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Reactive dyes have been used in cotton textiles since their introduction in 1956. These dyes, however, have only infrequently been used by the wool industry because the older products have provided both adequate color fastness and palette. The dyes are used because they react rapidly and strongly at low temperatures and at moderate pH (acid-base levels). These reactions can also readily occur with body proteins as body temperature and acidity are within the appropriate range. Respiratory symptoms among six wool dye workers in Great Britain were studied. Their medical histories showed they had been exposed to Lanasol dyes produced by Ciba-Geigy. Previous research has suggested that the dyes rapidly combine with blood albumin to form a new compound (conjugate). The dye that the workers had been exposed to were conjugated in the laboratory with human albumin to make a conjugate that could be used to establish the workers' antibody level. Samples of the patients' blood were allowed to react with these conjugates as an assay of the presence of specific antibodies against the dye-albumin conjugate. The researchers were able to identify specific immunoglobulin E antibodies against the dye-albumin in two of the patients. The levels of IgE and immunoglobulin G (IgG) were measured in all six workers. Specific IgG was found in all workers exposed to reactive dyes without regard to their symptoms. Occupational physicians should consider reactive dye exposure in wool industry workers who have respiratory complaints. In these cases the identification of one or more dye-albumin conjugates can be helpful in identifying the dyes which cause the allergy.

Stroke is a leading cause of disability in particular affecting older people. Although the causes of stroke are well known and it is possible to reduce these risks, there is still a need to improve rehabilitation techniques. Early studies in the literature suggest that early intensive therapies can enhance a patient's recovery. According to physiotherapy literature, attention and motivation are key factors for motor relearning following stroke. Machine mediated therapy offers the potential to improve the outcome of stroke patients engaged on rehabilitation for upper limb motor impairment. Haptic interfaces are a particular group of robots that are attractive due to their ability to safely interact with humans. They can enhance traditional therapy tools, provide therapy “on demand” and can present accurate objective measurements of a patient's progression. Our recent studies suggest the use of tele-presence and VR-based systems can potentially motivate patients to exercise for longer periods of time. The creation of human-like trajectories is essential for retraining upper limb movements of people that have lost manipulation functions following stroke. By coupling models for human arm movement with haptic interfaces and VR technology it is possible to create a new class of robot mediated neuro rehabilitation tools. This paper provides an overview on different approaches to robot mediated therapy and describes a system based on haptics and virtual reality visualisation techniques, where particular emphasis is given to different control strategies for interaction derived from minimum jerk theory and the aid of virtual and mixed reality based exercises.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading contributor to mortality in the United States. Previous studies have linked early life individual and family factors, along with various contemporaneous place-based exposures to differential individual CVD mortality risk. However, the impacts of early life place exposures and how they compare to the effects of an individual's current place of residence on CVD mortality risk is not well understood. Using the National Longitudinal Mortality Study, this research examined the effects of both state of birth and state of residence on individual's risk of CVD mortality. We estimated individual mortality risk by estimating multi-level logistic regression models. We found that during a follow-up period of 11 years, 18,292 (4.2%) out of 433,345 participants died from CVD. The impact of state of birth on subsequent CVD mortality risk are greater than state of residence, even after adjusting for socio-demographic factors. Individuals who were born in certain states such as Tennessee, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania on average had higher CVD mortality risk. Conversely, those born in California, North Dakota, and Montana were found to have lower risk, no matter where they presently live. This study implies that early life state-level environments may be more prominent to individual's CVD mortality risk, compared to the state in which one lives. Future research should address specific mechanisms through which state of birth may affect people's risk of CVD mortality.

This paper uses data from the Diet and Health Study (DHS) to examine associations between being born in a “stroke belt” state and old age stroke and mortality outcomes. Adding to prior work that used administrative data, our paper explores educational and health mechanisms that are both stratified by geography and by mortality outcomes. Using logistic regression, we first replicate earlier findings of elevation in risk of dementia mortality (OR 1.13, CI [1.07, 1.20]) and stroke mortality (OR 1.17, CI [1.07, 1.29]) for white individuals born in a stroke belt state. These associations are largely unaffected by controls for educational attainment or by experiences with surviving a stroke and are somewhat attenuated by controls for self-rated health status in old age. The results suggest a need to consider additional life course mechanisms in order to understand the persistent effects of place of birth on old age mortality patterns.