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PubMed1992

Superior qualities of University of Wisconsin solution for ex vivo preservation of the pig heart.

The components of the University of Wisconsin solution have the potential to enhance and extend heart preservation. We have evaluated University of Wisconsin solution by comparing it with St. Thomas' Hospital cardioplegic solution in the isolated pig heart subjected to 8 hours of ischemia at 4 degrees C (n = 6 in each). The hearts were perfused ex vivo with enriched autologous blood for the control and the postpreservation assessments. Morphologic, metabolic, and functional evaluations were performed. Left and right ventricular function as assessed by the slope values of systolic and diastolic pressure-volume relationships of isovolumically contracting isolated heart was better preserved by University of Wisconsin solution (percent reduction: left ventricular systolic, 52.4% +/- 5.5% versus 17.7% +/- 6.7% [p less than 0.001]; right ventricular systolic, 125.6% +/- 46.4% versus 65.5% +/- 31.4% [p less than 0.05]; right ventricular diastolic, 112.3% +/- 48.7% versus 40.2% +/- 31.3% [p less than 0.02] after St. Thomas' Hospital and University of Wisconsin preservation, respectively). Postischemic recovery of left ventricular rate of rise of pressure and myocardial oxygen consumption were significantly improved after University of Wisconsin preservation (percent reduction, rate of rise of pressure: St. Thomas' Hospital 39.3% +/- 8.1%; University of Wisconsin 18.1% +/- 4.6%; percent reduction, myocardial oxygen consumption St. Thomas' Hospital 55.1% +/- 6.9%, University of Wisconsin 24.8% +/- 6.7%; p less than 0.001). Microvascular functional integrity as assessed by coronary vascular resistance was well maintained throughout the postischemic period and was similar to the preischemic control value in the University of Wisconsin group. By contrast, a significant increase was found at the beginning of postpreservation reperfusion, with a progressive rise thereafter in the St. Thomas' Hospital group (p less than 0.001). Preservation of myocardial adenosine triphosphate was improved and energy charge was unchanged after 8 hours of ischemia and reperfusion in the University of Wisconsin-preserved hearts compared with the St. Thomas' Hospital-preserved hearts (p less than 0.01). Electron microscopic examination revealed substantially better preservation of the contractile apparatus after preservation with University of Wisconsin solution. Myocytes from hearts receiving University of Wisconsin solution, unlike those given St. Thomas' Hospital solution, showed relaxed myofibrils with prominent I-bands. We conclude that University of Wisconsin solution has the potential to improve the preservation of the heart and possibly prolong the ischemic period in clinical cardiac transplantation.

Adenosine↗
PubMed2007

Occupational health provision in UK universities.

BACKGROUND: Very few studies have been done of occupational health provision across an entire employment sector and universities are particularly understudied. The British government published updated guidance on university occupational health in 2006. AIM: To describe the occupational health services to all the universities in the UK. METHODS: All 117 universities in the UK were included. Detailed surveys were carried out in 2002, 2003 and 2004 requesting self-completed information from each university occupational health service. This paper presents information on general characteristics of the service, staffing, services provided and outcome reporting. RESULTS: There was variation in the type of occupational health provision; half the universities had an in-house occupational health service, 32% used a contractor, 9% relied on the campus primary care or student health service and 9% had ad hoc or no arrangements. In all, 93 of the 117 (79%) universities responded to the detailed questionnaire, the response rate being higher from in-house services and from larger universities. There was a wide variation in staffing levels but the average service was small, staffed by one full-time nurse with one half-day of doctor time per week and a part-time clerical or administrative member of staff. A range of services was provided but, again, there was wide variation between universities. CONCLUSIONS: It is unclear if the occupational health provision to universities is proportional to their needs. The wide variation suggests that some universities may have less adequate services than others.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1995

Creating university hospitals: rationales and realities.

This article analyzes the reasons given for the founding of three early university hospitals: those at the University of Michigan, the University of Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins University. The hospital at the University of Michigan was founded to ensure medical students' access to clinical instruction. The University of Pennsylvania's desire to have not only access to but control over hospital affairs provided the impetus to build a university hospital. Johns Hopkins University, building upon the examples of Michigan and Pennsylvania, firmly joined the hospital and medical school and introduced research as a link between these institutions. The early histories of these three institutions demonstrate how each created a different mission for its university hospital. Today, as in the past, university hospitals must choose which of their multiple roles to emphasize. The meaning of "university hospital" has always been ambiguous, and this ambiguity can provide useful flexibility to institutions responding to a changing environment.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed2005

A study of the relationships between daily life stress, self-efficacy and university student life adjustment.

