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.

Economic sector concerned with the provision, distribution, and consumption of health care services and related products.

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)

Activity involved in transfer of goods from producer to consumer or in the exchange of services.

Application of marketing principles and techniques to maximize the use of health care resources.

Use for articles on the investing of funds for income or profit.

Recombinant DNA vectors encoding antigens administered for the prevention or treatment of disease. The host cells take up the DNA, express the antigen, and present it to the immune system in a manner similar to that which would occur during natural infection. This induces humoral and cellular immune responses against the encoded antigens. The vector is called naked DNA because there is no need for complex formulations or delivery agents; the plasmid is injected in saline or other buffers.

Vaccines or candidate vaccines containing inactivated HIV or some of its component antigens and designed to prevent or treat AIDS. Some vaccines containing antigens are recombinantly produced.

That segment of commercial enterprise devoted to the design, development, and manufacture of chemical products for use in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, disability, or other dysfunction, or to improve function.

The combining of administrative and organizational resources of two or more health care facilities.

CONFORMAL RADIOTHERAPY that combines several intensity-modulated beams to provide improved dose homogeneity and highly conformal dose distributions.

Those federal and state laws, and their enforcement, that protect trade and commerce from unlawful restraints and monopolies or unfair business practices.

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.

The total amount of radiation absorbed by tissues as a result of radiotherapy.

Administration of the total dose of radiation (RADIATION DOSAGE) in parts, at timed intervals.

An organization of insurers or reinsurers through which particular types of risk are shared or pooled. The risk of high loss by a particular insurance company is transferred to the group as a whole (the insurance pool) with premiums, losses, and expenses shared in agreed amounts.

Adverse or favorable selection bias exhibited by insurers or enrollees resulting in disproportionate enrollment of certain groups of people.

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.

Computer-assisted mathematical calculations of beam angles, intensities of radiation, and duration of irradiation in radiotherapy.

Administration of vaccines to stimulate the host's immune response. This includes any preparation intended for active immunological prophylaxis.

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

Exclusive legal rights or privileges applied to inventions, plants, etc.

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

Laws concerned with manufacturing, dispensing, and marketing of drugs.

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.

A strategy for purchasing health care in a manner which will obtain maximum value for the price for the purchasers of the health care and the recipients. The concept was developed primarily by Alain Enthoven of Stanford University and promulgated by the Jackson Hole Group. The strategy depends on sponsors for groups of the population to be insured. The sponsor, in some cases a health alliance, acts as an intermediary between the group and competing provider groups (accountable health plans). The competition is price-based among annual premiums for a defined, standardized benefit package. (From Slee and Slee, Health Care Reform Terms, 1993)

The aggregate business enterprise of agriculture, manufacture, and distribution related to tobacco and tobacco-derived products.

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

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)

Process of shifting publicly controlled services and/or facilities to the private sector.

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

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

Small synthetic peptides that mimic surface antigens of pathogens and are immunogenic, or vaccines manufactured with the aid of recombinant DNA techniques. The latter vaccines may also be whole viruses whose nucleic acids have been modified.

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 legal relation between an entity (individual, group, corporation, or-profit, secular, government) and an object. The object may be corporeal, such as equipment, or completely a creature of law, such as a patent; it may be movable, such as an animal, or immovable, such as a building.

Exercise of governmental authority to control conduct.

Food or financial assistance for food given to those in need.

Vaccines consisting of one or more antigens that stimulate a strong immune response. They are purified from microorganisms or produced by recombinant DNA techniques, or they can be chemically synthesized peptides.

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

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

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

Control of drug and narcotic use by international agreement, or by institutional systems for handling prescribed drugs. This includes regulations concerned with the manufacturing, dispensing, approval (DRUG APPROVAL), and marketing of drugs.

Substances that augment, stimulate, activate, potentiate, or modulate the immune response at either the cellular or humoral level. The classical agents (Freund's adjuvant, BCG, Corynebacterium parvum, et al.) contain bacterial antigens. Some are endogenous (e.g., histamine, interferon, transfer factor, tuftsin, interleukin-1). Their mode of action is either non-specific, resulting in increased immune responsiveness to a wide variety of antigens, or antigen-specific, i.e., affecting a restricted type of immune response to a narrow group of antigens. The therapeutic efficacy of many biological response modifiers is related to their antigen-specific immunoadjuvanticity.

