Light Work Research Articles

Nutritional care practices for children from 6 to 24 months old by Cham ethnic mothers

Background: This study aims to explore the nutritional care practices for children from 6 to 24 months old by Cham ethnic mothers in Tan Chau town, An Giang province in 2018. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on Cham ethnic children aged from 6 to 24 months and their mothers living in Tan Chau town, An Giang province. Results: The rate of mothers practicing proper and sufficient prenatal care during pregnancy is 74.4%; the rate of mothers engaging in lighter work than before pregnancy is 64.2%; the rate of mothers eating more than before pregnancy is 72.2%; the rate of mothers taking iron supplements during pregnancy is high at 85%. Practices regarding the timing of weaning children are not good, with 36.8% of mothers weaning children at the wrong time. Practices for feeding children supplementary foods are relatively good: 90.7% of mothers feed their children at the right time, however, the rate of mothers providing children with a complete range of food groups is only 23.0%. Maternal care practices for sick children have many shortcomings, with 81.7% of mothers feeding children incorrectly when they have diarrhea, and only 38.4% of children receiving oral rehydration solution (ORS) when they have diarrhea. Personal hygiene practices of the mother and child care are not good, with 24.3% of mothers not properly performing hand hygiene for themselves and their children. Conclusions: We need to strengthen propaganda and consulting work for each group of subjects, especially the Cham ethnic people, on nutritional care practices for children from 6-24 months old.

How Does a Lighter Work?

How Does a Lighter Work?

Facet Joint Fixation and Anterior, Direct Lateral, and Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusions for Treatment of Degenerative Lumbar Disc Diseases: Retrospective Cohort Study of a New Minimally Invasive Technique.

Anterior, direct lateral, and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusions (ALIF, DLIF, and TLIF) are usually combined with posterior fixation to treat degenerative spinal diseases. Outcomes of ALIF, TLIF, or DLIF combined with a new wedge-shaped interfacet cage plate have not been reported. We assessed early clinical outcomes of patients treated with interbody fusion and facet fixation using a titanium wedge-shaped cage plate. This retrospective observational cohort study included patients (n= 80) who underwent 1-level interbody fusion and facet joint fixation via ALIF (n= 24) or DLIF (n=26) with bilateral facet fixation or TLIF with ipsilateral pedicle screws and contralateral facet fixation (n= 30). Duration of surgery, estimated blood loss, pain (visual analog scale), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores, and Macnab score were assessed up to 12 months after surgery. All patients had a significant decrease in pain scores (P < 0.01) and an increase in ODI scores (P < 0.01), without significant differences between treatment groups. Most surgical outcomes were excellent or good (n= 75, 93.8%) with 5 patients (6.2%) having satisfactory outcomes. Within 2 months, all patients returned to their previous work (66, 82.5%) or lighter work (14, 17.5%). Two patients had fusion failure requiring reoperation. Facet fixation with the wedge-shaped cage plate was associated with minimal soft tissue damage and a low level of postoperative pain. ALIF, DLIF, and TLIF combined with this technique showed good early postoperative clinical and radiologic outcomes. Further studies are needed to assess long-term results and compare them with other fusion methods.

Ergonomic Intervention for Musculoskeletal Disorders in Construction Workers.

