[Motivation for Specialisation in General Practice - A Quantitative Study of NRW's Medical Students in Support of Targeted Recruitment].

Aim Of Study: Due to forecasted shortage of general practitioners, we conducted an online survey of all medical students in North-Rhine-Westphalia to identify and quantify determinants in medical students' decision to specialize in general practice (GP).

Methodology: To identify the motives driving the choice of GP as a career, responses of 3976 participants (22.6% of medical students invited) were subjected to factor analysis.

Influences of Dilute Organic Adsorbates on the Hydration of Low-Surface-Area Silicates.

Competitive adsorption of dilute quantities of certain organic molecules and water at silicate surfaces strongly influence the rates of silicate dissolution, hydration, and crystallization. Here, we determine the molecular-level structures, compositions, and site-specific interactions of adsorbed organic molecules at low absolute bulk concentrations on heterogeneous silicate particle surfaces at early stages of hydration. Specifically, dilute quantities (∼0.

Reactions and surface interactions of saccharides in cement slurries.

Glucose, maltodextrin, and sucrose exhibit significant differences in their alkaline reaction properties and interactions in aluminate/silicate cement slurries that result in diverse hydration behaviors of cements. Using 1D solution- and solid-state (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), the structures of these closely related saccharides are identified in aqueous cement slurry solutions and as adsorbed on inorganic oxide cement surfaces during the early stages of hydration. Solid-state 1D (29)Si and 2D (27)Al{(1)H} and (13)C{(1)H} NMR techniques, including the use of very high magnetic fields (18.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy for nonresectable tumors of the pancreas.

Background: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has emerged as a potential treatment option for local tumor control of primary malignancies of the pancreas. We report on our experience with SBRT in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma who were found not to be candidates for surgical resection.

Methods: The prospective database of the first 20 consecutive patients receiving SBRT for unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinomas and a neuroendocrine tumor under an IRB approved protocol was reviewed.

Origins of saccharide-dependent hydration at aluminate, silicate, and aluminosilicate surfaces.

Sugar molecules adsorbed at hydrated inorganic oxide surfaces occur ubiquitously in nature and in technologically important materials and processes, including marine biomineralization, cement hydration, corrosion inhibition, bioadhesion, and bone resorption. Among these examples, surprisingly diverse hydration behaviors are observed for oxides in the presence of saccharides with closely related compositions and structures. Glucose, sucrose, and maltodextrin, for example, exhibit significant differences in their adsorption selectivities and alkaline reaction properties on hydrating aluminate, silicate, and aluminosilicate surfaces that are shown to be due to the molecular architectures of the saccharides.

Strength improvement via coating of a cylindrical hole by layer-by-layer assembled polymer particles.

Negatively charged colloidal poly(methyl methacrylate-co-butyl acrylate) (P(MMA-BA)) particles and positively charged dissolved poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) were adsorbed onto a cement block using a layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly technique. The block was fashioned so as to have a cylindrical hole running from one face to another along the long axis of the rectangular block, and a fluid containing either of the two charged materials was pumped through the block. The result was a film tens of micrometers thick, and the pressure required to crack the cement block was measured after one end of the hole was sealed.

Rheological comparison of organogelators based on iron and aluminum complexes of dodecylmethylphosphinic acid and methyl dodecanephosphonic acid.

Organogels were prepared from a 1:3 molar ratio of metal/ligand complexes of iron(III) or aluminum(III) with methyl dodecanephosphonic acid or dodecylmethylphosphinic acid at a concentration of 10 mM in dodecane. Gelation occurs spontaneously upon dissolution of the solid complex. Dynamic oscillatory measurements over the temperature range of 100-150 degrees C indicate that these materials behave as living polymers.

Cyberknife radiosurgery for squamous cell carcinoma of vulva after prior pelvic radiation therapy.

Limited options exist for patients experiencing a local recurrence of vulvar malignancies after surgery and pelvic radiation. These recurrences often are associated with cancer-related skin desquamation and poor clinical outcomes. A new radiotherapeutic treatment modality for the previously irradiated patient is cyberknife radiosurgery, which uses a linear accelerator mounted on an industrial robotic arm to allow non-coplanar radiation therapy delivery with sub-millimeter precision.