The act or practice of calling public attention to a product, service, need, etc., especially by paid announcements in newspapers, magazines, on radio, or on television. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Removal of a drug from the market due to the identification of an intrinsic property of the drug that results in a serious risk to public health.

Drugs whose drug name is not protected by a trademark. They may be manufactured by several companies.

Organizations which assume the financial responsibility for the risks of policyholders.

A method of examining and setting levels of payments.

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.

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

Any system which allows payors to share some of the financial risk associated with a particular patient population with providers. Providers agree to adhere to fixed fee schedules in exchange for an increase in their payor base and a chance to benefit from cost containment measures. Common risk-sharing methods are prospective payment schedules (PROSPECTIVE PAYMENT SYSTEM), capitation (CAPITATION FEES), diagnosis-related fees (DIAGNOSIS-RELATED GROUPS), and pre-negotiated fees.

Customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a benefit or service received.

Process that is gone through in order for a drug to receive approval by a government regulatory agency. This includes any required pre-clinical or clinical testing, review, submission, and evaluation of the applications and test results, and post-marketing surveillance of the drug.

A collective term for interstitial, intracavity, and surface radiotherapy. It uses small sealed or partly-sealed sources that may be placed on or near the body surface or within a natural body cavity or implanted directly into the tissues.

Entities sponsored by local hospitals, physician groups, and other licensed providers which are affiliated through common ownership or control and share financial risk whose purpose is to deliver health care services.

A shared service which combines the purchasing power of individual organizations or facilities in order to obtain lower prices for equipment and supplies. (From Health Care Terms, 2nd ed)

Domesticated birds raised for food. It typically includes CHICKENS; TURKEYS, DUCKS; GEESE; and others.

The type species of ORTHOPOXVIRUS, related to COWPOX VIRUS, but whose true origin is unknown. It has been used as a live vaccine against SMALLPOX. It is also used as a vector for inserting foreign DNA into animals. Rabbitpox virus is a subspecies of VACCINIA VIRUS.

A critical subpopulation of regulatory T-lymphocytes involved in MHC Class I-restricted interactions. They include both cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (T-LYMPHOCYTES, CYTOTOXIC) and CD8+ suppressor T-lymphocytes.

DNA molecules capable of autonomous replication within a host cell and into which other DNA sequences can be inserted and thus amplified. Many are derived from PLASMIDS; BACTERIOPHAGES; or VIRUSES. They are used for transporting foreign genes into recipient cells. Genetic vectors possess a functional replicator site and contain GENETIC MARKERS to facilitate their selective recognition.

The treatment of a disease or condition by several different means simultaneously or sequentially. Chemoimmunotherapy, RADIOIMMUNOTHERAPY, chemoradiotherapy, cryochemotherapy, and SALVAGE THERAPY are seen most frequently, but their combinations with each other and surgery are also used.

Consumer Product Safety refers to the measures and regulations implemented to ensure household items, toys, and other consumer products are designed, manufactured, and distributed in a manner that minimizes risks of harm, injury, or death to consumers during normal use or foreseeable misuse.

Vaccines or candidate vaccines used to prevent or treat TUBERCULOSIS.

A family of double-stranded DNA viruses infecting mammals (including humans), birds and insects. There are two subfamilies: CHORDOPOXVIRINAE, poxviruses of vertebrates, and ENTOMOPOXVIRINAE, poxviruses of insects.

Antibody-mediated immune response. Humoral immunity is brought about by ANTIBODY FORMATION, resulting from TH2 CELLS activating B-LYMPHOCYTES, followed by COMPLEMENT ACTIVATION.

Deliberate stimulation of the host's immune response. ACTIVE IMMUNIZATION involves administration of ANTIGENS or IMMUNOLOGIC ADJUVANTS. PASSIVE IMMUNIZATION involves administration of IMMUNE SERA or LYMPHOCYTES or their extracts (e.g., transfer factor, immune RNA) or transplantation of immunocompetent cell producing tissue (thymus or bone marrow).

Removal of only enough breast tissue to ensure that the margins of the resected surgical specimen are free of tumor.

Activities concerned with governmental policies, functions, etc.

