Commission Web Research Articles

Shower Steamer Burns in a Toddler

Commercial "shower-steamers" are relatively new devices used to produce a sauna-like effect in standard showers. These devices produce superheated steam to temperatures greater than 100 degrees C. The steam-head is installed 12 in. above the shower floor or 8 in. above the tub edge, making accidental burn injury to children a real possibility, as in our case report. To our knowledge, there are no previously documented cases in the literature or on the Consumer Products Safety Commission Web site of thermal injuries from this device. Physicians need to be aware of the possible injury from such steamers, and public education to prevent further incidents is warranted.

A Legal Primer on Business Entities

A Legal Primer on Business Entities

The telecommunications content of state public utility commission Web sites: Remaining relevant in a changing marketplace

Abstract The role and continued relevance of state telecommunications regulators have been challenged by the development of competition, the introduction of new technologies, and the increasing dominance of federal authority. An important role that state utility commissions can play in the current telecommunications environment is to provide consumer education and information about consumer protection, competition, and universal service. Commissions can use their Web sites as effective tools in educating and informing consumers. This study analyzes the consumer-related telecommunications information included on the Web sites of the commissions in the 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine whether, and how well, state commissions are using their Web sites to educate and inform.

Shining the Light on the ???800-lb Gorilla??? of Professional Rivalry in Case Management

Kim Schuetze, ACSW, CCM, is a Medical Social Worker with Floyd Memorial Home Health in New Albany, Indiana, and has 20 years experience in the healthcare arena, including more than 15 years in hospital social work. She is also the Chair of the Commission for Case Manager Certification, the first and largest nationally accredited organization that certifies case managers. For more information on the CCMC and its Certified Case Manager (CCM) credential, please see the Commission Web site at www.ccmcertification.org. Address correspondence to Kim Schuetze, ACSW, CCM, Chair, Commission for Case Manager Certification ([email protected]).

NIH Appoints Members to National Commission on Digestive Diseases

NIH Appoints Members to National Commission on Digestive Diseases

Hypoallergenic formula prescribing practices in Australia

To gain insight into the use of hypoallergenic formula in Australia by analysis of prescribing statistics. Statistics on supply of amino acid and extensively hydrolyzed formula were obtained from the Health Insurance Commission web site. The number of prescriptions supplied in 2003 and 2004 per 1000 children aged 4 years and younger were calculated for each State and Territory. This was related to the numbers of paediatric physicians and paediatric allergists in each State. There was a marked rise in the use of amino acid formula (AAF) commencing in 2001. The Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and Victoria had 6-7 times more AAF items per 1000 children prescribed than Western Australia. This did not appear to relate to the numbers of paediatricians or paediatric allergists in each State. In all States and Territories the prescribing of extensively hydrolyzed formula was less than that of AAF. There are significant regional differences which do not appear to be related to the prevalence of allergic disease. In some States and Territories AAF may be frequently prescribed as a first line treatment for cows milk allergy and for prevention of allergic disease in contradistinction to current recommendations of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and authoritative statements and position papers. Re-examination of both the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme guidelines and the knowledge and perceptions of the prescribing community is indicated.

Commission 42: Close Binaries

The triennial report from Commission 42 covers various topics like massive binaries, contact systems, cataclysmic variables and low-mass binary stars. We try in a number of sections to provide an update on the current status of the main research areas in the field of close binaries. It is not a formal review, even complete or comprehensive, but an attempt to bring the main topics on recent research to astronomers working in other fields. References are also not comprehensive and simply added to the text to help the reader looking for deeper information on the subject. For this reason, we have chosen to include references (sometimes incomplete for ongoing work) not in a list at the end but integrated with the main text body. Complete references and additional sources can be easily obtained through web access of ADS or SIMBAD. Furthermore, the summary of papers on close-binary research contained in the Bibliography of Close Binaries (BCB) can be accessed from the web site of Commission 42. I would like to express the gratitude of the commission for the careful work of Colin Scarfe as Editor-in-Chief of BCB and Andras Holl and Attila Sragli for maintaining the web pages of the Commission within the structure of Division V. Finally, K. Olah and J. Jurcsik are gratefully acknowledged for their continued support as editors of the Information Bulletin on Variable Stars (IBVS), also accessible through the commission web page.