PURPOSE: This correlation study was undertaken to examine the relationships between daily life stress, self-efficacy and university student life adjustment and to analyze the self-efficacy affecting that university student life adjustment. METHODS: 265 university students were recruited from several participating required undergraduate classes. They were surveyed as the subject of this study. Data collection was conducted through the use of questionnaires. RESULTS: The university life adjustment level showed a maximum score of 9 with the mean score 5.22. A negative correlation was found between daily life stress and university life adjustment. Also, there was positively correlation between self-efficacy and university life adjustment. Self-efficacy and daily life stress accounted for 23% of the variance in university student life adjustment. CONCLUSION: According to the results, self-efficacy is a useful concept in helping overall university life adjustment. Therefore, university student consultation office or nurse should consider the program based on self efficacy in order to help university students to better adapt to university life.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The effects of Ca++ on the preservation of myocardial energy and function with University of Wisconsin solution. A 31P nuclear magnetic resonance study of isolated blood perfused Langendorff pig hearts.

We have studied the effects of adding 0.5 mmol/L CaCl2 to University of Wisconsin solution (0.08 mmol/L free Ca++) on hypothermic heart preservation. Isolated pig hearts were subjected to 8 hours of preservation at 12 degrees C; eight hearts were arrested with Ca++ free University of Wisconsin solution, and seven hearts were arrested with Ca(++)-containing University of Wisconsin solution. The recovery of contractile function was evaluated by measuring isovolumic ventricular pressure development. 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to monitor the changes in high-energy phosphates. Compared to the hearts arrested with the Ca(++)-free University of Wisconsin solution, the heart arrested with the Ca(++)-containing University of Wisconsin solution showed significantly improved (p < 0.001) contractile functional recovery. No "stone heart" or loss of high-energy phosphates was observed on reperfusion. The hearts showed an increase in diastolic pressure during infusion of the Ca(++)-containing University of Wisconsin solution, however, to show the relationship between the addition of calcium and the increase in diastolic pressure, a second protocol was performed. A 30-minute period of ischemia was induced in thirteen hearts that were arrested at 12 degrees C with either Ca(++)-containing University of Wisconsin solution (n = 8) or Ca(++)-free University of Wisconsin solution (n = 5). Diastolic pressure was monitored during ischemia while ventricular volume was maintained constant with a balloon. The hearts arrested with the Ca(++)-containing University of Wisconsin solution showed a mean rise of 5 mm Hg in diastolic pressure and a rapid decline of phosphocreatine (p < 0.001). Our results suggest that, although 0.08 mmol/L free Ca++ improves functional recovery after 8 hours of heart preservation with University of Wisconsin solution at 12 degrees C, it can increase diastolic pressure during ischemia and accelerate breakdown of the high-energy phosphate stores in the myocardium, suggesting that use of University of Wisconsin solution containing 0.5 mmol/L CaCl2 may result in a significant increase in the intracellular calcium level.

Adenosine↗
PubMed2005

[A paradigm change in German academic medicine. Merger and privatization as exemplified with the university hospitals in Marburg and Giessen].