A formal financial agreement made between one or more physicians and a hospital to provide ambulatory alternative services to those patients who do not require hospitalization.

The production and movement of food items from point of origin to use or consumption.

Institutional funding for facilities and for equipment which becomes a part of the assets of the institution.

Alternative health care delivery mechanisms, such as PREFERRED PROVIDER ORGANIZATIONS or other health insurance services or prepaid plans (other than HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATIONS), that meet Medicare qualifications for a risk-sharing contract. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988)

Private, not-for-profit hospitals that are autonomous, self-established, and self-supported.

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)

Inbred BALB/c mice are a strain of laboratory mice that have been selectively bred to be genetically identical to each other, making them useful for scientific research and experiments due to their consistent genetic background and predictable responses to various stimuli or treatments.

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

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

Immunoglobulins produced in response to VIRAL ANTIGENS.

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

Production of drugs or biologicals which are unlikely to be manufactured by private industry unless special incentives are provided by others.

Vaccines or candidate vaccines designed to prevent SAIDS; (SIMIAN ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY SYNDROME); and containing inactivated SIMIAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS or type D retroviruses or some of their component antigens.

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

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).

A species of the genus MACACA inhabiting India, China, and other parts of Asia. The species is used extensively in biomedical research and adapts very well to living with humans.

Proteins encoded by the ENV GENE of the HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS.

The capacity of an organization, institution, or business to produce desired results with a minimum expenditure of energy, time, money, personnel, materiel, etc.

The state of being engaged in an activity or service for wages or salary.

Individuals who donate their services to the hospital.

Antibodies that reduce or abolish some biological activity of a soluble antigen or infectious agent, usually a virus.

Surveillance of drugs, devices, appliances, etc., for efficacy or adverse effects, after they have been released for general sale.

Medical services for which no payment is received. Uncompensated care includes charity care and bad debts.

Arrangements negotiated between a third-party payer (often a self-insured company or union trust fund) and a group of health-care providers (hospitals and physicians) who furnish services at lower than usual fees, and, in return, receive prompt payment and an expectation of an increased volume of patients.

Formal voluntary or governmental procedures and standards required of hospitals and health or other facilities to improve operating efficiency, and for the protection of the consumer.

The use of IONIZING RADIATION to treat malignant NEOPLASMS and some benign conditions.

The state of not being engaged in a gainful occupation.

The closing of any health facility, e.g., health centers, residential facilities, and hospitals.

Includes relationships between hospitals, their governing boards, and administrators in regard to physicians, whether or not the physicians are members of the medical staff or have medical staff privileges.

Radiotherapy given to augment some other form of treatment such as surgery or chemotherapy. Adjuvant radiotherapy is commonly used in the therapy of cancer and can be administered before or after the primary treatment.

Delivery of medications through the nasal mucosa.

Infection of domestic and wild fowl and other BIRDS with INFLUENZA A VIRUS. Avian influenza usually does not sicken birds, but can be highly pathogenic and fatal in domestic POULTRY.

Hospitals owned and operated by a corporation or an individual that operate on a for-profit basis, also referred to as investor-owned hospitals.

The industry concerned with processing, preparing, preserving, distributing, and serving of foods and beverages.

Management control systems for structuring health care delivery strategies around case types, as in DRGs, or specific clinical services.

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

Suspensions of attenuated or killed viruses administered for the prevention or treatment of infectious viral disease.

The science, art or practice of cultivating soil, producing crops, and raising livestock.

Manifestations of the immune response which are mediated by antigen-sensitized T-lymphocytes via lymphokines or direct cytotoxicity. This takes place in the absence of circulating antibody or where antibody plays a subordinate role.

The edible portions of any animal used for food including domestic mammals (the major ones being cattle, swine, and sheep) along with poultry, fish, shellfish, and game.

Activities involved in ensuring the safety of FOOD including avoidance of bacterial and other contamination.

A professional society in the United States whose membership is composed of hospitals.

The presence in food of harmful, unpalatable, or otherwise objectionable foreign substances, e.g. chemicals, microorganisms or diluents, before, during, or after processing or storage.

Governmental levies on property, inheritance, gifts, etc.

Moving a patient into a specific position or POSTURE to facilitate examination, surgery, or for therapeutic purposes.

