Measuring the working experience of doctors in training.

Using an online tool, we report the association between tasks and 'affect' (underlying experience of feeling, emotion or mood) among 565 doctors in training, how positive and negative emotional intensity are associated with time of day, the extent to which positive affect is associated with breaks, and consideration about leaving the profession. Respondents spent approximately 25% of their day on paperwork or clinical work that did not involve patients, resulting in more negative emotions. Positive emotions were expressed for breaks, staff meetings, research, learning and clinical tasks that involved patients.

Phase II randomized trial of carboplatin and gemcitabine with or without dexamethasone pre-treatment in patients with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: Pre-clinical and early-phase clinical studies have demonstrated that dexamethasone (DEX) administration prior to chemotherapy reduces toxicity and enhances efficacy in the treatment of cancer. We undertook a randomized, phase II multi-institutional trial to evaluate these effects in patients with Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer.

Methods: Patients were treated with carboplatin on day 1 and gemcitabine on days 1 and 8 every 21 days, for up to 6 cycles.

Pilot study of 1650-G: a simplified cellular vaccine for lung cancer.

Introduction: Cancer immunotherapy is a conceptually attractive since it is highly specific and can deal with disseminated disease with minimal impact on normal tissues. Early phase clinical trials have well established the ability of a variety of immunotherapeutic approaches to induce antigen specific immune responses in lung cancer patients. Although no immunotherapy is likely to be a panacea, recent data from randomized phase IIB studies offer promise of therapeutic activity in both early and late stage lung cancer.

Purification of prostaglandin D synthase by ceramic- and size exclusion chromatography.

Prostaglandin D synthase (L-PGDS) is a major glycosylated polypeptide in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The overexpression of L-PGDS in inflamed bovine mammary glands indicates its role as biomarker. No diagnostic tool for the quantitative detection of L-PGDS in cows has been reported.

Improved purification of beta-lactoglobulin from acid whey by means of ceramic hydroxyapatite chromatography with sodium fluoride as a displacer.

The successful separation of beta-lactoglobulin from other bovine whey proteins was performed by ceramic hydroxyapatite chromatography with a fluoride ion gradient in phosphate buffer as displacement agent. The method was applied to acid whey originating from milk of healthy as well as of mastitic cows. beta-Lactoglobulin was completely eluted in one peak at a fluoride concentration of about 0.

Lipocalin-type prostaglandin D synthase in milk: a new biomarker for bovine mastitis.

The whey protein pattern of milk from animals affected by mastitic inflammation was resolved by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) and compared to milk from unaffected cows. Inflammation caused the appearance of four spots aligned at a molecular weight level of 26 kDa and over a pH-region of 5.0 to 6.

Recurrent chondrosarcoma of the cranial base: a durable response to ifosfamide-doxorubicin chemotherapy.

The case of a 46-year old woman with recurrent chondrosarcoma of the cranial base, refractory to neurosurgical intervention and external radiotherapy is reported. She received five cycles of systemic chemotherapy utilizing ifosfamide and doxorubicin which resulted in a durable clinical and radiographic response lasting 52+ months. A review of the management options for recurrent chondrosarcoma of the cranial base is also presented.

Alternating irradiation and chemotherapy in stage III A and B nonsmall cell lung cancer: report of a cancer and Leukemia Group B phase II study 8636.

Purpose: A pilot trial testing the feasibility of chemotherapy and radiotherapy was done in Stage III A and B nonsmall cell lung cancer. The schedule was designed to be consistent with the laboratory model of Looney and Hopkins.

Methods And Materials: Treatment began with thrice-per-day radiotherapy for 3 days (16.

Macrophage-dependent stimulation of T cell-depleted spleen cells by Clostridium difficile toxin A and calcium ionophore.

Clostridium difficile toxin A causes severe intestinal inflammation and fluid secretion in rabbit ileum and is chemotactic for neutrophils in vitro. The mechanism of intestinal injury produced by toxin A appears to involve direct epithelial cell damage as well as recruitment of an inflammatory cell response. The current study was undertaken to determine if toxin A can directly stimulate a proliferative response in lymphocytes.

Cytochalasin induces an increase in cytosolic free calcium in murine B lymphocytes.

Cytochalasin promotes the progression of anti-immunoglobulin-treated B lymphocytes to S phase. However, the intracellular events induced by cytochalasin which may mediate signaling for progression have not been elucidated. In this study, the effect of cytochalasin on the level of intracellular free calcium in murine splenic B lymphocytes was assessed by using the fluorescent calcium indicator Indo-1.

Inhibition by phorbol esters of antiimmunoglobulin-induced calcium signalling and B-cell activation.

The inhibitory effect of phorbol dibutyrate (PDB) on B-cell stimulation was evaluated using a model in which activation is induced by modest doses of antiimmunoglobulin antibody (anti-Ig) and progression to DNA synthesis is induced by cytochalasin. PDB preferentially inhibited anti-Ig-induced activation and did so during brief (2 hr) preincubation with anti-Ig. Activation was inhibited whether PDB was added before or shortly after anti-Ig.

Stimulation of murine B cells by the combination of calcium ionophore plus phorbol ester.

The ability of calcium ionophore and phorbol ester to stimulate entry into S phase was assessed during short-term cultures of murine B cells extensively depleted of T cells. Neither ionomycin alone nor PMA alone stimulated DNA synthesis. However, the combination of ionomycin plus PMA acted in synergy to induce initiation of DNA synthesis in murine B cells.

Effects of anti-IgM on mitogen-induced proliferation of human B-lymphocyte malignancies.

Therapeutic trials of anti-immunoglobulin antibody have produced a wide range of responses in attempts to control the growth of human B lymphoid neoplasms. This variability might reflect differences in intrinsic functional characteristics of malignant B lymphocytes that determine susceptibility to anti-immunoglobulin-mediated regulation of growth. To characterize B-lymphocyte malignancies, tissue samples from 24 patients were studied during short-term culture in vitro.

[Verification of smoking habits in group studies by anamnesis or determination of serum thiocyanate level?].

In an unselected series of 336 patients of our clinic for occupational diseases a standardized questionnaire on respiratory symptoms and measurements of lung function (spirometry, body plethysmography, flow-volume-curve) were used to study the relations of these results to smoking habits evaluated by questionnaire or thiocyanate level. Statistical elaboration revealed closer connections between anamnestic data on smoking habits and respiratory impairment than between the latter and thiocyanate level. In conclusion anamnestic data on smoking habits are more reliable than thiocyanate measurements in occupational field studies.

Proliferation of human malignant lymphocytes induced by anti-IgM independent of B cell growth factor.

Human malignant B lymphocytes were identified that proliferate in response to small doses of anti-immunoglobulin. Proliferation was induced by monoclonal mouse anti-HIgM, polyclonal goat anti-HIgM, and F(ab')2 fragments thereof, in vitro, and was not accompanied by immunoglobulin secretion. Proliferation was found to be unaffected by T cell depletion and was not enhanced by supplementation with B cell growth factor.

Use of small group with chronically ill children.

Using small groups with elementary school children is a valuable tool for dealing with the physical, social and emotional aspects of chronic disease. The self-esteem of the participants was improved and a means of providing peer support developed. Also, this particular format helped the children talk about their diseases, their feelings and encouraged them to talk with their parents.