1. The intended fusion of the university hospitals Marburg and Giessen in the state of Hessia is "a marriage under pressure with uncalculated risk" (Spiegel 2005). In the present political and financial situation it hardly appears to be avoidable. From the point of the view of the faculty of medicine in Marburg it is difficult to understand, that the profits of this well guided university hospital with a positive yearly budget should go to the neighboring university hospital which still had a fair amount of deficit spending in the last years.2. Both medical faculties suffer from a very low budget from the state of Hessia for research and teaching. Giessen much more than Marburg, have a substantial need for investments in buildings and infrastructure. Both institutions have a similar need for investments in costly medical apparatuses. This is a problem, which many university hospitals face nowadays.3. The intended privatisation of one or both university hospitals will need sound answers to several fundamental questions and problems:a) A privatisation potentially endangers the freedom of research and teaching garanteed by the German constitution. A private company will undoubtedly influence by active or missing additional support the direction of research in the respective academic institution. An example is the priorisation of clinical in contrast to basic research.b) With the privatisation practical absurdities in the separation of research and teaching on one side and hospital care on the other will become obvious with respect to the status of the academic employees, the obligatory taxation (16%) when a transfer of labor from one institution to the other is taken into account. The use of rooms for seminars, lectures and bedside with a double function for both teaching, research and hospital care has to be clarified with a convincing solution in everyday practice.c) The potential additional acquisition of patients, which has been advocated by the Hessian state government, may be unrealistic, when the 4th biggest university hospital in Germany will be created by the merger. University hospitals recrute the patients for high end medicine beyond their region because of the specialized academic competence and advanced technical possibilities. Additional recruitment of patients for routine hospital can hardly be expected.d) A private management will have to consider primarily the "shareholder value", even when investing in infrastructure and buildings, as it can be expected for one partner. On the longterm this will not be possible without a substantial reduction of employees in both institutions. There are, however, also substantial efforts of some private hospital chains in clinical research, e. g. by Helios in Berlin and Rhön Gmbh at the Leipzig Heart Center.e) There is a yet underestimated but very substantial risk because of the taxation for the private owner when academic staff is transferred from the university to hospital care in their dual function as academic teachers and doctors. This risk also applies for the university if the transfer should come from hospital to the university. These costs would add to the financial burden, which has to be carried in addition to the DRGs.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed1997

Ownership and governance of university teaching hospitals: let form follow function.

Under the best of circumstances, the complex decision-making and resource-allocation processes of a state university (and often of a variety of state agencies important to the university) significantly hinder the ability of the university-owned hospital to make changes critical to its financial and, hence, its programmatic success. At worst, as was the case for the University of Maryland Hospital a decade ago, the hospital can become capital-starved and operationally deficient under the bureaucratic mantle of the state and university and find itself unable to respond to the fast-changing market, placing its viability in jeopardy. To remedy this situation at the University of Maryland Hospital, in 1984 the state created a separate not-for-profit corporation, the University of Maryland Medical System ("the Medical system"), governed by its own board of directors, with a mandate to assure sound business practices, outstanding patient care, access to patients from across the state for tertiary care, access for the local disadvantaged community for comprehensive care, and attention to the academic mission of the university and its school of medicine. The results include strong financial performance, the ability to recapitalize outmoded facilities and technology, growth of strong programs, and the recruitment of excellent chairs and faculty. The Medical System's success suggests that university teaching hospitals, which necessarily depend on patient care revenues, may best be served by (1) removing them from university governance, thus allowing them to give primacy to their mission of patient care, and (2) removing them from state ownership, thus allowing them to use sound business practices in the competitive health care environment. The challenge under this arrangement is to ensure that the teaching hospitals can still support the educational and research programs that distinguish them. By establishing its independent, actively involved board of directors, the Medical System has successfully responded to this challenge.

Baltimore↗
PubMed2005

Psychological universals: what are they and how can we know?

Psychological universals, or core mental attributes shared by humans everywhere, are a foundational postulate of psychology, yet explicit analysis of how to identify such universals is lacking. This article offers a conceptual and methodological framework to guide the investigation of genuine universals through empirical analysis of psychological patterns across cultures. Issues of cross-cultural generalizability of psychological processes and 3 cross-cultural research strategies to probe universals are considered. Four distinct levels of hierarchically organized universals are possible: From strongest to weakest claims for universality, they are accessibility universals, functional universals, existential universals, and nonuniversals. Finally, universals are examined in relation to the questions of levels of analysis, evolutionary explanations of psychological processes, and management of cross-cultural relations.

Biological Evolution↗
PubMed2001

Knowledge and performance of the universal precautions by nursing and medical students in Korea.

BACKGROUND: Like the health care workers, nursing and medical students have to go through clinical practices; accordingly, they run a high risk of being exposed to bloodborne diseases. But there are few studies on the realities of preventive education or measures to be taken after exposure to such diseases. The purpose of this study was to identify a knowledge of universal precautions and their performance in practice among the nursing and medical students in Korea. METHOD: This study was based on survey questionnaires with a total of 714 nursing and medical students for the period between November 2, 1998, and April 30, 2000. RESULTS: The average knowledge level of the universal precautions was 267.8 +/- 21.3 (scores ranged from 150 to 300). The knowledge level of the universal precautions of the nursing students (270.4 +/- 19.4) was higher than that of the medical students (261.0 +/- 24.4; P =.000). The average performance level of the universal precautions was 52.7 +/- 6.2 (scores ranged from 14 to 70). The students of the nursing college showed a higher performance level of the universal precautions (53.2 +/- 5.9; P =.002). The correlation between knowledge and performance of the universal precautions showed a weak and positive correlation (r =.317; P=.000). CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that the knowledge level of the nursing students about universal precautions was relatively higher than that of medical students. The group that receives education about universal precautions has a higher level of knowledge and performance of the universal precautions than that group that receives no such education. The education about universal precautions is indispensable; it is desirable to raise the relative importance for the curriculum of both nursing and medical colleges.

