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Longest held occupation in a lifetime and risk of disability in activities of daily living.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between the longest held occupation in a lifetime and risk of disability in activities of daily living (ADL) among elderly people (65 years and older) in northern Taiwan. METHODS: A case-control design was used nested within two cohorts of a total of 2198 elderly people who had been followed up either between 1993 and 1997 or between 1996 and 1997. Cases were 360 elderly people with ADL disability within the study period. For each case, two sex matched controls were randomly sampled from the pool of elderly people free from ADL disability. Occupational data were collected through interviews conducted in 1997. Performed job contents were classified into occupational categories and occupation based social classes. Unconditional logistic regression techniques were used to estimate relative risk and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of ADL disability. RESULTS: Compared with people who were former legislators, government administrators, or business executives and managers, workers in agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, or fishing (odds ratio (OR) 1.9, 95% CI 1.1 to 3.5) and workers in craft and related trades (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.1 to 3.4) had significantly increased risks of subsequent ADL disability. Differential risks of ADL disability were found across social classes, with a significant dose-response trend in which unskilled blue collar workers had an 1.8 times higher risk of ADL disability than higher social classes of white collar workers. CONCLUSIONS: After adjustment for education, there was still an inverse relation between risk of ADL disability and social class. Although total control for all the known risk factors for ADL disability among elderly people was impossible, the results tend to suggest a potential for an effect of longest held occupation in a lifetime on risk of ADL disability.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Prevalence and risk factors of work related asthma by industry among United States workers: data from the third national health and nutrition examination survey (1988-94).

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of work related asthma and work related wheezing in United States workers. To identify high risk industries that could be targeted for future intervention. To determine the population attributable risk of work related asthma and work related wheezing. METHODS: The third national health and nutrition examination survey, 1988-1994 (NHANES III) was analyzed to determine the prevalence of work related asthma and wheezing and to identify initially defined industries at risk among United States workers aged 20 and older. Separate logistic models were developed with work related asthma and work related wheezing as outcomes. Work related asthma was defined as affirmative response to questions on self reported physician diagnosed asthma and work related symptoms of rhinitis, conjunctivitis, and asthma. Work related wheezing was defined as affirmative response to questions on self reported wheezing or whistling in the chest in the previous 12 months and work related symptoms of rhinitis, conjunctivitis, and asthma. All analyses were adjusted for age, sex, smoking, and atopy. RESULTS: The prevalence of work related asthma was 3.70% (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 2.88 to 4.52) and the prevalence of work related wheezing was 11.46% (95% CI 9.87 to 13.05). The main industries identified at risk of work related asthma and wheeze included the entertainment industry; agriculture, forestry, and fishing; construction; electrical machinery; repair services; and lodging places. The population attributable risk for work related asthma was 36.5% and work related wheezing was 28.5%. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide impetus for further research and actions by public health professionals which prioritise occupational asthma on the public health agenda. Future intervention strategies need to be developed for effective control and prevention of asthma in the workplace.

Adult↗

White pine blister rust control in North America: a case history.

White pine blister rust was introduced into North America at the turn of the twentieth century, threatening valuable white pine resources. Measures to eliminate, contain, or control this disease constitute the most extensive forest disease control effort in time, money, men, and materiel in the history of US forestry. The major thrust was protection of pine stands by eliminating currant and gooseberry (ribes) alternate hosts from within and around these stands. Failures with ribes eradication resulted in application of antibiotic fungicides without adequate testing. These failures, coupled with lower dependence on white pines and reduced need for a large reserve of men for fire fighting, led to sudden termination of the program in 1967. The chronology of events and interactions between agencies and personnel responsible for the program provide an interesting case history and, it is hoped, valuable lessons for the future.

Journal Article↗

Issues of agricultural safety and health.

Agricultural work is the most prevalent type of employment in the world. In the United States only a few are engaged in creating food and fiber for many. Agriculture includes farming, ranching, fishing, and forestry, and together they carry significant risk for the development of injury or illness. There are numerous special-population issues related to agriculture. Farmers are old and growing older, many workers are children, and migrant and seasonal help, often foreign born, make up a large percentage of the workforce. It has been only relatively recently that concerns of agricultural safety and health have become a major research focus in the United States.

Agricultural Workers' Diseases↗

The influence of selective logging on primates and some other animals in East Kalimantan.

