Search

Venous thromboembolism is a condition that includes both deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Venous thromboembolism disease can result because of a combination of risk factors, including patient-related, treatment-related, and, more specifically, cancer-related factors. It is not disease-specific or a population-specific disorder, but it is more prevalent in certain specialty populations. This article will cover those specialty populations including cancer, pregnancy, and athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup agricultural herbicides and other herbicide formulations that are widely used for agricultural, forestry, and residential weed control. As part of the Farm Family Exposure Study, we evaluated urinary glyphosate concentrations for 48 farmers, their spouses, and their 79 children (4-18 years of age). We evaluated 24-hr composite urine samples for each family member the day before, the day of, and for 3 days after a glyphosate application. Sixty percent of farmers had detectable levels of glyphosate in their urine on the day of application. The geometric mean (GM) concentration was 3 ppb, the maximum value was 233 ppb, and the highest estimated systemic dose was 0.004 mg/kg. Farmers who did not use rubber gloves had higher GM urinary concentrations than did other farmers (10 ppb vs. 2.0 ppb). For spouses, 4% had detectable levels in their urine on the day of application. Their maximum value was 3 ppb. For children, 12% had detectable glyphosate in their urine on the day of application, with a maximum concentration of 29 ppb. All but one of the children with detectable concentrations had helped with the application or were present during herbicide mixing, loading, or application. None of the systemic doses estimated in this study approached the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reference dose for glyphosate of 2 mg/kg/day. Nonetheless, it is advisable to minimize exposure to pesticides, and this study did identify specific practices that could be modified to reduce the potential for exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite more than 20 years of surveillance and epidemiologic studies using the beryllium blood lymphocyte proliferation test (BeBLPT) as a measure of beryllium sensitization (BeS) and as an aid for diagnosing subclinical chronic beryllium disease (CBD), improvements in specific understanding of the inhalation toxicology of CBD have been limited. Although epidemiologic data suggest that BeS and CBD risks vary by process/work activity, it has proven difficult to reach specific conclusions regarding the dose-response relationship between workplace beryllium exposure and BeS or subclinical CBD. One possible reason for this uncertainty could be misclassification of BeS resulting from variation in BeBLPT testing performance. The reliability of the BeBLPT, a biological assay that measures beryllium sensitization, is unknown. To assess the performance of four laboratories that conducted this test, we used data from a medical surveillance program that offered testing for beryllium sensitization with the BeBLPT. The study population was workers exposed to beryllium at various facilities over a 10-year period (1992–2001). Workers with abnormal results were offered diagnostic workups for CBD. Our analyses used a standard statistical technique, statistical process control (SPC), to evaluate test reliability. The study design involved a repeated measures analysis of BeBLPT results generated from the company-wide, longitudinal testing. Analytical methods included use of (1) statistical process control charts that examined temporal patterns of variation for the stimulation index, a measure of cell reactivity to beryllium; (2) correlation analysis that compared prior perceptions of BeBLPT instability to the statistical measures of test variation; and (3) assessment of the variation in the proportion of missing test results and how time periods with more missing data influenced SPC findings. During the period of this study, all laboratories displayed variation in test results that were beyond what would be expected due to chance alone. Patterns of test results suggested that variations were systematic. We conclude that laboratories performing the BeBLPT or other similar biological assays of immunological response could benefit from a statistical approach such as SPC to improve quality management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between pulmonary obstruction (e.g., asthma) and occupational exposure to methyl cyanoacrylate (MCA) and ethyl cyanoacrylate (ECA) was examined in an occupational cohort of 450 persons at an adhesive production facility in Puerto Rico. Employee medical records containing information on physical examinations and pulmonary function tests (PFTs), as well as occupational histories, on each employee over a period of about 17 yr and industrial hygiene measurements were evaluated. The cohort analysis was based on a Cox proportional hazards model. Workers exposed to ECA or MCA were compared to workers unexposed to these chemicals with respect to their risk of becoming an ''incident case. An ''incident case was defined as any per son whose PFTs were normal at the time of employment, but later demonstrated an obstructive pattern, which was defined as a decline in the ratio of forced expiratory volume exhaled in 1 s to forced vital capacity (FEV /FVC) below 70%. A separate casecontrol analysis was also conducted that compared ''suspected cases, defined as all those whose PFTs ever demonstrated an obstructive pattern (e.g., asthma), to persons whose PFTs remained within normal limits throughout their employment with respect to their past peak and cumulative exposures to cyanoacrylates. All of these analyses showed no evidence that exposure to average short-term concentrations of ECA or MCA of less than 0.5 ppm and occasional daily peak exposures of at least 1.5 ppm (usually 10 min or less), with occasional higher concentrations during spills, were associated with an increased risk of pulmonary obstruction. However, the study suggested that persons occupationally exposed to cyanoacrylates were more likely to have some reversible eye or upper airway irritation than persons who were unexposed. 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines narrative approaches to raising consciousness about sexual harassment. Personal narrative; Case study; Interactive narrative or collective story; Illustrations of the approaches as they are used in academic settings; Applications in the classroom and the workplace; Theoretical possibilities of narrative for addressing sexual harassment.

