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Background: Variability in dosing and costs of biologics among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is of interest to healthcare decision-makers. We examined dosing and costs among RA patients newly treated with infliximab or etanercept under conditions of typical clinical practice. Methods: Integrated pharmacy and medical claims data were obtained from 61 U.S. health plans. RA patients newly treated with infliximab or etanercept between July 1999--June 2002 were selected. A maintenance number of infliximab vials was determined after the "loading period" (2--3 infusions); those with = 2 occurrences of an increase in vials or an interval between infusions of <49 days were considered to have had escalated. For etanercept patients, escalation was based on ≥ 2 instances of increased average daily dose. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess variables associated with dose escalation. RA-related costs at one year post-initiation also were examined; comparisons were made using generalized linear models. Results: A total of 1,548 patients were identified (n = 598 and 950 for infliximab and etanercept respectively). Infliximab recipients were somewhat older (50.5 vs. 46.6 years for etanercept). Nearly 60% of infliximab patients increased their dose at one year, compared to 18% for etanercept. Infliximab patients who escalated dose incurred a 25% increase in mean one-year costs ($20,915 vs. $16,713 for no increase; p < 0.0001). Costs among etanercept patients did not substantially differ based on dose escalation ($14,482 vs. $13,866 respectively). Conclusions: Infliximab is associated with higher rates of dose escalation relative to etanercept, which contributes to substantially higher one-year medical costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management practice has facilitated pluralism through media organizations, co-opted voices such as health care, and fought voices that resisted co-optation, notably, organized labor. This premise can be activated with the question about American pluralism in management textbooks. Whether or not the management textbook qualifies as ideology and as propaganda has important implications for where the study of management can be located in an undergraduate college curriculum. This article contains a sketch of one way to use the concept of management practice as the focal point for an undergraduate course about pluralism in American society. In such a course, the study of management practice is not an end in itself but rather becomes a means to an end in each student's quest to find an intellectual voice. This kind of critical study of management practice is enhanced by the way that management textbook authors Kim Cameron, Duane Ireland, Bob Lussier, R. N. New, and Steve Robbins sidestep the question of management textbooks as propaganda.

One acre, 4,840 square yards, 43,560 square feet, seems like such an insignificant marker of human presence on planet Earth. Yet, one acre, taken both literally and as metaphor, holds significant potential as a teaching device. This article is about an assignment through which undergraduate students learn to make connections between the natural environment and the privileged human act known as management. The assignment requires students to examine layers of history and complexity on one acre of land. The subject of this article is a writing assignment that the author created for an undergraduate, senior-level seminar at a private, residential liberal arts college. Management is the major field for the students enrolled in the seminar. Very few of these students are versed in environmental science. The assignment launches a course in which the concept of privilege is the principal focus and the privileged act called management is the principal case example. At this liberal arts college, students study ideas such as privilege as they prepare for a life of thoughtful action in the company of others.

Investigates various information technology issues for a sample of manufacturing firms in the United States. Emphasis on data resources; competitive advantage, end-user computing and aligning the information science organization; Underlying three-factor structure of the four top issues.

Presents an essay discussing the role of corporate reengineering in establishing political implications of using stakeholder concept. Interpretation of the stakeholder concept as a means for advocating just human communities; Aspects of corporate reengineering; Ethical coherence of corporate reengineering.

Proposes the adoption of a critical approach to management and management theory, in general, and to business, ethics and society, in particular. Reasons why some business vocabulary and theory has become a nuisance; Business perspective using feminist theory and psychoanalytic theory; Suggested projects to which business and society intellectuals can make substantial contributions.

The article presents information on coding system in documentation. In a single-field superimposed coding system, each subject to be recorded on a card is associated with a pattern of signals or marks selected from a field of possible locations for such marks. Because there is no restriction upon the distribution or arrangement of the marks, the several patterns corresponding to the several subjects on each card generally overlap and may partially or even completely coincide. In considering multiple field versus single-field superimposed coding systems, C.S. Wise shows that the latter yields the smallest "F" for a given total number of punch positions, or holes, and a given number of subjects per card.

OBJECTIVE: Autism has a strong, complex genetic component, most likely involving several genes. Multiple genomic screens have shown evidence suggesting linkage to chromosome 2q31-q33, which includes the SLC25A12 gene. Recently, an association between autism risk and two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in SLC25A12 was reported. This study aimed to test for association in SLC25A12 in an independent data set of 327 families with autistic offspring. METHOD: The authors analyzed two SNPs that were significant in the previous study group, as well as seven additional SNPs within the gene. Association analyses for individual SNPs as well as haplotypes were performed. RESULTS: There was no evidence of an association between SLC25A12 and autism. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that SLC25A12 is not a major contributor to autism risk in these families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]