Psychiatrists Applaud Plan To Renovate MH System

Psychiatrists Applaud Plan To Renovate MH System

Access to Quality Care: Psychosomatic Medicine

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article From the PresidentFull AccessAccess to Quality Care: Psychosomatic MedicineMichelle Riba, M.D., M.S.Michelle RibaSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., M.S.Published Online:15 Oct 2004https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.39.20.0390003 Recently I had the opportunity to participate in a critical discussion aimed at addressing a key priority: access to quality psychosomatic medicine for our patients. The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) and Treatment Effectiveness Now (TEN), a policy action consortium focusing on access to care for patients for co-occurring psychiatric and other types of medical disorders, sponsored a daylong meeting of psychiatric thought leaders from APA and the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine to discuss the work of the New Freedom Commission and more specifically its Subcommittee on Mental Health Interface with General Medicine. The subcommittee helped shape several specific goals and recommendations that were included in the commission's final report. (The subcommittee's report can be accessed at the New Freedom Commission's Web site at<www.mentalhealthcommission.gov/subcommittee/MHInterface_010803.doc>.)The purpose of the retreat was to review the commission's findings and recommendations and begin to develop an action plan to address barriers to patients' receiving integrated care.Through the leadership of Mel Haas, M.D., of CMHS, Anita Everett, M.D., of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and Carol Alter, M.D., of TEN, the group focused on the report recommendations that further research be conducted in psychosomatic medicine; that support be continued for demonstrations of effective models of care; that collaborative care models be reimbursed; and that the federal government address ways that Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal programs and private insurers can better coordinate and provide care for patients with psychiatric and other medical needs.Jurgen Unutzer, M.D., the author of the subcommittee's report, discussed evidence supporting the use of collaborative care models in primary care settings. Dr. Alter, a member of APA's Council on Psychosomatic Medicine and executive director of TEN, reviewed the complex nature of reimbursement for psychiatric care of medically ill patients, noting that current reimbursement practices resulted from the carveout of mental health care from insurance benefits and the inadequacies inherent in segregating mental health from physical health.Others in attendance included Drs. Constantine Lyketsos, Philip Muskin, and Steven Epstein, members of APA's Council on Psychosomatic Medicine. They discussed the role that APA can play in addressing barriers to integrated care. It was helpful to have the viewpoints of two residents from the George Washington University department of psychiatry, Drs. Kimberly Humann and Niku Sing. From my perspective, a critical issue that needs to be addressed is psychiatry residency training in psychosomatic medicine and its funding.It was clear the group felt that the New Freedom Commission's recommendations provide an important opportunity to support the work that those of us in psychosomatic medicine have already begun and need to build on. The group felt strongly that we need to support current efforts to build a research agenda with the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and other federal agencies. This will drive the field to answer critical questions about the relationship of psychiatric illness to other medical illnesses and to support additional inquiries of large demonstration projects focusing on chronic medical illness. Drs. Haas and Everett felt strongly that CMHS and its parent organization, SAMHSA, will continue to play a role in helping with this process.Finally, the group felt that there was a critical need to focus on the issues of cost of care for co-occurring psychiatric and other medical disorders, training, and the need to build an advocacy base within the larger medical community.While there was a great appreciation of the complexity of the reimbursement landscape, there was also an understanding that we need to use APA's resources and power to ensure that answers to questions about reimbursement and access are identified quickly. APA's Council on Psychosomatic Medicine, under the leadership of Dr. Muskin, will begin to prioritize those projects, and Sam Muszynski and Becky Yowell of APA's Office of Healthcare Systems and Financing will address the reimbursement issues.We have long struggled with the issues of access to and reimbursement for psychiatric care for medically ill patients, but the current confluence of factors including burgeoning clinical, economic, and research evidence regarding the impact, causes, and interventions for psychiatric symptoms occurring in chronically ill people creates an important opportunity for us to address barriers to receiving integrated care.I commend Dr. Alter for her continued efforts to focus our attention on addressing barriers to access and the leadership and support of Drs. Haas and Everett. ▪ ISSUES NewArchived

Development of the draft 2005 recommendations of the ICRP: a collection of papers - Part 2

In 1997, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) initiated a project intended to lead up to the replacement of its 1990 Recommendations (Publication 60)with a view to producing new, consolidated Recommendations 10-15 years after those of 1990. In order to stimulate comprehensive discussion, an open and iterative consultation process was used. An initial set of conceptual proposals to be considered by the Commission,and two later progress reports describing how and why ideas evolved in interaction with the radiological protection community, were published in the Journal of Radiological Protection (JRP). These three papers are reproduced here with kind permission by the Institute of Physics Publishing. As a result of consultation on the initial conceptual proposals and subsequent debate, the Commission has now drafted a proposed text for its 2005 Recommendations. This is intended not as a radical revision, but as a more coherent statement of current policy and as implification in its application. The summary of that draft is also reproduced here, while the full text, which is subject to public consultation until 31 December 2004, can be down loaded from the Commission's web site, www.icrp.org.

Editor’s Note

Collected by Dra. María Josepha Santos, the articles in this issue of P.A. represent some proceedings from two sessions of the Commission on Policy and Practice. These were presented at the Beijing 2000, Inter-Congress, of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES). This Commission was established in the early 1990s as a result of cooperation among national applied organizations including the SfAA, AAA, NAPA, and various other applied organizations in Britain, Canada, France, Mexico, and the then U.SSR. These were later joined by colleagues in Israel, India, Japan, Nigeria, Australia, and Costa Rica. The Commission was first co-chaired by Marietta Baba and Carole Hill. The first papers—focusing on national styles of applied anthropology—were delivered at the IUAES Congress, Mexico City, 1993, [see Baba, Marietta and Carole E. Hill (eds.) The Global Practice of Anthropology. Williamsburg VA.: College of William and Mary, Studies in Third World Societies, No. 58. 1997] followed later by sessions at the 1998 Congress in Williamsburg, Virginia. The Commission is currently co-chaired by Solomón Nahamad and Carmen Bueno Castellanos of Mexico in preparation for the next IUAES Congress in Tuscany, 1993. For more information see the Commission's web page &amp;lt;http://swadesh.unam.mx/iiahome/ICAES/TEXTOICAESHOME.html&amp;gt;. Both Practicing Anthropology and the Society for Applied Anthropology are pleased to support the important international efforts of this applied anthropological organization.

