Absorption,metabolism and elimination of N,N-dimethylformamide in humans

Summary Excretion of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and DMF metabolites N-hydroxymethyl-N-methylformamide (MF), N-hydroxymethyl-formamide (F) and N-acetyl-S-(N-methylcarbamoyl)cysteine (AMCC) has been monitored in the urine of volunteers during and after their 8-h exposure to DMF vapour at a concentration of 10, 30 and 60 mg · m^–3. The pulmonary ventilation in these experiments was typically about 101 · min^–1 and the retention in the respiratory tract was 90%. After exposure to 30 mg DMF · m^–3, the yield of compound determined in the urine represented 0.3% (DMF), 22.3% (MF), 13.2% (F) and 13.4% (AMCC) of the dose absorbed via the respiratory tract. The excretion curves of the particular compounds attained their maximum 6–8h (DMF), 6–8h (MF), 8–14h (F) and 24–34h (AMCC) after the start of the exposure. The half-times of excretion were approximately 2, 4, 7 and 23 h respectively. In contrast to slow elimination of AMCC after exposure to DMF, AMCC was eliminated rapidly after AMCC intake. This discrepancy could be explained by rate-limiting reversible protein binding of a reactive metabolic intermediate of DMF, possibly methylisocyanate.     

Air-borne B. subtilis enzymes in the detergent industry

Summary Air-borne dust was collected on stationary and portable filters in two factories producing biological detergents. In one factory (Factory A) the detergent base was mixed with enzyme (subtilisin) powder, and the handling of the enzyme was done without effective protection. In the other factory (Factory B) the enzyme was encapsulated in granules before mixing the with detergent base, and the production line was shielded to prevent the spread of dust.Both the amount of air-borne dust and the relative enzyme activity of the dust were greater in Factory A than in Factory B in spite of the considerably larger production of enzyme detergents in the latter factory. The workers studied in Factory A were, on the average, exposed to 5.4 GU (glycine units) per cubic millimetre in their breathing zones, and those studied in Factory B were exposed to enzyme activities about and below 1 GU/m³.Based on exposure measurements and medical examination of the exposed workers, a time-weighted hygienic limit value for subtilisins of 1 GU/m³ is proposed.     

Lifestyle patterns concerning sports and physical activity,and perceptions of health

SummaryObjectives To explore the perceptions of health and physical activity, and the associations between these two areas from a theoretical lifestyle perspective.Methods Data was collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire, among 3019 adults attending centres for preventive medicine in France. Correspondence analysis examined the significance of the relationships between perceptions of health and perceptions of sports and physical activity.Results Four pricipal types of subjects emerged from the factor analyses expressing four different lifestyle patterns. Non physically active lifestyle: a feeling of not being healthy, Physically active lifestyle, pleasure/leisure-oriented, Necessarily physically active lifestyle, regardless of health, Physically active lifestyle aimed at stress relief.Conclusions The sociological approach helps tackle sports and physical activity as behaviour patterns but also and especially as a health orientation connected with the socio-economical climate. This approach also gives sports practice back its meaningful cultural dimension.

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ZusammenfassungFragestellung Wie werden Gesundheit und körperliche Aktivitäten und Sport wahrgenommen? Welche Zusammenhänge bestehen zwischen den beiden Parametern in Hinblick auf den Lebensstil?Methoden Die Rohdaten wurden mit Hilfe eines selbst zu beantwortenden Fragebogens gesammelt. Die 3019 Studienteilnehmer sind ausschliesslich Erwachsene, die in einem französischen Vorsorgezentrum während einer freiwilligen Beratungsstunde angesprochen wurden. Der Schwerpunkt der anschliessenden Faktorenanalyse lag in der Suche nach Korrelationen zwischen der Wahrnehmung der Gesundheit und den Eindrücken, die die sportlichen Aktivitäten hinterliessen.Ergebnisse Diese Analyse ermöglicht es, vier Antwortprofile herauszuarbeiten, die letztlich vier verschiedenen Lebensstilen entsprechen: inaktiv, allgemeines Unwohlsein, das sich im klinischen Bereich niederschlägt, aktiv, auf Lustempfindungen orientiert, passiv, fatalistisch, ohne Interesse an Gesundheit, aber gesellschaftsorientiert, aktiv, gesundheitsbewusst, auf Stressabbau orientier.Schlussfolgerungen Aus soziologischer Sicht kann somit die Ausübung körperlicher Aktivitäten einerseits als reines Verhaltensmuster gedeutet werden, andererseits aber auch als gesundheitsorientierte Handlung, eng verknüpft mit den sozioökonomischen Verhältnissen. Sprot an sich erhält somit seine Bedeutung als kulturelle Dimension wieder.

