The ‘novel’ influenza A(H1N1) enigma: is it a pandemic, how should we respond, what should we call it?

The ‘novel’ influenza A(H1N1) enigma: is it a pandemic, how should we respond, what should we call it?

On 24 April 2009 the World Health Organization (WHO) reported human cases of swine influenza A ⁄H1N1 occurring in the USA and Mexico. The number of recorded cases increased rapidly, there was clear human to human transmission, and it appears that the outbreak originated in Mexico in mid-March or earlier. This prompted WHO on 27th April to raise its pandemic preparedness from phase three, where ...

Erythema nodosum :what should we consider about it?

What is speciation and how should we study it?

To understand speciation, we first need to know what species are. Yet debates over species concepts have seemed endless, with little obvious relevance to the study of speciation. Recently, there has been progress in resolving these debates, favoring a lineage-based, evolutionary species concept. This progress calls for reconsideration of the study of speciation. Traditional speciation research ...

Functional measures, Part 1: What is function, what should we measure, and how should we measure it?

O ccupational therapists, physical therapists, nurses, social workers, psychologists, and physicians all share a common concern with promoting functional independence of their clients. In addition, members of each profession might administer functional assessments or implement interventions intended to enhance the functional independence of their clients. This often makes us uneasy or results i...

Sympathovagal balance: how should we measure it?

There are complex interactions between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system inputs to the sinus node. The concept of "sympathovagal balance" reflects the autonomic state resulting from the sympathetic and parasympathetic influences. Despite widespread usage of a variety of heart rate (HR) variability parameters as indexes of sympathovagal balance, no index has been validated as a ...