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[Evaluation of post-intracoronary stent implant. Intravascular ultrasound versus quantitative angiography].

PURPOSE: To verify the minimal proximal and distal residual diameters by quantitative digital angiography and intravascular ultrasound, after the implantation of the intracoronary prosthesis. METHODS: We studied twenty patients with coronary atherosclerosis, ages ranging from 40 to 77 (56.7 +/- 10) years, 13 (65%) were male. Patients with eccentric obstructive atherosclerotic lesions of 70% or more in the proximal third of the anterior descendent, circumflex, or right coronary arteries received a stent implant as treatment for the obstruction. RESULTS: The mean proximal minimal residual diameters assessed by digital angiography were 3.32 +/- 0.33 mm and by ultrasound 3.08 +/- 0.31 mm (p < 0.05); the distal diameters by angiography were 3.33 +/- 0.37 mm and by ultrasound 3.05 +/- 0.39 mm (p < 0.05). Therefore, the measurements by ultrasound were always smaller. There is a significant linear correlation between measurements by angiography and ultrasound for both proximal (r = 0.92; p < 0.0001) and distal diameters (r = 0.91; p < 0.0001). The determination coefficient was 84% for proximal diameters and 87% for distal diameters. Therefore, the proximal diameters variate 16% and distal diameters 13% between both methods, due to the peculiarities of each method. CONCLUSION: Both methods correlate adequately, concerning to the measurements; the methods are interdependent, determining with the same accuracy intracoronary diameters in most cases studied; ultrasound is a safe and feasible technical resource for the evaluation of intravascular structures; the intravascular ultrasound system can contribute for the direct analysis inside the vascular structure, immediately after intracoronary stent implanting.

Adult↗

The computer research network of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners: an approach to general practice research in New Zealand.

Computers are now in widespread use by general practitioners (GPs) in many countries. In New Zealand this development has advanced general practice research by enabling collaboration among a small population of doctors practising in geographically diverse locations. This paper reviews the establishment of the Computer Research Network of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) and its development between 1990 and 1995. The Network consists of 181 general practices (approximately 450 GPs) from throughout urban and rural New Zealand. All participants use computers in their practices to record consultation notes and to generate prescriptions, investigations and referral forms. Computer programs developed in the RNZCGP Research Unit are run on commercial software in doctors' surgeries to provide anonymous, individual data. In addition to the routine analysis of utilization for feedback to participants, 13 research projects have been completed. These include investigations of access to general practice care, use of health services by individuals and families, surveillance of immunization uptake, epidemiology of common conditions, and the use of pharmaceuticals in general practice. The RNZCGP Computer Research Network is an example of a computerized general practice research network that has been productive without receiving significant financial resources or having a formal management structure.

Confidentiality↗

Internet-assisted exercises in structural analysis.

In this report we describe our experience in the analytical chemistry curriculum of teaching spectrometer principles and preparing spectroscopy laboratory exercises by means of virtual instruments. The benefits of the intensified preparation of laboratory exercises by virtual instruments will be evaluated with respect to the subsequent handling of real instruments. The utilization of in-house electronic media with Internet resources for elucidation and verification of a structural assignment will also be considered.

Journal Article↗

Information resources for the bioinformatician.

The collaborative computing project in biosequence and structure analysis (CCPII) was established to foster bioinformatics in the broad community and the UK research community in particular. A World-Wide Web site called 'The Bioinformatics Resource' has been created containing a comprehensive set of information resources of use to the bioinformatician. The activities of CCPII are complementary to other providers of molecular biology information such as the BIOSCI electronic communication forum, which was established to facilitate communication between professionals in the biological sciences.

Computational Biology↗

[Workflow analysis to assess the efficiency of intraoperative technology using the example of functional endoscopic sinus surgery].

Evaluation of the efficiency of surgical technology systems has to date been largely subjective. The aim of this study was to develop an ontology for surgical procedures usable workflow structures, and the evaluation of surgical workflow analysis using the example of functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). A total of 38 procedures (20 patients) were included. Surgery was carried out by seven different surgeons with different degrees of training. Description of the surgical procedures and resources is based on the standard EN1828/2001 (Structure for Classification and Coding Systems for Surgical Procedures). In addition the requirements of the Workflow Reference Models (document no. Tc00-1003), Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC) were integrated. The workflow recorded the position, frequency of change of position, use time, cleaning time and concept based instrument changes. A total of 293 items were used to define FESS. A total of 1,029 different endoscopic positions were documented. These could be combined into five major endoscopic positions. The frequency of position changes was 27.1 per side, the period spent in an endoscopic position is about 1.31 min. Time for the concept-caused instrument changing was 6.44 min per side. This study demonstrates the need for assistance in guiding the endoscope in FESS. Using the workflow-data, the concept of an assistant system is possible. We offer a basis for discussion of the development of an ontology, recording and analysing surgical workflows and their practical application.