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RésuméObjectifs Etudier les perceptions de la santé et de l'activité physique et sportive, ainsi que les relations entre les deux dans la perspective théorique du style de vie.Méthodes Des données ont été recueillies par questionnaire auto-administré auprès de 3019 adultes consultant un centre de médecine préventive français. Une analyse factorielle des correspondances a permis d'étudier les relations d'affinités entre les perceptions de la santé et celles de l'activité physique et sportive.Résultats Quatre profils de réponses se distinguent par cette analyse factorielle qui font émerger quatre styles de vie: physiquement inactif, le sentiment de ne pas être en bonne santé, physiquement actif, orienté vers le plaisir et les loisirs, physiquement actif au travail sans attention pour la santé et physiquement actif pour lutter contre le stress.Conclusions L'approche sociologique permet d'aborder la pratique physique et sportive, comme un comportement mais aussi et surtout comme une orientation de santé, en relation avec les conditions socio-économiques. Elle redonne ainsi à la pratique sportive sa dimension culturelle signifiante.

     

Advances in investigations of lyme borreliosis in the territory of the former USSR

Whereas late manifestations of Lyme borreliosis were described in Russia more than 100 years ago, early manifestations were described as different disease entities such as tick-borne erythema, etc. In 1985 Lyme borreliosis was first verified serologically and the agent was first identified in 1986. By the beginning of 1992 Lyme borreliosis was serologically confirmed in patients from the Baltics to the Far East.Their geographical patterns in Russia are closely related to areas of the hard ticks Ixodes persulcatus and Ixodes ricinus which are also the main vectors of tick-borne encephalitis virus. As in the case of this infection, in the west of Russia there are ricinus natural foci of Lyme borreliosis, and to the east there are similar persulcatus foci; through large territories in the East Europe there are common foci for both species. Many Borrelia burgdorferi strains of tick origin have been isolated from various regions of Russia and neighbouring republics. Adult tick infection rates vary from several per cent to 30% in I. ricinus and up to 50–60% in I. persulcatus. Double infections of Lyme borreliosis spirochetes and tick-borne encephalitis virus have been recorded for ticks as well as for humans. Lyme borreliosis morbidity and its importance for the Russia territory are discussed.     

Performance of Number-Between g-Type Statistical Control Charts for Monitoring Adverse Events

Alternate Shewhart-type statistical control charts, called g and h charts, have been developed for monitoring the number of cases between hospital-acquired infections and other adverse events, such as heart surgery complications, catheter-related infections, surgical site infections, contaminated needle sticks, medication errors and other care induced concerns. This article investigates the statistical properties of these new charts and illustrates several design considerations that significantly can improve their operating characteristics and sensitivity, including the use of with-in limit rules, a new in-control rule, redefined Bernoulli trials, and probability-based limits. These new charts are based on inverse sampling from geometric and negative binomial distributions, are simple for practitioners to use, and in some cases exhibit significantly greater detection power over conventional binomial-based approaches, particularly for infrequent events and low defect rates.     

