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A study was conducted to compare pregnancy outcomes between Medicaid capitated care (MCC) and Medicaid fee-for-service (MFSS) programs. The sample used in the study were women from 10 to 50 years old and enrolled in the California Medi-Cal Program. Data obtained form a computer file of 1993 California live birth certificates were used in the study. Findings showed that women whose obstetrical services were provided by an MCC were less likely to have a low birthweight baby and are not likely to have other detrimental pregnancy results than Medi-Cal women receiving obstetrical care through an MFSS., Objective. To determine if the payment method influenced the likelihood of selected obstetrical process measures and pregnancy outcome indicators among Medicaid women. Data Source/Study Setting. Data from the live birth certificates computer file for 1993 from the State of California. The computer files contain information about the demographic characteristics of the mother, her medical conditions prior to delivery, medical problems during labor and delivery, delivery method, newborn and maternal outcomes, and expected principal source of payment for prenatal care and for hospital delivery. Study Design. The study sample consisted of singleton live births to women in the California Medi-Cal program residing in one of two counties in which a mixed-model managed care plan was the method of reimbursement or in one of three counties in which fee-for-service was the payment method. The study and control counties were matched in terms of geographic proximity and sociodemographics. Principal Findings. Among Medi-Cal women, the likelihood of low birth weight (LBW) was lower in the capitated payment group than in the fee-for-service payment group even when controlling for maternal and newborn characteristics and adequacy of prenatal care. There was no difference in either the adequacy of prenatal care, the cesarean birth rate, or the likelihood of adverse pregnancy outcomes other than LBW between the two payer groups. Conclusions. Results of this "natural experiment" suggest that enrollment of pregnant Medi-Cal beneficiaries in capitated healthcare services through a primary care case management system in a county-organized health system/health insuring organization can have a beneficial effect on low birth weight and provide care comparable to a fee-for-service system. Key Words. Capitated care, Medicaid, obstetrical services, maternal and newborn outcomes, According to the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) (1996a), the government agency responsible for implementing and evaluating the Medicaid program, 36.3 million people, or 14 percent of the U.S. population, [...]

Available isolation guidelines for use in hospitals have often overlooked the infectious diseases and unique interactions of obstetric patients and their newborn infants. To help fill this void, we present our hospital's isolation policies for obstetric and neonatal patients and guidelines for maternal-infant contact and breast-feeding. These policies represent a multidisciplinary consensus of opinion and available epidemiologic data and have been found useful and practical in a single large teaching hospital. Other institutions should be able to adapt these guidelines to their own patient populations, personnel, and physical facilities.

□ To assess how the permeability of phenol is altered by thermal injury, it was first necessary to have baselines of comparison on normal skin. Using in vitrodiffusion cells and the skin of the hairless mouse, [14C]phenol was applied to skin in an aqueous medium with a reference copermeating species, [3H]methanol, and 37° permeability coefficients of the pair were evaluated as functions of animal age, skin hydration, stripping of the skin, dermis isolation, and phenol concentration. Age proved to be of little consequence to permeability over a wide age range. Prolonged aqueous soaking of the skins was also without much effect. Stripping of the skin and isolating the dermis by soaking techniques allowed assessment of individual skin strata diffusional resistances. When applied to skin in trace radiochemical concentrations, phenol behaved diffusionally as an alkanol with a chain length of six. But at concentrations >2% w/v, phenol facilitated the permeation rates of itself and methanol; the effect was markedly concentration sensitive and only fractionally reversible. Concentration studies using silicone rubber membranes proved that the effects on the skin were the results of destroyed barrier integrity. At 6% phenol concentration there was an essentially instantaneous, 10-fold increase in the phenol permeability coefficient, raising it to two-thirds that observed with fully stripped skin. Overall, the data suggest that the stratum comeum is proportionally impaired as the phenol concentration is increased.

□ The safe antiseptic use of phenol over the burn-traumatized surface depends on knowledge of how the systemic accumulation of phenol is affected by burn processes. To gain insight into the underlying permeation phenomenon, the diffusion of phenol and a reference cosolute, methanol, through both scalded and branded dorsal skin sections of the hairless mouse was studied as a function of burn temperature using in vitro diffusion cells. Temperatures up to 100 and 150° were used for scalding and branding, respectively, using a 60-sec exposure time. Permeability coefficients of the traumatized skins were assessed at 37° and compared with control values. Coefficients of both permeating species were not increased significantly by burn temperatures up to 70° applied either by scalding or branding, however, at higher temperatures exaggerated increases in permeation rates were noted. A limiting increase of ~7 times the control value was noted for phenol irrespective of the burn method. Permeability of methanol was altered even more dramatically and at 100° by scalding and 150° by branding was over 50 times the control rate. At 80 and 100° for methanol and at 80° for phenol, scalding produced larger increases in the permeability coefficients than branding. Since contact for 1min at 60° is capable of producing a full-thickness burn injury, it is clear that eschar permeability to phenol immediately postburn is not related to the clinical degree of burning, but is a function of the thermal intensity (hotness) of the burn stimulus. Full-thickness wounds can be expected to have highly variable rates of systemic absorption as a direct consequence of the wide-ranging permeability possible for such burns, with the risks of topical application varying accordingly.

