A Pilot Study of Pedestrians with Visual Impairments Detecting Traffic Gaps and Surges Containing Hybrid Vehicles.

The increasing number of hybrid and quiet internal combustion engine vehicles may impact the travel abilities of pedestrians who are blind. Pedestrians who rely on auditory cues for structuring their travel may face challenges in making crossing decisions in the presence of quiet vehicles. This article describes results of initial studies looking at the crossing decisions of pedestrians who are blind at an uncontrolled crossing (no traffic control) and a light controlled intersection.

Creating accessible science museums with user-activated environmental audio beacons (ping!).

In 2003, Touch Graphics Company carried out research on a new invention that promises to improve accessibility to science museums for visitors who are visually impaired. The system, nicknamed Ping!, allows users to navigate an exhibit area, listen to audio descriptions, and interact with exhibits using a cell phone-based interface. The system relies on computer telephony, and it incorporates a network of wireless environmental audio beacons that can be triggered by users wishing to travel to destinations they choose.

A randomized, controlled trial of remacemide for motor fluctuations in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Preclinical studies suggest that glutamate antagonists help ameliorate motor fluctuations in patients with PD treated with levodopa.

Methods: In a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, dose-ranging study, the authors assessed the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of the glutamate receptor blocker remacemide hydrochloride in 279 patients with motor fluctuations treated with levodopa. The primary objective was to assess the short-term tolerability and safety of four dosage levels of remacemide during 7 weeks of treatment.

Maternal mortality in Mississippi: 1987-1991.

Objective: To characterize the maternal mortality in the state of Mississippi for 1987-1991 and compare the maternal mortality from 1977-1986 with that of the last 5 years.

Study Design: Factors associated with maternal mortality were obtained from death certificates, replies to questionnaires, medical records, and autopsy reports.

Results: The maternal mortality rate in Mississippi for 1987-1991 (14.

Independent travel for developmentally disabled persons: a comprehensive model of instruction.

Independence and self-determination are long established goals for developmentally disabled persons. Some aspects of independence depend upon the ability to to gain access to resources in the local community. As a result, the acquisition of independent travel skills has received much attention over the years.

Paradoxial response to dopaminergic agents in parkinsonism.

A patient with the classical stigmata of parkinsonism was treated on three separate occasions with levodopa, a combination of levodopa and carbidopa, and lergotrile mesylate, a direct-acting dopamine-receptor agonist. All three treatment regimens resulted in dose-related increases in parkinsonian features. To our knowledge, this response has not been previously described.

Oral choline administration to patients with tardive dyskinesia.

We gave pharmacologic doses of choline to patients with tardive dyskinesia in an attempt to suppress involuntary facial movements. Choline is the physiologic precursor of acetylcholine, and its administration elevates brain acetylcholine levels in laboratory animals and, possibly, in human beings. Hence, we thought that its use could benefit patients with diseases like tardive dyskinesia, which is believed to result from deficient central cholinergic tone.