To the Editor, We read with great interest the recently published article entitled “Use of Ergonomic Measures Related to Musculoskeletal Complaints among Construction Workers: A 2-year Follow-up Study” by Frings-Dresen et al [1]. Ergonomic intervention prevents work-related musculoskeletal injuries in workers. We compliment the authors for their initiative to implement ergonomic measures through a national campaign “Lighter Work(s),” which aimed to reduce musculoskeletal injuries among construction workers [1]. With regard to this interesting study, we would like to request the opinions of the study authors on some of our following queries and comments concerning the methodologies adopted in their study. In the study being discussed, the authors implemented a huge campaign by recruiting 4,500 workers from nine different subsets of occupations within the construction industry. Although the current study was a national-level campaign, the authors did not provide details on how they determined the sample size for each of the nine substudy populations. Unfortunately, the selection criteria for the study participants were also not specified. Past evidence has suggested that both inclusion and exclusion criteria are essential for maximizing uniformity among study participants to ensure reliable study results [2], [3]. We would like to request further information from the authors about the selection criteria applied to the participants in their study. Were any dropout rates considered for sample size calculation and for reporting the results? Such information may help to estimate the dropout prediction rate to design large-scale ergonomic intervention trials. Is it likely that the study results may differ if the aforementioned factors were controlled and addressed adequately? We would appreciate the response of the authors on these methodological issues, as such information may help future researchers design a rigorous methodology in large-scale ergonomic trials. We appreciate the effort of authors to design separate questionnaires for each subset of occupations within the construction industry. Standardization of the questionnaire within a study population is a necessary requirement to obtain reliable information [4]. We would like to know how the authors handled issues pertaining to reliability of the tool, especially when it involves several subsets of population within an occupation. In addition, availability of the contents of such uniquely designed questionnaires would be of great help to researchers and practitioners in the field of ergonomics/occupational and safety health. A previous study suggested that aging, education status, and level of disability should be considered when developing a questionnaire to avoid bias and variations in response during data collection [5]. We would also like to hear from the authors about the crucial confounding factors that may influence their study results. Perhaps, the authors can suggest the crucial confounding factors to be controlled while implementing a large-scale ergonomic intervention with different subsets of an occupation? It is very interesting that the current study used social media-based interventional strategies. In our opinion, it is an innovative approach to deliver ergonomic interventions at larger scales and we applaud the scientific team for adapting this novel approach. In line with this, we like to know how the compliance measures can be improved among the study participants when implementing social media-based intervention tools such as YouTube, posters. We would appreciate if the authors can share their view and advice on this matter. We agree with the study authors that informative websites, YouTube videos, and posters can be used as an effective medium to deliver ergonomic interventions. Nevertheless, we are curious to learn how the authors monitored and ensured that all the workers had performed the ergonomic measures correctly without any supervisory process or compliance measures. In addition, we would like to know why qualitative measures such as focus group discussions and Delphi methods were not preferred by the authors to identify barriers and facilitators in their study. We agree with the authors, that future studies need to strategize on improving the availability of ergonomic equipment among workers, which may help to increase the use of ergonomic measures. As a direction forward, we suggest performing well-controlled intervention studies with a control group to explore this interesting work. We believe that this study is a good start because it gives a new perspective and dimension to the ergonomic industry in conducting and implementing a large-scale ergonomic intervention to decrease work-related musculoskeletal injuries among workers. Therefore, we appreciate the meticulous effort by the authors and editor to publish this informative study.

The Collective Dimension of Port Work: A Case Study in the Port of Leixões, Portugal

The port worker carries out his activities most of the times in an unhealthy and unsafe environment, having that the risks increase according to the load being handled, exposing the worker's health to permanent danger. Current heavy menial tasks are being eliminated from daily work, however the workers are required for new activities with the use of modern means of production. The actual port workers stress the need for a meshing of team work in the conduction of an activity known as collective work, which requires trust in their partners as coworkers and the safety in the technical ability of each during the activity being performed. The collective activity takes place when the operators are mutually dependent of each other and gathers several forms of social interactions, among them, the collaboration, cooperation and mutual help. Goal: Analyse the collective dimension of a port worker's job while a necessary mechanism for the preservation of health and safety of workers. Methodology: The study was accomplished according to the method of analysis, centered in the analysis of the activity. It focused in the qualitative approach, through observation data from the work situation of port workers in the Porto of Leixões, complemented by the data of consecutive interviews and individual and collective restitutions. The investigation took place between January and September 2014, in Portugal. Results and DiscussionThe mixed teams favored the assistance between beginner/senior and the collaboration among the members of this collective. The change in role is positive for it avoids the monotony and favors the solidarity among the port workers. Different workloads imply in different physical and mental demands from the workers, on the other hand, it allows balance between heavy duty work and lighter work. The communications, in all its forms; verbal, gestural, or by facial expressions and looks play a key role for collaboration and cooperation between operators and, therefore, the preservation of health and safety. ConclusionsThere is a mutual help and collaboration among the port workers of the case study. The port worker shares several knowledgements with his peers and superiors and builds a know-how through the experience and the exchange of information (tips, tricks) with the older ones to perform the expected work.