The author relates the amount of tax that he owes the U.S. government as a former heavyweight boxing champion. The 6 percent interest which the government charges on original assessments makes it difficult to recover from the financial crisis. The government promised to remove his $98,000 tax debt after winning a championship fight against Billy Conn for a War Bond Drive. There is a need to take the tax money from the income of boxers before they even see it.

Profiles U.S. football coach Tom Landry. Significant contributions of Landry to professional football in the country; Football teams coached by Landry; Football coaching strategy of Landry.

Features top U.S. criminal lawyer F. Lee Bailey. Popular cases he handled; Characteristics as a lawyer; His views on traveling.

Features Casey Stengel, former manager of the baseball team New York Yankees. Leadership skills he possesses; Popularity of player Joe DiMaggio; Treatment he showed to player Mickey Mantle.

Relates the author's experiences as a former official of the Muslim movement in Boston, Massachusetts. Beating received by the author and his friend from several members of the African American Muslim community in the Roxbury section in Boston; Reason why the author quit from his position in the movement; Basic line of reasoning adhered by the movement.

Features the Baltimore Colts football team in the U.S. Description of the games with opponents; Strengths of the players; Views of people regarding the game.

The article presents information on the trail of Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy. For five weary weeks the nation's attention had been focused on the Dallas, Texas courtroom, where the trial was taking place, in the hope, however illogical, that a glimpse into the mind of Ruby, who had performed one irrational act, might provide a faint glimpse into the mind of his victim Oswald, who had performed another. But the trial fizzled. The defense did not show Ruby's mind, they showed only a literal recording of his brain waves. There was no psychiatric testimony that went much deeper than the pity-the-poor-boy-who-never-had-anybody-to-love-him level.

The article present information on the escape of an Israeli boy from a Nazi Camp in Central France. He was known as Emil Geisler, though that was not his real name. He had survived to reach Israel only because he had a special genius for surviving. His strongest characteristic, his main weapon for survival was this animal like instinct for sniffing out the paramount interests of the important people in his environment. Through the cooperation of the U.S. State Department on one side and the intercession of the Quakers with the puppet Vichy government of unoccupied France on the other, he managed bled to get 240 children, mostly under 14, into the United States.

Focuses on the career of Bill Russell, center of the Boston Celtics basketball team in the U.S. Outlook about being a Negro athlete; Annual salary from the team; Basketball record during his high school years.

Focuses on the golf career of renowned American actor and comedian Bob Hope. Factors influencing his passion with the sport; Number of tournaments won; Identification of celebrities who are also interested in the game.

Focuses on the life and career of actor and director Jerry Lewis in the U.S. Description on his personality; Value of his contract with American Broadcasting Co.; Attitude toward his co-workers; Philanthropic works; Family background.

Focuses on the life and baseball career of Leo Durocher. Reputation of Durocher as a baseball player and as a baseball player-manager; Controversies he encountered during his baseball career; Ladies and Hollywood and baseball men in Leo's life.

The article focuses on circumstances that surrounded the offer that comedian Johnny Carson got for the role of host in the television program "Tonight." Once it was announced that Carson had been tapped for the program, all kinds of big money offers poured on him, including a inevitable jackpot deal from a Las Vegas nightclub. Since Carson's contract with American Broadcasting Co. still had six months to run after existing host of the program Jack Paar left, there developed the longest stage wait in history.

The article presents the short story "She'll Be Sorry," by Edward Linn.

Focuses on the performance of first baseman Vic Power of the Cleveland Indians in the U.S. Skills and talent of Power for offending the opposition on a ball field; Characteristics of Power; Contributions made for the success of his team.

The article presents information on the illustrated career of baseball player Ryne Duren. Ryne Duren can't hit, can't field and his eyes are so bad that he wears five kinds of glasses, yet he throws a fastball that's hard to believe. The opening game of last year's World Series was proceeding in the rather dull, conservative fashion of most World Series openers, when into the game strode Ryne Duren, and out of the throats of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, fans came an unexpected roar. In two and two-thirds innings, Duren struck out five men.

Features baseball player Tony Kubek of the New York Yankees. Achievements of Kubek as a baseball player; Person that influenced Kubek; Ability as a baseball player.

The article profiles Al Cervi, coach of professional basketball team Syracuse Nationals in New York. Cervi is famous for being the soundest coach in the National Basketball Association due to his strength in every phase of the job. Defeat seems unacceptable to the coach and believes that a quitter should not wear Syracuse uniform. Cervi began coaching Syracuse in 1948 and since then has become known for their spirited and aggressive play.

