Management strategies for community acquired pneumonia.

The past decade has witnessed dramatic changes in the etiology, diagnosis, and management of community acquired pneumonia (CAP). Due to the wide variation in practice patterns, physicians and professional societies have taken the lead in developing practice guidelines. To better understand the range of these multiple protocols, various stages of the disease and treatment are described and compared.

The current quality of health plan report cards.

In general, health plan report cards can provide valuable information to consumers, physicians, and health care purchasers regarding plan performance and quality to assist in the selection of a health plan. However, significant limitations of health plan report cards currently exist. It is only with further evolvement and refinement that health plan report cards can live up to their potential and become a distinctive and useful tool in evaluating and selecting among various health plans.

Outcome of case management and comprehensive support services following policy changes in mental health care delivery.

Unlabelled: An assessment of policy toward the care of seriously mentally ill (SMI) persons residing in a suburban Chicago community was undertaken. Results indicated the SMI population was classically "underserved." Few alternatives to a state inpatient hospital were being utilized.

Shifts in tooth maturation patterns in non-French Canadian boys.

Aims: This study was designed to evaluate the predictability of dental maturation patterns in non-French Canadian boys using the maturation curves developed by Demirjian & Goldstein [1].

Sample: Archival cephalometric radiographs taken during a longitudinal study (1930-1960) of Caucasian Americans were re-evaluated.

Methods: Maturation of the permanent teeth on the left side of the mandible was determined according to the methods described by Demirjian & Goldstein.

Monitoring changes in home health care: a comparison of two national surveys.

Home health care is the fastest growing component of medical care in the United States. To understand better the nature and scope of changes taking place in home health, two current national surveys are described and compared. The two federally sponsored surveys are the National Home and Hospice Care Survey (NHHCS) conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.

Effects of mutating Asn-52 to isoleucine on the haem-linked properties of cytochrome c.

Asn-52 of rat cytochrome c and baker's yeast iso-1-cytochrome c was changed to isoleucine by site-directed mutagenesis and the mutated proteins expressed in and purified from cultures of transformed yeast. This mutation affected the affinity of the haem iron for the Met-80 sulphur in the ferric state and the reduction potential of the molecule. The yeast protein, in which the sulphur-iron bond is distinctly weaker than in vertebrate cytochromes c, became very similar to the latter: the pKa of the alkaline ionization rose from 8.