Sibling Resentments and Alliances during the Parent Care Years: Implications for Social Work Practice

Do many hands make lighter work for siblings caring for aging parents? Anchored in theoretical concepts of filial responsibility and equity, this article is an in-depth examination of tensions between caregiving siblings in two families. This article contributes understandings about ways siblings may differ in their views of parent care and how resentments arising from these differences incline siblings to seek support by aligning with one or more other siblings. The purpose of this examination is to illuminate complex sibling relationships that can impact parent care, and to provoke reflection on social work practices for navigating difficult sibling relationships and promoting high quality care for aging parents. Questions are raised for social workers who may find themselves at the center of competing instructions from siblings who are each proclaiming dedication to “what's best for mom.”

Southern Waters: A Visual Perspective

always finds a way, a carpenter once explained, evaluating years of roof damage concealed behind a failed soffit. same holds true for the presence of water as a recurring motif in the art of the American South. Work by Thornton Dial, Georgia Speller, Lonnie Holley, Ronald Lockett, Joe Minter, Thornton Dial Jr., Purvis Young, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Joe Light, and Ralph Griffin offers multiple perspectives on water as a powerful metaphor speaking to deep histories of African American experience in the South. In their work, water finds a way in the description and critique of power. images represented in this portfolio reveal some of that coded metaphorical flow. conflicted, sometimes paradoxical, representations of water in these works address water as barrier and avenue, as threatened, as a shaper of historical identities. Something to be crossed; something that resists crossing. Something that gives life; something that can be poisoned and deadly. Water is the promise on the other side of River Jordan; it is the deadly highway and misery of the Middle Passage. Water is defined by too much (flood) and too little (drought). Water is allegorical, metaphorical, and historical. It is about regulation and resistance. art works represented here are housed in the Souls Grown Deep Foundation. William Arnett, the Foundation's founder, assembled the collection over a thirty-year period, during which he travelled throughout the South and interviewed the artists. Much of the art is reproduced in the two monumental Souls Grown Deep volumes, along with extended discussion of the art and its makers. Arnett selected the artworks illustrated here, offering a commentary on each one in a recorded conversation in 2013. In the same year, he made arrangements for housing the Souls Grown Deep Archive in the Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. works illustrated here and many more can be examined online at www.soulsgrowndeep.org. art of Ronald Lockett, discussed below, is the subject of an upcoming 2016 exhibition at the Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Georgia Speller, Boat on the River, House on the Hill (1987), tempera and pencil on wood, 18.25 x 30 inches. In this diptych, Georgia Speller shows two landscapes: On the left is one of the big tourist riverboats and on the right is a gentrified house up on the hill. Those are like two components of white culture or gentrified civilization that she is excluded from ... water is where the riverboat goes. But, as her husband Henry Speller said to me once, the only time black folks are able to do something with the river is when they're working on the levee loading and unloading things and even walking out into the water to put things on and off boats. It's almost like a white swimming pool. They're not allowed in it unless they're working. same holds true for life in and around the big house on the hill. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Joe Light, Incredible Hobo (1988), enamel on wood, 48 x 96 inches. William Arnett explains, There is Joe Light with his hobo, which is his alter ego, looking for enlightenment. Joe Light did four of these, each one a different color. One is black, one is brown, one is red, and one is white. He is showing his own racial makeup, and also the racial makeup of the people in his class, which is part black, part white, part Native American. Although autobiographical on the surface, Light's work speaks to larger histories of race and the quest for understanding: The water is the separation again from every man walking along trying to find enlightenment and the enlightened phase of civilization, which is represented here by mountains separated by a river. Light shows us nature in terms of a mountain and a river and grass growing. …

Characterisation of trunk muscle activation amplitude patterns during a simulated checkstand operation with continuously changing flexor and lateral moment demands

