Work-home balance in two cohorts of Norwegian doctors.

Background: Stress linked to the balance between work and home, so-called work-home interface stress, may affect the health and life situation of doctors. Reports have shown an increase in job-related stress among Norwegian doctors. We wished to investigate the development trends for this type of stress in the period 2003-14.

The hospital doctor of today - still continuously on duty.

Background: Norwegian hospital doctors emphasise the value of working hard and efficiently and of a high degree of attendance in the workplace. This helps establish social norms that guide behaviour within the professional culture. It is important to examine what consequences these values may entail when the doctor also needs to cater to his or her own needs.

The good doctor - strong and persevering.

Background: In today’s society, doctors are confronted with a number of opposing interests, from other colleagues, patients and employers. The development and regulation of the medical profession have been widely studied. However, less research has been devoted to the doctors’ own perception of what it means to be a good doctor.

Work-home interface stress: an important predictor of emotional exhaustion 15 years into a medical career.

The importance of work-home interface stress can vary throughout a medical career and between genders. We studied changes in work-home interface stress over 5 yr, and their prediction of emotional exhaustion (main dimension of burn-out), controlled for other variables. A nationwide doctor cohort (NORDOC; n=293) completed questionnaires at 10 and 15 yr after graduation.

A novel flex-rigid and soft-release ECoG array.

This article addresses a novel fabrication process for an electrocorticogram (ECoG) electrode array. It consists of three regions: a flexible recording area, a flexible cable, and a rigid field for soldering the connectors. The flexible components can adapt to the curved shape of the cerebral cortex.

A major deletion in the surfactant protein-B gene causing lethal respiratory distress.

Background: Loss of function mutations in the surfactant protein-B gene (SFTPB) cause lethal neonatal respiratory distress due to reduced or absent expression of mature surfactant protein B (SP-B, encoded in exons 6 and 7). No large deletions in SFTPB have been previously identified.

Aim: Genomic, proteomic and immunohistochemical characterization of a 3 kb deletion in SFTPB.

Performance change of mammographic CAD schemes optimized with most-recent and prior image databases.

Rationale And Objectives: The authors evaluated performance changes in the detection of masses on "current" (latest) and "prior" images by computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) schemes that had been optimized with databases of current and prior mammograms.

Materials And Methods: The authors selected 260 pairs of matched consecutive mammograms. Each current image depicted one or two verified masses.

The impact of pregnancy and puerperium on panic disorder: a review.

There is little known about the effect of pregnancy and the puerperium on the risk for, and course of anxiety disorders. Initial case reports concerning the relationship between panic disorder (PD) and pregnancy/puerperium suggested that pregnancy protected against PD, while the postpartum period seemed to increase the risk for onset or exacerbation of PD. Later studies have offered a more mixed picture.

Depolarizing stimuli induce high levels of dopamine synthesis in fetal rat sensory neurons.

To investigate the role of activity-dependent mechanisms in sensory transmitter development, we examined the effect of depolarizing stimuli on tyrosine hydroxylase expression and dopamine synthesis in cells of the fetal rat petrosal ganglion, a model of catecholaminergic sensory neurons. Although dopaminergic traits are normally detectable in only 10-20% of ganglion neurones, exposure to depolarizing concentrations of potassium chloride (40 mM) or veratridine (10 microM) in culture induced tyrosine hydroxylase expression in 100% of petrosal neurons and a 10-fold increase in dopamine content. Tyrosine hydroxylase expression remained elevated in a subset of neurons following return to control conditions, suggesting that chronic depolarization elicits a phenotypic switch in some cells.

Functional and developmental studies of the peripheral arterial chemoreceptors in rat: effects of nicotine and possible relation to sudden infant death syndrome.

The drive on respiration mediated by the peripheral arterial chemoreceptors was assessed by the hyperoxic test in 3-day-old rat pups. They accounted for 22.5 +/- 8.

BDNF supports mammalian chemoafferent neurons in vitro and following peripheral target removal in vivo.

Chemoreceptor neurons innervating the rat carotid body were used as a model system to define target regulation of visceral sensory development in fetal and newborn animals. In vitro, chemoafferents were selectively supported by coculture with the carotid body or by treatment with trkB ligands [brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin-4], whereas nerve growth factor and neurotrophin 3 had no effect. In vivo, chemoafferent neurons died following carotid body removal at birth, indicating a predominant role of peripheral, rather than central, targets in mediating survival at this stage.

Birth-related changes of expression and turnover of some neuroactive agents and respiratory control.

Respiratory movements are partially inhibited before birth and central and peripheral chemoreceptors are probably less sensitive. The transition to continuous breathing might be due to the switch-off of inhibitory neuromodulators and the switch-on of excitatory neuroactive agents. This hypothesis has been explored mainly in rats.

Ventilatory response to hyperoxia in newborn rats born in hypoxia--possible relationship to carotid body dopamine.

1. The influence of postnatal hypoxia on regulation of breathing and turnover rate of carotid body dopamine was examined in newborn rats. The percentage change in frequency, tidal volume and ventilation elicited by transient hyperoxia was assessed by flow plethysmography in unanaesthetized pups.

Changes in levels of mRNA coding for catecholamine synthesizing enzymes and neuropeptide Y in the adrenal medulla of the newborn rat.

We have measured levels of mRNA coding for the catecholamine synthesizing enzymes tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine beta-hydroxylase (D beta H), phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT) and for neuropeptide Y (NPY) in rat adrenal medulla by using in situ hybridization histochemistry. Ages of one day before birth (E21), 12 h, 24 h, 2 days and 4 days after birth and in adults were studied. TH, D beta H and NPY mRNA levels increased markedly postnatally.

CO2-sensitivity in newborn and young infants tested by the rebreathing method. Methodological aspects.

The rebreathing method in newborn and young infants was tested with regard to the effects of increasing levels of CO2 on the behavioral state and to the influence of facial stimulation caused by the use of a face mask and pneumotachograph on the breathing pattern. Successive increases in inspired CO2 levels from 3 to 8.5% did not change the behavioral state.

Autonomic reflexes in preterm infants.

Some autonomic nervous reflexes often tested in adult medicine have been studied in 21 preterm infants (25-37 gestational weeks). The aim was to develop such tests for preterm infants and see if there were any differences in babies with recurrent apnea and bradycardia and babies who had been exposed to sympathicolytic drugs before birth. To test sympathetic nervous activity the peripheral vascular resistance was measured before and during 45 degrees of head-up tilting.

Development of the arterial chemoreflex and turnover of carotid body catecholamines in the newborn rat.

1. The peripheral, arterial chemoreceptors in the carotid body are active and responsive in the fetus. At birth, when oxygenation increases, the chemoreceptors are silenced.