bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Medical management of three workers following a radiation exposure incident
Authors: House Ronald A. , Sax Solly E. , Rumack Eric R. , Holness D. Linn 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThe medical management of three individuals involved in an exposure incident to whole‐body radiation at a nuclear generating plant of a Canadian electrical utility is described. The exposure incident resulted in the two highest whole‐body radiation doses ever received in a single event by workers in a Canadian nuclear power plant. The individual whole‐body doses (127.4 mSv, 92.0 mSv, 22.4 mSv) were below the threshold for acute radiation sickness but the exposures still presented medical management problems related to assessment and counseling. Serial blood counting and lymphocyte cytogenetic analysis to corroborate the physical dosimetry were performed. All three employees experienced somatic symptoms due to stress and one employee developed post‐traumatic stress disorder. This incident indicates that there is a need in such radiation exposure accidents for early and continued counseling of exposed employees to minimize the risk of development of stress‐related symptoms. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Use of death certificates in epidemiological studies, including occupational hazards: Variations in discordance of different asbestos‐associated diseases on best evidence ascertainment
Authors: Selikoff Irving J. , Seidman Herbert 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThere is extensive information on discordance in general between accuracy of medical diagnoses on death certificate categorization of cause of death and available clinical and histopathological data. This is as true for occupational disease as for other conditions. But occupational illnesses bear a special problem. Discordance is not equal across the board—it may vary with each occupationally related disease, and no single formula can be applied. It may be high for angiosarcoma and low for acute hydrogen sulfide poisoning, low for bladder cancer, high for unsuspected methyl mercury poisoning.We have found that for one agent—asbestos—there were different rates of discordance for different asbestos‐related diseases (e.g., lung cancer, mesothelioma, asbestosis, kidney cancer) among 4,951 deaths studied prospectively from 1967 to 1986. Caution is therefore required before accepting generalizations concerning (unstudied) discordance in occupational mortality studies, and in their use in risk assessment models.
Death certificates in epidemiological studies, including occupational hazards: Inaccuracies in occupational categories
Authors: Selikoff Irving J. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractWe compared death certificates for asbestos‐associated diseases (mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis) in two asbestos workers' cohorts. One (insulation workers) had current or recent employment and a strong, continuing union support system which gave them much information about the effects of asbestos exposure. The second cohort, asbestos factory workers, had no such advantage. The factory had closed almost 30 years before, and its workers had dispersed into many areas of the state and nation.Accuracy of medical diagnosis was comparable in the two groups, but occupational listings were not. Three‐quarters of the insulators' death certificates told of asbestos work, while virtually none of the factory workers' certificates provided such information, even for deaths of mesothelioma and asbestosis.The data indicate that disease categories, based on medical and pathological diagnoses, at least for asbestos‐associated disease, tend to be accurate. Attempts to identify groups at risk by sorting occpational categories can give variable results, good for those with current exposures, much less satisfactory for those with long‐past occupational exposures.
An environmental survey in chrysotile asbestos milling processes in India
Authors: Mukherjee A. K. , Rajmohan H. R. , Dave S. K. , Rajan B. K. , Kakde Y. , Raghavendra Rao S. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractEnvironmental monitoring to determine airborne asbestos fiber levels has been carried out in four different mills processing chrysotile asbestos in the Cuddapah District (Andhra Pradesh) of India. The “membrane filter method” comprising standard asbestos sampling techniques, acetone‐triacetin method for sample preparation, fiber counting, and sizing using the phase contrast optical microscope were adopted in the study. Fiber concentrations both with respect to personal exposures and processing areas were found in most of the cases to be much higher than the prescribed Threshold Limit Value (TLVs) of the developed and developing countries for chrysotile asbestos. By optical microscopy, fiber length distribution showed 70% of fibers in the milling processes were in size range >5–10 μm, whereas in >10–20 and >20 μm, 20% and 8%, respectively. Fiber identification for major elemental content, also done by using scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X‐ray analyzer, indicated the presence of tremolite along with chrysotile.The study stresses the urgent need to adopt suitable engineering controls at the dust generating sources to reduce the fiber level in the mill environment below the threshold limit.
Acute high dose exposure to benzene in shipyard workers
Authors: Midzenski Malinda A. , McDiarmid Melissa A. , Rothman Nathaniel , Kolodner Ken 
Published: April 2007

