Male influence on estrous cycle phenomena in the rat

Sixty-four colony-bred Sprague-Dawley female rats were used in examining the effect of the male presence on female estrous cycle interval. Females were randomly assigned 4 per cage to 16 cages. Vaginal smears were taken daily during a 28-day period. Detection of cornified cells was assumed to be associated with estrus. There was considerable variability in Individual estrous cycle length. The mean number of cycles exhibited was 3.84 during the 28-day premale period. The expected mean number of cycles would have been 4.7 to 5.4 if all females had exhibited regular estrous cycles of 5 to 6 days duration. The average length of estrous interval prior to exposure to males was 5.18 days. On day 28 a mature intact male was introduced within each pen. Prior to introduction, males were housed separately from females, mixing of colony odors was minimized by room ventilation. Males were removed from females 17 days following introduction. Following intro-duction of males, an average estrous interval length of 5.28 days was observed. This did not differ significantly from the 5.18-day average interval observed prior to exposure to males. Thus, no significant male influence upon estrous interval length was demonstrated. One-hundred percent of the females, including those showing abnormal estrous patterns prior to the introduction of the males, showed cornified cells within the first 5 days following introduction of the male and 76 percent of this number conceived within this first 5-day period. The difference between percent showing cornified cells and the percent conceiving suggests that observation of cornified cells may not be a reliable indicator of sexual receptivity in the rat

EHR-Based Care Coordination Performance Measures in Ambulatory Care

Describes electronic health record-based measures for assessing coordination in referrals, including information communicated with referral, communication to patient, and specialist report to primary care physician. Offers preliminary evaluation findings

Better arthritis care: what training do community-based health professionals need to improve their care of people with arthritis? a Delphi study

Objective The aim of the present study was to identify the competencies that non-specialist community-based nurses and allied health professionals (AHPs) need to enable them to assess, care for and manage arthritis appropriately. Methods A Delphi survey with an expert panel of 43 rheumatology specialists and expert patients was used to identify the competencies needed by community-based nurses and AHPs to enable them to improve their care of people with arthritis. The process was informed by feedback from focus groups with arthritis patients, community-based nurses and AHPs. Results The core competencies in arthritis care needed by non-specialist community-based nurses and AHPs were identified. The key goals identified were to increase the understanding of arthritis and its impact on patients’ lives, and to increase the ability to help patients to self-manage their condition and access support. Competencies included an understanding of the pathology underlying inflammatory and non-inflammatory arthritis, the ability to distinguish between the two and the ability to recognize early warning signs, with an emphasis on osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis, gout and septic arthritis. Essential competencies included the ability to engage in shared decision making, goal setting and signposting, to provide patients with education and information and to make appropriate referrals. Conclusions Health professionals working in the community commonly encounter arthritis as a presenting problem or as a co-morbidity. The quality of care provided to people with inflammatory arthritis and OA in the community is currently variable. The present study identified the core competencies that all community-based nurses and AHPs should have in relation to OA and inflammatory arthritis

From Peaceful Militancy to Revolution: An Analysis of the Rhetorical Structure of the Women's Social and Political Union in Great Britain, 1903-1914

This study focused on the rhetorical structure of the Women's Social and Political Union. An interdisciplinary methodology was used to examine the components of rhetorical structure: ideology, goals, leaders, membership, and strategies. The rhetorical structure became the thread which held the movement together and provided the impetus for its progression and through four stages: formation and development, the beginning of militancy, the flourishing of membership, and the eruption of violence. The final stage brought about differing ideologies, inconsistent goals, and a divided membership. Although the rhetorical structure was shattered and the movement ended, it succeeded in changing the Victorian image of women and contributed to the larger women's movement

The 2007 ERA-EDTA Registry Annual Report—a Précis

Introduction: This paper provides a summary of the 2006 European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association (ERA-EDTA) Registry report. Methods: Data on renal replacement therapy (RRT) were available from 50 national and regional registries in 28 countries in Europe and bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Data sets with individual patient data were received from 35 registries, whereas 17 registries contributed data in aggregated form. For both types of registries we presented incidence, prevalence and transplant rates. Survival analysis and the calculation of expected remaining lifetimes were solely based on individual patient records.Results: In 2006, among all registries reporting to the ERA-EDTA Registry, the overall annual incidence rate of RRT was 118 per million population (pmp), and the prevalence was 630 pmp. Incidence rates varied from 213 pmp in Germany to 18 pmp in Ukraine. The overall incidence rate of RRT for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) started to decrease from 2004. The highest prevalence of RRT for ESRD was reported by Cantabria, Spain (1,234 pmp) and the lowest by Ukraine (73 pmp). Overall transplant rates were highest in Spain (61 pmp), whereas the highest transplant rates with living donor kidneys were reported from Iceland (26 pmp). The unadjusted 1-, 2- and 5-year survival of patients on RRT was 82.3 (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 82.0-82.5), 70.9 (95% CI, 70.7-71.2) and 47.5 (95% CI, 47.3-47.6) for the cohort 1997-2001, respectivel

Differences In Management and Marketing Professors\u27 Perspectives On The Rising Cost of College Textbooks

Textbooks are an integral component of the higher education process. However, a great deal of concern about the high costs of college textbooks has been expressed by those inside and outside of higher education. This paper focuses on the results of a study of the differences in Management and Marketing professors\u27 criteria and use of textbooks and their reactions to some of the changes that have been implemented or may be implemented by universities, state legislatures, and publishers to combat these cost escalations. Findings suggest that management and marketing instructors, particularly those with years of experience, acknowledge the concerns their students have over high textbook prices. They are willing to have legislation enacted to force changes in the marketing of the textbooks by publishers, but they do not want university policies that (from their perspective) restrict their choices for texts. Nor are they in favor of possible publisher cost saving strategies that appear to add administrative burdens on faculty involved in the adoption process

The 2008 ERA–EDTA Registry Annual Report—a précis

Background. This study provides a summary of the 2008 ERA–EDTA Registry Report (this report is available at www.era-edta-reg.org)

Performance Measures Using Electronic Health Records: Five Case Studies

Presents the experiences of five provider organizations in developing, testing, and implementing four types of electronic quality-of-care indicators based on EHR data. Discusses challenges, and compares results with those from traditional indicators

The QUEST initiative anemia study in ESRD: rationale and study protocol

No abstrac

Competing risks analyses: objectives and approaches

Studies in cardiology often record the time to multiple disease events such as death, myocardial infarction, or hospitalization. Competing risks methods allow for the analysis of the time to the first observed event and the type of the first event. They are also relevant if the time to a specific event is of primary interest but competing events may preclude its occurrence or greatly alter the chances to observe it. We give a non-technical overview of competing risks concepts for descriptive and regression analyses. For descriptive statistics, the cumulative incidence function is the most important tool. For regression modelling, we introduce regression models for the cumulative incidence function and the cause-specific hazard function, respectively. We stress the importance of choosing statistical methods that are appropriate if competing risks are present. We also clarify the role of competing risks for the analysis of composite endpoint