A note on the assessment of ethnic attitudes in preschool children

Four commonly used measures of racial attitudes, the Preschool Racial Attitude Measure, Doll Test, Projective Prejudice Test, and Sticker Test, were adapted for use with preschoolers and were administered to 36 preschool children ranging in age from 31 to 72 months. Results indicated that each test had adequate reliability. A significant correlation was obtained between two measures, the Preschool Racial Attitude Measure and the Projective Prejudice Test. Correlations between age of the children and the Preschool Racial Attitude Measure and the Doll Test were also significant. The children indicated increasing awareness of racial attitudes as they got older. Five-year-olds were significantly different from the younger children. The development of racial attitudes, implications for assessment of young children, and the multidimensional make-up of racial attitudes are discussed.     

Stay True to Your Workout: Does Repeated Physical Testing Boost Exercise Attendance? A One-Year Follow-Up Study

No prospective studies have investigated if repeated testing of physical performance and body composition are associated with exercise attendance or patterns in fitness club members. This study aimed to investigate if repeated physical testing was associated with exercise attendance and patterns in gym members and to report prospective data on use of the fitness club`s facilities and products. Untrained new members were recruited and divided into a test group (n = 125) and as controls (n = 125). All participants answered a survey including exercise involvement, at onset, and after 3, 6, and 12 months follow-up. The test group also measured body composition, maximal oxygen uptake, and maximal muscle strength (onset, and after 3 and 12 months). In total 73.6% answered all surveys, and in the test group, 44.8% completed all physical tests. Regular exercise attendance was defined as ≥2 sessions/week. Repeated testing showed no association with long-term regular exercise attendance (test group: 19.6%, controls: 19.8%; p = 0.638). At 3 months, a lower proportion in the test group reported engagement in resistance exercise (35.3% and 60.2%; p = 0.003) and had lower exercise frequency (2.0 and 2.6 days/week; p = 0.008) than controls. The test group had higher participation in group exercise classes (28.0% and 13.6%; p = 0.040). Exercise frequency decreased from onset to 12 months (from 2.6 to 2.2 days/week; p = 0.025) At 3, 6, and 12 months, 51.8%, 37.6%, and 37.4% reported regular exercise attendance, and 16.9% at all follow-ups. At all time-points, most common workout mode was individual resistance exercise (43.8% to 46.3%). Few attended group exercise classes (7.5% to 13.8%) or used a personal trainer (22.5% to 27.5%). Repeated physical testing did not improve exercise attendance, and we found no changes in members` use of the fitness club`s facilities and products. Only 16.9% reported regular exercise attendance throughout the first year of membership.Key points

• To the authors knowledge this is the first study investigating if repeated physical testing was associated with exercise attendance and patterns in fitness club members.
• The results showed that repeated testing of physical performance and body composition was not associated with exercise attendance.
• With only 17% exercising two days or more per week during the first year of membership, our results indicate that there is a need to develop strategies to improve exercise attendance among new recreational exercisers.

Key words: Exercise behavior, exercise patterns, fitness club members, fitness testing     

Temporal arteritis in Vest Agder County in southern Norway: incidence and clinical findings

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of temporal arteritis (TA) in a population in Vest Agder County in southern Norway and to examine the frequency of disease related clinical findings in these patients. METHODS: Patients with TA diagnosed in the 5 year period from 1992 to 1996 were detected through a search in both clinical hospital databases and in a biopsy database. RESULTS. The mean annual incidence was 32.8 per 100,000 inhabitants over age 50 years and 29.1 for biopsy proven TA. All patients (n = 53) fulfilled the 1990 American College of Rheumatology criteria for TA; 94% had a positive temporal artery biopsy, 85% had erythrocyte sedimentation rate > or = 50 mm/h, 70% had new headache, 57% had systemic features, 53% had symptoms due to polymyalgia rheumatica, and 47% had an abnormal temporal artery at examination. CONCLUSION: We confirm that southern Norway has the highest known incidence of TA worldwide. The frequencies of disease related clinical findings were in the same range as found in other studies.     

Contrast-detail analysis for detection and characterization with near-infrared diffuse tomography

Near-infrared (NIR) diffuse tomography is emerging as a medical imaging modality for obtaining information related to tissue hemoglobin concentration and oxygen saturation and may be used for characterizing diseased tissues such as breast cancer. The optimal methodology for NIR image reconstruction remains an ongoing research problem with several new approaches being demonstrated in recent years. However, a comparison of reconstruction methods is problematic because tools for the objective assessment of image quality have yet to be clearly defined for this type of nonlinear reconstruction problem. Contrast-detail analysis has become an accepted assessment tool to quantify x-ray mammography image quality, and in this study it has been applied to a prototype NIR diffuse tomography system that is being evaluated for breast cancer characterization. The minimum detectable levels of contrast have been defined for different sizes of objects, and the minimum contrasts which can be accurately reconstructed have also been determined for the same object sizes. In general, objects 8 mm and larger in diameter can be accurately reconstructed and detected for most absorption contrasts which are observed in human tissues (i.e., greater than 1% contrast in absorption). Objects as small as 2 mm can be detected with high contrast (i.e., near 100%), but cannot be accurately reconstructed. Within the size range of 2 mm to 8 mm, there is an inverse correlation between contrast and detail size which is characteristic of the total noise in the system. This analysis provides an objective method for assessing detection and characterization limits and can be applied to future improvements in hardware system architecture as well as reconstruction algorithms.     

