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Biomedical subjects

M Warner

Publications and source records attributed to M Warner.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Injury and poisoning episodes and conditions: National Health Interview Survey, 1997.

OBJECTIVE: This report provides a descriptive overview of the first year of data from the injury section of the redesigned National Health Interview Survey. It documents the Survey's design methodologies and presents detailed national estimates of nonfatal injury and poisoning episodes for 1997. METHODS: Data for the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population were collected using Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI). The data on all medically attended injuries and poisonings occurring to any family member during the 3-month period prior to the interview were obtained from an adult member of the family. RESULTS: In 1997, 34.4 million medically-attended episodes of injury and poisoning were reported, resulting in an age-adjusted rate of 128.9 episodes per 1000 persons. Injury episodes resulted in 40.9 million injury conditions for a rate of 153.7 conditions per 1,000 persons. Falls were the leading external cause of injury, followed by episodes resulting from being struck by or against a person or an object, transportation, overexertion, cutting and piercing instruments, and poisoning. Sprains and strains were the most frequently reported injury condition followed by open wounds, fractures, and contusions. Upper extremity and lower extremity injuries were the leading body regions for these conditions. Leisure activities and paid work were most often reported as the activities the person was engaged in when the injury episode occurred, and. the home was the most likely place for the injury to have occurred. CONCLUSION: The redesigned NHIS is a useful source of information about medically-attended nonfatal injuries and poisonings. A single year now provides enough data to produce stable national estimates on details of injury and poisoning episodes.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1999

Injuries related to forklifts and other powered industrial vehicles in automobile manufacturing.

BACKGROUND: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, estimates that approximately 100 workers are fatally injured each year in forklift and other powered industrial vehicle (PIV) incidents, and an estimated 34,000 work-related injuries involving forklifts are treated in U.S. emergency rooms each year. METHODS: This paper presents a descriptive analysis of 916 incidents involving forklifts and other PIVs that occurred in 54 plants operated by a major U.S. automobile manufacturer over a 3-year period. The injury data were obtained from a company-wide occupational injury and illness surveillance system which was implemented in 1989. RESULTS: The 916 PIV-related incidents resulted in 3 fatalities and 913 nonfatal injuries. The most common incident involved pedestrians (35%) who were struck by a PIV, or the load being carried by a PIV, or a rack or bin that had been struck by a PIV. Of the 913 nonfatal injuries, 41% resulted in an employee missing work and incurred a total of 22,730 lost workdays, an average of 61 days per lost workday incident. CONCLUSIONS: Recommendations are presented to reduce the risk of injury, for example by separating PIV and pedestrian traffic, restricting the use of forklifts in an area where a large number of pedestrians travel and improving the training of all personnel who drive PIVs. Am. J. Ind. Med. 36:513-521, 1999. Published 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1999

A case-control study of forklift and other powered industrial vehicle incidents.

BACKGROUND: This study examined risk factors associated with forklift and other powered industrial vehicle (PIV) collision injuries with an emphasis on the design of factory traffic systems, the loading and safety features of PIVs, and the characteristics of the drivers. METHODS: A case-control study examined risk factors for circumstances of injury-producing PIV incidents at eight automotive manufacturing plants between July 1992 and March 1995. A computerized safety and health surveillance system identified 171 incidents where a PIV (forklift 70%, personnel carriers 15%, other 15%) was involved in a collision incident. Site visits were conducted to collect data regarding the factory environment at the collision site, the PIVs involved in the incidents, and driver characteristics. These data were compared with information collected from a random sample of comparison worksites, PIVs, and PIV drivers who had not been involved in a PIV-related incident in the prior 3 years. RESULTS: In half of the cases (86 of 171), an employee (pedestrian) was struck by a PIV or an object being carried by the PIV. The presence of an obstruction that restricted the aisle width increased the odds of a collision incident 1.89 times (95% CI=1.22, 2.86). The presence of overhead mirrors at intersections and blind corners with limited visibility reduced the odds of a PIV collision incident by a third (OR=0.33, 95% CI=0.16, 0.68). When carrying a load, the odds of a PIV being involved in a collision was 1.58 (95% CI=1.03, 2.41) times greater than an unloaded one. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in the factory environment, vehicle safety features, and driver and pedestrian training are suggested to reduce the risk of PIV incidents. Am. J. Ind. Med. 36:522-531, 1999. Published 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1999

The estrogen receptor family.

