The Australian penchant for monitoring overseas developments in general and health matters is noted. The face validity of the findings of the International Project on Culture and Management (IPCM) is assessed positively and certain structural commonalities of the health systems of the USA and Australia are identified, without attributing causality in the development of managers' attributes. Linkages between Australia, Malaysia and Hong Kong are also explored briefly. In addition, key attributes of the sample of Australian managers are discussed together with the limitations related to emerging forms of provision and organization in health services and to their distribution in the study sample. The IPCM findings may be used in course design but are unlikely to cause any major change, although one may debate on the values of applicants towards health service management education courses. The findings may help to stimulate the establishment of performance measures for management education in Australia.
Information about the sex of individuals is important for human identification. This study was conducted to quantify classification rates of sex prediction models for Malaysians using odontometric profiles. Mesiodistal (MD) and buccolingual (BL) crown dimensions of the permanent dentition were studied in 400 young adult Malaysians, giving a total of 28 tooth size variables. The sample consisted of three major ethnic groups, the Malays, Chinese and Tamils, since the aim was to assess sex dimorphism in Malaysians as a whole. Results showed that the mesiodistal diameter of the lower canine was the most sexually dimorphic dimension in Malaysian Malays and Tamils. Univariate analyses showed that the magnitude and pattern of sex dimorphism varies between these three ethnic groups, with Malaysian Chinese and Tamils being more dimorphic than the Malaysian Malays. Stepwise discriminant functions were generated bearing in mind their application in practical forensic situations. The range of classification rates was from 70.2% to 78.5% for the composite Malaysian group, and 83.8%, 77.9%, 72.4% for Malaysian Chinese, Malays and Tamils, respectively. The 'Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve statistics' indicated good classification rates for three prediction models obtained using a combination of all tooth size variables, mandibular teeth, and mesiodistal dimensions in the composite Malaysian group, and for all tooth size variables in each ethnic group. The present study provides strong support for the value of odontometry as an adjunct scientific method for sex prediction in human identification.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships of selected facial measurements with mesio-distal crown widths and dental arch dimensions in individuals with normal occlusions. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 276 subjects with Angle's Class I normal occlusions. Three-dimensional images of the face and dental casts were captured and analyzed using stereophotogrammetric systems. Significant correlations were found between the sagittal facial variables and both upper and lower dental arch dimensions and to lesser degree with the horizontal and vertical variables. The values of correlation coefficients calculated between facial and dental crown measurements ranged from .01 to .50 for upper teeth and .01 to .49 for lower teeth. The values of correlation coefficients between facial and upper dental arch dimensions ranged from .01 to .55 and those between facial and lower dental arch dimensions ranged from .01 to .60. A principal components analysis showed that the sagittal dimensions, face height, nose, labial fissure, binocular widths were positively associated with dental arch dimensions and mesio-distal crown diameters in males. On the other hand, only the sagittal variables were associated with dental dimensions in females. The results of this study confirm that positive associations exist between facial and dental arch dimensions. These relationships should be taken into consideration when attempts are made to modify dental arch size as part of orthodontic treatment. Moreover, these relationships are also relevant to prosthodontists involved with selecting tooth sizes that display optimal functional balance with the craniofacial structures.
It is clear that population-specific norms should be used when planning plastic and reconstructive surgery for selected patients. In this study, we aimed to generate nasal and labial reference values by applying a stereophotogrammetric technique. A further aim was to investigate the effect of sexual dimorphism, age-related changes, and the interrelation between nasal and labial morphology.
The purpose of this study was to use three-dimensional computed tomography data and computer imaging technology to assess the skeletal components of the naso-pharyngeal area in patients with cleft lip and palate and to quantify anatomical variations.
To compare morphological and positional variations of the hyoid bone in unoperated infants with cleft lip and palate (CL/P) with those in noncleft infants.
A robust evidence-base describes the beneficial association between opioid agonist therapy (OAT) and HIV-related outcomes among people living with HIV and opioid use disorder. While some evidence suggests the stabilizing effect of OAT on antiretroviral therapy (ART) treatment engagement, less is understood about the potential for an inverse relationship. We sought to examine the relationship between transitions in ART engagement and transitions onto OAT. We used data from a prospective cohort of people living with HIV who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada-a setting with no-cost access to ART and low or no-cost access to OAT among low-income residents. Restricting the sample to those who reported daily or greater opioid use, we used generalized linear mixed-effects models to estimate the relationships between our primary outcome of transitions onto OAT (methadone or buprenorphine/naloxone) and transitions (1) onto ART and (2) into ART adherence. Subsequent analyses assessed the temporal sequencing of transitions. Between 2005 and 2017, among 433 participants, 48.3% reported transitioning onto OAT at least once. In concurrent analyses, transitions onto ART were positively and significantly associated with transitions onto OAT. Temporal sequencing revealed that transitions into OAT were also positively and significantly associated with subsequent transitions onto ART. OAT's potential to facilitate the uptake of ART points to the continued need to scale-up low-threshold, client-centered substance use services integrated alongside HIV care.
A combination of fifteen top quark mass measurements performed by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC is presented. The datasets used correspond to an integrated luminosity of up to 5 and 20 fb^{-1} of proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, respectively. The combination includes measurements in top quark pair events that exploit both the semileptonic and hadronic decays of the top quark, and a measurement using events enriched in single top quark production via the electroweak t channel. The combination accounts for the correlations between measurements and achieves an improvement in the total uncertainty of 31% relative to the most precise input measurement. The result is m_{t}=172.52±0.14(stat)±0.30(syst) GeV, with a total uncertainty of 0.33 GeV.
The first evidence for the Higgs boson decay to a Z boson and a photon is presented, with a statistical significance of 3.4 standard deviations. The result is derived from a combined analysis of the searches performed by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations with proton-proton collision datasets collected at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) from 2015 to 2018. These correspond to integrated luminosities of around 140 fb^{-1} for each experiment, at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The measured signal yield is 2.2±0.7 times the standard model prediction, and agrees with the theoretical expectation within 1.9 standard deviations.