The relationship between experience and mental workload in anaesthetic practice: an observational study.

Mental workload is seen as a key factor in defining performance and expertise in some complex work environments, but there are no validated instruments for assessing mental workload in anaesthesia. We studied the mental workload of 20 anaesthetists of varying levels of experience, during five routine cases each, by measuring the delay in their responses to a frequently, but randomly, administered vibrotactile stimulus as a secondary task. We delivered, and recorded response times for, 6096 stimuli, with a median (range) of 55.

Integrated DNA, cDNA, and protein studies in Becker muscular dystrophy show high exception to the reading frame rule.

Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is a milder form of X-linked Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Here, we report a study of 75 patients with immunoblot and/or immunostaining findings of muscle biopsy consistent with BMD (abnormal dystrophin). We utilized multiplex ligation dependent probe amplification (MLPA) on genomic DNA (gDNA) to screen all 79 exons for both deletions and duplications.

A concise history of the cancer and leukemia group B.

A formal National Cancer Institute Clinical Trials Cooperative Group Program was conceived in 1955 when Dr. Sidney Farber, Mary Lasker, and others approached Congress with a proposal to increase support for studies of chemotherapy of cancer. In response, Congress awarded US $5 million to the National Cancer Institute to establish the Chemotherapy National Service Center.

Early onset of inflammation and later involvement of TGFbeta in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Objective: To identify stage-specific induction of molecular pathology pathways in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

Methods: We performed mRNA profiling using muscles from fetopsies, infants (aged 8 to 10 months), and symptomatic patients (aged 5 to 12 years) with DMD, and age- and sex-matched controls. We performed immunohistochemistry to determine changes at the protein level and protein localization.

Differential synaptic processing separates stationary from transient inputs to the auditory cortex.

Sound features are blended together en route to the central nervous system before being discriminated for further processing by the cortical synaptic network. The mechanisms underlying this synaptic processing, however, are largely unexplored. Intracortical processing of the auditory signal was investigated by simultaneously recording from pairs of connected principal neurons in layer II/III in slices from A1 auditory cortex.

Interaction between delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and indomethacin.

The effect of indomethacin on the Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta9-THC)-induced fall in rabbit intraocular pressure (IOP) was determined. A 2% suspension of indomethacin was given topically 1 h before intravenous injection of Delta9-THC. IOP was measured hourly and was compared between groups receiving either Delta9-THC alone or Delta9-THC plus indomethacin.

Influence of dehydroepiandrosterone on rabbit intraocular pressure.

Purpose: The systemic concentration of dehydroepiandrosterone decreases with age in primates while in humans intraocular pressure (IOP) increases with aging. This study was designed to investigate if a relationship existed between dehydroepiandrosterone and IOP in pigmented rabbits.

Methods: Animals were treated unilaterally for 6 weeks with topical 3% dehydroepiandrosterone in 30% 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin; the contralateral eye received vehicle alone.

Safety and efficacy of using a single agent or a phase II agent before instituting standard combination chemotherapy in previously untreated metastatic breast cancer patients: report of a randomized study--Cancer and Leukemia Group B 8642.

Purpose: We undertook a prospective, randomized phase III trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of using a phase II agent before initiating therapy with standard combination chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer patients.

Patients And Methods: A total of 365 women with measurable metastatic breast cancer, previously untreated with chemotherapy for their metastatic disease, were randomized to receive either immediate chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and fluorouracil (CAF) or up to four cycles of one of five sequential cohorts of single-agent drugs: trimetrexate, melphalan, amonafide, carboplatin, or elsamitrucin, followed by CAF.

Results: The toxicity of each single agent followed by CAF was comparable to that of CAF alone.

Intensive postremission chemotherapy in adults with acute myeloid leukemia. Cancer and Leukemia Group B.

Background: About 65 percent of previously untreated adults with primary acute myeloid leukemia (AML) enter complete remission when treated with cytarabine and an anthracycline. However, such responses are rarely durable when conventional postremission therapy is administered. Uncontrolled trials have suggested that intensive postremission therapy may prolong these complete remissions.

Acute leukemia and residential proximity to potential sources of environmental pollutants.

