Organochlorine chemicals and neurodegeneration among elderly subjects in Costa Rica.

Background: We previously screened 400 elderly Costa Ricans for neurodegenerative disease. Those reporting occupational pesticide exposure (18%) had an increased Parkinson׳s disease (PD) risk (OR 2.57, 95% CI 0.

Assessment of bone mineral density in tenofovir-treated patients with chronic hepatitis B: can the fracture risk assessment tool identify those at greatest risk?

Background: Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) is an established nucleotide analogue in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. Bone mineral density loss has been described in TDF-treated patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection, but limited data exist for patients with chronic hepatitis B. Dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) was used to determine bone mineral density changes in TDF-exposed patients.

A proposal for assessing study quality: Biomonitoring, Environmental Epidemiology, and Short-lived Chemicals (BEES-C) instrument.

The quality of exposure assessment is a major determinant of the overall quality of any environmental epidemiology study. The use of biomonitoring as a tool for assessing exposure to ubiquitous chemicals with short physiologic half-lives began relatively recently. These chemicals present several challenges, including their presence in analytical laboratories and sampling equipment, difficulty in establishing temporal order in cross-sectional studies, short- and long-term variability in exposures and biomarker concentrations, and a paucity of information on the number of measurements required for proper exposure classification.

Perfluorochemicals and human semen quality: the LIFE study.

Background: The relation between persistent environmental chemicals and semen quality is evolving, although limited data exist for men recruited from general populations.

Objectives: We examined the relation between perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) and semen quality among 501 male partners of couples planning pregnancy.

Methods: Using population-based sampling strategies, we recruited 501 couples discontinuing contraception from two U.

Preconception maternal and paternal exposure to persistent organic pollutants and birth size: the LIFE study.

Background: Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are developmental toxicants, but the impact of both maternal and paternal exposures on offspring birth size is largely unexplored.

Objective: We examined associations between maternal and paternal serum concentrations of 63 POPs, comprising five major classes of pollutants, with birth size measures.

Methods: Parental serum concentrations of 9 organochlorine pesticides, 1 polybrominated biphenyl (PBB), 7 perfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs), 10 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and 36 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were measured before conception for 234 couples.

MR imaging in cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fastest growing cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Cirrhosis is the most important risk factor for HCC. Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is the modality of choice for working up nodules detected at screening, for staging known HCC, and for follow-up.

Cultural selection drives the evolution of human communication systems.

Human communication systems evolve culturally, but the evolutionary mechanisms that drive this evolution are not well understood. Against a baseline that communication variants spread in a population following neutral evolutionary dynamics (also known as drift models), we tested the role of two cultural selection models: coordination- and content-biased. We constructed a parametrized mixed probabilistic model of the spread of communicative variants in four 8-person laboratory micro-societies engaged in a simple communication game.

Prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides and reciprocal social behavior in childhood.

Prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides (OPs) has been associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood, including low IQ, pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), attention problems and ADHD. Many of these disorders involve impairments in social functioning. Thus, we investigated the relationship between biomarkers of prenatal OP exposure and impaired reciprocal social behavior in childhood, as measured by the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS).

Biomonitoring of infant exposure to phenolic endocrine disruptors using urine expressed from disposable gel diapers.

Infant exposure to endocrine disruptors (EDs) may cause adverse health effects because of their fast growth and development during this life stage. However, collecting urine from infants for exposure assessment using biological monitoring is not an easy task. For this purpose, we evaluated the feasibility of using urine expressed from disposable gel absorbent diapers (GADs) as a matrix for biomonitoring selected phenolic EDs.

HPLC-MS/MS method for the measurement of insecticide degradates in baby food.

A solid phase extraction method was developed to isolate four insecticide degradates from baby food that were measured subsequently using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The degradates [parent insecticide] measured were malathion dicarboxylic acid [malathion], 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol [chlorpyrifos, chlorpyrifos methyl] (TCPy), cis/trans-3-(2,2-dichlorovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid [permethrin, cypermethrin, cyfluthrin], and 3-phenoxybenzoic acid [general pyrethroid]. All degradates produced recoveries between 80 and 120% except TCPy in fruit (122% recovery), and all relative standard deviations were <16%.

Conversational Interaction in the Scanner: Mentalizing during Language Processing as Revealed by MEG.

Humans are especially good at taking another's perspective-representing what others might be thinking or experiencing. This "mentalizing" capacity is apparent in everyday human interactions and conversations. We investigated its neural basis using magnetoencephalography.

Lipid concentrations and couple fecundity: the LIFE study.

Context: A role of lipids in human fecundity is hypothesized as cholesterol is the main substrate for steroid synthesis and has also been shown to affect the hormonal milieu and steroidogenesis in both men and women.

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the association between male and female serum lipid concentrations and time to pregnancy (TTP).

