Osteotomy of the tibial tubercle in complex primary total knee replacement

Objective  Stiffness and severe deformity pose a major challenge in total knee arthroplasty. Numerous techniques have been described to gain exposure and improve knee flexion. Tibial tubercle osteotomy provides excellent and safe exposure of the joint, although mechanical and wound complications have been reported. Materials and methods  We present a series of 32 consecutive complex primary total replacements where an osteotomy of the tibial tubercle was utilised. Results  The patients had a mean follow-up of 2 years and 11 months. Following the procedure, with the exception of one case complicated with deep infection, all of the patients had improved clinically. The mean postoperative range of motion had increased to 102° (give P value < 0.005) and there were no cases of delayed union or non-union. A mechanical complication related to technique occurred in one patient; there were no other cases with a postoperative extension lag. Conclusion  In this challenging population group, we have found a tibial tubercle tuberosity osteotomy to greatly facilitate exposure without compromising the clinical and radiographic outcome.     

Biomonitoring of aromatic amines and alkylating agents by measuring hemoglobin adducts

Summary Analysis of hemoglobin adducts in blood samples is suitable for the biological monitoring of genotoxic chemicals. The method is specific because the compound to which the individual was exposed is identified. The sensitivity of the method depends on the analytical procedure applied, but is hardly limiting since large amounts of the protein can be obtained. The method provides not only information about the internal exposure to the environmental chemical, but also about the individual's capacity to generate ultimate genotoxic metabolites from it. Since macromolecular damage in blood cells is correlated to that in potential target tissues, this information is relevant to risk assessment, insofar as macromolecular damage produced by a specific chemical can be correlated with the development of tumors.     

应用Meta分析有效估计人群归因危险度百分比的探讨

人群归因危险度百分比 (populationattributableriskproportion ,PARP)是总体人群中某种疾病归因于某种因素的暴露所引起的发病 (死亡 )占全部发病 (死亡 )的百分比 ,反映该因素所引起的发病 (死亡 )占全部发病 (死亡 )的比重。通过PARP可了解各危险因素对人群中某疾病的发病所产生的影响 ,亦即消除某危险因素后 ,所产生的对预防该疾病的效果将占有多大比重。它能够为卫生政策的制订提供依据 ,有着重要的公共卫生的实际意义。目前常用的估计PARP的方法有两种 :一种是利用全国人群抽样调查获得的人群总暴露率来估计 ;另一种是利用某地区…     

International round robin tests on the measurement of carbon in diesel exhaust particulates

Object: Diesel soot has been recognized as probably carcinogenic to humans. Elemental carbon (also called black carbon) in soot is considered at the moment as the most significant surrogate to be measured for assessing the exposure to this pollutant. Its analysis is done by combustion in an oven and determination of the CO₂ formed, after elimination of the organic fraction of the soot by heating and/or by solvent extraction. The analysis allows determination of both fractions of the soot: “elemental carbon” (EC) and organic carbon␣(OC). The sum of EC and OC is called TC (total carbon). Method: An informal European coordination group organized two round robin tests on filter samples collected from diluted diesel emissions. The first round (RRT1) was performed on 13 different samples analyzed by ten laboratories. The range of loading was 2.5 to 150 μg/cm² of EC. No evaluation of the precision within laboratories could be made since each laboratory gave only one result per sample. Therefore a second round (RRT2) was organized with two samples and a blank filter sent in several portions to 11 laboratories. It should be stressed that each laboratory used its own method and that no standardization was planned at this stage. Results: Results of RRT1 showed that the coefficient of variation between laboratories decreased with higher loading and was around 10% to 15% for EC above about 20 μg/cm². Dispersion of the results varied and it appeared that the way OC is removed from the soot is probably the most important factor of influence. The correlation between the laboratories was good as a whole but some systematic differences could be detected. Besides the different techniques to remove the organic carbon, the pretreatment of the filter by HCl (either as a vapor or as a solution) to remove the inorganic carbonates (potential interference sources), is probably also a significant factor of influence in the dispersion of the results between laboratories. It is not yet clear from these results whether the “environmental” laboratories give different results from the “occupational” laboratories, but it is clear that their objectives differ since for the “environmentalists”, EC is not a specific marker of diesel immissions, in contrast to the “occupationalists”. Conclusion: It can be concluded that, although significant differences exist between laboratories they can be attributed mainly to the narrow distribution of the results within a single laboratory, and that the overall agreement of the results for EC and TC is fairly good. These results obtained with pure diesel engine emissions, should be complemented by field samples, but they have already achieved relevant findings in the performance of the procedures used to assess exposure to diesel soot. Received: 30 December 1996 / Accepted: 21 February 1997     

Separation discrimination with embedded targets

Previous research has shown that separation discrimination thresholds are independent of the internal spatial scale (local spatial frequency) of the targets whose separation is being judged. The experiments reported here tested the generality of this conclusion for separation discrimination of targets that were embedded in an array of identical objects, where crowding could enhance the importance of the scale at which the individual target locations are encoded. No effect of the local spatial scale of the targets was found under these conditions.     