While the typical physical exposure to modern-day workers has changed from heavy to low level repetitive demands, there is limited research that examines light occupations. This study examined trunk muscle recruitment strategies in response to a simulated checkout operation. Surface electromyography and kinematic variables were recorded from 29 healthy subjects. Four principal patterns accounted for 95.3% of the variation. Significant differences in scores captured different strategies in response to reach conditions and external moment directions. Synergistic co-activation of ipsilateral back sites and differential activation among external oblique and erector spinae sites suggests that the central nervous system may control different regions of the trunk musculature to optimally account for asymmetrical demands. The strategy between the internal oblique and back extensor sites suggests that a specific co-activation strategy may be needed during lighter work. During low-load occupational tasks, several recruitment strategies were required to maintain spinal stability and account for changing external moments. Statement of Relevance: Different recruitment strategies found in response to changing external moments offer new insights into neuromuscular control for lighter work. Specifically, multiple trunk muscle sites interact in a complex manner, taking into account task specificity and individual variation that are valuable in workstation design, evaluating injury risk and estimating spinal loads.

Marchiafava-Bignami disease: Two cases with magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography scan findings

We report two patients with Marchiafava-Bignami disease (MBD). A 38-year-old male with chronic alcohol abuse developed acute onset cerebellar ataxia and altered sensorium. He was diagnosed to have acute form (Type II) of MBD. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed extensive lesions involving the corpus callosum in its entire extent and also bilateral corona radiata and centrum semiovale. Corpus callosum had heterogeneous signal changes with ring enhancement. Positron emission tomography scan demonstrated reduced cerebral glucose metabolism diffusely over both the cerebral hemispheres. The second patient was 55-year-old male with chronic alcohol intake developed acute onset vomiting followed by behavioral abnormalities and altered sensorium. MRI showed diffuse lesion involving entire corpus callosum with suggestion of necrosis. Both the patients subsequently recovered, the first patient is back to his previous occupation and the second patient could be rehabilitated with some lighter work in his previous work place. Functional brain imaging may help to understand the pathogenesis of acute MBD and possibly the behavioral manifestations.

Tuberculosis of the shoulder joint

In contrast to specific shoulder girdle processes tuberculoses of the shoulder joint are observed relatively frequently. From 1955 up to and including 1980, 50 patients with omarthritis tuberculosa were surgically treated at the authors' clinic. Thirty were male, 20 female, 42 were Germans, 8 immigrant workers. Arthrodeses were performed in 28 cases, removal of bone or soft-tissue foci, or a combination of these, in 22. The left joint was affected in 26 cases (52%) and the right in 24 (48%). The youngest patient was 9, the oldest 78 years of age (average age 42.6 years). The time from the onset of complaints to diagnosis was about 1.6 years. Twenty-eight patients (56%) had previously had treatment for tuberculosis and 9 (18%) also had active tuberculosis localized elsewhere. Even though there were clear radiological changes in all cases, abscesses and fistulae or a combination of these in 27 cases (54%), the 1-hour ESR was normal or only slightly elevated (under 20 mm acc. to W.) in 29 patients (58%). The recurrences which occurred immediately after surgery or in the subsequent course of the disease healed without sequelae after secondary interventions. While they prolonged hospitalization they did not influence the result of surgery. Of the 38 (76%) patients who were followed up on average 3 years after the end of inpatient treatment, 30 (79%) had returned to work on average 1.1 year after being discharged from the hospital. Three had meanwhile been retrained for lighter work. In the discussion the etiology and pathogenesis, incidence, side localization, age and sex distribution, complaints, clinical and radiological findings, diagnosis, therapy, prognosis, and differential diagnosis of shoulder joint tuberculosis are reported on with reference to the relevant literature.

Occupational physical activity is related to physical fitness in young workers.

We evaluated the association between occupational physical activity and fitness in young workers, taking into account leisure-time physical activity, body size, and smoking. The study population comprised 2188 men and 1987 women, members of the Northern Finland birth cohort 1966, who participated in the 1997-1998 follow-up survey and were employed at the time of the survey. Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured by a 4-min step test and muscular fitness by tests of maximal isometric handgrip and isometric trunk extension. Information on occupational and leisure-time physical activity and smoking was obtained by questionnaire, and body height and weight were measured during medical examination. The data were analyzed by analysis of variance and Cox regression. Men doing heavy physical work scored better in cardiorespiratory fitness, handgrip strength, and trunk muscle endurance than men doing lighter work; the finding for cardiorespiratory fitness was similar in women. The associations were independent of leisure-time physical activity, body weight and height, and smoking. A positive association was found between heavy physical work and a high level of fitness in young workers. Due to limitations of the study setting, causality cannot be asserted, but a training effect of heavy work would not seem unreasonable. Previous studies have suggested a reversal of the positive effect of heavy work on fitness with advancing age. Therefore, regular monitoring of workers' fitness at an early phase is justified to enable assessment of workers' capacity for heavy jobs and any possible need for fitness-improving activities.

