FTC will reevaluate hospital consolidations.

Hospitals should take steps to ensure their recent consolidations can withstand renewed FTC antitrust scrutiny. The FTC will likely focus its attention on: Virtual mergers, in which "merging" organizations have combined operations while maintaining a degree of managerial independence; Mergers that were originally justified on the basis of projected efficiencies or lower prices; and Mergers of not-for-profit and for-profit organizations.

Leukotriene synthesis by epithelial cells.

Leukotrienes (LTs) are intercellular signaling molecules that evoke a variety of responses. They are best known as potent promoters of inflammation. Normally, LTs are produced primarily by leukocytes.

CMS investigates outlier payments.

CMS is increasing its scrutiny of hospital billing practices in the wake of excessive claims for outlier payments by some healthcare organizations. Hospitals should review their billing practices to ensure that they are using a charge schedule that complies with Medicare regulations Hospitals also should conduct ongoing reviews of their outlier cases to ensure that their charge structures are appropriate and their outlier services are medically necessary. Hospitals can expect CMS to implement changes to the outlier regulations.

Development of intramolecularly quenched fluorescent peptides as substrates of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2 or ACEH) is a novel angiotensin-converting enzyme-related carboxypeptidase that cleaves a single amino acid from angiotensin I, des-Arg bradykinin, and many other bioactive peptides. Using des-Arg bradykinin as a template, we designed a series of intramolecularly quenched fluorogenic peptide substrates for ACE2. The general structure of the substrates was F-X-Q, in which F was the fluorescent group, Abz, Q was the quenching group (either Phe(NO(2)) or Tyr(NO(2))), and X was the intervening peptide.

Identification of two novel nuclear import sequences on the 5-lipoxygenase protein.

The nuclear import of 5-lipoxygenase modulates its capacity to produce leukotrienes from arachidonic acid. However, the molecular determinants of its nuclear import are unknown. Recently, we used structural and functional criteria to identify a novel import sequence at Arg(518) on human 5-lipoxygenase (Jones, S.

Perpest model, a case-based reasoning approach to predict ecological risks of pesticides.

The PERPEST model is a model that predicts the ecological risks of pesticides in freshwater ecosystems. This model simultaneously predicts the effects of a particular concentration of a pesticide on various (community) endpoints. In contrast to most effect models, PERPEST is based on empirical data extracted from the literature.

Timeless demonstrations of Parkinson's first law.

"Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion," Parkinson's law, is an explanation classic that has survived without an artifact-free demonstration at the individual level. To evaluate Parkinson's law, undergraduate subjects expected to judge four sets of photos of faces with reference to a subjective criterion. The experimental subjects, who were told that the fourth set was canceled before they began work on the third set, dallied on the third set; that is, as compared with controls, they prolonged work.

Fictional narratives change beliefs: replications of Prentice, Gerrig, and Bailis (1997) with mixed corroboration.

We report three exact replications of experiments aimed at iluminating how fictional narratives influence beliefs (Prentice, Gerrig, & Bailis, 1997). Students read fictional stories that contained weak, unsupported assertions and which took place either at their home school or at an away school. Prentice et al.

Accuracy of float testing for metered-dose inhaler canisters.

Objective: To characterize and evaluate canister floating patterns of three commercially available metered-dose inhalers (MDIs) with varying amounts of medication remaining.

Design: Four canisters each of three asthma medications were studied. MDIs were actuated every 30 seconds to 60 seconds, and canisters were weighed and floated at 100%, 75%, 66%, 50%, 33%, 25%, 10%, and 0% of remaining labeled actuations.

Structural and functional criteria reveal a new nuclear import sequence on the 5-lipoxygenase protein.

Leukotrienes are lipid mediators with important roles in immunity. The enzyme 5-lipoxygenase initiates leukotriene synthesis; nuclear import of 5-lipoxygenase modulates leukotriene synthetic capacity. In this study, we used structural and functional criteria to identify potential nuclear import sequences.

Structural characterization of the catalytic domain of the human 5-lipoxygenase enzyme.

Leukotrienes are inflammatory mediators involved in several diseases. The enzyme 5-lipoxygenase initiates the synthesis of leukotrienes from arachidonic acid. Little structural information is available regarding 5-lipoxygenase.

Effects of a mixture of two insecticides in freshwater microcosms: II. Responses of plankton and ecological risk assessment.

This paper reports on the chronic effects of a mixture of the insecticides chlorpyrifos and lindane in freshwater microcosms. Chronic treatment levels corresponding to concentrations of 0, 0.005, 0.

JAM2 interacts with alpha4beta1. Facilitation by JAM3.

