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PubMed2005

Molecular marker-based genetic diversity assessment of Striga-resistant maize inbred lines.

Striga-resistant maize inbred lines are of interest to maize breeding programs in the savannas of Africa where the parasitic weed is endemic and causes severe yield losses in tropical maize. Assessment of the genetic diversity of such inbred lines is useful for their systematic and efficient use in a breeding program. Diversity analysis of 41 Striga-resistant maize inbred lines was conducted using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to examine the genetic relationships among these lines and to determine the level of genetic diversity that exists within and between their source populations. The two marker systems generated 262 and 101 polymorphic fragments, respectively. Genetic similarity (GS) values among all possible pairs of inbred lines varied from 0.45 to 0.95, with a mean of 0.61+/-0.002 for AFLPs, and from 0.21 to 0.92, with a mean of 0.48+/-0.003, for SSRs. The inbred lines from each source population exhibited a broad range of GS values with the two types of markers. Both AFLPs and SSRs revealed similar levels of within population genetic variation for all source populations. Cluster and principal component analysis of GS estimates with the two markers revealed clear differentiation of the Striga-resistant inbred lines into groups according to their source populations. There was clear separation between early- and late-maturing Striga-resistant inbred lines. Considering the paucity of germplasm with good levels of resistance to Striga in maize, the broad genetic diversity detected within and among source populations demonstrates the genetic potential that exists to improve maize for resistance to Striga.

Breeding↗
PubMed1991

Government-mandated cytology proficiency testing: practical, equitable, and defensible standards.

Maryland's Proficiency Testing (PT) Program in cytology has attempted to meet eight technical criteria by implementing PT standards that include rigorously criterion-referenced Papanicolaou smear-stained glass slides from actual patients; conducting PT in the laboratory; having PT conducted and monitored by a regulatory agency; testing cytotechnologist and pathologist in conjunction, yet employing separate grading systems based on a limited number of fully defined diagnostic categories; and using PT results to compel practitioners to obtain retraining. Maryland believes its PT program not only is effective, efficient, and legally defensible but also meets the intended purpose and goals of the Clinical Laboratories Improvement Amendments of 1988. This paper reviews the technical and administrative aspects of Maryland's state-mandated PT program and compares its standards and methods to those mandated by the federal Health Care Financing Administration.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.↗
PubMed2004

Word recognition software use in a busy orthopaedic practice.

For the past 3 years, our orthopaedic office has used word recognition programs to expedite medical record reporting, operative dictation, and letter writing. The use of these programs has resulted in cost savings, increased efficiency, and an improvement in the quality and the thoroughness of our medical records. The methods whereby we were able to incorporate a word recognition program into our operative dictations and our office notes are discussed and explained. Advantages and disadvantages of different programs were evaluated and discussed. We have been able to use word recognition programs in the daily function of our orthopaedic office although not without some difficulties. These programs have resulted in cost savings and time savings and provided medicolegal protection because of the thoroughness of the documentation. The use of templates allows efficiency comparable with conventional dictation. Word recognition programs can be used effectively in busy orthopaedic offices when combined with note templates.

Computer User Training↗
PubMed1996

The antitumoral effect of the immunomodulator AS101 and paclitaxel (Taxol) in a murine model of lung adenocarcinoma.

The immunomodulator ammonium trichloro(dioxyethylene-0-0')tellurate (AS101) has been shown to possess antitumoral properties in several murine models. In the present study, we demonstrate a synergistic in vivo antitumor effect of AS101 and Taxol against early stage Madison 109 lung adenocarcinoma. Treatment with optimal doses of Taxol (25 and 17 mg/kg) and AS101 (0.5 mg/kg) resulted in 66.6 and 43.3% cures. We propose that the antitumor effect is the result of both a direct and indirect effect of the drugs on tumor cells. AS101 and Taxol directly inhibited clonogenicity of M109 cells in a synergistic dose-dependent manner. Exposure of M109 cells to clinically achievable concentrations of Taxol and AS101 produced a synergistic internucleosomal DNA fragmentation associated with programmed cell death. We suggest that AS101 renders tumor cells more susceptible to chemotherapy in general and to Taxol in particular, partly by increasing the wild-type p53 protein expression that is required for efficient execution of the death program. Moreover, we demonstrate a synergistic effect of AS101 and Taxol in increasing the tumoricidal activity of macrophages. This activity is produced by nitric oxide secretion. The synergistic antitumoral effects of AS101 and Taxol were partly ablated both in vitro and in vivo by inhibition of nitric oxide synthase. These findings indicate that AS101 in combination with Taxol may be a promising antitumor drug, and illustrate the mechanism of action of both drugs when acting synergistically. Phase II clinical trials have been initiated using AS101 in combination with Taxol.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Validation of an evaluation guide for healthcare training programs in the field of humanitarian efforts].

