Longitudinal growth of the Saccharina kelp embryo depends on actin filaments that control the formation of a corset-like structure composed of alginate.

The initiation of embryogenesis in the kelp Saccharina latissima is accompanied by significant anisotropy in cell shape. Using monoclonal antibodies, we show that this anisotropy coincides with a spatio-temporal pattern of accumulation of alginates in the cell wall of the zygote and embryo. Alginates rich in guluronates as well as sulphated fucans show a homogeneous distribution in the embryo throughout Phase I of embryogenesis, but mannuronate alginates accumulate mainly on the sides of the zygote and embryo, disappearing as the embryo enlarges at the start of Phase II.

The end of an era? Activity-based funding based on diagnosis-related groups: A review of payment reforms in the inpatient sector in 10 high-income countries.

Context: Across the member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, policy makers are searching for new ways to pay hospitals for inpatient care to move from volume to value. This paper offers an overview of the latest reforms and their evidence to date.

Methods: We reviewed reforms to DRG payment systems in 10 high-income countries: Australia, Austria, Canada (Ontario), Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Poland, the United Kingdom (England), and the United States.

International strategies, experiences, and payment models to incentivise day surgery.

The importance of day surgery as a less costly alternative compared to conventional inpatient hospital stays is growing internationally. The rate of day surgery activities has increased across Europe. However, this trend has been heterogeneous across countries, and might still be below its potential.

Divergent COVID-19 vaccine policies: Policy mapping of ten European countries.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the fragmented nature of governmental policy decisions in Europe. However, the extent to which COVID-19 vaccination policies differed between European countries remains unclear. Here, we mapped the COVID-19 vaccination policies that were in effect in January 2022 as well as booster regulations in April 2022 in Austria, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain.

How to pay primary care physicians for SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations: An analysis of 43 EU and OECD countries.

Vaccinations are crucial to fighting SARS-CoV-2, and high coverage rates can in most countries probably only be achieved with the involvement of primary care physicians (PCPs). We aimed to explore how SARS-CoV-2 vaccination payment schemes in 43 countries differ with regard to the (i) type of payment scheme, (ii) amount paid, (iii) degree of bundling, and (iv) use of pay-for-performance elements. We collected information on payments and health system characteristics, such as PCP income and employment status, in all EU and OECD countries over time.

The relationship between nurse staffing levels and nursing-sensitive outcomes in hospitals: Assessing heterogeneity among unit and outcome types.

Objective: To identify which unit types are most sensitive to nurse staffing levels.

Data Sources/study Setting: Collection of secondary data took place from March to July 2016. For our study, we analyzed administrative hospital claims data and self-reported structural data from hospitals in Germany.

Pay for performance in the inpatient sector: A review of 34 P4P programs in 14 OECD countries.

Across the member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), pay-for-performance (P4P) programs have been implemented in the inpatient sector to improve the quality of care provided by hospitals. This paper provides an overview of 34 existing P4P programs in the inpatient sector in 14 OECD countries based on a structured literature search in five databases to identify relevant sources in Danish, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. It assembles information on the design and effects of these P4P systems and discusses whether evaluations of such programs allow preliminary conclusions to be drawn about the effects of P4P.

Economic and care considerations of Marfan syndrome.

Marfan syndrome is a rare multisystem disease of the connective tissue, which affects multiple organ systems. advances in healthcare have doubled the life-expectancy of patients over the past three decades. to date, there is no comprehensive review that consolidates economic considerations and care for marfan patients.

The Health Care Strengthening Act: The next level of integrated care in Germany.

The lack of integration of health-care sectors and specialist groups is widely accepted as a necessity to effectively address the most urgent challenges in modern health care systems. Germany follows a more decentralized approach that allows for many degrees of freedom. With its latest bill, the German government has introduced several measures to explicitly foster the integration of health-care services.

Perinatal outcome in pregnancies complicated by isolated oligohydramnios diagnosed before 37 weeks of gestation.

