Residential treatment for emotionally disturbed children & adolescents in Tennessee

In some cases the differential diagnosis of the torsion of the testicles may be difficult also for the experienced clinician. It is reported on a new method of the delimitation of the torsion of the testicles compared with inflammatory changes of the testicles and the epididymis. By means of the ultrasound-Doppler-method the blood supply of the vasa spermatica is registered. Missing Doppler-signals in the direct measurement above the spermatic cord in comparison to the collateral side are typical for a complete torsion of the testicles.     

Improved liquid cholesterol ester crystal thermography of the breast

The infrated detection apparatus used in breast thermography is relatively costly and therefore is not widely available to less populated areas in the country. The use of liquid cholesterol crystals, applied to the breast (applied over a water-base black dye) has already been described in the literature as an effective substitute for infrared instrument thermography. This method, however, has been hampered by the time and troublesome effort necessary for removal of the substances upon completion of the study. The object of this study was to devise a feasible method of cutaneous breast thermography using liquid cholesterol esters, as in prior studies, but by applying them to an easily removable black base. As a result the length of the examination has been shortened, and patients have found the examination to be aesthetically more acceptable. With this improved method, liquid crystal thermography of the breast (and other areas) should become more widely applicable.     

Marijuana and vision--after ten years' use in Costa Rica

Several tests of visual function were applied to an abstaining user (10 years or more) group and a nonuser group carefully preselected to be free of clinical signs of eye disease. The groups were matched on several criteria. The results show that all findings from both groups are within established limits of normalcy. Small differences and trends were found between the groups. These would have been undetected without large samples. Relative to the nonuser group, tests showed these user trends: increased basal lacrimation, increased intraocular pressure, increased photosensitivity, decreased dark adaptation, decreased color-match limits, and decreased Snellen acuity. These differences were associated with statistical probabilities, p=0.07 to p=0.001. There were no significant differences or clear trends between the user and nonuser groups in incidence of pathological fundus signs, conjunctival hyperemia, pterygia, or color-match midpoints.     

Plasma alkaline phosphatase assay: interconversion of results by two methods

Two methods for measuring plasma alkaline phosphatase activity are compared: one makes use of phenyl phosphate, carbonate-bicarbonate buffer, and continuous-flow methodology; the other of p-nitrophenyl phosphate, diethanolamine buffer, and reaction-rate analysis. Results by the methods correlate well (r = 0.98) over a wide range of values (up to 10-fold the upper limit of normal). A factor can therefore be applied to convert results by one method into those that would be obtained by the other. The possibility that the presence of different proportions of isoenzymes in the plasma will affect this factor is considered. We have used the new method, with a conversion factor, as the routine method of alkaline phosphatase measurement in a clinical chemistry laboratory, with no problems.     

Observed and self-reported seat belt wearing as related to prior traffic accidents and convictions

During the summer of 1987, 10,000 color-coded mailback questionnaires that identified belted and unbelted North Carolina drivers were handed out at the 72 sites that constitute the probability sample for determining the statewide belt use rate in North Carolina. By obtaining identifying information to determine the winner of a $500 prize from among the 5,074 respondents, police-reported traffic accident and conviction records from the North Carolina driver history file were linked to the belted and unbelted respondents. Analyses found that drivers who had been observed not wearing seat belts had 35% more accidents and 69% more convictions than did belted drivers in the previous four-year period. Similar findings were obtained from self-reported belt use.