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Evergreen Action Nutrition (EAN) is a health promotion program designed to facilitate relatively healthy members of a seniors recreation center to maintain their nutritional health as they age. A main goal of this project was to demonstrate the feasibility and relevance of using the community organization approach to develop a nutrition education program for seniors.Using the current membership list, seniors were randomly selected to receive a mailed baseline (n=247) questionnaire. A follow-up survey (n=251) was sent out to randomly selected members three years later to determine participation in EAN and reported behavior change. Although not the same individuals, responses were compared to baseline to determine changes in nutritional risk. Items from the Diet and Health Knowledge survey were compared by EAN participation.The program had a large reach with 162 survey respondents (64.5%) reporting some level of participation and 51% reporting "frequent" participation. Use of informal forms of education predominated (e.g. displays). Significant differences were found between baseline and follow-up for risk attributed to low intake of fruits and vegetables and frequency of eating, with EAN participants having reduced risk of low fruit and vegetable intake. Those participating in formal education (e.g. food workshops) reported more frequent changes in food practices than those participating in informal activities. EAN participants appear to have more healthy nutrition attitudes/beliefs.The community organization approach to program planning and delivery leads to the development of diverse and appropriate nutrition education activities for seniors. Informal and formal health promotion activities can be successfully implemented in recreation centers.

Recently Canada adopted the World Health Organization's (WHO)Weight Classification system for Body Mass Index (BMI). To date, there has been minimal investigation on the predictive ability of BMI on mortality in seniors. This study investigates the predictive ability of the BMI categories identified in this Weight Classification System and change in BMI on mortality in Canadian seniors.Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA) participants who completed clinical examination (including body weight measurements) in 1991 (CSHA1) and 1996 (CSHA2) were included (n = 539). BMI change (CSHA1 to CSHA2) was categorized as no change/mild increase (0 to2.0 units), mild decrease (-0.1 to-2.0 units), or significant increase/decrease (or = +/-2.0 units). The outcome was subsequent 5-year-mortality, i.e. death between CSHA2 and CSHA3 (2001). Logistic regression controlled for age, gender, education level, marital status, smoking and cognitive status.BMI at CSHA1 was not a significant predictor of all-cause mortality between CSHA2 and CSHA3. A significant decrease in BMI regardless of BMI category predicted death (OR 2.10 95% CI 1.17, 3.80). Other factors predictive of death were age and cognitive impairment without dementia.A static measure of BMI is a less useful measure of mortality risk than weight change in older adults. Weight change, especially weight loss resulting in a BMI change of at least 2.0 units, is predictive of mortality and should be considered a warning sign.

Undernutrition in community-living seniors is common and has the potential to adversely influence health outcomes. Nutritional risk screening tools can help identify seniors at risk, but few have predicted health outcomes.Seniors were recruited from 23 community service providers. The 8-item abbreviated version SCREEN (Seniors in the Community Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition) was used to identify nutritional risk in 367 seniors; demographics, health, activities of daily living, and psychosocial variables were included in a baseline assessment. The seniors were followed-up by telephone for 18 months to determine the occurrence of health outcomes, including death. Cox regression was used to identify predictors of survival time.During the 18-month follow-up there were 27 deaths (approximately 7%). Using the abbreviated tool, nutritional risk was common (42.2%). This low rate of death limited the modeling to only a few key covariates, which were based on bivariate analyses. Nutritional risk was significantly associated with time to death. Gender was also associated with time to death, with men more likely to die sooner than women. Increasing age was also significantly associated with shorter survival times.Nutritional risk as measured by SCREEN was predictive of time to death. This simple tool may be useful for future epidemiological research on health outcomes of seniors. Further work should confirm these results, as the low event rate influenced the modeling strategy.

a) Punctum plasty (eversion of the lacrimal point): This simple method results in a permanently enlarged punctum. A 4-0 silk suture is passed through the vertical part of the canaliculus and the conjunctiva, drawing them together very tightly. The thread falls out after 4-6 weeks. b) Management of trichiasis: Electrolysis of misdirected lashes leads to contraction and renewed misdirection. This disadvantage is avoided by excising the lashes with a 1 mm trephine. The trephine must follow the direction of the lash exactly, so that a complete cylinder including the hair and root can be removed. The resulting small defect heals quickly without contraction.

