Chronic bronchitis, shortness of breath, and airway obstruction by occupation in New Zealand.

The objectives of this study were to measure the population prevalence of symptoms of chronic obstructive lung disease and mild airway obstruction and to compare these between occupational groups. There were 1,609 subjects (63.9% response rate) who completed a respiratory questionnaire.

Respiratory symptoms, across-shift lung function changes and lifetime exposures of welders in New Zealand.

Objectives: The possibility was investigated that exposure to welding fumes causes an acute decrease in pulmonary function.

Methods: Changes in the pulmonary function of 62 current welders and 75 nonwelders at the same sites and the relationship with work-related symptoms were recorded.

Results: Work-related cough was reported by 22.

Respiratory questionnaire responses: how they change with time.

Aim: Responses to respiratory questionnaires are often used to identify individuals with asthma symptoms and may also be used to identify asymptomatic individuals. This study investigates the repeat responses over four years to such a questionnaire in a population of adult New Zealanders.

Methods: Seven hundred and twenty three asthmatics were sent two almost identical questionnaires in three areas of New Zealand, separated by approximately four years.

Correlation and comparison of magnetic and electric detection of small intestinal electrical activity.

The small intestinal basic electrical rhythm (BER) was detected simultaneously with serosal electrodes and a transabdominal superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer in anesthetized rabbits. We induced mesenteric ischemia to correlate serosal electrode recording of changes in BER with the SQUID magnetometer. The BER frequency was obtained by spectral analysis of the data using Fourier and autoregressive techniques.

Under the volcano: fire, ash and asthma?

Aims: To investigate the prevalence of respiratory symptoms in known asthmatics, following exposure to airborne volcanic ash particles caused by the eruptions of Mount Ruapehu, New Zealand, commencing September 1995.

Method: A one page postal questionnaire was sent to 1392 previously identified asthmatics 2 months after the first major eruption.

Results: Two hundred and thirty seven subjects had moved from the area, died or gone overseas since the original contact 4 years previously; therefore the target population was 1155 subjects of whom 361 lived in the exposed area and 794 in the nonexposed areas.

Superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer for diagnosis of ischemia caused by mesenteric venous thrombosis.

Although mesenteric venous thrombosis carries a better prognosis than arterial thrombosis, mortality and morbidity are still high. Previous studies have shown that the basic electrical rhythm (BER) of the bowel decreases early after induction of arterial ischemia. Furthermore, our studies have shown that these changes occur prior to pathologic changes and that they can be recorded noninvasively using a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID).

Magnetoenterography (MENG): noninvasive measurement of bioelectric activity in human small intestine.

The basic electrical rhythm (BER) of the gastrointestinal tract creates minute magnetic fields that have been measured in animals using a Superconducting QUantum Interference Device (SQUID) gradiometer. The aim of this study was to measure noninvasively the biomagnetic fields of human stomach and small intestine. Twenty-one human volunteers were studied using a 37-channel SQUID gradiometer positioned over the epigastrium and umbilicus.

Noninvasive diagnosis of mesenteric ischemia using a SQUID magnetometer.

Objective: The authors assessed the ability of a Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) magnetometer to noninvasively detect mesenteric ischemia in a rabbit model.

Summary Background Data: Superconducting Quantum Interference Device magnetometers have been used to detect magnetic fields created by the basic electrical rhythm (BER) and to detect changes in BER of exteriorized bowel of anesthetized rabbits during mesenteric ischemia.

Methods: The BER of rabbit ileum was noninvasively measured transabdominally using a SQUID magnetometer and compared with the electrical activity recorded with surgically implanted serosal electrodes before, during, and after snare occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery.

Cisplatin-DNA damage and repair in peripheral blood leukocytes in vivo and in vitro.

We have extended our studies on the relationship between cisplatin/carboplatin-induced DNA damage in readily accessible tissue(s) and clinical response to therapy. Such an approach may assist in the study of cancer drug resistance and in establishing parameters for assessing human populations for sensitivity to DNA damaging agents in the environment. Platinum-DNA adduct levels were measured by atomic absorbance spectrometry.

Isolation medium for the recovery of Pseudomonas cepacia from respiratory secretions of patients with cystic fibrosis.

A new medium for the isolation of Pseudomonas cepacia from respiratory tract secretions of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) is described. This medium consists of inorganic salts, 0.5% pyruvate, and 0.

Meeting the special needs of pregnant teenagers.

There is no one best method of contraception for postpregnant teenagers. Most emphasis, however, needs to be on preventing unwanted teenage pregnancies. Contraceptive history must be considered in prescribing.