Oral contraceptive (OC) users frequently have lower vitamin B₆ status than non-oral contraceptive (NOC) users. However, normal dietary intake, a possible factor, has not been adequately studied. Therefore, 26 OC users and 25 NOC users, of college age, were compared with respect to dietary intake of vitamin B₆ and blood vitamin B₆ levels. OC users had been taking "the pill" for at least five months and NOC users had not taken any estrogen-progestin hormones for at least five months. A 72-hour continuous dietary intake record, kept by each subject, was used to calculate intakes of vitamin B₆ and nine other nutrients. Subjects consumed self-selected diets and none had used vitamin B₆ supplements within two weeks of this study. Intakes of all nutrients studied were comparable between the two groups. The mean intakes exceeded the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for all nutrients except iron, calories and vitamin B₆. The mean intake of vitamin B₆ (1.4 [plus or minus] 0.5 mg/day for OC and 1.6 [plus or minus] 0.5 mg/day for NOC) did not differ significantly between the two groups. The RDA for this age group is 2.0 mg/day of vitamin B₆. The mean protein intakes were not significantly different for OC versus NOC users (72.6 [plus or minus] 19.4 g/day for OC and 66.9 [plus or minus] 13.6 g/day for NOC). The ratio of vitamin B₆ to protein was calculated for each subject. Mean ratios were 0.020 [plus or minus] 0.004 for OC and 0.025 [plus or minus] 0.01 for NOC users. This difference was significant at p<0.05. The mean ratio for both groups exceeded 0.019, which is considered to be adequate. Fasting blood samples were collected during the luteal phase (NOC) or after seven days of the pill cycle for 0C users. These samples were analyzed for whole blood and plasma (by Lind, 1980) vitamin B₆, using a microbiological assay (S.uvarum). These values were used to calculate vitamin B₆ levels in the red blood cell (RBC). A significant difference (p [less than or equal to] 0.05) was found between the mean level of RBC vitamin B₆ in the 0C users versus the NOC (12.4 [plus or minus] 5.4 ng/ml for 0C and 16.8 [plus or minus] 8.5 ng/ml for NOC). Plasma vitamin B₆ concentrations were also significantly different between the two groups. The mean ratio of plasma vitamin B₆ to RBC vitamin B₆ was not statistically different between 0C and NOC users. A questionnaire was used to compare the subject groups with respect to exercise, alcohol intake, general health, general vitamin B₆ intake and other indices. With the exception of alcohol intake, the mean scores for both groups, from this questionnaire, were similar. 0C users had a significantly higher intake of alcohol than NOC users, as measured by the questionnaire. However, the actual alcohol intake from the dietary record did not differ statistically between the two groups. The lack of a significant difference in vitamin B₆ intake, coupled with significantly different blood vitamin B₆ levels for 0C versus NOC users, tends to indicate that the 0C may be altering vitamin B₆ metabolism. Estrogens may cause a redistribution of vitamin B₆ in various body pools, with the vitamin leaving the blood and entering other tissues. Blood levels are generally used to determine vitamin status. By this assessment, 0C users have a lower vitamin B₆ status than controls. It is recommended that 0C users be encouraged to consume at least 2.0 mg/day of vitamin B₆ in their normal diets. / Graduation date: 1981

The effect of oral contraceptives on the urinary excretion of several methionine metabolites was determined in women before and after they had received a 3-g dose of L-methionine. Nine women between the ages of 20-29 years served as subjects: five had been using a combination-type oral contraceptive for six months or more (experimental group), and four had not been using these drugs (control group). Cystathionine excretion by both groups before and after the methionine loading was in the range reported for normal female subjects who were not deficient in vitamin B₆ (Krishnaswamy, 1972; Shin and Linkswiler, 1974). Changes in urinary methionine metabolites that were apparently produced by oral contraceptive drugs are: (1) homocysteine was detected in the basal urine of three of the oral contraceptive users. After methionine loading, it was found in the urine of four of these subjects, two of whom excreted measurable quantities. In contrast, three of the control subjects excreted traces of homocysteine only after methionine loading. (2) The mean excretion of taurine by oral contraceptive users was only one-tenth of that excreted by the control subjects. The activity of erythrocyte glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (EGOT) before and after in vitro stimulation with added pyridoxal phosphate was similar in both groups. Basal activity of erythrocyte glutamic pyruvic transaminase (EGPT) was lower in oral contraceptive users, although the mean values for both groups were within the normal range reported by Miller et al. (1975) and Woodring and Storvick (1970). The percent in vitro stimulation after addition of pyridoxal phosphate was somewhat higher in oral contraceptive users, but the difference was not statistically significant. Thirteen free acidic and neutral amino acids (including metabolites of the methionine pathway) were measured in the urine specimens. The sum of the urinary excretion of these 13 amino acids was significantly lower (p < 0.01) for oral contraceptive users than for control subjects. However, total α-amino nitrogen excretion, measured in the same urine specimens, was similar for both groups. / Graduation date: 1976

