Comparison of the eye's wave-front aberration measured psychophysically and with the Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor

The Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor offers many theoretical advantages over other methods for measuring aberrations of the eye; therefore it is essential that its accuracy be thoroughly tested. We assessed the accuracy of a Shack-Hartmann sensor by directly comparing its measured wave-front aberration function with that obtained by the Smirnov psychophysical method for the same eyes. Wave-front profiles measured by the two methods agreed closely in terms of shape and magnitude with rms differences of approximately lambda/2 and approximately lambda/6 (5.6-mm pupil) for two eyes. Primary spherical aberration was dominant in these profiles, and, in one subject, secondary coma was opposite in sign to primary coma, thereby canceling its effect. Discovery of an unusual, subtle wave-front anomaly in one individual further demonstrated the accuracy and sensitivity of the Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor for measuring the optical quality of the human eye.     

Quality of care problems among Medicare and Medicaid patients

The purpose of this study was to characterize quality of care problems among Medicare and Medicaid inpatients in New York State. The patients selected for this study comprised 1991 and 1992 Medicare and all 1992 Medicaid inpatients in whom quality of care problems with actual or potential adverse effects were found. The patients in this study were drawn from public, proprietary, voluntary and teaching hospitals. A total of 1000 quality of care problems with either actual or potential adverse effects were found in 706 Medicare patients. Two hundred and seventy-five (275) quality of care problems with actual or potential adverse effects were found in 154 Medicaid patients. Premature death occurred in 53 (7.4%) of the 706 Medicare and in 42 (27.2%) of the 154 Medicaid patients. Treatment problems and monitoring failures accounted for the majority of quality of care problems with actual or potential adverse effects for both Medicare (63.0%) and Medicaid (75.7%) patients. Among Medicare patients, the treatment of infections and antibiotic use, fluid and electrolyte management, and inappropriate drug use were among the leading causes of quality of care problems. Attending physicians were associated with the majority of Medicare quality of care problems while house staff and attending physicians were associated with the majority of those among Medicaid patients. The results of this study indicate that there are several leading causes of quality of care problems among Medicare and Medicaid patients. Treatment problems and monitoring failures together comprise the majority of such problems. Among Medicare patients, it was found that most quality of care problems were associated with the treatment of infections and antibiotic use, fluid and electrolyte management, and inappropriate drug use. Most quality of care problems among Medicaid patients were associated with these categories as well as with labor and delivery problems, and poor discharge planning. The results of this study reflect the peer-review process in which providers are given an opportunity to respond to physician-reviewer decisions about the presence of actual or potential adverse effects. Such a process, which permits the presentation of additional data and information by providers, produces fewer final adverse outcome determinations than a process uniquely based on chart review. The quality of care problems observed in this study are amenable to focused educational interventions. Such remedial interventions could yield significant improvements in the quality of care for all patients.     

Full expression of the exaggerated salt appetite of the spontaneously hypertensive rat requires a prenatal factor

1. The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) exhibits a lower bodyweight in utero and an exaggerated salt appetite post partum. To determine whether salt appetite is affected by the perinatal environment, we measured the salt appetite of embryo-cross-transferred SHR and Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats at maturity. 2. One-cell embryos were collected from the oviducts of donor rats and transferred into the oviducts of recipients through the infundibulum. The salt appetite of the resultant female offspring for 0.10 and 0.15 mol/L saline was measured at 20-30 weeks of age. 3. Salt intake of SHR gestated in WKY rats was significantly lower than that of SHR gestated in SHR, while that of WKY rats gestated in SHR was higher than that of WKY rats gestated in WKY rats. 4. Therefore, some maternal factor plays a role in the development of the exaggerated salt appetite of the SHR. This factor is also able to affect the later salt appetite of WKY rat offspring born to SHR surrogates.     

