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This paper presents the findings of a study into the factors linked to the job satisfaction and well-being of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers in the Australian resources sector, focusing on geologists. The findings indicate that geologists have high levels of job satisfaction and most appear to have adapted successfully to the demands of the FIFO lifestyle. While a number of studies have raised a range of concerns about the impact of FIFO work arrangements on the health and well-being of FIFO workers, this study provides a more granular examination of factors that may contribute to a greater understanding of the link between job satisfaction and physical and mental health. The main finding from the study was that job satisfaction was high among these early career professionals who are motivated by intrinsic career rewards and who have limited domestic responsibilities. The second major finding was that, although respondents reported good physical and psychological health, a small number were experiencing serious psychological distress.

The overcladdingof Millbank House, Southampton M. Barclay, MA, CEng, FICE, FIStructE, and M. Mason, BSc, CEng, MICE, MIHT An e a r l y p o s t - w a r t o w eblock of 60flats r on 15 f l o o r s w a s s t r u c t u r a l lsound but y becoming expensive to maintain because of poor insulation, leaking windows and m a n y other shortcomings in the nonstructural fabric and cladding...

The possibility that exposure to Agent Orange or phenoxy herbicides may have increased the risk of soft tissue sarcomas has been of genuine concern to Vietnam veterans and their families. A hospital-based case comparison group study was undertaken to examine, through a comprehensive review of medical records and military personnel records, the association between previous military service in Vietnam and soft tissue sarcomas. The case group comprised 234 Vietnam-era veteran patients who served in the US military between 1964 and 1975 and were treated in one of the 172 VA hospitals between 1969 and 1983 with a diagnosis of soft tissue sarcomas. The comparison group consisted of 13,496 patients who were systematically sampled from the same Vietnam-era veteran patient population from which the cases were drawn. Military service information, in particular Vietnam service status, for each case and control patient was obtained from a review of the patient's military personnel records archived at the National Personnel Records Center in St Louis, Missouri. No significant association of soft tissue sarcomas and previous military service in Vietnam was observed odds ratio was 0.83 with a 95 confidence interval of 0.63 to 1.09.

The patterns of mortality among 24,235 US Army and Marine Corps Vietnam veterans were compared with that of 26,685 non-Vietnam veterans using standardized proportional mortality ratios. The veterans were a random sample of deceased Vietnam-era veterans identified in a Veterans Administration computerized benefit file. Military service information was obtained from military personnel records, and cause of death information from death certificates.

Adaptive resistance is a phenomenon recently described for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other gram-negative bacilli following exposure to aminoglycoside antibiotics. It is a reversible form of resistance which develops within 1 to 2 h of initial exposure to an aminoglycoside and disappears several hours after removal of the antibiotic. We investigated adaptive resistance in P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853 following single doses of gentamicin by using a dynamic in vitro model which mimics in vivo pharmacokinetics. The initial peak gentamicin concentrations were 2.5, 8, and 25 mg/liter, and these were followed by an exponential decay in the concentration, with a half-life of 2.5 h. The degree of adaptive resistance was greater and the duration was longer with higher initial gentamicin concentrations. Maximal adaptive resistance occurred between 2 and 10 h following 8 mg/liter and between 2 and 16 h following 25 mg/liter. Full recovery of susceptibility occurred at approximately 36, 39, and 43 h following 2.5, 8, and 25 mg/liter, respectively, at which times the gentamicin concentrations were extremely low. Longer dosing intervals for aminoglycosides may improve efficacy by allowing time for adaptive resistance to resolve.

Forty patients with acquired valvular heart disease who required valve replacement with Starr-Edwards ball valves of the 6320 (mitral) or 2320 (aortic) series were studied intraoperatively to assess the immediate hemodynamic function of the prosthesis. The following conclusions were reached: (1) Reliable hemodynamic data can be obtained intraoperatively immediately after mitral or aortic valve replacement. (2) The hemodynamics of the Starr-Edwards Model 6320 and 2320 ball valves are disappointing and emphasize the need for continued improvement in design of prosthetic valves. (3) The Starr-Edwards ball-valve prostheses of the 6320 and 2320 series have small functional valve areas and are inefficient in vivo. (4) Because of the transvalvular gradients and small functional valve areas, it is recommended that larger valves be used whenever possible.

