Serving seniors better: service guidelines for supermarkets

Objective: Generate a list of service guidelines to enable supermarket managers to accommodate the needs of their older customers. Methods: Focus groups and a national telephone survey were conducted with Australian seniors to generate 10 service guidelines for supermarkets. Results: The 10 guidelines produced are considered to be of significant importance by Australian seniors, with some apparent differences in importance and relevance ratings between older and younger seniors, and males and females. Conclusions: Seniors have distinct service preferences when grocery shopping and their needs require special attention in the supermarket environment. In particular, they feel strongly about the quality of staff and equipment with which they come into contact.     

Directional properties of the auditory periphery in the guinea pig

The directional sensitivity of the outer ear of the guinea pig was determined by recording changes in the amplitude of the cochlear microphonic to frequencies between 1 and 20 kHz as the location of the sound source was changed throughout 360 degrees of horizontal auditory space. The directional responses to frequencies below 3 kHz were almost omnidirectional. The directional responses for frequencies between 3 and 12 kHz were progressively more directional toward the anterior midline. The responses for frequencies above 12 kHz were highly directional along the ipsilateral interaural axis. In contrast, the directional responses to all frequencies in animals whose pinnae had been removed were orientated along the ipsilateral interaural axis. The observations suggest that the orientation and strength of the directional response of the auditory periphery in the guinea pig are dependent on frequency and that this dependence is attributable, at least in part, to the acoustic properties of the pinna. The observations also indicate that there is a substantial change in the interaural intensity difference at various frequencies and in the spectral transfer function of the ear according to the location of the sound source in the ipsilateral hemifield. The observation that these changes are asymmetrical about the interaural axis for a substantial part of the auditory range of the animal is consistent with the hypothesis that the frequency dependent directionality of the auditory periphery provides a spectral cue for the localization of broad band sounds in the free field.     

Comparison of five cultural procedures for isolation of Clostridium difficile from stools.

Several procedures have been described for the culture of Clostridium difficile from stool specimens. The goal of this study was to determine the effectiveness of five of these methods for the isolation of C. difficile from feces of patients suspected of having C. difficile-associated illness. A total of 564 stool specimens were cultured by using heat shock, ethanol treatment (ET), and direct plating on Carr-Scarborough cycloserine-cefoxitin-fructose agar (CCFA) with horse blood (C/S medium), BBL CCFA medium, and Remel C. difficile agar. Cytotoxin assays were performed on all specimens. A total of 113 specimens (20%) were positive for C. difficile by one or more methods. The numbers of positive cultures by using heat shock, ET, and direct plating on C/S medium, BBL CCFA medium, and Remel C. difficile agar were 79 (70%), 89 (79%), 91 (81%), 79 (70%), and 52 (46%), respectively. We concluded that ET and direct plating on C/S medium were the most effective procedures for isolating C. difficile from stool specimens and found significant variation in the performance of modified CCFA from different manufacturers.     

Retinal topography in reef teleosts. II. Some species with prominent horizontal streaks and high-density areae

The retinal ganglion cell layer of five species of reef teleosts was studied from Nissl-stained whole-mounts and the distribution of neural elements determined quantitatively. Iso-density contour maps of neurons in the ganglion cell layer revealed a temporal area centralis (ranging from 3.5 to 8.3 x 10(4) cells/mm2) which often extended into a horizontal streak (ranging from 1.4 to 5.0 x 10(4) cells/mm2) across the retinal meridian. Species possessing a marked horizontal streak were found to inhabit open water and perceive their environment with an uninterrupted view of sand-water horizon. The behavioural significance of these horizontal areas of acute vision is also discussed.     

Improved image quality with elliptical orbits and distance-weighted backprojection SPECT reconstruction

The image quality of SPECT bone scans is enhanced through the use of distance-weighted filtered backprojection in association with elliptical orbit acquisition.     

Sympathetic neurite growth on central nervous system sections is region-specific and unaltered by aging

Several lines of evidence suggest that the brain exhibits reduced plasticity with aging. However, a variety of soluble neurite outgrowth-promoting factors, such as neurotrophins, are not decreased in the aged brain, and aged neurons do not possess dramatically reduced growth potential. The possibility that aging results in reduced baseline substrate-bound neurite outgrowth-promoting activity in the central nervous system (CNS) was evaluated using tissue section culture. There were clear differences between brain regions in the extent of neurite outgrowth on both young and aged brain sections. However, no differences in the extent of neurite outgrowth were observed as a function of age. These results suggest that aging of the rat CNS is not accompanied by major alterations in the baseline neurite outgrowth-promoting substrate properties of the tissue.     

Application of an intragenic genomic probe to genetic counselling for haemophilia B in the west of Scotland.

Total ascertainment revealed 28 families with haemophilia B in the west of Scotland (prevalence 1/26 870 males). In 12 of these families more than one person was affected and 26 living obligate carriers were identified and tested. Of these, 42% were heterozygous for a DNA polymorphism recognised by a factor IX genomic probe. No recombination was observed in 11 phase known and four phase unknown informative meioses. Definitive genetic counselling was possible for 14 of 42 females at risk, 11 could not be traced, in 10 the probe was not informative, and in seven paternal absence prevented interpretation. Linkage disequilibrium was apparent for this restriction fragment length polymorphism and haemophilia B in the west of Scotland.     

Responses to moving slits by single units in cat striate cortex

Summary A quantitative study has been made of the responses to moving slit stimuli by single units in the cat striate cortex whose receptive fields lay within 5° of the visual axis. Special attention was given to finding the optimal stimulus parameters including slit width, length, orientation and speed. The analysis was largely based on averaged response vs. time histograms. Using the classification of simple and complex responses types, the units were further subdivided on the basis of the number of modes in the response and on the presence or absence of directional selectivity. Simple unimodal units with directional selectivity (SUDS) had the most specific stimulus requirements and nearly always had zero background activity. Complex units usually had a high level of background activity. SUDS units also showed a preference for horizontally- and vertically ****-orientated stimuli. Whenever the response survived reversal of contrast the directional selectivity remained independent of the change. Optimal stimulus speeds varied widely from unit to unit with a mean at 4°/sec: simple bimodal units and complex units tended to have higher optimal stimulus speeds and responded over a wider range of speeds than did simple unimodal units. While SUDS units with very small receptive fields tended to prefer slowly moving stimuli, in general there was no correlation between receptive field size and optimal stimulus speed.Selby Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences.     

Sarcomatoid carcinoma (so-called pseudosarcoma) of the larynx simulating malignant giant cell tumor of soft parts. A case report

A tumor of the larynx composed of a small infiltrating and well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma and a large polypoid sarcomatous mass showing the histologic features of the malignant giant cell tumor of soft parts (MGCT) is reported. Other types of sarcomatous components have been described with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the larynx and names such as pseudosarcoma, carcinosarcoma, and spindle cell carcinoma have been used for these peculiar tumors. Because most data support that the sarcomatous component is an unusual carcinoma transformation due to unknown factors the authors prefer the term sarcomatoid carcinoma. Sarcomatoid carcinomas having the features of MGCT have been described in multiple epithelial organs. Therefore, an extensive search for a carcinoma component always should be carried out in tumors arising in any organ, including the larynx, and showing the typical histologic features of MGCT.