Hip Abductor Strength Asymmetry: Relationship to Upper Extremity Injury in Professional Baseball Players.

Background: Hip strength is an important factor for control of the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex. Deficits in hip strength may affect throwing performance and contribute to upper extremity injuries.

Hypothesis: Deficits in hip abduction isometric strength would be greater in those who sustained an upper extremity injury and hip strength would predict injury incidence.

Medicare Cost at End of Life.

As the Medicare program struggles to control expenditures, there is increased focus on opportunities to manage patient populations more efficiently and at a lower cost. A major source of expense for the Medicare program is beneficiaries at end of life. Estimates of the percentage of Medicare costs that arise from patients in the last year of life differ, ranging from 13% to 25%, depending on methods and assumptions.

Using dual-purpose crops in sheep-grazing systems.

The utilisation of dual-purpose crops, especially wheat and canola grown for forage and grain production in sheep-grazing systems, is reviewed. When sown early and grazed in winter before stem elongation, later-maturing wheat and canola crops can be grazed with little impact on grain yield. Recent research has sought to develop crop- and grazing-management strategies for dual-purpose crops.

Risk-adjusted indices for measuring the quality of inpatient care.

This article describes a risk-adjustment method for profiling hospitals and physicians on key measures of clinical quality using readily available administrative data. By comparing actual and expected rates of mortality, complications, readmissions, and patient safety events, this method enables providers to identify both favorable and adverse outcomes performance.