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Objective: Annually in the Netherlands (15.9 million inhabitants), approximately 1850 children, aged zero to five years need to be hospitalized and 1200 children need treatment at a First Aid and Emergency department following an accidental intoxication. Despite the introduction in the Netherlands of guidelines on childproof packaging of household chemicals (1986) and medicines (1990), intoxications still occur with child-resistant products. The aim of this study is to increase insight into the causal factors of accidental intoxications of children aged zero to five years in the Netherlands and to assess the role of child-resistant packages. The results will be used to formulate recommendations, which can help to improve the policy regarding child-resistant packages. Methods: An analysis of the database of the National Poisons Control Centre on poisonings was performed in order to assess the product groups which are most frequently involved in causing exposure in children. After this analysis a telephone inquiry was carried out among parents/guardians of children aged 0-6 years, who had been exposed to these product groups and consulted a general practitioner. Results: Medicines (39%), household products (21%) and cosmetics (7%) are most frequently involved in causing exposure in children. Pesticides are less frequently involved but are potentially very hazardous. In total 600 telephone inquiries with parent/guardians were held in the period May-November 1999. The average age of the children was 25.4 months (1.7 years). Practically always someone was present to watch over the child (94%). However, most accidents occurred when the parent or guardian left the room where the child was (54%). The product was often readily available for the child (77%), mostly due to the fact that the product was in use (37%) or had not been put away (21%). At the time of the accidents, only a quarter of the products were stored properly. At the time of the accidents, 55% of the products were in a closed container only 8% of which had a childproof closure. The majority (60%) of these childproof products could be opened by the children in the correct manner. In addition, another 11% of the child-resistant closures were malfunctioning or broken. Conclusion: The product was often readily available for the child, because most of the time it was being used. In order to reduce the number of intoxications in these children, attention should be focused on general public information regarding the use and easy availability of these consumer products in housekeeping. Furthermore, products that legally require childproof closures should be sold in properly designed packages. Vriend I(1), Hertog PC den(1), Vriesman MF(2), Vries I de(2), Zoelen GA van(2), Mulder S(1), Meulenbelt J(2) (1) Consumer Safety Institute, PO Box 75169, 1070 AD Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2) National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, National Poisons Control Centre, PO Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands

In the early Pliocene, 5.4 to 3.6 million years ago, Australia had a greenhouse climate, widespread forests and diverse marsupial animals. The skeleton belongs to a species in the family Diprotodontidae - a group of four-legged herbivores that were the largest marsupials to ever exist. [Extracted from the article]

The monomer conversion dependence of the formation of the various types of defect structures in radical suspension polymerization of vinyl chloride was examined via both ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectrometry. The rate coefficients for model propagation and intra- and intermolecular hydrogen abstraction reactions were obtained via high-level ab initio molecular orbital calculations. An enormous increase in the formation of both branched and internal unsaturated structures was observed at conversions above 85%, and this is mirrored by a sudden decrease in stability of the resulting PVC polymer. Above this threshold-conversion, the monomer is depleted from the polymer-rich phase, and the propagation rate is thus substantially reduced, thereby allowing the chain-transfer processes to compete more effectively. In contrast to the other defects, the chloroallylic end groups were found to decrease at high conversions. On the basis of the theoretical and experimental data obtained in this study, this decrease was attributed to copolymerization and abstraction reactions that are expected to be favored at high monomer conversions. Finally, a surprising increase in the concentration of the methyl branches was reported. Although a definitive explanation for this behavior is yet to be obtained, the involvement of transfer reactions of an intra- or intermolecular nature seems likely, and (in the latter case) these could lead to the presence of tertiary chlorine in these defects.

Dendritic cells (DC) are unique in their ability to present antigen to naive T cells, and therefore play a central role in the initiation of immune responses. Characterization of DC-specific genes may help to unravel the mechanism underlying their potent antigen presenting capacity. Here we describe the identification of a novel transcript, isolated by random sequencing of a cDNA library prepared from monocyte-derived DC, which we termed DC-specific transmembrane protein (DC-STAMP). DC-STAMP is specifically expressed by DC, and not in a panel of other leukocytes or non-hematopoietic cells. Interestingly, DC-STAMP was also detected in activated but not resting blood DC. The DC-STAMP transcript encodes a 470-amino acid protein containing seven putative transmembrane domains. Expression of a DC-STAMP-GFP fusion protein in 293 cells indicates that DC-STAMP is expressed at the cell surface, and has an intracellular C terminus. Surprisingly, no sequence homology was found with any other protein or multimembrane-spanning receptor. Therefore, we propose that DC-STAMP is a novel DC-specific multimembrane-spanning protein, representing a new group of transmembrane proteins.

Normal rat kidney (NRK) fibroblasts are immortalized cells that are strictly dependent on externally added growth factors for proliferation. When cultured in the presence of epidermal growth factor (EGF) as the only growth stimulating hormone, these cells have a normal phenotype and undergo density-dependent growth inhibition. It has been postulated that this density-arrest results from a decrease of EGF receptor levels below a threshold level which makes these cells unresponsive to stimulation by EGF. In the present study, we show that NRK cells, made quiescent by serum-deprivation at submaximum density, are mitogenically still responsive to EGF, but show enhanced mitogenic stimulation after 8 hr pre-treatment with either transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) or retinoic acid (RA), while prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) and bradykinin (BK) enhance the mitogenic stimulation by EGF only slightly under these conditions. Addition of TGFβ or RA results in an increase of both ¹²⁵I-EGF-binding capacity and EGF receptor mRNA levels. Using flow cytometric analysis, we show that pre-treatment with TGFβ or RA increases the percentage of cells entering the cell cycle as a function of time. Furthermore, pre-treatment of the cells with TGFβ or RA increases the rate of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation by EGF. PGF2α and BK also increase EGF receptor levels, but only with delayed kinetics. These results show that already in serum-deprived quiescent NRK cells, EGF receptor levels limit EGF-induced mitogenic stimulation. This observation provides further evidence for the regulating role of the EGF receptor in density-dependent growth control of NRK cells. J. Cell. Physiol. 174:9–17, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The article reports on the standards of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) which requires that the occupational health nurses as part the NMC register can qualify as mentors for qualified practitioners. It informs about a benchmarking and accreditation scheme, Safe, Effective, Quality Occupational Health Services. It also presents the views of Jane Cummins, chief nursing officer for the National Health Service (NHS).