Employment status and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Objectives: Recently, the conditions for disability benefits were redefined in several countries, stimulating employees to participate on the labour market as long as reasonably possible. Little is known of labour participation and quality of life (QoL) of employees with chronic diseases. This study examines the associations between employment status and QoL in COPD patients. Additionally, the role of lung function, and work-related symptoms and exposures on QoL were explored. Methods: Secondary analyses were conducted on baseline data from a randomized control trail. Patients were categorized as: paid-workers; voluntary non-paid workers (e.g., early retired, house wives) or disabled for work. QoL was assessed by the Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ). Between-group differences in CRQ scores, and associations between work-related symptoms or irritants and CRQ scores were uni- and multivariately analysed. Results: Two hundred and ten patients with COPD were included [mean age 53.9 (SD 6.8) years, FEV₁ %predicted 63.5 (SD 18.5)]. No statistically significant differences in lung function between the employment status subgroups were observed. Multivariable analysis showed that the disabled had lower CRQ scores as compared with paid workers (0.52 point difference, p<0.001). The CRQ scores of voluntary non-paid workers were not significantly different from paid workers. Within the group paid workers, patients with many work-related clinical symptoms and being susceptible to various work-related irritants experienced a lower QoL than patients who had respectively no symptoms, or who were not susceptible to these factors. Conclusions: Patients with COPD who were disabled for work showed equal severity of airflow limitation but worse QoL, as compared with paid workers.     

Identification of obstacles for chronic pain patients to return to work: evaluation of a questionnaire

The Obstacles to Return-to-Work Questionnaire (ORQ) was developed and evaluated. A total of 154 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain and prolonged work disability participated in the study. Factor analyses reduced the ORQ to 55 items grouped into 9 subscales. The subscales were named Depression, Pain intensity, Difficulties at work return, Physical workload and harmfulness, Social support at work, Worry due to sick leave, Work satisfaction, Family situation and support, and Perceived prognosis of work return. The subscales showed satisfactory reliability. In order to determine predictive validity a discriminant analysis was conducted with sick leave 9 months after assessment as the outcome. This analysis indicated that the scales Perceived prognosis of work return, Social support at work, Physical workload and harmfulness, Depression, and Pain intensity could significantly predict sick leave and correctly classified 79% of the patients. The Multidimensional Pain Inventory and the Disability Rating Index could also significantly predict sick leave in this sample and correctly classified as many patients as the ORQ. However, these questionnaires do not include any work-oriented items and they had a lower specificity than the ORQ. This study suggests that patients' perceptions and beliefs about work and returning to work may be a significant hindrance for actual recovery.     

Ultraviolet and volatility loss of herbicides

Herbicide 2,4-D formulated as a urea-type polymer was readily destroyed by long-wave uv (356-nm) irradiation, whereas conventional 2,4-D was more resistant. The opposite relationship was noted for polymeric and conventional formulations of dicamba. Polymerized 2,4-D was more resistant to thermal degradation (60°C) than non-polymerized formulations. Ultraviolet degradation of polymerized 2,4-D was eliminated by the incorporation of RYLEX-H and UVINUL D-50, industrial uv absorbers. Exposure of polymeric dicamba to 60°C heat, followed by trapping of the volatile component, indicated that 21 percent was lost by thermal degradation and 46.6 percent by volatilization. Comparable values for non-polymerized dicamba were 37.9 and 60.1 percent.     

An assessment of a urinary biomarker for total human environmental exposure to benzo[a]pyrene

