Senile Macular Degeneration – The Effects and Management

The previous paper in this series on the effects and management of senile macular degeneration (SMD) detailed the optometric low vision treatment available for alleviating the visual disabilities caused by SMD. This final paper in the series indicates that low vision care cannot be considered the responsibility of any one profession. Thus, the roles of other rehabilitation professionals in minimizing the visual disabilities and visual handicaps of persons with SMD are discussed in detail.     

The structure of fucosylated blood group substances in fetal rat skin. The combined use of monoclonal antibodies and glycosyl hydrolases

Cell surface carbohydrates are thought to be important during embryonic development. We have studied a group of defined cell surface carbohydrates during the differentiation of fetal rat skin by the use of immunocytochemical techniques. We used monoclonal antibodies to the LeX and human blood group H type II haptens. The structure of the molecules carrying these haptens has been inferred by the sensitivity of the immune reactions to digestion by glycosyl hydrolases. The primitive ectoderm expressed the LeX hapten. The differentiating epidermis carries the H type II antigen, but this was only detected following cleavage of a terminally modified portion of the carbohydrate containing linear poly-N-acetyl lactosamine chains. These carbohydrates on epidermal cells are carried N linked to glycoproteins.     

Use of Food Quotients in Human Doubly Labeled Water Studies: Comparable Results Obtained with 4 Widely Used Food Intake Methods

Information on the macronutrient composition of the diet is needed in doubly labeled water studies to convert measured rates of carbon dioxide production into values for total energy expenditure. There is no general consensus, however, about the best method to determine food intake for this purpose. Four common methods of measuring food intake (7-day weighed food intake, 24-hour recall, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Block and Willett food frequency questionnaires) were tested for their ability to provide comparable food quotient and total energy expenditure data in doubly labeled water studies in 10 young and 10 older women. All methods gave mean values for total energy expenditure that were within 1% of each other. Individual values obtained using the 24-hour recall and food frequency questionnaires were within ±3% (standard deviation) of values determined using data from the 7-day weighed food record. These results suggest that it is not necessary to use time-consuming and expensive 7-day food records in doubly labeled water studies; instead, food intake data obtained more easily by 24-hour recall or food frequency questionnaire can provide comparable data. J Am Diet Assoc. 1998;98:1015-1020.     

Dietary Sources of Nutrients among US Adults, 1989 to 1991

Objective To identify major food sources of 27 nutrients and dietary constituents for US adults.Design Single 24-hour dietary recalls were used to assess intakes. From 3,970 individual foods reported, 112 groups were created on the basis of similarities in nutrient content or use. Food mixtures were disaggregated using the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) food grouping system.Subjects/setting A nationally representative sample of adults aged 19 years or older (n=10,638) from USDA's 1989-91 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals.Analyses performed For each of 27 dietary components, the contribution of each food group to intake was obtained by summing the amount provided by the food group for all respondents and dividing by total intake from all food groups for all respondents.Results This article updates previous work and is, to the authors’ knowledge, the first to provide such data for carotenes, vitamin B-12, magnesium, and copper. Beef, yeast bread, poultry, cheese, and milk were among the top 10 sources of energy, fat, and protein. The following other major sources also contributed more than 2% to energy intakes: carbohydrate: yeast bread, soft drinks/soda, cakes/cookies/quick breads/doughnuts, sugars/syrups/jams, potatoes (white), ready-to-eat cereal, and pasta; protein: pasta; and fat: margarine, salad dressings/mayonnaise, and cakes/cookies/quick breads/doughnuts. Ready-to-eat cereals, primarily because of fortification, were among the top 10 food sources for 18 of 27 nutrients.Applications/conclusions These analyses are the most current regarding food sources of nutrients and, because of disaggregation of mixtures, provide a truer picture of contributions of each food group. J Am Diet Assoc. 1998; 98:537-547.     

Clinical Specialist Pre- and Postdischarge Teaching of Parents of Very Low Birth Weight Infants

This study examined the pre- and postdischarge teaching needed by parents of very low birth weight infants (less than or equal to 1,500 g). The sample consisted of 36 families observed from the births of their infants to 18 months' postdischarge. Content analyses yielded five major teaching categories of infant, mother, family, home, and resources. Major predischarge teaching included feeding, recognition of infections, and growth and development. Major postdischarge teaching included feeding, current health problems, growth and development, and managing within the health-care system.     

A DOUBLE-BLIND CROSS-OVER TRIAL OF FENOPROFEN AND PHENYLBUTAZONE IN ANKYLOSING SPONDYLITIS

Fenoprofen, 600 mg, three times daily, was compared with phenylbutazone,100 mg, three times daily, in 30 patients suffering from ankylosingspondylitis in a double-blind cross-over study. Assessmentswere made after an initial washout period and after each month-longtreatment period. Phenylbutazone significantly improved morningstiffness, finger-to-floor distance, chest expansion, overalljoint pain, spinal pain, the physician's assessment of diseaseactivity and ESR. Only chest expansion was significantly improvedby fenoprofen, and phenylbutazone was significantly better thanfenoprofen in its effects on finger-to-floor distance, morningstiffness, overall joint pain, spinal pain and the physician'sassessment of disease activity. Side-effects were of a minornature apart from one patient who developed rectal bleedingon phenylbutazone which recurred on rechallenging.     

THE EFFECTS OF MITOMYCIN C ON THE PROCESS OF REMYELINATION IN THE MAMMALIAN PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Schwann cell proliferation is a prominent feature of the normal response of a peripheral nerve fibre bundle to injurious stimuli. In this report we have attempted to analyse: (1) the pattern of division of cells in the endoneurium following demyelination induced by lysophosphatidyl choline (LPC), and (2) the consequence of inhibiting this response using mitomycin C. The nuclear uptake of ³H-thymidine was examined in post-LPC nerves with or without pretreatment with mitomycin C by means of light microscope autoradiography and by liquid scintillation counting. It was found that mitomycin C pretreatment inhibited the Schwann cell division that follows LPC injection into the nerve and that the fibires demyelinated thereby remained unmyelinated and surrounded by debris-filled axon-associated Schwann cells, for at least 1 month after injection of LPC. Remyelination was well established in control fibres by the second week after LPC injection. The nature of the stimuli which might initiate mitotic activity in mature Schwann cells and the possible function of this are discussed.     

Sorrento studies of diet and fecal flora in the newborn

The fecal flora of a breast-fed baby is very different from that of a bottle-fed baby. This paper reviews five previous studies, performed at this hospital concerning the effect of various dietary components (whey proteins, casein, lactoferrin, iron, nucleotides) on the fecal flora. The babies received either breast milk or one of the test formulas from birth. Fecal samples were examined by quantitative microbiological methods at 4 and 14 days and at various intervals thereafter. By 14 days differences in the fecal flora were established. Among breast-fed babies bifidobacteria, lactobacilli and staphylococci were predominant organisms, whereas in the formula-fed babies the predominant organisms were enterococci, coliforms, and Bacteroides. A whey-based formula without bovine lactoferrin, iron or nucleotides gave a flora a little closer to but still remote from the breast-fed one. Despite extensive modification of cow's milk in the manufacture of a modern infant formula, the fecal flora of bottle-fed babies remains substantially different from that of breast-fed babies.