Multi-unit providers nursing home chains survey 1992. Long-term-care chains show slight growth.
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Beds↗
Biomedical subjects
J Burns
Publications and source records attributed to J Burns.
Dialysis providers cope with dwindling payments.
For-profit providers of outpatient dialysis services are reporting growing profitability, opening more centers and treating more patients. That's in spite of shrinking Medicare reimbursement levels. The industry segment hasn't been as good to hospitals, which find themselves in a struggle to maintain their dialysis programs in the very same environment.
Ambulatory Care Facilities↗
Owing patients an explanation.
Some hospitals are trying to improve relationships with patients by making their bills easier to understand or providing material that helps patients make sense of those pages of charges. These hospitals are trying to make a patient's last contact with a facility a more pleasant one, to deflect arguments over bills and accelerate payments.
Forms and Records Control↗
Data base tracking systems can measure actual effectiveness of marketing efforts.
More hospitals are using information they already have in their data bases to do a better job of marketing services to patients who will have an interest in them. It can be as simple as matching patients' needs to available programs. Making better use of this information is especially helpful to hospitals that are trying to gain an edge in competitive markets, experts and facility executives say.
Data Interpretation, Statistical↗
Hospital, Hispanic TV station put health series on the air.
A Florida hospital has teamed up with a Hispanic television station to produce a weekly Spanish-language health information show. It's aimed at older Hispanic women who have been in the United States less than 20 years. They're the ones who frequently make the healthcare decisions in the family.
Female↗
Beverly ends second consecutive profitable year with strong quarter.
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Arkansas↗
Advertising down, but marketing spending climbs; survey says focus is on targeting, not overviews.
Hard economic times forced hospitals nationwide to cut their advertising budgets in 1991. But marketing expenditures hit an all-time high, as hospitals shifted the emphasis to high-technology marketing efforts that employ computer data bases and market research to seek and find potential business.
Advertising↗
Bacterial toxin superantigens activate human T lymphocytes reactive with myelin autoantigens.
Some bacteria that are common human pathogens produce protein toxins that are potent activators of human T lymphocytes expressing certain types of T-cell receptors. In this study we examined the ability of staphylococcal toxins to stimulate human T lymphocytes that also recognized the myelin autoantigens myelin basic protein and proteolipid protein. T-cell populations responding to myelin basic protein or proteolipid protein were isolated from 4 subjects including 1 individual with multiple sclerosis. All myelin antigen-specific T cells responded in proliferation studies to at least one of the nine superantigenic toxins used in this study. The superantigenic toxins were up to 7 x 10(5)-fold more potent in proliferation assays than the myelin antigens to which the T cells were initially sensitized. In addition, cytotoxic, myelin basic protein-reactive T lymphocytes lysed antigen-presenting cells incubated with superantigenic toxins. These findings demonstrate a mechanism by which some bacterial infections might produce activation of myelin basic protein- and proteolipid protein-reactive T lymphocytes and perhaps contribute to demyelinating disease in humans.
Antigens, Bacterial↗
Biochemical and immunological evidence that the 11 kDa zinc-binding protein of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus is a structural component of the virus.
The completed sequence of the arenavirus, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, revealed a new gene encoding a small protein with a single zinc-binding domain. The cDNA for this gene has been expressed in E. coli to produce fusion protein that has been used to raise antisera. The antisera facilitated the positive identification of the p11 'Z' gene product as a structural component of the virion. A related arenavirus, Tacaribe, has a comparable p11 gene product. The abundance of the p11 Z protein relative to other virion components has been determined by metabolic labeling. Triton X-114 extraction and dimethyl suberimidate-HCl crosslinking indicate that the p11 Z protein is a hydrophobic protein associated with the nucleocapsid of the virion core.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Protective activity of a human respiratory syncytial virus immune globulin prepared from donors screened by microneutralization assay.
