The amounts spent by individuals, groups, nations, or private or public organizations for total health care and/or its various components. These amounts may or may not be equivalent to the actual costs (HEALTH CARE COSTS) and may or may not be shared among the patient, insurers, and/or employers.

Payment by individuals or their family for health care services which are not covered by a third-party payer, either insurance or medical assistance.

An acute or prolonged illness usually considered to be life-threatening or with the threat of serious residual disability. Treatment may be radical and is frequently costly.

Absolute, comparative, or differential costs pertaining to services, institutions, resources, etc., or the analysis and study of these costs.

The actual costs of providing services related to the delivery of health care, including the costs of procedures, therapies, and medications. It is differentiated from HEALTH EXPENDITURES, which refers to the amount of money paid for the services, and from fees, which refers to the amount charged, regardless of cost.

The personal cost of acute or chronic disease. The cost to the patient may be an economic, social, or psychological cost or personal loss to self, family, or immediate community. The cost of illness may be reflected in absenteeism, productivity, response to treatment, peace of mind, or QUALITY OF LIFE. It differs from HEALTH CARE COSTS, meaning the societal cost of providing services related to the delivery of health care, rather than personal impact on individuals.

Payment by a third-party payer in a sum equal to the amount expended by a health care provider or facility for health services rendered to an insured or program beneficiary. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988)

Amounts charged to the patient as payer for health care services.

Economic aspects related to the management and operation of a hospital.

A listing of established professional service charges, for specified dental and medical procedures.

A method of comparing the cost of a program with its expected benefits in dollars (or other currency). The benefit-to-cost ratio is a measure of total return expected per unit of money spent. This analysis generally excludes consideration of factors that are not measured ultimately in economic terms. Cost effectiveness compares alternative ways to achieve a specific set of results.

The amount that a health care institution or organization pays for its drugs. It is one component of the final price that is charged to the consumer (FEES, PHARMACEUTICAL or PRESCRIPTION FEES).

The term "United States" in a medical context often refers to the country where a patient or study participant resides, and is not a medical term per se, but relevant for epidemiological studies, healthcare policies, and understanding differences in disease prevalence, treatment patterns, and health outcomes across various geographic locations.

Revenues or receipts accruing from business enterprise, labor, or invested capital.

The state of legal insolvency with assets taken over by judicial process so that they may be distributed among creditors.

Insurance providing coverage of medical, surgical, or hospital care in general or for which there is no specific heading.

The containment, regulation, or restraint of costs. Costs are said to be contained when the value of resources committed to an activity is not considered excessive. This determination is frequently subjective and dependent upon the specific geographic area of the activity being measured. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)

Reductions in all or any portion of the costs of providing goods or services. Savings may be incurred by the provider or the consumer.

The obtaining and management of funds for hospital needs and responsibility for fiscal affairs.

An organized group of three or more full-time physicians rendering services for a fixed prepayment.

Insurance providing a broad range of medical services and supplies, when prescribed by a physician, whether or not the patient is hospitalized. It frequently is an extension of a basic policy and benefits will not begin until the basic policy is exhausted.

Coded listings of physician or other professional services using units that indicate the relative value of the various services they perform. They take into account time, skill, and overhead cost required for each service, but generally do not consider the relative cost-effectiveness. Appropriate conversion factors can be used to translate the abstract units of the relative value scales into dollar fees for each service based on work expended, practice costs, and training costs.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

The expenses incurred by a hospital in providing care. The hospital costs attributed to a particular patient care episode include the direct costs plus an appropriate proportion of the overhead for administration, personnel, building maintenance, equipment, etc. Hospital costs are one of the factors which determine HOSPITAL CHARGES (the price the hospital sets for its services).

An increase in the volume of money and credit relative to available goods resulting in a substantial and continuing rise in the general price level.

Processes or methods of reimbursement for services rendered or equipment.

Components of a national health care system which administer specific services, e.g., national health insurance.

That distinct portion of the institutional, industrial, or economic structure of a country that is controlled or owned by non-governmental, private interests.

Amounts charged to the patient as payer for dental services.

Status not subject to taxation; as the income of a philanthropic organization. Tax-exempt organizations may also qualify to receive tax-deductible donations if they are considered to be nonprofit corporations under Section 501(c)3 of the United States Internal Revenue Code.