A significant flow of new data is currently being generated within the field of estrogen receptors and their mechanisms of action. This is primarily a result of the development of estrogen receptor knockout mice and the discovery of the second estrogen receptor, estrogen receptor beta. Both estrogen receptors appear to be involved in a multitude of regulatory events, the details of which will be worked out within the next few years. Estrogen receptor alpha appears to play a major role in the regulation of reproductive events and estrogen receptor alpha knockout female mice are completely infertile. Estrogen receptor beta knockout females have severe but incomplete infertility. Estrogen receptor beta gene mutations may, therefore, be of great clinical interest because they could perhaps explain some cases in which ovarian dysfunction leads to human infertility. Both receptors appear to be of essence for the cardiovascular system. Future studies will determine the relative importance of estrogen receptors alpha and beta in bone, the urogenital tract, the immune system, and the central nervous system, as well as in other estrogen target tissues.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Electromechanical Fredericks effects in nematic gels.

The solid nematic equivalent of the Fredericks transition is found to depend on a critical field rather than a critical voltage as in the classical case. This arises because director anchoring is principally to the solid rubbery matrix of the nematic gel rather than to the sample surfaces. Moreover, above the threshold field, we find a competition between quartic (soft) and conventional harmonic elasticity which dictates the director response. By including a small degree of initial director misorientation, the calculated field variation of optical anisotropy agrees well with the conoscopy measurements of Chang et al. [Phys. Rev. E 56, 595 (1997)] of the electro-optical response of nematic gels.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

Dynamics of soft and semisoft nematic elastomers.

We analyze analytically and numerically the dynamics of how a nematic elastomer-an anisotropic rubber-responds elastically and orientationally to an imposed strain. Because positional and orientational degrees of freedom are coupled, the response is not the simple exponential one might expect for a viscous system. Indeed, as a result of this nonlinear coupling, the different modes decay in two qualitatively different ways: with either two distinct or with the same exponential laws, depending, respectively, on whether there is or there is not complete reorientation of the molecular long axes. In addition, at the special values of the strain that form the boundaries between different equilibrium behaviors, relaxation is much slower, i.e., it follows a power law.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1998

Generation and reproductive phenotypes of mice lacking estrogen receptor beta.

Estrogens influence the differentiation and maintenance of reproductive tissues and affect lipid metabolism and bone remodeling. Two estrogen receptors (ERs) have been identified to date, ERalpha and ERbeta. We previously generated and studied knockout mice lacking estrogen receptor alpha and reported severe reproductive and behavioral phenotypes including complete infertility of both male and female mice and absence of breast tissue development. Here we describe the generation of mice lacking estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta -/-) by insertion of a neomycin resistance gene into exon 3 of the coding gene by using homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells. Mice lacking this receptor develop normally and are indistinguishable grossly and histologically as young adults from their littermates. RNA analysis and immunocytochemistry show that tissues from ERbeta -/- mice lack normal ERbeta RNA and protein. Breeding experiments with young, sexually mature females show that they are fertile and exhibit normal sexual behavior, but have fewer and smaller litters than wild-type mice. Superovulation experiments indicate that this reduction in fertility is the result of reduced ovarian efficiency. The mutant females have normal breast development and lactate normally. Young, sexually mature male mice show no overt abnormalities and reproduce normally. Older mutant males display signs of prostate and bladder hyperplasia. Our results indicate that ERbeta is essential for normal ovulation efficiency but is not essential for female or male sexual differentiation, fertility, or lactation. Future experiments are required to determine the role of ERbeta in bone and cardiovascular homeostasis.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

International comparative analysis of injury mortality. Findings from the ICE on injury statistics. International Collaborative Effort on Injury Statistics.