To explore the feasibility of preparing a human immune globulin specific for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) by screening plasma donors, the ability of seven RSV antibody assays to identify plasma-yielding IgG with high virus-neutralizing and animal-protective activities was compared. IgG prepared from plasma units selected by microneutralization assay had significantly higher activity in protecting mice from respiratory RSV challenge than did IgGs prepared from plasmas selected by three direct ELISAs using purified F protein, G protein, or RSV-infected cell lysate, by two competitive ELISAs with RSV neutralizing monoclonal antibodies directed to the F2 or F3 epitopes of the F protein, or by plaque reduction neutralization. Relative to IgG made from unselected plasma, microneutralization-screened IgG was enriched fivefold by plaque-reduction neutralization assays done with or without complement. The microneutralization assay identified RSV antibodies with highest animal protective activity. This assay will be useful for identifying plasma donors for the preparation of a human immune globulin with high protective activity against RSV and deserves further evaluation for prediction of protective antibody concentrations in children.
Animals↗
Papillary hyperplasia of the lingual tonsil and sudden death in epilepsy.
Papillary hyperplasia of the lingual tonsils is a rare entity not previously reported at autopsy. We report a case that occurred in a 19-year-old man who died suddenly from his epilepsy, associated with aspiration of gastric contents. We describe the pathological features of this unusual condition, discuss the possible significance in this case and stress the importance of routine examination of the tongue and pharynx in every autopsy.
Adult↗
Caring for the patient with a pigtail drainage catheter.
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Chest Tubes↗
Necropsy study of association between sudden death and cardiac enzymes.
AIMS: To determine if cardiac enzymes measured at necropsy could be used to predict early myocardial infarction. METHODS: Cardiac enzyme activities were measured in body fluids at necropsy. Coroners' necropsies were grouped by gross and microscopic findings into cases of definite myocardial infarction, cases with occlusive coronary artery atheroma but no identifiable myocardial infarction, and non-cardiac cases. Pericardial fluid, peripheral venous blood, and blood from the right atrium were collected. Total creatine phosphokinase, creatine phosphokinase isoenzymes, aspartate aminotransferase and hydroxybutarate dehydrogenase activities were measured and the results analysed by logistic regression. RESULTS: The values of creatine phosphokinase and its isoenzymes were raised in those who had died of cardiac disease and were most discriminatory. Cases of early myocardial infarction without evidence of infarction on routine histological examination could be identified from enzyme activities. CONCLUSIONS: Measurement of cardiac enzymes in blood and pericardial fluid at necropsy can provide valuable additional information in cases of sudden death as a result of myocardial ischaemia which have occurred before macroscopic or microscopic evidence of myocardial infarction.
Arteriosclerosis↗
Jackson Hole Group offers health care reform plan.
One way to end the health care crisis is to provide health insurance for everyone. The Jackson Hole Group has developed a reform plan that would have the private sector do just that.
Health Benefit Plans, Employee↗
Immunoperoxidase localization of fibronectin in small bowel mucosa.
An indirect immunoperoxidase technique was employed to demonstrate fibronectin in cryostat sections of small bowel mucosa. Prior exposure of the sections to a solution of pepsin (4 mg/ml) was not essential to localize antigenicity of fibronectin immunohistologically.
Biopsy↗
Employees ante up more.
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Data Collection↗
Soviet nurses help alleviate Baltimore hospital's shortage.
A pilot program is boosting a Baltimore hospital's nursing rolls while providing on-the-job training to immigrant Soviet nurses. For the short term, the Soviets fill important non-professional positions in the hospital's nursing department while working toward gaining their nursing credentials so they can become eligible to be hired by the hospital, easing its long-term nursing shortage.
Baltimore↗
Assessment of antigenic determinants for the human T cell response against myelin basic protein using overlapping synthetic peptides.
Immunization of experimental animals with myelin basic protein (MBP) or with specific MBP encephalitogenic determinants induces an autoimmune central nervous system (CNS) disease, experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, often studied as a model for human demyelinating disorders. This study examines the antigenic determinants of MBP recognized by human T cells using overlapping, synthetic peptides and T cell lines and clones isolated from four HLA-typed, neurologically normal subjects. T cell lines and clones isolated from individual subjects recognized at least one and as many as five distinct T cell determinants. In some instances the peptides recognized included determinants previously shown to induce experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in experimental animals. In this group of four subjects, some determinants of MBP, including residues 5-25, 35-47, 65-75, and 81-100, were recognized by T cells derived from more than one individual suggesting that these regions may be particularly immunogenic for humans.
Antigen-Presenting Cells↗