexes in the reinforcement of repressive values; the suggestion of punishment of women by physicians for failure in their feminine roles; and the responsibility of females for the degeneration of society.