Scales for the measurement of attitudes toward blood donation

Attitudes toward blood donation are frequently assumed to vary along a single dimension from unfavorable to favorable. In contrast, theories of attitude structure specify three distinct attitude components: affect, cognition, and behavior. This article describes the development of three new scales for the measurement of affective, cognitive, and behavioral components of attitudes toward blood donation. The scales were developed using the method of equal-appearing intervals and were administered to both donors of blood and nondonors. Correlations among the scales were relatively small and supported the three-component distinction. Affect was more strongly correlated with the number of prior donations than was cognition, which suggested an important role for emotional factors in blood donation. Scores on all three scales showed the attitudes of blood donors to be more favorable than those of nondonors.     

Pediatric patients with achondroplasia: CT evaluation of the craniocervical junction

Twenty-six patients (4 months to 6 years old) with achondroplasia complicated by sleep apnea and/or other neurologic manifestations underwent plain computed tomography (CT) of the craniocervical junction; six also underwent CT myelography. For objectification, multiplanar reconstruction was used to complement axial plane measurements by providing coronal and sagittal measurements; multiplanar reconstruction also improved perception of the longitudinal relationships between the brain stem and subarachnoid space. A narrow subarachnoid space was found in all 26 patients; marked cord compression was present in nine, six of whom underwent CT myelography. These six had marked focal obliteration of the subarachnoid space on both plain CT and CT myelography. Since the subarachnoid space immediately above and below the craniocervical junction is normally capacious, when marked constriction was present, no additional information could have been gained from CT myelography. Thus, plain CT was shown to be sufficient for surgical planning (suboccipital decompression) in nine patients with cord compression due to achondroplasia.     

Thrombosis at venous insertion sites after inferior vena caval filter placement

Color Doppler flow imaging or compression ultrasound (US) was used to prospectively determine frequency of thrombosis at 54 venous insertion sites (47 in common femoral veins, seven in right internal jugular veins) after percutaneous placement of Greenfield filters for interruption of the inferior vena cava. Fifty-one filters were successfully placed in 51 patients with a dilator set or a balloon angioplasty catheter. Nine focal thrombi were detected in the common femoral vein (19%) and one in the right internal jugular vein (14%). Use of dilators induced eight thrombi (24%), compared with two (10%) from balloon catheters. The left common femoral vein had a high frequency of thrombosis, regardless of dilation technique (five of nine). Of nine patients with acute common femoral vein thrombosis, four became symptomatic within 10 days after the procedure. Patients may remain asymptomatic or have delayed symptoms; thus, US is valuable for determining patients at risk of thrombosis of the common femoral vein.     

Effects of saliva contamination and phosphoric acid composition on bond strength

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a phosphoric acid gel and solution, and saliva contamination of etched enamel on the tensile bond strength (TBS) of a posterior composite resin to etched enamel. Ninety-six extracted human permanent maxillary canines were used in this study. The test system developed by Kemper and Kilian was used to determine the TBS of a posterior composite resin (P-10) to enamel. The ground enamel surfaces were etched with 37% H₃PO₄ gel for 60 sec and washed for 15 sec or 30 sec, and with 37% H₃PO₄ solution for 60 sec and washed for 15 sec or 30 sec, respectively. The ground enamel surfaces were also etched with H₃PO₄ gel for 60 sec, washed for 15 sec and rewashed for 15 sec after saliva contamination of the etched enamel for 15 sec, 60 sec and 60 min, respectively. Etched enamel surfaces contaminated with saliva for 15 sec were re-etched for 15 sec and washed for 15 sec. The test specimens were mounted in an Instron machine and subjected to a tensile load at 0.02 inch. min⁻¹. The force required to break a test specimen was recorded, and the bond strengths were calculated and expressed in MN.m⁻². The data were analyzed by ANOVA and Duncan's multiple range test at the 5% level of significance. The H₃PO₄ composition (gel vs solution) and wash times had no significantly different effect on TBS. Only a 60 min saliva contamination significantly reduced TBS. In this study the TBS was determined 24 h after specimen preparation. It is possible that salivary contamination of etched enamel may have an adverse effect on bond strength only after prolonged immersion of the test specimens prior to testing.     

Multiple pterygium syndrome: a case complicated by malignant hyperthermia

The autosomal recessive multiple pterygium syndromes are a heterogeneous group of disorders in which multiple joint contractures are associated with cutaneous webbing. Recently, we evaluated a 33 week gestation male in whom multiple pterygia were one feature of a broader pattern of malformation. Clinical management was adversely affected by malignant hyperthermia. In this report we present the clinical, radiographic and pathologic data of this patient and those of an affected stillborn female sibling. We believe that these represent the features of a newly recognized disorder.