Organogels with complexes of ions and phosphorus-containing amphiphiles as gelators. Spontaneous gelation by in situ complexation.

The properties of thermally reversible organogels that are formed spontaneously upon mixing a phosphonic acid monoester, monophosphonic acid, or bisphosphonate ester, each containing a long alkyl chain substituent, with one of several compounds of aluminum(III) and boron(III) in an organic liquid were studied by IR, NMR, optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and rheological techniques. Attempts to form gels with zirconium(IV) were unsuccessful. Gelation occurred at room temperature upon complexation, leading to the formation of entangled networks of elongated objects similar to giant, worm-like micelles.

Organogels with Fe(III) complexes of phosphorus-containing amphiphiles as two-component isothermal gelators.

The properties of thermally reversible organogels in which the gelators consist of a phosphonic acid monoester, phosphonic acid, or phosphoric acid monoester and a ferric salt are probed by IR and NMR spectroscopies, optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, rheology, and light and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) techniques. This is one of a small number of two-component molecular gelator systems in which gelation can be induced isothermally. The data indicate that complexation between the phosphonate moieties and Fe(III) is accompanied by their in situ polymerization to form self-assembled fibrillar networks that encapsulate and immobilize macroscopically the organic liquid component.

MR imaging of the sellar and juxtasellar regions.

Multiplanar capability and superior tissue contrast differentiation render magnetic resonance (MR) imaging the preferred method for examining patients with pituitary axis dysfunction or visual field deficits. In a review of 131 sellar or juxtasellar abnormalities, 76% were common lesions with distinctive features that helped establish their diagnosis: macroadenoma (n = 51), microadenoma (n = 20), meningioma (n = 14), craniopharyngioma (n = 10), and aneurysm (n = 5). On T1-weighted images, microadenomas were usually hypointense relative to normal pituitary gland, and macroadenomas and meningiomas were isointense relative to gray matter.

Physiological biochemical, and performance responses to a 24-hour crash diet.

Twelve overweight male subjects were evaluated on both a normal diet and a 24-h crash diet. During approximately 2 1/4-h complex performance tests subjects breathed an O2/N2 mixture equivalent to 3810 m. (12,500 ft).

Effects of altitude and two decongestant-antihistamine preparations on physiological functions and performance.

Fourteen men were studied to determine the combined effects of two altitudes--388 and 3,810 m or 1,274 and 12,500 ft--and three preparations--lactose placebo, Compound A (Actified, and Compound B (Dristan). Subjects reported least attentiveness with A and greatest with placebo. Fatigue increased significantly with time while energy, interest, and attentiveness decreased.

Transient and permanent effects of hyperthermia in dogs: a study of a simulated air transport environmental stress.

Heat-induced hyperthermia can be a major problem in dogs shipped during summer months. Dogs shipped by air transport can encounter temperatures as high as 54.4 C.

Protection of airline flight attendants from hypoxia following rapid decompression.

To determine the maximum time for working flight attendants to effectively initiate airline passenger mask donning after onset of a rapid, severe decompression, we exposed 10 subjects in two series of tests to a decompression from 6,500 to 34,000 ft (2,000 to 10,400 m) in 26 s, followed by descent at 5,000 ft/min (1,500 m/min) while subjects performed a light-to-moderate workload. Supplemental oxygen was provided in one series from a compressed oxygen system, and in the other series from a chemical oxygen generator system. With delays to mask doning of 10 and 15 s, no hypoxic effects occurred.

Effect of physical activity of airline flight attendants on their time of useful consciousness in a rapid decompression.

To determine the effect of physical activity on the "time of useful consciousness" (TUC) of airline flight attendants in a rapid, severe decompression, 10 male and 10 female subjects were exposed to a decompression profile while at rest and performing light-to-moderate work. Decompression from 6,500 to 34,000 ft (2,000 to 10,400 m) was followed by descent at 5,000 ft/min (1,500 m/min). The average TUC for the males decreased from 54 s (omega 7.