[Qualification of elderly workers in industry--problems and opportunities]

The aim of the research project was to find out the conditions of a successful occupational qualification of older workers in the Federal Republic of Germany. The more recent results of psychological research concerning the learning capacities of older people suppose that older workers can also be qualified successfully with regard to the requirements of their job. However, the project results reveal that certain basic conditions should be fulfilled for the qualification of older workers. Training measures should take place during work time; the fact has to be respected that older workers need more time to learn than younger workers; the learning material should be divided into short, separated units; older workers should not be obliged to do home-work; the creation of learning groups among the older workers should refer to different degrees of qualification, not to the age of the workers.

Comparative freeze-fracture study of perialgal and digestive vacuoles in Paramecium bursaria

In the endosymbiotic unit of Paramecium bursaria (Ciliata) and Chlorella sp. (Chlorophyceae) algae are enclosed individually in perialgal vacuoles, which do not show acid phosphatase activity and thus differ from digestive vacuoles. Both types of vacuoles have been studied by freeze-fracture. Perialgal vacuoles are nearly spherical; their membrane always fits tightly to the algal surface. The vacuole size and shape do not vary much. During division of the algal cell into four autospores the vacuole diameter only doubles. After autospore formation the vacuole invaginates around the algal daughter cells and divides. Newly formed perialgal vacuoles remain in intimate contact and exhibit characteristic attachment zones before final separation. The two fracture faces of perialgal vacuole membranes are homogeneously covered with intramembranous particles (IMPs) but rarely show signs of vesicles pinching off or fusing with the membrane, except during vacuole division. The P-faces bear more IMPs (3164 +/− 625 IMP/micron 2) than the E-faces (654 +/− 208 IMP/micron 2). The range of IMP density on both faces is enormous, suggesting that the membrane is not static. Membrane changes are supposed to occur simultaneously with the enlargement of the vacuole and to be caused by fusion with cytoplasmic vesicles, as the fractured necks on vacuole membranes may indicate. Digestive vacuoles in P. bursaria show significant variations in size, shape, membrane topography and IMP density, as well as signs of endocytic activity. Different vacuole populations are present in P. bursaria according to different feeding conditions: ciliates fed for a long time have small vacuoles with few IMPs (322 +/− 198 IMP/micron 2 on the E-faces, 1438 +/− 458 IMP/micron 2 on the P-faces), which are probably condensed digestive vacuoles, whereas organisms fed for a short time have larger vacuoles with highly particulate faces (680 +/− 282 IMP/micron 2 on the E-faces, 2701 +/− 503 IMP/micron 2 on the P-faces) and thus are supposed to be older vacuoles. The digestive vacuole membrane changes continuously. Compared to digestive vacuoles perialgal vacuoles are characterized by small size combined with high IMP density on the two fracture faces. Their IMP densities resemble those of old digestive vacuole membranes. However, it would be premature to conclude that membranes of perialgal and old digestive vacuoles are identical. Membranes of old digestive vacuoles are mainly derived from lysosomal material, which presumably does not contribute to the formation of perialgal vacuole membranes as is indicated by the small vacuole diameter; fusion with lysosomes would considerably enlarge it.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Alinidine in angina

Alinidine--N-allyl-clonidine--reduces heart rate without blocking beta adrenoreceptors. It may be used in patients with angina without inducing the adverse effects of beta-adrenergic blockers. We therefore evaluated alinidine efficacy in patients with angiographically proven coronary artery disease and stable angina during a 10-wk placebo-controlled randomized double-blind trial. Alinidine (40 mg three times a day) reduced the number of anginal attacks and the average number of nitroglycerine capsules consumed. The double product was slightly lowered during rest but more pronounced during exercise. This effect was mainly due to decreased heart rate. The ischemic S-T segment depression was diminished. Exercise tolerance was clearly improved in six, slightly improved in two, and unchanged in four subjects.

Intracerebral electrode implantation system. Technical note

A new technique for deep-brain electrode implantation is described. A very flexible nontraumatic electrode guided by a central stylet and a new electrode head-fixation screw are the two unique features of this system. Electrodes can be guided precisely and their watertight fixation to the bone by means of the special screw is reliable and totally reversible. The system has been designed to fit most of the stereotaxic frames currently in use.

[Comparative studies of gelatin and cellulose ester membrane filters for their suitability in determining the microorganism count in the air]

Filtration is one of the classical methods for the determination of the microbial content of the air or the number of microbe-bearing particles in the ambient air. Hereby, the opinion prevails that gelatin foam filters yield better results than filters made of cellulose esters. Since gelatin filters are themselves by no means free from disadvantages, several tests were carried out under the conditions encounted in practice in two packaging rooms used for pharmaceutical preparations. The objective was to ascertain whether the customary cellulose ester filters really are less suitable for determination of the microbial content of the air than the filters made of soluble gelatin. Based on the results of various preliminary experiments, gamma-irradiated filters of cellulose nitrate, with a pore size of 0,45 micron, were selected from a range of tested membrane filters (Tables 1,2,4-6 and Fig. 1) and compared directly with the gelatin filters. The statistical evaluation of these tests showed that, under the chosen experimental conditions, both filters yielded the same count of organisms (Tables 3, 9 and 10, Figs. 2 and 3). Moreover, by means of further tests, it could be proved that neither cellulose nitrate filters with a pore size of 0,8 micron, which had undergone gamma-radiations, nor filters made of the mixed esters of cellulose, which had been treated with ethylene oxide or autoclaved, differed significantly from the selected type (Tables 5-8). This study therefore clearly demonstrates that - in addition to gelatin filters - a whole range of membrane filters made of cellulose esters yield equally good results and may be used for supervision of the microbial content of the air in closed rooms.

Psychiatric diagnosis in Toronto, New York and London

Summary

National statistics of mental illness suggest great differences in morbidity patterns between Canada, the USA and the UK, with the highest rates of illness occurring in Canada. Statistically, Canada and the US possess higher rates of schizophrenia and diseases of the senium but lower rates of affective illnesses than the UK. The US-UK study demonstrated that when the diagnostic process was standardized, the differences between the two countries disappeared. This paper examines a sample of 255 Canadian patients hospitalized in Toronto and compares the results of standardized techniques of diagnosis with the routine hospital diagnoses of the same patients. Conclusions of the study were fourfold. First, psychiatric diagnoses made by standardized techniques can achieve a high degree of reliability as measured either by inter-rater comparisons of item ratings (92 percent) and diagnoses (80 percent) or by correlation with computer diagnoses obtained by the CATEGO program (75 percent). Second, comparisons of project consensus diagnoses with routine hospital diagnoses revealed that agreement between the two was highest in Toronto, lowest in New York and intermediate in London. Third, a comparison of the project diagnoses of psychogeriatric patients in the three centres revealed no differences in morbidity between the three countries. Finally, the fallacy of generalizing from studies in one country which have not controlled for diagnosis to populations in other countries, is exposed.

Studies on new process procedures in plasma fractionation on an industrial scale. I. Determination of the pH value of ethanol containing protein solutions at low temperatures

A suitable combined pH electode is evaluated which provides reproducible readings under the extreme conditions of the cold ethanol plasma fractionation procedure. Adequately reproducible correlations are found between the pH measurements in protein solutions with an ethanol content of up to 40% at temperatures as low as -8 degrees C and the determination in diluted samples at room temperature using the standard procedure.