The training of healthcare professionals working in the field of humanitarian action is of fundamental importance but there have been few procedures for assessing the training programs. A specific guide was produced for the evaluation of healthcare training programs. It uses a three-pronged approach to improve the training of healthcare personnel, encouraging educators to take a fresh look at the way in which they work. The guide seeks to improve the efficiency of training by evaluating programs. The guide was tested on four training programs conducted by three non-governmental organizations in three countries: Handicap International in Cambodia and Mozambique, Médecins Sans Frontières in Cambodia and Action Nord Sud in Brazil. Questionnaires, guides and appraisals were analyzed, and the results suggested that the guide was valid, reproducible and easy to use. However, it is vital to provide external educational assistance during evaluation, to promote the implementation of decisions, thereby improving training practices.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2003

Productivity of Veterans Health Administration laboratories: a College of American Pathologists Laboratory Management Index Program (LMIP) study.

CONTEXT: The Veterans Health Administration (VA) operates the largest integrated laboratory network in the United States. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether the unique characteristics of VA laboratories impact efficiency of operations, we compared the productivity of VA and non-VA facilities. DESIGN: Financial and activity data were prospectively collected from 124 VA and 131 non-VA laboratories enrolled in the College of American Pathologists Laboratory Management Index Program (LMIP) during 2002. In addition, secular trends in 5 productivity ratios were calculated for VA and non-VA laboratories enrolled in LMIP from 1997 through 2002. RESULTS: Veterans Health Administration and non-VA facilities did not differ significantly in size. Inpatients accounted for a lower percentage of testing at VA facilities than non-VA facilities (21.7% vs 37.3%; P <.001). Technical staff at the median VA facility were paid more than at non-VA facilities (28.11/h dollars vs 22.60/h dollars, salaries plus benefits; P <.001), VA laboratories employed a smaller percentage of nontechnical staff (30.0% vs 41.9%; P <.001), and workers at VA laboratories worked less time per hour paid (85.5% vs 88.5%; P <.001). However, labor productivity was significantly higher at VA than at non-VA facilities (30 448 test results/total full-time equivalent (FTE)/y vs 19 260 results/total FTE; P <.001), resulting in lower labor expense per on-site test at VA sites than at non-VA sites (1.79 dollars/result vs 2.08 dollars/result; P <.001). Veterans Health Administration laboratories paid less per test for consumables (P =.003), depreciation, and maintenance than their non-VA counterparts (all P <.001), resulting in lower overall cost per on-site test result (2.64 dollars vs 3.40 dollars; P <.001). Cost per referred (sent-out) test did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. Analysis of 6-year trends showed significant increases in both VA (P <.001) and non-VA (P =.02) labor productivity (on-site tests/total FTE). Expenses at VA laboratories for labor per test, consumables per test, overall expense per test, and overall laboratory expense per discharge decreased significantly during the 6-year period (P <.001), while in non-VA facilities the corresponding ratios showed no significant change. CONCLUSIONS: Overall productivity of VA laboratories is superior to that of non-VA facilities enrolled in LMIP. The principal advantages enjoyed by the VA are higher-than-average labor productivity (tests/FTE) and lower-than-average consumable expenses.

Efficiency, Organizational↗
PubMed1998

Effectiveness and efficiency of nurse-given cancer patient education.