The exposure of the head to roentgen rays or other forms of radioactivity for therapeutic or preventive purposes.

Hospital department responsible for the purchasing of supplies and equipment.

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

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)

Laws and regulations concerned with industrial processing and marketing of foods.

Treatment that combines chemotherapy with radiotherapy.

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.

Vaccines or candidate vaccines designed to prevent or treat cancer. Vaccines are produced using the patient's own whole tumor cells as the source of antigens, or using tumor-specific antigens, often recombinantly produced.

The decision process by which individuals, groups or institutions establish policies pertaining to plans, programs or procedures.

Suspensions of killed or attenuated microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa), antigenic proteins, synthetic constructs, or other bio-molecular derivatives, administered for the prevention, amelioration, or treatment of infectious and other diseases.

Antibodies reactive with HIV ANTIGENS.

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.

A family of non-enveloped viruses infecting mammals (MASTADENOVIRUS) and birds (AVIADENOVIRUS) or both (ATADENOVIRUS). Infections may be asymptomatic or result in a variety of diseases.

A violation of the criminal law, i.e., a breach of the conduct code specifically sanctioned by the state, which through its administrative agencies prosecutes offenders and imposes and administers punishments. The concept includes unacceptable actions whether prosecuted or going unpunished.

The complex of political institutions, laws, and customs through which the function of governing is carried out in a specific political unit.

Processes or methods of reimbursement for services rendered or equipment.

Countries in the process of change with economic growth, that is, an increase in production, per capita consumption, and income. The process of economic growth involves better utilization of natural and human resources, which results in a change in the social, political, and economic structures.

The type species of the genus AVIPOXVIRUS. It is the etiologic agent of FOWLPOX.

The major interferon produced by mitogenically or antigenically stimulated LYMPHOCYTES. It is structurally different from TYPE I INTERFERON and its major activity is immunoregulation. It has been implicated in the expression of CLASS II HISTOCOMPATIBILITY ANTIGENS in cells that do not normally produce them, leading to AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES.

Pricing statements presented by more than one party for the purpose of securing a contract.

An agency of the PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE concerned with the overall planning, promoting, and administering of programs pertaining to maintaining standards of quality of foods, drugs, therapeutic devices, etc.

Species of the genus LENTIVIRUS, subgenus primate immunodeficiency viruses (IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUSES, PRIMATE), that induces acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in monkeys and apes (SAIDS). The genetic organization of SIV is virtually identical to HIV.

Schedule giving optimum times usually for primary and/or secondary immunization.

A critical subpopulation of T-lymphocytes involved in the induction of most immunological functions. The HIV virus has selective tropism for the T4 cell which expresses the CD4 phenotypic marker, a receptor for HIV. In fact, the key element in the profound immunosuppression seen in HIV infection is the depletion of this subset of T-lymphocytes.

The remuneration paid or benefits granted to an employee.

Mobilization of human, financial, capital, physical and or natural resources to generate goods and services.

A republic in eastern Africa bounded on the north by RWANDA and on the south by TANZANIA. Its capital is Bujumbura.

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)

The science of breeding, feeding and care of domestic animals; includes housing and nutrition.

The type species of LENTIVIRUS and the etiologic agent of AIDS. It is characterized by its cytopathic effect and affinity for the T4-lymphocyte.

The major immunoglobulin isotype class in normal human serum. There are several isotype subclasses of IgG, for example, IgG1, IgG2A, and IgG2B.

Aluminum metal sulfate compounds used medically as astringents and for many industrial purposes. They are used in veterinary medicine for the treatment of ulcerative stomatitis, leukorrhea, conjunctivitis, pharyngitis, metritis, and minor wounds.

A non-medical term defined by the lay public as a food that has little or no preservatives, which has not undergone major processing, enrichment or refinement and which may be grown without pesticides. (from Segen, The Dictionary of Modern Medicine, 1992)

The quality or state of relating to or affecting two or more nations. (After Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed)

The use of mental images produced by the imagination as a form of psychotherapy. It can be classified by the modality of its content: visual, verbal, auditory, olfactory, tactile, gustatory, or kinesthetic. Common themes derive from nature imagery (e.g., forests and mountains), water imagery (e.g., brooks and oceans), travel imagery, etc. Imagery is used in the treatment of mental disorders and in helping patients cope with other diseases. Imagery often forms a part of HYPNOSIS, of AUTOGENIC TRAINING, of RELAXATION TECHNIQUES, and of BEHAVIOR THERAPY. (From Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, vol. 4, pp29-30, 1994)

Formal relationships established between otherwise independent organizations. These include affiliation agreements, interlocking boards, common controls, hospital medical school affiliations, etc.

