Paper persistence, workarounds, and communication breakdowns in computerized consultation management.

Objective: The consultation request process between primary care and specialty services often contains paper-based components that may be inefficient and difficult to track. Other barriers may include workarounds and communication breakdowns with the potential to adversely impact delivery of quality medical care. We investigated current challenges to the electronic outpatient consult management process in the United States Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Observations from chaotic analysis of sleep EEGs.

Chaotic analysis and modeling methods were applied to a small collection of healthy individuals' sleeping EEGs in order to establish whether a common representational space could be discovered for use in comparative analysis. Common challenges were encountered and dealt with in a practical manner. The methods used and the choices made in this effort are described herein.

Metalloproteinase inhibition has differential effects on alloimmunity, autoimmunity, and histopathology in the transplanted lung.

Background: Upregulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) has been associated with chronic lung allograft rejection known as bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome. It has been suggested that MMP inhibition could prevent the rejection response. However, the effect of MMP inhibition on lung allograft rejection has not been reported.

Macrophages exposed to lymphotropic and monocytotropic HIV induce similar CTL responses despite differences in productive infection.

Macrophages are accessory cells that are vulnerable to infection by HIV-1. HTLV-IIIB, a lymphotropic strain of HIV, infects macrophages poorly resulting in either no or low levels of virus expression compared to high levels of productive infection after exposure of macrophages to the monocytotropic HIV strain Ada-M. Whether this results in an impaired ability of HTLV-IIIB-exposed macrophages to initiate protective cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) immune responses against these strains is not well defined.

The influence of CPAP on the neurobehavioral performance of patients with obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome: a systematic review.

Objective: To determine what is known about neurobehavioral outcomes in patients with the obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome following treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

Data Sources: Medline was searched. Abstracts presented at international meetings were searched and authors were contacted for additional trials.