The effort of two or more parties to secure the business of a third party by offering, usually under fair or equitable rules of business practice, the most favorable terms.

Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of biological processes or diseases. For disease models in living animals, DISEASE MODELS, ANIMAL is available. Biological models include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.

Health insurance plans for employees, and generally including their dependents, usually on a cost-sharing basis with the employer paying a percentage of the premium.

Provisions of an insurance policy that require the insured to pay some portion of covered expenses. Several forms of sharing are in use, e.g., deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments. Cost sharing does not refer to or include amounts paid in premiums for the coverage. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)

The developmental history of specific differentiated cell types as traced back to the original STEM CELLS in the embryo.

Federal program, created by Public Law 89-97, Title XVIII-Health Insurance for the Aged, a 1965 amendment to the Social Security Act, that provides health insurance benefits to persons over the age of 65 and others eligible for Social Security benefits. It consists of two separate but coordinated programs: hospital insurance (MEDICARE PART A) and supplementary medical insurance (MEDICARE PART B). (Hospital Administration Terminology, AHA, 2d ed and A Discursive Dictionary of Health Care, US House of Representatives, 1976)

Amounts charged to the patient as payer for medical services.

Progressive restriction of the developmental potential and increasing specialization of function that leads to the formation of specialized cells, tissues, and organs.

Detailed financial plans for carrying out specific activities for a certain period of time. They include proposed income and expenditures.

Cost-sharing mechanisms that provide for payment by the insured of some portion of covered expenses. Deductibles are the amounts paid by the insured under a health insurance contract before benefits become payable; coinsurance is the provision under which the insured pays part of the medical bill, usually according to a fixed percentage, when benefits become payable.

Organized systems for providing comprehensive prepaid health care that have five basic attributes: (1) provide care in a defined geographic area; (2) provide or ensure delivery of an agreed-upon set of basic and supplemental health maintenance and treatment services; (3) provide care to a voluntarily enrolled group of persons; (4) require their enrollees to use the services of designated providers; and (5) receive reimbursement through a predetermined, fixed, periodic prepayment made by the enrollee without regard to the degree of services provided. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988)

The condition in which individuals are financially unable to access adequate medical care without depriving themselves and their dependents of food, clothing, shelter, and other essentials of living.

Health insurance to provide full or partial coverage for long-term home care services or for long-term nursing care provided in a residential facility such as a nursing home.

Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.

The voluntary portion of Medicare, known as the Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) Program, that includes physician's services, home health care, medical services, outpatient hospital services, and laboratory, pathology, and radiology services. All persons entitled to Medicare Part A may enroll in Medicare Part B on a monthly premium basis.

Insurance providing for payment of services rendered by the pharmacist. Services include the preparation and distribution of medical products.

Costs which are directly identifiable with a particular service.

A component of the Department of Health and Human Services to oversee and direct the Medicare and Medicaid programs and related Federal medical care quality control staffs. Name was changed effective June 14, 2001.

The rate dynamics in chemical or physical systems.

Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.

The provision of monetary resources including money or capital and credit; obtaining or furnishing money or capital for a purchase or enterprise and the funds so obtained. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed.)

The obtaining and management of funds for institutional needs and responsibility for fiscal affairs.

Ratio of output to effort, or the ratio of effort produced to energy expended.

Federal program, created by Public Law 89-97, Title XIX, a 1965 amendment to the Social Security Act, administered by the states, that provides health care benefits to indigent and medically indigent persons.

A geographic area defined and served by a health program or institution.

Payment, or other means of making amends, for a wrong or injury.

A situation in which the level of living of an individual, family, or group is below the standard of the community. It is often related to a specific income level.

A procedure consisting of a sequence of algebraic formulas and/or logical steps to calculate or determine a given task.

Derivatives of phosphatidic acid in which the hydrophobic regions are composed of two fatty acids and a polar alcohol is joined to the C-3 position of glycerol through a phosphodiester bond. They are named according to their polar head groups, such as phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine.

Innovation and improvement of the health care system by reappraisal, amendment of services, and removal of faults and abuses in providing and distributing health services to patients. It includes a re-alignment of health services and health insurance to maximum demographic elements (the unemployed, indigent, uninsured, elderly, inner cities, rural areas) with reference to coverage, hospitalization, pricing and cost containment, insurers' and employers' costs, pre-existing medical conditions, prescribed drugs, equipment, and services.