Project Aquarius 12. Effects of Style, Fabric, and Flame-Retardant Treatment on the Effectiveness and Acceptability of Wildland Firefighters' Clothing

Balanced comparisons, using a crossover experimental design, were made of the effectiveness and acceptability of several commonly-worn clothing outfits during three summers in Australian eucalypt forests. The wearers were four crews who attempted to suppress well-developed experimental bushfires of intensities commonly faced by hand-tool crews, and also built fireline in the same way without fire. Parallel comparisons were made on the clothing worn by 6 male scientific observers, who shared the same environment but did lighter work. The outfits differed mainly in style (coveralls vs. shirt and trousers), fabric (wool vs. cotton), and flame-retardant treatment ('Proban'-treated vs. untreated cotton coveralls). Analyses of variance showed that there were no significant differences between clothing outfits in the wearers' work rate, physiological strain, discomfort, productivity, or efficiency. The findings did not differ between crews or summers, nor between fireline construction with and without fire. Because all outfits were equally effective and acceptable, other considerations - such as durability, cost, appearance, and personal preference - can be given their due weight when choosing between them.

Celebrating Slang

COMMENTARY Celebrating Slang Slang dictionaries have often had rocky receptions, usually because reviewers suspect that there is somediing unworthy about the vocabulary they treat. Rather dian celebrating Jonathan Lighter's accomplishment in bringing die first volume of his dictionary to completion, Sheldon Hackney (Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities) made an off-hand and defensive remark about the public investment in the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang (HDAS) . That was not a worthy or thoughtful act, and those ofus better informed about slang lexicography have an obligation to point out such misleading or wrong-headed evaluations. Readers of Dictionaries will recognize in Lighter's work die first installment ofa life's work; the additional volumes are promised shortly, die second to appear in 1996. The HDAS is an outstanding achievement, and all die more remarkable for having been carried out in all important respects by a scholar working nearly alone in collecting, compiling, interpreting, and presenting vast evidence widi deep insight. Quite simply, diere is nodiing like it in die history of slang lexicography. In reviewing die first volume in Dictionaries (1995, 186-203), Richard A. Spears wasjusdy celebratory: "By any reckoning, this is an extraordinary work." It provides "page after page of revelation after revelation" (186). "Unquestionably , our knowledge of thousands of slang words has been gready extended . . ." (195). These and odier comments could be easily converted to blurbs used in an advertising campaign for the HDAS. Unfortunately, Spears raises questions diat might arouse doubts in supporters ofLighter's work, both at Random House and elsewhere, and diese seem to me to require some contextualizing. In his final paragraph, Spears suggests diat Lighter might have gained "just a litde inspiration from the work of Stuart Berg Flexner" (202), an especially odd comment since Flexner was die sustaining force behind support from Random House even after advances had been spent and deadlines had passed. Flexner's revision and enlargement of Harold Wentworth's dictionary was a fine piece of small-scale lexicography, but Flexner regarded Lighter's work as something far more diorough and insightful dian he had been able to provide, and he sustained support for it for many years, doubdess in die face of opposition from higher levels in the corporation. Among die many regrets of Flexner's friends is that he did not live to see Lighter's work in print. Historical treatments ofslang present many difficulties. All lexical innovation , until recendy at least, begins in speech, but as Spears notes in a slighdy odd personification, "Slang expressions do not strive to get themselves printed" (189). The problem diat Spears describes has been on his mind for a long time. 266Commentary As early as 1987, he complained that "the argot vocabulary will be only partially covered, and it will be lopsided with print examples rather than the oral examples that come from the natural spoken setting of argot" (Spears 1987, 128). While an entirely valid point, this idea puts historical lexicographers in a methodological impossibility. How can "oral examples" be collected when the "natural spoken setting" is in the distant past? In his review, Spears suggests that Lighter might at least have done more to cite oral use over the years of his collecting to counterbalance the emphasis on printed sources; would that he had had the resources to do so. But is it reasonable to expect that a scholar working alone could do more than Lighter has done? In fact, there is a great deal of oral evidence presented in HDAS. On p. 283, a page chosen at random, there are citations from radio, television, and "Univ. Tenn. student" (a recurring figure in Lighter's work). Given the fact that the page contains words attested in the 19th century, the citation of these recent oral uses seemsjudicious and in the correct proportion. Spears applies his own ideas of slang lexicography to Lighter's project, views expressed in an important article he published in Dictionaries in 1989. There is no space here to reiterate the nine points Spears provided toward a "theory or philosophy of nonstandard vocabularies," nor to argue that Lighter should or should not have adopted them. Spears does not much...