We have previously reported that junctional adhesion molecule 2 (JAM2) adheres to T cells through heterotypic interactions with JAM3. An examination of the cation dependence of JAM2 adhesion to HSB cells revealed a Mn(2+)-enhanced binding component indicative of integrin involvement. Using neutralizing integrin antibodies, we have defined an interaction between JAM2 and alpha(4)beta(1) in T cells.

Continuing-education programs in pharmacogenomics for pharmacists.

The Notes section welcomes the following types of contributions: (1) practical innovations or solutions to everyday practice problems, (2) substantial updates or elaborations on work previously published by the same authors, (3) important confirmations of research findings previously published by others, and (4) short research reports, including practice surveys, of modest scope or interest. Notes should be submitted with AJHP's manuscript checklist. The text should be concise, and the number of references, tables, and figures should be limited.

Therapeutic potential of endothelin receptor antagonists and nitric oxide donors in pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary hypertension can occur idiopathically as a primary disorder of the pulmonary circulation or more commonly, it can exist as a haemodynamic manifestation of a wide variety of pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases, including acute lung injury, chronic obstructive lung disease, congenital heart disease, mitral stenosis, chronic left-sided congestive heart failure and connective tissue diseases such as scleroderma. Pulmonary hypertension is associated with changes in vascular tone as well as vascular structure, with the relative contribution of each dependent upon the aetiology of the increased pulmonary vascular resistance. Most currently available treatments utilise anticoagulants as well as vasodilator drugs that only attenuate the vasoconstrictive component of the disease.

Partial integration raises antitrust concerns.

Recently, providers have begun to explore a new model of integrated delivery system, the partially integrated IDS. Typically, a partially integrated IDS is a joint venture, owned by a core group of providers that maintains complete financial and operational independence outside the joint venture. The IDS contracts with other providers to furnish services that the part-owners do not furnish.

Sulphatides trigger polymorphonuclear granulocyte spreading on collagen-coated surfaces and inhibit subsequent activation of 5-lipoxygenase.

Sulphatides are sulphate esters of galactocerebrosides that are present on the surfaces of many cell types and act as specific ligands to selectins. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of sulphatides on polymorphonuclear granulocyte (PMN) attachment, spreading and 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) metabolism. Sulphatides, but not non-sulphated galactocerebrosides, dose-dependently enhanced attachment to collagen, as measured by the myeloperoxidase assay.

Cloning of human junctional adhesion molecule 3 (JAM3) and its identification as the JAM2 counter-receptor.

We have identified a third member of the junctional adhesion molecule (JAM) family. At the protein level JAM3 displays 36 and 32% identity to JAM2 and JAM1, respectively. The coding region is distributed over 9 exons and maps to chromosome 11q25.

Evaluation of phagocytosis and arachidonate metabolism by alveolar macrophages and recruited neutrophils from F344xBN rats of different ages.

The incidence of infectious respiratory diseases increases with aging. Resident alveolar macrophages (AMs) and recruited leukocytes (PMNL) mediate cellular defense against bacterial infections in the lung, and phagocytosis and lipid mediator synthesis are important components of their antimicrobial capacity. The objective of this study was to determine if either phagocytic capacity or lipid mediator generation declines with normal aging, in either AMs or PMNL recruited to a site of inflammation.

TBC3711, an ET(A) receptor antagonist, reduces neonatal hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension in piglets.

The pulmonary vasculature of newborns with persistent pulmonary hypertension is characterized by active vasoconstriction and vascular remodeling. It has been suggested that endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasoconstrictor and growth promoter, may be involved in the pathogenesis of persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. To determine whether treatment with an ET(A) receptor antagonist can reverse pulmonary hypertension in the neonate, 1-d-old piglets were exposed to hypoxia for 3 d to induce pulmonary hypertension and then treated for the remainder of the 14 d with an orally active, nonpeptidic ET(A) antagonist (TBC3711, 22 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)).

Do training programs work? An assessment of pharmacists activities in the field of chemical dependency.

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to determine if a selected sample of pharmacists who had attended a chemical dependency training program were performing more chemical dependency related activities than a group of American Pharmaceutical Association (APhA) members who had not had this training. Additionally, an assessment of the perceived barriers to performing chemical dependencyrelated activities was performed.

Design: A confidential mail questionnaire was sent to 305 Utah School participants and 305 APhA members who had not participated in the program (See Appendix).

Co-localization of leukotriene a4 hydrolase with 5-lipoxygenase in nuclei of alveolar macrophages and rat basophilic leukemia cells but not neutrophils.

The synthesis of leukotriene B(4) from arachidonic acid requires the sequential action of two enzymes: 5-lipoxygenase and leukotriene A(4) hydrolase. 5-Lipoxygenase is known to be present in the cytoplasm of some leukocytes and able to accumulate in the nucleoplasm of others. In this study, we asked if leukotriene A(4) hydrolase co-localizes with 5-lipoxygenase in different types of leukocytes.