How Much Work Effort is Involved in Minimally Invasive Sacroiliac Joint Fusion?

Background: Minimally invasive sacroiliac joint fusion is increasing significantly. Starting January 1, 2015, it has a category I CPT code. The current RVU for this procedure is not equal to the amount of work involved.

Americans' experiences in the health insurance marketplaces: results from the first three months.

Conducted December 11–29, 2013, The Commonwealth Fund's second Affordable Care Act Tracking Survey interviewed a nationally representative sample of adults who are potentially eligible for the health reform law's new insurance options, whether private plans or Medicaid. Results show that by the end of December, 24 percent of potentially eligible adults had visited a marketplace to find a plan. The first survey, conducted in October, had found that 17 percent of people potentially eligible for coverage had visited the marketplaces during the first month of open enrollment.

Americans' experiences in the health insurance marketplaces: results from the first month.

Conducted October 9-27, 2013, the Commonwealth Fund Affordable Care Act Tracking Survey interviewed a nationally representative sample of adults who are potentially eligible for the health reform law's new insurance coverage options, whether private plans or expanded Medicaid. Among the survey's key findings: 60 percent of potentially eligible adults are aware of the new marketplaces as a place where they might shop for coverage; 17 percent reported visiting the marketplaces in October to shop for a health plan; about one of five visitors were ages 19 to 29; and one of five visitors enrolled in a plan. Reflecting the technical problems that have plagued the federal marketplace and some state marketplace websites, 37 percent of those who did not enroll in coverage cited those technical difficulties as a reason.

What Americans think of the new insurance marketplaces and Medicaid expansion: findings from the Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Marketplace Survey, 2013.

The Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplaces are opening for enrollment on October 1, 2013. The Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Marketplace Survey, 2013, finds that only two of five adults are aware of the marketplaces or of potential financial help that may be available to them to pay for plans purchased though the marketplaces. However, three of five adults who might be eligible for these new options said they were likely to take advantage of them.

In states' hands: how the decision to expand Medicaid will affect the most financially vulnerable Americans: findings from the Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Tracking Surveys of U.S. Adults, 2011 and 2012.

Between 2010 and 2012, nearly one-third (32%) of U.S. adults ages 19 to 64, or an estimated 55 million people, were either continuously uninsured or spent a period of time uninsured.

Covering young adults under the Affordable Care Act: the importance of outreach and Medicaid expansion: findings from the Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Tracking Survey of Young Adults, 2013.

There is concern that many young adults (ages 19--29) will remain without health insurance in 2014 despite the Affordable Care Act's reforms, including subsidized private coverage offered in new state marketplaces and expanded Medicaid eligibility. How things turn out will likely depend on outreach efforts and states' decisions on expanding Medicaid. Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Tracking Survey data from 2011 and 2013 show increasing awareness among young adults of the 2010 requirement that health plans cover children under age 26.

Oceans apart: the higher health costs of women in the U.S. compared to other nations, and how reform is helping.

An estimated 18.7 million U.S.

Awareness and interest in intrauterine contraceptive device use among HIV-positive women in Cape Town, South Africa.

Objective: To assess awareness of and interest in intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) use among HIV-positive women in Cape Town, South Africa.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Methods: HIV-positive women aged 18 through 45 years presenting for care at a primary health care clinic in Cape Town, South Africa participated in this study.

Young, uninsured, and in debt: why young adults lack health insurance and how the Affordable Care Act is helping: findings from the Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Tracking Survey of Young Adults, 2011.

The Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Tracking Survey of Young Adults finds that between November 2010 and November 2011, an estimated 13.7 million young adults ages 19-25 stayed on or joined their parents' health plans, including 6.6 million who likely would not have been able to do so prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Gaps in health insurance: why so many Americans experience breaks in coverage and how the Affordable Care Act will help: findings from the Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Tracking Survey of U.S. Adults, 2011.

The Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Tracking Survey of U.S. Adults finds that one-quarter of adults ages 19 to 64 experienced a gap in their health insurance in 2011, with a majority remaining uninsured for one year or more.

The income divide in health care: how the Affordable Care Act will help restore fairness to the U.S. health system.

The new Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Tracking Survey of U.S.Adults finds nearly three of five adults in families earning less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level were uninsured for a time in 2011; two of five were uninsured for one or more years.

When unemployed means uninsured: the toll of job loss on health coverage, and how the Affordable Care Act will help.

Chronically high unemployment has left millions of Americans without health insurance, which disappeared along with their wages and other job benefits. Although continuing health coverage through COBRA is an option for some workers, the often prohibitively high cost means that relatively few elect to purchase it. When fully implemented in 2014, the Affordable Care Act will dramatically increase health insurance options for people who lose their jobs.

How the Affordable Care Act is helping young adults stay covered.

