African American female physicians in South Carolina: role models and career satisfaction.

BACKGROUND: This study examined the factors that influenced African American women to select medicine as a career and their satisfaction with their career choice. METHODS: Of 132 African American female physicians in South Carolina, 62 responded to a survey of open-ended questions about why they chose medicine, what they liked and disliked about their career, and who influenced their decision to become a physician. RESULTS: The majority chose medicine for altruistic reasons and found that medicine provided challenge and the opportunity to make a positive difference. Family members, teachers, and physicians served as the common external influences in their decision to become a physician. Managed care, paper work, and time demands constituted the most disliked aspects of medicine. CONCLUSION: Altruistic reasons and/or an interest in science motivated most of these African American female physicians to study medicine. Family members most often were their principal role models.

Photosynthesis and Retention of Zooxanthellae and Zoochlorellae Within the Aeolid Nudibranch Aeolidia papillosa.

Both zooxanthellae and zoochlorellae are found in the cerata of Aeolidia papillosa after it has ingested symbiotic Anthopleura elegantissima containing these algae. High rates of photosynthesis were found in algae present in the cerata and in algae isolated from nudibranch feces. For algal cells present in the cerata of nudibranchs collected in June 1991, carbon fixation by zooxanthellae (1.18 +/- 0.36 pg C/cell/h) was significantly greater than carbon fixation by zoochlorellae (0.55 +/- 0.32 pg C/cell/h). Algal densities within the cerata of laboratory fed nudibranchs were significantly greater for zoochlorellae (175 +/- 82 cells/µg protein, light treatment; 131 +/- 106 cells/µg protein, dark treatment) than for zooxanthellae (38 +/- 18 cells/µg protein, light; 53 +/- 30 cells/ µg protein, dark). Ceratal densities of zooxanthellae (16 +/- 8 cells/µg protein) in the field during January 1992 were low in comparison to ceratal densities in the laboratory--several of the nudibranchs in the field lacked any symbiotic algae, and zoochlorellae were always absent. Nudibranch algal densities were not stable and dropped rapidly if the nudibranchs were starved. Both zoochlorella and zooxanthella densities dropped to 0 cells/µg protein within 11 days of starvation. While these results show that the relationship between A. papillosa and the two algae is not a stable symbiosis, the photosynthetic activity of the algae in the cerata suggests that the nudibranch and/or the algae may benefit from the association while it lasts.