Assessing radiologist performance.

Unless radiologist performance assessment is sufficiently deep, comprehensive, and balanced, it may tend to omit, obscure, or distort key aspects of the important contributions that radiologists make, with adverse consequences for employers, radiologists themselves, and above all, the patients they serve. Here we present a model of performance assessment that includes eight key dimensions, which can be tailored as appropriate to the needs of particular programs and radiologists.

Assessment centers versus cognitive ability tests: Challenging the conventional wisdom on criterion-related validity.

Separate meta-analyses of the cognitive ability and assessment center (AC) literatures report higher criterion-related validity for cognitive ability tests in predicting job performance. We instead focus on 17 samples in which both AC and ability scores are obtained for the same examinees and used to predict the same criterion. Thus, we control for differences in job type and in criteria that may have affected prior conclusions.

Why women perform better in college than admission scores would predict: Exploring the roles of conscientiousness and course-taking patterns.

Women typically obtain higher subsequent college GPAs than men with the same admissions test score. A common reaction is to attribute this to a flaw in the admissions test. We explore the possibility that this underprediction of women's performance reflects gender differences in conscientiousness and college course-taking patterns.

The dispositional flow scale-2 as a measure of autotelic personality: an examination of criterion-related validity.

The Dispositional Flow Scale-2 (DFS-2; Jackson & Eklund, 2002) may be one of the most promising measures for assessing Csikszentmihalyi's (1990) construct of "autotelic personality." Despite strong internal validity, external validity of the DFS-2 remains open. We used 2 methods to provide evidence for external validity: (1) multiple-time assessments of experience sampling (1,856 entries generated over 7 days) to derive aggregate indices of criterion validity; and (2) single-time assessments of flow and personality for additional criterion-related validity.

p53 Dimers associate with a head-to-tail response element to repress cyclin B transcription.

DNA damage induced by the topoisomerase I inhibitor SN38 activates cell cycle checkpoints which promote cell cycle arrest. This arrest can be abrogated in p53-defective cells by the Chk1 inhibitor 7-hydroxystaurosporine (UCN-01). Previously, we compared p53 wild-type MCF10A cells with derivatives whose p53 function was inhibited by over-expression of the tetramerization domain (MCF10A/OD) or expression of shRNA against p53 (MCF10A/Δp53).

Prolactin alters the mechanisms of B cell tolerance induction.

Objective: Autoimmune diseases predominantly affect women, suggesting that female sex hormones may play a role in the pathogenesis of such diseases. We have previously shown that persistent mild-to-moderate elevations in serum prolactin levels induce a break in self tolerance in mice with a BALB/c genetic background. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of hyperprolactinemia on the mechanisms of B cell tolerance induction.

Prolactinoma and systemic lupus erythematosus: do serum prolactin levels matter?

The lactogenic hormone prolactin is produced in part by cells of the immune system and serves as an upregulator of immune function. Hyperprolactinemia is common in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), raising the possibility that the hormone contributes to the excessive immune response in the disease. The highest levels of circulating prolactin occur in association with prolactin-secreting tumors, but prolactinomas have only rarely been encountered in patients with SLE.

Systemic lupus erythematosus presenting with features suggestive of human immunodeficiency virus infection.

We describe 8 patients who presented with fever, weight loss, anemia, and oral and/or esophageal candidiasis, and who were initially thought to have human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or lymphoma. These patients fulfilled American College of Rheumatology criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) because of arthralgias or arthritis, hematological derangements, and immunological abnormalities. Treatment was delayed because SLE did not immediately enter into the differential diagnosis.

Relapsing arterial aneurysms in juvenile Behçet's disease.

Vascular involvement in Behçet's disease has a wide range of clinical manifestations, the most common being thrombophlebitis and arterial aneurysms. Every major vessel may be involved, but aneurysms of the carotid artery are relatively rare in adults and even rarer in children. We describe here a case of a 13-year-old boy with Behçet's disease with a recurrent carotid artery aneurysm treated with arterial ligation and immunosuppressive therapy who later developed an abdominal aortic aneurysm in the absence of other indications of disease activity.

Biochemical diagnosis of pheochromocytoma: how to distinguish true- from false-positive test results.

Measurements of plasma normetanephrine and metanephrine provide a highly sensitive test for diagnosis of pheochromocytoma, but false-positive results remain a problem. We therefore assessed medication-associated false-positive results and use of supplementary tests, including plasma normetanephrine responses to clonidine, to distinguish true- from false-positive results. The study included 208 patients with pheochromocytoma and 648 patients in whom pheochromocytoma was excluded.

Biochemical diagnosis of pheochromocytoma: which test is best?

Context: Diagnosis of pheochromocytoma depends on biochemical evidence of catecholamine production by the tumor. However, the best test to establish the diagnosis has not been determined.

Objective: To determine the biochemical test or combination of tests that provides the best method for diagnosis of pheochromocytoma.

Plasma metanephrines: a novel and cost-effective test for pheochromocytoma.