Urinary banzo[a]pyrene (BaP) metabolite levels were compared to human environmental exposure to BaP through inhalation and dietary ingestion to assess the predictive validity of the exposure biomarker. These measurements were made for 14 adult volunteers over 14 consecutive days, once during summer/fall, again during winter periods. Based on personal air monitoring, median potential inhalation doses of 11.0 and 2.3 ng/day were estimated for the winter and summer/fall studies, respectively. A median potential ingested dose of 176 ng/day, estimated from duplicate plate sampling, exceeded inhalation by 6-and 122-fold for the winter and summer/fall studies, respectively. Total urinary BaP metabolites were measured using a published reverse metabolism (BaP) method of analysis. Median rates of urinary BaP metabolite elimination for the winter and summer/fall studies were 121 and 129 ng/day, respectively. The changes in inhaled and ingested potential doses were regressed on the change in urinary metabolite elimination from week 1 to week 2 to test the predictive validity of the biomarker measurement. The regression was statistically significant (r = 0.620, p = 0.015, n = 25) when body weight was included and two extreme values were removed. Consistent with the exposure measurements showing diet as the dominant route of exposure, most of the variation in urinary metabolite elimination was explained by the ingested dose. It is concluded that the measurement of urinary BaP by reverse metabolism is qualitative and of marginal predictive validity as an exposure biomarker due to the method's low recoveries and the large unexplained variance.     

Assertive/leveling communication and empathy in adolescent drug abuse prevention

This paper presents the feelings reported by 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th graders when role playing situations in which they wanted to say no to alcohol/drugs or to talk to a friend who was using. These role plays were part of SAY IT STRAIGHT (SIS) training, which was described in the preceding paper. Youngsters described themselves as feeling good and having high self-respect/esteem only when they said no in an assertive/leveling way. Only youngsters toward whom an assertive/leveling no was addressed described themselves as surprised/shocked and respectful of the person who was saying no. Finally, youngsters reported that the most effective way to convince a friend to quit using and/or get help was to express caring and friendship, and to touch the friend rather than being aggressive/blaming, irrelevant or super-reasonable. This feedback from youngsters opens conceptual issues relevant to some assertiveness training and drug abuse prevention programs.The authors thank Kevin Miller and Antoinette Bradley for their help on the project.This research was supported in part by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health, Contract # N200073.     

The Intendedness of Pregnancy: A Concept in Transition

Background: Although interest in the intendedness or the planning status of a pregnancy goes back many centuries, it is only since 1941 that questions about these issues have been asked systematically in large-scale surveys. More recently, questions about intendedness have become standard features of the National Survey of Family Growth and of the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS). Interest in and concern about the large numbers of unintended pregnancies reported in those surveys resulted in an Institute of Medicine report on the subject and the inclusion of a national health objective for increasing the proportion of pregnancies that are intended in Healthy People 2000 and Healthy People 2010. Needs: The terms, intended, unintended, mistimed, wanted, unwanted, and planned are often used without significant attention being paid to their meaning or how they are derived from survey questions. There is a particular need to distinguish between terms that define attitudes and those that define behaviors. In addition, research has revealed that women are often happy despite experiencing an unintended pregnancy and that contraceptive failures do not always result in a report of an unintended pregnancy. Objectives: Researchers have begun to ask questions about the meaning of the intendedness concept and its relationship to what women express as their feelings about pregnancies and births. This article, and this entire issue, is an attempt to make the reader aware of the current issues in this area and to suggest additional research that is needed to enable policy makers and program planners to design programs that will better assist couples in meeting their fertility goals.     

Hard hats vs. soft hearts: The conflict between principles and reality in child and adolescent care and treatment programs

Much of child care in volves quick reactions based on one's automatic pilot derived from how we were parented. This paper is about two seemingly universal automatic pilot systems—the hard hats and the soft hearts. Hard hats are behavior management and modification oriented, while soft hearts are psychodynamically and counselling oriented. Typically, the hard hats tend to have the upper hand due to the nature of our culture, and they therefore have the effect of preventing the contributions of the soft hearts from being realized. That all too frequently sets up a dominant culture and a resentful minority situation. To correct this imbalance, a value orientation from the top which emphasizes mutual respect and utilization is suggested.Grateful acknowledgement is made to Ray Peterson for his helpful suggestions in the preparation of this paper.     

