Mutagenicity of 4,4′-methylene-bis-(2-chloroaniline) “MOCA” and its N-acetyl derivatives in S. typhimurium

Summary 4,4-methylene-bis-(2-chloroaniline) (MOCA) and two identified urinary N-acetyl and N,N-diacetyl derivatives were tested in a Salmonella/mammalian microsome assay. No mutagenic activity was observed without rat liver S9 mix activation. In the presence of rat liver S9 mix, the chemicals were mutagens, but the mutagenicity of N-acetyl derivatives to strain TA 100 was reduced when compared to that of MOCA, and a greater amount of S9 was required to exhibit the mutagenicity of the N,N-diacetyl-MOCA. These data suggest that N-acetylation does not account for the mutagenic effectiveness of MOCA.     

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).     

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.     

In a Secular Spirit: Strategies of Clinical Pastoral Education

The Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) model forthe provision of spiritual care represents theemergence of a secularized professionalpractice from a religiously-based theologicalpractice of chaplaincy. The transformation ofhospital chaplaincy into spiritual careservices is one means by which religioushealthcare ministry negotiates modernity, inthe particular forms of the secular realm ofbiomedicine and the pluralism of thecontemporary United States healthcaremarketplace. Spiritual is a labelstrategically deployed to extend the realm ofrelevance to any patient's belief system,regardless of his or her religious affiliation.Theological language is recast as a tool forconceptualizing the spiritual lens. Suchmoves transform chaplaincy from a peripheralservice, applicable only to the few religiouspatients, into an integral element of patientcare for all. Such a secularized professionalpractice is necessary to demonstrate therelevance and utility of spiritual care for allhospital patients in an era of cost-containmentpriorities and managed care economics.     

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.     

Percutaneous absorption of N,N-dimethylformamide in humans

Summary Skin penetration fo N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) liquid or vapour was studied in volunteers. Exposure to liquid DMF was performed in two ways: in a dipping experiment, one hand was dipped up to the wrist in DMF for 2–20 min, while in a patch experiment, 2 mmol DMF was applied to the skin and allowed to be absorbed completely. The period of exposure to DMF vapour (50 mg · m^–3) was 4 h. The DMF metabolites N-hydroxymethyl-N-methylformamide (MF), N-hydroxymethylformamide (F), and N-acetyl-S-(N-methylcarbamoyl)cysteine (AMCC) were monitored in the urine. Liquid DMF was absorbed through the skin at a rate of 9.4 mg · cm^–2 · h^–1. Percutaneous absorption of DMF vapour depended strongly on ambient temperature and humidity and accounted for 13%–36% of totally excreted MF. The results suggest that skin absorption of liquid DMF is likely to contribute to occupational exposure substantially more than penetration of DMF vapour. The yield of metabolites after transdermal DMF absorption was only half of that seen after pulmonary absorption. Elimination of MF and F but not that of AMCC was delayed, which supports the contention that AMCC should be used instead of MF as the most suitable biomarker of DMF in cases where percutaneous intake can occur.     

The Cultural Dimension in Childhood

This article emphasizes the fact that culture surrounds and influences the young people in child and youth care programs all the time, and that child and youth care workers must become cultural mediators for the culturally undernourished when assisting youth in care. This work must add to psychological pedagogics and social pedagogics a third new dimension, cultural pedagogics. Through raising and answering a series of six questions concerning culture, the author hopes to stimulate better practice and educational training in the cultural preparation of young people receiving child care services.     

Media reviews

Of the three films reviewed in this issue, only the first, All Women Have Periods, deals with both areas of sexuality and disability. The second film, A Masturbatory Story, deals with sexuality but not disability. The third film, A Different Approach, deals with disability but not sexuality. The reason I have included the last two films are that A Masturbatory Story is one of the best, most permission giving films I have seen on the subject of masturbation and A Different Approach while focusing on employment of the disabled, is one of the most entertaining and effective films I have seen dealing with attitudes.     

