Life Sciences & Biotechnology Update articles from August 1999

Life Sciences & Biotechnology Update archives from August 1999

BUILDING HEALTHY BABIES: PRENATAL NUTRITION IN FIRST-NATION COMMUNITIES.
August 1, 1999... This 2-volume resource report from Canada (Health Canada) presents essential information on prenatal nutrition in a practical format, in a context relevant to First Nation communities. Each section contains: a key message summarizing the...

WORKFORCE STATUS OF WOMEN AND THEIR HEALTH; WITH COMPARISON DATA FOR MEN.
August 1, 1999... This (National Center for Health Statistics) report describes the sociodemographics, household characteristics, and health of women, according to workforce status and job conditions. The report also presents data on men for comparison. It...

ESTIMATES OF THE USE OF NON-FEDERAL SHORT-STAY HOSPITALS IN THE U.S.
August 1, 1999... This (National Center for Health Statistics) report presents national estimates of the use of non-federal short-stay hospitals in the U.S. Estimates are given for: first-listed diagnoses; all-listed diagnoses; days of care for first-listed...

LONG-TERM CARE IN ASSISTED-LIVING FACILITIES: QUALITY OF CARE AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ISSUES.
August 1, 1999... This (GAO) report addresses consumer protection and quality of care issues in long-term care assisted- living facilities. Many view assisted living as a promising option for providing care and help to an increasing number of frail elderly...

HEALTH AND MEDICAL INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET: ENABLING CONSUMERS TO SEPARATE FACT FROM FRAUD.
August 1, 1999... This (Health Improvement Institute) report summarizes a workshop concerning the quality of health information found on the Internet. Attendees explored the possibilities for developing mechanisms to enable consumers to tell fact from fraud on...

MANAGED CARE AND INTEGRATION OF HOSPITALS AND PHYSICIANS.
August 1, 1999... This University of Alabama) study concerns managed care and hospital-physician integration. It has long been suggested that the growth of managed care would lead to closer linkages between hospitals and physicians. The use of capitation, in...

PHYSICIAN PRICING: THE EFFECTS OF SELECTIVE CONTRACTING.
August 1, 1999... The principal objectives of this (University of Rochester) ongoing project is a comparison of the rates of growth of the physician fees negotiated by HMOs and the fees paid by indemnity insurance plans. In order to accomplish this, four large...

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CLAIMS AGAINST PHYSICIANS: PREDICTING FUTURE CLAIMS EXPERIENCE BASED ON PAST CLAIMS AND OTHER FACTORS.
August 1, 1999... This (Wayne State University) study examines the nature of medical malpractice litigation against physicians in Michigan, and analyzes the determinants of their encounters with such litigation over the period 1980-1989. Descriptive and...

BLOOD-SUPPLY SAFETY: ENHANCING SAFEGUARDS WOULD STRENGTHEN THE U.S. BLOOD SUPPLY.
August 1, 1999... This (GAO) report concerns the strengthening of the safety of our nation's blood-supply. Donors give approximately 14 million units of whole blood and 12 million units of plasma annually. As many as 4 million patients receive transfusions of...

BLOOD-SUPPLY SAFETY: FDA OVERSIGHT AND OTHER ISSUES OF SAFETY.
August 1, 1999... This (GAO) report examines our nations blood-supply safety, FDA oversight, and other safety issues. Approximately 4 million patients annually receive life-saving transfusions of blood donated by 14 million donors around the nation. AIDS, and...

BLOOD-SUPPLY SAFETY: TRANSFUSION-ASSOCIATED RISKS.
August 1, 1999... This (GAO) report assesses and evaluates transfusion- associated risks of our nation's blood supply. Widespread concern about the safety of the blood supply has led to many changes in the way blood is collected, processed, and transfused....

GUIDELINES TO PREVENT THE TRANSMISSION OF TUBERCULOSIS IN INSTITUTIONAL SETTINGS.
August 1, 1999... This publication from Canada (Alberta Health) outlines the key factors to be considered in developing effective regional tuberculosis (TB) management programs. Sections of the publication recommend procedures related to the following:...

GENETIC TESTING FOR CYSTIC FIBROSIS.
August 1, 1999... This (National Institutes of Health) document contains the proceedings of a conference dealing with genetic testing for cystic fibrosis (1997, Bethesda, MD). Its Table of Contents reads as follows: Current State of Knowledge Regarding CF;...

PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES AND CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH.
August 1, 1999... This (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) document contains the proceedings of a conference covering physical activity and cardiovascular health. Its Table of Contents is as follows: Introduction to the NIH Consensus Development...

PRIORITIES FOR PERFORMING RESEARCH ON EATING DISORDERS.
August 1, 1999... This (National Institute of Mental Health) document contains abstracts and summaries of papers and discussions from a conference covering research priorities in eating disorders (1996, New York, NY). The goals of the workshop were: (1) to...

CHOLESTEROL LOWERING IN PATIENTS HAVING CORONARY HEART DISEASE.
August 1, 1999... This (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) monograph addresses recent clinical trials that have proven conclusively that lowering of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels in patients with established coronary heart disease...

BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION PATIENTS: SYMPTOM SEVERITY AND PERCEPTION OF HEALTH.
August 1, 1999... This (Air Force Institute of Technology) thesis addresses autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) management, which involves providing complex care for severely ill and immunocompromised patients. It examines the relationship between...

