Medical students' beliefs about nine different specialties.

A total of 449 preclinical and postclinical students from three London University medical schools completed one of nine versions of a 50 item questionnaire seeking their attitudes to nine specialties: anaesthetics, general practice, gynaecology, hospital medicine, paediatrics, pathology, psychiatry, radiology, and surgery. There were three main findings. Firstly, though item by item analysis yielded interesting and predictable differences, such as the negative attitudes to psychiatry, the students'' attitudes and beliefs were multidimensional: whereas any specialty might be seen as highly positive on one dimension--for example, effectiveness--it might be seen as highly negative on another--for example, relationships with patients. Secondly, the nine specialties seemed to be discriminative on two dimensions--soft versus hard; general versus specific--such that psychiatry was seen as soft and specific, general practice soft and general, and surgery hard but neither general nor specific. Thirdly, these attitudes tended to differ between preclinical and clinical students, but only modestly, in that some extreme (positive and negative) attitudes were modified by experience.     

Mean age of death and longevity for male scientists of different specialties

The article provides information on the mean age of death (MAD) for 54 256 men professionally involved in research work and assigned to one of the six categories, namely, physics, chemistry, medicine and biology, mathematics, economics, and humanities. In addition, the effect of teaching activity on MAD and longevity has been evaluated for scientists of different specialties. Special attention has been paid to the analysis of MAD of the deceased members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, including members of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1724–2013). The minimum MAD has been found for mathematicians (72.1 ± 0.21 years) and the maximum MAD for scientists in economics (74.6 ± 0.26 years). The relative number of surviving ≥90 years and ≥100 years is minimal for mathematicians (7.59 and 0.37%, respectively), whereas those numbers for economists reveal the maximum values (10.26 and 0.96%, respectively). Indicators of MAD and proportion of centenarians among the scientists who received public recognition strongly depend on the specialty. Similarly, the members of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the USSR Academy of Sciences have the highest MAD in economics (74.7 ± 1.05 years) and the lowest in mathematics (70.6 ± 0.74 years). MAD has proven to be 3.5 years higher for scientists involved in teaching at university or college compared to those who were not involved in teaching. In this case, the “gain” is significant, ranging from 3.1 years for economists and humanitarians to 4.9 years for mathematicians. The results of the study lead to the conclusion that intense scientific work contributes to an increase in life expectancy and longevity.     

Features of the structure of the metacarpal bones of athletes in different specialties

Metacarpal bones have been examined in hand X-ray photos of 125 sportsmen at the age of 17-18 years who go in for swimming (dynamic loading on the hand) and competitive gymnastics (static loading on the hand). Under the effect of systematic trainings, which are connected with an increased loading on the hand, a number of morphological changes take place in the metacarpal bones. A prolonged loading of the dynamic character delays the synostosis process in the distal parts of the forearm bones and contributes to lengthening the I, III and IV and to widening the I-V metacarpal bones. As demonstrate decreasing indices of compactness in the swimmers, the widening diaphisis of the metacarpal bones occurs at the expense of dilatation of the medullary cavity. The static loadings result in a greater delay of the synostosis processes in the upper extremity parts mentioned, in a greater width of the I-III, V metacarpal bones in boy-gymnasts. The increased index of compactness demonstrates that the widening diaphysis of the metacarpal bones takes place at the expense of thickening of the compact substance and narrowing of the medullary cavity.     

Physical Anthropology and the dental and medical specialties

The rise of two sub-specialties in Physical Anthropology traces back to the Anatomy Departments of Schools of Medicine in Germany and France during the nineteenth century. The study of human diversity in bones and bodies was largely by medically-trained anatomists. There developed Medical Anthropology and Dental Anthropology, employing osteometry and craniometry on the skeleton, somatometry and cephalometry on the living body. As a result cross-sectional studies gave way to longitudinal studies and X-ray techniques were added to purely mensurational procedures. In Medical Anthropology the specialties most directly concerned are pediatrics, plastic surgery, endocrinology, and orthopaedics. In Dental Anthropology the specialties most directly concerned are pedodontics, orthodontics, oral surgery, and prosthodontics. The contributions of Physical Anthropology to each is discussed.     

One-step synthesis of polyesters specialties for biomedical applications

Polyesters are widely used for biomedical applications such as drug delivery systems and resorbable implants. The degradation kinetic of these biopolymers can be tailored by the introduction of functional groups in their backbone, leading to a modification of their morphology and hydrophilicity. This is usually realized via long multistep reaction pathways. This contribution describes the emergence of one-step procedures for this purpose including enzymatic and Lewis acid catalyzed polycondensation as well as coordinative ring opening polymerization.     

Iron status in runners of various running specialties.

The blood iron status of 44 male runners of various running specialties (18 sprinters, 13 middle- and 13 long-distance runners) is evaluated by measuring serum ferritin (SF), serum iron (Si), hemoglobin concentration (Hb), hematocrit (Ht), red blood cells content (RBC) and haptoglobin concentration (Hp). The results of these analyses (except Hp) are compared to those obtained in sedentary male subjects (control group) of the same mean age. Mean SF, SI, Hb and Ht measured in athletes are significantly lower than in control group. The remarkably low Hp values obtained in athletes suggests the occurrence of hemolysis. Using unpaired t test, it appears that the blood iron status of these runners does not depend on their running specialty.