AbstractFifteen degassers were acutely exposed over several days to high concentrations (>60 ppm) of benzene during removal of residual fuel (degassing) from shipboard fuel tanks. Medical surveillance evaluation mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Benzene Standard initially revealed 11 workers (73%) reporting neurotoxic symptoms while degassing. Workers with more than 2 days (16 hours) of acute exposure were significantly more likely to report dizziness and nausea than those with 2 or fewer days of acute exposure. Repeated laboratory analyses performed over a 4‐month period after the acute exposure revealed at least one hematologic abnormality consistent with benzene exposure in 9 (60%) of these degassers. One year later, 6 workers (40%) had persistent abnormalities; an additional worker with normal hematologic parameters at the time of our initial evaluation subsequently developed an abnormality consistent with benzene exposure. Numerous large granular lymphocytes were observed on 6 (40%) of the peripheral blood smears. Despite these laboratory findings, there were no significant associations between the presence of hematologic abnormalities and either the number of hours of acute benzene exposure or the duration of employment as a degasser. Volatilization of benzene from the residual fuel was the suspected source of benzene in the headspace of tanks. Confined space exposure to petroleum products may be exposing workers to benzene at levels above the OSHA Short‐Term Exposure Limit (STEL). This situation warrants further study.
Epidemiologic evidence of cancer in aluminum reduction plant workers
Authors: Rönneberg Alf , Langmark Fröydis 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThis paper reviews the epidemiologic evidence of cancer risks among workers in aluminum reduction plants with emphasis on associations with specific work areas and exposures. Studies of workers manufacturing carbon products outside the aluminum industry were also reviewed since the work environment is similar to that encountered in the carbon area of aluminum plants. We obtained 22 reports from references cited in earlier reviews, through compact disc literature search 1980–1990, and from the Nordic Aluminum Industry's Secretariat for Health, Environment and Safety. Six reports were excluded because the material was included in later studies or because a critical evaluation was impossible. This left 16 publications from 11 separate studies.Work in potrooms with Söderberg electrolytic cells was associated with increased risk of bladder cancer, and the increase was correlated to duration of tar exposure. There was a suggestion of increased risk of leukemias and pancreatic cancers in potroom workers, and of kidney and brain cancers without any clear association with specific exposures or work areas. Singular results showed associations between lung cancer risk and tar exposure in Söderberg plants, and between lung cancer and work in prebake or carbon plants, but interpretation was limited by inadequate data on smoking and asbestos exposure, and by problems connected with the choice of reference populations in these studies.
Use of participatory training techniques in a right‐to‐know train‐the‐trainer course for New Jersey public employees
Authors: Miles Karen K. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThe New Jersey Department of Health, in conjunction with the Department of Personnel's Human Resources Development Institute, has developed a Right‐to‐Know Train‐the‐Trainer course. In this course, various participatory activities have been utilized since the course's inception in December 1989 to train future trainers who train public employees about recognizing, evaluating, and controlling hazardous substances in their facilities. These participatory training techniques have offered a means by which the trainers can encourage workers to become proactive in making their working conditions safer. With the use of various methods of evaluation, course participants learn the content and develop their skills in the use of participatory training techniques. Though evaluations indicate that participants have a favorable impression of the course, the extent to which these participants take the information back to their worksites has not been formally evaluated.
Regulation of priority carcinogens and reproductive or developmental toxicants
Authors: Hooper Kim , Ladou Joseph , Rosenbaum Judith S. , Book Steven A. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractIn California. 370 carcinogens and 112 reproductive/developmental toxicants have been identified as a result of the State's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. They include pesticides, solvents, metals, industrial intermediates, environmental mixtures, and reactive agents. Occupational, environmental, and consumer product exposures that involve these agents are regulated under the Act. At levels of concern, businesses must provide warnings for and limit discharges of those chemicals. The lists of chemicals were compiled following systematic review of published data, including technical reports from the U.S. Public Health Service—National Toxicology Program (NTP), and evaluation of recommendations from authoritative bodies such as the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Given the large number of chemicals that are carcinogens or reproductive/developmental toxicants, regulatory concerns should focus on those that have high potential for human exposure, e.g., widely distributed or easily absorbed solvents, metals, environmental mixtures, or reactive agents. In this paper, we present a list of 33 potential priority carcinogens and reproductive/developmental toxicants, including alcoholic beverages, asbestos, benzene, chlorinated solvents, formaldehyde, glycol ethers, lead, tobacco smoke, and toluene.
Outbreak of hypersensitivity pneumonitis among mushroom farm workers
Authors: Sanderson Wayne , Kullman Gregory , Sastre Joaquin , Olenchock Stephen , O'Campo Alvaro , Musgrave Karl , Green Francis 
Published: April 2007