The two-dimensional solution for annular fins, given in graphical form with the efficiency plotted versus the design-parameter group, (b − a)[(2h)/(kw)]1/2, supplies needed design information for fins of small height-to-thickness ratio and large height-to-inner radius ratio. The one-dimensional solutions previously given for annular fins are accurate for height-to-width ratios of the order of 10 or more, while the two-dimensional results for rectangular fins are useful as approximations to annular fins when curvature is not large. With height-to-width ratios less than 10 and for annular fins with large curvature, design of fins can be computed with the results presented in this paper.

A one-dimensional numerical solution is obtained for the steady-state thermal behavior of annular fins of trapezoidal profile which transfer heat by conduction and radiation. The results obtained are presented as charts relating fin efficiency to the dimensionless group (rT − rB)εσTB3/k cos α, for various values of the dimensionless groups rB/(rT − rB), ZT/(rT − rB), and arctan [(ZB − ZT)/(rT − rB)]. As presented the problem is the general formulation for the problem of radiating fins with flat surfaces.

Convergence structures (Limitierungen) defined by H. R. Fischer [1] in 1959 anduniform convergence structures (uniforme Limitierungen) introduced by C. H. Cook and H. R. Fischer [2] in 1965 are generalizations of the concepts of topology and uniformity respectively. A convergence structure, induced by some uniform convergence structure, will be called (L)-uniformizable (Limes-uniformisierbar). In this paper a necessary and sufficient condition for (L)-uniformizability of a convergence structure will be given. As a consequence any separated (Hausdorff) convergence structure on a set turns out to be (L)-uniformizable. Also any compatible convergence structure (separated or not) on a group is (L)-uniformizable.

Intraspinal (i.s.) injection of 6-hydroxydopamine or 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine in newborn spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) resulted, in the adult animal (30-week-old), in a marked decrease of spinal cord noradrenaline (NA) or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) levels, respectively. Since both neurotoxin- and vehicle-injected rats developed full hypertension and had similar plasma catecholamine concentrations, it is concluded that in SHR neither spinal cord NA nor 5-HT play a major role in development and maintenance of hypertension.

Acceptance into clinical practice of monoamine oxidase (MAO) antidepressants requires unequivocal evidence that novel, non-hepatotoxic and reversible MAO-A inhibitors carry little or no risk of inducing severe hypertensive crises (cheese effect). This study summarizes the most relevant preclinical aspects which differentiate the novel reversible MAO-A inhibitors moclobemide and brofaromine, from previous irreversible MAO inhibitors of the old generation, particularly phenelzine and tranylcypromine. Moclobemide and brofaromine bear no chemical relation to irreversible inhibitors such as hydrazine derivatives (phenelzine) or aminocyclopropyl derivatives (tranylcypromine). Experiments in rats show that moclobemide and brofaromine increase the level of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) and decrease that of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid for only 16-24 hours. In vitro, moclobemide and brofaromine behave as mechanism-based, enzyme-activated inhibitors since their intrinsic inhibitory activity increases with the duration of their interaction with the enzyme in tissue homogenates. In contrast to irreversible monoamine oxidase inhibitors, which are much more potent in vitro than in vivo, moclobemide has the characteristic to be virtually equipotent in vitro and in vivo. MAO-A inhibition induced by moclobemide in the rat in vivo was rapidly reversed by simply incubating liver homogenates at 37 degrees C in the absence of the inhibitor, indicating a rapid metabolic inactivation of moclobemide in vitro. This reversibility is a distinctive feature of moclobemide, when compared with brofaromine or irreversible MAO inhibitors. Hepatotoxicity is not an inherent property of MAO inhibitors indeed, moclobemide or brofaromine, due to their chemical structures, cannot be converted into isopropyl hydrazine, the hepatotoxic metabolite of iproniazid suspected to induce liver necrosis. Results from preclinical and clinical investigations demonstrate that moclobemide and brofaromine, in contrast to tranylcypromine and phenelzine, very weakly potentiate the pressor effects of orally administered tyramine. In conclusion, the reversible MAO-A inhibitors moclobemide and brofaromine, due to their well-documented safety characteristics, to their lack of anticholinergic-effects and to their good tolerability, will provide innovative tools for clarifying the role of MAO-A inhibitors in the treatment of endogenous and atypical depressive states.

