Selected events following insertion of the Progestasert system

The incidences of selected events were analyzed following insertion of the PROGESTASERT intrauterine progesterone contraceptive system (IPCS) and following its reinsertion after one year of use. Reinsertion did not interrupt the stabilizing or declining trends in incidences of P.I.D., removals for bleeding/pain, removals for other medical reasons, unplanned pregnancies, moderate/severe menstrual cramps and bleeding, and premenstrual/intermenstrual cramps. Comparison of the incidence of P.I.D. in the U.S. population with postinsertion incidence of P.I.D. in IPCS users indicates that the IPCS does not increase the likelihood that a woman will have P.I.D. over the likelihood that she would have it without use of the IPCS. The incidences of expulsions and intermenstrual spotting and bleeding rose temporarily after reinsertion to about half their previous peaks and then diminished markedly within two months, reverting to the levels and favorable patterns of change established during the first year.

Reflection-impulsivity and the evaluation process

The relationship between reflection-impulsivity, hypothese generation and testing, and evaluation of the quality of one's own solutions was explored in the framework of Kagan's theory. The Matching Familiar Figures test (MFF) and a pattern-matching task were administered to 94 children from 8-0 to 11-11 years. Multiple regression analyses and analyses of variance showed that children who were inaccurate on the MFF were more likely to offer a solution on the pattern-matching task before they had sufficient information to guarantee a correct solution and to make errors despite sufficient information to have avoided those errors. Thus reflection-impulsivity as measured by the MFF were related to 2 other measures of the evaluation process on another visual match-to-sample task. Only 1 of 3 hypothesis-testing variables was significantly related to MFF performance, and that relationship was rather small.

Burst width tracking: brief tone thresholds in the normal ear

This study presents a unique procedure for determining the critical duration and temporal summation function. With this procedure, duration as a parameter was used to determine the temporal summation characteristics of ten normal ears. An apparatus was constructed that permitted subjects to track threshold by modulating the burst width of a brief tonal stimulus. The apparatus permitted experimenter control of the rate of burst width modulation and interburst interval. The burst width could be continuously varied by the subject from 10 to 800 msec. Asymptotic regression indicated that the data were best fit to a simple power function of the form Y = AX(B). A logarithmic transformation was applied to the obtained durations, and slopes of integration were determined for each frequency. These values ranged between 6.3 and 10.2 dB/log unit time. Differences among frequencies were found to be significant. Critical durations were obtained for each subject, and these values were consistent with previous data indicating negligible temporal summation about 150 to 200 msec.

Audiograms derived from the brain stem response

Nineteen normal and 22 hearing impaired subjects were used in this study. Thresholds were determined by the following methods: 1. behavioral continuous tone, 2. behavioral tone burst, and 3. the brain stem electric response (BER) with tone bursts. A comparison of the BER thresholds with the behavioral thresholds are made for each subject. The difference between these three measures of threshold suggests that audiograms can be derived from the brain stem response threshold. The derived audiogram compares favorably with conventional audiograms. However, it must be remembered that the brain stem response is not hearing.

Patient education and intrauterine contraception: a study of two package inserts

In July 1975 the Food and Drug Administration proposed a patient information package insert for all women considering use of an intrauterine device. In the same year we also prepared a brochure to be given to women considering use of a specific intrauterine contraceptive, the PROGESTASERT system. To compare these information sources for the patient, we surveyed by mail 253 women who are or had been PROGESTASERT system users. Each woman received either the FDA or our own prepared version. Comprehension of the two inserts was generally comparable, but readers of our insert found its informational content more complete. The survey findings affirmed the desirability of providing the patient with an educational brochure to be read prior to IUD insertion.

Frequency effects of temporary N1 depression following acoustic overload

The effect of acoustic overload on the N1 potential at different frequences was determined. The conditions of overstimulation were such as to produce temporary effects. The results of the study were: (1) the N1 potential was substantially depressed by acoustic overloads that did not alter the alternating current (AC) cochlear potential; (2) the maximum N1 depression was at one-half octave above the overstimulation frequency; (3) there was no N1 depression at frequencies below the frequency of overstimulation; and (4) the N1 depression recovered within 24 hours.

Interaction between bronchoconstrictor stimuli on human airway smooth muscle

In healthy human subjects, the simultaneous aerosol administration of histamine and methacholine results in a pronounced decrease in maximum flow rates on partial expiratory flow-volume (PEFV) curves. When given alone in the same concentrations, these drugs produced no or minimal decreases in flow rates. The results suggest an interaction of histamine and cholinergic stimuli on airway smooth muscle (ASM). This mechanism might explain many experiments where vagal blockade diminished or abolished ASM response to histamine and other stimuli, simply by interfering with histamine-cholinergic interaction at the ASM level. These findings confirm similar findings of animal in vitro experiments. The experiments clearly confirm the sensitivity and value of assessing drug effects prior to a deep breath. Flow-rate changes after a full inspiration, taken from the maximum expiratory flow-volume (MEFV) curve, show either no relationship to the concentration of inhaled methacholine or significantly less effect than that seen on the PEFV curve.

Continuous negative chest-wall pressure as therapy for severe respiratory distress in older children

Continuous negative chest-wall pressure (CNP) was used to treat five children, 4 to 11 years of age, who had progressively severe respiratory distress caused by Pneumocystis carinii penumonitis. After initial improvement, two patients developed progressive increases in respiratory rate, alveolar-arterial oxygen gradient, intrapulmonary right-to-left shunt, and hypoxia. The disease ended fatally in both. The remaining three patients continued to improve and recovered from their pulmonary disease. These results show that CNP therapy provides an effective means of improving arterial oxygenation in spontaneously breathing older children, just as in neonates, without the need for endotracheal intubation, prolonged sedation, and muscle relaxants.