Design/setting: A population-based prospective cohort study recruiting couples from 16 counties in Michigan and Texas (2005-2009) using sampling frameworks allowing for identification of couples planning pregnancy in the near future.

Magnetic resonance imaging in cirrhosis: what's new?

Cirrhosis is the main risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The major causative factors of cirrhosis in the United States and Europe are chronic hepatitis C infection and excessive alcohol consumption with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis emerging as another important risk factor. Magnetic resonance imaging is the most sensitive imaging technique for the diagnosis of HCC, and the sensitivity can be further improved with the use of diffusion-weighted imaging and hepatocyte-specific contrast agents.

Parental limited English proficiency and health outcomes for children with special health care needs: a systematic review.

Background: One in 10 US adults of childbearing age has limited English proficiency (LEP). Parental LEP is associated with worse health outcomes among healthy children. The relationship of parental LEP to health outcomes for children with special health care needs (CSHCN) has not been systematically reviewed.

Variability in the take-home pathway: farmworkers and non-farmworkers and their children.

Organophosphate pesticides (OPs) are related to ill health among adults, including farmworkers who are exposed to OPs as part of their regular work. Children of both farmworkers and non-farmworkers in agricultural communities may also be affected by pesticide exposure. Study groups of 100 farmworkers with a referent child (aged 2-6 years) and 100 non-farmworkers with a referent child were recruited to participate in three data collection periods over the course of a year.

Urinary levoglucosan as a biomarker for woodsmoke exposure in wildland firefighters.

Background: Levoglucosan, a sugar anhydride and a combustion breakdown product of cellulose is a dominant organic constituent of particles in woodsmoke. After exposure, levoglucosan is excreted unmetabolized in urine.

Objective: Urinary levoglucosan was assessed as a biomarker of occupational woodsmoke exposure among wildland firefighters.

Random effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing: Keep it maximal.

Linear mixed-effects models (LMEMs) have become increasingly prominent in psycholinguistics and related areas. However, many researchers do not seem to appreciate how random effects structures affect the generalizability of an analysis. Here, we argue that researchers using LMEMs for confirmatory hypothesis testing should minimally adhere to the standards that have been in place for many decades.

Higher urinary lignan concentrations in women but not men are positively associated with shorter time to pregnancy.

Phytoestrogens have been associated with subtle hormonal changes, although effects on fecundity are unknown. Our objective was to evaluate the association between male and female urinary phytoestrogen (isoflavone and lignan) concentrations and time to pregnancy (TTP) in a population-based cohort of 501 couples desiring pregnancy and discontinuing contraception. Couples were followed for 12 mo or until pregnancy.

Prenatal exposure to phthalates is associated with decreased anogenital distance and penile size in male newborns.

Reproductive effects from phthalate exposure have been documented mostly in animal studies. This study explored the association between prenatal exposure to phthalate metabolites, anogenital distance and penile measurements in male newborns in Toluca, State of Mexico. A total of 174 pregnant women provided urine samples for phthalate analysis during their last prenatal visit, and the 73 who gave birth to male infants were included in the study.

How culture influences perspective taking: differences in correction, not integration.

Individuals from East Asian (Chinese) backgrounds have been shown to exhibit greater sensitivity to a speaker's perspective than Western (U.S.) participants when resolving referentially ambiguous expressions.

Environmental exposure to pyrethroids and sperm sex chromosome disomy: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The role of environmental pesticide exposures, such as pyrethroids, and their relationship to sperm abnormalities are not well understood. This study investigated whether environmental exposure to pyrethroids was associated with altered frequency of sperm sex chromosome disomy in adult men.

Methods: A sample of 75 subjects recruited through a Massachusetts infertility clinic provided urine and semen samples.

Use of the HR index to predict maximal oxygen uptake during different exercise protocols.

This study examined the ability of the HRindex model to accurately predict maximal oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text]O2max) across a variety of incremental exercise protocols. Ten men completed five incremental protocols to volitional exhaustion. Protocols included three treadmill (Bruce, UCLA running, Wellness Fitness Initiative [WFI]), one cycle, and one field (shuttle) test.

Risk of venous thromboembolism in patients treated for bacterial infection in the community with outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy.

Background: It is recommended that venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis be considered for patients receiving outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT), but there is no published data to quantify VTE risk in this patient group.

Aim And Method: The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to establish VTE incidence in patients managed through an OPAT service and assess utility of a common VTE prediction score normally used for inpatients. Consecutive episodes of OPAT between May 2009 and May 2012 were included.

Defining scholarly activity in graduate medical education.

Background: Scholarly activity is a requirement for accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. There is currently no uniform definition used by all Residency Review Committees (RRCs). A total of 6 of the 27 RRCs currently have a rubric or draft of a rubric to evaluate scholarly activity.