Search

The article presents a study on dermatological diseases encountered by Australian troops in East Timor. Dermatology plays an important role in primary health care in the defense force. In the recent East Timor deployment, 25 percent of medical consultations were dermatological related. The spectrum of conditions seen in a military environment will vary between different units and their operational settings. This study is based on a front-line ground combat unit that served for 3 months in East Timor.

This paper draws on two reception studies. One focuses on an American medical drama which respondents perceived as entertainment but also as a reliable source of information from which they collected medical and social data by using emotional and ludic strategies. The second compares parallel illness narratives in a soap opera and a documentary. Soap operas were described by informants as good pedagogic tools because they attracted large audiences and promoted identification and repetition which enhance learning. On the other hand, they criticised the documentary for being incomplete and artificial. The conclusion argues that viewers are media-literate, astute and insightful. They produce sophisticated, subtle interpretations which cannot be predicted by content analyses of programmes alone. More reception research is therefore needed, particularly since television is increasingly omnipresent and provides a considerable portion of the public's medical knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details the characterization of semicircular lipoatrophy by a semicircular depression on the anterolateral aspects of the thighs due to loss of subcutaneous fat. Examination of four index cases in the department of occupational diseases; Workplace analysis; Repeated mechanical microtrauma.

The study uses a sample of all firms operating in 100 manufacturing industries to examine some aspects of firm dynamics. It finds that firm growth, the variability of firm growth, and the probability that a firm will fail decrease with firm age. It also finds that firm growth decreases at a diminishing rate with firm size even after controlling for the exit of slow-growing firms from the sample. Gibrat's Law therefore fails although the severity of the failure decreases with firm size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY O'Brien's actinic granuloma is clinically characterized by annular papules and plaques on sun-exposed areas of skin. These lesions often occur insidiously on a background of severe solar elastosis; however, an acute variant following sunburn has been reported in the literature. We present two cases of acute actinic granuloma precipitated by episodes of sunburn occurring on a background of prolonged doxycycline phototoxicity. Biopsies from both patients showed a histiocytic infiltrate with multinucleate giant cells engulfing elastotic material, with a reduction of elastin towards the centre of the papule. Marked resolution of the lesions was noted after 8 weeks of treatment with betamethasone dipropionate 0.05% ointment in optimized vehicle together with adequate photoprotection in the form of broad-spectrum sunscreens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]