Fire evacuation skills: Cognitive-behavioral versus computer-mediated instruction

Fifty-six fourth-grade children participated in this study to assess three training procedures for relative effectiveness in acquiring fire emergency skills and attaining knowledge. The first training approach was behavioral, the second used animated graphics, and the third used still graphics. Each of the training groups was compared to a control group that received no treatment. Performance on dependent measures was assessed before and immediately after training. It was hypothesized that the behavioral and animated-graphics conditions would produce the greatest level of skill and knowledge acquisition. Results demonstrated a significantly higher level of fire emergency skill acquisition and knowledge attainment for both the behavioral and animated-graphics groups relative to the still-graphics group and the control group, which had no training. The value of using computer-mediated strategies for fire-safety skills training was demonstrated.     

Vascular rejection post heart transplantation is associated with positive flow cytometric cross-matching

28 isolates of canine parvovirus type-2 (CPV-2) were obtained from dogs with hemorrhagic gastroenteritis in Italy. The antigenic structure of CPV-2 isolates was characterized, using four discriminating monoclonal antibodies. In addition, four vaccinal strains were examined. Similar to reports from Australia and the United Kingdom, a much higher prevalence of CPV-2a (25/28 isolates) was observed than the other variant type, CPV-2b (3/28 isolates). DNA fragments (2.2 kbp) of representative strains of CPV-2, CPV-2a and CPV-2b were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the products were digested by the restriction enzymes (RE) RsaI, HpaII, HindIII and PvuII. The RvaI enzyme allows the differentiation of CPV-2 from CPV-2a and CPV-2b.     

Activated protein C resistance, thrombophilia, and inflammatory bowel disease

Thromboembolic events frequently complicate the clinical course of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Hereditary thrombophilia may contribute to this tendency. Resistance to activated protein C is the most recently described thrombophilic state and may account for up to 40% of patients with thrombophilia. Thirty-seven patients with IBD were studied (mean age 44 years, range 18-82 years). Three patients had a history of thrombotic episodes. The 37 controls included 23 men and 17 women (mean age 48 years, range 16-89 years). Disease activity was assessed using the Harvey Bradshaw index for patients with Crohn's disease and the Truelove and Witts grading system for patients with ulcerative colitis. Levels of fibrinogen, antithrombin III (ATIII), protein C, protein S, activated protein C resistance (APCR), and the presence of a lupus anticoagulant (LA) were determined. Median ATIII levels in patients with IBD were significantly lower than controls (98% vs 106%, P = 0.007), while fibrinogen was elevated (4.2 vs 3.3 g/liter, P = 0.026) despite quiescent disease activity. LA was detected in 7/37 patients in the IBD group compared to 0/37 controls. (chi2 = 5.68, P = 0.017). No significant difference was observed in levels of inherited thrombophilic factors and in particular APCR between IBD patients and controls. In conclusion, the presence of inherited thrombophilic defects, in particular APCR, is uncommon in patients with IBD and does not merit routine screening.     

Metastatic pulmonary, gastric, and renal calcification demonstrated on bone scintigraphy in a patient with malignant melanoma and renal failure

PURPOSE: This case report describes the clinical, scintigraphic, and pathologic findings in a patient with an unexpected finding of a cutaneous malignant melanoma. METHOD: Multiple imaging studies were done, as was a pathologic examination of a suspicious pigmented lesion on the patient's back. RESULT: A Tc-99m MDP bone scan showed diffuse uptake in the skeleton, lungs, kidneys, and stomach. CONCLUSION: Metastatic calcification, as shown by isotope scintigraphy, is an unusual manifestation of metastatic cancer from a primary cutaneous melanoma.     

Aortopulmonary fistula in an infected Dacron graft for coarctation of the aorta: an uncommon cause of hemoptysis

Hemoptysis secondary to an aortobronchial fistula is rare and uniformly fatal when left untreated. The authors describe a case of massive hemoptysis caused by an aortopulmonary fistula in an infected Dacron graft used successfully to repair a coarctation of the aorta.     

Types and associated type families for hardware simulation and synthesis

In this article we overview the design and implementation of the second generation of Kansas Lava. Driven by the needs and experiences of implementing telemetry decoders and other circuits, we have made a number of improvements to both the external API and the internal representations used. We have retained our dual shallow/deep representation of signals in general, but now have a number of externally visible abstractions for combinatorial and sequential circuits, and enabled signals. We introduce these abstractions, as well as our abstractions for reading and writing memory. Internally, we found the need to represent unknown values inside our circuits, so we made aggressive use of associated type families to lift our values to allow unknowns, in a principled and regular way. We discuss this design decision, how it unfortunately complicates the internals of Kansas Lava, and how we mitigate this complexity. Finally, when connecting Kansas Lava to the real world, the standardized idiom of using named input and output ports is provided by Kansas Lava using a new monad, called Fabric. We present the design of this Fabric monad, and illustrate its use in a small but complete example.     

Kairomones and their use for management of entomophagous insects

In laboratory experiments conducted to compare the kairomonal activity forMicroplitis croceipes (Cresson) of frass fromHeliothis zea (Boddie) larvae fed on different host plants,M. croceipes females responded to extracts of frass from larvae reared on cotton or soybeans but not on corn. The lack of response to frass from larvae reared on corn was shown to be a result of a lack of some appropriate chemical(s) in the corn.Lepidoptera: Noctuidae.Hymenoptera: Braconidae.In cooperation with the University of Georgia College of Agriculture Experiment Stations, Coastal Plain Station, Tifton, Georgia 31793. Accepted for publication February 9, 1981.Mention of a proprietary product in this paper does not constitute an endorsement by this product by the USDA.