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PubMedDate not supplied

[Model for the regional allocation of the National Health Care Fund].

In 1978 a National Health Service (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale = SSN) was constituted in Italy which exercises jurisdiction in the sector of health care and is duty bound to assist all citizens. Basically speaking, the NHS is organized on three levels (national, regional and local) with the management of direct operations assigned to the (about 700) Local Health Boards (Unità Sanitaria Locale = USL) each of which covers a well determined territorial area. The Authors indicate that rarely discussed or evaluated are the procedures for the regional allocation of health care funding which is determined by Parliament within the ambit of the National Budget (The National Health Care Fund). The current allocation model distributes the available capital resources for each expense item (e.g. hospitalization, pharmaceutical assistance, etc.) on a per capita basis with respect to the regional populations modified in order to allow for differing degrees of health care requirements. The regional populations are subdivided into broad age groups (e.g. children, intermediary, the elderly) with specific weighting factors expressing the different level of health care requirements. The application of these weighting factors alters the regional populations (with no change in the total population of the country) in order to express them in equivalent units with respect to the health care need. Moreover, standardized death rates are introduced into the model as indicators of the different health risk, and their application leads to a further modification in the level of the regional populations so as to express them in equivalent units with respect to the health risk as well. Once the available financial resources have been subdivided in this "theoretical" way, the following corrective factors are applied: a) hospital mobility correction factor: the regions with a credit admissions balance are assigned an additional cost which is borne by the regions with a debit admissions balance; b) historical expenditures correction factor: a comparison is made between the theoretical allocation and the allocation according to expenditures ascertained in 1985, and the final allocation falls into an intermediary position; s) Local Health Board income correction factor: the assignment of funds is reduced in direct proportion to the estimated income specific to the Local Health Boards of each region. The authors point out that even though this model represents a positive evolution when compared to the superficial criteria of past expenditure levels, it does manifest application potential limits.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Financing, Government↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Attitudes toward epilepsy in Majorca].

We created a questionnaire in order to evaluate the attitude toward epilepsy among the general population in Majorca Island, Spain. We made 1,164 interviews, divided fifty per cent between city and rural inhabitants. We studied the level of epilepsy knowledge in the population, and we compared the evolution of positive attitude of our study with others from Spain and the USA. We also studied the relationship between the variables considered and the two basic attitudes (integration-positive and stigmatization-negative). These two patterns were suggested to be associated with several trends of the population.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1987

Biochemical changes during sucrose deprivation in higher plant cells. Phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance studies.

An experimental arrangement was described that enables nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of compressed plant cells to be recorded while circulating a medium through the sample. The system provided a convenient arrangement for monitoring by 31P NMR the behavior of plant cells over a long period of time under different conditions such as sucrose starvation. Perfusion of compressed sycamore cells with sucrose-free culture medium triggered a progressive decrease in the glucose 6-P and uridine-5'-diphosphate-alpha-D-glucose resonances over 30 h. When almost all the intracellular carbohydrate pool had disappeared the nucleotide triphosphate resonances decline progressively. These changes were accompanied by a Pi accumulation in the vacuole and a phosphorylcholine (P-choline) accumulation in the cytoplasm. The very long lag phase observed for ATP and P-choline evolution was comparable with that observed for the progressive intracellular digestion of cytoplasmic constituents (Journet, E., Bligny, R. and Douce, R. (1986) J. Biol. Chem. 261, 3193-3199). Addition of sucrose in the circulating system after a long period of sucrose starvation led to a disappearance of the cytoplasmic Pi resonance and a marked increase in that of glucose 6-P. Under these conditions the vacuolar Pi pool did not fluctuate to buffer the Pi in the cytoplasm. The results suggest that Pi which has been sequestered in the vacuole during the course of sucrose starvation is not restored to the cytoplasm for rapid metabolic processes. Furthermore, the presence of P-choline in plant cells in large excess should be considered as a good marker of membrane utilization after a long period of sucrose starvation and is very likely related to stress.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗
PubMed1987

AIDS in Europe: current trends and short-term predictions estimated from surveillance data, January 1981-June 1986.

European AIDS surveillance data, reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre on AIDS, Paris by 30 June 1986, have been analysed statistically to assess current trends and to provide short-term predictions. Reported case numbers were first adjusted to allow for the estimated time delays between diagnosis and reporting. The adjusted data (cases per half-year of diagnosis) were then fitted using exponential functions over selected time intervals to monitor and compare the evolution of the epidemic in individual countries and in the European Community (EC) as a whole. Predictions to mid-1988 were made by extrapolation. Results are presented for the EC and for the following individual countries: Belgium, Denmark, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1987

Nephropathic cystinosis: effect of long-term cysteamine therapy.

Three children with nephropathic cystinosis received cysteamine therapy, mostly in the form of phosphocysteamine, for more than six years. The patients were between two and three years of age at the start of the study. The daily dose of cysteamine was 60 mg/kg as cysteamine base. In all three, rapidly progressive renal failure occurred before their 10th birthday. When comparing their evolution with data on the natural history of childhood cystinosis, no improvement was observed in terms of growth and glomerular function. It is concluded that cysteamine therapy did not provide clear benefit to the three patients reported here.

Body Height↗
PubMed1979

[Alkaline phosphatase activity of the bursa of Fabricius: histochemical study in the normal embryo and during allograft reactions].