Scanning electron microscopy of aberrant crypt foci in rat colon

The surface of the colon mucosa of 1,2-dimethylhydrazinetreatedF344 rats was examined with the scanning electron microscope.A detailed examination of the mucosal topography revealed fociwith one to several aberrant crypts. These were seen as structureselevated from the background mucosa. The shape of the luminalopenings of the aberrant crypts varied from elongated or tortuousto circular. However, we found no ultrastructural variationsbetween the different aberrant crypt foci (ACF) or between theACF and the background mucosa. There was no direct relationshipbetween the size of ACF and the number of aberrant crypts perfocus, which may be explained by the mechanism of crypt fission;in two aberrant crypts we discovered the formation of a transverseepithelial septum, dividing the large crypt into two smallercrypts. The gross morphology of the ACF observed by scanningelectron microscopy and light microscopy was in principle thesame.     

Ableitende Tränenwege und Trockenes Auge

BACKGROUND: The knowledge regarding the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of dry eye has made large advances in recent years. However, many questions are still unanswered. Although the nasolacrimal ducts are part of the tear system they have been paid nearly no attention regarding dry eye. METHODS: The present knowledge about the nasolacrimal ducts is presented and discussed in a context with dry eye. A PubMED search was conducted for articles published from 1966 to the present; in addition, review articles as well as book chapters were considered and discussions with investigators in the field were performed. RESULTS: As a draining and secretory system, the nasolacrimal ducts play a role in tear transport and non-specific immune defense. Moreover, components of tear fluid are absorbed in the nasolacrimal passage and are transported into a vascular system that surrounds the nasolacrimal sac and nasolacrimal duct. This system is comparable to a cavernous body and it is connected to the blood vessels of the outer eye. Also it is subject to vegetative control. Organized mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) is present in the nasolacrimal ducts displaying the cytomorphological and immunophenotypic features of MALT. CONCLUSIONS: The normally constant absorption of tear fluid components into the blood vessels of the surrounding cavernous body that are connected to the blood vessels of the outer eye, could be a feedback signal for tear fluid production, which comes to a halt if these tear components are not absorbed. Thus, dry eye could be initiated. Defective stimulation of tear duct-associated lymphoid tissue (TALT) could result in abnormal immune deviation at the ocular surface leading to an autoimmunological response that causes dry eye pathology.     

Mitomycin C in combination with radiotherapy as a potent inhibitor of tumour cell repopulation in a human squamous cell carcinoma

The potential of Mitomycin C in combination with fractionated irradiation to inhibit tumour cell repopulation of a fast growing squamous cell carcinoma after fractionated radiotherapy was investigated in vivo. A rapidly growing human squamous cell carcinoma (FaDu(dd)) was used for the study. For experiments, NMRI (nu/nu) mice with subcutaneously growing tumours were randomly allocated to no treatment, Mitomycin C, fractionated irradiation (ambient: 11 x 4.5 Gy in 15 days), or fractionated irradiation combined with Mitomycin C. Graded top up doses (clamped blood flow: 0-57 Gy) were given at day 16, 23, 30 or 37. End point of the study was the time to local tumour progression. Data were examined by multiple regression analysis (Cox). Mitomycin C alone resulted in a median time to local tumour progression of 23 (95% confidence limits: 17-43) days, fractionated irradiation in 31 (25-35) days and combined Mitomycin C plus fractionated irradiation in 65 (58-73) days (P=0.02). Mitomycin C decreased the relative risk of local recurrence by 94% (P<0.001) equivalent to 31.7 Gy top up dose. Repopulation accounted for 1.33 (0.95-1.72) Gy per day top up dose after fractionated irradiation alone and for 0.68 (0.13-1.22) Gy per day after fractionated irradiation+Mitomycin C (P=0.018). Mitomycin C significantly reduces the risk of local recurrence and inhibits tumour cell repopulation in combination with fractionated irradiation in vivo in the tested tumour model.     

Effect of gemcitabine on acute and late radiation toxicity of skin and underlying soft tissues to single-dose irradiation in a nude mice model

PURPOSE: To investigate the influence of gemcitabine (GEM) on acute and late toxicity of radiotherapy (XRT) in an in vivo model of acute skin reactions and late fibrotic sequelae of skin and underlying soft tissues. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Single-fraction XRT was applied to the right hind leg of nude mice under ambient conditions. Single-dose GEM was applied i.p. (550 mg/kg body weight). In a first set of experiments, the influence of timing of chemotherapy relative to the onset of irradiation was investigated with GEM application 36, 24, and 2 h before and 24 h subsequent to 40 Gy XRT. With a fixed interval between chemotherapy and XRT taken from these studies, the dose-response relationship was examined for XRT in the range of 20-65 Gy. Control mice were irradiated without GEM treatment. Using a scoring system, onset, duration, and extent of acute skin reactions were analyzed. Skin fibrosis was measured by intracutaneous ink-mark separation. Soft tissue fibrosis was assessed using the leg contracture assay. ED50 calculations were performed for extent of acute and late reactions. RESULTS: Timing of GEM application relative to XRT had no significant influence on acute skin reactions or on fibrotic changes. Onset, duration, and extent of acute skin toxicity, as well as skin and leg contracture, were not significantly modulated by GEM in the dose-response experiments with GEM applied 2 h before XRT. CONCLUSIONS: Acute and late toxicity of skin and underlying soft tissues is not significantly increased after single-fraction radiotherapy in combination with GEM in the nude mice model.