Factors affecting contrasting results between self-reported and performance-based levels of physical limitation

Molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) maps of certain 3-methoxy flavone derivatives having different anti-picornavirus activities have been studied. Geometries of the molecules were optimised and charge distributions computed using the AM1 molecular orbital method. Hybridization displacement charges (HDC) were combined with the L?wdin charge distributions to compute the MEP maps. Reliability of the method of computing MEP maps was tested by studying certain other molecules for which ab initio MEP results are available. The anti-picornavirus activities of the flavones have been shown to be related with negative MEP values in two regions, one near the 3-methoxy group and another in a diagonally opposite region near the substituent attached to the C7 atom of the molecules.     

Nonlinear propagation and self-switching of ultrashort opticalpulses in fiber nonlinear directional couplers: the normal dispersionregime

The propagation of short optical pulses in a nonlinear directional coupler operating in the normal dispersion regime is investigated. The specific example of a birefringent periodically rocked fiber filter where coupling occurs between the two orthogonally polarized modes that are aligned with the birefringence axes of the fiber is considered. In the simulations, a bell-shaped input pulse is injected into one polarization mode: for different input peak powers, the energy present in the same mode at the output of a coupler, which is one or two coupling lengths long, is calculated. The nonlinear temporal broadening, due to the combined effect of group velocity dispersion and self-phase modulation, sets a fundamental lower limit to the time width of the input pulses. When pulses shorter than this critical value are used, the power-dependent energy switching characteristics of a device one coupling length long gets substantially spoiled. Effects related to the finite spectral bandwidth of the fiber filter are discussed. Numerical simulations are compared to recent experimental results on the self-switching of picosecond pulses in the visible (615 nm) with a birefringent rocking fiber     

Improvement in the sociomedical support for the urban family under current conditions

Medico-demographic processes and socio-hygienic characteristics of the population of a large city, both at an individual and familial levels, as well as territorial characteristics of residence, should be taken into consideration when developing measures for medicosocial care of the population. Analysis of the attitude of 380 city families to the activities, personality, and professional skills of local therapists and pediatricians and to the idea of primary health care rendered by a physician of a general profile demonstrated an increased activity of the families in the "physician-patient" system and confirmed the necessity of improving medicosocial care of a city family, expansion of prophylactic work with the population with due consideration for factors which have an impact on population health.     

Strategic questions for consumer-based health communications

Using the consumer-oriented approach of social and commercial marketers, this article presents a process for crafting messages designed to improve people's health behaviors. The process, termed consumer-based health communications (CHC), transforms scientific recommendations into message strategies that are relevant to the consumer. The core of CHC is consumer research conducted to understand the consumer's reality, and thereby allowing six strategic questions to be answered. The immediate result of the CHC process is a strategy statement--a few pages that lay out who the target consumer is, what action should be taken, what to promise and how to make the promise credible, how and when to reach him or her, and what image to convey. The strategy statement then guides the execution of all communication efforts, be they public relations, mass media, direct marketing, media advocacy, or interpersonal influence. It identifies the most important "levers" for contact with the consumer. Everyone from creative specialists through management and program personnel can use the strategy statement as a touchstone to guide and judge the effectiveness of their efforts. The article provides a step by step illustration of the CHC process using the 5 A Day campaign as an example.