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Bluetongue virus serotype 16 detection in NSW : In coastal New South Wales (NSW), bluetongue virus (BTV) serotypes 1 and 21 are endemic and transmitted in most years without evidence of disease. However, serotype 16 (BTV‐16) infection was detected for the first time in NSW in November 2016 in cattle undergoing testing for export. Retrospective testing of blood samples collected from sentinel cattle as part of the National Arbovirus Monitoring Program (NAMP) established that the first detected transmission of BTV‐16 in NSW occurred in April 2016 in sentinel cattle on the NSW North Coast. Subsequently, until 2022, BTV‐16 has been transmitted in most years and was the predominant serotype in the 2018–2019 transmission season. The data available suggests that BTV‐16 may have become endemic in NSW. Experimental studies: During experimental infection studies with BTV‐16, all sheep were febrile, with the peak of viremia occurring 6–10 days after inoculation. There was nasal and oral hyperaemia in most sheep with several animals developing a nasal discharge and nasal oedema. All sheep developed coronitis of varying severity, with most also developing haemorrhages along the coronary band. There was a high incidence of haemorrhage in the pulmonary artery, epicardial petechiae, extensive pericardial haemorrhages and moderate body cavity effusions including pericardial effusions. Conclusion: Overall, experimental pathogenicity findings suggest moderate disease may occur in sheep in the field. These findings, when combined with climatic variability that could result in an expansion of the range of Culicoides brevitarsis into major sheep‐producing areas of the state, suggest that there is an increasing risk of bluetongue disease in NSW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents interpretations and conclusions by the authors of raw data from the 1986 National Mortality Followback Survey and presents results from the 1987 National Health Interview Survey in considering the association between alcohol and specific causes of death. Summary. INSET: Definition of drinking levels..

Objective: To examine the effect of maternal age on cesarean delivery risk and to quantify the impact of demographic changes since 1970 on primary cesarean delivery rates.Design: A cohort study.Setting: Nonfederal short-stay hospitals in Washington State.Participants: All women who delivered live singletons with linked birth certificate and hospital discharge data from 1987 through 1990.Main Outcome Measures: Maternal age-, birth weight-, and parity-specific primary cesarean delivery rates, Mantel-Haenszel relative risk estimates for primary cesarean delivery by 5-year age category stratified by parity, and direct standardization of 1987 through 1990 primary cesarean rates to 1970 Washington State maternal age, birth weight, and parity distribution.Results: Primary cesarean rates ranged from 3.2% for multiparous teenage women who delivered infants weighing 3500 g through 3999 g to 58.9% for primiparous women 40 years of age or older who delivered infants weighing 4000 g or more. After adjustment, the risk of cesarean delivery increased with each 5-year age increment among women 20 years of age or older. We estimated that if the maternal age, parity, and birth weight distribution from 1987 through 1990 were identical to what existed in 1970, Washington State's primary cesarean rate from 1987 through 1990 would have been 12.2%, compared with the observed rate of 14.8%.Conclusion: The lower adjusted primary cesarean rate reflects the demographic changes in the childbearing population, which may be responsible for 18% of the 1987 through 1990 cesarean delivery rates. These findings suggest the importance of using maternal age-, birth weight-, and parity-specific primary cesarean delivery rates to compare populations and study temporal trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigation of the prevalence of eating disorders among a large sample of Japanese alcoholics admitted for hospital treatment revealed a strong association between eating disorders and alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence among young women. That association was not apparent in young men. The results of this study of the clinical courses of eating disorders and alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence suggest that women with eating disorders, especially bulimia nervosa, are at high risk of becoming alcoholic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age-adjusted oesophageal cancer mortality rates for Japanese women declined by 58% between 1960 and 1989, whereas corresponding rates for Japanese men have shown no decline. We speculate that alcohol-related oesophageal cancer mortality rates have been increasing in Japanese men replacing non-alcohol related oesophageal cancer deaths. Specifically, male birth cohorts, which experienced increased alcohol-related cirrhosis mortality rates, would also experience a rise in oesophageal cancer mortality rates. To test this hypothesis, we compared male to female ratios of oesophageal cancer mortality rates by birth cohort with those of liver cirrhosis mortality rates. We calculated the attributable risk of alcohol consumption and smoking to oesophageal cancer in Japanese men using oesophageal cancer mortality rates in Japanese women as a baseline, i.e. non-alcohol and non-smoking related oesophageal cancer deaths. We applied this method to head and neck cancer deaths to test its feasibility. Male birth cohorts born after 1926, which experienced male to female cirrhosis mortality ratios, also experienced increased oesophageal cancer mortality ratios. Overall, drinking and smoking accounted for 86% of all oesophageal cancer deaths and 85% of head and neck cancer deaths among Japanese men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty normal listeners generated auditory brainstem responses to simultaneous condensation 100 μs transients of 70 dB HLN to the left ear, right ear, and finally under binaural conditions. ABR was recorded simultaneously through two matched preamplifiers with vertex as a G1 electrode, the respective ear lobes as G2 for each preamplifier, and the nasion as a ground. Because of the recording montage and because, during binaural stimulation both right and left preamplifiers were active, it was possible to study asymmetries in the following five relationships: (1)[BinR - BinL], (2) [BinR + BinL] -ε[RI + RC) or (LI + LC), (3) [BinR + BinL] -ε[RI + LC) or (LI + RC)], (4) [BinR + BinL]/2 -ε[LI + LC) or ε(LI + LC) or ε(RI + RC)], (5) [BinR + BinL]/2 -ε[(LI + RC) or ε(RI + LC)], in which R = biological data from right amplifier, L = biological data from left preamplifier, I = ipsilateral stimulation, C = contralateral stimulation and Bin = binaural stimulation. Data support, Decker and Howe [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 69, 1084 (1981)] in that either the left or right ear usually dominates the binaural interaction, but also show that recording montage and binaural stimulation conditions lead to other forms of recordable asymmetries. [Work supported by NINCDS 11647.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]