Be Responsible?

The bystander effect reveals that people are less likely to help a person in need when others are present. We examined the impact of priming the concept of responsibility on the bystander effect in a field study. Lone pedestrians (N = 259) were randomly assigned to a two (Bystanders: none and three nonresponsive bystanders) by two (Shirt: blank shirt and shirt with "Be Responsible" written on the front) design. A researcher dropped eight pens approximately 15 ft from a lone pedestrian, while wearing one of the two shirts in the presence/absence of bystanders (confederates). The bystander effect was found: Pedestrians helped pick up pens more frequently in the no bystanders condition (59.05% helped) compared to the nonresponsive bystanders condition (41.67% helped). The responsibility prime tended to boost helping rates, but it did not significantly increase helping rates either as a main effect or as part of an interaction term. The bystander effect was replicated in a field setting, but priming the concept of responsibility did not appear to reduce it.

Complication of the intracolonic bypass. Report of a case

The intracolonic bypass has been used both experimentally and clinically to avoid high-risk primary colonic anastomosis in the face of peritonitis. Experimental and clinical data have established the Coloshield as safe, with few clinical complications reported. This is a review of the literature and a case report of a complication of an intracolonic bypass that was found to have eroded through the colon in the early postoperative period.

Limited value of overhead films in esophageal studies

In 200 barium examinations of the esophagus, the routine use of three overhead films made no substantive contribution to better diagnosis. These data suggest that except as requested by the fluoroscopist, overhead films may be omitted from esophageal studies.