Detached concern and death anxiety of first-year medical students: before and after the gross anatomy course.

The purpose of this study was to gather data from first-year medical students prior to their taking gross anatomy and again at the end of the course to determine if changes occur regarding death anxiety and detached concern toward patients. Chi-square and t-tests were used to assess statistical significance. From the 84 students for whom we had data both prior to and after gross anatomy, only the sociodemographic variable of sex was consistently related to the two dependent variables.

Calculated coupling of electron and proton transfer in the photosynthetic reaction center of Rhodopseudomonas viridis.

Based on new Rhodopseudomonas (Rp.) viridis reaction center (RC) coordinates with a reliable structure of the secondary acceptor quinone (QB) site, a continuum dielectric model and finite difference technique have been used to identify clusters of electrostatically interacting ionizable residues. Twenty-three residues within a distance of 25 A from QB (QB cluster) have been shown to be strongly electrostatically coupled to QB, either directly or indirectly.

Three-dimensional structures of photosynthetic reaction centers.

In this article, the three-dimensional structures of photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs) are presented mainly on the basis of the X-ray crystal structures of the RCs from the purple bacteria Rhodopseudomonas (Rp.) viridis and Rhodobacter (Rb.) sphaeroides.

The relationship of various measures of time urgency to indices of physical health.

The degree of association with two general health indices was assessed for three separate measures of time urgency. The Speed and Impatience subscale of the Jenkins Activity Survey was found to have no significant relationships with the health indices. The Time Urgency/Perpetual Activation (TUPA) scale, as well as the Irritability and Impatience scale, did correlate in comparable ways with a majority of the health indicators.

Influence of medical school applicants' demographic and cognitive characteristics on interviewers' ratings of noncognitive traits.

Background: Interviews are commonly used to measure noncognitive traits of medical school applicants. The present study investigated the influence of knowledge of applicants' cognitive abilities on interviewers' ratings of noncognitive traits.

Method: Academic and demographic predictors of interview ratings of applicants' noncognitive traits were examined at the Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine during two years: 1992, when applicants' Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) total scores and undergraduate grade-point averages (GPAs) were available to interviewers; and 1993, when MCAT and GPA data were not available.

Implementation and evaluation of a computer-based preventive services system.

Background And Objectives: Insufficient attention has been paid to the role that modern information systems can play in improving the delivery of and education about preventive services in family medicine training and practice sites. From September 1990-September 1993, the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina conducted a demonstration project designed to develop, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive, computer-based preventive services delivery and educational system, based on the recommendations in the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Report.

Methods: A computer-based patient record (CPR) system was implemented.

Effective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs devoid of gastrointestinal side effects: do they really exist?

All nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) cause gastrointestinal (GI) side effects. One focus of development was to design new drugs with reduced propensity for GI damage. With aspirin as the prototype, research efforts to develop NSAIDs with the efficacy but not the gastroduodenal damaging effects of aspirin have been partially successful.

Formulation and intestinal absorption enhancement evaluation of water-in-oil microemulsions incorporating medium-chain glycerides.

We developed self-emulsifying water-in-oil (w/o) microemulsions incorporating medium-chain glycerides and measured their conductance, viscosity, refractive index and particle size. Formulation of Calcein (a water-soluble marker molecule, MW = 623), or SK&F 106760 (a water-soluble RGD peptide, MW = 634) in a w/o microemulsion having a composition of Captex 355/Capmul MCM/Tween 80/Aqueous (65/22/10/3, % w/w), resulted in significant bioavailability enhancement in rats relative to their aqueous formulations. Upon intraduodenal administration the bioavailability was enhanced from 2% for Calcein in isotonic Tris, pH 7.

Gender-related subcomponent differences in high type A subjects.

Thirty Type A males and 30 Type A females were administered an expanded version of the Structured Interview designed to assess 11 Type A subcomponents. The purpose was to determine whether males and females follow different subcomponent routes in achieving their Type A status. As predicted, males scored higher than females on two of four anger-related variables.

Characterization of rhoGAP. A GTPase-activating protein for rho-related small GTPases.

GTPase-activating proteins or GAPs play an important role in signal transduction pathways regulated by GTP-binding proteins. In addition to acting as down-regulators of GTPases, there is growing evidence that they also act as effector molecules required for downstream signaling. PLC-beta 1, the target protein regulated by the heterotrimeric GTPase Gq, has been shown to be a GAP, whereas rasGAP, a down-regulator of the small GTPase ras, may be required for the ras-mediated signals.

Survey of family medicine residents evaluation methods.

Background: Family medicine residents are evaluated to ensure mastery of required practice skills by a variety of methods. The objective of this paper is to report the results of a sample of the 394 accredited family practice residencies to determine the evaluation methods used and their corresponding value to the program.

Methods: Questionnaires were sent to program directors and chief residents of all accredited family practice residency programs.

