Alkaline pH changes in the cerebellum of asymptomatic HIV-infected individuals.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection of the brain causes a complex cascade of cellular events involving several different cell types that eventually leads to neuronal cell death and the manifestation of the AIDS-associated dementia complex (ADC). Upon autopsy HIV-infected individuals show lesions within subcortical regions of the brain, including the cerebellum. Previously we have demonstrated, in primary and cell culture models of rat and human astrocytes, a change in intracellular pH (pH(i)) due to increased Na(+)/H(+) exchange following exposure to inactivated virus or gp120, the major HIV envelope glycoprotein. To further investigate whether any such in vivo pH(i) changes occur in human brains subsequent to HIV infection, we measured the pH(i) of the cerebellum in eight HIV-positive individuals and nine healthy volunteers using (31)P magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging (MRSI) at high field strength (4.1 T). The results showed a significant difference between the age-adjusted mean pH(i) in the cerebellum in control group and patient groups (7.11 +/- 0.03 vs 7.16 +/- 0.04), and further HIV-infected individuals displayed a significant increase in the number of cerebellar volume elements that were alkaline. We hypothesize that this propensity towards alterations in cerebellar pH(i) may portend later neurological involvement resulting from HIV infection.

Phenotypic drug susceptibility testing predicts long-term virologic suppression better than treatment history in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

To assess the value of phenotypic drug susceptibility testing as a predictor of antiretroviral treatment response in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected people, drug susceptibility testing was performed retrospectively on plasma samples collected at baseline in a cohort of 86 antiretroviral-experienced, HIV-infected people experiencing treatment failure and initiating a new antiretroviral treatment regimen. Two separate criteria for reduced drug susceptibility were evaluated. In multivariate analyses, phenotypic susceptibility was an independent predictor of time to treatment failure (adjusted hazards ratio [HR], 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.55-0.90; and adjusted HR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.61-0.95, with reduced drug susceptibility cutoffs defined as 4.0-fold and 2.5-fold higher than reference virus IC(50) values, respectively). Previous protease inhibitor experience was also a significant independent predictor. Notably, drug susceptibility predicted on the basis of treatment history alone was not predictive of time to treatment failure. In this cohort, phenotypic testing results enhanced the ability to predict sustained long-term suppression of virus load.

A cognitive approach to patient satisfaction with emergency department nursing care.

The assessment of patient satisfaction is an integral part of any quality improvement activity. In this study, patient satisfaction with emergency department (ED) nursing care was significantly positively related to the patient's self-perceived improvement and to the patient's admission to the hospital. Patient satisfaction with ED nursing care was not significantly related to patient acuity or other individual patient differences (age, gender, marital status, length of stay, type of treatment, number of previous ED visits, race, payer source, pain, or presence of chronic health problems). Psychological safety and information giving were found to contribute significantly to patient satisfaction with the ED nurse. Patient satisfaction with ED nursing care contributed significantly to the patients' intention to return to the ED.

Employee misconduct: discipline or prevention.

Discipline is something that can only be imposed after an act of misconduct has already occurred, but managers can use strategies to prevent misconduct before it occurs. When an act of employee misconduct does occur, supervisors should know how to deal with the situation effectively. Management training and knowledge of appropriate administration of discipline will greatly enhance the probability that undesirable behaviors are changed and that when termination of employment becomes necessary, arbitration and litigation will not suspend, reduce, or reverse management's decisions.

Employee discipline: a changing paradigm.

To increase the receptiveness of health care supervisors to a broader meaning of discipline and to simulate investigation of nontraditional methods of encouragement to employees who fail to meet minimum standards of conduct and thereby negatively affect the quality of patient care, a subjectively realistic view of the implications of the traditional punitive disciplinary paradigm is presented. Through the use of a case study, the authors present, explain, and apply the contemporary concept of discipline without punishment as first described by J. Huberman.