Pilot Survey of Subway and Bus Stop Noise Levels

Excessive noise exposure is a serious global urban health problem, adversely affecting millions of people. One often cited source of urban noise is mass transit, particularly subway systems. As a first step in determining risk within this context, we recently conducted an environmental survey of noise levels of the New York City transit system. Over 90 noise measurements were made using a sound level meter. Average and maximum noise levels were measured on subway platforms, and maximum levels were measured inside subway cars and at several bus stops for comparison purposes. The average noise level measured on the subway platforms was 86 ± 4 dBA (decibel-A weighting). Maximum levels of 106, 112, and 89 dBA were measured on subway platforms, inside subway cars, and at bus stops, respectively. These results indicate that noise levels in subway and bus stop environments have the potential to exceed recommended exposure guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), given sufficient exposure duration. Risk reduction strategies following the standard hierarchy of control measures should be applied, where feasible, to reduce subway noise exposure.Gershon and Barrera are with the Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, 600 West 168th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10032, USA; Neitzel is with the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA; Akram is with the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY 10032, USA.     

Oxidative stress in radiology staff

Excessive production of reactive oxygen species has been observed following acute and chronic exposure to radiation in animal models which can lead to several detrimental and irreversible outcomes in vital organs. Aim of this study was to determine the oxidative stress status in radiology unit workers which are exposed to persistent low-dose radiation. METHODS:: A group of 32 radiology unit employees along with 32 sex- and age-matched hospital workers, not exposed to low-dose radiation were recruited from two separate hospitals for the study. Exposed subjects showed higher levels of lipid peroxidation (P=0.009), total antioxidant capacity (P=0.0006) and thiol groups (P=0.03). It is concluded that occupationally exposed individuals are oxidatively stressed and precautions such as antioxidant therapy seems reasonable.     

Levofloxacin in enteric fever--a study

Typhoid fever is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in patients especially in developing country. Therapy with conventional drugs is associated with increasing resistance, non-compliance to therapy and toxicity. Oral fluoroquinolones have been shown to be effective compared to parenteral broad-spectrum cephalosporins in the treatment of uncomplicated typhoid. However, there is no data available regarding the use of levofloxacin in the treatment of typhoid fever in spite of the susceptibility of Salmonella species to levofloxacin. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of oral levofloxacin 750 mg once daily in the treatment of typhoid fever. Results indicated that levofloxacin 750 mg administered orally once daily was an effective, safe, well-tolerated and cost-effective option in the treatment of typhoid fever in adult Indian males and non-pregnant females.     

Carboplatin and paclitaxel for the treatment of advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the activity and toxicity of carboplatin and paclitaxel (taxol) in the treatment of advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer. STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective review of 18 consecutive patients with advanced (stage 4) or recurrent endometrial adenocarcinoma that had been treated with outpatient carboplatin and taxol. Taxol was delivered at 135 mg/m 2 over 3 hours, and carboplatin was delivery at an area under the curve of 5 over 1 hour. Cycles were repeated every 21 days. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 63% with 28% of patients who had a partial response and 35% of patients who had a complete response. Kaplan-Meier test was used to estimate the median survival time of 27 months and the median progression free survival time of 24 months. No patient had neutropenia, thrombocytopenia or grade 3 vomiting, neurosensory toxicity, or renal toxicity. CONCLUSION: Carboplatin and taxol for the treatment of advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer appear to be active regimens with minimal toxicity.     

D-Allose has a strong suppressive effect against ischemia/reperfusion injury: a comparative study with allopurinol and superoxide dismutase

Background/Purpose d-Allose, a rare sugar, is one of the potent inhibitors of ischemia/reperfusion injury of the rat liver. To investigate the potency of this powerful agent we examined its effect against ischemia/reperfusion injury and compared it to that of allopurinol and superoxide dismutase.Methods Male Lewis rats were given water ad libitum preoperatively for 12h and anesthetized by isoflurane inhalation anesthesia. Drugs were administered through a polyethylene catheter inserted into the portal vein for 2h (d-allose), 10min (allopurinol), or 5min (superoxide dismutase) before ischemia, and the livers were then subjected to 70% ischemia, induced by crossclamping the vessels to the lateral and median lobes of the liver for 90min. Rats were divided into four groups: group 1, pretreated with vehicle (normal saline); group 2, treated with d-allose; group 3, treated with allopurinol; and group 4, treated with superoxide dismutase. The effects of the drugs were evaluated by liver hemodynamics, neutrophil count, myeloperoxidase, liver enzymes, and histological studies.Results d-Allose improved liver hemodynamics (P < 0.001) and postischemic animal survival (P < 0.05) significantly compared with the control group and nonsignificantly compared with the allopurinol and superoxide dismutase groups. Myeloperoxidase activity in the postischemic liver tissue was decreased significantly (P < 0.05) by d-allose compared with all other treatment and control groups. Neutrophil count was also significantly (P < 0.05) decreased in the d-allose group compared with than that in the control group, as well as the superoxide dismutase group. Only d-allose produced a statistically significant decrease in the level of liver enzymes, compared with levels in the control group.Conclusions The moderately protective effect of d-allose, which caused no clinical side effects, is encouraging. d-Allose had the best protective effect against neutrophil-related postischemic injury of the liver tissue, followed by allopurinol and superoxide dismutase. However, a more extensive study is needed to ensure the effects as well as the mechanisms of the effect of this rare sugar.     