Cross Infection↗
PubMed1998

Measuring the topology of the universe.

Observations of microwave background fluctuations can yield information not only about the geometry of the universe but potentially about the topology of the universe. If the universe is negatively curved, then the characteristic scale for the topology of the universe is the curvature radius. Thus, if we are seeing the effects of the geometry of the universe, we can hope to soon see signatures of the topology of the universe. The cleanest signature of the topology of the universe is written on the microwave sky: There should be thousands of pairs of matched circles. These circles can be used to determine the precise topology and volume of the universe. Because we see hundreds of slices through the fundamental domain of the universe, we can use the microwave observations to reconstruct the initial conditions of the entire universe on the scale of a few megaparsecs.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The accreditation of university teachers: an optometric viewpoint.

The issue of whether university teachers should be required to gain a formal teaching qualification is currently under debate. In the United Kingdom, the development of an accreditation system for university teachers is well advanced. In the future, Australian university teachers may be required to either: 1. prove their teaching competency 2. undertake teaching courses as part of their induction program. Of the current full-time academic staff of the optometry schools in Australia and New Zealand, about 15 per cent have undertaken university courses on higher education teaching: two of 10, one of 12, one of six and one of six for the optometry schools at the Queensland University of Technology, The University of New South Wales, The University of Melbourne and The University of Auckland, respectively. In terms of undergraduate optometry students' views, of those who responded (43 per cent of QUT third and fourth year students) to a survey on a range of teaching and learning issues, 20 out of 26 thought that a teaching qualification should be a requirement, while only six thought that it was not necessary. It has been suggested that an accredited training system is one way of ensuring that university teachers have the skills to deal with a dynamic teaching environment and the challenges of the future. The quality of teaching in universities has particular relevance to the optometric profession both in terms of undergraduate students and postgraduate experiences.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

Visions realized and dreams dashed: Helen Penhale and the first basic integrated baccalaureate program in nursing in the west, at the University of Alberta 1952-1956.

The first basic degree program in nursing in Canada was established at the University of British Columbia in 1919. This program and those that followed elsewhere were of the non-integrated form, wherein a diploma program offered by a hospital was supplemented by university courses in the arts, humanities, and sciences. In 1942 an innovative basic baccalaureate program in nursing was established at the University of Toronto; courses in nursing, given by the university, were offered in conjunction with university courses in other subjects. Only two other attempts were made to set up integrated programs in Canada prior to release of the Report of the Royal Commission on Health Services of 1964; McMaster University established a program in 1946, and, in an attempt that was ultimately unsuccessful, a program was established at the University of Alberta in 1952. The purpose of this study was to examine the conditions surrounding the initiation and termination of a basic degree program in the 1950s at the University of Alberta, in order to understand the key issues in the movement to establish basic university degree programs for nurses, and the gender discrimination relative to nurses and nursing students that has prevailed in health and education. Although the conflict at the University of Alberta was a very difficult one for the nurses involved, and although the Director who had the temerity to establish the program relinquished her position when the program was summarily terminated, this episode in Canadian nursing history provides insight into the climate in which baccalaureate nursing education existed and into some of the issues relative to its development.

Alberta↗
PubMed1995

The role of universities and the ethics of their interventions in international health.

Even though exchange has always been a part of the University essence, we are now witnessing an important movement towards internationalization, which cannot be indissoluble from the phenomenon of the globalization of culture and exchanges. In the international health field, universities, either in the South or North, have traditionally played an important role which is ever expanding, due to the broadening of the concept of international health. In Canada, academic centers of international health have developed rapidly over the last decade, along with a network linking all universities that are active in the field. The development of this type of center at the University of Montreal is described in this paper. The lessons learned there lead us to insist on the importance of the attachment of international cooperation development programs to the teaching assignments and research programs of universities, and to pay particular attention to research in order to strive for excellence. It is also important to pay attention to the freedom of thought and action which is a fundamental value among university members. Among the universities involved in international health, some have gone adrift: be it the opportunism of some or the inappropriate use of university expertise by international cooperation agencies of others. Universities, in their undertakings, must respect, in addition to their own traditional ethic, the one of development.