Binary classification measures to assess test results. Sensitivity or recall rate is the proportion of true positives. Specificity is the probability of correctly determining the absence of a condition. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.

Tax-exempt trusts or custodial accounts established by individuals with financial institutions for saving money for future medical expenses.

Any of the processes by which nuclear, cytoplasmic, or intercellular factors influence the differential control of gene action during the developmental stages of an organism.

Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of systems, processes, or phenomena. They include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.

Federal, state, or local government organized methods of financial assistance.

The remuneration paid or benefits granted to an employee.

The assignment, to each of several particular cost-centers, of an equitable proportion of the costs of activities that serve all of them. Cost-center usually refers to institutional departments or services.

Generally refers to the amount of protection available and the kind of loss which would be paid for under an insurance contract with an insurer. (Slee & Slee, Health Care Terms, 2d ed)

Size and composition of the family.

The intracellular transfer of information (biological activation/inhibition) through a signal pathway. In each signal transduction system, an activation/inhibition signal from a biologically active molecule (hormone, neurotransmitter) is mediated via the coupling of a receptor/enzyme to a second messenger system or to an ion channel. Signal transduction plays an important role in activating cellular functions, cell differentiation, and cell proliferation. Examples of signal transduction systems are the GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID-postsynaptic receptor-calcium ion channel system, the receptor-mediated T-cell activation pathway, and the receptor-mediated activation of phospholipases. Those coupled to membrane depolarization or intracellular release of calcium include the receptor-mediated activation of cytotoxic functions in granulocytes and the synaptic potentiation of protein kinase activation. Some signal transduction pathways may be part of larger signal transduction pathways; for example, protein kinase activation is part of the platelet activation signal pathway.

Review of claims by insurance companies to determine liability and amount of payment for various services. The review may also include determination of eligibility of the claimant or beneficiary or of the provider of the benefit; determination that the benefit is covered or not payable under another policy; or determination that the service was necessary and of reasonable cost and quality.

Any detectable and heritable change in the genetic material that causes a change in the GENOTYPE and which is transmitted to daughter cells and to succeeding generations.

The application of mathematical formulas and statistical techniques to the testing and quantifying of economic theories and the solution of economic problems.

Health insurance coverage for all persons in a state or country, rather than for some subset of the population. It may extend to the unemployed as well as to the employed; to aliens as well as to citizens; for pre-existing conditions as well as for current illnesses; for mental as well as for physical conditions.

The confinement of a patient in a hospital.

The concept concerned with all aspects of providing and distributing health services to a patient population.

Administrative units of government responsible for policy making and management of governmental activities.

The degree to which individuals are inhibited or facilitated in their ability to gain entry to and to receive care and services from the health care system. Factors influencing this ability include geographic, architectural, transportational, and financial considerations, among others.

Intrauterine contraceptive devices that depend on the release of metallic copper.

The statistical reproducibility of measurements (often in a clinical context), including the testing of instrumentation or techniques to obtain reproducible results. The concept includes reproducibility of physiological measurements, which may be used to develop rules to assess probability or prognosis, or response to a stimulus; reproducibility of occurrence of a condition; and reproducibility of experimental results.

Societal or individual decisions about the equitable distribution of available resources.

Diagnostic, therapeutic, and investigative procedures prescribed and performed by health professionals, the results of which do not justify the benefits or hazards and costs to the patient.

The use of DRUGS to treat a DISEASE or its symptoms. One example is the use of ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENTS to treat CANCER.

The charge levied on the consumer for drugs or therapy prescribed under written order of a physician or other health professional.

Statistical models of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, as well as of financial considerations. For the application of statistics to the testing and quantifying of economic theories MODELS, ECONOMETRIC is available.

Health insurance plans intended to reduce unnecessary health care costs through a variety of mechanisms, including: economic incentives for physicians and patients to select less costly forms of care; programs for reviewing the medical necessity of specific services; increased beneficiary cost sharing; controls on inpatient admissions and lengths of stay; the establishment of cost-sharing incentives for outpatient surgery; selective contracting with health care providers; and the intensive management of high-cost health care cases. The programs may be provided in a variety of settings, such as HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATIONS and PREFERRED PROVIDER ORGANIZATIONS.

