The Golden Section as Optical Limitation.

The golden section, ϕ = (1 + √5)/2 = 1.618... and its companion ϕ = 1/ϕ = ϕ -1 = 0.618..., are irrational numbers which for centuries were believed to confer aesthetic appeal. In line with the presence of golden sectioning in natural growth patterns, recent EEG recordings show an absence of coherence between brain frequencies related by the golden ratio, suggesting the potential relevance of the golden section to brain dynamics. Using Mondrian-type patterns comprising a number of paired sections in a range of five section-section areal ratios (including golden-sectioned pairs), participants were asked to indicate as rapidly and accurately as possible the polarity (light or dark) of the smallest section in the patterns. They were also asked to independently assess the aesthetic appeal of the patterns. No preference was found for golden-sectioned patterns, while reaction times (RTs) tended to decrease overall with increasing ratio independently of each pattern's fractal dimensionality. (Fractal dimensionality was unrelated to ratio and measured in terms of the Minkowski-Bouligand box-counting dimension). The ease of detecting the smallest section also decreased with increasing ratio, although RTs were found to be substantially slower for golden-sectioned patterns under 8-paired sectioned conditions. This was confirmed by a significant linear relationship between RT and ratio (p < .001) only when the golden-sectioned RTs were excluded [the relationship was non-significant for the full complement of ratios (p = .217)]. Image analysis revealed an absence of spatial frequencies between 4 and 8 cycles-per-degree that was exclusive to the 8-paired (golden)-sectioned patterns. The significance of this was demonstrated in a subsequent experiment by addition of uniformly distributed random noise to the patterns. This provided a uniform spatial-frequency profile for all patterns, which did not influence the decrease in RT with increasing ratio but abolished the elevated RTs to golden-sectioned patterns. This suggests that optical limitation in the form of reduced inter-neural synchronization during spatial-frequency coding may be the foundation for the perceptual effects of golden sectioning.

Lung cancer stigma, anxiety, depression, and quality of life.

This study investigated lung cancer stigma, anxiety, depression, and quality of life (QOL) and validated variable similarities between ever and never smokers. Patients took online self-report surveys. Variable contributions to QOL were investigated using hierarchical multiple regression. Patients were primarily White females with smoking experience. Strong negative relationships emerged between QOL and anxiety, depression and lung cancer stigma. Lung cancer stigma provided significant explanation of the variance in QOL beyond covariates. No difference emerged between smoker groups for study variables. Stigma may play a role in predicting QOL. Interventions promoting social and psychological QOL may enhance stigma resistance skills.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae outbreak: unintended consequences of electronic medical records and using an out-of-state laboratory-California, July 2009-February 2010.

Twenty of 37 gonorrhea cases identified during an outbreak were diagnosed at one health care organization that used an out-of-state laboratory. The results were transmitted into electronic medical records without provider notification. Delays in treatment and reporting were identified. Systems should be implemented to ensure provider notification of electronic laboratory results.

Lung cancer stigma, anxiety, depression and symptom severity.

OBJECTIVES: Compared to other cancers, lung cancer patients report the highest levels of psychological distress and stigma. Few studies have examined the relationship between lung cancer stigma (LCS) and symptom burden. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between LCS, anxiety, depression and physical symptom severity. METHODS: This study employed a cross-sectional, correlational design to recruit patients online from lung cancer websites. LCS, anxiety, depression and physical symptoms were measured by patient self-report using validated scales via the Internet. Hierarchical multiple regression was performed to investigate the individual contributions of LCS, anxiety and depression to symptom severity. RESULTS: Patients had a mean age of 57 years; 93% were Caucasian, 79% were current or former smokers, and 74% were female. There were strong positive relationships between LCS and anxiety (r = 0.413, p < 0.001), depression (r = 0.559, p < 0.001) and total lung cancer symptom severity (r = 0.483, p < 0.001). Although its contribution was small, LCS provided a unique and significant explanation of the variance in symptom severity beyond that of age, anxiety and depression, by 1.3% (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Because LCS is associated with psychosocial and physical health outcomes, research is needed to develop interventions to assist patients to manage LCS and to enhance their ability to communicate effectively with clinicians.

Syphilis outbreak at a California men's prison, 2007-2008: propagation by lapses in clinical management, case management, and public health surveillance.

This field report describes an investigation to identify cases to control a syphilis outbreak in a prison and determine whether clinical, case management, and surveillance practices influenced the outbreak occurrence, detection, or management. Key performance measures were assessed to evaluate timeliness and quality of clinical and case management activities and surveillance practices. Thirty cases were found. Prior to the investigation, median times for clinical and reporting/surveillance measures were 15 days from primary and secondary (P&S) symptom onset to exam, 7 days from P&S exam to treatment, and 63 days from serologic test to the state's receipt of case. After the investigation, these measures improved to 8, 4.5, and 28 days, respectively. Lack of adherence to surveillance and clinical management protocols likely contributed to this outbreak, which was curtailed by aggressive control measures.

Changes in maternal cigarette smoking among pregnant WIC participants in Rhode Island.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the relationship between the timing of entry into the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) among pregnant women in Rhode Island (RI) and changes in maternal cigarette smoking (MCS) during pregnancy. METHODS: MCS data gathered by WIC were analyzed for pregnant women who self-identified as smokers at the onset of pregnancy between the years 2001-2005. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine the relationship between timing of WIC entry and both increased and decreased/quit MCS during pregnancy. RESULTS: Self-reports from smokers indicated that 9.5% quit smoking, 24.6% decreased MCS, 26.8% experienced no change, 33.5% increased MCS, and 5.6% attempted to quit MCS but failed during pregnancy. The adjusted odds ratio for smokers with 1st trimester WIC entry and increased MCS was 0.64 (95% CI 0.52, 0.79). Among smokers with 1st trimester PNC entry, the adjusted odds ratio for smokers with 1st trimester WIC entry and decreased/quit MCS was 1.51 (95% CI 1.17, 1.96). CONCLUSIONS: Early WIC entry appears to be associated with improvements in MCS. Participants who entered WIC in the first trimester of pregnancy were less likely to increase smoking during pregnancy, and if they also had first trimester prenatal care, were more likely to decrease/quit smoking compared to those who entered WIC later. Programs that increase the rates of first trimester WIC entry may contribute to lower rates of MCS in the WIC population.