Moclobemide belongs to a new generation of short-acting, reversible, monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors. In vitro (rat brain homogenates) moclobemide inhibits MAO-A selectively with lower potency than many of the reference MAO inhibitors. However, when measured ex vivo in the rat, the potency of moclobemide is similar to that of reference compounds. In vivo the drug induces a dose-dependent, short-lasting (8-16 hr) and preferential inhibition of MAO-A in the brain and both MAO-A and MAO-B inhibition in extracerebral organs (liver, small intestine and kidney). In the extracerebral tissues of the rat moclobemide induces marked peripheral MAO-B inhibition due to rapid and extensive biotransformation of its morpholine ring. The active molecular species is probably the metabolite Ro 16-6491. The moderate MAO-B inhibition measured after moclobemide intake in human platelets indicates that only minor amounts of Ro 16-6491 are formed in humans. Virtually all metabolites of moclobemide so far identified have been tested in vitro and ex vivo in the rat and proved to be either equipotent or, mostly, less effective than moclobemide as MAO-A inhibitors. In liver homogenates of moclobemide-treated rats MAO-A activity recovers during dialysis or simple incubation at 37 degrees C, suggesting a biodegradation of moclobemide and/or the moclobemide-derived active metabolite(s) by MAO itself or a slow dissociation of the active inhibitory species from the enzyme. Similar to other MAO-A inhibitors, moclobemide induces an increase in the rat brain levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine, norepinephrine and dopamine and a concomitant decrease of their deaminated metabolites. These effects are of short duration (8-16 hr) and parallel the time course of MAO-A inhibition. Moclobemide administered subchronically down-regulates beta adrenoceptors as shown by binding experiments with brain cortical membranes using dihydroalprenolol as ligand. In vitro MAO inhibition by moclobemide is specific in that the compound does not affect other amine oxidases or monoamine uptake mechanisms; furthermore, it does not interact with various neurotransmitter or drug receptor sites. In conclusion, a large body of preclinical evidence characterizes moclobemide as a short-acting and reversible MAO-inhibitor. The neurochemical profile of moclobemide indicates clearly that this nonhydrazine nonhepatotoxic MAO-A inhibitor represents a novel and safe drug for treatment of affective disorders.

A new method of testing the eyes of the children aged between four and six is described. This screening test has the following advantages: the children can be examined in familiar surroundings; there is no psychological pressure on the child; both visual acuity and binocular vision can be tested; the apparatus is simple to use and attractive to children; the results are reliable; the price is reasonable.

The recently discovered benzodiazepine antagonist Ro 15-1788 was characterized in binding studies, and its potency and selectivity were determined in vivo by interaction with drug-induced changes in dopamine turnover and cerebellar cGMP level. Ro 15-1788 reduced [3H]flunitrazepam binding in the brain in vivo with a potency similar to that of diazepam and effectively inhibited [3H]diazepam binding in vitro (IC50 = 2.3 +/- 0.6 nmol/liter). [3H]Ro 15-1788 bound to tissue fractions of rat cerebral cortex with an apparent dissociation (KD) of 1.0 +/- 0.1 nmol/liter. The in vitro potency of various benzodiazepines in displacing [3H]Ro 15-1788 from its binding site was of the same rank order as found previously in [3H]diazepam binding. Autoradiograms of [3H]Ro 15-1788 binding in sections of rat cerebellum showed the same distribution of radioactivity as with [3H]flunitrazepam. The attenuating effect of diazepam on the chlorpromazine- or stress-induced elevation of homovanillic acid in rat brain was antagonized by Ro 15-1788. Among a series of compounds which either decreased or increased the rat cerebellar cGMP level, only the effect of benzodiazepine receptor ligands (diazepam, zopiclone, CL 218 872) was antagonized by Ro 15-1788. Thus, Ro 15-1788 is a selective benzodiazepine antagonist acting at the level of the benzodiazepine receptor in the central nervous system. Peripheral benzodiazepine binding sites in kidney and schistosomes were not affected by Ro 15-1788.

8-Chloro-6-(2-fluorophenyl)-1-methyl-4H-imidazo[1,5-a][1,4]benzodiazepine (midazolam, Ro 21-3981, Dormicum) is an imidazobenzodiazepine whose salts are soluble and stable in aqueous solution. It has a quick onset and, due to rapid metabolic inactivation, a rather short duration of action in all species studied. Midazolam has a similar pharmacologic potency and broad therapeutic range as diazepam. It produces all the characteristic effects of the benzodiazepine class, i.e., anticonvulsant, anxiolytic, sleep-inducing, muscle relaxant, and "sedative" effects. The magnitude of the anticonflict effect of midazolam is smaller than that of diazepam in rats and squirrel monkeys, probably because a more pronounced sedative component interferes with the increase of punished responses. In rodents, surgical anaesthesia is not attained with midazolam alone even in high i.v. doses, whereas this state is obtained in monkeys. The drug potentiates the effect of various central depressant agents. Midazolam is virtually free of effects on the cardiovascular system in conscious animals and produces only slight decreases in cardiac performance in dogs anaesthetized with barbiturates. No direct effects of the drugs on autonomic functions were found, however, stress-induced autonomic disturbances are prevented, probably by an effect on central regulatory systems. All animal data suggest the usefulness of midazolam as a sleep-inducer and i.v. anaesthetic of rapid onset and short duration.

