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At least 973 records · Page 54Linked to original sources
PubMed2001

Changes in pro-inflammatory cytokines in association with exposure to moisture-damaged building microbes.

Several epidemiological studies have described an association between adverse health effects and exposure to mould and microbes present in the indoor air of moisture-damaged buildings. However, the biochemical linkage between microbial exposure and the large variety of reported respiratory symptoms is poorly understood. In the present study, the authors compared the respiratory symptoms, the production of inflammatory mediators interleukin (IL)-1, IL-4, IL-6, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and cell count in nasal lavage fluid and induced sputum samples of subjects working in moisture-damaged and control school buildings. The sampling was performed and the questionnaires were completed at the end of the spring term, at the end of the summer vacation (2.5 months), during the winter term and after a 1-week winter holiday. The authors found a significant elevation of IL-1, TNF-alpha and IL-6 in nasal lavage fluid and IL-6 in induced sputum during the spring term in the subjects from the moisture-damaged school building compared to the subjects from the control building. The exposed workers reported sore throat, phlegm, eye irritation, rhinitis, nasal obstruction and cough in parallel with these findings. The present data suggests an association between microbial exposure, and symptoms as well as changes in pro-inflammatory mediators detected from both the upper and lower airways.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Health inequality in adolescence. Does stratification occur by familial social background, family affluence, or personal social position?

BACKGROUND: Two new sets of stratification indicators--family's material affluence and adolescent's personal social position- were compared with traditional indicators of familial social position based on parental occupation and education for their ability to detect health inequality among adolescents. METHODS: Survey data were collected in the Adolescent Health and Lifestyle Survey in 2003 from nationally representative samples of 12-, 14- and 16-year-old Finns (number of respondents 5394, response rate 71%). Indicators of the familial social position were father's socio-economic status, parents' education, parents' labour market position. Indicators of material affluence were number of cars, vacation travels, and computers in the family, own room and amount of weekly spending money. Adolescent's personal social position was measured as school performance. Measures of health were long-standing illness, overweight, use of mental health services, poor self-rated health and number of weekly health complaints. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was applied to study the associations between stratification indicators and health variables. RESULTS: All three groups of indicators of social stratification showed inequality in health, but the strongest associations were observed with the adolescent's personal social position. Health inequality was only partly identifiable by the traditional indicators of familial social position. The direction of the inequality was as expected when using the traditional indicators or personal social position: adolescents from higher social positions were healthier than those from lower positions. The indicators of family's material affluence showed mainly weak or no association with health and some of the indicators were inversely associated, although weakly. CONCLUSION: In addition to traditional indicators describing the socio-structural influences on the distribution of health among adolescents, indicators of family's material affluence should be further developed. Adolescents' personal social position should be included in the studies of health inequalities.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2007

Effects of backpacking holidays in Australia on alcohol, tobacco and drug use of UK residents.

BACKGROUND: Whilst alcohol and drug use among young people is known to escalate during short holidays and working breaks in international nightlife resorts, little empirical data are available on the impact of longer backpacking holidays on substance use. Here we examine changes in alcohol, tobacco and drug use when UK residents go backpacking in Australia. METHODS: Matched information on alcohol and drug use in Australia and the UK was collected through a cross sectional cohort study of 1008 UK nationals aged 18-35 years, holidaying in Sydney or Cairns, Australia, during 2005. RESULTS: The use of alcohol and other drugs by UK backpackers visiting Australia was common with use of illicit drugs being substantially higher than in peers of the same age in their home country. Individuals showed a significant increase in frequency of alcohol consumption in Australia compared to their behaviour in the UK with the proportion drinking five or more times per week rising from 20.7% (UK) to 40.3% (Australia). Relatively few individuals were recruited into drug use in Australia (3.0%, cannabis; 2.7% ecstasy; 0.7%, methamphetamine). However, over half of the sample (55.0%) used at least one illicit drug when backpacking. Risk factors for illicit drug use while backpacking were being regular club goers, being male, Sydney based, travelling without a partner or spouse, having been in Australia more than four weeks, Australia being the only destination on their vacation and drinking or smoking five or more days a week. CONCLUSION: As countries actively seek to attract more international backpacker tourists, interventions must be developed that target this population's risk behaviours. Developing messages on drunkenness and other drug use specifically for backpackers could help minimise their health risks directly (e.g. adverse drug reactions) and indirectly (e.g. accidents and violence) as well as negative impacts on the host country.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Evaluation of exposure to PAHs in asphalt workers by environmental and biological monitoring.

