Development of an internal restraint system for an integrated restraint-pressure suit system Report, 7 Jun. 1965 - 28 Jun. 1966

Internal restraint system, composed of liquid filled garment and separate auxiliary system, for integrated restraint pressure suit for acceleration protection and thermal transpor

A Comparative Analysis of the Determinants of State Reproductive Healthcare Policies

This paper is a state comparative analysis of the determinants of a state\u27s policies towards reproductive healthcare. While much of the literature focuses solely on abortion, our analysis employs a more comprehensive measure of access to reproductive healthcare. Three explanations -- religious, socioeconomic, and political -- are tested to see which has the most significant impact on a state\u27s likeliness to enact restrictive policies towards reproductive healthcare. We find that the political model is the best predictor of the level of state restrictiveness, and that the percent of women in the legislature is the most powerful variable. Combining the most significant variables from the three previous models into a single model, we find that the percent of women in the legislature, per capita income, and Democratic party control of the state House are the most influential predictors of variation in state restrictiveness towards abortion and reproductive healthcare policies. Lastly, we suggest several avenues for future research

The size of two-body weakly bound objects : short versus long range potentials

The variation of the size of two-body objects is investigated, as the separation energy approaches zero, with both long range potentials and short range potentials having a repulsive core. It is shown that long range potentials can also give rise to very extended systems. The asymptotic laws derived for states with angular momentum l=1,2 differ from the ones obtained with short range potentials. The sensitivity of the asymptotic laws on the shape and length of short range potentials defined by two and three parameters is studied. These ideas as well as the transition from the short to the long range regime for the l=0 case are illustrated using the Kratzer potential.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Population structure analyses of <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> at Tygerberg Hospital, South Africa, reveals a diverse population, a high prevalence of Panton-Valentine leukocidin genes, and unique local methicillin-resistant S. aureus clones

AbstractStudies reporting on the population structure of Staphylococcus aureus in South Africa have focused only on methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). This study describes the population structure of S. aureus, including methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolated from patients at Tygerberg Academic Hospital, Western Cape province. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), detection of Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL), spa typing, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), agr typing and SCCmec typing were used to characterize strains. Of 367 non-repetitive S. aureus isolates collected over a period of 1 year, 56 (15.3%) were MRSA. Skin and soft tissue infections were the most frequent source (54.8%), followed by bone and joint (15.3%) and respiratory tract infections (7.7%). For strain typing, PFGE was the most discriminative method, and resulted in 31 pulsotypes (n = 345, 94.0%), as compared with 16 spa clonal complexes (CCs) (n = 344, 93.4%). Four MLST CCs were identified after eBURST of sequence types (STs) of selected isolates. One hundred and sixty isolates (MSSA, n = 155, 42.2%) were PVL-positive, and agr types I–IV and SCCmec types I–V were identified. Our S. aureus population consisted of genotypically diverse strains, with PVL being a common characteristic of MSSA. MSSA and MRSA isolates clustered in different clones. However, the dominant MRSA clone (ST612) also contained an MSSA isolate, and had a unique genotype. Common global epidemic MRSA clones, such as ST239-MRSA-III and ST36-MRSA-II, were identified. A local clone, ST612-MRSA-IV, was found to be the dominant MRSA clone

24-hour Heart Rate is Related to Lower Extremity Venous Vascular Function in Persons with Paraplegia

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Improving cost-effectiveness of hypertension management at a community health centre

Objectives. To describe the pattern of prescribing for hypertension at a community health centre (CHC) and to evaluate the impact of introducing treatment guidelines and restricting availability of less cost-effective antihypertensive drugs on prescribing patterns, costs of drug treatment and blood pressure (BP) control.Design. Before/after intervention study.Setting. Medium-sized CHC in the Cape Flats area of Cape Town.Subjects. 1 084 hypertensive patients attending the CHC, who had at least two prescriptions for antihypertensive drugs during a 1-year period starting on 1 January 1992. Interventions. 1. Implementation of stepped-care guidelines for hypertension, specifying treatment with more cost-effective drugs and minimising drug treatment. 2. Reducing availability for routine prescribing by CHC doctors of 10 less cost-effective antihypertensive drugs or drug combinations.Outcome measures. 1. Mean number of drugs prescribed per patient. 2. Proportion of prescriptions for: each major class of antihypertensive drug; restricted availability and freely prescribable drugs; and more and less cost-effective drugs. 3. Mean monthly cost of drugs prescribed per patient. 4. Mean blood pressure and proportion of BP readings controlled (&lt;160/95 mmHg) or uncontrolled (≥160/95 mmHg).Results. A mean of 1.7 active drugs was prescribed per patient per visit. The most frequently prescribed drugs were thiazide-like diuretics (44.8%), centrally acting agents (28.4%) and b-blockers (13.2%). Mean monthly drug costs per patient decreased significantly by R1.99 (24.2%) from R8.24 to R6.25 between the first and last prescription for each patient (exclusive of any reduction due to withdrawal of treatment). This was attributable to reduced prescribing of more expensive drugs withdrawn from routine use and a 51.1% increase in prescribing of the most cost-effective drugs. The overall annual cost-saving of the changes in prescribing for this CHC are estimated at R75 150. Blood pressure control did not change significantly.Conclusion. The pattern of changes in prescribing and drug costs was consistent with a causal effect of the interventions. The study demonstrates the potential forimproving cost-effectiveness of hypertension care in primary care in South Africa and the potential for research in this setting

Hypertension care at a Cape Town community health centre

Objectives. To describe the demographic profile of hypertensive patients and the quality of care for hypertension at a Cape Town community health centre (CHC).Design. Prospective, descriptive study.Setting and subjects. Medium-sized CHC, attended by 1098 hypertensive patients during a 1-year period from 1 January 1992.Outcome measures. Default rate - proportion of due visits not attended. Loss to follow-up - proportion of patients persistently defaulting or not responding to recall. Frequency of blood pressure measurement - per 12 due visits. Compliance - proportion of patients collecting ≥ 75% of antihypertensive drugs. Blood pressure control - mean blood pressure of aggregated readings; and proportion controlled (&lt;160/95 mmHg) on the basis of all blood pressure readings and mean blood pressures of individual patients with two or more readings during the study period.Results. More than half (51.6%) of the hypertensive patients were aged ≥ 65 years; 81.7% were female. The default rate was between 11.9% and 19.4%. Compliance was high (76.9%). Loss to follow-up was 8.1 %. Blood pressure was recorded a mean of 4.0 times per 12 due visits. There were no significant gender differences with regard to these measures. Mean blood pressure was 158.3/89.6 mmHg. Over half (56.7%) of all individual readings over the year were uncontrolled and 51.4% of patients were found to be uncontrolled when categorised by their mean blood pressure. Control was significantly poorer among women ≥ 65 years.Conclusion. We found better compliance, more frequent blood pressure measurement, and lower defaulting and loss to follow-up compared with previous South African studies in similar settings. Despite this, blood pressure control was mediocre. Possible explanations for this are discussed. The low proportion of male hypertensives attending the CHC suggests that the accessibility or acceptability of care is poor for this group. The study illustrates the potential for research in this setting and for the use of computers to monitor the quality of primary care.

Prediction Of Carotid Artery Intima-Media Thickness From Biomarkers In Persons With Spinal Cord Injury

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Calorie restriction alters mitochondrial protein acetylation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72130/1/j.1474-9726.2009.00503.x.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72130/2/ACEL_503_sm_FigS1.pd