OBJECTIVE: This report investigates international differences in injury mortality rates among 11 of the countries participating in the International Collaborative Effort on Injury Statistics. METHODS: The cause, intent, and age-specific injury mortality rates are calculated and presented from Australia, Canada, Denmark, England & Wales, France, Israel, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, and the United States. Data are presented by cause (or mechanism) and intent (or manner of death) according to the matrix framework for presenting injury mortality statistics published in August 1997. The benefits of this matrix approach to investigating injury mortality are explained with numerous examples. RESULTS: Injury death rates are higher in France and Denmark and lower in England & Wales, Israel, and The Netherlands than elsewhere. New Zealand, the United States, and Norway had similar average annual injury death rates of 56-57 per 100,000 population. As an example of the benefit of presenting data in the matrix framework, the total poisoning death rate in Denmark for all categories of intent (13 per 100,000) is about twice the rate in the United States. Unintentional poisoning death rates, however, are similar in the United States and Denmark (about 4 per 100,000) and are higher than elsewhere. However, the suicide poisoning death rate in Denmark is 3 times the rate in the United States. CONCLUSION: Using these results, the ICE on Injury will be investigating death registration practices in each of the countries to better understand international variation in injury mortality due to reporting or registration procedures.

Accidents↗
PubMed1998

Acute traumatic injuries in automotive manufacturing.

Motor vehicle manufacturing, with its varied tasks, challenging work environment, and diverse worker populations, presents many hazards to employees. This study examined routinely collected surveillance data from a major motor vehicle manufacturer to identify injury types, high-risk workers, causes of injury, and factors associated with work loss. Injury and personnel data were used to calculate injury rates. Injury data were from the routinely collected medical and safety surveillance system on occupational injuries. The number of persons working in the plants was estimated using year-end personnel reports. Key word searches supplementing the analyses provided insight into the specific circumstances of injury. The most common injuries were sprains/strains (39% of the total), lacerations (22%), and contusions (15%). Forty-nine percent of the injuries resulted in one or more lost or restricted workdays; 25% resulted in 7 or more lost or restricted workdays. The injuries most likely to result in work loss were amputations, hernias and fractures. Sprains/strains accounted for 65% of all lost workdays. Injury rates ranged from 13.8 per 100 person-years at stamping plants to 28.7 at parts depots. Even within similar types of plants, injury rates varied widely, with a twofold difference among the individual assembly plants in overall injury rates. Injury surveillance systems with descriptive data on injury events shed light on the circumstances under which certain types of injuries occur and can provide the basis for preventive interventions. Sources of variation and potential biases are discussed, providing guidance for those interested in designing and using surveillance systems for occupational injuries.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1998

Extrahepatic cytochrome P450: role in in situ toxicity and cell-specific hormone sensitivity.

It is clear that members of the Cytochrome P450 supergene family are responsible for the majority of activations of procarcinogens to ultimate carcinogens in the body. These procarcinogens include the food mutagens (heterocyclic amines), pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrosamines. The Cyp P450 profile in a cell can indicate the capacity of that cell to form reactive metabolites. Furthermore, environmental factors, through their action on P450s, influence the fate of procarcinogens in a cell. This is because different isoforms of P450 are regulated differently by ethanol, diet and environmental inducers, have different substrate specificities and different propensity to be inhibited or activated by dietary components. Cyp P450 (through steroid inactivation), can also influence sensitivity of cells to hormones. Age and hormone related regulation of P450 isoforms such as 1A1, 2B1 and 2A3 in the breast suggest that in situ activation of carcinogens and hormone inactivation can occur in the breast. In the brain and endometrium most of the #P450 isoforms remain to be identified.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1998

In-vitro activity of sanfetrinem against isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus.

