The role of dwelling environment in human health

The authors adduce the ecologo-hygienic characterization of the most significant dwelling environmental factors, such as chemical air pollution, microclimatic parameters, biological pollution, noise, electromagnetic fields, light, etc. They have developed a conception of providing ecologo-hygienic dwelling safety.     

Prevalence of Bartonella henselae and Bartonella clarridgeiae in stray cats.

The aim of the present work was to determine by blood culture the prevalence of blood infection with Bartonella species in a well-defined, European, urban stray cat population. Therefore, 94 stray cats were trapped from 10 cat colonies. Blood samples of these cats were cultured on both blood agar and liquid medium in order to raise the likelihood of bacterial detection. Fifty blood samples (53%) gave a positive culture result for Bartonella species. Isolate identification was performed by sequencing the first 430 bases of the 16S ribosomal DNA. Three types of sequences were thus obtained. The first type (17 isolates; 34%) was identical to that of B. henselae Houston-1 and the corresponding strains were referred as B. henselae type I. The second sequence type (18 isolates; 36%) was identical to that initially described as "BA-TF," and the corresponding strains were referred to as B. henselae type II. The third sequence type (15 isolates; 30%) was identical to that of the Bartonella clarridgeiae type strain (ATCC 51734). Our study points out the major role of stray cats as a reservoir of Bartonella spp. which can be transmitted to pet cats and, consequently, to humans. The study also highlights the high prevalence of B. clarridgeiae (16%) in the blood of stray cats.     

A survey of gastrointestinal helminthes in stray cats in northern Iran

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the feline intestinal helminthes in Sari, northern Iran. From April to October 2004, post-mortem examinations were carried out on 100 stray cats. The gastrointestinal tract was removed, opened up and the mucosa examined microscopically for mature and immature worms. Overall, 90% of cats were infected with a high prevalence of Ancylostoma tubaeforme (64%). In relation to sex, the differences were not significant. Infection with multiple parasite species (53%) was more common than infection with only one species of parasite (37%). There was significant difference in the prevalence of infection between adult and juvenile cats (p < 0.05). From the veterinary and medical points of view, stray cats represent potential reservoirs of disease. Children especially may be at great risk, since they are more likely to come in closer contact with cats and with contaminated soil when playing with the cats and in the garden. Both animal and human health education are recommended in these communities.     

Prevalence of endoparasites in stray and fostered dogs and cats in Northern Germany

To get an overview of the current state of endoparasite prevalences in stray and not well-cared dogs and cats, faecal samples of 445 stray and foster dogs and 837 stray and foster cats were collected at their arrival at animal shelters in Lower Saxony (Germany). They were investigated for infections with endoparasites by the use of sedimentation-flotation method. Additionally, 341 canine and 584 feline samples were investigated by IDEXX SNAP? Giardia test. Stages of endoparasites were found coproscopically in 9.4 % (n?=?42) of the canine samples, 4.0 % were positive for Toxocara canis, 0.9 % for hookworms, 0.4 % for Toxascaris leonina and 0.2 % for Hammondia-like oocysts. Giardia-coproantigen was detected in 11.4 % of the canine samples. In cats, 33.6 % (n?=?281) were coproscopically positive for helminths and/or protozoa. Toxocara cati was found in 27.1 %, Isospora spp. in 7.5 %, Capillaria spp. 5.0 %, Taeniidae in 2.0 %, hookworms in 1.1 %, Giardia sp. in 0.7 %, Aelurostrongylus abstrusus in 1.0 % and Toxoplasma-like oocysts in 0.1 %. Coproantigen specific for Giardia sp. was detected in 6.8 % of the feline samples. Dogs and cats up to 1 year of age were more frequently infected with endoparasites than animals over 1 year of age (p?相似文献   

The impact of inaccurate Internet health information in a secondary school learning environment

Background

Patients in the United States commonly use the Internet to acquire health information. While a significant amount of health-related information is available on the Internet, the accuracy of this information is highly variable.

Objectives

The objective of the study was to determine how effectively students can assess the accuracy of Internet-based material when gathering information on a controversial medical topic using simple keyword searches.

