Experimental testing of a prototype cantilevered liquid-nitrogen-cooled silicon mirror.

This report presents testing of a prototype cantilevered liquid-nitrogen-cooled silicon mirror. This mirror was designed to be the first mirror for the new soft X-ray beamlines to be built as part of the Advanced Light Source Upgrade. Test activities focused on fracture, heat transfer, modal response and distortion, and indicated that the mirror functions as intended.

Consumer acceptance of irradiated meat and poultry in the United States.

Food manufacturers in the United States are currently allowed to irradiate raw meat and poultry to control microbial pathogens and began marketing irradiated beef products in mid-2000. Consumers can reduce their risk of foodborne illness by substituting irradiated meat and poultry for nonirradiated products, particularly if they are more susceptible to foodborne illness. The objective of this study was to identify the individual characteristics associated with willingness to buy irradiated meat and poultry, with a focus on five risk factors for foodborne illness: unsafe food handling and consumption behavior, young and old age, and compromised immune status. A logistic regression model of willingness to buy irradiated meat or poultry was estimated using data from the 1998-1999 FoodNet Population Survey, a single-stage random-digit dialing telephone survey conducted in seven sites covering 11% of the U.S. population. Nearly one-half (49.8%) of the 10,780 adult respondents were willing to buy irradiated meat or poultry. After adjusting for other factors, consumer acceptance of these products was associated with male gender, greater education, higher household income, food irradiation knowledge, household exposure to raw meat and poultry, consumption of animal flesh, and geographic location. However, there was no difference in consumer acceptance by any of the foodborne illness risk factors. It is unclear why persons at increased risk of foodborne illness were not more willing to buy irradiated products, which could reduce the hazards they faced from handling or undercooking raw meat or poultry contaminated by microbial pathogens.

Active, multisite, laboratory-based surveillance for Cryptosporidium parvum.

Cryptosporidium parvum leaped to the attention of the United States following the 1993 outbreak in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which sickened 400,000 people. Other outbreaks in the United States have been associated with drinking and recreational water, consumption of contaminated foods, contact with animals, and childcare attendance. Despite its public health importance, the number of people who become infected each year is not known. In 1997, active surveillance for C. parvum was added to the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), a collaborative effort among the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, selected state health departments, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration. During the first 2 years of surveillance, 1,023 laboratory-confirmed cases of cryptosporidiosis were detected in FoodNet (Connecticut, Minnesota, Oregon, and selected counties in California, Georgia, Maryland, and New York). The annual rate per 100,000 persons was 2.3. Sixteen percent of case-patients were hospitalized. A seasonal increase in case detection was noted in late summer among persons less than 15 years of age. These data represent the first active multistate ascertainment of laboratory-confirmed cryptosporidiosis cases and provide useful information on the burden of disease in the United States.

In vitro failure load of metal-collar margins compared with porcelain facial margins of metal-ceramic crowns.

PURPOSE: This in vitro study compared the load necessary to cause porcelain failure on traditionally fabricated metal-ceramic crowns cemented to metal tooth analogs with two different types of margins. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Metal-ceramic crowns were constructed with either metal facial collars or porcelain facial margins. The metal tooth analogs were embedded in polymethyl methacrylate resin blocks, so that a load applied to the lingual surface compressed the facial margins. Increasingly greater loads were applied to specimens until failure occurred and the failure load values of all specimens were statistically evaluated. RESULTS: The load required to cause porcelain fracture in the crowns with porcelain facial margins was statistically significantly greater than the load required to cause porcelain fracture for crowns with metal collars (p < 0.02).

What retarded adults believe about sex.

Information was presented from results of administration of the Socio-Knowledge and Attitudes Test to retarded persons aged 18 to 41 (equal sex distribution), most of whom were moderately or severely retarded. One-half of the sample were residents in a state institution, and the other half lived in their own or in group homes in an urban community. Little relationship was found between subjects' ages and response scores, but, on certain subtests, there were significant relationships between sex-knowledge score and subject's IQ, adaptive behavior level, sex, and/or place of residence.

A sex education program that worked.

PIP: A sex education program was conducted at a treatment center serving boys aged 6-14 in New York City. 1 of the purposes of the program was to scientifically measure and evaluate the program itself, in order to find a replicable structure to be used for subsequent programs. 24 staff members volunteered to participate in a 1-year training program, and regular meetings were held between the agency executives and the personnel involved in the program. The results showed significant changes in knowledge of birth control technology, in understanding of sexual responsibility, and in the consideration of parenthood as a choice.^ieng