Apigenin from Croton betulaster Müll restores the immune profile of microglia against glioma cells.

The flavonoid apigenin, extracted from the Brazilian plant Croton betulaster Müll. has demonstrated the ability to inhibit proliferation, induce differentiation, and modify the inflammatory profile of glioma cells. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of apigenin on chemotaxis and regulation of inflammatory cytokines of microglia cells and these impacts on glioma cell growth.

A patient-centred check sheet improves communication on the trauma ward round.

Background: Effective communication on surgical ward rounds should clarify for patients their management plan and answer questions adequately. Pressures on time conspire against this interchange of information. A patient-centred surgical communication check sheet was devised to enable rapid two-way transfer of information between surgeon and patient.

Partnerships in Health Systems: Social Organization as limits and possibilities in the Family Health Strategy Management.

This is a case study in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro about management in the Family Health Strategy based on the Social Organizations model. The aims were to characterize and analyze aspects of the governance system adopted by the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Health Department and identify limits and possibilities of this model as a management option in Brazil's Unified Health System. A qualitative study was performed based on a literature review, document analysisand interviews with key informants.

[The role of hospitals in the dynamic of health care innovation].

The article analyzes the role played by hospital services in the dynamic of health care innovation, considering that these are the driving force of the innovation process within the Economic-Industrial Health Care Complex. In addition, the services' potential for articulating virtuously the economic and social dimensions of development is emphasized in the article. By using the framework of the political economy of health, contributions are proposed to the development of an analytical basis and of new models for strategic analysis of institutional, technological and hospital management conditions, as well as of their interconnections within the health care productive complex.

Effects of the flavonoid casticin from Brazilian Croton betulaster in cerebral cortical progenitors in vitro: direct and indirect action through astrocytes.

Neurodegenerative diseases are a major constraint on the social and economic development of many countries. Evidence has suggested that phytochemicals have an impact on brain pathology; however, both their mechanisms of action and their cell targets are incompletely known. Here, we investigated the effects of the flavonoid casticin, extracted from Croton betulaster, a common plant in the state of Bahia in Brazil, on rat cerebral cortex neurons in vitro.

[An analysis of managed care provided by charitable hospitals in Brazil].

This article describes charitable hospitals in Brazil that provide managed care and the health management organizations themselves, considering the level of autonomy by the latter in relation to the hospitals and their degree of management development, based on a nationwide study. A random sample of individual hospitals was drawn from the hospital groups. After refusals and replacements, the final sample consisted of 112 individual hospitals and 10 hospital groups.

[Consumer satisfaction study in philanthropic hospital health plans].

This paper presents the findings of research aimed at identifying and analyzing the argumentation and rationale that justify the satisfaction of consumers with their health plans. The qualitative method applied used the focus group technique, for which the following aspects were defined: the criteria for choosing the health plans which were considered, the composition of the group and its distribution, recruitment strategy, and infrastructure and dynamics of the meetings. The health plan beneficiaries were classified into groups according to their social class, the place where they lived, mainly, the relationship that they established with the health plan operators which enabled us to develop a typology for the plan beneficiaries.

[Philanthropic hospitals and the operation of provider-owned health plans in Brazil].

Objective: To describe the management performance of philanthropic hospitals that operate their own health plans, in comparison with philanthropic hospitals as a whole in Brazil.

Methods: The managerial structures of philanthropic hospitals that operated their own health plans were compared with those seen in a representative group from the philanthropic hospital sector, in six dimensions: management and planning, economics and finance, human resources, technical services, logistics services and information technology. Data from a random sample of 69 hospitals within the philanthropic hospital sector and 94 philanthropic hospitals that operate their own health plans were evaluated.

[Characterization of assistance among philanthropic hospitals in Brazil].

Objective: To characterize the Brazilian philanthropic hospital network and its relation to the public and private sectors of the Sistema Unico de Saude (SUS) [Brazilian Unified Health System].

Methods: This is a descriptive study that took into consideration the geographic distribution, number of beds, available biomedical equipment, health care complexity as well as the productive and consumer profiles of philanthropic hospitals. It is based on a sample of 175 hospitals, within a universe of 1,917, involving 102 distinct institutions.

[Management characteristics in charity hospitals in Brazil].

This paper presents the management characteristics of charity hospitals in Brazil, based on data from a national survey developed in 2001. The sample accounted for the random inclusion of 66 Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) inpatient care providers with less than 599 beds and all 26 hospitals with at least 599 beds. It also included 10 institutions assumed as non-providers of services to the SUS.