Diabetic fibrous mastopathy

Diabetic fibrous mastopathy is reported in a 37-year-old premenopausal woman. A known case of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, she presented with bilateral hard breast lumps, which were suggestive of malignancy on both ultrasonography and mammography. Fine-needle aspiration cytology and core biopsy showed fibrosis. An incisional biopsy further excluded malignancy and was conclusive for diabetic fibrous mastopathy.

Effects of high-pressure processing on Listeria monocytogenes, spoilage microflora and multiple compound quality indices in chilled cold-smoked salmon

AIMS

To evaluate the effect of high-pressure processing (HPP) on Listeria monocytogenes, microbial and chemical changes and shelf-life in chilled cold-smoked salmon (CSS).

METHODS AND RESULTS

First, challenge tests with L. monocytogenes were carried out using HPP of the product at 0.1 (control), 150, 200 and 250 MPa. Secondly, storage trials with the naturally contaminated product and HPP at 0.1 (control) and 200 MPa were realized. Shelf-life, microbial changes and chemical changes were determined and existing predictive models and multiple compound quality indices evaluated. HPP with 250 MPa did not inactivate L. monocytogenes but significant lag phases of 17 and 10 days were observed at ca 5 and 10 degrees C, respectively. HPP with 200 MPa had a marked effect on both colour and texture of CSS.

CONCLUSIONS

High-pressure processing was unable to prevent growth of L. monocytogenes or spoilage of chilled CSS. Existing mathematical models allowed growth rates of L. monocytogenes and shelf-life of samples without high-pressure treatments to be predicted.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

High-pressure processing seems more appropriate for new types of salmon products than for a classical product like CSS where consumers expect specific quality attributes.

Benchmarking graduate health administration programs: stakeholders' perceptions

The purpose of this study was to identify and compare among key stakeholders the factors in graduate health care administration education that are perceived to be important for ranking, or benchmarking, based on the opinions of those stakeholders, i.e., program directors, faculty, graduate students, and accrediting agency commissioners. We used an original survey to obtain stakeholders' perceptions and opinions about important process and outcome measures. We sent it to all ACEHSA-accredited graduate health care administration programs in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico; to full-time faculty members in each program; to three current graduate students in each program, and to all ACEHSA commissioners. We performed frequency of responses, Analysis of Variances (ANOVA) tests, and Dunnett T3 tests. A response rate of 32 percent (n = 156) was achieved for all stakeholders. A total of 67 percent of all respondents reported that benchmarking graduate health care administration programs was important. The study results revealed a significant difference between populations on the importance of evaluating certain process and outcome measures related to curriculum, research, student characteristics, and resources. However, most of the stakeholders reported that curriculum, faculty, and graduate student performance were the key quality indicators of a program. The results of this study provide preliminary information for health care administration programs to begin to develop an educational benchmarking effort.

Visual fatigue and cathode ray tube display terminals

Study I investigated the effects of display type, amount of information presented, and display contrast on the visual mechanism during a visual search task. In the first phase, two subjects performed the visual task for four 3-h sessions. In the second phase, subjects were tested for two 6-h sessions. CRT usage for 3 h produced measurable visual fatigue in the eye movement and/or accommodation mechanism, as measured by increased durations to move from a near point and focus on a far point (and vice versa). Such visual fatigue was not present in the hard-copy visual search task.

In a second study, subjects performed the visual task for two 4-h sessions. Two h of CRT usage produced measurable fatigue in the eye accommodation mechanism as well as an increased blink rate. Such visual fatigue was also present in the hard-copy task but to a lesser extent.

In both studies, I-h breaks produced a marked reduction in visual fatigue indices.