In the present article we assessed exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Italian asphalt workers (AW, n = 100), exposed to bitumen fumes and diesel exhausts, and in roadside construction workers (CW, n = 47), exposed to diesel exhausts, by means of environmental and biological monitoring. 1-hydroxypyrene (OH-Py) was determined in urine spot samples collected, respectively, after 2 days of vacation (baseline), before, and at the end of the monitored work shift, in the second part of the workweek. Median airborne levels during the work shift of 15 PAHs (both vapor and particulate phases), from naphthalene (NAP) to indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, ranged from below 0.03 to 426 ng/m(3). Median excretion values of OH-Py in baseline, before- and end-shift samples were 228, 402, and 690 ng/L for AW and 260, 304, and 378 ng/L for CW. Lower values were found in nonsmokers compared to smokers (e.g., in AW 565 and 781 versus 252 and 506 ng/L in before-shift and end-shift samples, respectively). In all subjects a weak correlation between personal exposure to the sum of airborne 15 PAHs and OH-Py was observed (r = 0.30). The results of this article show that AW experienced a moderate occupational exposure to airborne PAHs, resulting in a significant increase of urinary OH-Py during the workday and the workweek. The contribution of working activities to internal dose was in the same order of magnitude of the contribution of cigarette smoking.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Intimacy motivation and psychosocial adjustment: a longitudinal study.

Longitudinal data of 57 middle-aged men from the Grant Study Adult Development were analyzed in terms of nine indices of psychosocial adjustment and four social motives: achievement, power, affiliation, and intimacy motivation. The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), administered in 1950-52, was scored for the four motives. Psychosocial adjustment, determined by ratings made primarily with reference to life history data gathered between 1950 and 1967, was comprised of scores on income level, occupational promotion, occupational enjoyment, days of sick leave, marital enjoyment, regular vacations, pastimes with friends, drug or alcohol misuse, and psychiatric visits. High intimacy motivation at age 30 was significantly associated with better adjustment 17 years later. The results are discussed in terms of contemporary theories of psychosocial adaptation.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1988

In vivo demonstration of cell types in bone that harbor epidermal growth factor receptors.

The binding and internalization of [125I]iodoepidermal growth factor (EGF) by bone cells of the rat was demonstrated in situ by quantitative radioautography. Specific binding sites were observed on a cell profile enriched in endocytic components, including lysosome-like structures, a rough endoplasmic reticulum-rich cell profile, and a cell profile that histologically resembles an undifferentiated precursor cell. By the criteria of gel filtration and precipitability by trichloroacetic acid, most of the bound [125I]iodo-EGF was considered intact. By morphological criteria none of the cell profiles that bound [125I]iodo-EGF corresponded to fully formed osteoclasts or osteoblasts. The endocytic cell was found in the epiphyseal plate between the invading capillary and the transverse and longitudinal cartilage septa as well as near osteoclasts in the zone of mixed spicules. The rough endoplasmic reticulum-rich cell was present in vacated chondrocyte lacunae of the epiphyseal plate close to the metaphysis, and the poorly differentiated cell was observed between the mixed spicules of the metaphysis. Similar cell types were also found in the alveolar bone surrounding the incisors. These cells may be the origin of established bone cell lines that harbor high concentrations of EGF receptors and may also be responsible for the humoral hypercalcemia in response to the reported actions of injected EGF or transforming growth factor-alpha as well as that of malignancy.

Alveolar Process↗
PubMed2006

Scheduling elective pediatric procedures that require anesthesia: the perspective of parents.

