Authoritarianism among medicine and law students.

This study assessed the effects of gender, faculty, and year (level) on "authoritarianism" among university students within the faculties of law and medicine. A questionnaire, using the Ray Adapted F Scale to measure authoritarianism, was administered to 454 students at the University of Western Australia. The first, third and sixth year medical students were compared with first, third and final year law students. Gender alone was responsible for a significant source of variance, with males more authoritarian than females. Faculty alone showed a strong trend towards significance with medicine more authoritarian than law. Although no other 2- or 3- way interactions were significant a trend was apparent in which females became more and males less authoritarian with increasing level.

Practical application of methods for in vivo assessment of insulin secretion and action.

In vivo measurement of insulin sensitivity can be made using the glucose clamp technique or the intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) with minimal model analysis. The glucose clamp provides a direct, readily understandable measure of insulin action but is more demanding for investigators and subjects. Assessment of insulin secretion must be made by a separate test. The IVGTT is easier to perform but the data are more difficult to analyse and the value for insulin sensitivity is a derived rather than direct measure. As well as insulin sensitivity, glucose mediated glucose disposal and insulin secretion are measured by the IVGTT. In fact the IVGTT technique relies on adequate endogenous insulin secretion whereas the glucose clamp does not. The choice between these two techniques depends on the study to be performed and the available laboratory facilities.