Ethics, Professional↗
PubMed2004

[Estimating the specificity of a University Hospital Centre. Example of the colonoscopy (EPAGE survey)].

OBJECTIVE: The specificity of a University Hospital Centre is usually assessed from its teaching and research capacity. The EPAGE survey, an instrument used to help decision making available on the Internet, permitted us to compare the prescription of a routine exploration, gastrointestinal endoscopy, between the University Hospital Center in Clermont-Ferrand and the Hospital Centre in Moulins. The aim was to demonstrate the differences in daily practice between these two geographically close hospital centres and hence to underline the specificity of a University Hospital Centre that is not taken into account in the financing systems of such hospitals. Method The data collected were taken from the EPAGE trial, a prospective mutlicentre study that included 21 European and Canadian centres. Data was collected from the University Hospital centre in Clermont-Ferrand over two periods: from December 2000 to March 2001, then from December 2001 to February 2002, and from the Hospital Centre in Moulins, from December 2000 to the end of November 2001. For this Article, only the patients' characteristics, indications for gastrointestinal endoscopy and opportunity rate were analysed. Comparison of patients' categories from the 2 centres was conducted according to their DRG (diagnostic related group) (homogeneous patient group) classification, thus allowing calculation of the mean of the SIA (synthetic index of activity) points in the two centres. RESULTS: 221 cases of gastrointestinal endoscopy performed in the University Hospital centre and 292 in the Hospital Centre were included in the survey. No statistically significant difference was found in the reasons motivating a gastrointestinal endoscopy, with regard to the indications listed on the EPAGE website. There were 18% of unlisted indications in the University Hospital Centre versus 4.8% in the Hospital Centre (p<1.10-6). Using the DRG nomenclature, calculation of the mean SIA points at the University Hospital Centre per patient was of 1161 versus 1147: non significant deviation of 1.2% in favour of the University Hospital Centre. DISCUSSION: - Conclusion The difference in reasons motivating a gastrointestinal endoscopy found between the two centres concerned rare, complex or innovating situations. This illustrates the role of a Regional Reference University Hospital Centre, an aspect clearly underestimated when measuring mixed cases according to the HPG. Study of the financing and/or information systems is warranted and might resolve the apparent underestimation of the current financing system.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Adjustment for case mix in comparisons of cesarean delivery rates: university versus community hospitals in Vermont.

OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to determine whether case mix model adjustment would help to explain differences in cesarean delivery rates between community and university hospitals. We also wished to define a patient population in which the cesarean delivery rate would be more reflective of individual practice patterns than of obstetric or medical risk. STUDY DESIGN: Established risk factors for cesarean delivery were identified by retrospective chart review at two community hospitals (designated A and B) and a university hospital. Each delivery was assigned exclusively to 1 of 6 risk categories: (1) multiple gestation, (2) fetal malpresentation, (3) delivery at <36 weeks' gestation, (4) not suitable for trial of labor, and (5) term delivery (> or =36 weeks' gestation) with medical complications, and (6) term delivery (> or =36 weeks' gestation) without medical complications. Parity and history of cesarean delivery further subdivided these categories into a total of 18 unique subgroups. Case mix was defined as the distribution of patients into each subgroup. Patients assigned to the categories of multiple gestation, fetal malpresentation, delivery at <36 weeks' gestation, and not eligible for trial of labor were considered to compose the group at high risk for cesarean delivery. The remaining patients composed the group at low risk for cesarean delivery. Observed cesarean delivery rates were calculated for each cell of the case mix grid within individual hospitals. Total, primary, and repeat cesarean delivery rates were determined for each hospital. The cesarean delivery rates for the low-risk populations were calculated. Data were evaluated both by chi(2) test and by direct standardization analysis with the university hospital case mix used as the standard population. RESULTS: A total of 5705 delivery reports were reviewed (university hospital, n = 4538; hospital A, n = 531; hospital B, n = 636). The cesarean delivery rates were significantly different between hospitals (university hospital, 16. 9%; hospital A, 13.6%; hospital B, 12.0%; P =.002). The distributions of patients in the high-risk group were also significantly different between hospitals (university hospital, 16. 8%; hospital A, 5.8%; hospital B, 8.8%; P = .001). The percentage of medically complicated cases in the low risk for cesarean group was significantly higher at the university hospital (university hospital, 16.9%; hospital A, 8.8%; hospital B, 9.8%; P =.001). However, no statistical differences were detected between hospitals in either the observed cesarean delivery rates or the standardized rates for the low-risk groups. CONCLUSION: The case mix model provides a more accurate method of comparing cesarean delivery rates between community and university hospitals. The low-risk group of patients discriminated in this model represents a population in which the cesarean delivery rate may be more reflective of individual practice patterns than of maternal or fetal risks.

