Bright, coherent, ultrafast soft X-ray harmonics spanning the water window from a tabletop light source

We demonstrate fully phase-matched high harmonic emission spanning the water window spectral region important for nano- and bioimaging and a breadth of materials and molecular dynamics studies. We also generate the broadest bright coherent bandwidth (≈300  eV) to date from any light source, small or large, that is consistent with a single subfemtosecond burst. The harmonic photon flux at 0.5 keV is 10³ higher than demonstrated previously. This work extends bright, spatially coherent, attosecond pulses into the soft x-ray region for the first time.

Understanding physicians' intentions to withdraw from practice: the role of job satisfaction, job stress, mental and physical health

Health care organizations may incur high costs due to a stressed, dissatisfied physician workforce. This study proposes and tests a model relating job stress to four intentions to withdraw from practice mediated by job satisfaction and perceptions of physical and mental health.

The MacArthur Foundation Depression Education Program for Primary Care Physicians: background and rationale

In order to improve the assessment and management of depression in general medical care, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supported the development, evaluation, and dissemination of an eight-hour depression education program (DEP) for primary care physicians. This publication includes a paper describing the background and educational rationale for the program structure, the complete participant's workbook, and a facilitator's guide for teaching the program. Given in two separate four-hour workshops by a psychiatrist and a primary care physician, DEP is delivered to small groups of learners (about 12) using an interactive adult learning model and multiple teaching techniques including targeted yet flexible objectives, two lectures, videotape demonstration and discussion, role-play exercises, a focused monograph on depression, an interview checklist, structured assessment and outcomes tools, clinical case studies, and audiotape review of actual patient interviews. DEP has been shown in a prospective randomized trial to improve physicians' interview-ing skills as well as simulated-patient satisfaction scores. Over 150 PCPs in four states have taken DEP in more than 30 separate programs given by 24 trained facilitators. Participants, despite a wide diversity of background knowledge and skills, have uniformly reported remarkably positive learner satisfaction with all dimensions of the Program.

Managed care, time pressure, and physician job satisfaction: results from the physician worklife study

OBJECTIVE

To assess the association between HMO practice, time pressure, and physician job satisfaction.

DESIGN

National random stratified sample of 5,704 primary care and specialty physicians in the United States. Surveys contained 150 items reflecting 10 facets (components) of satisfaction in addition to global satisfaction with current job, one's career and one's specialty. Linear regression-modeled satisfaction (on 1-5 scale) as a function of specialty, practice setting (solo, small group, large group, academic, or HMO), gender, ethnicity, full-time versus part-time status, and time pressure during office visits. "HMO physicians" (9% of total) were those in group or staff model HMOs with > 50% of patients capitated or in managed care.

RESULTS

Of the 2,326 respondents, 735 (32%) were female, 607 (26%) were minority (adjusted response rate 52%). HMO physicians reported significantly higher satisfaction with autonomy and administrative issues when compared with other practice types (moderate to large effect sizes). However, physicians in many other practice settings averaged higher satisfaction than HMO physicians with resources and relationships with staff and community (small to moderate effect sizes). Small and large group practice and academic physicians had higher global job satisfaction scores than HMO physicians (P <.05), and private practice physicians had quarter to half the odds of HMO physicians of intending to leave their current practice within 2 years (P <.05). Time pressure detracted from satisfaction in 7 of 10 satisfaction facets (P <.05) and from job, career, and specialty satisfaction (P <.01). Time allotted for new patients in HMOs (31 min) was less than that allotted in solo (39 min) and academic practices (44 min), while 83% of family physicians in HMOs felt they needed more time than allotted for new patients versus 54% of family physicians in small group practices (P <.05 after Bonferroni's correction).

CONCLUSIONS

HMO physicians are generally less satisfied with their jobs and more likely to intend to leave their practices than physicians in many other practice settings. Our data suggest that HMO physicians' satisfaction with staff, community, resources, and the duration of new patient visits should be assessed and optimized. Whether providing more time for patient encounters would improve job satisfaction in HMOs or other practice settings remains to be determined.

Measuring physician job satisfaction in a changing workplace and a challenging environment. SGIM Career Satisfaction Study Group. Society of General Internal Medicine

BACKGROUND

Changes in the demographic, specialty, and employment sector composition of medicine have altered physicians' jobs, limiting autonomy and reducing morale. Because physician job satisfaction has been linked to clinical variables, better measurement might help to ameliorate conditions linked to medical disaffection, possibly improving health care.

OBJECTIVE

To document conceptual development, item construction, and use of content experts in designing multidimensional measures of physician job satisfaction and global satisfaction scales for assessing physicians' job perceptions across settings and specialties.

DESIGN

Using previous research, physician focus groups, secondary analysis of survey data, interviews with physician informants, and a multispecialty physician expert panel, distinct job facets and statements representing those facets were developed.