First doses of aminoglycoside and beta-lactam antibiotics, when used in combination, are usually given simultaneously; however, nonsimultaneous administration may be more efficacious. We used a dynamic in vitro model, which simulates in vivo serum kinetics, to assess the effect of spacing the first doses of gentamicin and ceftazidime used against Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 and two clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa, PA1 and PA2. The following dose regimens against P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853 were compared: (i) gentamicin given alone, (ii) ceftazidime given alone, (iii) gentamicin and ceftazidime given simultaneously, (iv) gentamicin followed by ceftazidime at 15 or 50 min or at 2, 4, or 8 h, and (v) ceftazidime which was followed by gentamicin at 4 h. The effects of regimen iii and the 4-h interval in regimen iv against PA1 and PA2 were also compared. Initial peak concentrations used were 8 mg/liter for gentamicin and 80 mg/liter for ceftazidime, with drug half-lives of 2.5 and 1.8 h, respectively. Compared with simultaneous administration, nonsimultaneous administration (regimens iv and v) produced greater overall bacterial killing and was associated with a delay in bacterial regrowth (p < 0.005) of up to 6.6 to 8.3 h, regardless of the order in which the drugs were given. The optimal interval between gentamicin and ceftazidime doses, which maximized initial bactericidal effect and the time before regrowth, appeared to be 2 to 4 h.

THE ASSOCIATION of hearing loss and hereditary chronic renal disease was first noted by Alport in 1927.1 Most of the subsequent work on Alport's syndrome concerns itself with investigation of the renal abnormality and the mode of inheritance. It is the purpose of this paper to present temporal bone and audiometric findings in a case of classic Alport's syndrome. REPORT OF A CASE A 22-year-old white man was admitted to the University of Minnesota Hospital on January 20, 1962 for investigation of chronic anemia and uremia. The patient was the product of a normal term pregnancy and delivery. At age 5 albuminuria was noted. At age 12, the patient became aware of a gradually progressive bilateral hearing loss. He reported occasional buzzing tinnitus but no vertigo. The family history included a maternal aunt who died age 23, and a maternal uncle who died age 14 both of "Bright's Disease."

In the course of studies of the lipid composition of human serum lipoproteins (1, 2) we observed a new lipid in thin-layer chromatograms (TLC) (3) of lipid extracts from high-density lipoproteins (HDL) from cancer patients. Similar extracts from HDL of normal subjects did not reveal this lipid. We since found that lipids extracted from transplanted animal tumors also contain a similar lipid.This preliminary communication describes the general chemistry of this lipid, its distribution in rat tissues, its presence in sera from cancer patients, and implications of these observations.Nature of new lipid.The new lipid was isolated from lipid extracts of Walker carcinosarcoma 256 (W256) by silicic acid column chromatography with stepwise gradient elution (chloroform-methanol mixtures). The isolated lipid had the same Rfin several TLC systems (see below) as did the new lipid in the sera HDL of cancer patients. Complete drying of the isolated new lipid from W256 in vacuo(with N2bubbling) caused partial decomposition. Decomposition products, identified by TLC (3, 4), included phosphorus and nonphosphorus containing lipids. It was inferred that the new lipid is a complex unstable under certain conditions. In addition to complete drying, contact with sodium oxalate and treatment with ultrasonic vibration also cause decomposition of this complex. Further chemical studies of the complex revealed that protein (or polypeptide) was also present. The amount of protein determined by the Lowry et al.(5) procedure and the Hess and Lewin (6) modification was 7-8%, and by gas-liquid chromatography analysis of the amino acids (7) in the hydrolyzate of this complex was ∼6-8%. The protein-lipid complex behaves as a lipid being extractable from tissues along with other lipids by chloroform:methanol, 2:1 (v/v), 20 ml of solvent to 1 g of wet tissue.

A dynamic in vitro model was used to assess four different vancomycin dosing regimens against Staphylococcus aureus. These regimens achieved peak drug concentrations of 48 micrograms/ml (single dose) and 30 micrograms/ml (dosed every 12 h) and constant concentrations of 16 and 8 micrograms/ml. Analysis of the area under the bacterial concentration-time curve, area under the first moment of the bacterial concentration-time curve, and bacterial elimination rate constant showed no difference in the rate or extent of bacterial killing. The optimal dosing method may be that which achieves the lowest area under the curve while concentrations are maintained above the MBC.

Three high-density lipoprotein classes and one protein were separated from rat-liver plasma membranes that had been treated with mild sonic oscillation. The lipoproteins were separated and identified by techniques in which ultracentrifugation was used. Enzyme markers and electron-microscopic examination revealed membrane preparations essentially free of contaminating cellular particulates.

HYDRAZOBENZENE, when heated to high temperatures, decomposes with formation of aniline and azobenzene1, and it is, likely that this reaction starts with the cleavage of an NH–NH linkage forming free radicals, which become stabilized by disproportionation involving undissociated hydrazobenzene: