Canadian rotifers II. Parc Mont Tremblant,Quebec

Nine lakes in Mont Tremblant Provincial Park were investigated during summer and fall. Data on lake morphometry and water chemistry are tabulated. Most lakes were oligotrophic, some were dystrophic bog lakes. They contain a rich rotifer fauna and some very rare species, which are described in detail.     

Telemedicine in northern Quebec.

Television transmission of diagnostic and educational information can help to improve specialized medical care in remote and underserviced areas. This paper describes a pilot study in which the Canadian satellite Anik-B was used to link the James Bay area in northern Quebec with two large Montreal teaching hospitals. Broad-band real-time television was well suited for tele-education and teleconsultation activities. A much less costly method, using narrow-band slow-scan television, was also examined, but it requires improvements. The technology of telemedicine is in place, but its future use is impeded by the prohibitive costs of operating an efficient two-way broad-band television system for several remote health care sites. A solution to this problem may be an intermediate-band system combining some of the low-cost features of narrowband slow-scan television with the interactive high-resolution advantages of broad-band real-time television.     

Drug addiction among Quebec physicians.

Data collected by the Quebec Board of Physicians show that during the 5 years from 1974 to 1978 the prevalence of addiction to opiates among Quebec physicians was 2.8/1000. The physician addicts had greater mobility and a higher attrition rate than their peers. The typical addict was male, a general practitioner and married. He often suffered from pain, fatigue, overwork, and financial and marital difficulties. His addiction had begun at approximately 35 years of age and had become evident about 3 1/2 years later. Meperidine was the preferred opiate. Some of the physicians lost their licences to practise for variable periods of time; for these the prognosis was gloomy. Depression was the main psychiatric disorder diagnosed.     

Education,practice reviews needed to reduce surgical intervention,Quebec report says.

Clinical uncertainty may be the reason for large variations in the rates of tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy and myringotomy in Quebec, a report prepared for the provincial government states. Methods used in other jurisdictions, such as informing physicians about geographic differences in intervention rates and developing clinical practice guidelines, could reduce the variations and save millions of dollars, researchers suggest.