What is a normal family? Common assumptions and current evidence

The social and applied human sciences have been built upon the assumption that the normal family consists of a first-marriage conjugal couple cohabiting with biological children. It is taken for granted that the wife should be responsible for child and domestic work, and that the husband should be the family's economic provider and ultimate authority. In the professional literature such traditional family structure is often described as normal in the sense of most common, as well as normal in the sense of well-functioning. Current psychological, sociological, anthropological and historical studies, however, do not support the assumption that the traditional nuclear family is the most natural, common, and/or healthy form of family arrangement. The idealization of the traditional nuclear family has had implications for theory, research, mental health practice, and social policy. Scientists and practitioners have been slow to recognize pathology in traditional nuclear families. Families other than traditional nuclear ones have been rendered invisible or pathologized. It is time for contemporary social and applied human sciences to recognize that the traditional nuclear family is a culturally- and historically-specific construct. It is also time for contemporary social and applied human sciences to develop an account of, and a research agenda about, families that take into consideration their variations across time, place, social class, ethnicity, and culture.     

Dimensionen der Zufriedenheit im Alter

Zusammenfassung In einer Interview-Studie von 480 Betagten in städtischen Verhältnissen wurden neben anderen Fragen auch solche zur Zufriedenheit gestellt. Eine Faktoranalyse der Antworten erlaubt die Unterscheidung eines Faktors Depressivität von einem Faktor Zufriedenheit mit Sozial-kontakten und einer gesundheitlichen Dimension.

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Dimensions of satisfaction among old people

Summary In an interview study of 480 aged persons, questions on satisfaction with several aspects of life were included. A factor analysis allows to distinguish a factor relating to depressivity from a factor satisfaction with social contacts and a health-related dimension.

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Dimensions de la satisfaction des personnes âgées

Résumé Das une enquête d'un échantillon de 480 personnes âgées, des questions concernant leur satisfaction ont été inclues dans l'interview. Une analyse factorielle permet de distinguer un facteur associé à la dépressivité d'un facteur satisfaction avec les contactes sociaux et d'une dimension santé.

     

Making sense of illness: late-in-life migration as point of departure for elderly Iranian immigrants' explanatory models of illness

This article is based on data gathered through 60 qualitative interviews conducted within the realm of three research projects that have used culture-appropriate lenses to study the postmigration situation of late-in-life Iranian immigrants to Sweden. The findings gathered through these studies were interpreted against the backdrop that culturally appropriate nursing theories provide. This meant that it was, at times, these elders backgrounds as cultural others that were implicitly used to make sense of the various issues that were brought to the fore by these studies. The particular issue with which this article is concerned is the unusualness of these elders explanatory models of illness. Inspired by the concept definition of situation in the symbolic interactionist perspective and by the feeling that this perspective might bring about a different interpretation of the original findings regarding their understandings of illness and disease, we set out to conduct a secondary analysis of these elders explanatory models of illness. The findings presented in this article will show how the elderly Iranian immigrants interviewed in these three studies utilize the process of late in life migration as a point of reference for their understandings of what has caused the illnesses from which they suffered. Hereby we will suggest that the unusualness of their explanatory models of illness might be best understood if we focus on what they shared as immigrants (i.e., the fact that the process of late-in-life migration has made their culture obsolete) as opposed to what they shared as Iranians (i.e., their culture of origin).     

Sex education and related skills: A series of programs implemented with severely handicapped students

A series of programs to teach sex education and related skills to severely handicapped students is presented. The programs were implemented over a seven year period. Training was conducted in public school, home and community settings. The programs encompass skills in the areas of Bodily Distinctions, Reproduction and Birth Control Information, Family Life, Self Care and Social Manners and Interactions. The programs were data based and continuously have been revised and extended in response to student performance. The cooperation and support of the students' parents was considered crucial to program development and to facilitate the transfer of skills from the school to the home setting. Students who have received training in these sex education and related skill programs currently are using the skills in a variety of school, home and community settings.     