Introducing the Objective Structured Clinical Examination to a family practice residency program.

Background: The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a multiple station examination where examinees are expected to demonstrate mastery of a competency within a specified time at each station. It is commonly used to evaluate medical students and is less often used in residency programs. This paper describes the process of introducing a 12-station OSCE to a university-based family practice residency program.

Using self-evaluation to maintain competence.

This limited study examined differences in pharmacists' competencies through self-assessment. By using self-assessment with specified objectives, pharmacists can target areas for CE programs. Pharmacists can then improve and maintain their competencies in these specific areas.

Effects of cyclofenil diphenol, an agent which disrupts Golgi structure, on proteoglycan synthesis in chondrocytes.

1. Cyclofenil diphenol (F6060), a weak non-steroidal oestrogen, was shown previously to inhibit [35S]proteoglycan synthesis [Mason, Lineham, Phillipson & Black (1984) Biochem. J.

Association between third-year medical students' abilities to organize hypotheses about patients' problems and to order appropriate diagnostic tests.

The authors studied the abilities of three groups of third-year medical students (a total of 310) at two schools to order appropriate diagnostic tests and procedures for four cases studies. Each student was classified as "organized," "mixed," or "non-organized" based on the degree of organization of the approach the student used to list hypotheses for the two cases he or she was assigned. Analysis of variance revealed that the students in the organized and mixed groups spent significantly fewer dollars for inappropriate diagnostic evaluations than did the students in the non-organized group for three of the four cases (p less than .

Mimicking the membrane-mediated conformation of dynorphin A-(1-13)-peptide: circular dichroism and nuclear magnetic resonance studies in methanolic solution.

The structural requirements for the binding of dynorphin to the kappa-opioid receptor are of profound clinical interest in the search for a powerful nonaddictive analgesic. These requirements are thought to be met by the membrane-mediated conformation of the opioid peptide dynorphin A-(1-13)-peptide, Tyr1-Gly2-Gly3-Phe4-Leu5-Arg6-Arg7-Ile8-Arg9-Pro10- Lys11-Leu12-Lys13. Schwyzer has proposed an essentially alpha-helical membrane-mediated conformation of the 13 amino acid peptide [Schwyzer, R.

Gastric cytoprotection by intracisternal interleukin-1 beta in the rat.

The effects of intracisternal (ic) injection of recombinant interleukin-1 beta (IL-1) on absolute ethanol-induced gastric necrotic lesions were studied in conscious rats. IL-1 given ic inhibited ethanol-induced gastric lesions. The cytoprotective effect was dose dependent (ED175 ng/rat), long lasting with a maximal action when given 1-3 h prior to ethanol, blocked by ic injection of a IL-1 receptor antagonist protein (IRAP), and by intraperitoneal injection of indomethacin.

Interleukin-1 is cytoprotective, antisecretory, stimulates PGE2 synthesis by the stomach, and retards gastric emptying.

Human recombinant interleukin 1 beta (IL-1) administered intraperitoneally to rats produced the following gastric effects: 1. It was cytoprotective, preventing gastric mucosal necrosis produced by oral administration of one ml of absolute ethanol to fasted animals. The ED50 was 1200 units/kg (110 ng per animal).

Structure and expression of the human polymorphic epithelial mucin gene: an expressed VNTR unit.

The human polymorphic epithelial mucin (PEM) is expressed apically by glandular epithelium and by the carcinomas that develop from these tissues. Previously isolated cDNA clones revealed that the core protein contained a large domain consisting of variable numbers of 60 bp tandem repeats (TR), making it an expressed minisatellite. We now report the full genomic sequence of the PEM gene, including 803 bp of 5' flanking sequence.

Molecular cloning and expression of human tumor-associated polymorphic epithelial mucin.

Human mammary cells present on the cell surface a polymorphic epithelial mucin (PEM) which is developmentally regulated and aberrantly expressed in tumors. PEM carries tumor-associated epitopes recognized by the monoclonal antibodies HMFG-1, HMFG-2, and SM-3. Previously isolated partial cDNA clones revealed that the core protein contained a large domain consisting of variable numbers of 20-amino acid repeat units.

The relationship between medical students' locus of control and promotion of breast self-examination.

There is general agreement that medical school curricula should involve the teaching of preventive health behaviours. Locus of control is a personality variable that has been associated with health practices and may be associated with tendencies to promote health practices. Few significant relationships have been found correlating health locus of control beliefs with preventive health behaviours.

Family physicians' attitudes toward death and the terminally-ill patient.

Family physicians often experience a continuing relationship with the terminally-ill patient. Like other physicians, they may experience difficulty in these relationships. We surveyed 441 family physicians practicing in South Carolina to determine their personal attitudes toward death, and their feelings and reactions toward terminally-ill patients and their families.