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The Nordic countries are often referred to as a group even though their education systems and training models are very different. The aim of this study is to advance understanding of those differences and compare the developments and organisation of initial vocational education and training (IVET) in Finland and Sweden since the 1990s as examples of school-based models of IVET in statist regimes. The research questions address the following: how these two countries have institutionalised school-based IVET since the 1990s; the kinds of legislative reforms that have been decisive for the construction of school-based IVET; and how the models of school-based IVET in these two countries allow access to higher education and the world of work. The analysis shows the heterogeneity of the statist model of school-based IVET systems in two Nordic countries and underlines differences with respect to school-to-work transitions between IVET and different labour market sectors.

This article examines the goals of employers when they organise work placements for students. It explores how far, in cooperating with polytechnics, employers adhere to a connective model of students' work experiences within their organisations. The paper makes use of a quantitative study based on employers' responses to a questionnaire ("n"?=?269). The study identifies four groups of employers: employers who emphasise the employment perspective, cooperative developers, employers with multiple goals and employers concerned with the development of their own work. The differences in employer profiles are discussed with respect to development of curricula and the higher education system. The paper raises questions concerning how curriculum development at various institutional levels may develop, depending on whether the emphasis is on work-based learning or on work-related learning.

A chemotherapy regimen consisting of dacarbazine (DTIC), vincristine, bleomycin and lomustine (CCNU) was combined with natural leucocyte interferon (IFN) in the treatment of 37 patients with cutaneous and subcutaneous metastases of malignant melanoma. Twenty-five also had concomitant lymph node, visceral, bone or brain metastases. Fifteen patients (41%) experienced complete response (CR) and 10 (27%) partial response (PR) of the superficial lesions. In addition, three patients were rendered surgically tumour-free after PR or disease stabilization during drug therapy. The median overall duration of response was 10.2 months (range 1-53 months). In disseminated disease, the combined therapy produced favourable results, particularly with regard to superficial lesions. It is also possible that this therapy may retard the growth of aggressive subcutaneous metastases in patients who have previously had multiple surgical procedures in an attempt to stabilize their disease. In a small proportion of patients, the long-term complete remission with the drug therapy alone, or in combination with surgery, suggests that this regimen might have been curative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precultivated autologous macrophages enhanced the early PPD-induced blastogenic response of tuberculin-sensitive lymphocytes. This effect was not caused by a diffusible macrophage product. Macrophages exposed to PPD and subsequently washed caused as high a response as did PPD in cultures without precultivated macrophages. Sensitive macrophages were not able to induce non sensitive lymphocytes to respond to PPD. Precultivated macrophages from tuberculin-negative patients with sarcoidosis enhanced the PPD-induced transformation of sensitive lymphocytes, as did autologous macrophages. Cord blood-derived macrophages were significantly less effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Epidemiologic studies have suggested that vitamin E and beta-carotene may each influence the development of prostate cancer. In the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study, a controlled trial, we studied the effect of alpha-tocopherol (a form of vitamin E) and beta-carotene supplementation, separately or together, on prostate cancer in male smokers.Methods: A total of 29133 male smokers aged 50-69 years from southwestern Finland were randomly assigned to receive alpha-tocopherol (50 mg), beta-carotene (20 mg), both agents, or placebo daily for 5-8 years (median, 6.1 years). The supplementation effects were estimated by a proportional hazards model, and two-sided P values were calculated.Results: We found 246 new cases of and 62 deaths from prostate cancer during the follow-up period. A 32% decrease (95% confidence interval [CI] = -47% to -12%) in the incidence of prostate cancer was observed among the subjects receiving alpha-tocopherol (n = 14564) compared with those not