Biotechnology↗

Improving structure-linked access to publicly available chemical toxicity information.

Publicly available toxicity databases serve as the central resource in efforts to develop algorithms for assessing potential chemical toxicity. File standardization and linkage of chemical structures with chemical toxicity information are essential first steps in providing broad access to existing toxicity information, for deriving useful structure-activity relationship (SAR) models, performing analog searches, and estimating the potential toxicity of new chemicals. This review will focus on current efforts to improve structure-linked access to publicly available sources of toxicity information, outlining current web-based resources as well as two new database initiatives for standardizing and consolidating public chemical toxicity information.

Computer Communication Networks↗

Supporting primary care medical education.

A number of fundamental issues must be considered in preparing the education system to produce more primary care physicians. Governmental controls and redirection of resources will force significant changes in the structuring of approaches to both undergraduate and graduate education in primary care. Particularly challenging will be restructuring and funding medical student programs in primary care, given a nearly certain requirement that more than 50% of medical school graduates enter primary care disciplines. Institutions will need to make strategic resource allocations to compete for the funding once the allocation process begins. Educational institutions will also face a cultural adaptation to primary care as an educational priority. This paper presents a model to study costs and funding for residency programs as they move from the traditional inpatient orientation to an outpatient focus. The authors suggest that for medical student education, the development of large academic health care systems may make funding primary care education more feasible.

Adult↗

Alternative agendas. System priorities for the 1990s will differ from those of the last decade.

The Sisters of Charity Health Care Systems (SCHCS) was established in 1979 in response to changes in the U.S. healthcare system and to new needs of sponsors and Catholic healthcare facilities. However, the agenda that SCHCS leaders (and leaders of other systems) set at that time must now give way to an agenda that will address the new challenges and responsibilities facing the Catholic healthcare ministry in the 1990s. In its first decade of existence, SCHCS established and fulfilled a number of goals: It strengthened governance relationships, helped systems and sponsors better identify with local communities, enabled facilities to steward resources more effectively, and facilitated members' understanding of mission and sponsorship values. In the 1990s, however, systems will have to create more opportunities for regional, collaborative, and networking relationships among member facilities and between members and non-members. To achieve this, they will have to reevaluate their structures, find ways to faciliatate collaboration, make resources available to institutions outside the system, and develop an overall philosophy that enhances both the fiscal and spiritual well-being of member facilities.

Catholicism↗

Providing culturally competent primary care for immigrant and refugee women. A Cambodian case study.

Currently, one of every 13 U.S. residents is foreign born. A 1991 survey of certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) indicated that 51% of the respondents serve immigrant women. Using a case study approach, this article illustrates barriers to health care experienced by foreign-born women and demonstrates how cultural competence increases provider effectiveness in meeting the unique needs of this population. Effective primary care requires understanding the context of the refugee experience and its physical and emotional sequelae; addressing geographic, linguistic, economic, and cultural barriers; and providing high-quality care through the efficient use of resources without unduly controlling women's choices. Providing care within the context of the traditional family structure, gender roles, family support systems, and community services and resources further enhances health care services. Equally important is the establishment of a sustained partnership with clients, based on the support of protective traditional health practices and the recognition that a woman is expert in her own health. By respecting the complex cultural, political, economic, and personal backgrounds that contribute to immigrant women's perceptions of health, illness, and health care needs, culturally competent primary care providers serve diverse populations more effectively and help to enrich the communities in which they live and work.

Adult↗

Evolution of a comprehensive tobacco control programme: building system capacity and strategic partnerships--lessons from Massachusetts.

BACKGROUND: Since the passage of a voter approved state referendum in 1992 to establish a 25 cent increase on the excise tax on cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, Massachusetts has received an average of $40 million annually for its tobacco control programme. This funding allowed Massachusetts to expand and develop its tobacco control programme to become one of the most comprehensive in the world. OBJECTIVES: The development of the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program is outlined, focusing on three stages of development: formation, strategic partnership building, and shared leadership. METHODS: The development of management structures, programmatic infrastructure, communication and partnership networks, and advisory structures are tracked throughout the three phases. RESULTS: The use of pre-existing public health resources, implementation of a strong training component, a geographical management structure, the creation of public and private partnerships, and the development of a shared leadership model contributed to building consensus and provided the foundation for coordinated approaches to tobacco control. CONCLUSION: Other states and countries can use lessons learned from Massachusetts about the organisational development of a comprehensive tobacco control programme as they embark upon similar efforts.