The period of confinement of a patient to a hospital or other health facility.

Amounts charged to the patient or third-party payer for medication. It includes the pharmacist's professional fee and cost of ingredients, containers, etc.

The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.

Health care services provided to patients on an ambulatory basis, rather than by admission to a hospital or other health care facility. The services may be a part of a hospital, augmenting its inpatient services, or may be provided at a free-standing facility.

The outward appearance of the individual. It is the product of interactions between genes, and between the GENOTYPE and the environment.

Evaluation undertaken to assess the results or consequences of management and procedures used in combating disease in order to determine the efficacy, effectiveness, safety, and practicability of these interventions in individual cases or series.

Medical complexes consisting of medical school, hospitals, clinics, libraries, administrative facilities, etc.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

The chemical reactions involved in the production and utilization of various forms of energy in cells.

'Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over' refers to the maximum number of hospital beds equaling or exceeding 500 that are medically staffed and equipped to provide patient care and accommodation within a healthcare facility.

Services for the diagnosis and treatment of disease and the maintenance of health.

Financial assistance to impoverished persons for the essentials of living through federal, state or local government programs.

Intrauterine devices that release contraceptive agents.

Decisions, usually developed by government policymakers, for determining present and future objectives pertaining to the health care system.

The developmental entity of a fertilized egg (ZYGOTE) in animal species other than MAMMALS. For chickens, use CHICK EMBRYO.

A chemical reaction in which an electron is transferred from one molecule to another. The electron-donating molecule is the reducing agent or reductant; the electron-accepting molecule is the oxidizing agent or oxidant. Reducing and oxidizing agents function as conjugate reductant-oxidant pairs or redox pairs (Lehninger, Principles of Biochemistry, 1982, p471).

An element with the atomic symbol N, atomic number 7, and atomic weight [14.00643; 14.00728]. Nitrogen exists as a diatomic gas and makes up about 78% of the earth's atmosphere by volume. It is a constituent of proteins and nucleic acids and found in all living cells.

Social process whereby the values, attitudes, or institutions of society, such as education, family, religion, and industry become modified. It includes both the natural process and action programs initiated by members of the community.

Social and economic factors that characterize the individual or group within the social structure.

Computer-based representation of physical systems and phenomena such as chemical processes.

A family of conserved cell surface receptors that contain EPIDERMAL GROWTH FACTOR repeats in their extracellular domain and ANKYRIN repeats in their cytoplasmic domains. The cytoplasmic domain of notch receptors is released upon ligand binding and translocates to the CELL NUCLEUS where it acts as transcription factor.

The order of amino acids as they occur in a polypeptide chain. This is referred to as the primary structure of proteins. It is of fundamental importance in determining PROTEIN CONFORMATION.

Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.

An exotic species of the family CYPRINIDAE, originally from Asia, that has been introduced in North America. They are used in embryological studies and to study the effects of certain chemicals on development.

A system wherein reimbursement rates are set, for a given period of time, prior to the circumstances giving rise to actual reimbursement claims.

Payments or services provided under stated circumstances under the terms of an insurance policy. In prepayment programs, benefits are the services the programs will provide at defined locations and to the extent needed.

A nonmetallic element with atomic symbol C, atomic number 6, and atomic weight [12.0096; 12.0116]. It may occur as several different allotropes including DIAMOND; CHARCOAL; and GRAPHITE; and as SOOT from incompletely burned fuel.

Organic, monobasic acids derived from hydrocarbons by the equivalent of oxidation of a methyl group to an alcohol, aldehyde, and then acid. Fatty acids are saturated and unsaturated (FATTY ACIDS, UNSATURATED). (Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed)

The sequence of PURINES and PYRIMIDINES in nucleic acids and polynucleotides. It is also called nucleotide sequence.

The processes occurring in early development that direct morphogenesis. They specify the body plan ensuring that cells will proceed to differentiate, grow, and diversify in size and shape at the correct relative positions. Included are axial patterning, segmentation, compartment specification, limb position, organ boundary patterning, blood vessel patterning, etc.

A country spanning from central Asia to the Pacific Ocean.

Patient or client refusal of or resistance to medical, psychological, or psychiatric treatment. (APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed.)