Aim: Both bead and cell-based assays for HLA antibody detection can be impacted by non-specific background staining. In some (but not all) instances, adsorption of serum with control beads prior to testing reduces background. Herein we demonstrate that the addition of small amounts of FBS to patient sera can reduce or eliminate non-specific background activity. Methods: Briefly, 5ul of heat-inactivated FBS was added to 50ul of patient or control serum. Samples were incubated from 0-30 minutes and then centrifuged before testing in bead or cell-based assays. Results: Informative patient’s sera were treated with FBS and tested by FlowPRA, LABScreen Single Antigen Beads and flow crossmatch. Following treatment, 3 general patterns were observed:1) No effect on sera exhibiting well-defined HLA antibody specificities; 2) Improved resolution of true HLA antibodies in bead and cell based assays among sera with questionable (but real) antibodies; 3) Elimination of spurious activity among sera devoid of HLA antibody activity. FBS Treatment of beads alone had no effect.[figure1] Conclusions: Many variables can contribute to high background staining in HLA antibody testing for which there are few remedies. These high backgrounds can confound/preclude the detection of true HLA antibody. Here we describe a simple procedure that can significantly reduce non-specific binding. FBS treatment allows easy resolution of true positive results from spurious background staining without any apparent loss in sensitivity and specificity. While its mechanism is unknown, we speculate that FBS treatment provides target antigens that block the binding of naturally occurring heterophile antibodies to beads and cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The bibliometric case study discusses the publishing of historical works by academics associated with Flemish universities in the first decade of the 21st century. To do this, the authors utilize the Flemish Academic Bibliographic Database for the Social Sciences (VABB-SHW). They first examine the VABB-SHW as an instrument of research policy. They then identify Flemish publication trends such as the importance of monographs and the use of the Dutch language.

Several studies have demonstrated intraspecific variation in fish gill size that relates to variation in dissolved oxygen (DO) availability across habitats. In Lake Nabugabo, East Africa, ecological change over the past 12 years has coincided with a shift in the distribution of introduced Nile perch such that a larger proportion of the population now inhabits waters in or near wetland ecotones where DO is lower than in open waters of the lake. In this study, we compared gill size of juvenile Nile perch between wetland and exposed (open-water) habitats of Lake Nabugabo in 2007, as well as between Nile perch collected in 1996 and 2007. For Nile perch of Lake Nabugabo [<20 cm total length (TL)], there was a significant habitat effect on some gill traits. In general, fish from wetland habitats were characterized by a longer total gill filament length and average gill filament length than conspecifics from exposed habitats. Nile perch collected from wetland areas in 2007 had significantly larger gills (total gill filament length) than Nile perch collected in 1996, but there was no difference detected between Nile perch collected from exposed sites in 2007 and conspecifics collected in 1996. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on various social processes and movements that took place in Singur, West Bengal, India regarding the establishment of an automobile production plant by Tata Motors Ltd. The Left Front government of west Bengal had allowed Tata Motors to manufacture their new cars in the district. The Singur Krishi Jomi Raksha Committee was formed by the local farmers to show their resistance against the land acquisition by the company.

Presents a study to assess efficacy and safety of the combination of enoxaparin and tirofiban compared with unfractionated heparin and tirofiban in patient with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes. Description of the study and its results; Conclusion.

Presents a list of books authored by Stanley D. Chapman.

Copyright of Conservation Biology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)