RESULTS

Facets from previously validated instruments included autonomy, relationships with colleagues, relationships with patients, relationships with staff, pay, resources, and status. New facets included intrinsic satisfaction, free time away from work, administrative support, and community involvement. Physician status items were reconfigured into relationships with peers, patients, staff, and community, yielding 10 hypothetical facets. Global scales and items were developed representing satisfaction with job, career, and specialty.

CONCLUSIONS

A comprehensive approach to assessing physician job satisfaction yielded 10 facets, some of which had not been previously identified, and generated a matching pool of items for subsequent use in field tests.

Refining the measurement of physician job satisfaction: results from the Physician Worklife Survey. SGIM Career Satisfaction Study Group. Society of General Internal Medicine

BACKGROUND

Physician job satisfaction has been linked to various patient care and health system outcomes. A survey instrument that concisely measures physicians' satisfaction with various job facets can help diverse stake-holders to better understand and manage these outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

To document the development and validation of a multidimensional physician job satisfaction measure and separate global satisfaction measures.

DESIGN

Self-administered questionnaire: Physician Worklife Survey (PWS).

SUBJECTS

A pilot study employed a national American Medical Association Masterfile sample of US primary care physicians and random samples from four states. Responses (n = 835; 55% return rate) were randomly assigned to developmental (n = 560) or cross-validation (n = 275) samples. A national sample (n = 2,325; 52% response rate) of physicians was used in a subsequent validation study.

RESULTS

A 38-item, 10-facet satisfaction measure resulting from factor and reliability analyses of 70 pilot items was further reduced to 36 items. Reliabilities of the 10 facets ranged from .65 to .77. Three scales measuring global job, career, and specialty satisfaction were also constructed with reliabilities from .84 to .88. Results supported face, content, convergent, and discriminant validity of the measures.

CONCLUSIONS

Physician job satisfaction is a complex phenomenon that can be measured using the PWS.

Physician intention to recommend complete diagnostic evaluation in colorectal cancer screening

Primary care physicians (PCPs) often do not recommend complete diagnostic evaluation (CDE; i.e., diagnostic colonoscopy or the combination of flexible sigmoidoscopy and barium enema X-ray procedures) for patients with an abnormal screening fecal occult blood test (FOBT+) result. Information is needed to understand why PCPs do not recommend CDE. In the spring of 1994, a telephone survey was carried out using a random sample of 520 PCPs in Pennsylvania or New Jersey who had patients that were targeted for an FOBT screening program. Survey data were obtained from 363 (70%) PCPs on physician practice characteristics; personal background; perceptions concerning FOBT screening, CDE performance, and patient behavior; social influence related to CDE; and intention to recommend CDE for FOBT+ patients. Physician CDE intention scores were distributed as follows: low (22%), moderate (51%), and high (27%). Multivariate analyses demonstrate that physician board certification status, time in practice, belief in CDE efficacy, and belief that CDE is standard practice were positively associated with CDE intention, whereas concern about CDE-related costs was negatively associated with CDE intention. Among physicians in larger practices, perceived FOBT screening efficacy was negatively associated with CDE intention, and belief in the benefit of CDE was positively associated with outcome. There is substantial variability in CDE intention among PCPs. Physician perceptions about FOBT screening and follow-up are associated with CDE intention, are likely to influence CDE performance, and may be amenable to educational intervention. Additional research is needed to evaluate the impact of educational interventions on CDE intention and performance.

Physician job satisfaction: developing a model using qualitative data. SGIM Career Satisfaction Study Group

The purpose of this study was to develop a current and comprehensive model of physician job satisfaction. Information was gathered by (1) analysis of open-ended responses from a large group practice physician survey in 1988, and (2) analysis of focus group data of diverse physician subgroups from 1995. Participants were 302 physicians from large-group practices and 26 participants in six focus groups of HMO, women, minority, and inner-city physicians. Data were used to develop a comprehensive model of physician job satisfaction. The large group practice survey data supported the key importance of day-to-day practice environment and relationships with patients and physician peers. Future concerns focused on the effect of managed care on the physician-patient relationship and the ability of physicians to provide quality care. Focus groups provided contemporary data on physician job satisfaction, reinforcing the centrality of relationships as well as special issues for diverse physician subgroups of practicing physicians. New variables that relate to physician job satisfaction have emerged from economic and organizational changes in medicine and from increasing heterogeneity of physicians with respect to gender, ethnicity, and type of practice. A more comprehensive model of physician job satisfaction may enable individual physicians and health care organizations to better understand and improve physician work life.