Total mass of all the organisms of a given type and/or in a given area. (From Concise Dictionary of Biology, 1990) It includes the yield of vegetative mass produced from any given crop.

Individuals or groups with no or inadequate health insurance coverage. Those falling into this category usually comprise three primary groups: the medically indigent (MEDICAL INDIGENCY); those whose clinical condition makes them medically uninsurable; and the working uninsured.

Prepaid health and hospital insurance plan.

The area of a nation's economy that is tax-supported and under government control.

Cells propagated in vitro in special media conducive to their growth. Cultured cells are used to study developmental, morphologic, metabolic, physiologic, and genetic processes, among others.

Foodstuff used especially for domestic and laboratory animals, or livestock.

Children with mental or physical disabilities that interfere with usual activities of daily living and that may require accommodation or intervention.

Health services required by a population or community as well as the health services that the population or community is able and willing to pay for.

Relatively undifferentiated cells that retain the ability to divide and proliferate throughout postnatal life to provide progenitor cells that can differentiate into specialized cells.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but "California" is a place, specifically a state on the western coast of the United States, and not a medical term or concept. Therefore, it doesn't have a medical definition.

Endogenous substances, usually proteins, which are effective in the initiation, stimulation, or termination of the genetic transcription process.

Lipids containing one or more phosphate groups, particularly those derived from either glycerol (phosphoglycerides see GLYCEROPHOSPHOLIPIDS) or sphingosine (SPHINGOLIPIDS). They are polar lipids that are of great importance for the structure and function of cell membranes and are the most abundant of membrane lipids, although not stored in large amounts in the system.

A statistical technique that isolates and assesses the contributions of categorical independent variables to variation in the mean of a continuous dependent variable.

The cells in the granulocytic series that give rise to mature granulocytes (NEUTROPHILS; EOSINOPHILS; and BASOPHILS). These precursor cells include myeloblasts, promyelocytes, myelocytes and metamyelocytes.

The non-genetic biological changes of an organism in response to challenges in its ENVIRONMENT.

A course or method of action selected, usually by a government, from among alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions.

The property of objects that determines the direction of heat flow when they are placed in direct thermal contact. The temperature is the energy of microscopic motions (vibrational and translational) of the particles of atoms.

Regular course of eating and drinking adopted by a person or animal.

Criteria to determine eligibility of patients for medical care programs and services.

Outside services provided to an institution under a formal financial agreement.

Statistical measures of utilization and other aspects of the provision of health care services including hospitalization and ambulatory care.

Procedures for finding the mathematical function which best describes the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. In linear regression (see LINEAR MODELS) the relationship is constrained to be a straight line and LEAST-SQUARES ANALYSIS is used to determine the best fit. In logistic regression (see LOGISTIC MODELS) the dependent variable is qualitative rather than continuously variable and LIKELIHOOD FUNCTIONS are used to find the best relationship. In multiple regression, the dependent variable is considered to depend on more than a single independent variable.

A large lobed glandular organ in the abdomen of vertebrates that is responsible for detoxification, metabolism, synthesis and storage of various substances.

Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.

Diseases which have one or more of the following characteristics: they are permanent, leave residual disability, are caused by nonreversible pathological alteration, require special training of the patient for rehabilitation, or may be expected to require a long period of supervision, observation, or care. (Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)

An infant during the first month after birth.

An Act prohibiting a health plan from establishing lifetime limits or annual limits on the dollar value of benefits for any participant or beneficiary after January 1, 2014. It permits a restricted annual limit for plan years beginning prior to January 1, 2014. It provides that a health plan shall not be prevented from placing annual or lifetime per-beneficiary limits on covered benefits. The Act sets up a competitive health insurance market.

Any of various animals that constitute the family Suidae and comprise stout-bodied, short-legged omnivorous mammals with thick skin, usually covered with coarse bristles, a rather long mobile snout, and small tail. Included are the genera Babyrousa, Phacochoerus (wart hogs), and Sus, the latter containing the domestic pig (see SUS SCROFA).

Any liquid or solid preparation made specifically for the growth, storage, or transport of microorganisms or other types of cells. The variety of media that exist allow for the culturing of specific microorganisms and cell types, such as differential media, selective media, test media, and defined media. Solid media consist of liquid media that have been solidified with an agent such as AGAR or GELATIN.