Pheochromocytomas are rare chromaffin cell tumors that nevertheless must be excluded in large numbers of patients who develop sustained or episodic hypertension as well as in many others with suggestive symptoms or with a familial history of pheochromocytoma. Diagnosis of pheochromocytoma depends importantly on biochemical evidence of excess catecholamine production by a tumor. Imperfect sensitivity and specificity of commonly available biochemical tests and the low incidence of the tumor among the tested population mean that considerable time and effort can be expended in confirming or ruling out pheochromocytoma in patients where the tumor is suspected.

Malignant pheochromocytoma. Chromaffin granule transmitters and response to treatment.

Chromaffin granule transmitters such as chromogranin A and catecholamines have been used in the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma, but the diagnostic and prognostic value of chromogranin A have not been explored in malignant pheochromocytoma. We evaluated these transmitters in patients with pheochromocytoma (n=27), both benign (n=13) and malignant (n=14). Patients with benign pheochromocytoma were studied before and after surgical excision (n=6), whereas patients with malignant pheochromocytoma were evaluated before and after combination chemotherapy with regular cycles of cyclophosphamide/dacarbazine/vincristine (nonrandomized trial in n=9).

Nitric oxide in cyclosporine A-induced hypertension: role of protein kinase C.

Chronic treatment with cyclosporine A (CsA), an immunosuppressive agent, causes hypertension. The effect of CsA on vascular responses was determined in Sprague-Dawley rats and isolated rat aortic rings. Male rats weighing 250 to 300 g were given either CsA (25 mg/kg/day) in olive oil or vehicle by intraperitoneal injection for 7 days.

von Recklinghausen's disease and pheochromocytomas.

Purpose: We review the literature and characterize the clinical findings of von Recklinghausen's associated pheochromocytoma.

Materials And Methods: A Grateful Med search for the years 1966 to 1999 was performed on the subjects, "von Recklinghausen" and "neurofibromatosis." Articles from the Grateful Med search were then reviewed to identify older publications.

Clinical and genetic characterization of pheochromocytoma in von Hippel-Lindau families: comparison with sporadic pheochromocytoma gives insight into natural history of pheochromocytoma.

Purpose: Families with von Hippel-Lindau disease have variable risk of pheochromocytoma. Patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease and pheochromocytoma identified by screening can have no characteristic signs or symptoms. Families with von Hippel-Lindau disease were screened and followed to describe the natural history of von Hippel-Lindau pheochromocytoma, and to correlate these findings with von Hippel-Lindau germline mutation.

Plasma normetanephrine and metanephrine for detecting pheochromocytoma in von Hippel-Lindau disease and multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2.

Background: The detection of pheochromocytomas in patients at risk for these tumors, such as patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN-2), is hindered by the inadequate sensitivity of commonly available biochemical tests. In this study we evaluated measurements of plasma normetanephrine and metanephrine for detecting pheochromocytomas in patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease or MEN-2.

Methods: We studied 26 patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease and 9 patients with MEN-2 who had histologically verified pheochromocytomas and 50 patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease or MEN-2 who had no radiologic evidence of pheochromocytoma.

Lack of leptin suppression in response to hypersecretion of catecholamines in pheochromocytoma patients.

Leptin is a major regulator of body weight and energy balance and is subject to a variety of regulatory inputs. From several previous studies, catecholamines have been suggested to exert an inhibitory influence on leptin production in animals. In the present study, we analyzed leptin levels in relation to catecholamine hypersecretion in 27 human pheochromocytoma patients.

Pheochromocytoma: evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment.

Pheochromocytoma is a catecholamine-producing tumor of the sympathetic nervous system. Signs and symptoms are generally related to catecholamine excess; these include hypertension, sweating, palpitatione, headaches, and anxiety attacks. Abdominal imaging and 24-h urine collection for catecholamines are usually be sufficient for diagnosis.

Synovial non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a human immunodeficiency virus infected patient.

We describe a case of articular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) with malignant lymphoma cells observed in synovial fluid. Bone involvement in NHL is common, but an English language Medline search revealed only 14 reported cases of synovial NHL. Although NHL is a well recognized complication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, this is the first report of synovial NHL in an HIV infected patient.

Management of hereditary pheochromocytoma in von Hippel-Lindau kindreds with partial adrenalectomy.

Purpose: In patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease multiple bilateral adrenal pheochromocytoma can develop, which has traditionally been treated with adrenalectomy. Partial adrenalectomy can preserve normal adrenal function and avoid the morbidity associated with medical adrenal replacement. We demonstrate whether adrenal function could be preserved by partial adrenalectomy in patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease.

Role of nitric oxide in cyclosporine A-induced hypertension.

Cyclosporine A (CsA) is an immunosuppressive agent that also causes hypertension. The effect of CsA on vascular responses was determined in Sprague-Dawley rats and isolated rat aortic rings. Male rats weighing 250 to 300 g were given either CsA (25 mg.