RESUMO
We point out that a new contribution to B decays to three pions is relevant in explaining recent data from the CLEO and BABAR Collaborations, in particular, the results on quasi-two-body decays via a rho meson. We also discuss the relevance of these contributions to the measurement of CP violations.
RESUMO
The challenge of quality improvement (QI) is to take its principles and tools and apply them to active problems in the clinical laboratory. The authors describe a 2-year QI project in which the staff of the laboratory and the neonatal care unit (NCU) significantly improved the care of babies who undergo heelsticks to provide blood samples for laboratory testing. Examples of quality tools used during the project are provided. The success of the QI project is due to the consistent and ongoing efforts of both staffs to care passionately about their customers--the babies of the NCU.
Assuntos
Coleta de Amostras Sanguíneas/normas , Unidades de Terapia Intensiva Neonatal/normas , Laboratórios Hospitalares/normas , Garantia da Qualidade dos Cuidados de Saúde/organização & administração , Colorado , Calcanhar/lesões , Hospitais com 100 a 299 Leitos , Hospitais Universitários/organização & administração , Hospitais Universitários/normas , Humanos , Recém-Nascido , Relações Interdepartamentais , Participação nas Decisões/organização & administração , Resolução de Problemas , Projetos de PesquisaRESUMO
Accurate measurement of albumin excretion rates is important in choosing treatment regimens that may reverse early diabetic renal damage. We report here determinations of slight albuminuria ("microalbuminuria") by radioimmunoassay of fresh specimens, frozen aliquots (stored at -20 degrees C for two, eight, and 24 weeks), and refrigerated specimens (stored at 4 degrees C for one, two, and eight weeks). Seven separate analyses were performed on 101 specimens of urine obtained from 37 subjects with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and from 10 nondiabetic healthy controls of a similar age. Storage of urine samples at -20 degrees C resulted in significantly lower measurements of microalbuminuria than in fresh urine (ANOVA, corrected for repeated measures: P = 0.01 to 0.0001). In contrast, storage of urine samples at 4 degrees C for as long as eight weeks did not significantly affect urinary albumin results. The pH values of the specimens were minimally altered and were not a likely cause of the decreased albumin values in the frozen specimens. We conclude that urine specimens for microalbuminuria measurements should either be analyzed as fresh specimens or stored at 4 degrees C and assayed as soon as possible.