Daily variability in volume of elective pediatric procedures that require anesthesia may lead to an imbalance between available operating room resources and case load. Longer intervals between scheduling and the surgical date generally result in higher operating room utilization. In this study, we sought to determine which factors influence when parents schedule their children for procedures. We also aimed to identify parents' ideal and longest acceptable waiting intervals and determine whether type of procedure, for example, affects scheduling. From a convenience sample of 250 randomly selected parents of children presenting for elective surgery, 236 completed surveys were analyzed. The remaining 14 surveys were not returned. Overall, parents scheduled their child's procedure a median of 4.3 wk (interquartile range 2.0-8.6) in advance and reported an ideal waiting interval of 3 wk (interquartile range 2-4), and longest acceptable interval of 6 wk (interquartile range 4-10). Parents were willing to wait longer to schedule cardiac (4 wk, P = 0.004) and plastic (3.5 wk, P = 0.024) surgery when compared with general surgical procedures. Overall, parents ranked severity of the child's illness, earliest available time, and surgeon's suggested date as the three most important factors influencing when their child's surgery is scheduled. The timetable for scheduling procedures was highly correlated with both mother and father having available time off work (tau(b) = 0.72, P < 0.0001). Surprisingly, parents did not show a preference for scheduling cases during vacation or summer months.

Anesthesia↗
PubMed1982

Locomotory invasion of human cervical epithelium and avian fibroblasts by HeLa cells in vitro.

The locomotory invasive ability of HeLa cells was tested against: (a) embryonic chick heart fibroblasts (CHF); and (b) normal epithelial cells from human cervix (HCE) in explant confrontations. Data for analyses were obtained from replicate cultures fixed 24 h after junction and from 24-h time-lapse films. The mean invasion index for HeLa versus CHF did not indicate significant obstruction but analyses of hourly radial advance and orientation frequencies showed that obstruction eventually developed as postjunctional incubation time increased. Early contacts between HeLa and CHF demonstrated non-reciprocity of type I contact inhibition of locomotion by the tumour cells, which continued moving in their original direction to underlap contact-inhibited fibroblasts and eventually to occupy spaces vacated by them. When CHF population density increased and free space diminished, HeLa cells displayed directional and probably substrate-dependent contact inhibition. The high invasion index of HeLa versus HCE was largely due to occupation of previous HCE territory by tumour cells and only occasionally to actual infiltration of the epithelial sheet. After contact with HeLa, ruffling substrate-adherent marginal epithelial cells displayed contractile, type I contact inhibition of locomotion. After orientation changes, they gradually retreated. Against HCE, HeLa cells exhibited non-reciprocity of type I contact inhibition and continued radially forward, following the retreating epithelial margin. They did not move onto exposed upper surfaces of epithelial cells and did not underlap marginal cells firmly adherent to the substratum. Invasion of the epithelial sheet was seen only when initial access beneath a cell with a non-adherent margin was available. The contact relationships of isolated invading HeLa cells with their epithelial neighbours suggested successive non-reciprocal contact inhibition reactions.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

HIV-risk behaviours of American spring break vacationers: a case of situational disinhibition?

Young adults are at high risk for acquiring STDs/HIV due primarily to multiple sex partners, unprotected sex, and substance use combined with sexual activity. Contranormative settings--such as the annual spring break vacation--provide ideal conditions for the potentially lethal interaction between alcohol, drugs, and sexual risk-taking. As a steadily growing form of youth travel and characterized by binge drinking, illicit drug use, and unsafe sexual practices, spring break has become a North American institution involving large numbers of travellers. In this study, the theory of interpersonal behaviour was used to explain college students' health-risk behaviours in the context of spring break and pre- and post-spring break surveys were used to examine casual sex and condom use behaviours. Multivariate analyses revealed peer influences, prior experiences with casual sex, alcohol consumption prior to sex, and impulsivity to be significant predictors of casual sex, while impulsivity and condom availability were significant predictors of students' use of condoms during casual sex.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Hydrostatic pressure/perfusion culture system designed and validated for engineering tissue.

