Working conditions and psychosocial risk factors of employees in French electricity and gas company customer support departments.

Objective: Little is known about the real impact of working conditions on the health of call center employees. The aim of this article is to describe the working conditions of French electricity and gas company customer service teams, especially those spending more than 75% of their working time handling calls in order to determine their subjective experience of their work and identify situations at risk of psychosocial constraints.

Methods: A cross-sectional study using a self-completion questionnaire was conducted on a representative sample of 2,000 employees working in customer service centers.

Alkoxysilane layers compatible with copper deposition for advanced semiconductor device applications.

Alkoxysilane having various functional headgroups (amino and mercapto) and morphologies was deposited by supercritical CO(2) onto a porous dielectric material to replace the metallic barrier used in semiconductor devices. These organic layers were successfully coated with Cu. The morphologies of the stacks were investigated by X-ray and neutron reflectometry and atomic force microscopy.

Retroperitoneoscopy-assisted cryoablation of renal tumors using multiple 1.5 mm ultrathin cryoprobes: a preliminary report.

Objectives: Laparoscopic cryoablation has recently been proposed as a minimally invasive nephron-sparing treatment for selected patients. We report on our experience with a retroperitoneoscopic technique using multiple ultrathin cryoprobes.

Methods: Seven patients underwent retroperitoneoscopic renal cryoablation for solid renal masses.

Retroperitoneoscopic management of caliceal diverticular calculi.

Introduction: The management of caliceal diverticular calculi has changed from an open surgical approach to endoscopic management.

Technical Considerations: Different minimally invasive treatment modalities, such as extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, ureteroscopy, percutaneous nephrolithotomy, laparoscopy, and retroperitoneoscopy, can be offered to the patient. We report on a retroperitoneoscopic operative technique using endosonography for location and performing nephrotomy with complete excision of the caliceal diverticulum and ligation of the diverticular neck with an Endo-loop.

[Localized cancer of the prostate: which treatment should be chosen?].

Prostate cancer is a frequent tumor. Nowadays, its diagnosis is often established when the tumor is localized, and curative treatment can be proposed to the patients. Systematic screening studies are under way.

Spontaneous splenic haematoma in a teenager with infectious mononucleosis.

Spontaneous subcapsular splenic hematoma formation without rupture in infectious mononucleosis is a very unusual occurrence. Splenic rupture in infectious mononucleosis (Pfeiffer disease, or glandular fever) is a rare but life-threatening complication. A conservative management is successful in those patients in stable condition.

[Angiogenesis and bladder cancer: trendy prognostic factor or new therapeutic target?].

Tumor-associated angiogenesis is emerging as an important prognostic factor and represents a hopeful potential therapeutic target for the cancer treatment. Bladder tumors, as all solid tumors, require an active angiogenesis to support their growth and progression. The angiogenic phenotype observed within a tumor is determined in large part by the balance between stimulatory and inhibitory inputs to the endothelial cells.

Robot assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy.

Purpose: The feasibility and safety of remote laparoscopic surgery using a surgical telemanipulator have been demonstrated in laboratory experience and recently in clinical practice. To our knowledge we report the first robot assisted, laparoscopic nephrectomy in a human.

Materials And Methods: A 77-year-old woman was diagnosed with a nonfunctioning hydronephrotic right kidney due to ureteropelvic junction obstruction.

Vertical banded gastroplasty: long-term results comparing three different techniques.

Background: Vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG) has been our procedure of choice for the treatment of morbid obesity from 1981-1995, at which time it was replaced by laparoscopic gastric banding. Three different techniques have been used for banding: silastic band, marlex mesh, adjustable sphincter. The purpose of this paper is to present the long-term results.

Early results of laparoscopic gastric banding compared with open vertical banded gastroplasty.

Background: The introduction of laparoscopy and the increasing awareness that surgery is the only efficient long-term treatment for morbid obesity have been followed by an enormous increase in the demand for bariatric surgery. We introduced laparoscopic gastric banding (GB) in 1995, after a 15-year experience with vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG). The aim of this article is to compare the early results of this new technique with those of VBG.

[Endorectal ultrasound of rectal cancers].

Endorectal ultrasonography has become the preferred exam to assess the local extent of rectal cancers. From 1990 to 1992, we have examined 28 patients with a rectal cancer. The tumours were classified according to the TNM.

[Current status of surgical transduodenal papillotomy].

The treatment of biliary lithiasis has changed during the past 20 years. Cholecystectomy remains the gold standard for cholelithiasis, but many options are available for calculi of the common bile duct. Among them are surgical open or laparoscopic choledochotomy, biliary-enteric anastomosis, transduodenal sphincterotomy (TDS), endoscopic sphincterotomy.

[Acoustic neuroma. A review of 50 cases].

A consecutive series of 50 patients undergoing acoustic neurinoma excision between 1985 and 1990 is reported. All patients were operated by the retrosigmoid approach. With no mortality, the most frequent complication was a leak of cerebrospinal fluid (12%).