Shiftwork, helplessness and depression.

Forty-three student nurses undertaking shiftwork for the first time participated in a study which tracked their perceptions of altered neurovegetative function, perceived criticism from others, sense of purpose and control and psychosomatic complaints. It was found that this first ever episode of shiftwork produced marked changes in all of the above. These findings have implications for circadian rhythm hypotheses of depression as well as for the methodology of future studies on cognitive or psychosocial variables in depression.

Circadian rhythms and masking: an overview.

Masking, as is well known, enables an organism to act immediately and in an appropriate way to changes of the environment, integrating with internally produced rhythmicity. It now appears that masking can be used to cover a far wider range of problems than was originally intended. To separate masking effects from the effects due to an internal oscillator, several techniques have been used.

Congenital abnormalities in children with cancer and their relatives: results from a case-control study (IRESCC).

Several studies have revealed an excess of malformations in children with certain malignancies. A few environmental causes have been identified which may damage the foetus and lead to malformation and cancer. However, most of the numerous recognised cancer/malformation syndromes are genetically determined.

Discussing sexual concerns with health care professionals: positive attitudes in healthy subjects.

Sexuality is an important part of human health and should be addressed in numerous aspects of nursing care. Many nurses have difficulty providing patients with care in the area of sexuality, however, and usually do not address sexual concerns unless the patient asks specific questions. This study explored the attitudes of healthy individuals toward physicians and nurses discussing sexual concerns with clients.

Separating the endogenous and exogenous components of the circadian rhythm of body temperature during night work using some 'purification' models.

Ten nurses have been studied for a period of about ten days during which they had rest days and between two and seven successive night shifts. Rectal temperature and wrist movement were monitored throughout, and the nurses kept an activity log. The process of adjustment to night work was assessed by comparing shifts in body temperature with those in mid-sleep, using the mean of the values during rest days as a control in both cases.

A FORTRAN program for the statistical analysis of incomplete time series data sets by a method of partition.

A program written in FORTRAN-77 which executes an analysis for periodicity of a time series data set is presented. Time series analysis now has applicability and use in a wide range of biomedical studies. The analytical method termed here a method of partition is derived from periodogram analysis, but uses the principle of analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Hyperinflation, trapped gas and theophylline in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Assessment of patients with chronic airflow limitation traditionally involves the measurement of airway obstruction by forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC), as well as hyperinflation by residual volume (RV). Patients often claim reduction of breathlessness during theophylline therapy, without change of spirometry. In severe airflow limitation there is often a difference in lung volumes measured by helium dilution and plethysmography.

Dissecting circadian performance rhythms: implications for shiftwork.

Safety on shift systems will depend, at least in part, on the adjustment of shiftworkers' circadian (c.24h) rhythms in performance capabilities which will in turn depend on their underlying control. In the present study three volunteers lived on a 30h 'day' and performed a range of tasks every 2h (while awake) to allow estimates of the relative magnitude of the endogenous (body clock) and exogenous (masking) components of their rhythms to be made.

A comparison of circadian rhythms in work performance between physically active and inactive subjects.

This study compared circadian rhythms in physiological, subjective, and performance measures between groups exhibiting different levels of habitual physical activity. Fourteen male subjects, aged 19-29 years, were assigned to a physically active (group I, n = 7) or a physically inactive (group II, n = 7) group on the basis of leisure-time physical activity. Rectal temperature, oral temperature, resting pulse rate, subjective arousal and sleepiness were measured at 02:00, 06:00, 10:00, 14:00, 18:00 and 22:00 in a counter-balanced sequence for each subject.

The Epping jaundice outbreak: a 24 year follow up.

Study Objective: The aim was to trace 84 cases of jaundice that occurred following accidental ingestion of methylene dianiline (MDA) in Epping in 1965, and to look at long term health effects.

Design: The original case notes of the cases were used to identify the patients. Subsequent tracing procedures included local general practitioners, the Central NHS Registry, electoral rolls, and company records.

Skin temperature and heart rate rhythms in infants of extreme prematurity.

Nine preterm infants of 26 to 29 weeks' gestational age and 792 to 1200 g birth weight spent six to 17 weeks in our neonatal medical unit. Hourly recordings of skin temperature and heart rate were carried out. The first five to 15 weeks were spent in the intensive care ward, in continuous light, due to various medical conditions.

Amines in the marking fluid and anal sac secretion of the tiger, Panthera tigris.

