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The effect of blindness on sound source identification was studied. Four groups of normally-hearing adults, two sighted and two blind, participated. Subjects were tested using arrays of four and eight loudspeakers, surrounding them in the horizontal plane. One sighted group was tested in quiet. The other groups were tested in continuous 60-dB SPL white noise. Three 75-dB SPL 300-ms stimuli were localized: one-third octave noise bands, centered at 0.5 and 4 kHz, and broadband noise. Broadband noise was easiest to localize (both binaural and spectral cues available), and the 0.5-kHz noise band was the most difficult (primarily interaural temporal difference cue available). Subjects with late-onset blindness achieved significantly higher scores than the early blind and blindfolded sighted subjects. The percentage correct decreased with an increase in the number of speakers, but background noise had no effect. The results attest to the benefit of early visual experience for spatial hearing in adulthood, and demonstrate the negative impact of sudden loss of sight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Being overweight or obese is an established risk factor for colorectal cancer, more so for men than for women. Approximately 10%-20% of colorectal tumors display microsatellite instability (MSI), defined as the expansion or contraction of small repeated sequences in the DNA of tumor tissue relative to nearby normal tissue. We evaluated associations between overweight or obesity and colorectal cancer risk, overall and by tumor MSI status.Methods: The study included 1794 case subjects with incident colorectal cancer who were identified through population-based cancer registries and 2684 of their unaffected sex-matched siblings as control subjects. Recent body mass index (BMI), BMI at age 20 years, and adult weight change were derived from self-reports of height and weight. Tumor MSI status, assessed at as many as 10 markers, was obtained for 69.7% of the case subjects and classified as microsatellite (MS)-stable (0% of markers unstable; n = 913), MSI-low (>0% but <30% of markers unstable; n = 149), or MSI-high (> or =30% of markers unstable; n = 188). Multivariable conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). All statistical tests were two-sided.Results: Recent BMI, modeled in 5 kg/m(2) increments, was positively associated with risk of colorectal cancer for men and women combined (OR = 1.24; 95% CI = 1.15 to 1.34), for women only (OR = 1.20; 95% CI = 1.10 to 1.32), and for men only (OR = 1.30; 95% CI = 1.15 to 1.47). There was no interaction with sex (P = .22). Recent BMI, per 5 kg/m(2), was positively associated with the risk of MS-stable (OR = 1.38; 95% CI = 1.24 to 1.54) and MSI-low (OR = 1.33; 95% CI = 1.04 to 1.72) colorectal tumors, but not with the risk of MSI-high tumors (OR = 1.05; 95% CI = 0.84 to 1.31).Conclusion: The increased risk of colorectal cancer associated with a high BMI might be largely restricted to tumors that display the more common MS-stable phenotype, suggesting further that colorectal cancer etiology differs by tumor MSI status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Poisoned patients are often treated in and discharged from pre-hospital health care settings. Studies of poisonings should therefore not only include hospitalized patients.Aims: To describe the acutely poisoned patients treated by ambulance personnel and in an outpatient clinic; compare patients transferred to a higher treatment level with those discharged without transfer; and study the one-week mortality after pre-hospital discharge.Methods: A one-year multi-centre study with prospective inclusion of all acutely poisoned patients > or = 16 years of age treated in ambulances, an outpatient clinic, and hospitals in Oslo.Results: A total of 3757 health service contacts from 2997 poisoning episodes were recorded: 1860 were treated in ambulances, of which 15 died and 750 (40%) were discharged without transfer; 956 were treated in outpatient clinic, of which 801 (84%) were discharged without transfer; and 941 episodes were treated in hospitals. Patients discharged alive after ambulance treatment were mainly poisoned by opiates (70%), were frequently comatose (35%), had respiratory depression (37%), and many received naloxone (49%). The majority of the patients discharged from the outpatient clinic were poisoned by ethanol (55%), fewer were comatose (10%), and they rarely had respiratory depression (4%). Among the hospitalized, pharmaceutical poisonings were most common (58%), 23% were comatose, and 7% had respiratory depression. Male patients comprised 69% of the pre-hospital discharges, but only 46% of the hospitalized patients. Except for one patient, who died of a new heroin overdose two days following discharge from an ambulance, there were no deaths during the first week after the poisonings in the 90% of the pre-hospital discharged patients with known identity.Conclusion: More than half of the poisoned patients treated in pre-hospital treatment settings were discharged without transfer to higher levels. These poisonings were more often caused by drug and alcohol abuse than in those who were hospitalized, and more than two-thirds were males. Almost half of those discharged from ambulances received an antidote. The pre-hospital treatment of these poisonings appears safe regarding short-term mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]