The effect of oral contraceptives on urinary and plasma vitamin B₆ as well as erythrocyte transaminase activities was investigated in women. Five women who were taking oral contraceptives and four who were not using these drugs served as subjects. They were apparently healthy and free from any known metabolic disorder. The subjects, who consumed normal diets, recorded their dietary intake for three days. Twenty-four hour urine specimens were collected on two consecutive days by the subjects. On the morning of the second day blood for the various biochemical measurements was drawn from fasting subjects. Following the blood drawing the women were given an oral dose of 3 g of L-methionine. Results of the methionine load test are reported elsewhere. The subjects consumed diets that supplied at least two-thirds or more of their National Academy of Science-National Research Council (1974) Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for most nutrients except iron and vitamin B₆. The mean dietary intake of vitamin B₆ was 1.57 mg per day for the untreated women and 1.52 for the oral contraceptive users. On both days the mean levels of free and total vitamin B₆ in urine were less in the oral contraceptive users than that in the untreated controls, but the differences were not statistically significant. There appeared to be some relationship between dietary intake of vitamin B₆ and urinary excretion of the vitamin. The methionine loading dose did not affect the excretion of vitamin B₆ The mean plasma level of vitamin B₆ was lower for the oral contraceptive users than for the untreated controls although the difference is not statistically significant. There was, however, a large variation in values among the subjects taking oral contraceptives. Two of them had extremely low plasma vitamin B₆ levels. Vitamin B₆ in the plasma did not appear to be related to dietary intake or urinary excretion of the vitamin. Erythrocyte glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (EGOT) and erythrocyte glutamic pyruvic transaminase (EGPT) activities with and without in vitro stimulation with pyridoxal phosphate (PALPO) were also measured. There were no significant differences between the two groups in EGOT and EGPT activities with and without in vitro stimulation. According to the activity indexes (PALPO stimulated activity/activity without added PALPO) for EGOT and EGPT (Sauberlich et al., 1972), all subjects had adequate vitamin B₆ nutritional status. Activity indexes for EGOT and EGPT did not appear to be related to urinary or plasma levels of vitamin B₆ Urinary and plasma vitamin B₆ levels and erythrocyte trans- aminase activities were not related to the length of time the women had been taking oral contraceptives or the estrogen content of their oral contraceptive agent. / Graduation date: 1976

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This dissertation measures the levels of trait-like and situational oral communication apprehension in jury bodies and provides some interpretation of these measurements on these bodies. By extending research on oral communication apprehension to juries, a clearer understanding of the impact of this phenomenon on specialized small groups is possible. Juries constitute a specialized small group because of the manner by which jurors are selected, the rules applying to their discussion of trial matters, their isolation from external influences during a trial, and their objective to determine a trial verdict for which they have personal impunity. Results of this study were obtained from analysis of data acquired from actual venire members and jurors in the Pima County Superior Court in Tucson, Arizona. The study uses a data collection instrument that is a modification of the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension-24 combined with the Situational Communication Apprehension Measure. This research determined that the overall trait-like oral communication apprehension level of venire members is below that normally found in other groups, whereas, the situational apprehension level of jurors is generally above that level found in nonjury small groups. This situational apprehension level varies considerably depending on the ethnicity of the individual venire member or jurors and the nature of the trial on which the juror is impaneled. The study further determined that certain factors normally associated with leadership role fulfillment appear to be altered inside the jury deliberation room. Jury service appears to serve as a motivational drive that lowers the fears and anxieties that high communication apprehensives associate with interactive speaking in small groups.

Oral tradition is the knowledge a society perpetuates through spoken means in order to make them reach present and future generations. The richness, complexity and dynamism of these contents, as well as the one of those elements associated to their (re)production, turn them into cultural expressions of an undeniable value. The pressure of written systems and mass media push oral tradition to stand serious threatens to its survival. Even if there are countless institutions of memory management -libraries, archives, documentation centers- working on this non-material heritage, a deep analysis of the real importance of this work is lacking. This paper presents some concepts on oral tradition and its features, exposing the necessary techniques for its collection and stating several questions concerning its future and its relation with librarianship. From a continent where orality played and plays a strong role in the building of popular cultures, it is expected that LIS professionals will develop a more active role in its recovery and spread, in order to not allowing silence to destroy those voices telling their stories from the dawn of time.