Possible associations between location of residence and acute leukemia risk were investigated in a study of 610 newly diagnosed patients, aged 18-79 y, and 618 population controls. There was an association between ever living within 5 miles (8 km) of an industrial plant and leukemia risk, with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of 1.4 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 1.

A successful system of scientific data audits for clinical trials. A report from the Cancer and Leukemia Group B.

Objective: To report on data collected during on-site audits of source documents in the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB).

Design: A retrospective review of audit reports in four audit cycles.

Setting: A cooperative group of institutions conducting clinical trials in cancer treatment.

A randomized clinical trial comparing melphalan/prednisone with or without interferon alfa-2b in newly diagnosed patients with multiple myeloma: a Cancer and Leukemia Group B study.

Purpose: This clinical trial was designed to compare the effectiveness of the standard melphalan and prednisone regimen to that of melphalan, prednisone, and interferon in patients with untreated multiple myeloma.

Patients And Methods: Between October 1985 and March 1988, 278 patients were accrued to a multi-institutional, randomized clinical trial. Responding patients were treated for 2 years before termination of therapy.

ras oncogene activation and occupational exposures in acute myeloid leukemia.

Background: Epidemiologic studies of acute myeloid leukemias (AMLs) show small increases in risk of disease associated with certain occupations and chemical exposures.

Purpose: This study was designed to determine whether the presence of mutationally activated ras oncogenes in AML are associated with occupational and chemical exposures.

Methods: We interviewed 62 patients with newly diagnosed AML (or their next-of-kin), all of whom were enrolled in a national multicenter clinical trial, and 630 healthy control subjects.

Mood and clinical status in patients with multiple myeloma.

Two hundred ninety patients with a recent diagnosis of multiple myeloma were studied psychologically at the time of initial treatment. Physician- and patient-completed psychosocial scales were correlated with physical variables used to measure tumor load and physical status. A logistic regression model was used to analyze objective response to treatment.

A comparative study of two different doses of cytarabine for acute myeloid leukemia: a phase III trial of Cancer and Leukemia Group B.

Between 1982 and 1986, 326 evaluable patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were randomized to receive cytarabine (Ara-C) at 200 mg/m2 (A200) or 100 mg/m2 (A100) for induction and maintenance therapy. Cycle 1 of induction therapy consisted of 7 days of continuous intravenous (IV) Ara-C and 3 days of i.v.

Pentostatin in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: a phase II trial of Cancer and Leukemia group B.

We conducted a phase II trial of deoxycoformycin (pentostatin [DCF]) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Eligibility criteria included age greater than 18 years, Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) performance status 0 to 2, lymphocyte count greater than or equal to 15,000 cells/microL, international stage B or C disease (multiple lymph nodes involved and/or hemoglobin [Hgb] less than 11 g and/or platelets less than 100,000/microL) and no more than one prior treatment regimen. DCF dose was 4 mg/m2 intravenously (IV) weekly for 3 weeks and then every 2 weeks.

Phase II trial of amsacrine in patients with multiple myeloma.

Seventy-four previously treated patients with multiple myeloma were treated with Amsacrine (m-AMSA) 120 mg/m2 every 3 weeks. A good response was observed in two patients (3%), and improvement was seen in three patients (4%). Severe toxicity was observed in 33% of patients who received three or more courses of treatment.

Inhibitory effect of disodium EDTA upon the growth of Staphylococcus epidermidis in vitro: relation to infection prophylaxis of Hickman catheters.

Granulocytopenic patients with an intravascular catheter are at increased risk for infection with Staphylococcus epidermidis. During the intervals when the catheters are not being used for infusions, it is customary to maintain patency of the catheter lumen with a solution containing heparin. We show that heparin does not inhibit the growth of S.

Melphalan and prednisone plus total bone marrow irradiation as initial treatment for multiple myeloma.

Patients who have received radiation to localized areas of marrow eventually regenerate marrow in the irradiated area, if the dose is 2,400 centigrays (cGy) or less. This trial was designed to deliver a radiation dose of 1500 cGy to all marrow containing sites in patients with multiple myeloma, a technique we refer to as total bone marrow irradiation, or TBMI. Patients with previously untreated myeloma received 12 weeks of melphalan (L-PAM) and prednisone (pred) therapy.