A brief survey was conducted in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, to determine the influence of selective logging operations on primate populations. Data were also collected on some birds and squirrels. Selective logging that causes only moderate habitat disturbance does not seem to result in a significant decrease in the densities of several primate species. Whereas some species adjust readily to moderately disturbed habitats, other species may have difficulty in maintaining a breeding population in logged areas. A review of the literature plus our own data suggest that rain forest birds and squirrels seem to be the most disrupted by selective logging of their habitats. While some of the other mammals are directly harmed by selective logging, others are endangered only by the human encroachment that often follows. Suggestions regarding enlightened tropical forestry practices, additional studies of the influence of selective logging, and the establishment of forest preservation areas are also discussed.

Animals↗

[The occupation of space and interindividual relations of a nocturnal Madagascan prosimian (Microcebus murinus)].

Five male and four female grey lesser mouse lemurs, Microcebus murinus, were trapped with Sherman traps in the Forestry Reserve of Ampijoroa, near Majunga, N.W.-Madagascar and equipped with individual radio-transmitters with a range of 220-300 m. These 9 individuals were then followed and observed (alternatively or simultaneously) for a total of 30 nights spread over a period of 6 weeks (26 September to 11 November 1985). In this dry deciduous forest zone, the subpopulation of 9 M. murinus observed occupied a total area of 7 ha. The home ranges of 4 males were significantly larger than those of 4 females (means: 3.2 +/- 0.2 and 1.8 +/- 0.1 ha, respectively). Nevertheless, because of the larger degree of overlap between home ranges of males, the available mean area per individual did not differ greatly between the sexes (a total of 5.5 ha for 4 males, with 65% overlap, versus a total of 4.2 ha for 4 females, with only 44% overlap). Overlapping of all nine home ranges produced a 'common zone' in the centre of the study area, where meetings between animals of either sex took place. This pattern can be interpreted as representing a pregregarious form of social structure. During nocturnal activity, the animals foraged individually, though an average of 11% of time was spent less than 10 m away from a conspecific. The tendency for dispersion of individuals was most pronounced during foraging for insects, when travel speeds were also relatively high. The most obvious social interactions occurred when females were on their way back to a common nest, calling and following each other. Such behaviour was not exhibited by males, even by those that shared a nest. Away from the nest, physical contacts were rare and brief. During the few days preceding oestrus, females were approached by several males, without agonistic interactions between males being observed at this period. Most observed agonistic interactions were initiated by females and directed against males.

Animals↗

Bone age determination in a paediatric population as an indicator of nutritional status.

The United Mission to Nepal Tansen Project is in the hill country, 300 km West of Kathmandu. This 40-year-old service centre's major emphasis has been on clinical and community medicine and education. Agronomy, forestry, water resources development, adult literacy, etc., have also been part of the project's outreach. We had long noted that the children of all of the various tribal groups in the area are small for their age as compared with children in developed countries. Fracture care X-rays were examined to reveal delay in ossification and in physeal closure. Using the standards found in the Radiographic Atlas of Skeletal Development of the Hand and Wrist, we quantified this apparent delay by determining the bone age of all patients presenting at the hospital with upper limb injuries requiring X-ray. The collection of data was limited to 100 days and to those under the age of 21. Two hundred and nineteen patients' data were analysed. We found that bone maturation delay was very common and often severe. The average bone age among the 219 was 28% below chronological age. That is, 60% of all fell two standard deviations below the norm: i.e. two-thirds of all 9 year olds had the expected skeletal development of 6 year olds in Boston, USA. Dental age was also analysed using deciduous tooth shedding and tooth eruption patterns. Dental age retardation averaged 21%, but a larger per cent had normal eruption dates. Other physical and sociological data were included in a questionnaire completed for each patient. Among the variables examined, poverty alone appeared to be the major mover. We believe that national small stature is a result of lifelong community dietary inadequacy.

Age Determination by Skeleton↗

Understanding the social costs of narcissism: the case of the tragedy of the commons.

Two studies examined narcissism and behavior in a commons dilemma. Study 1 used a four-person, laboratory-based task and Study 2 used a dyadic task. Participants were told that they represented one of four (Study 1) or two (Study 2) forestry companies and then were asked to harvest timber from a renewable forest. Narcissism was found to be positively related to acquisitive goals and harvesting more timber in the initial round. The more narcissists harvesting in the competitive group of four (Study 1) or dyad (Study 2), the less timber was harvested overall and the more rapidly the forest was depleted. Within competitive groups and dyads, however, narcissists harvested more than the nonnarcissists competing with them. In all, narcissism provided a benefit to the self, but at a long-term cost to other individuals and to the commons.

Adult↗

[Tunsia: a pilot project on the conversion of tobacco farm production to more diversified agricultural crops].