Comparative evaluation of the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of rosuvastatin 10 mg with atorvastatin 10 mg in adult patients with hypercholesterolaemia: the first Indian study

To compare the efficacy, safety and tolerability of rosuvastatin 10mg with atorvastatin 10 mg in adult Indian patients with hypercholesterolaemia, a prospective, open-label, comparative, phase III study was conducted. A total of 45 patients of either sex, between 18 and 80 years of age with hypercholesterolaemia, having LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) of 160 and < 250 mg/dl and triglyceride < 400 mg/dl, were included in this trial. After a dietary run-in period of 2 weeks, patients received either rosuvastatin 10 mg once daily or atorvastatin 10 mg once daily, for 6 weeks. The fall in the mean LDL-C levels after 6 weeks of treatment in rosuvastatin group (40.1%) was significantly more as compared to the fall in atorvastatin group (29.8%). Other secondary lipid parameters like total cholesterol (TC), HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides, apo-B, apo-AI, and TC/HDL-C ratio also showed more beneficial changes from the baseline in rosuvastatin group than in atorvastatin group. Rosuvastatin 10 mg shows significantly better efficacy than atorvastatin 10 mg in reducing LDL-C levels and produces greater improvements in other elements of the lipid profile.     

Do women read poster displays on breast cancer in waiting rooms?

BACKGROUND: This study reports data from a survey carried out in the Iranian Center for Breast Cancer (ICBC) to examine whether women read poster displays in waiting rooms and whether they would have any suggestions to improve posters and thus meet their informational needs. METHODS: Five specially designed posters were displayed in waiting rooms in the ICBC. The content of posters was related to risk factors, early detection, signs and symptoms, and prevention of breast cancer. During a 3 month period a self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all attendees and they were asked to complete the questionnaire. RESULTS: Overall, 850 women were given the questionnaire and 777 completed questionnaires (91 per cent) were returned. The mean age of the women was 37.0 years (SD = 10.7) and they mostly had secondary education (47 per cent). In all, 691 women (86 per cent) reported that they had seen the posters and 620 (80 per cent) said that they had read the displays. The vast majority of the women reported that posters were readable (89 per cent) and understandable (80 per cent). However, 25 per cent of the respondents indicated that materials on the displays created more questions rather than answering their questions and some reported that they became upset (26 per cent) or felt anxiety (42 per cent) while reading the posters. Finally, 218 women (28 per cent) had suggestions to improve posters, of whom 110 (50 per cent) believed that the posters should be simpler. CONCLUSION: The study findings suggest that despite the limitations of posters as a means of health communication, their use in public places may be useful but consideration should be given to the content of the poster displays to prevent anxiety.     

Low Helicobacter pylori eradication rates with 4- and 7-day regimens in an Iranian population

BACKGROUND: In Iran, there is insufficient information on the efficacy of Helicobacter pylori eradication regimens shorter than 10 days. This study aims at assessing the efficacy of 4- and 7-day H. pylori eradication regimens in a high-incidence area of gastric cancer in Iran. METHODS: Subjects with an endoscopic diagnosis of gastritis, positive urease test, and a histological diagnosis of chronic gastritis were enrolled. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: AOC7 (1000 mg amoxicillin, 20 mg omeprazole, and 500 mg clarithromycin twice daily for 7 days), FOT4 (200 mg furazolidone, 20 mg omeprazole, and 500 mg tetracycline twice daily for 4 days) and FOT7 (the same treatment as the FOT4 group but for 7 days). Sensitivity to these antibiotics was determined in all isolates recovered from culture. The efficacy of eradication was assessed 8 weeks after the end-of-treatment by the 14C-urea breath test. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-eight patients were enrolled in the study. Culture was positive for 84 patients and none of these were resistant to amoxicillin, tetracycline or furazolidone, 1.2% were resistant to clarithromycin and 32.1% to metronidazole. Forty-five, 41 and 42 patients were randomly allocated to the AOC7, FOT4, and FOT7 groups, respectively. The intention-to-treat eradication rates were 35.5, 17.1, and 23.8% for the AOC7, FOT4, and FOT7 groups, respectively. CONCLUSION: Treatment regimens of 4 or 7 days are unacceptable for H. pylori infection in Iran, even in the presence of a favorable sensitivity profile.     

Correlates of death anxiety in Pakistan

To ascertain the effect of gender, age, and religiosity on death anxiety, 132 participants were interviewed using Templer Death Anxiety Scale and Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale (CLS). Women, older participants, and less religious participants were found to be more scared of their impending death. Gender effect was more pronounced, however, on the CLS. Women and less religious people reported to experience greater anxiety than their respective counterparts about different dimensions of death, for example, the shortness of life, total isolation of death, fear of not being, and disintegration of body after dying. The findings of the current work indicate that the general predictors of death anxiety, gender, age, and religiosity reported in Western, predominantly Christian samples also hold in an Eastern, Muslim sample.