Alkaline phosphatase activity allows a certain discrimination between lympho-inhibition following a direct action on the lymphoid stem cells or a modification of mesenchyme/epithelium interactions; in this study we have compared the evolution of this activity in untreated chick embryos and in chick embryos following graft-versus-host-reactions. The important decrease of mesenchyme alkaline phosphatase activity induced here, involves a localisation of allograft reaction in this tissue; this result does not agree with the former explanations about a direct action on the lymphoid stem cells.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMed1979

[Behaviour of asbestos fibres in the respiratory system as revealed by animal experiments (author's transl)].

By comparing the evolution of chrysotile and amosite fibres in rat lungs, more rapid clearance was found in the case of chrysotile. The rate of chrysotile clearance is strongly influenced by the size factor. The two varieties of asbestos also differ in their chemical behaviour in the lung. The evolution of chrysotile fibers in vivo is characterized by progressive decrease in magnesium content, while silicium retained in the fibre skeleton is practically not eliminated. Transport of fibers from the lungs to the lymph-nodes, the parietal pleura and the diaphragm also differs with the two asbestos varieties. From fibre counts with the electron microscope, chrysotile was more rapidly eliminated from the lungs than amosite. The concentration is higher with amosite in the lymph-nodes, and with chrysotile in the diaphragm. This last result confirms observations made on human lungs.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

[Process of mandibular ossification in mice and evolutionary morphology (experimental study by means of vital staining)].

The injection in vivo of red alizarin S. in young mice during the post-natal period, enabled to show the mechanisms that were modeling the mandible during its development (by apposition-resorption). So it was possible to study : the processes of ossification involved in the eruption of the teeth, the modifications of the bony relief and the alterations of the mandibular angle. It has been attempted to find the links between these phenomena and muscular excitation, function and behaviour. The study of the osseous - muscular - mandibular anatomical set provided a good example of the principle described in Evolutionary morphology: "The comparatively free evolution of the elements in the anatomical set that they constitute (Sakka, 1973)."

Animals↗
PubMed1980

[Cerclage and infection. Clinical and therapeutic study (author's transl)].

The authors compared the evolution of the pregnancy, of the labour and of the post-partum period in 75 patients who had cerclage for cervico-isthmial incompetence and in 68 mothers who had no pathology in the cervix (the control group). A state of infection developed more often in the mother and in the fetus and/or the newborn in the group that had cerclage than in the control group. The perinatal death of 7 infants in the group that had cerclage, of which 5 were due to infection, is to be deplored. The only perinatal death in the control group was due to an infection.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Cyclophosphamide (CP) substituting azathioprine after renal transplantation.

Eighteen patients received CP substituting AZ after renal transplantation following evidence of hepatitis. We have compared graft evolution before and after treatment with CP. Twelve patients showed no modification in graft evolution. In four patients the renal function decreased but it did not seem attributable to the change of the drug. Two patients showed intolerance attributable to the change of the drug. In one patient who received CP instead of AZ since the data of the transplant onwards, with no evidence of hepatic lesion, renal function decreased but this did not seem attributable to the use of the drug. The dose of CP in renal transplantation is discussed. We conclude that CP is a good substitute for AZ in renal transplanted patients. Adequate doses seemed to range between 0.7 and 1 mg/kg/day.

Azathioprine↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Results of a school addictive substances abuse prevention program: the Barcelona PASE pilot project].

A pilot project for the prevention of substance abuse in schools (PASE) has been developed in 1988-90 in sixth and seventh grades (12-14 years-old) in 11 primary schools in the city of Barcelona (Spain). Data on consumption smoking, alcohol and drugs were obtained before the implementation of the project, shortly afterwards, and in the next school year. These results are presented, comparing the evolution of attitudes, beliefs and behavior of these school children with a control group composed of students from reference schools. The results suggest a modest but significant effect of the program, which seems to decrease over time for smoking, suggesting the need for booster interventions to maintain its effects.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

The effects of ventilation tube placement on hearing, speech, language, cognition and behaviour.

As a part of a larger, multidimensional study on secretory otitis media (SOM) and its relation to children's development, the effects of ventilation tube (VT) placement on hearing, speech, language, cognition and behaviour were studied over a six month period. Children with a clear and persistent picture of SOM were examined just before tubes were inserted and again, with the same measures, six months later. Their evolution was compared to that of a control group. The results indicate, as was expected, that the hearing of the children with SOM normalized very quickly after surgery. Speech and expressive language functions were comparable for both groups at the two moments of examination. Only verbal comprehension of the SOM-group was found to be slightly improved in the course of a six month period. No differences in general cognitive functioning and in behaviour were found between both groups.

Child Behavior↗
PubMed1985

Histones in protistan evolution.

The potential of comparative studies on histones for use in protistan evolution is discussed, using algal histones as specific examples. A basic premise for the importance of histones in protistan evolution is the observation that these proteins are completely absent in prokaryotes (and cytoplasmic organelles), but with few exceptions, the same five major histone types are found in all higher plants and animals. Since the histone content of the algae and other protists is not constant, some of these organisms may represent transition forms between the prokaryotic and eukaryotic modes of packaging the genetic material. Comparative studies of protistan histones may thus be of help in determining evolutionary relationships. However, several problems are encounter with protistan histones, including difficulties in isolating nuclei, proteolytic degradation, anomalous gel migration of histones, and difficulties in histone identification. Because of the above problems, and the observed variability in protistan histones, it is suggested that several criteria be employed for histone identification in protists.

Animals↗