The objective of the project which is presented in this article was to reconvert tobacco farms into agricultural endeavours which produce crops which are non-harmful to health, simultaneously allowing for agricultural development within a forestry ecosystem. The team, therefore, proposed an experimental pilot project to replace tobacco farms with other crops, namely fodder, tree and market crops. Fodder crops allow farms to reduce the burden put on the natural resources by the various types of farming present in the area. Furthermore, this policy contributes to the increase in revenue from those farms benefiting from the project and established a community structure for managing the project, which could become an Agricultural Development Cooperative at the close of the project.

Agriculture↗

Confirmation of vertical transmission of bovine immunodeficiency virus in naturally infected dairy cattle using the polymerase chain reaction.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV) is vertically transmitted in naturally infected dairy cattle. Twenty-two dam/calf pairs from a Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station dairy were the study group. Blood samples were collected following delivery of calves, the peripheral blood leukocytes were purified from these samples, and the leukocyte DNA was used in polymerase chain reactions targeting the pol gene region of the BIV provirus. Southern blotting and hybridization were used to confirm the BIV specificity of the amplified fragments. BIV provirus was detected in 14 of 22 calves (64%), demonstrating vertical transmission. Eight of the calves were disqualified from the final interpretation of transplacental transfer because they may have nursed their mothers prior to blood collection, allowing the possibility of lactogenic transfer of the virus. Transplacental transmission of BIV was identified in 6 of 22 calves (27%).

Animals↗

Breeding chemists in Giessen.

The factors that contributed to Liebig's success in founding a research school at Giessen have been well known since the publication of Jack Morrell's seminal paper in 1972. Here the familiar Liebig-Giessen story is re-centred in a local geographical and historical context. Historical and political factors played a role in calling Liebig to Giessen and in ousting the existing chair holder, Zimmerman. Working in partnership with the government, Liebig's developed pharmacy teaching as part of the state's plan of modernization. Liebig's success necessarily led to the expansion of the laboratory after 1833. Comparisons with Buff's and Hundeshagen's attempts to do for physics and forestry what Liebig achieved in chemistry show that the encouragement of private enterprise was a key feature of the Hessen-Darmstadt government's strategy for the modernisation of the university.

Chemistry↗

Workplace carcinogen and pesticide exposures in Costa Rica.

The CAREX data system converts national workforce volumes and proportions of workers exposed to workplace carcinogens into numbers of exposed in 55 industrial categories. CAREX was adapted for Costa Rica for 27 carcinogens and seven groups of pesticides. Widespread workplace carcinogens in the 1.3 million workforce of Costa Rica are solar radiation (333,000 workers), diesel engine exhaust (278,000), environmental tobacco smoke (71,000), hexavalent chromium compounds (55,000), benzene (52,000), wood dust (32,000), silica dust (27,000), lead and inorganic lead compounds (19,000), and polycyclic aromatic compounds (17,000). The most ubiquitous pesticides were paraquat and diquat (175,000), mancozeb, maneb, and zineb (49,000), chlorothalonil (38,000), benomyl (19,000), and chlorophenoxy herbicides (11,000). Among women, formaldehyde, radon, and methylene chloride overrode pesticides, chromium, wood dust, and silica dust in numbers of exposed. High-risk sectors included agriculture, construction, personal and household services, land and water transport and allied services, pottery and similar industries, woodworks, mining, forestry and logging, fishing, manufacturing of electrical machinery, and bar and restaurant personnel.

Carcinogens↗

Recovery of frog and lizard communities following primary habitat alteration in Mizoram, Northeast India.

BACKGROUND: Community recovery following primary habitat alteration can provide tests for various hypotheses in ecology and conservation biology. Prominent among these are questions related to the manner and rate of community assembly after habitat perturbation. Here we use space-for-time substitution to analyse frog and lizard community assembly along two gradients of habitat recovery following slash and burn agriculture (jhum) in Mizoram, Northeast India. One recovery gradient undergoes natural succession to mature tropical rainforest, while the other involves plantation of jhum fallows with teak Tectona grandis monoculture. RESULTS: Frog and lizard communities accumulated species steadily during natural succession, attaining characteristics similar to those from mature forest after 30 years of regeneration. Lizards showed higher turnover and lower augmentation of species relative to frogs. Niche based classification identified a number of guilds, some of which contained both frogs and lizards. Successional change in species richness was due to increase in the number of guilds as well as the number of species per guild. Phylogenetic structure increased with succession for some guilds. Communities along the teak plantation gradient on the other hand, did not show any sign of change with chronosere age. Factor analysis revealed sets of habitat variables that independently determined changes in community and guild composition during habitat recovery. CONCLUSIONS: The timescale of frog and lizard community recovery was comparable with that reported by previous studies on different faunal groups in other tropical regions. Both communities converged on primary habitat attributes during natural vegetation succession, the recovery being driven by deterministic, nonlinear changes in habitat characteristics. On the other hand, very little faunal recovery was seen even in relatively old teak plantation. In general, tree monocultures are unlikely to support recovery of natural forest communities and the combined effect of shortened jhum cultivation cycles and plantation forestry could result in landscapes without mature forest. Lack of source pools of genetic diversity will then lead to altered vegetation succession and faunal community reassembly. It is therefore important that the value of habitat mosaics containing even patches of primary forest and successional secondary habitats be taken into account.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Risk factors for acute chemical releases with public health consequences: Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance in the U.S., 1996-2001.