receiving it (n = 14569). The reduction was evident in clinical prostate cancer but not in latent cancer. Mortality from prostate cancer was 41% lower (95% CI = -65% to -1%) among men receiving alpha-tocopherol. Among subjects receiving beta-carotene (n = 14560), prostate cancer incidence was 23% higher (95% CI = -4%-59%) and mortality was 15% higher (95% CI = -30%-89%) compared with those not receiving it (n = 14573). Neither agent had any effect on the time interval between diagnosis and death.Conclusions: Long-term supplementation with alpha-tocopherol substantially reduced prostate cancer incidence and mortality in male smokers. Other controlled trials are required to confirm the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 37 adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) entered a pilot study of combination chemotherapy based on the CYVADIC (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, and dacarbazine) regimen, in which cyclophosphamide was replaced by ifosfamide and mesna (1 g/m2 ifosfamide given daily on days 1-5 as 2-h infusions, 1.5 mg/m2 vincristine given on day 1 as a bolus injection, 50 mg/m2 doxorubicin given on day 1 as a 5-min infusion, and 250 mg/m2 dacarbazine given daily on days 1-5 as 30-min infusions). The overall response rate in 24 patients who were evaluable for response was 46% [95% confidence interval (CI), 25%-67%] and that in subjects who had not undergone prior chemotherapy was 50% (CI, 27%-73%). In all, 4 patients achieved a complete response (17%; CI, 5%-37%) and 2 remain in remission; 3 additional subjects were surgically rendered disease-free after they had shown a partial response. Overall, 31 patients were evaluable for toxicity. Toxicity was mainly hematological; in 3 patients the nadir WBC was less than 0.5 x 10(9)/l, and in 2 cases the nadir platelet count was less than 50 x 10(9)/l. During neutropenia, infections requiring intravenous antibiotics occurred in 8 patients (26%) and in 14 of 190 cycles (7.5%); 1 of these was fatal. We conclude that this new regimen offers promise for the treatment of advanced STS, producing acceptable toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case is reported in which the number of proliferating blast-like cells substantially increased in peripheral blood during hypersensitivity reaction to carbamazepin (`Tegretol'). The patient's lymphocytes subsequently transformed in vitro into blasts in the presence of carbamazepin. In provocation tests, two patients with carbamazepin hypersensitivity showed a significant increase in proliferating blasts in the peripheral blood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty-eight sero-negative young women were vaccinated with RA 27/3 or HPV-77/DE5 strain live attenuated rubella vaccine. Haemagglutination-inhibiting antibody developed in all but one of the subjects. Rubella-specific IgM antibodies were demonstrable 3-6 weeks after vaccination. Complement-fixing and platelet aggregation antibodies were more often detectable alter RA 27/3 than after HPV-77/DE5 vaccination. After vaccination the blood lymphoblast count increased with a peak at 2 weeks. In one subject no humoral antibody response was detectable but even in this case there was a lymphoblast response. A marked increase in blasts was detected in a single case of natural rubella infection. In the vaccinated subjects the tuberculin skin test did not reveal suppression of delayed hypersensitivity 3 weeks after vaccination, nor was there a change in the responsiveness of lymphocytes to PHA in vitro 2 weeks after vaccination. No significant decrease in platelet count was seen in any of the subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serial tuberculin skin tests with 0.1-100 TU of PPD were performed on 209 patients with chronic renal disease. Skin test reactivity decreased with the severity of uraemia. Lymphocytes from three out of four skin test negative patients showed a high PPD-induced blast response in vitro. Thus, the absence of skin reactivity in uraemia does not always depend on a lack of antigen-sensitive lymphocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 23 patients with metastatic sarcomas were treated with continuous oral trofosfamide, an alkylating agent structurally related to cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide. In all, 12 of the patients were chemotherapy-naive. Doses were escalated every 3rd week until the development of leukopenia of WHO grade 2. The treatment was well tolerated and produced little subjective toxicity. Leukopenia was the dose-limiting toxicity. The daily dose that produced grade 2 leukopenia was 200-250 mg in 65% of the patients. Three patients responded, all of whom had been treated with trofosfamide as first-line treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]