Tissue engineering to replace or repair damaged tissues using three-dimensional cell constructs is a promising approach to promote tissue regeneration de novo. The production of cell constructs is a critical process for maintaining cell viability and phenotypes in vitro prior to surgical treatment. We have developed a novel hydrostatic pressure (HP)/perfusion culture system for three-dimensional cell constructs with application of mechanical stimuli with HP and continuous medium changes. In this study, we tested and validated the performance of this culture system. This systems' performance was stable at a constant HP up to 5 MPa and at a cyclic HP up to 0-5 MPa at 0.5-0.03 Hz. The performance of medium perfusion in the culture chamber showed laminar flow from an inlet into the chamber parallel to the inner walls. Air bubbles on all inner surfaces of the culture chamber caused unstable HP application because air can be compressed with greater ease than water, consequently impacting fluid compression. Air bubbles in a 3D agarose gel model disappeared due to HP over time and the spaces vacated by the air bubbles were replaced with water. Our validated HP/perfusion culture system allows for a well-regulated constant or cyclic HP application in culture medium and can be applied to other 3D tissue culture for engineering tissue.

Bioreactors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A mixed-integer goal programming model for nursing service budgeting.

This paper presents a mixed-integer goal programming model for expense budgeting in a hospital nursing department. The model incorporates several different objectives based upon such considerations as cost containment and providing appropriate nursing hours for delivering quality nursing care. Also considered are possible trade-offs among full-time, part-time and overtime nurses on weekdays as well as weekends. The budget includes vacation, sick leave, holiday, and seniority policies of a hospital and various constraints on a hospital nursing service imposed by nursing unions. The results are based upon data from a study hospital and indicate that the model is practical for budgeting in a hospital nursing department.

Budgets↗
PubMed2000

Use of iodine for water disinfection: iodine toxicity and maximum recommended dose.

Iodine is an effective, simple, and cost-efficient means of water disinfection for people who vacation, travel, or work in areas where municipal water treatment is not reliable. However, there is considerable controversy about the maximum safe iodine dose and duration of use when iodine is ingested in excess of the recommended daily dietary amount. The major health effect of concern with excess iodine ingestion is thyroid disorders, primarily hypothyroidism with or without iodine-induced goiter. A review of the human trials on the safety of iodine ingestion indicates that neither the maximum recommended dietary dose (2 mg/day) nor the maximum recommended duration of use (3 weeks) has a firm basis. Rather than a clear threshold response level or a linear and temporal dose-response relationship between iodine intake and thyroid function, there appears to be marked individual sensitivity, often resulting from unmasking of underlying thyroid disease. The use of iodine for water disinfection requires a risk-benefit decision based on iodine's benefit as a disinfectant and the changes it induces in thyroid physiology. By using appropriate disinfection techniques and monitoring thyroid function, most people can use iodine for water treatment over a prolonged period of time.

Humans↗
PubMed1989

Measurement of respiratory morbidity in general practice in the United Kingdom during the acid transport event of January 1985.

The Weekly Returns System of the Royal College of General Practitioners was used to assess the effect on respiratory illness of the acid transport event that occurred during January 1985. The pollution event, as assessed by SO2 and smoke levels measured at pollution monitoring stations within and without the affected area showed only modest rises in SO2 levels, which were less than levels that occurred 4 years earlier. January is the peak time of year for reporting of acute respiratory episodes, and the minor increase in pollution was not reflected in any rise in respiratory morbidity, both for all ages and for different age bands. There was a rise in rates for children up to the age of 14, but this was seen each year and in both polluted and nonpolluted areas. This was probably due to children returning to school after the winter vacation and the subsequent spread of viral infections. The limitations of the two data sets in this analysis are discussed, including the relative insensitivity of weekly data in picking out a short-lived event, the distribution of the practices and pollution monitoring stations, and the effect of the extreme cold weather and the coal miners' strike on domestic coal burning during this event.

Acid Rain↗
PubMed1993

Exposure to aflatoxin B1 in animal-feed production plant workers.

The exposure to aflatoxin B1 (AFB) in animal-feed processing plants was assessed using binding of AFB to serum albumin. The albumin fraction was digested with pronase, and the digest was purified on a C18 Sepak column and an aflatest affinity column before quantification by ELISA. The level of detectability was 5 pg/mg albumin. The workers served as their own controls, as blood samples were taken upon return from vacation and after 4 weeks of work. A total of 7 of 45 samples were positive for AFB, with an estimated average daily intake of 64 ng AFB/kg body weight. The exposed workers had been disembarking cargos contaminated with AFB or working at places where the dust contained detectable amounts of AFB. The sera from the exposed workers had a significantly higher titer against an aflatoxin B1-epitope than a nonexposed Danish control group. The level of exposure could partly explain the increased risk of liver cancer in workers in the animal-feed processing industry.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Two Japanese variants of the absolute transvestite film.

