Life History of Cochliomyia macellaria (Fabricius, 1775) (Diptera, Calliphoridae), a Blowfly of Medical and Forensic Importance.

The life history traits of blow fly Cochliomyia macellaria (Fabricius, 1775) was studied under semi-controlled laboratory conditions at 29.14°C temperature, 72.53% relative humidity, and 12-h photoperiod. The raw data were analyzed based on the age-stage, two-sex life table, considering the development rates among individuals of both sexes. Cochliomyia macellaria survival rate was 0.43 (♂) and 0.40 (♀), while life expectancy was 17.9 (♂) and 20.9 (♀) days, for adult males and females, respectively. The total fecundity was 681.15 eggs/female, with an average of 3.65 batches/female and 199 eggs/batch. The intrinsic rate of increase (r) was 0.327 days-1, the finite rate of population increase (λ) was 3.35 days-1, the mean generation time (T) was 17.15 days, and the net reproduction rate (R 0 ) was 272.46 offspring/individual. The population parameters found here corroborates that C. macellaria population act as a r selected species under laboratory conditions. Additionally, development data and accumulated degree days (ADD) for each stage of C. macellaria are provided and its implications for the forensic use are discussed.

[Evaluation of Spanish websites useful for the primary care physicians]. / Evaluación de las páginas web en lengua española útiles para el médico de atención primaria.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the usefulness of medical websites in spanish for the primary care physicians using quality criteria chosen by themselves. DESIGN: Observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study. SETTING: Internet. PARTICIPANTS: The search was performed in Google and Yahoo using as key words the name of Spanish National Health Service medical specialities, primary care and synonyms. The first one hundred links in spanish for every keyword were included in the study. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: paysites, commercial sites, non-clinical content, link sites, patient oriented sites and on-line editions of printed issues. METHODS: A survey was carried out asking the primary care physicians of area IV in Asturias which were the most important criteria that a medical website should fulfil. The results of this survey were used to make an assessment questionnaire. Every site was analysed randomizedly by two researchers and was classified as excelent, good, medium or bad. RESULTS: 2.095 medical websites in spanish were found, being repeated 1.218 (58.14%). From the 877 analysed websites, 597 (68.07%) were excluded. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was 0.73 (95% CI, 0.66%-0.785%). 5 websites (1.8%) were rated as excelent and the 77.2% as medium or bad. The sites with better ratings were those oriented to the primary care professionals. CONCLUSIONS: The most websites were rated as medium or bad. The evaluation questionnaire is useful for futures studies.

Evaluación de las páginas web en lengua española útiles para el médico de atención primaria / Evaluation of Spanish websites useful for the primary care physicians

Objetivo. Evaluar las páginas web en lengua española útiles para el médico de atención primaria a partir de criterios de calidad determinados por los propios médicos. Diseño. Estudio descriptivo transversal. Emplazamiento. Internet. Participantes. Cien primeros enlaces en lengua española encontrados en Google y Yahoo empleando como palabras claves las especialidades reconocidas por el Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia de España, así como atención primaria, sus sinónimos y los distintos programas de salud. Se excluyeron páginas de pago, comerciales, de contenido no clínico, destinadas a pacientes, revistas, y las constituidas únicamente por enlaces. Métodos. Cuestionario de evaluación elaborado a partir de los resultados de una encuesta realizada entre los médicos de atención primaria del Área IV de Asturias, sobre los criterios más importantes que debía presentar una web médica. Cada página fue evaluada de forma aleatoria por dos observadores independientes. El análisis se realizó por ponderación de cada una de las preguntas según a los resultados de la encuesta clasificándose cada página en mala, regular, buena o excelente. Resultados. Se encontraron 2.095 páginas, 1.218 (58,14 por ciento) estaban repetidas. De las 877 analizadas 597 (68,07 por ciento) cumplían algún criterio de exclusión; evaluándose 280.El coeficiente de correlación intraclase fue de 0,73 (IC del 95 por ciento, 0,66-0,78 por ciento). Cinco páginas (1,8 por ciento) obtuvieron la calificación de excelentes, mientras que el 72,2 por ciento fue clasificado como regular-malo. Conclusiones. La mayoría de las páginas presentan una calidad regular o mala. El cuestionario ofrece una buena correlación entre observadores que permite su utilización en posteriores estudios (AU)

[An epidemiological study of tuberculosis in the health area of Santiago de Compostela during the years 1989, 1990 and 1991]. / Estudio epidemiológico de la tuberculosis en el área sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela durante los años 1989, 1990 y 1991.

In order to assess the incidence of tuberculous disease in our health area, we reviewed the clinical records of patients from the three hospitals of the area under study during the years 1989, 1990 and 1991, who had positive bacilloscopy, positive Lowenstein's culture in any specimen and/or compatible anatomopathologic report. After excluding 26 patients because they belonged to other health areas, 885 patients remained in the study, out of which 251 (64% men and 36% women) were from the year 1989, 270 (64% men and 36% women) from the year 1990 and 364 (62% men and 38% women) from the year 1991. The mean age was 38.4 (SD 20.5). Fifty-one percent of the patients were between 20 and 35 years old. The rate of new cases was 65.87 per 100.000 population in 1989, 71.05 in 1990 and 95.53 in 1991. Seventy-four cases were HIV-positive (8%). Tuberculous meningitis was present in 12 patients. The highest mortality was 1.79 per 100.000 population in 1990. We conclude that tuberculosis presents a medium-high incidence in our health area.