Lessons learned from the development of a hidradenitis suppurativa xenograft mouse model.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease originating from the pilosebaceous unit, in which patients develop painful abscesses, sinus tracts, nodules and scarring, typically in intertriginous areas. Major gaps in our understanding of HS exist, and these may be partially due to the lack of an animal model for experimental studies. We developed an HS xenograft mouse model using human HS lesions grafted onto immunocompromised mice. Although the model had its limitations, several informative lessons were learned, which may contribute to future attempts at an HS animal model.

Prospects for technological countermeasures against driver fatigue.

There are three reasons for giving serious consideration to technological countermeasures against driver fatigue: 1, fatigue is a persistent occupational hazard for professional drivers; 2, some professional drivers are under considerable pressure to reach their scheduled destination, in spite of feeling drowsy; 3, fatigue adversely affects an individual's ability to assess their own fitness to continue driving. However, there are two reasons for exercising caution in implementing technological countermeasures: 1, their reliability under real traffic conditions is largely unproven; 2, they could be used by unscrupulous drivers to support the continuation of journeys that should have been terminated because of human impairment. This paper draws on the findings of research into the origins, symptoms and development of human fatigue, and on recent research into driver-support systems, to assess the prospects for implementations of technological countermeasures against driver fatigue in the foreseeable future.

Assessing one's own and others' driving ability: influences of sex, age, and experience.

Observational studies of drivers' involvements in dangerous situations suggest that young males drive differently from other road users. Studies of drivers' assessments of their own ability appear to show that they believe they drive better than their peers and that, while young males equate their ability with that of older male drivers, the latter group see themselves as superior to their younger counterparts but of equivalent ability to peers. It is unclear from previous studies what the influence of driving experience is on such assessments and, indeed, what female drivers feel about their ability. The present studies suggest that the widely reported tendency for people to overestimate their ability may be largely artifactual, that males and females describe their performance similarly, and that previously reported age differences disappear when driving experience is controlled. Among the differences that remain is the reported greater "recklessness" and comparative lack of "smoothness" of young males' driving. The implications of these findings for our understanding of risk assessment and acceptance are discussed.

CIF (Crystallographic Information File): A Standard for Crystallographic Data Interchange.

The Crystallographic Information File (CIF) uses the self-defining STAR file structure. This requires the creation of a dictionary of data names and definitions. A basic dictionary of terms needed to describe the crystal structures of small molecules was approved in 1991 and is currently used for the submission of papers to Acta Crystallographica C. A number of extensions to this dictionary are in preparation. By storing the dictionary itself as a STAR file, the definitions and relationships in the CIF dictionary become computer interpretable. This offers many possibilities for the automatic handling of crystallographic information.

Toxicity of VectoLex (Bacillus sphaericus) products to selected Australian mosquito and nontarget species.

Laboratory and field bioassay studies were conducted in southeast Queensland, Australia, on the efficacy of VectoLex Control Granule (CG; active ingredient [AI]:50 Bacillus sphaericus [B.s.] International Toxic Units [ITU]/mg) and VectoLex Water Dispersible Granule (WDG) (AI: 650 B.s. ITU/mg) formulations against third-instar larvae of Culex annulirostris Skuse, Culex quinquefasciatus Say, Culex sitiens Wiedemann, Ochlerotatus rigilax (Skuse), Ochlerotatus. notoscriptus (Skuse), and Aedes aegypti (L.). The Gompertz model for log-linear mortality data were used to determine laboratory 48-h LC95 values. As with foreign evaluations, the B.s. formulations were most effective against Culex spp., with the WDG 10-100 times more effective than the CG on an ITU/mosquito basis. Consequently, Cx. annulirostris and Cx. quinquefasciatus were selected as target species for small-plot field evaluation of WDG efficacy over time. Weekly cohorts of caged third-instar Cx. annulirostris were exposed to replicated low (250 g/ha), medium (500 g/ha), and high (1,000 g/ha) dosages of WDG. Concurrent assessment of Cx. quinquefasciatus mortality outside the cages was also conducted. In water with high organic content, the low rate produced > 99% Cx. annulirostris mortality at 48 h, decreasing to 79% at week 3 and no control at week 4. The medium and high rates resulted in 100% Cx. annulirostris mortality for 2 wk posttreatment, decreasing to 95% at week 3, and no control at week 4. The WDG was equally effective against Cx. quinquefasciatus. Treatment did not affect water quality or nontarget shrimp and fish species survival.

Testing colour confusability among a new range of decimal stamps.

Two experiments are reported in which the objective was to achieve minimal confusability among 14 colours required for the new lower-value range of decimal stamps. The main conclusion is that aesthetic considerations are largely incompatible with the criteria required to meet this objective. A symmetrically structured range of seven bright hues, each used at two levels of saturation, was found to have some advantages over an alternative unsymmetrical range which included more pleasing colours. This was mainly because the latter included greater variation along the brightness dimension, which produced large errors in recognition of darker hues. It could also have resulted from the greater nameability of colours made possible by combining hue and saturation cues systematically. The findings emphasise that absolute confusability of colour displays cannot be assessed reliably by viewing stimuli side-by-side, because this does not involve the imperfect mechanisms employed in colour recognition.

Ergonomics in action - 1: the medical research council applied psychology unit.

This paper traces the origins of the APU and sketches its development from its foundation in 1944 to the present day. Research in a large number of important areas is outlined, with reference to such areas of work as; environmental and task-induced stress, post office studies, tracking control skills, car driving, signal detection and monitoring; and the current research interests of present APU staff are briefly noted.

The prevalence of depression in a high school population.

This study examined the prevalence of depression in a nonclinical adolescent population (N = 2,698) in a major Canadian city. The Beck Depression Inventory was administered to students in three secondary schools. An analysis of variance revealed significant main effects of age and gender. The percentage of students categorized as experiencing none to mild depression was contrasted with those experiencing moderate to severe depression. Overall, the results showed relatively low rates of severe or moderate depression in this population. The findings are discussed in the context of previous investigations.