Applying “Design Thinking” in the context of media management education

“Design Thinking” – a cross-disciplinary and user centered method – is an approach towards the discovery of solutions and sparks innovative thinking in many ways. It also can be argued, that designers put themselves in the place of the user rather than co-creating with the consumer. Innovation is one of the current keywords across many industries, and many attempt to find new solutions to daily problems. Design Thinking as method allows to understand user needs and understand their principle problems in daily life. The design process uses intensive collaboration in cross-disciplinary settings and is divided into the exploration of the problem space and the solution space to achieve new ways of solving existing problems. Design Thinking has to integrate into the innovation process and into organizational structures right from the beginning. It constitutes a complement to classical analytical processes for problems that require lateral, not linear thinking. This article reviews the practical application of this energetic methodology in the academic context and presents some hands-on examples. The course series has been established by the Entertainment and Media Management Lab. (EMMi Lab.) at the Tampere University of Technology (TUT) and was held in cooperation with students from the University of Tampere (UTA), and the Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK). One course has been held in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg-Stendal, Germany. This article describes how to train students especially with strong technical background and analytical mind-sets in the development of innovations in the field of media, foster creative thinking, and achieve problem solutions beyond the current state of the art. We present the basic curriculum, course structure, goals & objectives, applied methods, settings, and theoretical aspects of Design Thinking. Our experience and reflections on conducting the courses concludes this article. The article shall be an introductory guide for anyone who intends to organize a similar course in the university context.     

Enteropathogenic, enterotoxigenic and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli isolated from acute gastroenteritis patients in Lagos, Nigeria

Enteropathogenic, enterotoxigenic and enteroinvasive Escherichia coli were isolated from 52 (4.8%) of 1,082 patients with acute gastroenteritis reporting at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria between October 1979 and March, 1981. Of the 52 strains of E. coli isolated, 35 (67.3%) were enteropathogenic, 12 (23.1%) were enterotoxigenic and five (9.6%) were enteroinvasive. E. coli 0111 (25.7%) was the most predominant among the serotypes of the "classical" enteropathogenic strains found in this study. Diarrhoea associated with enteropathogenic E. coli occurred only in children aged less than five years, whereas enterotoxigenic and enteroinvasive E. coli were found primarily in adults. The study has highlighted for the first time the important role that enterotoxigenic and enteroinvasive E. coli strains could play in acute diarrhoeal diseases in Lagos, Nigeria.     

Specific Bifidobacterium strains isolated from elderly subjects inhibit growth of Staphylococcus aureus

Cell-free, pH-controlled supernatants of thirty-eight Bifidobacterium strains isolated from healthy elderly subjects were subjected to antimicrobial activity assay. Bioluminescent indicator strains Staphylococcus aureus RN4220, Escherichia coli K-12, and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ATCC 14028 were used as targets of antimicrobial activity. The effect of nutrient depletion on the inhibition was eliminated with spent-culture controls. Three out of thirty-eight Bifidobacterium strains were capable of inhibiting the growth of S. aureus. The inhibition was equal to 23.2+/-19.1% to 50.4+/-26.7% of the inhibition caused by 50 IU/ml nisin. Reuterin-producing positive strain Lactobacillus reuteri SD2112 was capable of 86.0+/-24.6% inhibition, but Bifidobacterium lactis Bb-12, a known probiotic strain, showed no inhibition. None of the strains was capable of inhibiting the growth of E. coli or S. enterica. The observed inhibition by bifidobacteria was related to hydrogen peroxide formation and possible production of heat-stable proteinaceous compounds. The results suggest that production of antimicrobial substances other than organic acids is not common among Bifidobacterium strains typical of elderly subjects. However, specific strains were identified which showed considerable inhibitory activity against S. aureus.     

Identification of potent inhibitors of Plasmodium falciparum plasmepsin II from an encoded statine combinatorial library

An encoded 13,020-member combinatorial library was synthesized containing a statine core. Evaluation of this library with plasmepsin II, an aspartyl protease required for hemoglobin metabolism in the malaria parasite, led to the identification of potent and selective inhibitors as well as novel structure-activity relationships.     

Inhibitory effect on LPS-induced tumor necrosis factor in calves treated with chlorpromazine or pentoxifylline

The inhibitory effect of chlorpromazine (CPZ), pentoxifylline (PTX) and dexamethasone (DEX) was investigated in a model of endotoxin shock in Holstein calves following an intravenous administration of Esherichia coli endotoxin (LPS). Initial correlations with its effects on the levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a pivotal mediator of endotoxin shock, and clinical signs were obtained. The pretreatment of CPZ or DEX significantly decreased the serum levels of TNF, and reduced endotoxic shock. But the pretreatment of PTX hardly reduced the increase of serum TNF levels and endotoxin shock. The levels of serum endotoxin were not significantly different a minute of postinjection of LPS in calves. The results of this study indicate that pretreatment of CPZ or DEX inhibit various biological effects on endotoxin in calves.