BACKGROUND Long-term acute care hospitals (LTACs) provide specialized treatment for patients with chronic critical illness. Increasingly LTACs are co-located within traditional short-stay hospitals rather than operated as free-standing facilities, which may affect LTAC utilization patterns and outcomes. METHODS We compared free-standing and co-located LTACs using 2005 data from the United Sta...

first-calf heifers presents one of the greatest challenges to cow-calf producers. The physical and nutritional stresses associated with parturition, lactation and continuing her own growth, create a real challenge for the two-yearold cow. Calving difficulties, weak calves, calf death loss and scours are all potential pitfalls that can be avoided or reduced with proper management and nutrition. ...

Influenza A virus infections are widespread in swine herds across the world. Influenza negatively affects swine health and production, and represents a significant threat to public health due to the risk of zoonotic infections. Swine herds can act as reservoirs for potentially pandemic influenza strains. In this study, we develop mathematical models based on experimental data, representing typi...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the incremental costs associated with sepsis as a complication of general surgery, controlling for patient risk factors that may affect costs (eg, surgical complexity and comorbidity) and hospital-level variation in costs. DESIGN Database analysis. SETTING One hundred eighteen Veterans Health Affairs hospitals. PATIENTS A total of 13 878 patients undergoing general s...

NOAA thanks the Science Advisory Board (SAB) for its thoughtful review of and comments on NOAA's evolving Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) efforts. The group's interest in and support of NOAA's IEA program is appreciated and welcomed. The main recommendation of the SAB is that " NOAA develop guidance for scientists, managers and their partners to develop timely and effective IEAs ". NOAA w...

BACKGROUND Long-term outcome and quality of life (QOL) in patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation after failure to wean in the ICU is scarcely documented. We aimed to evaluate long-term survival and QOL in patients discharged from the ICU with a tracheostomy for difficult weaning, and with or without ventilator dependency at ICU discharge. METHODS We retrospectively investigated p...

Purpose of Work. This study was designed to measure physician compliance in completing a new low back pain (LBP) assessment procedure following an extensive training program . The low back assessment was based on the recommendations of the Clinical Practice Guidelines on Acute Low Back Pain Problems in Adults published by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, U .S. Department of Healt...