AbstractBetween April 1982 and August 1985, seven cases of mushroom worker's lung (MWL), a form of hypersensitivity pneumonitis, were diagnosed among workers at one mushroom farm in Florida. The cases suffered from episodic shortness of breath, cough, fever and chills, myalgia, malaise, and difficulty breathing. Pulmonary function testing revealed restrictive ventilatory impairment and reduced diffusing capacity; chest radiographs exhibited diffuse interstitial pulmonary infiltrates. The seven cases occurred among workers from different farm operations, suggesting that workers throughout the farm were exposed to the disease causing agent(s). Six of the affected workers left employment at the farm in order to remain free of symptoms. The other affected worker was able to continue working at the farm, but only by remaining in a maintenance shop which was physically separated from the rest of the farm facilities. An industrial hygiene survey demonstrated that farm workers from every work area were exposed to organic dust constituents suspected of causing MWL, but no specific antigens were identified as the cause of the cases. Of the remaining workers who participated in a cross‐sectional respiratory morbidity survey at the farm, approximately 20% of the more heavily exposed workers reported occasionally experiencing symptoms consistent with MWL. Approximately 10% of the workers had below normal spirometry test results, but interpretation was hampered by the diverse racial makeup of the population and lack of an adequate comparison group. No abnormalities consistent with either acute or chronic MWL were seen on the chest radiographs. Serologic tests demonstrated that almost all workers had been exposed to antigens capable of causing MWL, but the results were not associated with health status. At the time of the cross‐sectional survey, no workers were found to be suffering acute respiratory problems consistent with MWL.
Historical perspectives in occupational medicine: Coal workers' pneumoconiosis: A historical perspective on its pathogenesis
Authors: Heppleston A. G. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThe earliest observations on coal workers' pneumoconiosis identified fundamental factors and posed particular problems in its genesis. Among the former, intensity of exposure and particle size were recognized, while argument commenced on the roles of stone dust, thus anticipating the quartz question, and of complicating pulmonary states, which introduced the idea of infection. Major studies of the disease were precipitated by its greatly increased prevalence, which became evident among South Wales coal workers from the 1930s. The principal directions of enquiry remained the same as in Scotland a century before, namely the components of coal mine dust responsible for fibrosis and the additional factor required for the development of massive fibrosis. The combined human and experimental evidence now makes possible conclusions in which confidence may be placed.
Age‐related changes in reading systems of dyslexic children
Authors: Shaywitz Bennett A. , Skudlarski Pawel , Holahan John M. , Marchione Karen E. , Constable R. Todd , Fulbright Robert K. , Zelterman Daniel , Lacadie Cheryl , Shaywitz Sally E. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractObjectiveTo examine age‐related changes in the neural systems for reading in nonimpaired and dyslexic children and adolescents.MethodsFunctional magnetic resonance imaging was used to study age‐related changes in the neural systems for reading in a cross‐sectional sample of 232 right‐handed children 7 to 18 years of age (113 dyslexic readers and 119 nonimpaired readers) as they read pseudowords.ResultsIn nonimpaired readers, systems in the left anterior lateral occipitotemporal area developed with age, whereas systems in the right superior and middle frontal regions decreased. In contrast, in dyslexic readers, systems in the left posterior medial occipitotemporal regions developed with age. Older nonimpaired readers were left lateralized in the anterior lateral occipitotemporal area; there was no difference in asymmetry between younger and older dyslexic readers.InterpretationThese findings offer a possible neurobiological explanation for the differences in reading acquisition between dyslexic and nonimpaired readers and provide further evidence of the critical role of the left occipitotemporal region in the development of reading. Ann Neurol 2007;61:363–370
Long-term results of a randomized clinical trial of Shouldice, Lichtenstein and transabdominal preperitoneal hernia repairs
Authors: Butters M , Redecke J , Köninger J 
Published: April 2007

