Psychological and demographic predictors of successful weight loss following silastic ring vertical stapled gastroplasty.

To identify psychological factors involved in obesity 45 individuals (40 women and 5 men), ranging in age from 21 to 54 years (M age = 41 yr.), who were candidates for silastic ring vertical stapled gastroplasty were assessed on the Millon Behavioral Health Inventory and the Millon Multiaxial Clinical Inventory-III. In addition, a number of demographic variables such as education, marital status, and age of onset of obesity were considered. Analysis indicated that significant predictors of weight loss at a 6-mo. postoperative assessment include age of onset of obesity and scores on the Schizoid scale of the Millon-III. These findings may be of assistance in identifying personality variables associated with changes in weight if replicated in a larger sample.

Beliefs in the paranormal: age and sex differences among elderly persons and undergraduate students.

Beliefs in the paranormal were rated stronger in younger as compared to elderly adults by Emmons and Sobal in 1981, and sex correlates of paranormal beliefs appeared to be stronger in women than in men by Irwin in 1994. This research studied possible linkages between age and sex with a comparative analysis between results of Vitulli and Luper's 1998 survey among undergraduate students and data from elderly men (M = 72 yr., SD = 9.2, n = 21) and women (M = 69.3 yr., SD = 7.7, n = 55). Crawford and Christensen's 1995 12-item Extrasensory Perception Survey was administered to elderly persons living in apartment complexes and private homes, participating in activities in a recreation center, or attending a continuing-education seminar. A 2 x 2 multivariate analysis of variance from responses on the 12-item survey showed that undergraduate men and elderly women had the highest ratings on paranormal beliefs. The self-selecting characteristics of a segment of the elderly sample led to a post hoc univariate analysis of variance by partitioning that sample into those who were attending a continuing-education seminar versus all other elderly persons. Summated ratings (total scores) for this survey showed main effects for these subsamples and for sex. Sex and age differences were discussed in the context of the hypothesis of social marginality.

Perception of time: delay of estimation under auditory and visual tasks with type-A measures.

The perception of time is likely to be lengthened when estimates of duration are delayed rather than given immediately as reported by Vitulli and Crimmins in 1999. The present study sought boundary conditions for this robust effect. A multivariate analysis of variance showed a reliable main effect for delay of estimation, yet comparisons between auditory versus visual short-term memory tasks showed no differences in time estimations. The analysis showed weak interactions between sex and delay of estimation and between sex and delay of estimation on Jenkins Activity Survey-Job Involvement scores.

Is planar thallium-201/fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose imaging a reasonable clinical alternative to positron emission tomographic myocardial viability scanning?

This comparative study was performed to determine whether a conventional planar gamma camera optimised for 511-keV imaging can reliably assess myocardial viability using the fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) metabolic tracer previously developed for positron emission tomography (PET). Twenty-seven patients with severe ischaemic cardiomyopathy (mean left ventricular ejection fraction: 20% +/- 9%) having clinically indicated nitrogen-13 ammonia/FDG PET myocardial viability studies consented to resting, four-view, planar myocardial thallium-201 perfusion and FDG metabolism imaging. The resultant PET and planar perfusion/metabolism images (PPI) were independently assessed for FDG defect size and perfusion/metabolism mismatch, using a four-point scale, in each of four vascular regions: apex, circumflex, left anterior and posterior descending coronary artery territories. Of 108 regions, 106 were evaluable (two not assessed by PET). There was complete agreement in 70% of coronary vascular territories, giving an unweighted kappa score of 0.56. Moreover, in 94% of segments agreement was within one grade. Interestingly, six of the seven differences of more than one grade occurred in the circumflex coronary territory, which was also the only region for which planar positron imaging underestimated FDG defect size. Three of four moderate areas of perfusion/metabolism mismatch seen with PET were also seen on PPI. PPI showed three small regions of mismatch not seen on PET, whilst the reverse occurred with one other small region of mismatch. Thus, for this PET protocol, PPI provides very similar information on the extent of regional FDG uptake and occurrence of mismatch.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Planar cardiac F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose imaging with a conventional gamma camera.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the potential of an adapted gamma camera to image cardiac uptake of the positron emitting glucose analogue fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). DESIGN: Postprandial studies were performed in 19 patients (mean age, 56 +/- 9 years) with coronary disease and resting cardiac dysfunction who had undergone a routine clinical 7 min/view planar thallium-201 (Tl-201) stress reinjection or rest redistribution study. A glucose/insulin protocol was used and, an hour after FDG injection, 15-minute static planar myocardial images were acquired in the four views used for Tl-201 scanning. RESULTS: The diagnostic quality of FDG images was at least as good as that of their Tl-201 counterparts, with less liver background in all but one FDG study. In the left anterior oblique 45 degrees view uncorrected global myocardial FDG and stress Tl-201 counts were similar, but the FDG study had significantly higher peak myocardial to background ratios. CONCLUSION: Assessing regional cardiac FDG uptake and myocardial perfusion seems feasible with conventional gamma camera technology, providing a widely available and cost effective means of detecting hibernating myocardium. Similar equipment may appreciably reduce the need for positron emission tomography in a range of clinical conditions.

The effectiveness of a computer-assisted instruction program upon learning the X-ray machine circuit.

The instructional effectiveness of a computer-assisted instruction program entitled "Basic X-ray Circuitry" was evaluated using a pretest/post-test control group experimental design. Results of the study indicate that the program is an effective method of increasing learner knowledge of the x-ray machine circuit.

Differential response of urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase to two osmotic diuretics in the dog.

Urinary N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG), a lysosomal hydrolase located the proximal tubule of the kidney, has been used as a marker for subtle renal injury. In humans and other animals with diabetes mellitus, urinary NAG activity has been shown to increase within 12 hours of the onset of hyperglycemia and glycosuria. Whether the rise in urinary NAG activity is in response to the hyperglycemia or to the osmotic diuresis associated with glycosuria is not known, nor has the time course of the rise in enzyme activity been determined. A study was designed using four groups of dogs to examine these possibilities: group 1 (n = 5), control dogs; group 2 (n = 5), mannitol-infused dogs; group 3 (n = 5), low-glucose dogs; and group 4 (n = 5), high-glucose dogs. In groups 2 and 4, mannitol and glucose, respectively, were infused at a rate to double urine flow from the left ureter without altering the contralateral urine volume. In group 3, sufficient glucose was infused to elevate left renal vein glucose level without producing glycosuria. In the control dogs infused with normal saline solution at a constant rate throughout the control and study periods, no differences were found in urinary NAG excretion when data from individual clearance periods were compared for the right and left kidneys. In the low-glucose dogs, urinary NAG/creatinine ratios were significantly increased (P less than 0.01) when the left and right kidneys were compared for the duration of the infusion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)