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Chronic pain patients and the physicians who treat them may have differing assessments of pain and the affect of treatment on their pain. The use of the Subject’s Global Assessment (SGA) and Physician’s Global Assessment (PGA) in clinical trials allows patients and physicians to assess pain with a standardized questionnaire during treatment. A phase-3 withdrawal study assessing 12-hour extended-release hydrocodone/ acetaminophen (HC/APAP CR) treatment in chronic low-back pain (CLBP) consisted of the following periods: Washout/Screening, 3-week Active-Drug Open-Label (OL), 12-week Double-Blind (DB), in which subjects were randomized to placebo, 1 or 2 tablets HC/APAP CR twice daily, and Taper/Follow-up. Primary endpoint results and study design details are reported elsewhere. Subject’s (SGA) and physician’s (PGA) global assessment of Back Pain Status are reported here. Subjects’ assessment of their Back Pain Status was evaluated using a 5-point categorical scale (ranges: very good to very poor). Physician’s assessment of subject’s back pain was evaluated based on a 5-point categorical scale (ranges: very mild to very severe). Both measures were evaluated at the OL-baseline, DB-baseline, week-2, week-6, and week-12 visits. At weeks 2, 6 and 12, statistically significantly greater proportions of subjects in the HC/APAP CR 2-tablet group assessed their CLBP favorably on the SGA compared with subjects in the placebo group. Additionally, statistically significantly greater proportions of subjects in the HC/APAP CR 1-tablet group assessed their CLBP favorably, at weeks 6 and 12, on the SGA compared with subjects in the placebo group. Similarly the distribution of PGA scores at weeks 2, 6, and 12, was statistically significantly superior for each HC/APAP CR treatment group compared to the placebo treatment group. Global assessments of CLBP status, as rated by both subjects and physicians, were more favorable in the both HC/APAP CR groups compared with the placebo group. Funded by Abbott Laboratories.

This article reports the results of two studies of screaming in the nursing home. The first was a survey study of 408 nursing home residents, which revealed that 25% of the residents screamed at least four times a week. Screaming was associated with cognitive impairment, depressed affect, social networks of poor quality, and severe impairment in the performance of activities of daily living. The second study was an in-depth observational study of five residents who screamed frequently. Residents screamed more often when they were alone in their rooms during the evening hours, suggesting that screaming may arise as a response to social isolation.

The link between agitated behaviors and cognitive functioning in 408 nursing home residents was examined. Results showed that cognitively impaired residents manifested aggressive behaviors (e.g., cursing, hitting) and physically nonaggressive behaviors (e.g., pacing). The highest levels of physically nonaggressive behaviors were manifested by those residents who presented intermediate levels of impairment in their performance of activities of daily living. Cognitively intact residents exhibited verbally agitated behaviors (e.g., complaining). These findings have important implications for caregivers of agitated nursing home residents.

The acuity card procedure has been shown to provide reliable grating acuity estimates in pediatric patients. The current study was conducted to determine the usefulness of this procedure in another group of persons in whom conventional acuity measurements are not possible, ie, nursing home residents who suffer from dementing disorders. Binocular visual acuity estimates were obtained in 13 cognitively impaired nursing home residents. Test sessions took 20-30 min each. Both test-retest agreement and inter-observer agreement of Teller Acuity Card (TAC) acuity estimates were good (within 0.5 octave for all residents), demonstrating that this procedure yields reasonable acuity estimates in noncommunicative nursing home residents. The authors stress the potential of this tool for nursing home administrators as well as for researchers.

The relationship between depressed affect and pain was examined in secondary analysis of data on 408 nursing home residents. Also assessed were cognitive impairment, activities of daily living impairment, quality of social networks, and number of medical diagnoses. Analysis revealed that depressed residents were more likely to have pain, regardless of the presence of cognitive impairment. Multiple regression revealed that depressed affect was predicted by more pain, a greater number of medical diagnoses, and poor quality of the social network. These findings corroborate and extend those from a recent study of nursing home and congregate apartment residents (Parmelee et al., 1991). This corroboration and extension of findings occurred despite differences between the two studies with regard to characteristics of participants (this research included residents with all levels of cognitive impairment, and research by Parmelee et al. excluded those who were too disoriented to respond to questions), type of data collection employed (this research used ratings by professional caregivers whereas research by Parmelee et al. used self-report), and assessment instruments used to tap constructs.