Analysis of the marking fluid of two tigers (one Bengal and one Sumatran) by GC using an amine-specific column and a nitrogen-specific detector has shown the presence of the following amines: ammonia, methylamine, dimethylamine, trimethylamine, triethylamine, propylamine, and butane-1,4-diamine (putrescine). In contrast to previously published reports, we were unable to detect 2-phenylethylamine. The anal sac secretion was found to have a similar amine content.

A light, transmission and scanning electron microscope study of snuff-treated hamster cheek pouch epithelium.

The effects of smokeless tobacco (snuff) on hamster cheek mucosa were studied by light microscopy, transmission (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Two grams of commercially available smokeless tobacco were placed into the blind end of the right cheek pouch of each experimental animal, once a day and five days a week for 24 months. The control animals did not receive smokeless tobacco.

Sleep on a shortening day/night schedule.

In 2 experiments subjects were exposed for 3.5 weeks to a gradually (0.2 h/day initially) shortening day/night cycle, ending at 22.

West Midlands Oncology Association trial of adjuvant chemotherapy in node-negative breast cancer.

Between 1976 and 1984, 574 patients with operable breast cancer and histologically negative axillary lymph nodes were randomly assigned after mastectomy to receive either no further treatment or chemotherapy with oral LMF (fluorouracil, 500 mg, methotrexate, 25 mg, and chlorambucil, 10 mg, on day 1; fluorouracil, 500 mg, and chlorambucil, 10 mg, on day 2). There is no overall survival or relapse-free survival benefit at a median follow-up of 10 years and 8 years, respectively. There are significantly more local relapses in the control group (P less than .

Investigating the endogenous component of human circadian rhythms: a review of some simple alternatives to constant routines.

Several types of constant routine are accepted as an important means by which the endogenous component of circadian rhythms can be studied. Nevertheless, they are impracticable to perform and unsuitable for routine use in many individuals. We describe a group of simple methods with which rhythms measured in normal circumstances can be dissociated into the components due to masking and the internal clock.

Comparative assessment of a new breath-actuated inhaler in patients with reversible airways obstruction.

Twenty-five patients with reversible airways obstruction inhaled salbutamol (200 micrograms) from the standard press and breathe-metered dose inhaler or a new breath-actuated metered dose inhaler (Aerolin in the Autohaler inhalation device; 3M Health Care Ltd.) in a single dose, double-blind, double-dummy, 2-period, cross-over study. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s, forced vital capacity and peak expiratory flow rate were measured in the 4-hour period after inhalation.

Interphase nucleolar organiser regions and survival in squamous cell carcinoma of the bronchus: a 10 year follow up study of 138 cases.

Background: Good prognostic indicators for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung would help to determine the most appropriate treatment for individual patients.

Methods: A silver colloid technique that shows interphase nucleolar organiser regions (AgNORs) has been applied to representative paraffin sections from 138 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the bronchus treated by surgical resection of the primary tumour at East Birmingham Hospital in 1977. Of the 138 patients, 23 (17%) were alive 10 years after their operation.

A human phase-response curve to light.

Using 'classical' experimental protocols, a human phase-response curve (PRC) to a single 3-h bright light pulse has been established. When the light pulse was centred slightly before the time of body temperature minimum, the circadian system delayed, whilst a pulse slightly after the minimum advanced it. Maximum phase shifts were about 2 h.

Changes in atrial natriuretic peptide concentrations during intravenous saline infusion in hypoxic cor pulmonale.

Background: The pathogenesis of oedema in hypoxic cor pulmonale is poorly understood. One possibility is a failure of atrial natriuretic peptide release, leading to salt and water retention. This hypothesis was tested by observing the response to an intravenous saline challenge in patients with and without cor pulmonale.

Cardiovascular autonomic nerve function in patients with hypoxaemic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Intraneural hypoxaemia is recognized as a pathogenic mechanism in diabetic neuropathy. A similar pathophysiological process may occur in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Autonomic neuropathy is not recognized in COPD.

The development of ultradian and circadian rhythms in premature babies maintained in constant conditions.

Twenty very premature babies, born at 24-29 weeks gestation, have been studied while they were maintained in intensive care with continuous intravenous feeding and constant ambient lighting and temperature. Hourly records of insulated skin temperature and heart rate were made for a continuous period of 6-17 weeks, always starting the recording within 24 h of birth. The development of rhythms within the ultradian, circadian and infradian domains was sought by methods including maximum entropy spectral analysis and autocorrelation.