Methods

A group of 34 students from the science magnet high school in Houston, Texas searched for the terms “vaccine safety” and “vaccine danger” using Google and then answered questions regarding the accuracy of the health information on the returned sites. The students were also asked to describe the lessons they learned in the exercise and to answer questions regarding the strength of evidence for seven statements regarding vaccinations. Because of the surprising revelation that the majority of students left the exercise with inaccurate information concerning the safety and efficacy of vaccines, these same students participated in a follow-up study in which a fact-based vaccine video was shown, after which the assessment of student knowledge was repeated.

Results

Of the 34 participants, 20 (59%) thought that the Internet sites were accurate on the whole, even though over half of the links (22 out of 40, 55%) that the students viewed were, in fact, inaccurate on the whole. A high percentage of the students left the first exercise with significant misconceptions about vaccines; 18 of the 34 participants (53%) reported inaccurate statements about vaccines in the lessons they learned. Of the 41 verifiable facts about vaccines that were reported by participants in their lessons-learned statement, 24 of those facts (59%) were incorrect. Following presentation of the film, the majority of students left the exercise with correct information about vaccines, based on their lessons-learned statement. In this case, 29 of the 31 participants (94%) reported accurate information about vaccines. Of the 49 verifiable facts about vaccines that were reported by participants, only 2 (4%) were incorrect. Students had higher correct scores in the “strength of evidence” exercise following exposure to the video as well.

Conclusions

Allowing students to use the Internet to gain information about medical topics should be approached with care since students may take away predominantly incorrect information. It is important to follow up conflicting information with a solid, unambiguous message that communicates those lessons that the instructor deems most important. This final message should be fact based but may need to contain an anecdotal component to counter the strong emotional message that is often delivered by inaccurate Internet sites.     

The impact of the changing health care environment on the health and well-being of faculty at four medical schools.

PURPOSE: Increased pressure for clinical and research productivity and decreased control over the work environment have been reported to have adverse impacts on academic faculty in limited studies. The authors examined whether work-related stressors in academic medicine negatively affected the physical and mental health, as well as life and job satisfaction, of academic medical school faculty. METHOD: A 136-item self-administered anonymous questionnaire modified from a small 1984 study was distributed to 3,519 academic faculty at four U.S. medical schools following institutional review board approval at each school. Validated scales measuring depression, anxiety, work strain, and job and life satisfaction; a checklist of common physical and mental health symptoms; and questions about the impact of institutional financial stability, colleague attrition, and other work-related perceptions were used. Responses were analyzed by sex, academic rank, age, marital status, faculty discipline, and medical school. RESULTS: Responses were received from 1,951 full-time academic physicians and basic science faculty, a 54.3% response rate. Twenty percent of faculty, almost equal by sex, had significant levels of depressive symptoms, with higher levels in younger faculty. Perception of financial instability was associated with greater levels of work strain, depression, and anxiety. Significant numbers of faculty acknowledged that work-related strain negatively affected their mental health and job satisfaction, but not life satisfaction or physical health. Specialties were differentially affected. CONCLUSIONS: High levels of depression, anxiety, and job dissatisfaction-especially in younger faculty-raise concerns about the well-being of academic faculty and its impact on trainees and patient care. Increased awareness of these stressors should guide faculty support and development programs to ensure productive, stable faculty.     

A survey of helminths in stray cats from Copenhagen with ecological aspects

At autopsy of 230 adult stray cats, 120 from backyards and 110 from gardens, the intestinal tract was scrutinized for helminths. The prevalence ofToxocara cati, Taenia taeniaeformis andDipylidium caninum was found to be 79%, 11% and 14%, respectively. Comparisons were made with the results of previous Danish investigations. The prevalence ofToxocara cati was found to be independent of time of collection and the sex and habitat of the cats and identical in cats with or withoutTaenia. This indicates that paratenic hosts do not play an important epizootiological role in the transmission ofT. cati. The intensity ofToxocara per cat followed a negative binomial pattern. The high prevalence ofT. cati combined with most cats having a low wormload shows that the cat population generally possesses a high degree of resistance against superimposed infections. The intensity of maleToxocara increases with the size of the worm population. This we consider to be an expression of increasing susceptibility of the cats. The prevalence ofT. taeniaeformis was significantly higher in garden cats, due to their greater opportunity for catching mice.D. caninum, however, was significantly more frequent in backyard cats, probably owing to better living condition for the flea larvae in backyards. For bothT. taeniaeformis andD. caninum a higher frequency was found in female cats, which is thought to be associated with their care for the kittens.     

