Community measures of low-fat milk consumption: comparing store shelves with households.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relationship between the proportion of milk in food stores that is low-fat and consumption of low-fat milk in the community. METHODS: Data were gathered from 503 stores across 53 New York State zip codes. In 19 zip codes, a telephone survey measured household low-fat milk use. Census data were obtained to examine sociodemographic predictors of the percentage of low-fat milk in stores. RESULTS: The proportion of low-fat milk in stores was directly related to low-fat milk consumption in households and to the median income and urban level of the zip code. CONCLUSIONS: These results support using food store shelf-space observations to estimate low-fat milk consumption.

Multiple-location access in vision: evidence from illusory line motion.

Four experiments with undergraduates used illusory line motion (ILM) to contrast Z. W. Pylyshyn's (1989) FINST theory of spatial indexing with predictions made by unitary attention models. Multiple-onset stimuli were able to cause ILM at disparate, noncontiguous spatial locations. Consistent with gradient explanations of ILM and with FINST theory predictions, varying line-drawing speed and the number of stimuli revealed a decrease in ILM and a capacity limitation, respectively. Modeling analyses suggested a limit in the number of locations (5-7) that could elicit the illusion. Requiring participants to report the locations of all stimuli exhibiting illusory motion in a specified direction suggested parallel access to between 2 and 5 display locations simultaneously. The results of all 4 experiments were predicted by FINST theory but not by a broad class of unitary attention hypotheses.

Effect of systemic inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis on muscle protein balance after trauma in the rat.

Anaesthetized rats were subjected to a single impact trauma to the medial aspect of the right hindlimb (gastrocnemius muscle), and were compared with sham-treated controls. For 3 days after injury, muscles of the traumatized limb showed a marked catabolic response. Muscle protein repletion commenced after day 3, however, this process was not complete until 21 days after injury. Muscles of the uninjured limb of the traumatized rats also showed a distinct catabolic response, compared with rats that were never injured, although this response was less in magnitude than that of the injured limb. At 3 days after trauma, augmented synthesis of prostaglandin (PG)E2 by muscles of the injured and uninjured limb provided evidence of a local and systemic inflammatory response. Inhibition of PG synthesis by the systemic administration of naproxen (6-methoxy-alpha-methyl-2-napthaleneacetic acid) significantly reduced the catabolic loss of muscle protein seen locally and peripherally to the injury site.

Flicker distorts visual space constancy.

Effects of flicker on space perception were measured by displacing a flickering target during saccadic eye movements. A small target was flickered at 33, 66, 130 or 260 Hz. Using a 2-interval forced-choice design, sensitivity to the displacement was about twice as great when the target was moved in the direction opposite the eye movement as when it was moved in the same direction. This would be expected from a partial breakdown of space constancy--the world should seem to jump in the direction opposite an eye movement. Even if a suppression of displacement detection during saccades prevents this jump from being perceived; it should be easier to detect a target displacement in the direction opposite the eye movement than in the same direction: when movement is opposite, the imposed displacement adds to the illusory displacement, making detection easier. Displacements were more easily detected at lower flicker rates. Results imply that both masking and extraretinal signals are important in suppressing the detectability of target displacements during saccades, and that flicker on video display terminals may distort space perception.

Ultrastructural events following acute muscle trauma.

The purpose of this study was to determine the ultrastructural events occurring in skeletal muscle following acute blunt trauma. Male rats weighing 250 g were subjected to a single impact trauma to the medial gastrocnemius muscle while under general anesthesia. Hemorrhage, inflammation, non-necrotic degeneration, and later regeneration were observed. In the short term following impact (6-24 h), the damaged segments showed gross tearing and degeneration. A large number of mononuclear cells were seen in the intercellular connective tissue and within the damaged muscle cells. By 24-48 h, there was an increase in the number of sarcolemmal nuclei, some of which were likely of satellite cell origin. By day 3, regenerating muscle cells displayed central nuclei and reorganizing sarcomeres. By day 6, further progression of regeneration was seen. Moreover, focal interstitial collagen formation suggested minimal to mild scar formation. On days 14, 21, and 30 after trauma, the muscle appeared to have healed and no abnormalities could be found at the site of injury. In parallel with the ultrastructural events noted, the injured muscles underwent a marked catabolic response and showed a reproducible fall (-27%, P less than 0.001) in total protein content within 48 h. Muscle protein accumulation commenced after day 3; however, complete repletion of the loss did not occur until day 21 post-injury.

Multicenter collaborative evaluation of a standardized serum bactericidal test as a prognostic indicator in infective endocarditis.

One hundred twenty-nine patients with bacterial endocarditis were evaluated in a multicenter collaborative study to determine whether a standardized serum bactericidal test could predict the outcome of the infection. All centers used a microdilution test method that defined all known test variables, including inoculum size, culture medium, dilution technique, incubation time, method of subculture, and bactericidal endpoint. Peak serum bactericidal titers of 1:64 or more and trough serum bactericidal titers of 1:32 or more predicted bacteriologic cure in all patients. The traditionally recommended serum bactericidal titer of 1:8 had statistically significant predictive accuracy at trough antibiotic levels only. The serum bactericidal test was a poor predictor of bacteriologic failure and ultimate clinical outcome, which depends on many factors. Wider recognition by physicians and clinical microbiologists that this in vitro test of antimicrobial activity can accurately predict bacteriologic success but cannot accurately predict either bacteriologic failure or clinical outcome could lead to a better consensus about its appropriate use. On the basis of the results of this study, peak serum bactericidal titers of 1:64 or more and trough serum bactericidal titers of 1:32 or more are recommended to provide optimal medical therapy for infective endocarditis.

Invasive aspergillosis. Progress in early diagnosis and treatment.

Ninety-one patients with documented invasive infections due to an Aspergillus species were identified at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from July 1, 1971, through December 31, 1976. Of the 29 patients in whom the diagnosis was made during life, 10 had successful treatment and survived the Aspergillus infection by two to 17 months. An immunodiffusion test was useful in the early diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis, and in 11 patients in whom the diagnosis was supported by seroconversion and who underwent treatment, the survival rate was 64 percent. Cultures of respiratory secretions were not reliable because they often reflected only colonization. In one year, only 9 percent of he patients with Aspergillus species isolated from the sputum had an invasive infection. The lung was the commonest site of involvement, 91 percent of the patients having pulmonary lesions. The most frequently affected extrapulmonary organ was the brain (18.3 percent). Eight patients had nonpulmonary aspergillosis as the only manifestation of this infection. Most of the 91 patients had hematologic neoplasms as the underlying disease, and neutropenia and antibacterial therapy preceded the diagnosis of aspergillosis in the majority of cases.

Rapid microdilution-colorimetric assay for yeast susceptibility to fluorocytosine.

Acid production by certain yeast species through the fermentation of glucose was used as the basis of an in vitro test for measuring susceptibility of these organisms to 5-fluorocytosine. Serial dilutions of 5-fluorocytosine in yeast nitrogen base broth, with bromothymol blue indicator dye, were made on microtiter plates. A fixed-concentration suspension of yeast cells was added to successive wells of the plates, and the color change from blue to yellow, indicating generation of acid, was noted. Eighteen hours after inoculation the lowest concentration of 5-fluorocytosine that completely inhibited the production of acid was recorded as the minimum inhibitory concentration. The results were reproducible in multiple trials with organisms of the genera Candida, Torulopsis, and Saccharomyces. This test is a rapid, inexpensive alternative to current 48- to 72-h methods in which broth turbidity is used as the end point.