The concept of health: beyond normativism and naturalism.

Philosophical discussions of health and disease have traditionally been dominated by a debate between normativists, who hold that health is an inescapably value-laded concept and naturalists, such as Christopher Boorse, who believe that it is possible to derive a purely descriptive or theoretical definition of health based upon biological function. In this paper I defend a distinctive view which traces its origins in Aristotle's naturalistic ethics. An Arisotelian would agree with Boorse that health and disease are ubiquitous features of the natural world and thus not mere projections of human interests and values.

[Selective retina therapy in patients with diabetic maculopathy].

Selective Retina Therapy (SRT) is a new laser treatment that selectively targets the retinal pigmen epithelium (RPE). In this study, we treated 39 patients presenting with nonischemic, focal and focal-diffuse diabetic maculopathy with SRT. In the main.

Evaluation of method of preparation of passive diffusion tubes for measurement of ambient nitrogen dioxide.

This study was carried out in response to suggestions that the measurement of NO(2) by Palmes-type passive diffusion tubes (PDT) is affected by the method of preparation of the triethanolamine (TEA) absorbent coating on the grids. The following combinations of factors were investigated: TEA solvent (acetone or water), volume composition of TEA in solvent (50% or 20%), and grid coating method (dipping in solution prior to assembly or pipetting solution on after assembly). Duplicate PDTs prepared by each of the 8 methods were exposed in parallel, in urban air, for a total of 80 separate 1 week exposures.

Successful contracting depends on optimal retail pricing.

Retail price structures are a critical part of the managed care contracting process because payers use local and national charge norms to compare hospitals and to determine negotiating targets. To successfully negotiate managed care contracts, and to be able to offer sensible discounts to payers that require them, a healthcare organization needs to determine its retail prices relative to the marketplace. By measuring their charge structure's variance from those of other providers in the same market, healthcare organizations can ensure that their retail prices are competitive.