THE EFFECT OF AUGMENTED SENSORY FEEDBACK ON THE CONTROL OF SALIVATION

This study assessed the effect of enabling a subject to hear himself salivate while trying to increase or decrease his salivary rate. Two groups of ten subjects were instructed to try to increase their salivary rate when a light to the left was lighted and decrease when a light to the right was lighted. Acetic acid was administered periodically to the right lateral margin of the tongue, and saliva was collected by a parotid capsule and measured by a liquid displacement sialometer. Ten subjects in the feedback group (F) received a 0.2 sec, 1000-cps tone for each drop collected during a trial. Subjects in the no feedback group (NF) received no indication of their salivary rate. Three out of 10 F subjects were able to produce a significantly different (p <. 05) number of drops between increase and decrease periods, and the group as a whole achieved a significant difference between increase and decrease periods. No NF subject, nor the NF group as a whole produced a significant difference.     

Duplication of well-baby services.

Parents, community health nurses (CHNs) and physicians in Saskatoon were surveyed to determine if specific components of well-baby services provided by CHNs and physicians were duplicated. A response was obtained from 348 (81%) of the parents, 34 (89%) of the CHNs and 129 (87%) of the physicians. Results of the study indicate that there is extensive duplication of measurements taken by CHNs and physicians at the two, four, six, and twelve-month well-baby visits, especially that of height and weight. Content of well-baby care was also examined. The percentage of both physicians and CHNs who "usually or always" perform specific tasks at each well-baby visit was very high, particularly screening tests and inquiries about nutrition. Assessments and inquiries regarding development were performed less frequently, as were inquiries about safety issues.     

Source of variance in 24-hour dietary recall data: implications for nutrition study design and interpretation. Carbohydrate sources, vitamins, and minerals

Beaton et al (Am J Clin Nutr 1979;32:2546-59) reported on the partitioning of variance in 1-day dietary data for the intake of energy, protein, total carbohydrate, total fat, classes of fatty acids, cholesterol, and alcohol. Using the same food intake data and the expanded National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute food composition data base, these analyses of sources of variance have been expanded to include classes of carbohydrate, vitamin A, vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, iron, total ash, caffeine, and crude fiber. The analyses relate to observed intakes (replicated six times) of 30 adult males and 30 adult females obtained under a paired Graeco-Latin square design with sequence of interview, interviewer, and day of the week as determinants. Neither sequence nor interviewer made consistent contribution to variance. In females, day of the week had a significant effect for several nutrients. The major partitioning of variance was between interindividual variation (between subjects) and intraindividual variation (within subjects) which included both true day-to-day variation in intake and methodological variation. For all except caffeine, the intraindividual variability of 1-day data was larger than the interindividual variability. For vitamin A, almost all of the variance was associated with day-to-day variability. One day data provide a very inadequate estimate of usual intake of individuals. In the design of nutrition studies it is critical that the intended use of dietary data be a major consideration in deciding on methodology. There is no "ideal" dietary method. There may be preferred methods for particular purposes.     

A story/dialogue method for health promotion knowledge development and evaluation.

Arguments have been made in favour of a constructivist or postpositivist approach to health promotion knowledge development and program evaluation, but little has been articulated about what such an approach would look like. This article describes a 'story/dialogue method' that was created with and for practitioners in response to their concerns that much of their practice did not lend itself to a positivist, or conventional, methodology. Derived from constructivist, feminist and critical pedagogical theory, and with roots in qualitative methods, the method structures group dialogue around case stories addressing particular generative practice themes. While intended for practitioner training, organizational development and evaluation, the method to date has been used primarily for training purposes. This article describes the method, provides an example of its application, and discusses its strengths, weaknesses and relevance to health promotion.     

The oral-facial-digital syndrome type 1 (OFD1), a cause of polycystic kidney disease and associated malformations, maps to Xp22.2-Xp22.3

Key features of the oral-facial-digital syndrome type 1 (OFD1) include malformations of the face, oral cavity and digits. In addition, the clinical phenotype often includes mental retardation and renal functional impairment. Approximately 75% of cases of OFD1 are sporadic, and the condition occurs almost exclusively in females. In familial cases, the most likely mode of inheritance is considered to be X-linked dominant with prenatal lethality in affected males. Therefore, the OFD1 gene product appears to have widespread importance in organogenesis and is essential for fetal survival. We have studied two kindreds in which the clinical course was dominated by polycystic kidney disease requiring dialysis and transplantation. Using polymorphic chromosome markers spaced at approximately 10 cM intervals along the X chromosome, we mapped the disease to a region on the short arm of the X chromosome (Xp22.2-Xp22.3) spanning 19.8 cM and flanked by crossovers with the markers DXS996 and DX7S105. There was a maximum lod score of 3.32 in an 'affecteds only' analysis using a marker within the KAL gene (theta = 0.0 ), thereby confirming the location of the gene for OFD1 on the X chromosome. The remainder of the X chromosome was excluded by recombinants in affected individuals. The importance of our findings includes the definitive assignment of this male-lethal disease to the X chromosome and the mapping of a further locus for a human polycystic kidney disease. Furthermore, this mapping study suggests a possible mouse model for OFD1 as the X-linked dominant Xpl mutant, in which polydactyly and renal cystic disease occurs, maps to the homologous region of the mouse X chromosome.      

Mutational analyses of UPIIIA, SHH, EFNB2 and HNF1beta in persistent cloaca and associated kidney malformations

Objectives‘Persistent cloaca’ is a severe malformation affecting females in which the urinary, genital and alimentary tracts share a single conduit. Previously, a Uroplakin IIIA (UPIIIA) mutation was reported in one individual with persistent cloaca, and UPIIIA, Sonic Hedgehog (SHH), Ephrin B2 (EFNB2) and Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 1β (HNF1β) are expressed during the normal development of organs that are affected in this condition. HNF1β mutations have been associated with uterine malformations in humans, and mutations of genes homologous to human SHH or EFNB2 cause persistent cloaca in mice.Patients and methodsWe sought mutations of coding regions of UPIIIA, SHH, EFNB2 and HNF1β genes by direct sequencing in a group of 20 patients with persistent cloaca. Most had associated malformations of the upper renal tract and over half had impaired renal excretory function. The majority of patients had congenital anomalies outside the renal/genital tracts and two had the VACTERL association.ResultsApart from a previously described index case, we failed to find UPIIIA mutations, and no patient had a SHH, EFNB2 or HNF1β mutation.ConclusionPersistent cloaca is only rarely associated with UPIIIA mutation. Despite the fact that SHH and EFNB2 are appealing candidate genes, based on their expression patterns and mutant mice phenotypes, they were not mutated in these humans with persistent cloaca. Although HNF1β mutations can perturb paramesonephric duct fusion in humans, HNF1β was not mutated in persistent cloaca.