Abstract

Introduction
There is an ongoing debate about the preferred technique for inguinal hernia repair. In this randomized study the long-term results of Shouldice, Lichtenstein and transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) hernia repair were compared.

Methods
Some 280 men with a primary hernia were randomized prospectively to undergo Shouldice, tension-free Lichtenstein or laparoscopic TAPP repair. Patients were examined after 52 months to assess hernia recurrence, nerve damage, testicular atrophy and patient satisfaction.

Results
Hernia recurrence occurred in six patients after Shouldice repair, and in one patient each after Lichtenstein and TAPP repairs. All recurrences after tension-free repairs were diagnosed within the first year after surgery. Nerve injuries were significantly more frequent after open Shouldice and Lichtenstein repairs. Patient satisfaction was greatest after laparoscopic TAPP repair.

Conclusion
Tension-free repair was superior to the non-mesh Shouldice technique. The open anterior approach to the groin was associated with demonstrable nerve injury, and laparoscopic TAPP repair was the most effective approach in the hands of an experienced surgeon.
Randomized clinical trial of the impact of early enteral feeding on postoperative ileus and recovery
Authors: Han-Geurts I J M , Hop W C J , Kok N F M , Lim A , Brouwer K J , Jeekel J 
Published: April 2007

Abstract

Background
Postoperative convalescence is mainly determined by the extent and duration of postoperative ileus. This randomized clinical trial evaluated the effects of early oral feeding on functional gastrointestinal recovery and quality of life.

Methods
One hundred and twenty-eight patients undergoing elective open colorectal or abdominal vascular surgery participated in the trial. Of these, 67 were randomized to a conventional return to diet, and 61 to a regimen allowing resumption of an oral diet as soon as tolerated (free diet group).

Results
Reinsertion of a nasogastric tube was necessary in 20 per cent of the free diet group and 10 per cent of the conventional group (P = 0·213). The complication rate was similar for both groups, as was return of gastrointestinal function. A normal diet was tolerated after a median of 2 days in the free diet group compared with 5 days in the conventional group (P &lt; 0·001). Quality of life scores were similar in both groups.

Conclusion
Early resumption of oral intake does not diminish the duration of postoperative ileus or lead to a significantly increased rate of nasogastric tube reinsertion. Tolerance of oral diet is not influenced by gastrointestinal functional recovery. As there is no reason to withhold oral intake following open colorectal or abdominal vascular surgery, postoperative management should include early resumption of diet.
Oesophagectomy practice and outcomes in England
Authors: Al-Sarira A A , David G , Willmott S , Slavin J P , Deakin M , Corless D J 
Published: April 2007

Abstract

Background
The 2001 UK National Health Service guidance on improving outcomes recommended centralization of oesophageal resection. The aim of this study was to analyse national trends in oesophageal resection in England to determine whether centralization has occurred and its impact on outcomes.

Methods
The study used data from Hospital Episode Statistics for 1997–1998 to 2003–2004 and included patients who had resection for oesophageal cancer. The annual hospital volume was grouped into five categories based on the recommendation for annual volume for a designated centre.