Increasing health care costs make it imperative that nurse-given cancer education programs be evaluated according to their economic effectiveness and efficiency. The purpose of this research was the comparison of two programs of nurse-given education at a Canadian cancer centre examining patients' knowledge of chemotherapy and associated side effects, the number of self-care behaviours for side effects, the degree of extra health resource utilization, patient and nurse satisfaction with teaching programs, and the nursing time needed for teaching. Results show that the experimental intervention is more effective and more efficient than the usual well-organized patient education program at this centre. These study findings begin to address the knowledge gap regarding the cost-effectiveness of a critical component of ambulatory cancer nursing.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed2004

An efficient atomic orbital based second-order Møller-Plesset gradient program.

Based on the orbital-invariant atomic orbital formulation of the MP2 (Møller-Plesset second-order perturbation theory) energy and gradient [P. Pulay and S. Saebø, Theor. Chim. Acta 69, 357 (1986)], we have derived and programmed detailed working equations for closed-shell MP2 gradients. The orbital-invariant form avoids the difficulties of other formulations with frozen orbitals, and allows the use of arbitrary occupied orbitals, an important consideration for local correlation theories, although the present program uses canonical molecular orbitals. The atomic orbital formulation offers savings both in storage and computer time. Test calculations on systems containing up to approximately 100 atoms and approximately 1000 basis functions, performed on a single personal computer, are reported. Parallelization of the code is underway.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Service program diagnostics and decision support technology for improving health technology service efficiency and productivity.

Our in-depth survey of both the state of the art and the results of application, implementation, and rollout of problem resolution diagnostics in control help desks and field service clearly shows the potential of online remote diagnostics technology (Figure 9) to improve service force productivity and efficiency and to make more effective use of service resources (people and parts). Our survey of the current and planned future expenditures for diagnostics used in field service clearly indicates that the overall service diagnostics market is currently sizable, in the range of $2 billion as of 1997, and is projected to grow to approximately $2.6 billion by 2000. This current expenditure and growth will occur primarily in the electronics arena, but there are still substantial development and application investments occurring in both electromechanical and mechanical areas. We believe that the pace of investment will fall off as the service industry shifts from development and experimental research to the application and rollout of standard off-the-shelf technology. Thus, the overall pattern of the diagnostics market indicates a continuing increase in expenditures by the field service industry for electronics-oriented service diagnostics and some increase with respect to use of this technology in electromechanical and mechanical applications. The application and use of diagnostics technology will also be affected by the ability of the field service management community to recognize the need to search for an optimum as opposed to a feasible solution to dispatch, assignment, call screening, call avoidance, and logistics deployment. The further rollout of affordable wireless communications technology such as Ardis and Ram mobile and the new cellular-based CPDP technology, coupled with the increased availability of inexpensive wireless-based laptops, portables, and CD-ROM-based problem resolution and diagnostics technology clearly shows the value of this technology in improving service productivity, efficiency, and profitability. As we move from very expensive academically and research and development-oriented diagnostics applications to the purchase and use of off-the-shelf software and predeveloped knowledge bases, it is clear that this technology will be broadly applied.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Program planning in health education.

This selected review of the health education literature suggests that progress has been made in developing extensive conceptual frameworks to examine the interrelationships of complex forces which influence health related behaviors. However, the reviewer found very little applied research in which these concepts are translated into effective and efficient intervention strategies within ongoing programs. The author states that an improvement in the state of the art in health education practice should emerge from seven important developments which she identifies.

Evaluation Studies as Topic↗
PubMed1980

Three-year follow-up data in overweight treatment.

Reassessed 3 years after the termination of a weight reduction program the body weight of former participants to control long-term efficiency of behavior-oriented weight reduction programs. Of 31 former participants, 21 could be rechecked. Most of the Ss stabilized their body weight or continued to reduce weight. Only 4Ss regained weight over the 3-year period. On an average, the group of former Ss lost 4.4 kilograms over the follow-up period. The whole reduction (therapy time and follow-up) resulted in 11.3 kilograms. Three results are encouraging, but difficult to discuss because no member of the former control group could be reassessed after 3 years and 10 Ss of the former therapy-groups could not be motivated to renewed collaboration. However, these results support the behavior-oriented approach to weight reduction and give evidence for the stabilizing function of such a therapy.