An audio mixer for use with audio input devices for buffering audio input signals in a dual buffering system where the dual buffering system includes a mass storage device and a dynamic storage device. The dual buffering system enables large quantities of audio data to be stored allowing audio effects and mixing capabilities including simulation of vinyl record scratching, inter alai. The audio mixer also automatically determine beats thus allowing beat skipping, automatic correction for audio input defects as well as synchronization of two or more audio inputs, inter alia.

A multi-object camera for the Tautenburg Schmidt Telescope (134/200/400) was developed and constructed in cooperation with the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie in Heidelberg and the Thüringer Landesstemwarte Tautenburg. The experience with the “Spaltspinne” for the 3.5 m Telescope of the Calar Alto Observatory (Pitz 1993) was the foundation of TAUMOK. The technical concept was given by Pitz et al. (1993).Thirty six rods controlled by a processor can be moved in an area with a diameter of 16 cm. This area covers a field of 2.3° in the focal plane which is flattened by a plano-convex lens. Each of 34 rods carry two fibres with diameters of 100/µm with one fibre for the object and another for the background light. The fibres have a length of 7 m and their opposite faces form the entrance slit of a spectrograph. At present, reciprocal dispersions of 3.4, 10, 20 and 40 nm/mm can be realized. A CCD camera with a chip-size of 1152 × 770 pixels (pixel size 22.5/µm) is used as detector. Two of the 36 rods are equipped with image bundles for telescope guiding.

Patterns of physical restraint use were measured according to time of day, location on the unit, and persons in the environment on three units of one long-term care facility. An in-depth examination clarifies aspects of temporal, environmental and social conditions under which restraint use typically occurs in cognitively impaired and agitated nursing home residents.

1. We evaluated human visual cortical contrast gain using visual evoked potential (VEP) measurements. The steady-state VEP was elicited by 7.5 Hz contrast modulation of a 6 cycles/deg sinusoidal grating. The stimulus may be regarded as the sum of a steady grating (C) and a counterphase grating of the same spatial frequency (delta C). The counterphase grating is modulated sinusoidally in time. 2. The VEP was measured to combinations of different modulation contrasts (delta C) and different mean levels of grating contrast (C) which produced stimuli with contrast modulation depths (delta C/C) ranging from 0.0625 to 1.0 ('on-off'). 3. The VEP signals were Fourier analysed and the amplitude and phase of the first (7.5 Hz) and second (15 Hz) harmonic frequency components were examined. The monocular VEP to a contrast-modulated grating contains significant first and second harmonic frequency components. 4. The amplitude and phase of the monocular VEP was plotted as a function of delta C for each mean level of contrast explored. The amplitudes of both the first and second harmonic frequency components grow with increasing delta C. However, the slope of each function depends on the mean contrast (C): with higher levels of C, the slope of the function is more shallow. Furthermore, at each level of C the amplitude of the first harmonic frequency saturates at a lower delta C than does the second harmonic frequency component. VEP amplitude is therefore not determined by the absolute contrast change (delta C) alone. The VEP phase of the first harmonic frequency shows less dependence on either modulation or on mean contrast; the phase of the second harmonic frequency component is strongly dependent on mean contrast (C) but not on delta C. 5. When the second harmonic amplitude component of the VEP response (R) is expressed as Ractual/Rmax, where Rmax is the response to C = delta C (i.e. 'on-off'), all second harmonic VEP functions can be well fitted with a power function. This is not the case for the function of the first harmonic amplitude data. 6. A dichoptic VEP was obtained by presenting the steady and counterphase gratings to opposite eyes. The dichoptic VEP, in distinction to the monocular VEP, contains only a second harmonic frequency component. The amplitude of the second harmonic frequency component grows with increasing delta C, similar to the function seen for the monocular VEP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The in vivo flux rates of glucose (6-3H-glucose) and of alanine (U-14C-alanine) were measured in insulin-dependent chronically diabetic dogs which were infused with insulin employing a bedside-type artificial B cell and either the peripheral or the portal venous route. In comparison with non-diabetic control animals the diabetic dogs had near-normal patterns of glucose metabolism and pancreatic glucagon regardless of the route of insulin administration. They also showed reduced basal portal but moderately elevated peripheral insulin levels on peripheral and near-normal peripheral values on portal insulin infusion. Both concentration and production rates of alanine were reduced on peripheral (0.142 +/- 0.016 mmol/l, 4.73 +/- 0.49 mumol.kg-1.min-1, p less than 0.05) but normal on portal insulin (0.206 +/- 0.030 mmol/l, 6.33 +/- 0.63 mumol.kg-1.min-1). The alanine clearance was slightly elevated or normal in the diabetic dogs, and the glucose production from alanine showed a strongly delayed response to an exogenous glucose load on either route of insulin administration. It is concluded that the peripheral hyperinsulinism during posthepatic insulin administration stimulates glucose utilisation to a normal extent, but inhibits the provision of amino groups in resting muscle. Alanine synthesis is thereby reduced, and the carbon moieties are shunted from glucose into circulating lactate. Long-term studies are needed to elucidate the role of the liver under these conditions.