Toxicity of mercury,copper, nickel,lead, and cobalt to embryos and larvae of zebrafish,Brachydanio rerio

The toxicity of mercury (HgCl₂), copper (CuCl₂: 5 H₂O), nickel (NiSO₄: 6 H₂O), lead (Pb(CH₃COO)₂: 3 H₂O) and cobalt (CoCl₂: 6 H₂O) was studied under standardized conditions in embryos and larvae of the zebrafish,Brachydanio rerio. Exposures were started at the blastula stage (2–4 h after spawning) and the effects on hatching and survival were monitored daily for 16 days. Copper and nickel were more specific inhibitors of hatching than cobalt, lead, and mercury. Nominal no effect concentrations determined from the dose-response relationships (ZEPs, Zero Equivalent Points) for effect on hatching time were 0.05 g Cu/L, 10 g Hg/L, 20 g Pb/L, 40 g Ni/L and 3,840 g Co/L, and those for effect on survival time were 0.25 g Cu/L, 1.2 g Hg/L, 30 g Pb/L, 80 g Ni/L, and 60 g Co/L. The no effect concentrations for Ni, Hg and Pb are consistent with previously reported MATC values for sensitive species of fish. The no effect concentrations for copper are 1–2 orders of magnitude lower than previously reported values. The major reason for the latter discrepancy was considered to be the absence of organics that can complex copper ions in the reconstituted water that we used, which had a hardness of 100 mg/L (as CaCO₃) and a pH of 7.5–7.7. Unexposed controls were started with embryos from different parental zebrafishes and the parental-caused variability in early embryo mortality, median hatching time and median survival time were estimated.     

Lung contamination among foundry workers

Summary Ten iron foundry workers representing typical foundry occupations were examined. The amount of lung contamination was estimated after the workers' thoracic area had been magnetized and the remanent magnetic field measured. Chest radiographs were classified according to the siderotic, silicotic, and nonspecific changes found; and the changes were then divided into four categories.The preliminary results of the electron micrographs indicated that the size and shape of the pollutants varied greatly according to the type of foundry site. In addition, the estimated amount of lung contaminants in the subjects varied between 30 and 600 mg. A good correlation (r=0.86) was obtained between radiological siderotic and silicotic changes, and the correlation between both of these radiological findings and the measured average permanent magnetic field was rather good (r=0.60). There was no correlation between the estimated exposure (neither length nor magnitude) and the amount of retained lung contaminants, and therefore a balance between retention and clearance seemed to have been achieved. These results indicate that the magnetic measuring method can be used to evaluate the amount of lung contaminants retained by foundry 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.     

Preschool programs for developmentally disabled children and their families: Are they meeting mothers' expectations?

This study examines the amount of agreement between preschool program staff and mothers of developmentally disabled children on the variables child-rearing values and amount of parental program contact. The findings indicate that although there is a high degree of consonance on child-rearing values, the two groups hold discrepant perceptions of the amount of parental program contact. Such discrepancies may be important indicators of mothers' level of program satisfaction.     

Financial “Rules” for Child and Youth Care Managers

Contemporary realities demand that child and youth care managers cast off their traditional avoidance of all things financial. This article offers a jargon-free list of twelve financial rules for thriving in turbulent times. Grounded in a concept of client-centered, results-based agency performance, rules include promoting an entrepreneurial spirit throughout the organization, destroying the taboo on open discussion of financial matters, slashing program development time, and spending lavishly on recruitment and universal staff training.     

Psychosocial stressors associated with Mexican migrant farmworkers in the midwest United States

Although estimates suggest that there are upwards of 5 million migrant farmworkers in the United States, scant research has explored the stressors associated with their lifestyle. Contrary to previous work, the present study directly explored migrant farmworkers' own perceptions of what is difficult in their lives. The purposes of the present study were to qualitatively explore, from a phenomenological standpoint, the stressors associated with living as a migrant farmworker in the Midwest United States; and to determine the stressors that were most strongly related to symptoms of anxiety and depression. The findings indicated that 18 stressors were commonly experienced by the migrant farmworkers and that the farmworkers experienced overall elevated levels of anxiety and depression. A number of stressors that were not previously reported in the literature were identified. The stressors of rigid work demands and poor housing conditions were significantly associated with higher levels of anxiety and low family income/living in poverty and rigid work demands were significantly associated with depression. Implications of findings and prevention strategies are discussed.     

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.

---

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.

---

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.