Humans↗

Protein databases and software on BIONET.

BIONET provides databases, software, and networking/communications tools to over 2500 molecular biologists worldwide. Software for the analysis of nucleic acid and protein sequence data is provided by both IntelliGenetics and academic contributors. BIONET is currently implementing dedicated high speed servers for searching protein databases, as well as providing more flexible tools for protein structure recognition and prediction. In this review, protein databases and analysis software available on the BIONET resource are described, and progress in providing new tools for structure prediction, comparative sequence analysis, and pattern recognition using Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques are summarized.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Sentence repetition and processing resources in Alzheimer's disease.

Sentence processing in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been found to be influenced by several grammatical and extragrammatical factors, including phrase structure and verb-argument relations, number of propositions/verbs, and processing resource capacity. This study examines the effects of these variables on sentence production in AD. Normal control and AD subjects were asked to repeat six types of sentences varying along the above dimensions of complexity. Subjects' processing resource capacity was measured using several verbal working memory tests. AD subjects' sentence-repetition performance was impaired compared to the normal control group. Significant effects were observed for branching direction of phrase structure, canonicity of verb-argument relations, and serial position of errors. Sentence-repetition performance significantly correlated with working memory scores. The findings are interpreted within a resource capacity theory of sentence processing.

Aged↗

Population genetic structure of and inbreeding in an insular cattle breed, the Jersey, and its implications for genetic resource management.

The Jersey is a ubiquitous and successful breed of cattle that originates from the UK Channel Island of Jersey. While the breed has been exported extensively, no imports have taken place to the island since 1789, leading to a concern regarding possible losses of genetic diversity and increased inbreeding. We have conducted the first large-scale genetic analysis of the Jersey cattle using only samples from the island. A total of 223 cattle from all parishes except one were genotyped for 12 microsatellite loci. The average number of alleles per locus and expected heterozygosity were found to be comparatively high (n(A)=4, H(e)=0.64) with respect to that observed in a number of continental breeds. Only breeds that have been upgraded and are therefore the result of admixture are clearly more variable than the Jersey. We also found a significant but limited amount of genetic differentiation between parishes (F(st)=0.013), or even between farms (F(st)=0.035) despite an apparent lack of movement. This is confirmed by the application of two recent statistical methods. A Bayesian partition analysis shows that the most probable value of K, the number of possible hidden partitions, is 1 (P approximately 0.98). K=2 has a much lower probability (P approximately 0.02) while other values are essentially zero. Similarly, we were able to show that there was no support for departure from panmixia other than due to population structure, and thus that there is sufficient background gene flow across the island to overcome local drift. Overall, it appears that the current level of genetic diversity and its distribution within the island means it is unnecessary to import unrelated genetic material to the island for management purposes.

Alleles↗

A comprehensive information resource on traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine: toward an international collaboration.

OBJECTIVES: A prototype for a comprehensive information resource for traditional complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) has been developed to fill the considerable needs of a broad audience for worldwide access to TCAM information. The proposed resource is to be a comprehensive, vocabulary-controlled, integrated, standardized, multimedia information resource for TCAM. It will facilitate international cooperation, promote synergistic development of individual resources, promote dissemination of TCAM knowledge, and map the interrelationships among the TCAM traditions. METHODS: We organized two workshops for representatives of international databases that contain significant information on various aspects of alternative medicine. For the first workshop, we prepared and demonstrated a prototype named Complementary and Alternative Medicine Digital Library (CAMed) to illustrate the anticipated structure, content, and functionality of the comprehensive resource. We then constructed a second prototype to demonstrate the possibilities of searching across the collaborating databases and presented it to the representatives at the second workshop. OUTCOMES: Representatives of nine international databases attended the two workshops, in Bangalore, India (1998), and in Seoul, Korea (1999). We presented the prototypes at the workshops. Prototype I uses a Web interface, and supports browsing and searching from a variety of access points. Prototype II demonstrates a functional system that provides simultaneous access to selected represented databases by searching thesauri of these databases through our system. The group formalized itself as the International Collaboration for Information on Complementary and Traditional Medicine (IC2TM) with a goal of fully realizing the potential of the project.

Complementary Therapies↗

[A pilot study about implementation in Romanian medical activity of diagnosis related groups classification].