We recorded steady-state (4.19 and 8.41 Hz) VEPs in 17 Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients and 18 control observers using on-off temporal modulation of a 2.3 c/deg sinusoidal grating. With 4.19 Hz, 20 out of 33 PD patient eyes had abnormal VEPs. However, only 8 of 33 eyes were abnormal with 8.41 Hz. "Routine" (counterphase) transient VEPs revealed delayed VEPs for only 7 out of 24 eyes of the patients. These findings suggest an "input" temporal frequency-dependent abnormality in the foveal pathway.

Durch ein spezielles Hypersensibilisierungsverfahren konnte fur die KODAK IIIa-J und 127-04 Platten eine Erhohung der Grundempfindlichkeit um den Faktor 4 erreicht werden. Die erhohte Empfindlichkeit ist dabei uber einen sehr langen Zeitraum stabil. Die photometrischen Mesfehler der hypersensibilisierten KODAK IIIa-J-Platte sind geringer als die der hochempfindlichen, nicht vorbehandelten ORWO ZU 21-Platte. The sensitivity of the KODAK IIIa-J and 127–04 plates could be raised by spezial hypersensibilisation method by a factor of 4. This raised sensitivity is stable for a long time. The photometric errors of the attended KODAK IIIa-J-plate are smaller than the photometric errors of the very intensive ORWO ZU 21-plate.

This study examined the effect of the full moon on agitation manifested by nursing home residents (N = 24). Observations of agitation were recorded on a behavioral mapping instrument, and occurrence of the full moon was operationalized in the three ways most commonly cited in the literature. The hypothesis that elderly nursing home residents become increasingly agitated during a full moon was not supported by this study. In all analyses, agitation was observed less often when the full moon was full than during the other three lunar phases, although differences were not statistically significant.

The pattern visual evoked potential (PVEP) and pattern electroretinogram (PERG) were studied in 5 cynomolgus monkeys before and during the development of a parkinsonian syndrome induced by MPTP. The stimuli were vertical bars of four spatial frequencies (0.5, 1.2, 2.5 and 3.5 cycles/degree (cpd) modulated at temporal rates of 1, 4, 6, and 8 Hz. Following MPTP administration, all monkeys developed parkinsonian signs accompanied by changes in the amplitude and latency of the PVEP and PERG. Sinemet L-dopat carbi olopa administration produced temporary recovery of both PVEP and PERG. Two of the monkeys were followed for a prolonged period: 30-40 days after MPTP, the parkinsonian signs showed partial recovery; the PVEP latency and amplitude to 2.5 and 3.5 cpd stimuli and the latency to 1.2 cpd showed improvement but remained abnormal. The latencies of PERGs were normal, but the amplitudes were significantly reduced when stimuli of 2.5 and 3.5 cpd were used. Both PVEP and PERG to 0.5 cpd stimuli returned to normal. No further modifications were seen in the recordings performed 6 months and 1 year later. This study demonstrates (1) that spatial frequency-dependent electrophysiological abnormalities occur in the MPTP-treated monkey, a result previously found in human Parkinson's disease, and (2) that dopamine has a specific function in neurotransmission in the visual system of primates.

The electrical properties of the tonoplast from a large variety of plant materials such as mesophyll cells, storage cells, tumor cells, suspension cultured cells, guard cells, coleoptile cells, and liverwort cells have been investigated using the patch-clamp technique. Whole-vacuole recordings were employed to study the dynamics of an ATP-dependent proton pump by directly measuring the electrogenic currents. The addition of Mg-ATP induced an inwardly directed current which depolarized the tonoplast (the vacuole becoming positive inside). Furthermore, voltage-dependent passive ion fluxes were analyzed using whole vacuoles and isolated membrane patches. Whole-vacuolar currents and single-channel currents were induced at hyperpolarizing potentials, whereas currents decreased at positive trans-tonoplast potentials. The electrical properties of the tonoplast of vacuoles from various plant tissues were similar and it was concluded that ion fluxes across the tonoplast follow the same general mechanisms.