Behavior Therapy↗
PubMed1988

'DNA Strider': a 'C' program for the fast analysis of DNA and protein sequences on the Apple Macintosh family of computers.

DNA Strider is a new integrated DNA and Protein sequence analysis program written with the C language for the Macintosh Plus, SE and II computers. It has been designed as an easy to learn and use program as well as a fast and efficient tool for the day-to-day sequence analysis work. The program consists of a multi-window sequence editor and of various DNA and Protein analysis functions. The editor may use 4 different types of sequences (DNA, degenerate DNA, RNA and one-letter coded protein) and can handle simultaneously 6 sequences of any type up to 32.5 kB each. Negative numbering of the bases is allowed for DNA sequences. All classical restriction and translation analysis functions are present and can be performed in any order on any open sequence or part of a sequence. The main feature of the program is that the same analysis function can be repeated several times on different sequences, thus generating multiple windows on the screen. Many graphic capabilities have been incorporated such as graphic restriction map, hydrophobicity profile and the CAI plot- codon adaptation index according to Sharp and Li. The restriction sites search uses a newly designed fast hexamer look-ahead algorithm. Typical runtime for the search of all sites with a library of 130 restriction endonucleases is 1 second per 10,000 bases. The circular graphic restriction map of the pBR322 plasmid can be therefore computed from its sequence and displayed on the Macintosh Plus screen within 2 seconds and its multiline restriction map obtained in a scrolling window within 5 seconds.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2000

CLN1 and its repression by Xbp1 are important for efficient sporulation in budding yeast.

Xbp1, a transcriptional repressor of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with homology to Swi4 and Mbp1, is induced by stress and starvation during the mitotic cycle. It is also induced late in the meiotic cycle. Using RNA differential display, we find that genes encoding three cyclins (CLN1, CLN3, and CLB2), CYS3, and SMF2 are downregulated when Xbp1 is overexpressed and that Xbp1 can bind to sequences in their promoters. During meiosis, XBP1 is highly induced and its mRNA appears at the same time as DIT1 mRNA, but its expression remains high for up to 24 h. As such, it represents a new class of meiosis-specific genes. Xbp1-deficient cells are capable of forming viable gametes, although ascus formation is delayed by several hours. Furthermore, Xbp1 target genes are normally repressed late in meiosis, and loss of XBP1 results in their derepression. Interestingly, we find that a deletion of CLN1 also reduces the efficiency of sporulation and delays the meiotic program but that sporulation in a Deltacln1 Deltaxbp1 strain is not further delayed. Thus, CLN1 may be Xbp1's primary target in meiotic cells. We hypothesize that CLN1 plays a role early in the meiotic program but must be repressed, by Xbp1, at later stages to promote efficient sporulation.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2000

Discovering regulatory elements in non-coding sequences by analysis of spaced dyads.

The application of microarray and related technologies is currently generating a systematic catalog of the transcriptional response of any single gene to a multiplicity of experimental conditions. Clustering genes according to the similarity of their transcriptional response provides a direct hint to the regulons of the different transcription factors, many of which have still not been characterized. We have developed a new method for deciphering the mechanism underlying the common transcriptional response of a set of genes, i.e. discovering cis -acting regulatory elements from a set of unaligned upstream sequences. This method, called dyad analysis, is based on the observation that many regulatory sites consist of a pair of highly conserved trinucleotides, spaced by a non-conserved region of fixed width. The approach is to count the number of occurrences of each possible spaced pair of trinucleotides, and to assess its statistical significance. The method is highly efficient in the detection of sites bound by C(6)Zn(2)binuclear cluster proteins, as well as other transcription factors. In addition, we show that the dyad and single-word analyses are efficient for the detection of regulatory patterns in gene clusters from DNA chip experiments. In combination, these programs should provide a fast and efficient way to discover new regulatory sites for as yet unknown transcription factors.

Base Sequence↗