The rat studies presented in this manuscript show that the new non-hydrazine compounds moclobemide, brofaromine and toloxatone have a profile typical of monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) inhibitors. These inhibitors are short-acting (16-24 h), reversible, non-hepatotoxic and have only low liability to potentiate tyramine pressor effects (cheese-effect). The present results in rats and the clinical trials provide evidence that moclobemide is an orally active MAO-A inhibitor which, due to its remarkably low tyramine potentiating pressor effects and to its lack of anticholinergic activity, has a very attractive pharmacological profile. In contrast to moclobemide, tranylcypromine is an irreversible and mixed MAO-A and MAO-B inhibitor with long-lasting effects. This hydrazine derivative is not devoid of hepatotoxic effects and markedly potentiates tyramine pressor effects. Moclobemide, being a particularly safe MAO-A inhibitor, seems to be an effective new compound for the therapy of exogenous and endogenous depressive states.

A slide show is presented on primary glaucoma made for the instruction of laymen. The slide show should provide information for patients, but first of all it is meant to be a help for preventive measures.

First presentation of a modern teaching aid for paramedical staff, e.g. nurses and social workers as well as general practitioners. Also suitable for showing to the general public.

With a few modifications the Vew-Master stereo viewer can be used for fusion training at home. Special image disks have been developed for this purpose, each image having a different angle of view. An additional motion sequence covering all 7 pairs of images makes the fusion game attractive and varied for children.

The novel antidepressant, moclobemide, is a reversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase (MAO) preferentially of monoamine oxidise-A (MAO-A); it emerged for study out of a series of lipid-lowering agents. In spite of its weak MAO-A inhibition in vitro, moclobemide is a potent inhibitor of MAO-A, in vivo; its in vivo activity is of short duration, in contrast to the extremely long-lasting inhibition, e.g. by tranylcypromine. Moclobemide only slightly potentiates the pressor effect of oral tyramine in freely moving rats, again in contrast to tranylcypromine; it is not anti-cholinergic and is free of hepatotoxicity. Published evidence on the preclinical pharmacology is reviewed.

We have investigated whether degeneration of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons is a potential trigger for increased NGF production in the adult rat brain. Electrolytic lesions of cholinergic neurons in the septum-diagonal band and in the nucleus basalis of Meynert induced a transient increase in NGF in the ventral hippocampus (+70%) and cerebral cortex (+125%), respectively. In contrast, selective aminergic denervation of the forebrain by electrolytic lesion of the medial forebrain bundle, did not increase NGF levels in hippocampus and cerebral cortex. Thus, a cholinergic mechanism appears to regulate NGF production in adult rat basal forebrain.

Several benzodiazepines (chlordiazepoxide, clonazepam, diazepam and flunitrazepam) markedly counteracted the elevation of the homovanillic acid (HVA) content of the rat brain induced by neuroleptics (haloperidol, pimozide, chlorpromazine, and clozapine). A similar effect was obtained with the inhibitor of GABA transaminase, aminooxyacetic acid (AOAA). The interaction of benzodiazepines with the neuroleptic-induced HVA increase was similar in the striatum and in the limbic forebrain, and was antagonized by the GABA receptor-blocking agent, picrotoxin. Both the benzodiazepines used and AOAA potentiated the cataleptic effect of the four neuroleptics. It is concluded that benzodiazepines, by intensifying GABA-ergic transmission, enhance the ongoing inhibition of mesencephalic dopamine neurons exerted by the striatonigral GABA system. As a consequence, the feedback activation of dopamine neurons induced by the neuroleptic blockade of dopamine receptors in the striatum and the limbic system is attenuated. This results in a reduction of the neuroleptic-induced increase of HVA and in the potentiation of the cataleptic effect of neuroleptics.