The altered state of immunologic responsiveness resulting from initial contact with antigen, which enables the individual to produce antibodies more rapidly and in greater quantity in response to secondary antigenic stimulus.

City in Orleans Parish (county), largest city in state of LOUISIANA. It is located between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain.

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.

Vaccines made from antigens arising from any of the four strains of Plasmodium which cause malaria in humans, or from P. berghei which causes malaria in rodents.

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

A partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity that enters into an arrangement for the provision of services with persons who are licensed to practice medicine, osteopathy, and dentistry, and with other care personnel. Under an IPA arrangement, licensed professional persons provide services through the entity in accordance with a mutually accepted compensation arrangement, while retaining their private practices. Services under the IPA are marketed through a prepaid health plan. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988)

Lymphocytes responsible for cell-mediated immunity. Two types have been identified - cytotoxic (T-LYMPHOCYTES, CYTOTOXIC) and helper T-lymphocytes (T-LYMPHOCYTES, HELPER-INDUCER). They are formed when lymphocytes circulate through the THYMUS GLAND and differentiate to thymocytes. When exposed to an antigen, they divide rapidly and produce large numbers of new T cells sensitized to that antigen.

Studies to determine the advantages or disadvantages, practicability, or capability of accomplishing a projected plan, study, or project.

Organs which might be damaged during exposure to a toxin or to some form of therapy. It most frequently refers to healthy organs located in the radiation field during radiation therapy.

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.

The level of governmental organization and function below that of the national or country-wide government.

An immunoassay utilizing an antibody labeled with an enzyme marker such as horseradish peroxidase. While either the enzyme or the antibody is bound to an immunosorbent substrate, they both retain their biologic activity; the change in enzyme activity as a result of the enzyme-antibody-antigen reaction is proportional to the concentration of the antigen and can be measured spectrophotometrically or with the naked eye. Many variations of the method have been developed.

'Frozen foods' in a medical context typically refers to prepared or raw food items that have been rapidly cooled then stored at freezing temperatures, typically below -18 degrees Celsius, to minimize microbial growth and enzymatic reactions, thereby extending their shelf life.

A subtype of INFLUENZA A VIRUS comprised of the surface proteins hemagglutinin 5 and neuraminidase 1. The H5N1 subtype, frequently referred to as the bird flu virus, is endemic in wild birds and very contagious among both domestic (POULTRY) and wild birds. It does not usually infect humans, but some cases have been reported.

Spread and adoption of inventions and techniques from one geographic area to another, from one discipline to another, or from one sector of the economy to another. For example, improvements in medical equipment may be transferred from industrial countries to developing countries, advances arising from aerospace engineering may be applied to equipment for persons with disabilities, and innovations in science arising from government research are made available to private enterprise.

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.

The means of moving persons, animals, goods, or materials from one place to another.

Forceful administration into a muscle of liquid medication, nutrient, or other fluid through a hollow needle piercing the muscle and any tissue covering it.

The relationship between the dose of administered radiation and the response of the organism or tissue to the radiation.

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

The production of ANTIBODIES by proliferating and differentiated B-LYMPHOCYTES under stimulation by ANTIGENS.

Vaccines using supra-molecular structures composed of multiple copies of recombinantly expressed viral structural proteins. They are often antigentically indistinguishable from the virus from which they were derived.

Drugs obtained and often manufactured illegally for the subjective effects they are said to produce. They are often distributed in urban areas, but are also available in suburban and rural areas, and tend to be grossly impure and may cause unexpected toxicity.

The specialty related to the performance of techniques in clinical pathology such as those in hematology, microbiology, and other general clinical laboratory applications.

Vaccines used to prevent infection by any virus from the family ADENOVIRIDAE.

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is not a medical term or concept, but a regional organization that consists of post-Soviet states, and therefore, it does not have a medical definition.