Results
A total of 11 838 oesophageal resections were performed. The total number of hospitals performing resections decreased, mainly owing to a fall in the number of very low-volume hospitals (117 in 1997 to 45 in 2003). The proportion of resections performed in very high-volume hospitals increased from 17·8 per cent during 1997–1999 to 21·9 per cent during 2002–2003 (P &lt; 0·001). The overall in-hospital mortality rate was 10·1 per cent, with a significant reduction over time (from 11·7 to 7·6 per cent; P &lt; 0·001). The decline in mortality rate may be due to increased numbers of patients undergoing surgery in higher-volume hospitals. There was an increase in the annual number of new patients from 5672 to 6230 during the study, although a fall in the proportion of resections from 31·5 to 26·0 per cent (P &lt; 0·001).

Conclusion
Centralization and multidisciplinary team expertise partly explain the improvement in mortality rate, but changes in preoperative selection also play a part.
Reactions of the HCN‐Tetramer with Aldehydes
Authors: Koch Klemens , Schweizer W. Bernd , Eschenmoser Albert 
Published: April 2007

AbstractThe HCN‐tetramer, a ‘classic’ of the prebiotic chemistry of HCN, is shown to undergo a remarkable reaction with acetaldehyde in slightly basic or neutral aqueous solution at room temperature. The reaction consists in an aldolization‐type C,C‐bond formation, accompanied by a (presumably aldehyde‐catalyzed) hydration of one of the two nitrile groups and the formation of two cyclic aminal‐type groupings, each of the latter incorporating an additional molecule of the aldehyde. Should this so far unexplored type of chemistry of the HCN‐tetramer prove to have some generality, the finding might add a new dimension to the potential etiological relevance of this HCN‐oligomer.
Chemistry and Selection
Authors: de Duve Christian 
Published: April 2007

AbstractLife is the product of chemistry, which obeys deterministic laws, and of natural selection, which operates on variants offered to it by chance, but may, in a number of cases, have been provided with a sufficiently extensive array of variants to be optimizing. Thus, the origin and evolution of life have been largely shaped by the contingency of environmental conditions. The possibility remaining open for consideration is that certain critical conditions are sufficiently reproducible for life to arise and even to evolve into conscious, intelligent beings elsewhere in the universe.
Intractable Mixtures and the Origin of Life
Authors: Schwartz Alan W. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractAttempts to model the spontaneous chemistry which presumably preceded the origin of life on Earth commonly result in the production of intractably complex mixtures of organic compounds. It is, therefore, difficult to understand how any kind of evolutionary process might have begun. A number of potential solutions to this well‐known and frustrating problem have been offered in the literature over the years. The present contribution briefly reviews and evaluates some of the more promising possibilities.
Addressing the Problems of Base Pairing and Strand Cyclization in Template‐Directed Synthesis
Authors: Hud Nicholas V. , Jain Swapan S. , Li Xiaohui , Lynn David G. 
Published: April 2007

AbstractNucleic acid synthesis is precisely controlled in living organisms by highly evolved protein enzymes. The remarkable fidelity of information transfer realized between template and product strands is the result of both the spatial selectivity of the polymerase active site for Watson–Crick base pairs at the point of nucleotide coupling and subsequent proof‐reading mechanisms. In the absence of naturally derived polymerases, in vitro template‐directed synthesis by means of chemically activated mononucleotides has proven remarkably inefficient and error‐prone. Nevertheless, the spontaneous emergence of RNA polymers and their protein‐free replication is frequently taken as a prerequisite for the hypothetical ‘RNA world’. We present two specific difficulties that face the de novo synthesis of RNA‐like polymers in a prebiotic (enzyme‐free) environment: nucleoside base selection and intramolecular strand cyclization. These two problems are inherent to the assumption that RNA formed de novo from pre‐existing, chemically‐activated mononucleotides in solution. As a possible resolution to these problems, we present arguments and experimental support for our hypothesis that small molecules (referred to as ‘molecular midwives’) and alternative backbone linkages (under equilibrium control) facilitated the emergence of the first RNA‐like polymers of life.