Direction-dependent amplification of the human outer ear

The transfer function of the outer ear in humans was determined by using the impulse technique. Signals were delivered from 325 or 393 positions on an imaginary sphere surrounding the experimental subject. Changes of sound pressure level in the ear canal show that certain frequency bands are amplified maximally if they impinge onto the ear from certain directions. For some frequency bands there are two directions of sound incidence that cause best amplification in the ear canal. The directionality of the human pinna appears to increase at higher frequencies. The amount of amplification by the outer ear of frequencies between 2 and 15 kHz was also determined by measuring the free-field transfer function.     

Do weekly and fast-rotating shiftwork schedules differentially affect duration and quality of sleep?

 Characteristics of shiftwork schedules can have distinct impacts on workers’ sleep. This report presents comparisons of the effects of two different shiftwork schedules on duration and quality of the main sleep episodes in comparable worker populations at two different petrochemical plants. No significant differences were found for sleep duration in comparing the two plants. However, within each plant’s shift cycles, morning and night shifts showed shorter sleep durations than all other workdays and days off. Quality of sleep was perceived as lowest for night shifts of both plant schedules, and of lesser quality for weekly than for fast-rotating shifts. These results support recommendations for reducing the number of consecutive nights of shiftwork. However, before recommending any optimal shift schedule, interactions of sleep duration and quality with shift schedules need much further evaluation. Received: 18 December 1995/Accepted: 18 July 1996     

Stereospecific hydroxylation of (+)-sparteine (pachycarpine) in the rat

Pachycarpine (4), the optical antipode of the lupine alkaloid (-)-sparteine (1), has been prepared from (-)-lupanine; its metabolism was studied in rats. After isolation and chromatographic purification, streochemically homogeneous (+)-(4S)-hydroxysparteine (7) was identified as the major urinary metabolite by use of mass spectrometry and high-field NMR-spectroscopy.     

酒精滥用和治疗服务在大学青年中的运用

目的:这个研究是调查酒精治疗服务在大学青年(18到22岁)中的运用和迫切需要,根据教育程度大学青年可分为:全日制大学生、在职大学生和非大学学生(通常是在大学以下的最高级学校在读的学生),和非学生(N=11337)。青年人的细目分类在以前还没展现出来。     

Basilar Artery Migraine After Uncomplicated Whiplash Injuries

SYNOPSIS
Four female patients with basilar artery migraine (BAM) developing after isolated whiplash neck injuries, uncomplicated by spinal fractures, luxations or by intracranial lesions, are described. BAM constitutes a subtype of posttraumatic migraine headaches, occurring in the absence of direct head trauma, and moderately and variably ameliorated with common anti-migraine medications and physical therapy directed to the injured neck.     

Controlling for occasion-specific effects when assessing the test–retest reliability of self-report health questionnaires

OBJECTIVE: This study proposes a method for self-report health questionnaires to adjust test-retest reliability for changes during the test-retest interval based on an external measure, and to distinguish such changes from random response errors. METHODS: In our application, eighty participants completed the Symptoms of Illness Checklist (SIC) on two occasions, two weeks apart, immediately before interviews given on each occasion by one of two physicians in a crossover design. The physician interview scores served as external measures, and structural equation modeling was used to estimate the parameters of a model that corrected for the occasion-specific effect of participants' responses using information from the interviews. RESULTS: Correcting for changes in symptoms during the test-retest interval increased SIC test-retest reliability from .744 to .804 and significantly improved model fit (chi2(diff)(1) = 30.78, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest methods that can improve the evaluation of self-report health questionnaire test-retest reliability by identifying changes using an external measure, and distinguishing these from random response errors; these increased the estimated SIC test-retest reliability and indicated that the SIC was indeed able to measure changes over the studied time interval. This method can be applied across a broad range of questionnaires.     

Species- and sex-specific variations in binding of ochratoxin A by renal proteins in vitro

The mycotoxin ochratoxin A (OTA) is a potent renal carcinogen in rodents and induces renal fibrosis in pigs. Furthermore, OTA has been associated with the development of renal tumors and nephropathies in humans. Large species- and sex-differences are observed in sensitivity toward OTA-mediated toxicity and carcinogenicity, yet neither the mechanism(s) resulting in OTA toxicity nor the reasons for the observed species- and sex-specificities are known. This paper investigated variations in OTA handling viz binding to renal proteins which could possibly explain the observed differences in OTA susceptibility in vivo and in vitro. The results obtained via a modification of a standard receptor-binding assay demonstrated the presence of at least one homogeneous binding component in renal cortical homogenates from pig, mouse, rat and humans. This component was shown to bind OTA in a specific and saturable manner. A range of compounds selected for their affinity for steroid receptors and/or for various known organic anion transporters were employed in a competition assay to answer the question whether this homogenous OTA binding component represents a steroid-like receptor component or one of the known organic anion transporters of the kidney. Although many of the compounds were able to compete with OTA for protein-binding, the competition patterns displayed a distinct species specificity and did not correspond to the competition patterns associated with presently known organic anion transporters of the kidney in the mouse, rat or human. The data thus suggests the presence of a new organic anion transporter or more likely, a cytosolic binding component of unknown function with high affinity and capacity for OTA binding in humans, rats, mice and possibly pigs.