An Interview with Lee Smith

Lee Smith is coming into her own. Her audience has slowly grown with each of her six books, and her latest novel, Oral History (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1983), has received the kind of reviews that writers dream about. The recognition is a fitting reward for this serious and hard-working author who, at the age of 39, has by her own account been practicing her art for over twenty years in both the short story and novel form. Raised in Grundy, a small town located in the coal-mining region of southwest Virginia, she has, especially in her latest works, explored the changing idea of family and community, of class and culture, within the Appalachian mountain setting. And in Oral History she has expanded this interest to include the traditions, customs, and folklore of the area, gathered from her own experiences and observations as well as from reading and research. She has a respect for the region and its people which is shown clearly in her writings. Lee Smith's first novel, The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed (Harper & Row, 1968), established a number of the themes and character types to be found in her later work. The book dealt with the breakup of a family when the mother runs away with another man and the effect that act has on her young daughter, a girl trying to understand why relationships fail, why betrayals (and selfbetrayals) occur. Something in the Wind (Harper & Row, 1971) is the story of another young girl. Brooke Kinkaid enters college after the death of a close male friend. Emotionally insecure, she has no sense of her own identity and finds herself assuming various poses in her search to belong. Smith's third novel, Fancy Strut (Harper & Row, 1973), is a lighter work, a comic account of the sesquicentennial celebration in the Deep South town of Speed, Alabama. (Smith was living in Alabama at the time she wrote the novel.) Rather than focus exclusively on one character, she takes as her subject the community at large and its selfdeceiving view of itself as part of the 1960's New South, the end result of 150 years of Progress. It is a funny and sharp work. The next seven years were spent writing short stories and working on her fourth novel. She was twice winner of the O. Henry award for short fiction. A collection of her stories, Cakewalk, was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons in 1981. Putnam followed that with Black Mountain Breakdown (also 1981). This book is set in Black Rock, Virginia, a town suggested by Smith's memories of Grundy and the surrounding area. Black Mountain Breakdown reflects the characters and themes in Smith's earlier works, but it also shows a growing interest in the Appalachian region. The main character, Spangler, presents a more extreme case than the lost female characters of Smith's other novels. After a number of traumatic shocks (her father's death, her rape by her father's retarded brother), bounces from identity to identity in an attempt to find some meaning in her life. Finally, at age 32, she simply retreats into paralysis, lying in bed in her mother's home. Her neighbor Agnes McClanahan thinks that finally Crystal is happy, that

Voluntary and diurnal variation in height and associated surface contour changes in spinal curves.

Height is not a static state. The ‘standing as tall as possible’ heights of 34 females of medium height aged 18–40 were 7–36 mm greater than when they stood as relaxed as possible. All measurements were made with heels on the floor, knees extended and heels, buttocks, back and occiput against the wall. The cervical curve was always, and the lumbar curve usually, straighter with the taller height. Using the same criteria and standing as tall as possible the height on rising could be up to 18 mm greater than later in the day. The decrease in height occurred mainly in the first four hours. Full restitution occurred with a night's rest and partial restitution after relaxation or lighter work.

Return to work and quality of life after surgery for coronary artery disease.

