Effects of polyethylene film wrap on cooler shrink and the microbial status of beef carcasses.

The present study evaluated the use of polyethylene film wrapping of beef half carcasses and its effects on cooler shrink, cooling characteristics and microbial status of the half carcasses. Film wrapping reduced cooler shrink by 55.2%, 43.1%, 36.0% and 30% after 24, 48, 72 and 96 h of cooling, respectively, compared to the unwrapped half carcasses, whereas the surface water activity showed no significant differences among the time periods. The wrapped half carcasses had a lower cooling rate and higher surface and internal temperatures. The highest values of the aerobic mesophiles, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacteriaceae were found in the half carcasses wrapped in film. No significant differences were found in the values of Escherichia coli. The polyethylene film was effective in reducing cooler shrink; however, it caused a delay in cooling, thereby enabling greater microbial occurrences and counts and impairing the hygienic and sanitary conditions of the carcasses, which may be an impediment to the practical application of this technology.

[Effectiveness of a systematic treatment model in an inpatient department of child and adolescent psychiatry]. / Effektivität eines systemischen Behandlungsmodells in der stationären Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie.

This is a report on the findings of the effectiveness of the "Viersener Modell", a inpatient systemic child psychiatry model. The therapy effects were recorded, by means of self and therapists assessment, in several relevant areas of change. The index clients (ic) show typical characteristics of a child psychiatry population. The ic (n = 43) and also their parents (37 mothers and 22 fathers) showed significant improvement on the level of psychiatric symptoms, individual problems and in general experience and behavior. The psychiatric symptoms that were conspicuous by both ic and parents at the beginning of therapy, were mainly inconspicuous at the end of the treatment (effectsize (es): icfemale, n = 28 = .82, icmale, n = 15 = .22, motherswithout partner(accompanying) = .20, motherswith partner(accompanying) = .44, fathers = .44). There was no essential improvement in the quality of the couples relationship, on the other hand the relationships were not clinically conspicuous at the beginning of therapy. Family members and therapists assessed quality of the treatment results and process mainly in accordance with our hypothesis. While the therapists noticed a significant improvement in the functioning of the family relationships (es = .87) at the end of the therapy, the parents (reported no difficulties in family functioning at the beginning of therapy) reported no essential improvement of family relationships in the follow-up questionnaire (n = 32). The improvement of the problems and the assessment of the quality of the treatment results remained stable over an eight month period.

A clinicopathological study of CT scans in Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the accuracy of cranial computerized tomography (CT) scans in distinguishing patients with Alzheimer's disease from those with other dementing conditions. DESIGN: Retrospective clinicopathological correlation with pre-mortem CT scans. SETTING: Urban and rural hospitals and nursing homes in the Upper Midwest. PATIENTS: All 507 patients had clinical dementia diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease during life and the subsequent referral of their brains to a dementia brain bank. Of these, 375 patients had had CT scans as part of the diagnostic work-up for dementia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The presence of neuropathological evidence of Alzheimer's disease and the specific findings on CT scans. RESULTS: Of the 375 patients evaluated with a CT, 28% were misdiagnosed (lacked neuropathological evidence of Alzheimer's disease); of the 132 patients evaluated without a CT scan, only 18% were misdiagnosed (P less than 0.05). The degree of atrophy and other CT findings were similar in the correctly diagnosed and misdiagnosed groups except for increased ventricular size in the correctly diagnosed patients (P less than 0.05). CONCLUSION: Although CT scans do not usually contribute to the recognition of Alzheimer's disease, the presence of ventricular enlargement may help distinguish Alzheimer's disease from other dementias.

Risk factors in Alzheimer's disease: a clinicopathologic study.

We investigated potential risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD) in a clinicopathologic study of 407 patients with definite AD, 100 non-Alzheimer dementia patients, and 50 normal subjects. The AD patients had more first-degree relatives with dementia than the non-AD dementia group (odds ratio of 1.85, 95% confidence interval of 1.07-3.20) or the normal elderly (odds ratio of 3.60, 95% confidence interval of 1.50-8.64) but did not have significantly more head injuries, medical and psychiatric illnesses, or relatives with Down's syndrome. The AD patients with a family history of dementia had their dementia at a later age than those without an affected relative. These findings indicate a familial risk for AD that is greater than for other dementing illnesses and has age-related penetrance. This study does not support other putative risk factors for AD such as head trauma and familial Down's syndrome.

Dementia presenting with aphasia: clinical characteristics.

Dementia, a disorder of multiple cognitive functions, may atypically present as an aphasia. The clinical characteristics are reported of 13 patients with up to 14 years of progressive language impairment before developing dementia. In reviewing the literature, it was found that these patients were similar to those reported with progressive aphasia. It is concluded that dementia may present with an anomic, dysfluent language disorder due to the focal left sylvian onset of several dementing illnesses.

Neuropathologically confirmed Alzheimer's disease: clinical diagnoses in 394 cases.

In the absence of pathognomonic clinical features, the clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains one of exclusion of other dementias. We investigated the clinical diagnoses among 394 neuropathologically confirmed AD cases in a dementia brain bank. Most patients were correctly diagnosed as AD (348 or 88%). Among the misdiagnosed patients, AD was mistaken for a primary depressive disorder in 14, multi-infarct dementia in 13, Parkinson's disease in nine, and alcoholic dementia in four. The number of misdiagnosed AD patients did not differ between physician specialties but was greater among AD patients with agitation, depression, paranoia, or delusions. This retrospective study suggests that the diagnostic sensitivity for AD is high among a cross-section of practicing physicians and that an important factor in mistaking AD for another illness is unfamiliarity with the potential psychiatric symptoms of AD.

