Utilization review (UR) has become a prominent approach to cost containment now used by almost 65% of private group insurance plans. Although insurers have increasingly relied on UR to contain health care costs, until recently little was known about the effects of this cost containment approach. This article reviews some of the key findings of a UR evaluation, based on analysis of claims data o...

Uterine rupture (UR), a potentially life-threatening condition for both mother and infant, occurs in <0.1% of all pregnant women and <1% of women attempting vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC) (1-4). During 1990-1997, the proportion of vaginal deliveries among women who had previous cesarean sections (CS) in Massachusetts increased 50%, from 22.3% to 33.5% (5). Concern about a correspon...

Hot tar burns are still a challenging clinical form because the removal of tar is very difficult for the emergency physician and there is no specified appropriate agent for the removal of tar. In this study, two patients with hot tar burns who were treated with diesel, sunflower oil and mayonnaise are presented.

All human immunodeficiency virus mRNAs contain a sequence known as TAR (trans-activating responsive sequence). The TAR element forms a stable RNA stem-loop structure which binds the HIV tat (trans-activator) protein and mediates increased viral gene expression. In principle, molecules which bind to the TAR RNA structure would inhibit trans-activation by perturbing the native RNA secondary struc...

Homologous recombination (HR) is an important DNA repair pathway and is essential for cellular survival. It plays a major role in repairing replication-associated lesions and is functionally connected to replication. Transcription is another cellular process, which has emerged to have a connection with HR. Transcription enhances HR, which is a ubiquitous phenomenon referred to as transcription-...

One of the most challenging issues concerning the gasification of oil palm fronds (OPF) is the presence of tar and particulates formed during the process considering its high volatile matter content. In this study, a tar sampling train custom built based on standard tar sampling protocols was used to quantify the gravimetric concentration of tar (g/Nm3) in syngas produced from downdraft gasific...

PURPOSE As endoscopic treatment for vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) has increased, secondary ureteral reimplantation (UR) after failure of endoscopic treatment has increased. We studied the clinical feature and efficacy of secondary UR after failure of endoscopic treatment compared with primary UR. MATERIALS AND METHODS Eighty-one children who had UR for VUR were enrolled. Charts were reviewed re...

A study was conducted to quantify tar formation in a stratified downdraft gasifier using wood pellets. The effect of biomass flow rate on tar concentration was also analyzed, and more than thirty compounds in tar were quantified. Among the different compounds in tar, tertiary condensed products such as toluene, o/p-xylene, naphthalene, phenol, styrene, and indene were observed in significant am...