Changes in work capability and quality of life were assessed retrospectively in 130 patients with ischaemic heart disease who had undergone aortocoronary bypass operations during 1976-7 because of medically uncontrollable angina. A total of 85 patients (65.4%) reported complete relief from angina six months after operation, though 12 later suffered a recurrence. Substantially fewer patients needed drugs after the operation. Before operation 9 out of 117 men fully employed at the onset of angina were working without restriction or doing lighter, fulltime work, 38 were at work but seriously incapacitated by angina, and 70 were forced to stop work. After operation 70 were working without restriction or engaged in lighter work, 15 were at work but still restricted by angina, and only 32 were forced to stop work. This result was highly significant (P less than 0.001). These differences were even more pronounced in heavy manual workers, of whom none cobld work normally before operation, whereas 16 were working without restriction afterwards. Of patients wishing to engage in hobbies or sports, social activity, and sexual intercourse but were restricted before operation, about two-thirds could resume these activities afterwards. Coronary artery surgery provided dramatic symptomatic relief in up to 90% of patients and permitted rehabilitation and return to gainful employment irrespective of type of labour. The degree of symptomatic improvement and increase in exercise tolerance after successful surgery is usually far greater than occurs with any other form of treatment and directly improves quality of life and work capability.

Interrelationship of FFA and glycerol turnovers in resting and exercising dogs.

Dogs with indwelling arterial and venous catheters ran on a treadmill on a 10% or on a 15% slope at 100 m/min. Glycerol turnover ([2-3H]-glycerol) and FFA turnover ([1-14C]palmitate) were measured simultaneously. Both turnovers were greatly increased by exercise. Similar increases were produced in resting dogs by norepinephrine infusions (0.5 mug/kg-min). At rest, as well as during exercise, there was a straight-line correlation between the ratio of disappearance of each substrate and their respective plasma concentrations. Over a wide range there was a straight-line correlation between the rate of production of FFA (RaFFA) and that of glycerol (RaGLY) at rest as well as during exercise. At any given RaFFA, RaGLY was higher in the running than in the resting dog. At rest the ratio of RaFFA/RaGLY was found to give the theoretical value of 3.0 only when RaFFA was 10-15 mumol/kg-min, below this the ratio was lower and above this it was higher. During exercise the ratio was lower than at rest and at heavier load lower than at lighter work. The results suggest that in vivo a combination of partial and complete lipolysis as well as reesterification occurs. The glucose equivalent of the glycerol turnover (if 100% converted) represents (under the given experimental conditions) 14-18% of the hepatic glucose output on the 15% slope and 20-25% of it on the 10% slope.

THE CRISIS IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS TEACHING

Who is going to teach science and mathematics in our high schools in the years just ahead? That should be the number one question in the minds of all thoughtful citizens. We will no doubt manage to get persons labeled emergency teachers into most science classrooms as caretakers of our youngsters. But what about the poor quality of teaching? That is the alarming threat to the welfare of our children, to the strength of this nation, and to the future of the world. There is no need to recite in detail the facts picturing the drastic shortage of teachers in all fields of the high school. They have been recently hammered home in official government statistical reports, and in a dozen popular magazines, as for example, Good Housekeeping. The public at long last is alarmed. Politicians, ever quick to gear their speeches to popular thinking, do not make many speeches these days without a plea for a square deal for teachers. It is significant that Harold E. Stassen, when announcing his candidacy for the presidency, outlined a brief platform of four planks, of which one is to increase the salaries of white collar workers—especially teachers. Even the top flight radio comedians, as for example, Parkyakarkus, Fred Alien and Bob Hope seem to be alarmed about our vanishing teachers. Now that the salary of the school teacher is a grim joke we may be able to do something about it. What’s happening to. our teachers? Many teachers of experience are leaving their classrooms. We are told that New York City alone lost 1000 during the last 12 months. In.the war years competent teachers—especially science and mathematics— were useful in many branches of the Armed Forces. They learned that they were good at other jobs offering larger salaries, lighter work and greater freedom. It is bad enough to have so many experienced teachers quitting but there is a far more disturbing fact: young persons are rejecting teaching in the lower schools as a career. This year nearly all colleges and universities are overflowing, but only a few per hundred are planning to teach. Last semester there were about