Estimating profits in a capitation program. Planning for cost

This article is designed to help dentists make better decisions regarding capitation programs. It focuses on approaches to costs that can be useful. An example is given that illustrates how these cost concepts might be used to analyze a capitation proposal.     

Studies in Red Blood Cell Preservation. 8. Liquid Storage of Red Cells in a Glycerol-Containing Additive Solution

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether a hypotonic additive containing a low concentration of glycerol as a membrane permeable solute would improve the liquid storage of red blood cells (RBCs). Packed RBCs were stored either with 200 ml of an experimental additive solution, EAS 25, containing (m M ): glycerol 150, adenine 2, glucose 110, mannitol 55, and NaCl 50, or with 100 ml/unit of a conventional additive solution Adsol®. The results show that the adenosine triphosphate values, hemolysis, potassium leakage, and the morphology scores of RBCs were significantly better with EAS 25 than with Adsol up to 84 days of storage. The ATP values were significantly different only after the first 42 days of storage. The mean corpuscular volumes (MCVs) of the RBCs were significantly higher throughout in the experimental additive accompanied by decreased microvesiculation as compared to Adsol. The total microvesicle membrane protein shed by 100 ml of RBCs was 47.92±12.31 mg in Adsol and 18.96±5.49 mg in EAS 25 (p<0.001). The larger MCVs of the RBCs in EAS 25 may have a favorable effect on maintaining membrane integrity by decreasing the loss of membrane by microvesiculation.     

荧光原位杂交技术分析人结肠菌群方法研究

建立荧光原位杂交技术分析人体内结肠菌群的方法。取受试者新鲜粪便 ,选用 5种特异性的 16SrRNA寡核苷酸探针 ,检测粪便样本收集后的保存时间、温度 ,离心条件及样本固定液存放时间对杂交计数结果的影响。结果建立最佳实验条件为 :粪便样本收集后应尽快在 4℃下保存 ,放置时间不要超过 12小时即作处理 ;样本的适宜离心条件为 70 0g 2分钟 ;样本用多聚甲醛固定后在 - 80℃下存放时间不要超过 5个月。该方法具有较好的稳定性 ,可以有效地检出个体之间结肠菌群的差异。     

Oral premedication in children

Preoperative and postoperative sedation, postoperative analgesia and vomiting were assessed following four different oral premedications in 143 children aged 1-10 years, weighing 10-30 kg, and undergoing elective adenotonsillectomy or inguinal surgery. Diazepam, diazepam combined with droperidol, trimeprazine and trimeprazine combined with droperidol were compared in a double-blind trial in conjunction with a standardised inhalational anaesthetic technique employing an intraoperative narcotic. Trimeprazine produced significantly more preoperative sedation (P less than 0.001) and was associated with enhanced postoperative analgesia (P less than 0.01). The incidence of postoperative vomiting was significantly less in the group receiving trimeprazine (P less than 0.001). The addition of droperidol to diazepam and trimeprazine only marginally improved the performance of those drugs but significantly prolonged postoperative recovery times. This was more marked when droperidol was combined with trimeprazine.     

An analysis for menstrual data with time-varying covariates

This paper concerns the analysis of menstrual data; in particular, methodology to identify variables that contribute to the variability of menstrual cycles both within and between women. The basis for the proposed methodology is a parameterization of the mean length of a menstrual cycle conditional upon the past cycles and covariates. This approach accommodates the length-bias and censoring commonly found in menstrual data. Data from a longitudinal study of menstrual patterns and other variables among Lese women of the Ituri Forest, Zaire, illustrate the methodology. A small simulation illustrates the bias caused by incorrectly deleting the censored cycles.