[Modification of vasoprotective omega-3-fatty acids--a previously unknown side effect of propranolol therapy?]. / Beeinflussung der vasoprotektiven omega-3-Fettsäuren--eine bisher unbekannte Nebenwirkung der Propranololtherapie?

Under influence of a 6-month treatment with 75-100 mg/d propranolol (Obsidan) a significant decrease of the proportions of eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5) in the serum was observed in 18 patients with primary hypertension stage I. The eicosapentaenoic acid belongs to the omega-3-fatty acids known as vasoprotectively effective. The results indicate an up to now unknown side effect of the propranolol therapy which is to be seen in the connection with other unfavourable effects in the lipid metabolism. The possible influence on the omega-3-fatty acid metabolism by propranolol should continue to be investigated.

[Effect of propranolol treatment on blood omega-3-fatty acids in hypertension in middle age]. / Einfluss der Propranololbehandlung auf omega-3-Fettsäuren des Serums bei Hypertonie im mittleren Lebensalter.

18 middle aged patients with primary hypertension stage I were treated with 75-100 mg Obsidan/d over a period of 6 months. After treatment a significant decrease of eicosapentaenoic acid was shown. This result is important because eicosapentaenoic acid belongs to omega-3-fatty acids, precursors of eicosanoids. They are playing a vasoprotective role and inhibit aggregation of the thrombozytes.

[Behavior of the serum titer after treatment with mebendazole in guinea-pigs infected with trichinella spiralis (author's transl)]. / Serumtiterverlauf bei Trichinella-spiralis-infizierten Meerschweinchen nach Behandlung mit Mebendazol.

The behavior of the IFT serum titer in 80 guinea-pigs, experimentally infected with Trichinella spiralis, was tested before and after treatment with mebendazole for 6 months. For 14 consecutive days each animal was drenched with 40 mg mebendazole/kg bw on the 25th, 35th and 45th day after infection. After the 2 weeks therapy, living trichinella larvae were not found in any of the 3 treated groups of guinea-pigs. On the other hand even after 6 months viable larvae were found in the muscular tissue of the control animals. Within the first two months p.i. the titers were rising equally in both treated and untreated animals. Only then did the titer in the treated animals decrease markedly, whereas it fell gradually in the controls. After 6 months both groups were negative in the IFT.

Immune mechanism of rats on Nippostrongylus brasiliensis in vitro. II. The influence of lymphocytes and peritoneal cells.

Nippostrongylus were collected from the intestines of rats 6 days p.i. and kept under sterile conditions in cultures. Serum, lymphocytes and peritoneal cells of immune or non-infected animals were added in various combinations to the culture media. The culture media were changed 2-3 times in an experimental period of 10 days, resp. serum and cells were added. The lymphocytes were isolated from the peripheral blood or from the mesenterial lymph nodes whereas the mononuclear cells were obtained from the peritoneal cavity. Serum and lymphocytes from the peripheral blood both from immune and non-infected rats, had no increased lethal effect on Nippostrongylus. The highest lethality rate of adults (65-68%) was achieved in cultures with peritoneal cells and lymphocytes from the lymph nodes of sensitized rats. Serum of infected or non-infected animals had no influence on adult Nippostrongylus in cultures with these cell combinations. In the controls without any cell-supplements the survival rate of the parasites was up to 88%.

[Immune mechanism of rats on Nippostrongylus brasiliensis in vitro (author's transl)]. / Immunmechanismus der Ratte gegen Nippostrongylus brasiliensis in vitro. I. Einfluss von humoralen und sekretorischen Antikörpern sowie Mastzellen

The influence of humoral and secretory antibodies as well as cell supplements on Nippostrongylus brasiliensis was tested in vitro. Adult Sprague-Dawley-rats approximately 12 weeks of age were used in these experiments. For the in vitro tests the following culture media were used: 25% chicken-embryo-extract, sodium casein, pig liver extract and rat serum for the larval stages. The medium for the cultures of adult N. brasiliensis consisted of 5% yeast extract, 15% casein, 30% Krebs-Ringer-solution and 50% rat serum. Secretory antibodies were isolated from the rinsing fluid of the rat intestines by high pressure filtration (10 to 15 micron), then cleaning of the fluid through a Sephadex G 15 column and finally narrowing down through collodene capsules. Mast cells were isolated from the peritoneal cavity by Ficoll-gradient-centrifugation. Various test series were conducted with the addition of serum or secretory antibodies of repeatedly infected and immune rats to the medium. In these tests there was never a difference in the influence on growth nor a higher mortality rate of larval or adult N. brasiliensis in contrast to cultures where serum and secretory antibodies of non-infected animals were used. A 100%, degranulation of mast cells from infected rats occurred already within 14 to 22 hours in the cultures of adult N. brasiliensis. Variations were not noticed in the influence on the viability of N. brasiliensis kept in media for 10 days without or with cell supplements as well as sera of infected or not infected rats. The results from our experiments demonstrated that there was no variation in the influence on the development and a higher mortality rate of the larval stages and adult Nippostrongylus in media containing either sera and secretory antibodies of infected or not infected rats.