Institutions with an organized medical staff which provide medical care to patients.

Studies determining the effectiveness or value of processes, personnel, and equipment, or the material on conducting such studies. For drugs and devices, CLINICAL TRIALS AS TOPIC; DRUG EVALUATION; and DRUG EVALUATION, PRECLINICAL are available.

Community health and NURSING SERVICES providing coordinated multiple services to the patient at the patient's homes. These home-care services are provided by a visiting nurse, home health agencies, HOSPITALS, or organized community groups using professional staff for care delivery. It differs from HOME NURSING which is provided by non-professionals.

Extensive collections, reputedly complete, of facts and data garnered from material of a specialized subject area and made available for analysis and application. The collection can be automated by various contemporary methods for retrieval. The concept should be differentiated from DATABASES, BIBLIOGRAPHIC which is restricted to collections of bibliographic references.

A family of DNA-binding transcription factors that contain a basic HELIX-LOOP-HELIX MOTIF.

Planning for the equitable allocation, apportionment, or distribution of available health resources.

Laboratory mice that have been produced from a genetically manipulated EGG or EMBRYO, MAMMALIAN.

Proteins obtained from the ZEBRAFISH. Many of the proteins in this species have been the subject of studies involving basic embryological development (EMBRYOLOGY).

Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.

Statistical formulations or analyses which, when applied to data and found to fit the data, are then used to verify the assumptions and parameters used in the analysis. Examples of statistical models are the linear model, binomial model, polynomial model, two-parameter model, etc.

The basic cellular units of nervous tissue. Each neuron consists of a body, an axon, and dendrites. Their purpose is to receive, conduct, and transmit impulses in the NERVOUS SYSTEM.

Inbred C57BL mice are a strain of laboratory mice that have been produced by many generations of brother-sister matings, resulting in a high degree of genetic uniformity and homozygosity, making them widely used for biomedical research, including studies on genetics, immunology, cancer, and neuroscience.

Increase in BODY WEIGHT over existing weight.

Nutritional physiology of animals.

A species of gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped bacteria (GRAM-NEGATIVE FACULTATIVELY ANAEROBIC RODS) commonly found in the lower part of the intestine of warm-blooded animals. It is usually nonpathogenic, but some strains are known to produce DIARRHEA and pyogenic infections. Pathogenic strains (virotypes) are classified by their specific pathogenic mechanisms such as toxins (ENTEROTOXIGENIC ESCHERICHIA COLI), etc.

Linear POLYPEPTIDES that are synthesized on RIBOSOMES and may be further modified, crosslinked, cleaved, or assembled into complex proteins with several subunits. The specific sequence of AMINO ACIDS determines the shape the polypeptide will take, during PROTEIN FOLDING, and the function of the protein.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but "Taiwan" is not a medical term and does not have a medical definition. It is a country located in East Asia. If you have any questions related to healthcare or medical terms, I would be happy to help with those!

Statistical models in which the value of a parameter for a given value of a factor is assumed to be equal to a + bx, where a and b are constants. The models predict a linear regression.

An adenine nucleotide containing three phosphate groups esterified to the sugar moiety. In addition to its crucial roles in metabolism adenosine triphosphate is a neurotransmitter.

The interchange of goods or commodities, especially on a large scale, between different countries or between populations within the same country. It includes trade (the buying, selling, or exchanging of commodities, whether wholesale or retail) and business (the purchase and sale of goods to make a profit). (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed, p411, p2005 & p283)

One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.

A system for classifying patient care by relating common characteristics such as diagnosis, treatment, and age to an expected consumption of hospital resources and length of stay. Its purpose is to provide a framework for specifying case mix and to reduce hospital costs and reimbursements and it forms the cornerstone of the prospective payment system.

The integration of epidemiologic, sociological, economic, and other analytic sciences in the study of health services. Health services research is usually concerned with relationships between need, demand, supply, use, and outcome of health services. The aim of the research is evaluation, particularly in terms of structure, process, output, and outcome. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)

Chronic absence from work or other duty.

Wnt proteins are a large family of secreted glycoproteins that play essential roles in EMBRYONIC AND FETAL DEVELOPMENT, and tissue maintenance. They bind to FRIZZLED RECEPTORS and act as PARACRINE PROTEIN FACTORS to initiate a variety of SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION PATHWAYS. The canonical Wnt signaling pathway stabilizes the transcriptional coactivator BETA CATENIN.