The environmental impact of petroleum on the environment

Nigeria, a Western African country is particularly prone to the effects of oil pollution because it produces large quantities of crude oil (1.9 million barrels per day) for export. Results compiled by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation over a period of 15 years i.e. between 1976 to 1991 showed that there was a total of 2,976 spills, resulting in the release of 2 million barrels of crude oil into the Nigerian environment, with damaging health and ecological effects, particularly on the southern coastal communities of the country. The environmental and health impact of these spills is made worse by the inappropriate and inadequate environment and health impact assessment processes and policies in Nigeria. However proper environmental and health impact assessment processes of petroleum drilling and transport projects is a major factor helping in the prediction and reduction of the health and environmental impacts of petroleum on the local environment in western Australia. A comparison of the crude oil spills, and its associated environmental and health effects in Western Australia and Nigeria revealed that the rather devastating impact oil pollution in Nigeria is due, in part, to the poor environmental and health impact assessment policies and control procedures employed in Nigeria, particularly in the area of public participation and governmental control of petroleum projects.     

Molecular detection of Bartonella spp. in the dental pulp of stray cats buried for a year

Bartonella henselae causes chronic bacteremia in cats. To test if B. henselae DNA can be recovered from the dental pulp of cats buried a year previously, we used PCR with primers for a sequence of the conserved groEL to test 104 teeth from 11 cats. Seven of the cats were found positive; canine teeth were more frequently positive than molar teeth. Where PCR sequences could be determined, they were identical to those of B. henselae Marseille (four cats), B. henselae Houston (one cat) or similar to those of B. grahamii (one cat). Our study indicates that dental pulp from the teeth of cats, especially the canine teeth, may be used for the PCR detection of Bartonella in animals buried for a year.     

Oneiric behavior in cats]

The bilateral lesion of the medial portion of the nucleus Locus Coeruleus α or of its descending pathway selectively suppresses the muscular atonia during Paradoxical Sleep (PS) in the cat. After such a lesion various stereotyped behaviors (oneiric behavior) occur during PS. The repertoire of the oneiric behavior is described. It corresponds to the natural behavior which may occur during waking (predatory attack, rage, flight, grooming, exploration). Attack is the most frequent behavior occurring during PS while sexual behavior was never noticed. The significance of oneiric behavior is discussed and compared with natural, electrically induced behavior and play.     

The impact of coffee on health

Objective

Coffee is a beverage used worldwide. It includes a wide array of components that can have potential implication on health. We have reviewed publications on the impact of coffee on a series of health outcomes.

Methods

Articles published between January 1990 and December 2012 were selected after crossing coffee or caffeine with a list of keywords representative of the most relevant health areas potentially affected by coffee intake.

Results

Caffeine, chlorogenic acids and diterpenes are important components of coffee. Tolerance often acts as a modulator of the biological actions of coffee. There is a significant impact of coffee on the cardiovascular system, and on the metabolism of carbohydrates and lipids. Contrary to previous beliefs, the various forms of arterial cardiovascular disease, arrhythmia or heart insufficiency seem unaffected by coffee intake. Coffee is associated with a reduction in the incidence of diabetes and liver disease. Protection seems to exist also for Parkinson's disease among the neurological disorders, while its potential as an osteoporosis risk factor is under debate. Its effect on cancer risk depends on the tissue concerned, although it appears to favor risk reduction. Coffee consumption seems to reduce mortality.

