What is the best method of surgical training?: A report of America's leading senior surgeons

OBJECTIVES: To characterize the career choices and developments made by leading senior surgeons in this country and to examine hypothetically whether application of a short tracking program would have hindered their career decisions. DESIGN: A survey pertaining to each surgeon's career, decisions, and opinions concerning surgical training. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Senior surgeons of regional and national surgical societies. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Survey responses. RESULTS: A total of 352 surveys (41.4%) were received. Respondents answered that the most common reasons for choosing a specialty were role models or mentors (56%), research (51%), and available patient population (23%). The 2 most common stages in a career at which the respondents became interested in a specialty, or an area of expertise, were at the junior residency level (when the specialty was chosen) and at the assistant professor level (when a more specific topic within the specialty was chosen). The most common stage at which the group believed they acquired their expertise was also at the assistant professor level. Seventy-one percent of respondents believed broad training was superior to a short tracking system, although none had participated in shortened surgical training. CONCLUSIONS: Most leading senior surgeons in this country still believe that broad surgical training is superior and should be maintained. Because career specialties in this surveyed group were generally chosen in early residency, a hypothetical application of the short tracking system would have still allowed for these important decisions to be made. Also, it seems likely that specialty and career development would not have been hindered because "expertization" mostly occurred after training was completed. Regardless of training method, a role model or mentor seems most important in career choices and developments.     

Solid-state 2H NMR study of methyl-d3-cobalamin

A solid-state 2H NMR study of methyl-d3-cobalamin has been performed as a function of temperature to provide information concerning the character and energetics of the motion performed by this unique bioorganometallic methyl group. Analysis of the 2H NMR line shape indicates that the methyl group undergoes rapid three-fold rotation, and that the Co-C-2H angle lies between 105.9 and 109.5 degrees. Determination of the spin-lattice relaxation times T1 shows that the relaxation is anisotropic, consistent with a "jumping" motion of the methyl group rather than rotational diffusion. This also provides the activation energy to methyl jumps as 8.3 +/- 1.3 kJ/mol. It is proposed that this energetic barrier may be a useful probe of changes in the electronic character of the Co-C bond that accompany the biological role of this molecule in such enzymes as methionine synthase.     

About the influence of the content and composition of the aggregates on the rheological behaviour of self-compacting concrete

Within the scope of a parameter study the influence of the mixture composition of different self-compacting concretes on the fresh concrete properties was investigated. For this purpose the standard test methods as well as the fresh concrete rheometer “BTRHEOM” were used. The concrete was modelled as a two-phase system, consisting of the fluid phase paste and the solid phase aggregates. The consistency control parameters paste volume, mortar volume and the coarse aggregate volume could be transferred into the model parameter thickness of excess paste. By means of this model parameter the characteristic values of the standard test methods like slump flow test and V-funnel test as well as the fundamental rheological parameters yield stress and the plastic viscosity could be described. A comparative study showed that the yield stress and the plastic viscosity of self-compacting concrete can be estimated based on the characteristic values of the slump flow test.     

Fusion of indigenous knowledge and gamma spectrometry for soil mapping to support knowledge-based extension in Tanzania

Food shortages often threaten central Tanzania. Sustainable action adapted to local environmental conditions is desperately needed. In the framework of the TransSEC project, two food value chains in the Dodoma region of Tanzania were inspected in order to make propositions for improvement , spanning from soil preparation to product consumption. Therefore, soil mapping approaches were required to obtain rapid and reliable information. This would enable local farmers to participate in the development of upgrading strategies and extensionists to develop recommendations that take local soil conditions into account. In this study, a combination of participatory soil mapping and gamma ray spectrometry-assisted transect mapping was applied to establish local soil maps of two villages in the Dodoma region. Participatory mapping included key informant interviews, group discussions and transect walks. Local farmers indicated reference profiles for local soil types. Their gamma radiation signatures delivered base information for further soil exploration and soil unit delineation in the field. Finally, high resolution satellite images were used to establish the village soil maps. This approach allows capture of the major soil differences within a village territory and reduction of the costs of chemical analyses. Challenges were soil unit separation with gamma ray spectrometry due to erosional redistribution processes at the surface, correct translation of specific terms from local tongues as well as variable individual soil knowledge of local participants. Ultimately, the combination of local soil knowledge with innovative scientific mapping yielded quick results with sufficient spatial resolution for extension work.     

Elastic Space: Latent Formations in Fashion and Architecture

In search of an architectural response to shifting contemporary environments, the paper investigates the notion of latency in the related fields of sartorial fashion and architecture. The paper unfolds the possibility of a material and phenomenal elasticity that facilitates responsive architecture through a re-coding and re-contextualization of user, occupation and space.     

Gaschromatographische Untersuchung stereoisomerer Cyclotrideca-1,5,9-triene

Gas Chromatographic Investigation of Stereoisomeric Cyclotrideca-1,5,9-trienes Using achiral phases of different polarity in capillary gas chromatography on the one hand and a chiral cyclodextrine phase on the other hand it is demonstrated, that a ring-enlargement sequence starting from (E, E, Z)-cyclododeca-1,5,9-triene yields five of the six theoretically possible isomeric cyclotrideca-1,5,9-trienes and (E, Z)-trans-bicyclo[10.1.0]trideca- 4,8-diene. With all achiral phases only three of the isomeric trienes and the bicyclic isomer were separated from each other; (E, Z, E)- and (Z, E, Z)-cyclotrideca-1,5,9-triene are eluated in only one (the fifth) peak, these isomers were separated on the cyclodextrine phase. Moreover, this chiral phase separates the enantiomers of the bicyclic isomer.