Major accessions to repositories in 1998, relating to women's history

The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (HMC) in its annual Accessions to Repositories exercise collects information relating to manuscript accessions from over two hundred repositories and record offices throughout the British Isles. This information is then edited and used to produce a number of thematic digests which are distributed for publication in a wide range of learned journals and news sheets, as well as being published in full on the Commission's web site (http://www.hmc.gov.uk). It is also added to the computerised indexes of the National Register of Archives (NRA), which the Commission maintains as a central collecting point for information concerning the location of manuscript sources for British history outside of the public records. The NRA, which includes over 42,000 unpublished lists of archives, can be consulted in our public search room at Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HP, United Kingdom, whilst the indexes to the NRA are also available via the HMC web site. The Commission's staff will also answer limited and specific enquiries by post, fax (+ 44 (0)207 831 3550) and email (nra@hmc.gov.uk). Readers should note that dates for records in this digest are given when known, but that these are covering dates which are not intended to necessarily indicate the presence of records for all intervening years. Records have been included in the digest regardless of whether the deposit has yet been fully listed, and readers are advised to check with the staff of the relevant repository as to whether this, or any other factors, may prohibit availability for research.

Major accessions to repositories in 1998, relating to women's history

Abstract The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (HMC) in its annual Accessions to Repositories exercise collects information relating to manuscript accessions from over two hundred repositories and record offices throughout the British Isles. This information is then edited and used to produce a number of thematic digests which are distributed for publication in a wide range of learned journals and news sheets, as well as being published in full on the Commission's web site (http://www.hmc.gov.uk). It is also added to the computerised indexes of the National Register of Archives (NRA), which the Commission maintains as a central collecting point for information concerning the location of manuscript sources for British history outside of the public records. The NRA, which includes over 42,000 unpublished lists of archives, can be consulted in our public search room at Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HP, United Kingdom, whilst the indexes to the NRA are also available via the HMC web site. The Commission's staff will also answer limited and specific enquiries by post, fax (+ 44 (0)207 831 3550) and email (nra@hmc.gov.uk). Readers should note that dates for records in this digest are given when known, but that these are covering dates which are not intended to necessarily indicate the presence of records for all intervening years. Records have been included in the digest regardless of whether the deposit has yet been fully listed, and readers are advised to check with the staff of the relevant repository as to whether this, or any other factors, may prohibit availability for research.

Major accessions to British repositories in 1997 relating to Women's history

The Historical Manuscripts Commission seeks each year to collect information relating to manuscript accessions from over 250 repositories and record offices throughout the British Isles. This information is then published on the Internet via the Commission's web site (www.hmc.gov.uk) and in a series of thematic digests which appear in a wide range of learned journals and news sheets. It is also added to the indexes to the National Register of Archives (NRA), which are available for public consultation in the Commission's search room at Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London EC2A 1HP, United Kingdom or via the Commission's web site. The Commission will also answer limited and specific postal and email enquiries. Readers should note that some deposits may not yet be fully listed and the appearance of a collection in this digest does not necessarily mean that it will be available for research. Further enquiries regarding access should be addressed to the staff of the relevant repository.

Accessions to Repositories 1997

The Historical Manuscripts Commission seeks each year to collect information relating to manuscript accessions from over 250 repositories and record offices throughout the British Isles. This information is then published on the internet via the Commission's web site (http://www.hmc.gov.uk) and in a series of thematic digests which appear in a wide range of learned journals and news sheets. It is also added to the indexes to the National Register of Archives (NRA), which are available for public consultation in the Commission's search room at Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HP, or via the Commission's web site. The Commission will also answer limited and specific postal and e-mail enquiries. Readers should note that some deposits may not yet be fully listed and the appearance of a collection in this digest does not necessarily mean that it will be available for research. Further enquiries regarding access should be addressed to the staff of the relevant repository.

Let play monopoly [computing industry

Many people in the computing industry worry about nuances in antitrust policy, though no one will ever admit it. More precisely, no one recognizes that antitrust issues in computing go by another name. This is the topic of a fascinating study now posted on the Federal Trade Commission Web pages. Last year, a team of FTC staff wrote a report titled "Anticipating the 21st Century: Competition Policy in the New High-Tech Global Marketplace." This report says much about the thinking of the brain trust inside the FTC. It is especially intriguing for what it signals about future federal policy for the Microsoft problem.