BACKGROUND: Releases of hazardous materials can cause substantial morbidity and mortality. To reduce and prevent the public health consequences (victims or evacuations) from uncontrolled or illegally released hazardous substances, a more comprehensive analysis is needed to determine risk factors for hazardous materials incidents. METHODS: Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) data from 1996 through 2001 were analyzed using bivariate and multiple logistic regression. Fixed-facility and transportation-related events were analyzed separately. RESULTS: For fixed-facility events, 2,327 (8%) resulted in at least one victim and 2,844 (10%) involved ordered evacuations. For transportation-related events, 759 (8%) resulted in at least one victim, and 405 (4%) caused evacuation orders. Fire and/or explosion were the strongest risk factors for events involving either victims or evacuations. Stratified analysis of fixed-facility events involving victims showed a strong association for acid releases in the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries industry. Chlorine releases in fixed-facility events resulted in victims and evacuations in more industry categories than any other substance. CONCLUSIONS: Outreach efforts should focus on preventing and preparing for fires and explosions, acid releases in the agricultural industry, and chlorine releases in fixed facilities.

Disasters↗

[Terpenoids and steroids from several euphorbiaceae and pinaceae plants].

During the course of a search for biologically active constituents from unexamined plant sources, several biogenetically interesting new di- and tri-terpenes and steroids were isolated from several weeds and shrubs of Euphorbiaceae and the bark, leaves and cones of several Pinaceae trees which had been treated as wastes in the forestry industry. Euphorbia supina contained 3,4-seco-5 alpha- and 5 beta-adian-4(23)-ene-3,5-diols and related oxides, oxygenated fern-8-en-3 beta-ols named supinenolones A-E and unusually migrated oxyfernanes having (9S)- and (9R)-7(8-->9)abeo-9-D:C-friedo-B':A'-neogammacerane skeletons named spirosupinane and neospirosupinane, while E. chamaesyce contained 3,4-seco-oleana-4(23), 18-dien-3-oic acid, 3,4-seco-8 beta H-ferna-4(23),9(11)-dien-3-oic acid and two oxygenated obtusifoliols. The bark of Phyllanthus flexuosus (Euphorbiaceae) contained 11 beta-hydroxy-D:A-friedo-olean-1-en-3-one, lup-20(29)-ene-3 beta, 15 alpha-diol, olean-12-ene-3 beta,15 alpha-diol and olean-12-ene-3 beta,15 alpha,24-triol together with trichadenic acid B for which we revised the structure to 3 beta-hydroxy-D:A-friedo-oleanan-27-oic acid. Two 26-nor-D:A-friedo-olean-14-enes were isolated from P. watsonii. Regarding Pinaceae trees, an unusually migrated abieslactone [(3R, 7S, 9R, 23R)-7-hydroxy-3-methoxy-8-oxo-7(8-->9)abeo-lanost-24-eno-26,23-lactone], named spiroveitchionolide, was isolated from the bark of Abies species, besides nine abieslactone analogues. Two pairs of unusually migrated serratanes, piceanonols A and B and jezananals A and B having novel skeletal systems of 14(13-->12) abeo- and 16(15-->14) abeo-serratanes named piceanane and jezanane, respectively, were also isolated from the stem bark of Picea species, besides three 14 beta,15 beta-epoxyserratanes and two 13 alpha,14 alpha-epoxyserratanes. The leaves of Larix kaempferi contained two deformed abietanes named karamatsuic acid (9,10-seco-9,10 alpha-epoxyabieta-8,11,13-trien-18-oic acid) and larikaempferic acid [9 alpha,13 alpha-epoxy-8-oxo-9(8-->7)abeo-7 beta-abietan-18-oic acid], as well as the cones to contain 8 alpha,12 alpha-epidioxy-15-hydroxyabiet-13-en-18-oic acid, three diepoxy-abietan-18-oic acids and two new dehydroabietic acid analogues. Several of the above compounds exhibited inhibitory effects against tumor-promoting and DNA topoisomerase II activities.

