Nutrition labels in bar graph format deemed most useful for consumer purchase decisions using adaptive conjoint analysis

This study estimated the effects of changing multiple levels and combinations of nutrition information format, load, expression, and order on consumers' perceptions of label usefulness in purchase decisions using adaptive conjoint analysis. A shopping mall intercept survey, which was administered by a marketing research firm, assessed consumer preferences for 12 label alternatives produced on Campbell's soup cans to portray nutrition information realistically; 252 of 258 respondents completed the computer interactive interview. Consumers significantly preferred the bar graph format to the bar graph/nutrient density and traditional label formats. Consumers considered the bar graph/nutrient density format to be as useful as the traditional label format. There was a highly significant difference among the three levels of information load; the most information load was preferred regardless of nutrient importance. Consumers significantly preferred nutrition information stated in absolute numbers and percentages vs in absolute numbers only in traditional, or in percentages only expressions. There was a significant difference between consumer preferences for the two types of information order. The findings indicate that consumers clearly preferred the nutrition label that displayed all nutrient values using a bar graph format, offered the most information load, and expressed nutrient values using both absolute numbers and percentages. Consumers also preferred nutrition information rearranged in an order that grouped nutrients that should be consumed in adequate amounts on the top, calories in the middle, and nutrients that should be consumed in lesser amounts on the bottom of the label.     

Opticochiasmatic apoplexy

A 26-year-old patient presented with acute chiasmal syndrome. Computerized Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging demonstrated an intrachiasmal hematoma which was evacuated via a right subfrontal approach. Histological examination revealed an arteriovenous malformation. In 21 similar cases in the literature, surgery generally resulted in the improvement of ophthalmological signs. In 3/4 of the cases, histology identified a subjacent lesion (arteriovenous malformation, cavernoma, venous angioma, glioma).     

Patients homozygous for the 17p 11.2 duplication in charcot-marie-tooth type 1A Disease

Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1A disease is an inherited sensorimotor neuropathy that is most often associated with a duplication of chromosome 17p11.2. This region contains the gene of the peripheral myelin protein 22 (PMP22), which is responsible by a gene dosage effect for the Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1A phenotype with 17p11.2 duplication. We performed a clinical, electrophysiological, and genetic study of a consanguinous Charcot-marie-Tooth type 1A family with 4 affected siblings, 3 of whom were homozygous for the 17p11.2 duplication, the other a heterozygote. Comparison of phenotypes showed that the severity of the disease was more severely affected than the heterozygous sibling who was pausiymptomatic. These results suggest that the severity of the disease is not determined solely by the number of copies of the PMP22 gene.     

Obturator hernias — Report of seven cases

Summary Obturator hernias comprise a rare group of abdominal hernias. They are often diagnosed when the small bowel has become obstructed and the patients are operated on without the causes of the obstruction being known. Although many techniques for closure of the defect are available, there is no agreement at the present time as to which is the procedure of choice.     

Convergence of subthalamic and striatal efferents at pallidal level in primates: an anterograde double-labeling study with biocytin and PHA-L

Small injections of two highly sensitive anterograde tracers, Phaseolus vulgaris-leucoagglutinin (PHA-L) and biocytin, into the striatum and the subthalamic nucleus of squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) have revealed a high degree of convergence of striatal and subthalamic fibers upon single pallidal cells. Both afferent systems formed highly complex band-like patterns that were largely in register with one another. At single cell level, the somata of pallidal neurons were closely surrounded by subthalamic terminal varicosities, whereas the dendrites were entwined mostly by striatal fibers. Typically, a subthalamopallidal fiber coursed in a caudorostral direction and arborized according to a uniform pattern along its trajectory in the pallidum. Numerous thin and markedly varicose axon collaterals detached themselves at right angle from the main subthalamopallidal fiber. These highly branched collaterals were mostly oriented along the mediolateral plane and entwined rather loosely the dendrites but surrounded very closely the somata of pallidal neurons. In contrast, a striatopallidal fiber travelled in a rostrocaudal direction. Its initial segment made only en passant contacts with pallidal cell bodies, whereas its distal end closely entwined the dendrites of pallidal neurons, forming arrangements similar to 'woolly' type fibers. These results suggest that a single subthalamic fiber may influence a rather large collection of pallidal neurons in a similar fashion, compared to the striatal input which appears to exert a more specific control upon selected sets of the same pallidal neurons.     