The paternal inheritance of the centrosome, the cell's microtubule-organizing center, in humans, and the implications for infertility

Successful fertilization in humans, achieved when parental chromosomes intermix at first mitosis, requires centrosome restoration and microtubule-mediated motility. Imaging of inseminated human oocytes reveals that the sperm introduces the centrosome. The centrosome then nucleates the new microtubule assembly to form the sperm aster--a step essential for successful fertilization. Oocytes from some infertile patients failed to complete fertilization because of defects in uniting the sperm and egg nuclei, indicating that failure to properly effect the cytoplasmic motions uniting the nuclei results in human infertility. These discoveries have important implications for infertility diagnosis and managing reproduction.

Legislative efforts affecting the reproductive biology laboratory

Legislative initiatives recently enacted in the USA will affect daily operations in the reproductive biology laboratory. These regulations affect laboratory safety, staffing, quality assurance, and record keeping. They mandate laboratory accreditation including certification, inspection, and proficiency testing. Laboratory standards of practice and costs of operation may be increased with mandatory compliance.

Comparison of the hamster sperm motility assay to the mouse one-cell and two-cell embryo bioassays as quality control tests for in vitro fertilization

The hamster sperm motility assay, mouse one-cell embryo, and mouse two-cell embryo bioassays were used to test modified Tyrode's solution and modified Ham's F-10 (Gibco, Grand Island, NY) medium prepared in tap water versus ultrapure water. Factors influencing the ability of each assay to discriminate water quality were evaluated to characterize these assays for quality control use in the in vitro fertilization laboratory. The hamster sperm motility assay reproducibly detected differences in treatment without significant interanimal, interanalyst, or interassay variation. Interanalyst and interanimal variation significantly affected the ability to detect treatment differences using the mouse bioassays. Sample sizes needed to predict clinically significant treatment effects were calculated using varying assay conditions. Ham's F-10 medium can be tested with the hamster sperm motility assay.

Quality control in the in vitro fertilization laboratory: comparison of bioassay systems for water quality

Three mouse embryo bioassays [mouse one-cell and two-cell embryos and in vitro fertilization (IVF)] were tested for their ability to discriminate between three sources of water for medium preparation: tap water, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-grade water, and Milli-Q purified water. No differences could be detected using these assays. The lack of sensitivity of the mouse bioassays could not be attributed to the protein source or medium type. The hamster sperm motility assay (HSMA) permitted quantitative discrimination between water sources (Milli-Q greater than HPLC greater than tap). Media prepared for use in human IVF using water that exceeded minimal HSMA quality standards resulted in pregnancy rates that were greater than those attained with a lot of HPLC water that did not meet these standards. The HSMA can serve as a basis for a quality-control program in the human IVF laboratory.

The use of a mobile laboratory cart in a successful university-based human in vitro fertilization program

The use of a mobile laboratory unit for a successful university-based IVF program is described. The construction of the cart is described in detail. The laboratory cart can be pushed to any site where ovum aspiration is carried out (either operating theater or ultrasound facilities). Aspirated oocytes can be transferred immediately to culture media and transported back to the gamete handling laboratory for embryo culture. Developing embryos can also be transported to any location in the hospital for transfer. This system is inexpensive and has eliminated the need to duplicate specialized equipment for a gamete handling laboratory adjacent to the operating room. New construction charges have been eliminated; and as new egg retrieval methodologies are developed, the use of the mobile laboratory cart will provide our IVF program with maximum flexibility in changing sites within the hospital. Used in conjunction with an extensive quality control program, this modification has not interfered with oocyte fertilizability or with the overall pregnancy rate in the University of Wisconsin IVF program.

Two direct radioimmunoassays for 17 beta-estradiol evaluated for use in monitoring in vitro fertilization

Two direct 125I radioimmunoassays for 17 beta-estradiol were evaluated by comparing results with those obtained by a comparison RIA involving extraction and chromatography (x) and with ultrasound parameters of ovarian activity. The correlation coefficients (R2) for the Immuchem Covalent-Coat Solid Phase 125I results (y1) and the Pantex Immuno-direct results (y2) with the comparison method results were 0.56 and 0.96, respectively, after log transformation of data (N = 42). Similar differences were observed in the correlations with the ultrasound parameters. We also evaluated the untransformed data by linear regression and obtained: y1 = 254 + 0. 410x (R2 = 0.65) and y2 = 48.2 + 0. 749x (R2 = 0.96). Between- and within-assay variations for a serum pool containing 17 beta-estradiol at 1278 pg/mL were respectively 9.0% and 9.4% for Immuchem , 3.3% and 6.7% for Pantex , and 7.3% and 9.4% for the comparison method; for the 267 pg/mL pool, these were 21.8% and 16.6% for Immuchem , 4.7% and 4.6% for Pantex , and 21.2% and 13.1% for the comparison method. Differences in the results obtained with the Pantex method and the comparison method were not clinically significant for monitoring superovulation for in vitro fertilization; the performance of the Immuchem method was less satisfactory.