Objective: To analyze pregnancy outcome in cases of isolated oligohydramnios at preterm.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of singleton pregnancies diagnosed with isolated oligohydramnios at preterm (n = 108). Pregnancy outcome was compared with a matched control group of low-risk preterm pregnancies with normal levels of amniotic fluid in a 3:1 ratio (n = 324).

Updated guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems: recommendations from the Guidelines Working Group.

The purpose of evaluating public health surveillance systems is to ensure that problems of public health importance are being monitored efficiently and effectively. CDC's Guidelines for Evaluating Surveillance Systems are being updated to address the need for a) the integration of surveillance and health information systems, b) the establishment of data standards, c) the electronic exchange of health data, and d) changes in the objectives of public health surveillance to facilitate the response of public health to emerging health threats (e.g.

ECT for lorazepam-refractory catatonia.

Catatonic syndromes are seen in diverse psychiatric and systemic illnesses, and may have varied presentations. Although reports suggest that benzodiazepines are helpful, debate persists regarding definitive treatment for catatonia. We present a case in which electroconvulsive therapy effectively resolved symptoms in an adolescent patient with catatonia who had only a transient response to lorazepam.

Clinical benefits of paid work activity in schizophrenia.

Although indirect support can be found for the clinical benefits of work, it has not been studied in randomized designs, nor have critical variables been manipulated. One such variable is pay incentive. The authors present a study of 150 subjects with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who were randomized into Pay ($3.

Multisite experimental cost study of intensive psychiatric community care.

A 2-year experimental cost study of 10 Intensive Psychiatric Community Care (IPCC) programs was conducted at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers in the Northeast. High hospital users were randomly assigned to either IPCC (n = 454) or standard VA care (n = 419) at four neuropsychiatric (NP) and six general medical and surgical (GMS) hospitals. National computerized data were used to track all VA health care service usage and costs for 2 years following program entry.

Insight and psychosocial treatment compliance in schizophrenia.

Research has suggested that poor insight in patients with schizophrenia is associated with poorer medication compliance and heightened levels of psychopathology. This study examined the relationship of insight to compliance with a work rehabilitation program and with levels of psychopathology and psychosocial functioning. Poor insight was found to be positively associated with fewer weeks of participation and with poorer social skills and personal presentation in the fifth week of work.

Concurrent validity of the cognitive component of schizophrenia: relationship of PANSS scores to neuropsychological assessments.

Cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia may represent a separate component of the disorder that is distinct from positive or negative syndromes. In a previous study, we reported a factor analysis of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) that revealed five components, one of which we labeled the Cognitive component. In the present study, we explored the validity of the PANSS Cognitive component by examining correlations between neuropsychological measures and the five factor-analytically derived PANSS scores for 147 subjects with diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Five-component model of schizophrenia: assessing the factorial invariance of the positive and negative syndrome scale.

A five-component model of schizophrenia has been presented by Kay and Sevy based upon an analysis of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Kay and Sevy found factorial validity for negative and positive syndromes, and they identified excitement, depressive, and cognitive components as well. They suggested that subtypes and syndromes can be mapped along dimensions presented in their model.

Relationship of positive and negative symptoms to cocaine abuse in schizophrenia.

The prevalence of cocaine abuse by patients with schizophrenia has led researchers to investigate features of the disorder correlated with abuse. Although abuse has been found to be more common among patients with a diagnosis of paranoid subtype and a history of earlier and more frequent hospitalizations, it is unclear if it is related to any particular pattern of negative or positive symptoms. This study examines the severity of positive and negative symptoms for patients with and without histories of cocaine abuse.

The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Reliability, comparability, and predictive validity.

In a psychiatric rehabilitation study, 154 concurrent ratings were performed using the 30-item Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the 18-item Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS). Although both instruments had excellent interrater reliability, the PANSS was consistently better: on the 18 symptom items the two instruments share, the PANSS had higher intraclass r's on 14; for the syndromes, the PANSS was higher than the BPRS on positive, negative, and total. Weighted Kappas comparing shared items revealed that most were not interchangeable, with only three coefficients in the excellent range.