This essay compares two Japanese transvestite films from different generations-Black Lizard of 1968 and Summer Vacation 1999 of 1988. While Western transvestite conventions are usually exploited only to climactically reinforce heterosexual coupling, what binds these two films is their divergent tradition of what I call "permanent transvestism." That is, the films employ a cross-dressing which occurs extra-diegetically, is unnecessary to the plot, and which an audience may or may not be aware of depending on their geo-historical position. However, it is this non-Western tradition of cross-dressing that nevertheless imparts an aestheticization of sexual desire beyond fixed categories of "gay," "lesbian," or even our conventional ideas of transsexualism.

Art↗
PubMed2002

[Separation during inpatient psychotherapy and its impact on the regulation of blood glucose in a patient with Brittle Diabetes].

OBJECTIVES: During the inpatient psychotherapy of a 21-year-old male patient with Brittle Diabetes, psychic reactions and changes of blood glucose after separation were studied. METHODS: The patient was interviewed using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Specific attachment-related stress factors were elaborated. During the course of therapy, blood glucose, body symptoms and mood ratings were recorded daily and statistically evaluated by time series analysis. The statistical analysis allowed testing of critical instances (separation) and psychic determinants of blood glucose control. RESULTS: Significant predictors for the average blood glucose were as follows: the therapist's vacation (p < 0.02) and the announcement of discharge from the hospital (p < 0.01). A significant predictor for the daily blood glucose variation was mood (p < 0.01); the trend of the blood glucose variation was negative (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Toward the end of the treatment the blood glucose was stabilized. This result suggests the benefit of psychotherapy for these patients. Further empirical studies are necessary to confirm the findings.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Deaf and hearing parents' interactions with eldest hearing children.

Observational methods were used to gather data from 54 individuals in 9 Deaf-parented families and 9 hearing-parented families whose eldest hearing children were aged 7 to 11 years old. Transcripts of parent/child dyadic interactions during a vacation planning activity were analyzed using Condon, Cooper and Grotevant's (1984) Individuation Code. Repeated measures ANOVAS were conducted with the independent variables of the parent's gender (mother versus fathers) and group membership (Deaf-parented versus hearing-parented families) on the percentage of communication that reflected self-assertion, separateness, permeability, and mutuality. There were no significant differences between children from Deaf-parented families versus children from hearing-parented families. There was a significant main effect for parents in communication reflecting self-assertion; namely hearing parents had a higher percentage of self-assertive communication than Deaf parents.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

The temporal dynamics of the fourteenth-century Black Death: new evidence from English ecclesiastical records.

Recent research has questioned whether the European Black Death of 1347-1351 could possibly have been caused by the bubonic plague bacillus Yersinia pestis, as has been assumed for over a century. Central to the arguments both for and against involvement of Y. pestis has been a comparison of the temporal dynamics observed in confirmed outbreaks of bubonic plague in early-20th-century India, versus those reconstructed for the Black Death from English church records--specifically, from lists of institutions (appointments) to vacated benefices contained in surviving bishops' registers. This comparison is, however, based on a statistical error arising from the fact that most of the bishops' registers give only the dates of institution and not the dates of death. Failure to correct for a distributed (as opposed to constant) lag time from death to institution has made it look as if the Black Death passed slowly through specific localities. This error is compounded by a failure to disaggregate the information from the bishops' registers to a geographical level that is genuinely comparable to the modern data. A sample of 235 deaths from the bishop's register of Coventry and Lichfield, the only English register to list both date of death and date of institution, shows that the Black Death swept through local areas much more rapidly than has previously been thought. This finding is consistent with those of earlier studies showing that the Black Death spread too rapidly between locales to have been a zoonosis such as bubonic plague. A further analysis of the determinants of the lag between death and institution, designed to provide a basis for reexamining other bishops' registers that do not provide information on date of death, shows that the distribution of lags could vary significantly by time and space even during a single epidemic outbreak.

Disease Outbreaks↗