Calcium supplement use by African American women.

Introduction: Inadequate calcium intake is more common among women belonging to racial and ethnic minorities. This study examined the patterns and characteristics associated with calcium supplement use or nonuse among African American women, and the potential impact of physician recommendation on calcium supplementation.

Methods: African American women aged 19 to 65, attending community outreach activities sponsored by a multispecialty academic medical center in northeastern Ohio, completed a calcium supplement survey.

Analysis of common mutations in the galactose-1-phosphate uridyl transferase gene: new assays to increase the sensitivity and specificity of newborn screening for galactosemia.

Classical galactosemia is a genetic disease caused by mutations in the galactose-1-phosphate uridyl transferase (GALT) gene. Prospective newborn screening for galactosemia is routine and utilizes the universally collected newborn dried blood specimen on filter paper. Screening for galactosemia is achieved through analysis of total galactose (galactose and galactose-1-phosphate) and/or determining the activity of the GALT enzyme.

Illusory, motion, and luminance-defined contours interact in the human visual system.

Psychophysical studies of interactions between contours defined by different image attributes report that luminance-defined and illusory contours show little if any interaction. Because the contours defined by these attributes may vary in perceptual saliency, we employed the tilt aftereffect (TAE) and a cross-adaptation procedure to evaluate interaction effects between luminance-defined and illusory contours under varying saliency conditions as well as to explore the interaction between illusory and motion-defined contours. When contour salience of the adaptation or test stimuli was modified by the addition of various amounts of static noise, we observed a TAE for all combinations of contour types including the novel motion-illusory and illusory-motion pairs.