Differential sensitivity of neuropeptide Y, somatostatin and NADPH-diaphorase containing neurons in rat cortex and striatum to quinolinic acid

The tryptophan metabolite quinolinic acid (QUIN) was injected unilaterally into rat cerebral cortex or striatum in order to determine whether the neurotoxin would destroy neuropeptide Y (NPY)- and somatostatin (SS)-immunoreactive, and NADPH-diaphorase (NADPH-D)-containing neurons. Following intrastriatal injections of QUIN, NPY and SS immunoreactivity and NADPH-D-activity was absent in the injection core area. In contrast, cortical NPY- and SS-immunoreactive cells and NADPH-D-containing neurons were resistant to QUIN's neurotoxicity. These results suggest that in contrast to striatal neurons, cortical SS- and NPY-containing neurons do not express N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors.     

Glutamatergic inputs to midbrain dopaminergic neurons in primates

Anterograde tract-tracing and immunohistochemical methods were used to study projections from the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPN) to midbrain dopaminergic neurons in the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus). The PPN harbored numerous cholinergic and glutamatergic neurons, as well as neurons that displayed both cholinergic and glutamatergic markers. Injections of anterograde tracer into the PPN led to intense fiber labeling in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA). This pedunculonigral projection was partly bilateral. At the electron microscopic level, about 40–60% of the anterogradely labeled terminal boutons were glutamate-positive and formed asymmetric synapses with the dopaminergic neurons of the SNc–VTA complex. These data provide direct evidence for a pedunculonigral glutamatergic projection. This projection may play a crucial role in the control of the firing pattern of SNc–VTA dopaminergic neurons and could be involved in glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity that is believed to lead to SNc cell death in Parkinson's disease.     

Could Wallerian degeneration contribute to "leuko-araiosis" in subjects free of any vascular disorder?

To determine the possible role of Wallerian degeneration secondary to the grey matter neuronal loss in the pathogenesis of "leuko-araiosis", computerised tomography (CT) of the brain was studied in 98 normotensive and non diabetic subjects free of cardiac diseases: 32 with Alzheimer's disease, 36 with Parkinson's disease, eight with progressive supranuclear palsy, and 22 controls. In Alzheimer's disease, leuko-araiosis scores were greater than in control subjects. Leuko-araiosis was more prominent in anterior periventricular areas in Parkinson's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy, and in posterior periventricular areas in Alzheimer's disease. In two patients with Alzheimer's disease and leuko-araiosis, necropsy revealed diffuse white matter pallor, mild fibrillary astrocytosis, and in one patient limited hyaline thickening of small white matter vessels, without any infarction or hypertensive change. Changes were more severe in white matter close to cortical areas with a great density of neurofibrillary tangles. Leuko-araiosis was more severe or more widespread in Alzheimer's disease than in Parkinson's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy and normal ageing. Differences in the location of leuko-araiosis between the four groups might be due to differences in the location of the grey matter disorder and Wallerian degeneration rather than amyloid in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy and normal ageing. Wallerian degeneration might be another cause of leuko-araiosis in neuro-degenerative disorders beside previously reported extra-cerebral predisposing factors and amyloid angiopathy.     

Peripheral polyneuropathy and acute psychosis from chronic nitrous oxide poisoning: A case report with literature review

Rationale:Nitrous oxide (NO) is a commonly used drug in medical practice, restoration, and the automobile industry. Recreational abuse is an emerging public health problem owing to its accessibility and drug properties.Patient concerns:A 25-year-old male was hospitalized with acute psychosis and lower-extremity sensorimotor proprioceptive ataxia due to nitrous oxide abuse.Diagnosis:Laboratory studies confirmed a vitamin B12 deficiency. Magnetic resonance imaging of the spinal cord showed normal findings. Electrophysiological testing confirmed length-dependent sensorimotor polyneuropathy, with a predominant motor component and axonal degeneration.Intervention and outcomes:Abstinence from toxic substances was suggested, and vitamin B12 substitution was introduced. The patient was lost to follow up.Lessons:Nitrous oxide toxicity is multisystemic and is thought to result from vitamin B12 inactivation. Recent case reports postulated direct paranodal lesions resulting from nitrous oxide consumption. Neurological, neuropsychiatric, and hematological toxicities are among those explored in this case report. Correction of the functional vitamin B12 status and nitrous oxide abstinence are essential in the treatment process.