Personal history,training, and worksite as predictors of back pain of nurses

Back pain among nurses is a common problem. Prior studies of this problem have been based on cross-sectional or retrospective data. This 18-month prospective study involving nurses newly graduated from nursing school investigated personal, worksite, and training factors associated with future risk of back pain. Each nurse underwent a preliminary interview and periodic follow-ups to identify those with back injuries. Contingency tables and logistic regression analyses demonstrated that prior significant back pain episodes (evidenced by previous job changes because of back pain, frequent medication use, etc.) were associated with increased future risk. Training at nursing school or on the job did not have a protective effect. This pilot study therefore suggests factors useful in placement and counseling of new nurses and indicates the need for further implementation of mechanical lift assist device use. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Risk factors of influenza transmission in households.

BACKGROUND: Influenza transmission in households is a subject of renewed interest, as the vaccination of children is currently under debate and antiviral treatments have been approved for prophylactic use. AIMS: To quantify the risk factors of influenza transmission in households. DESIGN OF STUDY: A prospective study conducted during the 1999 to 2000 winter season in France. SETTING: Nine hundred and forty-six households where a member, the index patient, had visited their general practitioner (GP) because of an influenza-like illness were enrolled in the study. Five hundred and ten of the index patients tested positive for influenza A (subtype H3N2). A standardised daily questionnaire allowed for identification of secondary cases of influenza among their household contacts, who were followed-up for 15 days. Of the 395 (77%) households that completed the questionnaire, we selected 279 where no additional cases had occurred on the day of the index patient's visit to the GP. METHODS: Secondary cases of influenza were those household contacts who had developed clinical influenza within 5 days of the disease onset in the index patient. Hazard ratios for individual clinical and demographic characteristics of the contact and their index patient were derived from a Cox regression model. RESULTS: Overall in the 279 households, 131 (24.1%) secondary cases occurred among the 543 household contacts. There was an increased risk of influenza transmission in preschool contacts (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.09 to 3.26) as compared with school-age and adult contacts. There was also an increased risk in contacts exposed to preschool index patients (HR = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.09 to 3.42) and school-age index patients (HR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.07 to 2.65), compared with those exposed to adult index cases. No other factor was associated with transmission of the disease. CONCLUSION: Our results support the major role of children in the dissemination of influenza in households. Vaccination of children or prophylaxis with neuraminidase inhibitors would prevent, respectively, 32-38% and 21-41% of secondary cases caused by exposure to a sick child in the household.     

Haplotype analysis of the BRCA2 9254delATCAT recurrent mutation in breast/ovarian cancer families from Spain

A frame-shift 9254del5 mutation was independently identified in 12 families, eleven of them with Spanish ancestors, in a BRCA2 screening performed in 841 breast and/or ovarian cancer families and in 339 women with breast cancer diagnosed before the age of 40 at different centers in France and Spain. We sought to analyze in detail the haplotype and founder effects of the 9254del5 and to estimate the time of origin of the mutation. Eight polymorphic microsatellite markers and two BRCA2 polymorphisms were used for the haplotype analyses. The markers were located flanking the BRCA2 gene spanning a region of 6.1 cM. Our results suggest that these families shared a common ancestry with BRCA2 9254del5, which is a founder mutation originating in the Northeast Spanish, with an estimated age of 92 (95% CI 56-141) generations.     

A longitudinal and prospective study of Epstein-Barr virus load in AIDS-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) may be causally associated with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) in HIV-infected patients. OBJECTIVES: To compare EBV load in whole blood in AIDS-NHL patients, HIV non-AIDS patients and non-HIV-infected persons, and to prospectively measure EBV load in whole blood in AIDS-NHL patients. STUDY DESIGN: Longitudinal and prospective study. RESULTS: We observed no statistical difference in EBV load between AIDS-NHL (3.69log(10) copies/mL [interquartile range (IQR): 2.89-4.27]) and HIV non-AIDS patients (3.08log(10) copies/mL [IQR: 1.29-3.57]) but AIDS-NHL patients had significantly higher EBV loads than HIV-negative controls (1.19log(10) copies/mL [IQR: 0.00-3.29]). We noticed an inverse correlation between CD4+ lymphocytes count and EBV load in patients with AIDS-NHL (r(2)=0.41, P=0.01). In the longitudinal study, the mean EBV load three months after NHL diagnosis decreased significantly (mean difference=-1.69log(10) copies/mL [95% confidence interval: -0.32; -3.04]; P=0.03) under chemotherapy but was still elevated in patients with relapses or no response to chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: Although EBV load seems a suboptimal marker for the diagnosis of AIDS-NHL, we observed a significant decrease of EBV load in patients treated with chemotherapy and a strong association between NHL outcome and EBV load in whole blood.     

Genotoxic activity of chlorohydroxyfuranones in the microscale micronucleus test on mouse lymphoma cells and the unscheduled DNA synthesis assay in rat hepatocytes

Chlorohydroxyfuranones (CHFs) are mutagenic disinfection by-productsfound in chlorine-treated drinking water. In the current study,the genotoxicity of four CHFs, 3,4-dichloro-5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone(MCA), 3-chloro-4-methyl-5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone (MCF), 3-chloro-4-(chloromethyl)-5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone(CMCF) and 3-chloro-4-(dichloromethyl)-5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone(MX), was determined. Two in vitro assays, the microscale micronucleusassay on L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells and the unscheduled DNAsynthesis assay on a hepatocyte primary culture from FisherF344 rats, were carried out. All four CHFs demonstrated genotoxiceffects in both assays. In the two systems used, CMCF was themost genotoxic compound, followed by MCA, MX and MCF, respectively.This work was the first study of the DNA damaging propertiesof all four CHFs in two in vitro genotoxicity tests. These newdata expand the range of genetic damages induced by this groupof compounds. ² To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +33 3 20 8779 14; Fax: +33 3 20 87 73 10; Email: daniel.marzin{at}pasteur-lille.fr     

Ginkgo biloba extract EGb761 reduces the development of amphetamine-induced behavioral sensitization: effects on hippocampal type II corticosteroid receptors

Pretreatment of rats with the extract of Ginkgo biloba termed EGb761 reduced the behavioral sensitization induced by successive -amphetamine administrations (0.5 mg/kg) as estimated by increasing values of locomotor activity. EGb761 pretreatment also prevented the reduced density of [³H]dexamethasone binding sites in the dentate gyrus and the CA1 hippocampal regions of -amphetamine treated animals. These observations suggest that EGb761, by reducing glucocorticoid levels, could modulate the activity of the neuronal systems involved in the expression of the behavioral sensitization.     

Extrusion into the inferior dental canal of filling material. Apropos of 18 cases]

The purpose of this article is to draw the reader's attention to a fairly frequent complication in root treatments with suspicious clinical symptoms and in which painful complications are particularly to be feared. This complication appears therefore to be a stomatological emergency, treatment for which is aimed at bringing about regeneration of the traumatised nerve, prognosis being dependent on prompt surgical measures, the site of the complication and the anatomical damage done to the lower dental nerve.