The measurement of infection-blocking titer of ANTISERA by testing a series of dilutions for a given virus-antiserum interaction end-point, which is generally the dilution at which tissue cultures inoculated with the serum-virus mixtures demonstrate cytopathology (CPE) or the dilution at which 50% of test animals injected with serum-virus mixtures show infectivity (ID50) or die (LD50).

The process by which decisions are made in an institution or other organization.

Theoretical representations and constructs that describe or explain the structure and hierarchy of relationships and interactions within or between formal organizational entities or informal social groups.

Places where animals are slaughtered and dressed for market.

State plans prepared by the State Health Planning and Development Agencies which are made up from plans submitted by the Health Systems Agencies and subject to review and revision by the Statewide Health Coordinating Council.

The collective designation of three organizations with common membership: the European Economic Community (Common Market), the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). It was known as the European Community until 1994. It is primarily an economic union with the principal objectives of free movement of goods, capital, and labor. Professional services, social, medical and paramedical, are subsumed under labor. The constituent countries are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. (The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1997, p842)

Cultivated plants or agricultural produce such as grain, vegetables, or fruit. (From American Heritage Dictionary, 1982)

Property, such as patents, trademarks, and copyright, that results from creative effort. The Patent and Copyright Clause (Art. 1, Sec. 8, cl. 8) of the United States Constitution provides for promoting the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. (From Black's Law Dictionary, 5th ed, p1014)

Techniques where DNA is delivered directly into organelles at high speed using projectiles coated with nucleic acid, shot from a helium-powered gun (gene gun). One of these techniques involves immunization by DNA VACCINES, which delivers DNA-coated gold beads to the epidermis.

Live vaccines prepared from microorganisms which have undergone physical adaptation (e.g., by radiation or temperature conditioning) or serial passage in laboratory animal hosts or infected tissue/cell cultures, in order to produce avirulent mutant strains capable of inducing protective immunity.

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.

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.

Interactional process combining investigation, discussion, and agreement by a number of people in the preparation and carrying out of a program to ameliorate conditions of need or social pathology in the community. It usually involves the action of a formal political, legal, or recognized voluntary body.

Institutional systems consisting of more than one health facility which have cooperative administrative arrangements through merger, affiliation, shared services, or other collective ventures.

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

The protection, preservation, restoration, and rational use of all resources in the total environment.

Nonsusceptibility to the pathogenic effects of foreign microorganisms or antigenic substances as a result of antibody secretions of the mucous membranes. Mucosal epithelia in the gastrointestinal, respiratory, and reproductive tracts produce a form of IgA (IMMUNOGLOBULIN A, SECRETORY) that serves to protect these ports of entry into the body.

A radiological stereotactic technique developed for cutting or destroying tissue by high doses of radiation in place of surgical incisions. It was originally developed for neurosurgery on structures in the brain and its use gradually spread to radiation surgery on extracranial structures as well. The usual rigid needles or probes of stereotactic surgery are replaced with beams of ionizing radiation directed toward a target so as to achieve local tissue destruction.

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.

Discrete concentrations of energy, apparently massless elementary particles, that move at the speed of light. They are the unit or quantum of electromagnetic radiation. Photons are emitted when electrons move from one energy state to another. (From Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 11th ed)

Retroviral proteins, often glycosylated, coded by the envelope (env) gene. They are usually synthesized as protein precursors (POLYPROTEINS) and later cleaved into the final viral envelope glycoproteins by a viral protease.

Tendency toward a lessened strength of response due to practice or activity. It is independent of the effect of reward and is a direct function of time interval since the last response and the number of preceding responses.

Sudden onset water phenomena with different speed of occurrence. These include flash floods, seasonal river floods, and coastal floods, associated with CYCLONIC STORMS; TIDALWAVES; and storm surges.

The Nobel Prize is not a medical term, but a prestigious international award given annually in several categories, including Physiology or Medicine, for significant contributions to humanity that have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind.

Proteins coded by the retroviral gag gene. The products are usually synthesized as protein precursors or POLYPROTEINS, which are then cleaved by viral proteases to yield the final products. Many of the final products are associated with the nucleoprotein core of the virion. gag is short for group-specific antigen.

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.