UNLABELLED: The inpatient and outpatient classification in homogeneous groups (Diagnosis Related Groups--DRGs and Ambulatory Patient Groups--APGs) it is usually used for the medical resources' management and in second place for the structure's and the sanitary system's function evaluation, for the establishment of necessities and priorities in medical care of a population, for the establishment of the used resources etc. These elements given by the method are essential for a sanitary reform. In this whey the possibility of implementation for the method in Romanian medical practice, we've proposed to evaluate it in a pilot study. METHODS: The study was made on an adult population sample from Cluj-Napoca. It was made out of 311 subjects. The data were taken in unitary mode using a record questionnaire. The database was performed in the ACCESS program. For the statistic there were used the information pack EpiInfo version 6, 04. 1996. The reference year was 1997. To observe the evolution of the phenomenon we compared with a control group from 1987 composed by matching 1:1. RESULTS: In the sample females were significatively dominant (65.4%, p < 0.00001) and elders (the age group of 60-69 years represent 54%, p < 0.00001). In 1987 the elders > or = 60 years were the once how had in a significantly way more often medical care both in and outpatient. In 1997, the medical care for adults was close to the once for elders. In evolution, for a 10 year period, the ambulatory assistance decreased and the specialized assistants in the hospital increased (unique and multiple). The risk of hospitalization in 1997 compared to 1987, is significatively bigger: OR = 2.56 (IC 95%: 1.61-4.09), p < 0.001. The pathology assisted in ambulatory and in hospital was represented more often by the cardiovascular system affections (CMD 05-61.1%) in witch the arterial hypertension is dominant (DRG 191). CONCLUSIONS: To produce DRGs and APGs, in the actual sanitary system, from the university center Cluj-Napoca it is possible, but the development of the actual informational system is necessary. The implementation of the classification method needs from the medical practice side it's standardization because the homogeneous patients consume the same quantity of resources from the medical point of view. The medical service separation in smaller and bigger hospitalization is necessary.

Adult↗

Applying a grid technology to protein structure predictor "ROKKY".

This paper describes a sub-project of BioGrid project called "HTC (High Throughput Computing) group." Generally, a protein structure prediction which requires large amount of computational resources is done by trial-and-error method. HTC group have been developing a high throughput computing system with a flexible workflow handling mechanism for a protein structure prediction. In this paper, we show how to apply our high throughput computing system to the protein structure predictor called "ROKKY."

Computational Biology↗

Information decay in molecular docking screens against holo, apo, and modeled conformations of enzymes.

Molecular docking uses the three-dimensional structure of a receptor to screen a small molecule database for potential ligands. The dependence of docking screens on the conformation of the binding site remains an open question. To evaluate the information loss that occurs as the active site conformation becomes less defined, a small molecule database was docked against the holo (ligand bound), apo, and homology modeled structures of 10 different enzyme binding sites. The holo and apo representations were crystallographic structures taken from the Protein Data Bank (PDB), and the homology-modeled structures were taken from the publicly available resource ModBase. The database docked was the MDL Drug Data Report (MDDR), a functionally annotated database of 95000 small molecules that contained at least 35 ligands for each of the 10 systems. In all sites, at least 99% of the molecules in the MDDR were treated as nonbinding decoys. For each system, the holo, apo, and modeled structures were used to screen the MDDR, and the ability of each structure to enrich the known ligands for that system over random selection was evaluated. The best overall enrichment was produced by the holo structure in seven systems, the apo structure in two systems, and the modeled structure in one system. These results suggest that the performance of the docking calculation is affected by the particular representation of the receptor used in the screen, and that the holo structure is the one most likely to yield the best discrimination between known ligands and decoy molecules, but important exceptions to this rule also emerge from this study. Although each of the holo, apo, and modeled conformations led to enrichment of known ligands in all systems, the enrichment did not always rise to a level judged to be sufficient to justify the effort of a docking screen. Using a 20-fold enrichment of known ligands over random selection as a rough guideline for what might be enough to justify a docking screen, the holo conformation of the enzyme met this criterion in eight of 10 sites, whereas the apo conformation met this criterion in only two sites and the modeled conformation in three.

Animals↗

Familiarity with mental illness and approval of structural discrimination against psychiatric patients in Germany.

Structural discrimination against psychiatric patients may occur as a result of distribution of resources in the health system. We examine whether familiarity with mental illness, which reduces discrimination on the individual level, also moderates the approval of structural discrimination in health care funding. We conducted a representative survey of the German population (N=5025) in 2001 using a fully structured personal interview, including a measure of preferences for the allocation of health resources and an assessment of familiarity with mental illness. The approval of structural discrimination was inversely related to the individual's familiarity with mental illness in depression and, to a lesser extent, in schizophrenia. This relationship was absent for alcoholism and generally weak for contacts to mentally ill persons outside one's own family. Strategies successful in reducing individual discrimination are thus not necessarily suitable for combating structural discrimination and need to be tailored to their specific target.

Adult↗