A family of intercellular signaling proteins that play and important role in regulating the development of many TISSUES and organs. Their name derives from the observation of a hedgehog-like appearance in DROSOPHILA embryos with genetic mutations that block their action.

Delivery of the FETUS and PLACENTA under the care of an obstetrician or a health worker. Obstetric deliveries may involve physical, psychological, medical, or surgical interventions.

I'm sorry for any confusion, but "Vietnam" is not a medical term that can be defined in a medical context; it is a country located in Southeast Asia. If you have any questions related to medical conditions or terminology, I would be happy to help clarify those topics for you.

Government sponsored social insurance programs.

Available manpower, facilities, revenue, equipment, and supplies to produce requisite health care and services.

Conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes school admission or job interviews.

Care over an extended period, usually for a chronic condition or disability, requiring periodic, intermittent, or continuous care.

The levels of excellence which characterize the health service or health care provided based on accepted standards of quality.

A primary source of energy for living organisms. It is naturally occurring and is found in fruits and other parts of plants in its free state. It is used therapeutically in fluid and nutrient replacement.

Short sequences (generally about 10 base pairs) of DNA that are complementary to sequences of messenger RNA and allow reverse transcriptases to start copying the adjacent sequences of mRNA. Primers are used extensively in genetic and molecular biology techniques.

A notch receptor that interacts with a variety of ligands and regulates SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION PATHWAYS for multiple cellular processes. It is widely expressed during EMBRYOGENESIS and is essential for EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT.

Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (JAMA 1995;273(3):192)

A technique that localizes specific nucleic acid sequences within intact chromosomes, eukaryotic cells, or bacterial cells through the use of specific nucleic acid-labeled probes.

Procedures using an electrically heated wire or scalpel to treat hemorrhage (e.g., bleeding ulcers) and to ablate tumors, mucosal lesions, and refractory arrhythmias. It is different from ELECTROSURGERY which is used more for cutting tissue than destroying and in which the patient is part of the electric circuit.

The part of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM that is contained within the skull (CRANIUM). Arising from the NEURAL TUBE, the embryonic brain is comprised of three major parts including PROSENCEPHALON (the forebrain); MESENCEPHALON (the midbrain); and RHOMBENCEPHALON (the hindbrain). The developed brain consists of CEREBRUM; CEREBELLUM; and other structures in the BRAIN STEM.

Proteins encoded by homeobox genes (GENES, HOMEOBOX) that exhibit structural similarity to certain prokaryotic and eukaryotic DNA-binding proteins. Homeodomain proteins are involved in the control of gene expression during morphogenesis and development (GENE EXPRESSION REGULATION, DEVELOPMENTAL).

A genus of gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped bacteria widely distributed in nature. Some species are pathogenic for humans, animals, and plants.

A plan for collecting and utilizing data so that desired information can be obtained with sufficient precision or so that an hypothesis can be tested properly.

Fatty acid derivatives of glycerophosphates. They are composed of glycerol bound in ester linkage with 1 mole of phosphoric acid at the terminal 3-hydroxyl group and with 2 moles of fatty acids at the other two hydroxyl groups.

Cellular processes in biosynthesis (anabolism) and degradation (catabolism) of CARBOHYDRATES.

An enzyme found mostly in plant tissue. It hydrolyzes glycerophosphatidates with the formation of a phosphatidic acid and a nitrogenous base such as choline. This enzyme also catalyzes transphosphatidylation reactions. EC 3.1.4.4.

The outer of the three germ layers of an embryo.

Sequential operating programs and data which instruct the functioning of a digital computer.

Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease.

Small-scale tests of methods and procedures to be used on a larger scale if the pilot study demonstrates that these methods and procedures can work.

Proteins obtained from various species of Xenopus. Included here are proteins from the African clawed frog (XENOPUS LAEVIS). Many of these proteins have been the subject of scientific investigations in the area of MORPHOGENESIS and development.

An interactive process whereby members of a community are concerned for the equality and rights of all.

The prediction or projection of the nature of future problems or existing conditions based upon the extrapolation or interpretation of existing scientific data or by the application of scientific methodology.

Proteins prepared by recombinant DNA technology.