Tumour growth activation by the central nervous system-An integrative theory of cancer.

The currently recognized mechanisms of the biology of cancer are not yet enough to explain the high incidence of the disease in industrialized countries. Survival and proliferation of cancer cells demand a well-orchestrated combination of functional capabilities, or hallmarks, which requires complex signalling networks that often exceed the tumour boundaries. Based on latest research on environmental health and aiming to provide cancer with a coherent set of organizing principles, we propose an integrative model of carcinogenesis founded on tumour growth activation by the central nervous system as an adaptive, allostatic response to both environmental and emotional challenges.

System dynamics for predicting the impact of traffic noise on cardiovascular mortality in Madrid.

The impact of road traffic noise on health is an important issue worldwide. In Madrid (Spain), the existing high daily noise levels all year round have been associated with short-term cardiovascular mortality. A system dynamics model is constructed to estimate the evolution of the traffic noise impact on the population older than 65 in Madrid over the upcoming years.

Emergency multiple sclerosis hospital admissions attributable to chemical and acoustic pollution: Madrid (Spain), 2001-2009.

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most prevalent neurological disease among young adults in Spain. A number of recent studies have linked traffic-related pollution, both chemical and acoustic, to the aetiology and exacerbation of neurodegenerative diseases.

Objective: To analyse the existence of a significant short-term association between daily emergency MS hospital admissions and chemical and acoustic pollution caused by traffic in Madrid.

Impact of road traffic noise on cause-specific mortality in Madrid (Spain).

Latest time-series research conducted in Madrid has reported associations of road traffic noise with cause-specific daily mortality. Based on the results from that research, this study presents the health impact of urban noise for the period 2003-2009 as the number of avoidable deaths from various cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic diseases. The impact of noise on cardiovascular mortality exceeds that of fine particles (PM) in the two population groups considered: <65 and >65years of age.

The short-term association of road traffic noise with cardiovascular, respiratory, and diabetes-related mortality.

Background: Road traffic noise has well-documented effects on cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic health. Numerous studies have reported long-term associations of urban noise with some diseases and outcomes, including death. However, to date there are no studies on the short-term association between this pollutant and a set of various specific causes of death.

Road traffic noise effects on cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic health: An integrative model of biological mechanisms.

Background: Road traffic noise is a major public health issue, given the documented association with several diseases and the growing number of exposed persons all over the world. The effects widely investigated pertain to cardiovascular health, and to a lesser extent to respiratory and metabolic health. The epidemiological design of most studies has made it possible to ascertain long-term associations of urban noise with a number of cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic disorders and diseases; additionally, time series studies have reported short-term associations.

Health impact assessment of traffic noise in Madrid (Spain).

The relationship between environmental noise and health has been examined in depth. In view of the sheer number of persons exposed, attention should be focused on road traffic noise. The city of Madrid (Spain) is a densely populated metropolitan area in which 80% of all environmental noise exposure is attributed to traffic.

Responses to cochlear normalized speech stimuli in the auditory nerve of cat.

Previous studies of auditory-nerve fiber (ANF) representation of vowels in cats and rodents (chinchillas and guinea pigs) have shown that, at amplitudes typical for conversational speech (60-70 dB), neuronal firing rate as a function of characteristic frequency alone provides a poor representation of spectral prominences (e.g., formants) of speech sounds.