Der offene Sternhaufen An King 13 (α(1950) = 00h07m5 δ (1950) = + 60°56') wurde im UBV-System photometriert. Bis zur scheinbaren Helligkeit mv = 16,4 enthalt An King 13 80 Sterne. Die Entfernung ist 1730 pc. Der Haufendurchmesser betragt 7 pc. Die Leuchtkraftfunktion wurde bestimmt. The open cluster An King 13 (α(1950) = 00h07m5 δ (1950) = +60°56') was measured in the UBV-system. An King 13 contained 80 stars up to the apparent magnitude mv = 16.4 mag. The distance of the cluster is 1730 pc. The diameter of An King 13 is 7 pc. The luminocity function was determinated.

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is the most frequent cause of ambiguous genitalia and adrenal insufficiency in newborn infants. The diagnosis of the specific enzyme deficiency resulting in the condi...

Heart morphology in the small freshwater teleost, Japanese Medaka, (oryzias latipes) was studied by light and electron microscopy. Particular attention was directed to the three heart layers, epicardium, myocardium, and endocardium in the atrial and ventricular portions of the organ. The trabeculae originate and insert into the myocardial wall forming many complex anastomoses and interdigitations. The entire ventricle is trabeculated giving the chamber a “spongy” appearance; the atrium is less extensively trabeculated. The epicardial layer forms an outer covering over the organ and is composed of simple squamous epithelial cells. The myocardial cells of the trabeculae have small diameters but extend for considerable distances. The myofibrils usually are located peripherally, while the nucleus, mitochondria, and other cellular organelles are located centrally. The myofibrils exhibit a typical vertebrate structure with distinct A-bands, I-bands, and Z-lines; H-zones are discernible but appear less prominent than in higher vertebrates. Intercalated disks have fasciae adherentes and maculae adherentes (desmosomes) as component parts. Although a distinct T-system is absent, prominent subsarcolemmal cisternae are located in the I-band areas and there is a moderately well-developed sarcoplasmic reticulum. The endocardium is composed of a continuous layer of cells that appear to be metabolically very active. Filling the cytoplasm of these cells are large numbers of rough endoplasmic reticulum cisternae and associated mitochondria, vesicles containing amorphous material, and large round bodies with consistencies varying from dense to amorphous to filamentous.

The processing of spatial and temporal detail was investigated in patients with multiple sclerosis. Normal observers and 13 patients with optic neuritis secondary to multiple sclerosis performed a battery of visual tests that included contrast sensitivity, temporal integration, evoked potentials, and visual masking. The multiple sclerosis patients exhibited losses of pattern processing, and these deficits became more noticeable when the patterns were presented briefly. Moreover, these patients exhibited diverse response patterns for the different visual tests. For some, temporal integration functions appeared severely attenuated, while evoked potential latency was within normal limits. Others displayed poor performance in the visual masking test, yet contrast sensitivity functions were comparable to those of the control group. We suggest that a battery of tests that incorporates spatial as well as temporal stimuli is necessary for the detection of visual dysfunction in multiple sclerosis.

The effect of optical blur on the steady-state (6, 8, 10 Hz) counterphase pattern electroretinogram (PERG) was measured in three normal cynomolgus monkeys. Blur was induced using lenses of -8.00 to +12.00 diopters, and monocular PERGs were recorded at a viewing distance of 0.32 meters. A substantial decrease in PERG amplitude occurred with a 0.51 cpd grating when +4.00 diopters of blur or greater were used. PERG amplitude to a 1.25 cpd grating decreased with lenses greater than +2.00 diopters. Minus lenses caused a steep decline in PERG amplitude of both spatial frequency gratings. These results indicate that refractive state has a significant effect upon the PERG and should be carefully considered in electrophysiologic testing of the primate visual system.

An observational study was performed to determine whether the use of physical restraints in agitated nursing home residents leads to decreased or increased agitation. Results indicate that restraint use does not decrease agitation in nursing home residents. Residents exhibited either the same amount or more agitated behaviors when they were restrained than when they were not restrained, suggesting that the act of restraining may itself contribute to manifestations of agitation. The implications of the use of restraints in agitated nursing home residents are discussed, with particular reference to the prevention of falls.