Conclusion

The information gathered in recent years has generated a new concept of coffee, one which does not match the common belief that coffee is mostly harmful. This view is further supported by the discovery of a series of phyto-components with a beneficial profile. Reasonable optimism needs to be tempered, however, by the insufficiency of the clinical data, which in most cases stem from observational studies.     

The impact of the environment on height in Europe: conceptual and theoretical considerations

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this review is to assess whether information available to evaluate the impact of the environment and, more specifically, socio-economic factors on height in European countries is sufficient. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: It is proposed that studies based on measurements taken 25 years ago or more are unsatisfactory for assessing the current situation. There is a widespread assumption that sufficient information is available for assessing the issue. However, on inspection, there are very few environmental factors for which sufficient material on their effects on height has been published. In many studies to evaluate the effect of the environment an ecological design is used and a post hoc interpretation is made. It is concluded that this type of study is helpful only for generating hypotheses. When inspecting analytical studies on the association between socio-economic factors and height it is observed that the reports identified are only the tip of the iceberg of published reports on the subject and include studies from less than half the European countries. In many of these papers the independent variables are not defined in the same manner and a formal comparison is difficult to make. CONCLUSIONS: Given the current deficiencies, it is worthwhile to discuss in auxological epidemiology whether it is relevant to tackle the issue proposed in this review. If the answer is yes, it is necessary to identify the best course of action. Possible avenues to explore are the potential and the barriers for harmonizing the investigation of socio-economic factors in growth studies, and the organization of a registry of reports on growth and social factors. At a more modest level, a collaborative report examining the availability of information and gaps on this topic among European countries could be helpful.     

Sarcosporidias of cloven-hoofed wild animals. Sarcosporidias in wild deer]

500 adult roes and 100 fawns were examined microscopically for the presence of Sarcocystis gracilis von Ratz, 1901. 95.80 per cent of the roes examined had Sarcosporidias. The parasites were noticed macroscopically in less than a third of them. The abdominal muscles were affected most frequently and most strongly. The leg muscles were affected least of all. Roe bucks were affected to a lesser extent than does. From the third month of life the fawns showed an incidence of parasites which increased with advancing age. During the period of research from May till November hardly any significant difference of parasitical attack occurred in adult roes.     

The impact of chocolate on cardiovascular health

Cardiovascular disease is the leading determinant of mortality and morbidity in women. Functional foods are attracting interest as potential regulators of the susceptibility to disease. Supported by epidemiological evidence, chocolate has emerged as a possible modulator of cardiovascular risk. Chocolate, or cocoa as the natural source, contains flavanols, a subclass of flavonoids. The latter years have witnessed an increasing number of experimental and clinical studies that suggest a protective effect of chocolate against atherogenesis. Oxidative stress, inflammation, and endothelial function define three biological mechanisms that have shown sensitivity to chocolate. Moreover, the consumption of chocolate has been involved in the protective modulation of blood pressure, the lipid profile, the activation of platelets, and the sensitivity to insulin. Dark chocolate seems more protective than milk or white chocolate. Despite this array of benefits, there is a lack of well designed clinical studies demonstrating cardiovascular benefit of chocolate. The high caloric content of chocolate, particularly of some less pure forms, imposes caution before recommending uncontrolled consumption.     

Monitoring human health behaviour in one's living environment: A technological review

The electronic monitoring of human health behaviour using computer techniques has been an active research area for the past few decades. A wide array of different approaches have been investigated using various technologies including inertial sensors, Global Positioning System, smart homes, Radio Frequency IDentification and others. It is only in recent years that research has turned towards a sensor fusion approach using several different technologies in single systems or devices. These systems allow for an increased volume of data to be collected and for activity data to be better used as measures of behaviour. This change may be due to decreasing hardware costs, smaller sensors, increased power efficiency or increases in portability. This paper is intended to act as a reference for the design of multi-sensor behaviour monitoring systems. The range of technologies that have been used in isolation for behaviour monitoring both in research and commercial devices are reviewed and discussed. Filtering, range, sensitivity, usability and other considerations of different technologies are discussed. A brief overview of commercially available activity monitors and their technology is also included.