Sulfate Transport in Cultured Tobacco Cells : EFFECTS OF CALCIUM AND SULFATE CONCENTRATION

Sulfate transport by tobacco cells (var. Xanthi) cultured in liquid medium was investigated. Monophasic uptake was observed over a sulfate concentration range from 0.01 to 10 millimolar, and the K(m) was 20 micromolar. A time-dependent stimulation of transport was observed when cells were incubated in medium containing 0.5 millimolar Ca(2+). Calcium stimulation was dependent on the culture cycle and was maximal during the early exponential phase. It was not observed in sulfur-deficient cells with high transport rates and was relatively small in sulfate-loaded cells with low transport rates. A kinetic analysis showed that Ca(2+) increased the maximum rate of transport without affecting the K(m).

Method of screening obstetric patients to prevent reproductive wastage

Data from 1268 deliveries were analyzed and infant outcome was followed using the 2-way television link between a small community hospital and a university neonatal center. Scoring based on 36 prenatal risk characteristics found 26% of the mothers to be at high risk. This high-risk group accounted for 64% of the infant transfers and 67% of the neonatal deaths. Screening of obstetric patients using a prenatal risk score is advised.

Evaluation of television consultations between a large neonatal care hospital and a community hospital

Two-way television consultations between community hospital nurses and neonatologists at a nearby teaching hospital were conducted over a two- and one-half year period of time and were evaluated with respect to a baseline time period in which the television was not available. Screening for illness and prematurity in neonates occurred in a high risk population residing in a black, economically deprived, innercity area. Outcomes including transfer of sick babies from the community hospital to the large teaching hospital are analyzed in relation to prenatal maternal risk characteristics. Apgar scores, birth weight and gestational age. Evidence available suggests that television consultations facilitated formation of appropriate criteria for interhospital transfer and that routine clinical screening tests were performed more consistently following initiation of interhospital consultations.

Prediction of neonatal death or need for interhospital transfer by prenatal risk characteristics of mother

A closed-circuit television system is implemented between neonatal specialists at a large neonatal care hospital and nurses caring for infants in the newborn nursery in a small community hospital located in an inner city, predominantly black, economically deprived area. Data are systematically collected relating prenatal risk characteristics of mothers to outcome measures, including selected intrapartum maternal complications, neonatal morbidity and mortality, neonatal therapeutic interventions, and transfer of neonates from the small hospital to the larger hospital. To our knowledge, study of factors predicting transfer has received little attention in the literature. A log linear model is used to identify specific groups of prenatal risk characteristics capable of predicting maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Identification of patients in need of psychiatric intervention: visiting an emergency facility

The utilization of the emergency room (E.R.) at a small community hospital located in a black inner-city area is investigated. Patients are classified according to a criterion for psychiatric intervention for the purpose of making staffing pattern recommendations. Psychiatric patients and non-psychiatric patients are classified by age, marital status, previous admissions to the E.R., time of arrival and time spent in the E.R., and circumstances of mode of arrival in the E.R. The criterion of psychiatric intervention is viewed as providing an additional dimension in the study of the emergency room, a hospital service which is providing increasing routine and non-routine medical care to the general population.

Medical documentation for third-party payers

Medical documentation of patient care by physical therapy has become a requirement for reimbursement of health services paid by federal and state programs or by other third-party payers. The medical record of physical therapy must satisfy several specific requirements of third-party payers before health services can be reimbursed. The fiscal intermediaries require a precise, written statement of the patient's physical problems, treatment goals and plan, and objective information on the patient's response to treatment. The criteria reflected for third-party payment must be satisfied and evident in succinct and accurate documentation in the medical record. Medical documentation must show evidence of a prescription, medical reason for treatment, a viable discharge plan, outcome of treatment, coordination of medical services, patient instruction, and discontinuance or adaptation of services when necessary. The requirements for third-party payment based on medical documentation are discussed.

Setting: a contextual variable associated with empathy

Fifty seven registered nurses working in either a psychiatric or non-psychiatric setting volunteered to participate in a study to measure their empathic ability with patients. Results of the study supported the notion that nurses working in a psychiatric setting are significantly more empathic than nurses working in a non-psychiatric setting (p less than .05). Contrary to some previous research findings, the demographic variables of age, sex, marital status, educational level, and length of experiences were not significantly related to empathy. Setting--psychiatric or non-psychiatric--was the only variable that made a difference.

Lunar association with suicide

Suicides in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, for 1972--1975 are tabulated by year, month of year, day of week, lunar phase, and holiday occurrence. Only lunar phase demonstrates a significant (p less than .01) variation in suicide rate; an increase is observed in this sample with respect to new moon phase but not for full moon phase. Explanations for this finding are considered, but the precise reasons remain unknown.

Electromagnetic field interference and cardiac pacemakers

The physical and physiological effects of electromagnetic field interference on 440 patients with cardiac pacemakers were determined by reviewing the literature from 1949 to 1973. The sources, mechanisms, and findings of physiological dysfunction and ventricular fibrillation in patients with pacemakers are presented. Shortwave and microwave diathermy and electrical stimulators have been found to have a definite adverse influence on some cardiac pacemakers. The effect of interference may be an increase or decrease in pacemaker rate or rhythm, ventricular fibrillation, a total loss of pacing, or cessation of impulses. Because all pacemaker units are not resistant to interference, no ungrounded electrical equipment and no equipment such as microwave diathermy, short wave diathermy, and electrical stimulators should be placed on, or near, a patient with a cardiac pacemaker.