Fat-Gram Counting and Food-Record Rating are Equally Effective for Evaluating Food Records in Reduced-Fat Diets

Objective To compare rates of adherence to low-fat diets using food-record rating and fat-gram counting, to evaluate dietary adherence using the fat-gram counting method, and to assess correlations between food-record rating and fat-gram counting.Design A diet monitoring and observation study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of food-record rating and fat-gram counting to evaluate dietary adherence. Subjects were randomly assigned to the food-record rating group of the fat-gram counting group. Each participant was asked to complete four 3-day food records. Food records were evaluated by food-record rating for one group and by fat-gram counting for the other. Each record was then scored using the alternate system. For a subset, manually calculated fat-gram values were compared for accuracy with values from the Nutrient Data Systems database.Statistical analyses performed Mantel-Haenszel χ², regression, and K analyses were used to evaluate adherence rates and within-subject agreement between fat-gram counting and food-record rating.Subjects/setting Seventy-eight participants were recruited from a lipid-lowering research trial conducted in Houston, Tex.Results Strong correlations were found between fat-gram values calculated manually and those calculated using the Nutrient Data Systems. No significant differences in adherence rates were found between the food–record rating and fat-gram counting groups.Conclusions Fat-gram counting is at least as effective as food-record rating in monitoring dietary fat content. Dietitians can use it as an alternative dietary fat-monitoring procedure for clinical practice and research.     

Comparison of helium-ion radiation therapy and split-course megavoltage irradiation for unresectable adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. Final report of a Northern California Oncology Group randomized prospective clinical trial

Forty-nine patients with locally advanced carcinoma of the pancreas were treated in a randomized, prospective study comparing definitive helium ion radiation therapy with conventional split-course megavoltage photon irradiation. Patients in each treatment arm underwent exploratory staging laparotomy followed by concurrent radiation therapy and 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy. Patients treated with photons received 6,000 cGy over a period of 10 weeks; patients treated with helium irradiation received a 6,000-7,000-cGy-equivalent dose over a period of 8-9 weeks. There was no significant difference in overall survival between patients in the two treatment arms (P = .29). Patients treated with helium ions had a slightly longer median survival (7.8 months) than the photon-treated patients (6.5 months). Local control rates were slightly higher in the helium-treated patients (10% vs 5%). Complications included one chemotherapy-related death. Four of the five helium-treated patients who survived longer than 18 months died of local failure without distant metastases. These results suggest that more aggressive local therapy could result in improved survival in helium-treated patients.     

Scatter variability in the WAIS-R profiles of mentally retarded adults

ABSTRACT. One hundred and sixty mentally retarded adults were administered the WAIS-R, and the scatter variability of their test profiles was examined. Compared to the WAIS data of Coolidge et al . (1986), the WAIS-R was less variable in its intratest and intertest scatter. The data support Wechsler's original statements about the characteristics of intelligence test profiles among mentally retarded adults.     

Reduced Ia-afferent-mediated Hoffman reflex in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) is a late-onset inherited disease characterized by the deposition of amyloid fibrils. FAP is associated with mutations on the transthyretin (TTR) gene. A monoclonal antibody, MAb 39-44, reacting with high molecular weight aggregates of TTR but not with tetrameric TTR has recently been generated and characterized. This antibody recognizes a cryptic epitope that is expressed in isolated recombinant amyloidogenic mutants and in ex vivo amyloid. In the present work we show that this amyloid-specific antibody specifically recognizes in a direct enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) plasma TTR from carriers of various mutations associated with FAP, both in asymptomatic individuals and in patients. In contrast, it does not react with plasma TTR from healthy individuals or that from carriers of nonpathogenic mutations. Using the ELISA developed in this study we identified three different TTR mutations in Portuguese patients with neuropathy of unknown cause, later shown to have amyloid tissue deposition. This antibody recognizes conformations that express cryptic epitopes shared by amyloidogenic TTR variants associated with FAP, not present among nonpathogenic TTR molecules. This antibody will contribute to further identify and characterize intermediates of the amyloidogenic cascade. In addition, it will also be useful for screening amyloidogenic TTR mutations in patients with neuropathy of unknown cause, prior to precise molecular diagnosis using protein and/or DNA analysis.