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H Berman

Publications and source records attributed to H Berman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Stories and numbers: coexistence without compromise.

Research methods are not paradigm specific but should be selected on the basis of whether they fit with the purposes of an investigation. In the postpositivist, interpretive, and critical paradigms, both qualitative and quantitative data or a combination of these may be used without violating paradigm assumptions. Attention to the four basic issues of quality of the data, investigator bias, quality of the research process, and usefulness of the finding is necessary to produce valid research. Although researchers in each paradigm deal with these differently, combining strategies across paradigms may enhance the scientific value of a study and result in new methodologies to address the health needs of all people.

Bias↗
PubMed1995

Too smart by half.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Health Care Reform↗
PubMed1993

Knowledge-based generation of machine learning experiments: learning with DNA crystallography data.

Though it has been possible in the past to learn to predict DNA hydration patterns from crystallographic data, there is ambiguity in the choice of training data (both in terms of the relevant set of cases and the features needed to represent them), which limits the usefulness of standard learning techniques. Thus, we have developed a knowledge-based system to generate machine learning experiments for inducing DNA hydration pattern classifiers. The system takes as input (1) a set of classified training examples described by a large set of attributes and (2) information about a set of learning experiments that have already been run. It outputs a new learning experiment, namely a (not necessarily proper) subset of the input examples represented by a new set of features. Domain specific and domain independent knowledge is used to suggest subsets of training examples from suspected subpopulations, transform attributes in the training data or generate new ones, and choose interesting ways to substitute one experiment's set of attributes with another. Automatic hydration pattern predictors are of both theoretical and practical interest to DNA crystallographers, because they can speed up a labor intensive process, and because the extracted rules add to the knowledge of what determines DNA hydration.

Artificial Intelligence↗
PubMed1992

Rochester: community rating = insurance access.

Despite opposition from some quarters, the New York State Legislature recently passed a small-group reform bill requiring community rating in health insurance throughout that state. The health care system of Rochester, NY, the author contends, proves that community rating is both good public policy and good business practice.

Health Benefit Plans, Employee↗
PubMed1986

Treatment of colorectal hepatic metastases by intrahepatic chemotherapy alone or as an adjuvant to complete or partial removal of metastatic disease.

Because of the wide variation in reported benefits from the use of intrahepatic chemotherapy for colorectal hepatic metastases, the authors performed their own phase II studies comparing the use of intrahepatic chemotherapy alone and intrahepatic chemotherapy as an adjuvant to complete or partial removal of metastatic colorectal cancer to the liver. Techniques for partial removal included unilateral and bilateral wedge resection, peripheral presinusoidal embolization of the liver, and portal vein branch ligation. Patients were staged using the per cent hepatic replacement method of Pettavel and Taylor, and patients with bilateral metastases were included in the study. Twenty-seven patients, mean age 60.3 years, were examined. There were 19 males, mean age 60.4 years, and eight females, mean age 60 years. The patients were divided into four groups. Group A had an implantable pump only; Group B had an implantable pump and resection; Group C had an implantable pump and arterial embolization and portal vein branch ligation; and Group D had an implantable pump, partial resection, arterial embolization, and portal vein branch ligation. Kaplan-Meyer survival curves were calculated for all of these groups. A separate analysis was carried out for each of the stages, and a comparison was made. The study indicated that the overall median survival time was 18 months and that the more radical the treatment in addition to chemotherapy, the better the results. Such results were not totally dependent on the staging of the tumor volume but were dependent on the degree of extirpation of the tumor. In Group C, consisting primarily of Stage IIa, IIIa, and IV patients (i.e., unresectable patients), a doubling of expected median survival to 12 months could be achieved, compared to those in Group A, which achieved a median survival of only 6 months.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Health and early retirement decisions.

Health and economic considerations have consistently played important roles in retirement decisions. Increases in early retirement benefits by some employers have increased the incentive to retire early, thus inducing a change in the health and economic relationships. During the three months following implementation by a large manufacturing firm of a labor contract which included substantial improvement in early retirement benefits, structured interviews were conducted with 45 employees who had chosen early retirement and 35 eligible employees who had chosen to continue working. Data are presented on the relationship between health and retirement decisions, and on the differences between early retirees and non-retirees in regard to perceived health status, job satisfaction, potential for continued employment, leisure involvement, and morale. Implications for the primary care physician's interactions with workers who face early retirement are discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1980

Metabolism of rat granular pneumocytes isolated in primary culture.

Granular pneumocytes (GP) were isolated by trysinization of minced rat lungs followed by short-term primary culture. The yield from the lungs of one rat was approximately 3.5 X 10(6) GP representing 25 micrograms DNA and 0.5 mg protein. Depending on the method to remove cells from attachment to plastic, the purity was 82--92% GP of which > 90% excluded erythrosin B. Resting O2 consumption (37 degrees C) of cells was 202 +/- 29 (mean +/- SE, n = 3) nmol.h-1.(10(6) cells)-1 with a 2.5 times increase in the presence of an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation. ATP content of resting pneumocytes was 4.1 +/- 0.18 nmol.(10(6) cells)-1 and was markedly depressed by the "uncoupling" agent. During incubation with [U-14C]glucose, production of metabolites in nmol.h-1.(10(6) cells)-1 was lactate 58.0 +/- 7.9, pyruvate 25.8 +/- 3.2, and 14CO2 56.4 +/- 2.1, and glucose utilization was 104 +/- 38.5. Sonicated GP had higher activities of both lactate and succinate dehydrogenases compared with alveolar macrophages. Alkaline phosphatase activity was localized predominantly to GP, whereas macrophages contained predominantly acid phosphatase. The intracellular water space for granular pneumocytes was 0.55 +/- 0.05 ml.(10(6) cells)-1 and was 71% greater for alveolar macrophage. The presence of active glycolytic and oxidative pathways and appropriate responses to metabolic inhibitors and substrates suggest the presence of intact cell membranes and the retention of metabolic control mechanisms in this isolated lung epithelial cell preparation.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