Evaluation of serum type III procollagen peptide as an exposure marker in retired coal workers

Serum type III procollagen peptide (PIIIP), a degradation product of the type III collagen precursor, has been put forward as an exposure marker for mineral dust. We evaluated PIIIP levels as a marker of exposure to and effects of coal dust in retired coal miners (n = 104). To this end: (a) the individual cumulative dust exposure was calculated from job-exposure matrices, and (b) in addition to routine chest radiography (CR) of all miners according to the criteria of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), a subgroup (n = 46) was screened by high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Profusion score (CR and HRCT) tended to increase with cumulative dust exposure, even in the absence of CR evidence for pneumoconiosis (i.e. CR , 0/1, n = 35). In contrast to our previous findings in active miners, PIIIP levels were not increased in miners as compared with non-dust-exposed controls (n = 29), and no differences were observed between miners without (ILO = 0/0) and miners with coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP; ILO 0/1). No trend in PIIIP versus pneumoconiosis stage was present, either by CR or by the more sensitive HRCT score. PIIIP was also unrelated to any lung function parameter (FEV₁, FVC, impedance, diffusion capacity). Age, medication, medical history and smoking habits had no significant effect on PIIIP levels. In the miners with CWP (i.e. ILO > 0/0, n = 28) a significant negative correlation was present between PIIIP values and (log) cumulative dust exposure. This decrease in serum PIIIP levels with increasing cumulative exposure may be due to chronic adaptive changes in type III collagen deposition and/or breakdown. Other relations between exposure and PIIIP were not observed. In conclusion, the present findings do not support the use of serum type III procollagen peptide as a marker of exposure to and (early) interstitial or respiratory effects of coal dust.     

ROC曲线在评价铅中毒指标中的应用

目的评价几种铅中毒指标筛选不同水平职业性铅接触的准确性。方法连续性收集１５７名铅接触工人的血标本,同时测定血铅、红细胞游离原卟啉（ＦＥＰ）、锌原卟啉（ＺＰＰ）、尿铅、尿δ氨基酮戊酸（δＡＬＡ）,以血铅≥４０、≥６０μｇ／ｄｌ的铅接触水平为金标准,用ＲｅｃｅｉｖｅｒＯｐｅｒａｔｉｎｇＣｈａｒａｃｔｅｒｉｓｔｉｃ（ＲＯＣ受试者工作特征）曲线分析软件评价所测定指标筛选血铅≥４０、≥６０μｇ／ｄｌ职业性铅接触的价值,在ＲＯＣ曲线上制定各测定指标筛选上述２个铅接触水平的最佳临界点,用ＥＰＩＮＦＯＲ统计软件比较筛选血铅≥４０、≥６０μｇ／ｄｌ的平行试验的敏感度。结果筛选血铅≥４０、≥６０μｇ／ｄｌ的铅接触水平,ＲＯＣ曲线下的面积（ＡＵＣＲＯＣ）最大的是ＺＰＰ,其他依次为ＦＥＰ、尿铅、尿δＡＬＡ;联合ＺＰＰ与ＦＥＰ的平行试验的敏感度高于联合尿铅与尿δＡＬＡ的平行试验。结论筛选血铅≥４０、≥６０μｇ／ｄｌ水平的职业性铅接触,ＺＰＰ的准确性最高,并且联合ＺＰＰ与ＦＥＰ的平行试验的敏感度高于联合尿铅与尿δＡＬＡ的平行试验。     

The epidemiology of occupational contact dermatitis

Occupational contact dermatitis (OCD) ranks first of all occupational diseases in many countries. The incidence rate is believed to be around 0.5–1.9 cases per 1000 full-time workers per year. Epidemiological studies play an important role in observing disease trends, analysing risk factors, and monitoring the effect of preventive measures. In this review article the lack of truly epidemiologic data on OCD and the difficulties of those studies are illustrated. The following issues are highlighted: case ascertainment and bias, the distribution of allergic and irritant contact dermatitis in the working population, the interrelationship between exogenous (allergens, irritants) and endogenous factors, the prognosis, the social and economic impact, and the need for intervention studies. Received: 26 January 1999 / Accepted: 24 April 1999     

肺癌病因研究中接尘量计算的真实性评价

为评价肺癌病例对照研究中接尘剂量估算方法的真实性,对广西锡矿病因研究对象进行了重新计算。广西锡矿队列发现男性肺癌死者１３０例,配对照６２７例。共７５７人。其中接法工人５７２名,发现各期矽肺共２４３例,根据在斩工业卫生监测资料估算所有接尘工人的累积总粉尘接触量,再计算不同接尘水平下矽肺的发病率。结果显示,随接尘水平上升,矽肺发病率升高,两者存在明显的接触剂量反应关系。完全符合矽肺发病特点。从而间接证     

The applicability of the measurement of urinary thioethers

Summary The excretion of thioethers was measured in the urine of 6 volunteers, who were experimentally exposed to styrene, and 18 styrene workers. In addition, 12 clerks (non-smokers) and 12 sheet-metal workers (smokers) served as control groups. Diet was standardized during the experiments. Thioethers were measured by a spectrophotometric method. The volunteers were exposed to styrene, 210 mg/m³, for 2 h at a 50-W workload. An increase in thioether excretion was observed; the largest was in the urine samples collected between 0.5 and 5 h after the end of the exposure. After 43 h the excretion of thioethers was close to the preexposure level (3.5 mmol/mol creatinine). About 1% of the styrene absorbed was detected as thioethers in urine, which is only about 1/10 of the conversion reported for rats. From excretion rate curves a half-life of about 11 h was calculated for styrene thioethers. The styrene workers were employed at two plants. The average exposure to styrene (time-weighted average 8 h) was estimated to be about 115 mg/m3 (smokers in plant A), 55 mg/m³ (non-smokers in plant A) and 10 mg/m³ (non-smokers in plant B). The excretion of thioethers in exposed workers at plant A was higher by 2–4 mmol/mol creatinine than that in non-exposed controls. In plant B, where exposure was lower, an increase in that amount of thioethers excreted in the urine by exposed workers was less pronounced, and was statistically significant only when post-shift samples were compared with pre-shift samples. The results of the present study indicate that control samples should be collected both from non-exposed groups and from the exposed individuals before work shifts, to improve the likelihood of detecting genotoxic exposure in the work environment.