The Affordable Care Act is making a difference for young adults, among the groups most at risk for lacking health insurance in the United States. Young adults up to age 26 may now stay on or join their parent's health plans if they include dependent coverage, and early reports indicate that at least 600,000 have done so. Starting in 2014, of the 14.

Adults ages 50-64 and the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which will provide health insurance to nearly all U.S. citizens and improve the quality of health insurance, will particularly benefit adults ages 50 to 64, a group suffering from extended unemployment and a loss of employer health benefits.

Diffusion-weighted MR imaging of neuro-Behçet's disease: a case report.

We present a serial study of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in a patient with neuro-Behçet's disease. Initial T2-weighted magnetic resonance images showed a hyperintense lesion in the brain stem. The lesion was slightly hyperintense on DWI and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was slightly increased.

Use of the blue MACS: acceptance by clinical instructors and self-reports of adherence.

Background And Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinical instructors' (CIs') acceptance of and self-reported adherence to instructions for use of The Blue MACS (5th edition) for evaluating the clinical performance of physical therapist students.

Subjects And Methods: One hundred twenty-four usable survey instruments were returned by CIs.

Results: Twenty-two items from The Blue MACS were collapsed into a score representing acceptance, and 10 items were collapsed into a score representing reported adherence to instructions.

Interleukin-4 and IL-10 bind covalently to activated human alpha2-macroglobulin by a mechanism that requires Cys949.

Alpha2-macroglobulin (alpha2M) functions as an extracellular carrier of diverse cytokines, including transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), that expresses anti-inflammatory activities. The results presented here demonstrate that interleukin-10 (IL-10) and IL-4, which also regulate the inflammatory response, bind to alpha2M. Unlike TGF-beta, IL-4 and IL-10 bind almost exclusively to the receptor-recognized, or activated, form of alpha2M.

Evolution of the entire arthropod Hox gene set predated the origin and radiation of the onychophoran/arthropod clade.

Background: Dramatic changes in body size and pattern occurred during the radiation of many taxa in the Cambrian, and these changes are best documented for the arthropods. The sudden appearance of such diverse body plans raises the fundamental question of when the genes and the developmental control systems that regulate these designs evolved. As Hox genes regulate arthropod body patterns, the evolution of these genes may have played a role in the origin and diversification of the arthropod body plan from a homonomous ancestor.

HLA-B alleles of the Navajo: no evidence for rapid evolution in the Nadene.

New HLA-B locus alleles have been found in South American Amerindian populations but were largely absent in North American Amerindian tribes also descended from this first Paleo-Indian migration. We have now extended these studies to the Navajo, descendants of the second Nadene migration. No new functional alleles were found at the B locus of this tribe.

Chimpanzee MHC class I A locus alleles are related to only one of the six families of human A locus alleles.

There are nearly 50 alleles at the highly polymorphic HLA-A class I locus that fall into six distinct families. To determine the allelic repertoire and the mechanism of generation of diversity of the A locus in primates we have analyzed A locus alleles from 28 apparently unrelated chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus). We have, therefore, compared the sequences of 19 HLA-A homologues from chimpanzees and bonobos to 42 HLA-A sequences.

HLA-B alleles of the Cayapa of Ecuador: new B39 and B15 alleles.

Recent data suggest that HLA-B locus alleles can evolve quickly in native South American populations. To investigate further this phenomenon of new HLA-B variants among Amerindians, we studied samples from another South American tribe, the Cayapa from Ecuador. We selected individuals for HLA-B molecular typing based upon their HLA class II typing results.

A uniquely high level of recombination at the HLA-B locus.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) loci are some of the most polymorphic genes in the animal kingdom. Recently, it has been suggested that although most of the human MHC loci are relatively stable, the HLA-B locus can undergo rapid changes, especially in isolated populations. To investigate the mechanisms of HLA-B evolution we have compared the sequences of 19 HLA-B homologues from chimpanzees and bonobos to 65 HLA-B sequences.

Evidence for at least three transcribed BoLA class I loci.

Serological data identify a single major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I locus in cattle. Molecular data, however, demonstrate the presence of at least two cattle MHC (BoLA) class I loci. To investigate the number of transcribed BoLA class I genes, we amplified cattle cDNA by using a single MHC class I-specific primer that hybridized to a conserved region of exon 4 and a non-specific 3' primer.

Enhanced antiopiate activity and enzyme resistance in peptidomimetics of FMRFamide containing (E)-2,3-methanomethionine.

FMRFamide is a molluscan peptide that has shown antiopiate activity in a number of mammalian test systems. The current study determined the antiopiate potency of FMRFamide and two conformationally constrained peptidomimetics of FMRFamide containing stereoisomers of (E)-2,3-methanomethionine. Morphine abstinence signs were observed after varying doses (0.