It was nice to wake up from that one : an exploratory qualitative content analysis of vivid dreams and nightmares reported by people living with HIV/AIDS as side effects of Efavirenz

This is an exploratory, qualitative content analysis of 50 vivid dream and nightmare narratives posted to an online forum by people living with HIV/AIDS and taking the anti-HIV drug Efavirenz. It examines thematic connections among the dreams with consideration of how these themes might be linked to and reflective of complex subjective experiences of living with HIV/AIDS. This thesis demonstrates that the phenomenon of vivid dreams and nightmares as purported side effects of Efavirenz is of substantial interest to people living with HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, it argues that vivid dreams and nightmares experienced by people living with HIV/AIDS and taking Efavirenz are not simply medication side effects, but are meaningful experiences that are potentially useful in clinical social work with this population

The mysterious case of the C. elegans gut granule: death fluorescence, anthranilic acid and the kynurenine pathway

Gut granules are lysosome-like organelles with acidic interiors that are found in large numbers within the intestine of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. They are particularly prominent when viewed under ultraviolet light, which causes them to emit intense blue fluorescence. Yet the function of these large and abundant organelles in this heavily-studied model organism remains unclear. One possibility is that they serve as storage organelles, for example of zinc. A new clue to gut granule function is the identification of the blue fluorescent material that they contain as a glycosylated form of anthranilic acid, which is derived from tryptophan by action of the kynurenine pathway. This compound can also serve a surprising role as a natural, endogenous marker of organismal death

A computer operated mass spectrometer system

Digital computer system for processing mass spectrometer output dat

Computer control of mass analyzers

Digital computer control of mass spectrometer

Private health insurance in rural areas: Challenges and opportunities

KEY FINDINGS: Private insurance is less common in rural areas. Rural residents under age 65 are less likely than their urban counterparts to have private health insurance coverage. This difference is driven by the unique characteristics of rural places that make it challenging to create and sustain viable private insurance pools. Chief among these are the predominance of small businesses and self-employed, part time, and low wage workers. Rural workers are less likely to have an employer that offers coverage. Among those employed by a business, only 67% of rural employees work for a firm that offers coverage. Rural businesses, families and individuals pay more for the same benefits. Because of the higher premiums paid by small businesses, employees’ share of premiums is often high. Premiums for such policies tend to be high, and typically offer less generous coverage (fewer benefits and higher out-of-pocket costs). Strategies to improve access to private health insurance have particular implications for rural areas. Some of these strategies, and the rural considerations they raise, include: Employer mandate, purchasing pools/alliances/exchanges, or tax credits for individual insurance

The Underinsured in Rural America: The Root of the Problem and Possible Solutions

Presentation to National Congress on the Un- and Under-Insured Washington DC

Rural coverage gaps decline following public health insurance expansions

Following the implementation of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), rural health researchers noted that this public insurance expansion had the potential to dramatically improve health insurance coverage for rural children.1 At the time, rural children were more likely than their urban counterparts to be uninsured, and also were more likely to have family incomes in the range targeted by SCHIP (100- 200% of Federal Poverty Level-FPL).2 This brief uses the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to compare the health insurance coverage of rural and urban residents in 1997 and 2005 to assess how uninsured rates and sources of coverage have changed since SCHIP was enacted.* We also discuss the characteristics of the rural uninsured and the implications for health insurance reform. Rural is defined as living in a non-metropolitan county, as designated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). All presented results are statistically significant at p. ≤ .05