Profiles African American basketball player Oscar Robertson of the Cincinnati Royals. Characteristics of Robertson as a basketball player; Average score, assists and rebounds per game; Views of Robertson on racial issues.

Features college freshman runner Jim Ryun at Kansas University. Background on the world record holder for running the fastest mile; Physiological state of Ryun as a runner; Information on the coaching technique of Kansas University track coach Bob Timmons.

Focuses on the reasons of the poor financial conditions of the base ball clubs and presents ways of improving the condition. Mismanagement by the teams' absentee owners; Motives of the businessmen who buy baseball teams; Use of baseball club owners to promote their business interests; Lack of proper understanding of the economy of baseball clubs.

Focuses on the tragic death of legendary black football player Eugene 'Big Daddy' Lipscomb in the U.S. Highlights of Lipscomb's career in professional football; Views on the voracious appetite of Lipscomb for food and women; Comments of Lipscomb's teammates about his heroin addiction; Details of the death of Lipscomb.

Focuses on the career of African-American baseball player Willie Mays with the San Francisco Giants. Insights on the relations of Mays with team manager Bill Rigney; Assessment of the financial problems of Mays and his subsequent divorce; Views of Mays about his career and playing baseball; Response of Mays to the growing expectations of Giants fans since his move to San Francisco; Comments of Mays about his divorce.

This article presents information on Limeliters, folk singers. The three singers of Limeliters planned a folk-singing career. One of the singers Lou Gottlieb, who whangs the trio's bass fiddle, had planned to teach. He holds a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of California. His doctoral thesis, Liturgical Polyphony of the Fifteenth Century, a study of twenty one previously unpublished cyclic Masses of the Renaissance church, is a basic paper in this specialized field. To understand the Limeliters' contribution to folk singing, it is necessary to trace the modern revival of this ancient and honorable art form.

The article discusses the attitude problem of baseball spectators. When the baseball team New York Yankees are playing at home, player Mickey Mantle has two battles to fight that have nothing to do with either hitting curve balls or catching line drives. The first battle comes when he tries to get off the field after the final out. To clear the vast Yankee Stadium, the spectators have always been allowed to cut across the playing field, and despite a daily announcement requesting them to remain in their seats until the players have reached the dugouts, the field is as warm with kids, and their elders, almost, before the final out is made. Mantle's second battle comes an hour or so after the game, when he has to negotiate a wide expanse of sidewalk to his waiting car.

This article focuses on baseball player Bill Rigney, of the San Francisco Giants team. Although the Giants improved their record in each of his first four seasons as manager, Rigney was under almost constant attack, first in New York and then, after the team was moved, in San Francisco. This season, in his fifth year on the job, Rigney for the first time is operating on a one-year contract. As usual, he got the Giants off to a flying start, mostly through the club's ability to win those early-season games at home.

This article focuses on the popularity of Rocky Colavito, baseball player of Cleveland, Ohio. According to the author, despite his spectacular performances as a batter and bowler, Rocky's great popularity stems primarily from his youthful exuberance. Colavito was claimed to be a baseball hero long before that celebrated day this June when he hit four home runs in one game. For that matter, Colavito has always been an exciting figure to all kinds of Cleveland fans. In 1958, Colavito hit forty-one home runs, only one less than Mickey Mantle, American League leader. He also topped both major leagues in slugging percentage, a significant figure which is obtained by dividing a hitter's times at bat into his total bases.

The article features baseball player William Mays and his performance during the 1956 season. He had thirty-six home runs and forty stolen bases during the season. At that time, his team, the New York Giants, was facing some problems related to its standing and its finances. Mays is said to be completely without guile that sports writers sometimes find it necessary to protect him. He does not enjoy his celebrity status and prefers to be left alone.

The article presents information on quarterback Arthur Roberts. Roberts seems to be a figment of somebody's imagination. For one thing, Roberts was All-America not only in football but in baseball and basketball as well. As perhaps the most sought-after high-school football player in the country, and a top student as well, Roberts was approached by hundreds of colleges. As a shortstop of remarkable ability, he was courted by 18 of the 20 major-league teams. Roberts had decided upon a career in medicine, though, and after spending a year at Deerfield Academy, he decided to go to Columbia on a grant-in-aid scholarship.

Profiles U.S. political satirist Morton Lyon Sahl. Career and educational background; Information on Sahl's voluntary gag-writing stint for Senator John F. Kennedy; Previous effort of Sahl to be come a West Pointer.

Focuses on the dominance of the National League over the game of baseball. Competition of the National League with the American League, on the basis of racism; Number of hitters in the American League in the last year; Prospects for the African Americans in the game of baseball; Failure of the American League to get a team established in Kansas City.