Animals↗

A mainstay of functional food science in Japan--history, present status, and future outlook.

The development of food science in the near future probably depends on the advance in functional food science, the concept of which was proposed first in Japan nearly 15 years ago. The new science has been internationally distributed and accepted as conceptually being beyond nutrition. In Japan, however, it traced a unique path of progress in the form of a product-driven rather than concept-driven science. Actually, a number of substances and products with potential for disease risk reduction rather than simply for health maintenance have been investigated for their body-modulating functions. Some of them have been applied in practice to the industrialization of functional foods in terms of "foods for specified health uses" legally defined by new legislation. A variety of sophisticated methods have been introduced as well, including the so-called "XYZ" evaluation system, database construction for assessment of the function, and even the DNA microarray technique. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) and the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MHW) also commenced their scientific as well as political activity, with its spread to industries which almost simultaneously began to vigorously investigate functional food products for enlargement of the food market. With all of this as a background, the Japan Liaison of the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) hold a function food science symposium on behalf of related scientific bodies including the Japan Section of the International Life Science Institute (ILSI). This paper is an overview compiled from 12 presentations made in the symposium, with the aim of internationally publicizing the activity of functional food science in Japan.

Animals↗

Metabolites of pyrethroid insecticides in urine specimens: current exposure in an urban population in Germany.

Pyrethroids are important insecticides used in agriculture, forestry, horticulture, and in the home. In humans, they are rapidly metabolized and renally eliminated. In numerous studies, pyrethroid metabolites have been detected in urine after occupational exposure to insecticides. In this study, we used a new, reliable, easy, and sensitive analytical method to assess the internal pyrethroid exposure of an urban population without exposure to pyrethoids at home or at work (children and adults). A total of 1,177 persons took part in this investigation, including 331 children under 6 years of age and 247 children between 6 and 12 years of age. None of them reported exposure to pyrethroids at home or at work. Accordingly, the levels of permethrin found in household dust from their homes were lower than expected (median < limit of detection; 95th percentile, 4.8 mg/kg; maximum value, 19 mg/kg). Urine specimens were analyzed for cis-3-(2,2-dibromo-vinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclo-propanecarboxylic acid (Br(2)CA), cis- and trans-3-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane-carboxylic acid (cis-Cl(2)CA and trans-Cl(2)CA), and 4-fluoro-3-phenoxybenzoic acid (F-PBA) using a gas chromatographic method with mass-selective detection. The limit of detection for pyrethroid metabolites was between 0.1 and 0.2 microg/L. trans-Cl(2)CA was detected in 65% of the urine specimens tested, cis-Cl(2)CA was detected in 30%, and Br(2)CA and F-PBA were found in 19% and 16%, respectively, of the urine specimens. The urinary metabolite levels in children did not differ from those in adults, and there was no correlation between the levels of metabolites and indoor exposure to permethrin in household dust. Moreover, no seasonal correlations could be found. The 95th percentile levels in urine specimens were as follows: Br(2)CA, 0.30 microg/L; cis-Cl(2)CA, 0.51 microg/L; trans-Cl(2)CA, 1.43 microg/L; F-PBA, 0.27 microg/L. Background exposure to pyrethroids was found in the general population; it seems to be caused by the uptake of pyrethroids with the diet. This hypothesis needs to be tested in duplicate diet studies combined with biomonitoring. As long as representative data are lacking, however, the rounded 95th percentile values obtained in our study may be used as reference values for pyrethroid metabolites in urine samples from the population in Germany; 95th percentile values for children and adults are as follows: Br(2)CA, 0.3 microg/L; cis-Cl(2)CA, 0.5 microg/L; trans-Cl(2)CA, 1.5 microg/L; and F-PBA, 0.3 microg/L.

Adolescent↗

Defining goals and conditions for a sustainable world.

Sustainable development is being approached component by component--socioeconomic, sustainable agriculture, transportation, forestry, energy use, cities, and the like--but, leaving a habitable planet for future generations will require the development of a widely shared paradigm. Further, the paradigm should be ecological from a scientific point of view. This development will be facilitated by a discussion of goals and those conditions necessary to meet them. The presently shared paradigm is that economic growth is the cure for all of society's problems, such as poverty, overpopulation, environmental degradation, and the increasing gap between rich and poor. A paradigm shift from growth to sustainability might result either from suffering painful consequences of continuing to follow out-moded paradigms or by discussing what sort of ecosystems will be available to future generations. The purpose of this paper is to help initiate such a discussion.

Ecosystem↗