Abstract A thermal model describing the one-dimensional heat conduction in a layered system is developed. Up to ten homogeneous layers, each having different thermal properties porosity, water content and thickness, can be accommodated. A periodic temperature is input for the surface condition. The computed results consist of the depth of the thawed region as a function of time. The layered model is applied to the design of foundations for roads and airstrips in permafrost regions. A sensitivity study was made to find the effect on thaw depth of varying physical properties of the materials used, the geometry of the construction and the surface temperature. The means for extension of the model to building foundation design by modification of the surface boundary condition is presented. Introduction THE DISCOVERY OF OIL in the Prudhoe Bay region of Alaska has focused considerable attention on the engineering problems of developing petroleum production facilities in remote arctic areas. The main source of difficulty is the undesirable thawing of permafrost under such structures as roads) airstrips, buildings and drilling equipment. Subsidence, differential settlement and frost heaving may be expected if the permafrost formation under the structure is allowed to thaw seasonally or permanently(1). In order to guard against such destruction, building sites may be placed on gravel embankments which; in turn, may rest on a thermal insulator as is common in road construction on the arctic tundra(2). In order to insure adequate and economical protection of the underlying permafrost, accurate predictions of the temperature distribution and the depth of thaw under engineering structures become important. It is the purpose of this paper to present a thermal model for calculating the seasonal depth of thaw in a layered medium; it is applicable to general structures where the heat flow is essentially one-dimensional. In this model heat transfer is assumed to be due exclusively to conduction. For pure ice-water mixtures (such as ice on lakes) this assumption is inadequate because of convective effects(3). It is recognized that on a microscopic scale the exact mode of heat transfer in permafrost is likely to be a combination of conductive, convective and radiative processes(4); however, on the basis of soil temperature measurements, Pearce and Gold(5) were able to conclude that "the annual temperature variation in the soil ... is remarkably consistent with the theory of (conductive) heat flow in a one-dimensional semiinfinite medium." Thus, a conduction model may be used with confidence for temperature studies in permafrost. This problem has been investigated by Lachenbruch(6) for a system limited to three layers. Our model and discussion to some extent are parallel to that of Kazemi and Perkins(7). The basic difference, apart from the structures studied, is in the solution algorithm used for solving the heat flow equations. The method proposed here is mathematically sound(8), easy to apply, allows a fine spatial resolution and is quite fast. In fact, the discussion of construction methods for roads and airstrips is based on a parameter study conducted via interactive computer graphics.

p-Chlorphenylalanin, ein Inhibitor der Serotoninbiosynthese, senkte bei Katzen den Serotoningehalt des Gehirns nicht selektiv. Es wurde gleichzeitig eine signifikante und langanhaltende Erniedrigung des Noradrenalin- und Dopamingehalts gefunden.

Differentiation einer Funktion ƒ in einem Punkte a ihres Argument bereiches bedeutet in der Analysis ganz allgemein gesprochen: Approxi mation des Funktionszuwachses durch ein lineares Funktional des Argumentzuwachses, das Differential Dƒ(a)h, d.h. $$f\left( {a + h} \right) - f\left( a \right) = Df\left( a \right)h + r\left( h \right),$$ (1) wobei vom verbleibenden Rest r(h) verlangt wird, das er mit h „in hoherer Ordnung“ als das Differential Dƒ(a)h gegen Null strebt.

Frail older adults are at risk for poor nutrition and frequently experience declining healthrelated quality of life (HR-QOL). The relationship between nutritional risk and HR-QOL although intuitive, has been rarely studied.To determine the independent association of nutritional risk with HR-QOL in frail older adults.Cross-sectional survey. Data were collected by interviewer-administered questionnaire. Nutritional risk was measured by SCREEN (Seniors in the Community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition) and HR-QOL by perceived health status and report of number of days in the past month where physical or mental health was not good, or where activities were limited. Frail (n=367) seniors were recruited from 23 community service providers. A wide variety of covariates were also measured. Multivariate modeling based on a conceptual model was used to identify factors associated with HR-QOL.Nutritional risk appears to be a significant and important factor associated with HR-QOL. Other significant covariates were: falls, social supports, social activity, health behaviours, pain and medication use.Nutritional risk as measured by SCREEN appears to be a significant covariate in explaining differences in HRQOL among frail older adults. Further work should determine if nutritional risk predicts changes in HR-QOL over time.

First presentation of a modern teaching aid for paramedical staff, e.g. nurses and social workers as well as general practitioners. Also suitable for showing to the general public.