Two direct radioimmunoassays for 17 beta-estradiol evaluated for use in monitoring in vitro fertilization

Two direct 125I radioimmunoassays for 17 beta-estradiol were evaluated by comparing results with those obtained by a comparison RIA involving extraction and chromatography (x) and with ultrasound parameters of ovarian activity. The correlation coefficients (R2) for the Immuchem Covalent-Coat Solid Phase 125I results (y1) and the Pantex Immuno-direct results (y2) with the comparison method results were 0.56 and 0.96, respectively, after log transformation of data (N = 42). Similar differences were observed in the correlations with the ultrasound parameters. We also evaluated the untransformed data by linear regression and obtained: y1 = 254 + 0. 410x (R2 = 0.65) and y2 = 48.2 + 0. 749x (R2 = 0.96). Between- and within-assay variations for a serum pool containing 17 beta-estradiol at 1278 pg/mL were respectively 9.0% and 9.4% for Immuchem , 3.3% and 6.7% for Pantex , and 7.3% and 9.4% for the comparison method; for the 267 pg/mL pool, these were 21.8% and 16.6% for Immuchem , 4.7% and 4.6% for Pantex , and 21.2% and 13.1% for the comparison method. Differences in the results obtained with the Pantex method and the comparison method were not clinically significant for monitoring superovulation for in vitro fertilization; the performance of the Immuchem method was less satisfactory.

Ethanol inhibits the naloxone-induced release of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone from the hypothalamus of the male rat

It has been inferred that ethanol suppresses the secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH) in the male by depressing the release of LH-releasing hormone (LH-RH) from the hypothalamus. Direct support for this inference has been difficult to obtain, however, because of significant technical difficulties in measuring LH-RH release under in vivo conditions. To circumvent these problems, we made use of the opiate antagonist naloxone, as a neuroendocrine probe, to elicit the release of LH-RH under in vivo conditions. We found that ethanol was a potent suppressor of the increase in serum LH levels evoked by naloxone at extremely low blood ethanol concentrations ( less than 60 mg/dl). Furthermore, we observed that the antagonism between ethanol and naloxone appeared to be competitive in nature since a fixed dose of ethanol (1 g/kg, blood ethanol concentration 60 mg/dl) shifted the naloxone dose-response curve significantly to the right and high doses of the antagonist overcame ethanol's effects. Finally, we found that the interaction between ethanol and naloxone took place at the level of the hypothalamus. Our results, therefore, seem to provide the first in vivo evidence supporting the widely-held hypothesis that ethanol reduces serum LH levels by depressing the hypothalamically-medicated release of LH-RH. The mechanisms underlying ethanol's depression of naloxone-induced increases in the release of LH-RH are not fully understood at this time, but one prominent possibility is that ethanol enhances the synthesis or release of endogenous opioids which in turn override naloxone's effects.

Hydrogenated soybean oil (HSO) as a vehicle for the chronic and controlled administration of testosterone in the orchidectomized rat

The use of a novel vehicle, hydrogenated soybean oil (HSO) for the chronic and controlled release of testosterone (T) in the orchidectomized rat is described. At 60 degrees C, HSO is a liquid in which T is readily soluble. When cooled at approximately 43 degrees C, HSO can be injected into experimental animals without the need of special equipment. At body temperature, the oil forms a solid depot from which T is released over prolonged periods of time. Our studies indicate that a single injection of 5 mg T in HSO in the orchidectomized rat, maintains sex accessory gland weights (AGW) above castrate levels, decreases serum concentrations of LH and maintains serum concentrations of T within the intact range for 10 days after injection. In contrast, these parameters of functional androgenicity are maintained for only three days when T is administered at the same dosage in a conventional oil vehicle. A dose of 15 mg T in HSO maintained serum T concentrations and AGW within intact range for 55 days after injection, but was unable to maintain LH suppression in these castrated animals beyond 14 days after injection.

A specific radioimmunoassay for evaluation of serum antibodies to zona pellucida antigens

A radioimmunoassay procedure has been developed for detecting antibodies to porcine zonae pellucidae antigens using Staphylococcus aureus Protein A cells (Pansorbin) as the immunoadsorbent. This method offers a rapid and reproducible procedure for detecting specific antibodies to zona antigens. The zona antigens detected by antibodies in this assay were found not to cross-react with antigens in 11 other tissues. Immune serum produced against a variety of other antigens, including protein hormones, steroid hormones, porcine serum and red blood cells, did not bind to any zonae components in this assay. This assay is compared with other methods which have been used to detect antibodies to zona antigens and has been found to be more specific than immunofluorescence methods and more sensitive than either immunofluorescence or immunoelectrophoresis methods.