Mutagens in urine of carbon electrode workers

Summary Following previous work carried out in an Italian factory producing carbon electrodes and evaluating the occupational mutagenic-carcinogenic hazards, the authors studied the presence of mutagen metabolites in the urine of workers in the same factory who were exposed to petroleum coke and pitch and in the urine of a control group of unexposed workers. The urine samples were concentrated by absorption on XAD-2 columns and were tested using the Salmonella/microsome assay (strain TA 98, TA 100, TA 1535, TA 1538) with and without the addition of beta-glucuronidase and metabolizing system. The collection of urine samples was carried out twice, with an interval of 2 months; before working time, after working time, and also during Sunday. The results showed that (1) urine samples collected before occupational exposure (upon waking) or on Sunday revealed no mutagenic activity in either worker groups and (2) that the urine samples collected after or during occupational exposure revealed high mutagenic activity in the exposed workers, with a statistically significant difference (P<0.05) between the mean of the revertants/plate values for exposed and unexposed workers. On the basis of the previous and the present research, the authors suggest that application of the Salmonella/microsome test to work environments could offer useful and suitable tool for evaluating the health hazards due to mutagenic/carcinogenic substances from occupational exposure.     

Fumigant contamination during large-scale food sampling for analysis

Incurred fumigants were determined from twenty-two food items before and after routine large-scale preparation of samples to see if these or similar kinds of chemicals were entering the samples during the preparation. This preparation includes making the samples table ready before compositing them for analysis. The following five fumigant residues were determined by gas chromatography (GC): carbon disulfide (CS₂), carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄), chloroform (CHCl₃), methyl chloroform (CH₃CCl₃), and tetrachloroethylene (or perchloroethylene, PCE). The number of residues determined from each sample ranged from none to four. The amounts determined varied significantly between the before and after portions from several samples. Four samples gained at least one new residue during the preparation. Six lost most of the residues determined from the original before portions, and 12 contained essentially the same residues before and after the preparation, although the amounts varied between the two portions. In samples where the variant residues were detected in both portions, five showed a tenfold or greater increase of CHCl₃ or CCl₄ and two showed a ten-fold or lesser decrease of CH₃CCl₃ or PCE in the after portions.     

Effect of instructions to simulate a back injury on torque reproducibility in an isometric lumbar extension task

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in test-retest reliability between maximal and simulated back injury efforts in an isometric lumbar extension task and to test the hypothesis that voluntary attempts to simulate a back injury would yield less consistent torque production than maximal efforts. Twenty subjects were asked to undergo lumbar extensor testing at seven different positions in a lumbar extension machine. Each subject was tested twice in a maximal effort condition and twice with instructions to simulate a back injury. The order of the conditions was counterbalanced across subjects so that half of the subjects performed the maximal effort tests first and half performed the simulated effort first. Results indicated high test-retest correlations at all angles in both conditions. There were no differences in test-retest reliability between effort conditions. Therapist ratings of consistency did not differ between conditions and therapists could not discriminate between conditions on the basis of effort consistency. In the simulated condition subjects produced reliable, submaximal torque plots consistent with previous data indicating similar reliability at submaximal levels. It was concluded that use of test-retest torque consistency as a measure of sincerity of effort is premature and may be misleading.     

Phase shift in temperature rhythm ffter transmeridian flight,as related to pre-flight phase angle

Summary Further analysis of temperature rhythms obtained in an earlier study of 38 subjects subjected to an 8-h eastward transmeridian flight showed that the extent to which the phase of the rhythm was shifted after the flight was related to the phase angle of the pre-flight rhythm. Late peakers shifted more than early peakers, and this difference between the two types was still as large after 12 days in the new time zone as on the first day. Because the phase-shift was an advance one, this meant that the pre-flight individual differences in phase-angle were abolished by the flight, and had not re-appeared by the end of the observation period. It is suggested that this may have been due to an increase in the rigidity of the routine in the post-flight stage of the study, and that a similar effect may also occur in a switch from day to shiftwork.