KIDNEY TRANSPLANTS: ISSUES RELATED TO ACCESS AND EQUITY ON WAITING LISTS.
August 1, 1999... This (Abt Health Care Research Foundation) report concerns a number of issues related to equity in access to waiting lists for a cadaveric kidney transplant, and investigates the transplant procedure itself. The presented information includes...

ANALYSIS OF DATA REGARDING PATIENTS WITH END-STAGE RENAL DISEASE.
August 1, 1999... This extensive (University of Michigan) report collects and analyzes data on at least 93% of patients treated for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the U.S. in 1997. The data cover: incidence; prevalence; treatment modality; cost; morbidity...

CAD APPROACH TO IMPROVE SPECIFICITY AND DECREASE VARIABILITY IN BREAST ULTRASOUND.
August 1, 1999... This (Duke University) work constructs an artificial neural network (ANN) to assist radiologists in differentiating benign from malignant solid breast lesions. Ultrasound examinations and mammograms of 64 solid breast lesions, that...

BREAST CANCER TREATMENT, OUTCOMES, AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS.
August 1, 1999... This (National Bureau of Economic Research) paper concerns breast cancer treatment, outcomes, and cost- effectiveness. Little is known about the relationships between breast cancer treatments, costs, and outcomes across different population...

THE ROLE OF HMG-I(Y) PROTEINS IN HUMAN BREAST CANCER METASTASIS.
August 1, 1999... HMG-I(Y) proteins are mammalian architectural transcription factors. They have been demonstrated to be necessary for the transcriptional regulation of a number of genes, including the genes associated with tumorigenesis and metastasis. This...

MECHANISMS INVOLVING THE VERY HIGH SUSCEPTIBILITY OF THE IMMATURE MAMMARY GLAND TO CARCINOGENIC INITIATION.
August 1, 1999... This (University of Wisconsin) research explores the hypothesis that the diminished ability of mammary cells from immature rats to recover from cytotoxic radiation damage may extend to an increased susceptibility to mammary carcinogenesis. If...

ASSOCIATION OF THE ESTROGEN RECEPTOR WITH THE NUCLEAR MATRIX IN HUMAN BREAST CANCER CELLS.
August 1, 1999... This research from Canada (Manitoba University) studies the association of the estrogen receptor with the nuclear matrix, and aims to identify the nuclear matrix acceptor sites for the estrogen receptor. The work constructs an ER fusion...

TEMPOROMANDIBULAR DISORDERS.
August 1, 1999... This (National Institute of Dental Research) document contains the proceedings of a conference on the management of temporomandibular disorders (1996, Bethesda, MD.). The contents are as follows: Introduction and Overview - History and...

TOOTH LOSS: BIOMEDICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL RISK FACTORS.
August 1, 1999... The purpose of this (University of Florida) project is to improve our understanding of oral health outcomes in diverse dentate adults. A sample of 873 persons is obtained at baseline, and is followed for a two-year period. A substantial...

ORAL HEALTH: MEASUREMENT OF HEALTH STATUS AND QUALITY OF LIFE.
August 1, 1999... This (University of North Carolina) report presents abstracts and summaries of a conference on assessing oral health (1996, Capel Hill, NC). The conference aimed at evaluating existing measures of oral-health- related quality of life, in...

PREDICTORS OF THE USE OF SERVICE FACILITIES FOR MENTAL HEALTH.
August 1, 1999... This (Pennsylvania State University) study considers the relationship between mental illness and nursing facility use, as well as the use of mental health services within nursing facilities and in the community. Several policy issues related...

THE PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY OF SCHIZOPHRENIA: CLINICAL CHALLENGES.
August 1, 1999... This (National Institute of Mental Health) volume addresses clinical challenges in the psychopharmacology of schizophrenia. Its Table of Contents reads as follows: Genes, Experience, and Chance in Schizophrenia -- Positioning for the 21st...

THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL ON ORGAN FUNCTION.
August 1, 1999... This (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) report presents and discusses the effects of alcohol on the function of our organs. Its Table of Contents is as follows: Exploring Alcohol's Effects on Liver Function; Alcohol-Related...

TRANSFER OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ADVANCED INFRARED TECHNOLOGY TO THE FIELD OF MEDICINE.
August 1, 1999... This (Advanced Concepts Analysis Inc.) report concerns the transfer of the highly developed advanced DOD infrared technology to the field of medicine, with a view toward achieving a low-cost non-invasive non- ionizing and effective imaging...

TRACE ELEMENTS IN HUMANS AND ANIMALS.
August 1, 1999... This extensive documentation from Canada (National Research Council Canada) presents a compilation of papers from an international meeting of specialists from a variety of disciplines sharing an interest in trace elements. The papers are...

TOBACCO-RESEARCH PRIORITIES BEYOND THE YEAR 2000.
August 1, 1999... This (National Cancer Institute) document presents a tobacco-research implementation plan for beyond the year 2000. Its Table of Contents reads as follows: Executive Summary; Introduction; Building the Tobacco Research Infrastructure; Basic...

PROTECTING GENETIC PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY.
August 1, 1999... Few developments are likely to affect human beings more profoundly in the long run than the discoveries resulting from advances in modern genetics. Although the developments in genetic technology promise to provide many additional benefits,...