The activity of sanfetrinem (previously GV104326), was assessed against 168 isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae and 90 isolates of Staphylococcus aureus. These isolates included a range of serotypes or phage types, and varied in their susceptibility to other antibiotics. Sanfetrinem exhibited good anti-pneumococcal activity, with MIC90s of < or = 0.007 mg/L and 0.5 mg/L for penicillin-susceptible and penicillin-resistant isolates, respectively. Sanfetrinem was also active against methicillin-susceptible staphylococci (MIC90 = 0.06 mg/L). However, the MICs of sanfetrinem for isolates with methicillin MICs of 8-16 mg/L and > or = 32 mg/L were 0.25-1 mg/L and 8->32 mg/L, respectively.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1998

Identification of CYP2A3 as a major cytochrome P450 enzyme in the female peripubertal rat breast.

On isolation of rat breast cytochrome P450, one of the proteins whose amino terminus was sequenced was CYP2A3. CYP2A3 was detected by Western blotting in cytochrome P450 fractions isolated from breast of 3-, 6-, and 9-week-old rats but was low during pregnancy and lactation. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis and sequencing of the PCR product confirmed the presence and identity of CYP2A3 in the rat breast. Breast microsomal coumarin-7-hydroxylase activity paralleled the developmental pattern observed for CYP2A3 on Western blots. In the lung, coumarin-7-hydroxylase activity was 10-fold higher than that in the breast, but the developmental pattern was similar to that in the breast. Lung microsomes from 9-week-old rats activated the heterocyclic amine 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline to mutagenic metabolites which could be detected with the Ames test. This activation could be inhibited by the CYP2A3 antiserum. With breast microsomes, which contain approximately 10% of the cytochrome P450 in the lung, activation of 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4, 5-f]quinoline could not be reliably measured. Immunohistochemical localization revealed that CYP2A3 was expressed in a limited number of epithelial cells in the ducts of 6-week-old rat breast. Double staining with smooth muscle actin, a marker for myoepithelial cells, showed no staining of CYP2A3 immunoreactive cells, indicating that these cells were not myoepithelial. The data clearly show that a cytochrome P450 that can activate environmental procarcinogens is developmentally regulated and concentrated in specific cells in the breast. The peripubertal period seems to be a window in time when the breast may be more sensitive to procarcinogens that are substrates for CYP2A3.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1998

Characterization of cytochrome P450 enzymes in human breast tissue from reduction mammaplasties.

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes in the breast may have an important role in regulating the capacity of individual cells to metabolize hormones and environmental carcinogens. Very little is known about the P450 expression pattern in human breast because of the limited amount of accessible tissue and the difficulties associated with detection of low P450 levels. Breast tissue from reduction mammaplasties is the only tissue available in relative abundance. The correlation between the P450 content in this material and P450 in breast epithelium remains to be resolved. Also questionable is the value of RT-PCR detection of P450 forms in the breast without parallel detection of the protein. In this study, we have tried to determine whether the P450 profiles in reduction mammaplasty samples reflect those in the breast epithelium and whether P450 profiles on Western blots parallel RT-PCR detection. A comparison on the level of RT-PCR was made between P450 in 15 mammaplasty samples with that in 4 ductal carcinoma samples, and 1 dissected epithelial sample. The control epithelial sample contained CYP1A1, CYP1B1, CYP2A6, CYP2B6, CYP2E1, CYP2C, CYP3A, and CYP19 (aromatase). These forms were present also in the reduction samples, with CYP2E1 and CYP1B1 being detected in all samples. In addition, the reduction samples contained CYP4A11 and CYP2D6. CYP2B6, CYP2D6, and 2C were more easily detected in the carcinoma samples, thus differing from the reduction samples and the epithelial sample. CYP was isolated from the reduction samples, and the P450 profiles on Western blots were compared with the RT-PCR results. In general, there was good agreement between the two methods, and the discrepancies found were probably caused by lack of specific antibodies. We conclude that much useful information about P450 in the breast can be obtained from reduction mammaplasty samples.

Adolescent↗