For investigation of the inner structure of interstellar clouds with aid of the photographic photometry the dust density in the clouds must be higher than a minimum value depending on the diameter of the clouds and on the size of the structure elements to be recognized. There is also a highest value of the density for these observations depending on the extent of the clouds, on the spatial distribution of A-type stars, and on the used observing instrument. The calculations were done for an instrument of about 24 inches aperture (Schmidt-camera of the Jena Observatory). The smallest clouds, which can be investigated with an instrument of this aperture and reasonable demands of the size of structure elements, must have a diameter of 15 pc. The mean dust density of this cloud has to be about 4 · 10−25 g cm−3. The density of bigger clouds can vary within a determined interval, e.g. 10−25 g cm−3 < gD < 10−24 g cm−3 for D = 50 pc. The considerations were done for clouds with constant density and with a density gradient depending on the distance to the centre of the cloud. Die Moglichkeiten, die Feinstruktur interstellarer Staubwolken durch photographisch-photometrische Verfarbungsmessungen an Hintergrundsternen zu erkennen, wurden theoretisch untersucht. Um hinreichend kleine Strukturelemente nachzuweisen, mus die mittlere Wolkendichte innerhalb eines bestimmten Intervalles liegen. Die Intervallgrose hangt vom Wolkendurchmesser ab. Fur ein Instrument von 60 cm Offnung konnen nur Wolken von mehr als 15 pc Durchmesser bei genugender Auflosung der inneren Struktur untersucht werden. Die mittlere Dichte dieser Wolken mus bei 4·10−25g cm−3 liegen. Bei groseren Wolken ist ein Dichteintervall moglich; so konnen z. B. Wolken mit 50 pc Durchmesser eine mittlere Dichte zwischen 10−25 g cm−3 und 10−24 g cm−3 haben.

Compel every automobile owner to procure a compensation insurance policy as a condition to obtaining a drivre's license, victims of accidents to be compensated from the insurance fund according to fixed schedules and without regard to fault

In a region at α (1900) = 00h08m and δ (1900) = 60°.6 the dependence of the interstellar extinction on the distance was investigated with aid of photographic photometry in the UBV-system. In a field of 1°.5×1°.5 the extinction was measured at one hundred points arranged in a square grid. Three clouds of interstellar dust with distances of 800 pc, 1000 pc, and 1100 pc were found. The investigation of the inner structure of the clouds was possible because many points are lying in the area of each cloud. A result is the increase of the density from the edges of the clouds to the cloud centres. The density gradient is increasing with decreasing diameters of the clouds. The central density seems to be in inverse proportion to the dimensions of the clouds. With the data of these three clouds and some observations of AMPEL and IWANISZEWSKA a connection between the masses and the diameters was found. This relation differs a little from the same connection found by SCHOENBERG. Mit Hilfe photographischer Verfarbungsmessungen an Hintergrundsternen wurden in einem Feld bei α (1900) = 00h08m und δ (1900) = 60°.6 drei Wolken gefunden und auf ihre innere Struktur untersucht. Fur alle Objekte wurde ein Dichteanstieg vom Wolkenrand zum Zentrum gefunden. Der Gradient des Dichteanstiegs nimmt zu mit abnehmendem Wolkenradius. Es gibt einen Zusammenhang zwischen den Zentraldichten und den Durchmessern der Wolken. Zwischen den Wolkenmassen und den Durchmessern wurde eine Beziehung gefunden, die von der entsprechenden von SCHOENBERG und TOLMAR etwas abweicht.

From the strength of the interstellar H- and K-line in the spectrum of Nova Cygni 1975 its distance is determined to 1.2 kpc. Aus den Aquivalentbreiten der interstellaren H- und K-Linie im Spektrum der Nova Cygni 1975 wurde ihre Entfernung zu 1.2 kpc bestimmt.

About 25 years ago Zwicky (1957), Holmberg (1958) and Hoffmeister (1962) found intergalactic dust by observations. Zwicky (1957) explained the deficiency of distant clusters of galaxies by intergalactic dust inside the near clusters. Holmberg (1958) made extensive observations of the Virgo cluster. He found systematic differences of the colour indexes between cluster and field galaxies. Intergalactic dust inside of the Virgo cluster should be the reason of these differences. Hoffmeister (1962) found a clear deficiency of galaxies in the region of Microscopicum. Again the reason should be a large cloud of intergalactic dust.

Messungen der Himmelshelligkeit wahrend einer Teilabschaltung der Strasenbeleuchtung in Jena ergaben einen Ruckgang der Himmelshelligkeit in Tautenburg um 20%. The measurements of the sky brightness show during a partial cut off of the outdoor lighting at Jena a decreasing of the sky brightness at Tautenburg by 20%.