Cesarean Section↗
PubMed2004

[The evolution of Chilean universities from 1981 to 2004].

In 1981, a supreme decree allowed the creation of private universities in Chile. As a consequence, 50 new universities were created in one decade, under the surveillance of the Council for Superior Education. This paper analyzes the evolution of this expansion process, that resulted in an admission of 370,000 students to 60 universities along the country, during 2004. At the moment, 42% of the universities, designed as traditional, receive state financing and 58% are private. Twenty six percent are owned by the state, 52% are secular and 22% are confessional. The 25 traditional universities are complex organizations of a high academic level. New private universities are only devoted to teaching and some have obtained their autonomy. Some have improved the quality of their academic staff, perform research and impart doctorate degrees. However, most are small and with a limited academic staff. Traditional universities are stratified in a superior level. Eight private universities and some regional institutions, that are becoming complex and performing research activities, are stratified in a middle level. Two thirds of the private universities are in the lower level. The expansion of superior education is a sign of the social and cultural progress that Chile has experienced.

Accreditation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Health certification requested for admission to degree courses in Italian university medical schools].

Prior to enrollment in degree courses in Italian university medical schools students are required to undergo health tests and preventive measures. The aim of this study was to census and assess the health certification required by Italian universities. Information was collected from course admission notices published on the university websites. Most universities requested health certificates for the academic year 2005-2006. Requirements usually focused on the risk of tuberculosis and hepatitis B for students enrolled in degree courses in medicine and surgery and in dentistry and dental prosthetics. Additional certification concerning physical and mental well being suited to specific tasks was also required for courses for the health professions of nurses, midwives, rehabilitation, technical and health prevention staff The request of several universities for antituberculosis vaccination clashed with legislation currently in force. Most universities did not notify the subsequent requirement for certification concerning physical and mental wellbeing on the website admissions list. The survey showed that Italian universities adopt different criteria in requesting certifications and different terms and conditions. In addition, requirements were often not updated. Competent university medical staff should be consulted to define what health certification is required from students for admission to different courses in university medical schools.

Certification↗
PubMed2004

Environmental health impacts: occurrence, exposure and significance, Lancaster University, UK, 9-10 September 2003.

Speakers: John Ashby (Syngenta CTL, UK), Peter A. Behnisch (Eurofins GfA, Germany), Paul L. Carmichael (Unilever Colworth, UK), Curtis C.Harris (National Cancer Institute, USA), Kevin C. Jones (Lancaster University, UK), Andreas Kortenkamp (School of Pharmacy, London, UK), Caroline J. Langdon (Reading University, UK), Anthony M. Lynch (GlaxoSmithKline, UK), Francis L. Martin (Lancaster University, UK), Trevor J. McMillan (Lancaster University, UK), David H. Phillips (Institute of Cancer Research, UK), Huw J. Ricketts (University of Cardiff, UK), Michael N. Routledge (University of Leeds, UK), J. Thomas Sanderson (Utrecht University, The Netherlands) and Kirk T. Semple (Lancaster University, UK) The effects of many environmental exposures to either single contaminants or to mixtures still remain to be properly assessed in ecotoxicological and human toxicological settings. Such assessments need to be carried out using relevant biological assays. On a mechanistic basis, future studies need to be able to extrapolate exposure to disease risk. It is envisaged that such an approach would lead to the development of appropriate strategies to either reduce exposures or to initiate preventative measures in susceptible individuals or populations. To mark the opening of a new Institute, the Lancaster Environmental Centre, an environmental health workshop was held over 2 days (9-10 September 2003) at Lancaster University, UK. The fate, behaviour and movement of chemicals in the environment, together with environmental exposures and human health, biomarkers of such exposures, hormone-like compounds and appropriate genetic toxicology methodologies, were discussed.

Animals↗