Programmable array microscopy with a ferroelectric liquid-crystal spatial light modulator.

We present a programmable array microscope that uses a ferroelectric liquid-crystal spatial light modulator (SLM) for dynamic generation of scanning apertures. A single SLM serves as both the source and the detector aperture array in a double-pass confocal system. Successive aperture frames scan the array across the viewing area for complete imaging of a sample while preserving depth discrimination. Integration of the microscope output across all aperture frames produces a confocal image.

Laser sources in direct-view-scanning, tandem-scanning, or nipkow-disk-scanning confocal microscopy.

Laser sources offer a potentially low-cost means of improving thelight throughput in tandem-scanning confocal microscopy because oftheir high beam directionality. We measure and compare the opticalsectioning characteristics of the tandem-scanning microscope (TSM)employing (i) the traditional choice of incoherent light from a Xearc lamp and (ii) a cited alternative-coherent light from a He-Nelaser source. In general the laser source is found to result inaxial responses with pronounced sidelobes, the sizes and locations ofwhich are extremely sensitive to the alignment of the pinholearray. The implications of these results for practical TSM systemsare discussed.

The new food label: implications for primary care.

Providers of primary care need to integrate accurate nutritional advice into their practice. Understanding and explaining food labels should be one aspect of the role of the primary care provider. By becoming knowledgeable of the new food label mandated by the nutrition labeling regulations set forth by the Food and Drug Administration and the daily recommended values of nutrients, primary care providers will be able to help their clients to be better consumers and avoid misconceptions when making food choices.

Monitoring the fat and cholesterol intake of children and adolescents.

Nurse practitioners and other health care providers play vital roles in the health education of their clients. A health professional should be able to understand the interplay of diet, education, and exercise in a healthy existence. This article reviews the recommendations offered by the National Cholesterol Education Program (1991) on testing and managing cholesterol levels in children and adolescents. The program recommends a strategy combining two complementary approaches: a population approach and an individual approach. By evaluating these approaches, the timing and rationale for lowering fat and cholesterol are discussed and recommendations are made to health care providers about identifying children at risk. Health care providers should work to promote a physically conscious generation that is well-versed in health maintenance, to identify "high-risk" individuals, and to update their own knowledge of national recommendations for managing fat and cholesterol levels in their clients' diets.

Quantification of airborne moulds in the homes of children with and without wheeze.

A population survey of 1000 7 year old children found a significant excess of wheeze among children whose homes were reported to be mouldy (odds ratio 3.70, 95% confidence limits 2.22, 6.15). The airborne mould flora was quantified by repeated volumetric sampling during the winter in three rooms of the homes of 88 children. All of these had previously completed spirometric tests before and after a six minute free running exercise challenge. Total airborne mould counts varied from 0 to 41,000 colony forming units (CFU)/m3, but were generally in the range 50-1500 CFU/m3, much lower than the concentrations found outdoors in summer. The principal types of fungi identified are all known to be common out of doors, and most were found on at least one occasion in most of the homes. Median and geometric mean total mould counts were not related to reports of visible mould in the home, or to a history of wheeze in the index child. The heterogeneous group of non-sporing fungi (mycelia sterilia) were the only airborne fungi present at significantly higher concentrations in the homes of wheezy children (geometric mean 2.1 v 0.7 CFU/m3. A non-significant increase in total mould counts was observed in the homes of children with a 10% or greater decline in FEV1 after exercise (geometric mean 354 v 253 CFU/m3). Questionnaire reports of mould in the home may be a poor indicator of exposure to airborne spores. The total burden of inhaled mould spores from indoor sources is probably not an important determinant of wheeze among children in the general population. Although the association with mycelia sterilia could be a chance finding, these non-sporing isolates may include a potent source of allergen.

Alcoholism-its emergence in the black townships of South Africa.

Since 1962 alcoholic liquor has been freely available to all racial groups in South Africa. Now, nearly 20 years later, the problem of alcoholism is presenting as 'the hidden alcoholic' seen at the polyclinics of the Black hospitals. We discuss what we have found in this regard and what we are endeavouring to do about it.