Search

Background: AABB surveyed AABB institutional members about their 2013 blood collection, transfusion, and patient blood management (PBM) programs. Results were compared with previous US national surveys.Study Design and Methods: The 2013 AABB Blood Collection, Utilization, and Patient Blood Management Survey was distributed to AABB blood centers (79) and hospitals (1068). Statistical procedures were used to estimate blood collection and transfusion.Results: Estimated whole blood (WB) and red blood cell (RBC) collections in 2013 totaled 13.6 million units, a 12.1% decrease from 15.5 million units in 2011 (p < 0.0001). Transfusions of WB and RBC units by AABB hospitals totaled 6.1 million units, 7.3% fewer compared to 2011 (p = 0.036). There was no change in overall platelet (PLT) distributions by blood collectors but WB-derived (WBD) PLT distributions increased significantly (27.1%, p < 0.0001). Transfusion of PLTs increased 15.4% totaling 1.3 million units (p = 0.0423), including increases in apheresis PLT (12.2%) and WBD PLT transfusions (30.7%). Distribution of plasma for transfusion declined 22.4% (p < 0.0001), while transfused plasma decreased only 9.9% (p = 0.036). Hospitals reduced outdated WB, RBC, and PLT components by 14.9% to 26.1% and wasted plasma components by 19.0%. PBM programs were reported by 37.8% of AABB hospitals.Conclusions: Compared to 2011, WB and RBC collections declined significantly in 2013 and disproportionately to the significant reductions in WB and RBC transfusions. Distributions of PLTs and plasma for transfusion declined in 2013, as did transfusions of plasma, while transfusion of PLTs increased significantly. Decreases in outdated and wasted components by hospitals suggest improvements in product and inventory management. Ongoing national surveys allow for trend analysis and are important for future planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors explore ways of improving healthcare outcomes in the U.S. They examine the results of a study which indicated that the continued increases in medical care costs in the country are not associated with better outcomes or more equitable health. They also discuss the benefits of adopting a public health model that aims to create healthy communities by addressing such factors as the environment, housing, transportation and access to healthy food and safe spaces.

At mid-century, American ballet was transformed at the hands of its most prominent critics. This radical aesthetic shift affected received historical narratives, and women's place within them. Ruth Page offers an interesting case: a woman ballet choreographer who earned a place in dance history, but is often cast as second rate. This article examines the way in which critics employed gender as a means of creating generic and aesthetic oppositions in postwar American ballet. Two of Page's ballets of the late 1930s are also discussed to suggest frameworks for producing new understandings of women's work in ballet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the 19th century Italian American ballerina and dancer Giuseppina Morlacchi. It mentions that the Morlacchi Ballet toured the U.S. performing romantic and post-romantic dances. It includes information regarding the drama "The Scouts of the Prairie, And, Red Deviltry As It Is!," where Morlacchi appeared as the American Indian princess Dove Eye.

Study Objectives: Research suggests that rumination may play an important role in insomnia. Whereas some have suggested that rumination mainly relates to depression, the evidence suggests that there may be insomnia-specific rumination. This paper explores insomnia symptom rumination across two distinct samples of varying levels of depressed mood and insomnia symptom severity., Methods: The first sample consisted of nonclinical participants (N = 327) with a range of insomnia and depressed mood symptoms, and the second sample consisted of those who met both Major Depressive Disorder and Insomnia diagnoses (N = 66). Rather than relying on a measure developed for those with depression, we developed and tested an insomnia-specific measurement scale based on items from previous rumination studies and the addition of items derived from common daytime insomnia symptoms., Results: Internal consistency was highly acceptable across the two samples for the new insomnia-specific rumination measure (Cronbach α was 0.93 and 0.94). In the first study, poor sleepers reported significantly higher levels of daytime symptom rumination than did good sleepers. Across both studies, rumination about daytime insomnia symptoms and depression were significantly correlated; however, insomnia rumination scores predicted insomnia even after controlling for depression. Moreover, in Study 2, insomnia-specific rumination was related to insomnia, but general depressive rumination was not predictive of insomnia., Conclusions: The findings provide support for the use of this insomnia-specific rumination scale; moreover the findings support previous observances regarding rumination about daytime insomnia symptoms that are not exclusive to depression.