     

Measuring the impact of onychomycosis on patient quality of life

According to survey research, onychomycosis, a fungal infection of the toenail or fingernail, affects quality of life including physical and social functioning and emotional health. We developed an onychomycosis disease-specific questionnaire (ODSQ) that sensitively assessed symptom distress, functional impact, and social stigma associated with the disease. Samples of patients enrolled in a randomized controlled clinical trial were used for the psychometric evaluations. The multi-item scales were internally consistent ( 0.80) and reproducible (ICC > 0.85). Interscale correlations between the ODSQ and generic scales were moderate and consistent with the hypothesized magnitude and directions. Construct validation, employing known groups analysis, supported the hypothesized impact of onychomycosis on three domains of quality of life: physical functioning, emotional health, and social functioning. Significant differences were found between clinically cured, improved, or failed patients, and between mycologically eradicated and persistent patients. The ODSQ was responsive to clinical change and more sensitive than derived Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 scales. The ODSQ provides reliable, validated and responsive information about the consequences of onychomycosis and its treatment.     

Health-related quality of life in a rare disease: Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) or Rendu–Osler–Weber Disease

The levels of the health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) were analyzed in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) patients. The Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) was administered to 50 HHT patients and scores were compared to a cohort of 2301 normal subjects. Clinical variables were patient age, illness duration, number of epistaxis episodes in the previous year and hemoglobin levels. Physical functioning, physical role limitations, bodily pain, social functioning, emotional role limitations and the physical component scores were lower among females. In multivariable analyses increasing age was related to lower physical functioning (P<0.04), physical role limitations (P<0.008), bodily pain (P<0.05) and emotional role limitations (P<0.01), while higher hemoglobin levels improved physical functioning(€P<0.03). The number of epistaxis episodes was negatively associated with physical role limitations (€P<0.009), vitality (P<0.002), social functioning (P<0.001), physical component summary (€P<0.001) and bodily pain (P<0.01). Illness duration was negatively related to the mental component summary (P<0.004). HHT patients had a lower HR-QoL with respect to normal controls in all domains except for bodily pain. Females had lower scores for several domains. Epistaxis was the most important clinical variable.     

Acute and chronic exposure of Dunaliella salina and Chlamydomonas bullosa to copper and cadmium: Effects on growth

Effective copper and cadmium concentrations which limited the growth of two chlorophytes by 50%, EC(50)s, after 96 h of static exposure were determined. EC(50)s were 5.94 gM copper and 4.55 M cadmium for Dunaliella salina, and 0.78 M copper and 0.025 M cadmium for Chlamydomonas bullosa. The relationship of the two cations was synergistic towards the growth of both species. Chronic exposure to 4.5×10^–6 M cadmium or 4.9×10^–4 M copper increased the sensitivity of C. bullosa by 26% and 29% towards cadmium and copper, respectively. Changes in co-tolerance were not observed. Cd-treated D. salina was 50% more tolerant towards this cation, whereas Cu-treated cultures showed extreme sensitivity towards copper and co-sensitivity towards cadmium. Furthermore, the phylogenetic hypothesis, predictive of toxic response, failed to hold at the familial level.This work was submitted by Ioanna Visviki to the Department of Biology of the Graduate School of the City University of New York in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the PhD degree.     

Cyanide and thiocyanate levels in blood and urine of workers with low-grade exposure to cyanide

Summary The concentrations of free cyanide in the blood and in the urine, and the levels of free thiocyanate (oxidized to cyanide and distilled) as well as total thiocyanate (directly determined and quite unspecific) were determined in the urine of 140 volunteers.There were four main categories of volunteers: (i) non-smokers, not exposed to cyanide in the atmosphere, (ii) smokers, not exposed to cyanide, (iii) non-smokers, exposed to various levels of cyanide in their occupation, and (iv) smokers who were also exposed to cyanide.The cyanide concentration in the blood did not show a clear relationship to either smoking or moderate occupational exposure; the levels were found to lie between 2.0 and 15.0 g of free cyanide per 100 ml of blood, with an average of 5.4 g for all categories of volunteers.It was found that the individual concentrations of free CN and CNS in the urine varied considerably and could not be used for detecting undue chronic exposure to cyanide at the concentrations encountered in the atmosphere. The average values, on the other hand, varied in a regular pattern for each of the four categories listed above. The influence of smoking had a far greater effect on the values obtained than the influence of atmospheric cyanide.Because of the great variations caused by other factors, concentrations of CN and CNS in the urine are not appropriate tools for individual routine control of minor occupational exposure to cyanides. However, non-smokers exposed to moderate cyanide levels in the air, and any individual exposed to high cyanide levels show higher than average values of CN and CNS in their urine.The cyanide values reported in this paper may be useful for the evaluation of analytical results from individual cases where poisoning from cyanide in the atmosphere is suspected.     

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.

---

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.

---

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.