Can fluorescence spectrometry be used as a surrogate for the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) test in water quality assessment? An example from South West England.

The fluorescence intensities of tryptophan-like, tyrosine-like and humic-like materials were determined using excitation-emission-matrices (EEMs) for a wide range of samples including natural surface waters, sewage and industrial effluents and waters that have experienced known pollution events from the South West of England (n=469). Fluorescence intensities reported in arbitrary fluorescence units (AFU) were correlated with standard five day Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD(5)) values which were used as an indicator of the amount of biodegradable organic material present. Tryptophan-like fluorescence, which has been found to relate to the activity of the biological community, showed the strongest correlation with BOD(5).

Genetic association with rheumatoid arthritis-Genetic Analysis Workshop 15: summary of contributions from Group 2.

The papers in presentation group 2 of Genetic Analysis Workshop 15 (GAW15) conducted association analyses of rheumatoid arthritis data. The analyses were carried out primarily in the data provided by the North American Rheumatoid Arthritis Consortium (NARAC). One group conducted analyses in the data provided by the Canadian Rheumatoid Arthritis Genetics Study (CRAGS).

Rapid and accurate haplotype phasing and missing-data inference for whole-genome association studies by use of localized haplotype clustering.

Whole-genome association studies present many new statistical and computational challenges due to the large quantity of data obtained. One of these challenges is haplotype inference; methods for haplotype inference designed for small data sets from candidate-gene studies do not scale well to the large number of individuals genotyped in whole-genome association studies. We present a new method and software for inference of haplotype phase and missing data that can accurately phase data from whole-genome association studies, and we present the first comparison of haplotype-inference methods for real and simulated data sets with thousands of genotyped individuals.

Tonsillectomy and biopsy for asymptomatic asymmetric tonsillar enlargement: are we right?

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of malignancy in patients with clinically asymmetrical tonsils and who are otherwise asymptomatic.

Design: Retrospective review of our experience based on case note review, carried out in a district general hospital setting during a period of two years.

Material And Methods: 142 patients who had undergone tonsillectomy and biosy were included in the study.

Efficient multilocus association testing for whole genome association studies using localized haplotype clustering.

Whole genome association studies are generating data sets with hundreds of thousands of markers genotyped on thousands of cases and controls. We show that whole genome haplotypic association testing with permutation to account for multiple testing is statistically powerful and computationally feasible on such data, using an efficient software implementation of a recently proposed method. We use realistic simulations to explore the statistical properties of the method, and show that for ungenotyped disease-susceptibility variants with population frequencies of 5% or less the haplotypic tests have markedly better power than single-marker tests.

Minor skin excisions in general practice in North Queensland.

Objective: To describe the demographics of patients presenting with skin cancer to general practitioners in rural North Queensland, the sites from which skin cancers are removed, and their histology.

Methods: Data was recorded from 1247 consecutive patients who attended for minor skin lesion excisions.

Results: Close to half (46.

Personal protective equipment use and safety behaviors among farm adolescents: gender differences and predictors of work practices.

Context: Children on farms perform work that places them at risk for acute and chronic negative health outcomes. Despite strategies for preventing and reducing the risk of disease and injury, children's use of personal protective equipment and safely equipped farm machinery has generally remained unreported.

Purpose: This paper reports the use of personal protective equipment, self-protective work behaviors, and selected risk exposures of children aged 14-19, who perform farm work.

Risk factors for wound infection after minor surgery in general practice.

Objective: To determine the incidence of and risk factors for surgical site infections in general practice.

Design: Prospective, observational study of patients presenting for minor excisions.

Setting: Primary care in a regional centre, Queensland, October 2004 to May 2005.

National Burn Repository 2005: a ten-year review.

In the early 1990s, the American Burn Association (ABA) started its first burn registry development initiatives. The impetus for the registry development software originated from several directions, including the following: (1) the recognition that national registries were widespread and of proven benefit; (2) growing demands from accrediting institutions, payers, and patient advocacy groups for objective and verifiable data regarding patient costs, treatments, and outcomes; and (3) the shift toward "evidence-based" medicine and the ongoing analysis of treatment effectiveness. The ABA has issued three calls for burn registry data for its National Burn Repository (NBR): 1994, 2002, and 2005.

Multilocus association mapping using variable-length Markov chains.

I propose a new method for association-based gene mapping that makes powerful use of multilocus data, is computationally efficient, and is straightforward to apply over large genomic regions. The approach is based on the fitting of variable-length Markov chain models, which automatically adapt to the degree of linkage disequilibrium (LD) between markers to create a parsimonious model for the LD structure. Edges of the fitted graph are tested for association with trait status.

Can sutures get wet? Prospective randomised controlled trial of wound management in general practice.

Objective: To compare standard management of keeping wounds dry and covered with allowing wounds to be uncovered and wet in the first 48 hours after minor skin excision.

Design: Prospective, randomised controlled, multicentre trial testing for equivalence of infection rates.

Setting: Primary care in regional centre, Queensland, Australia.

The impact of farm lifestyle and health characteristics: cervical cancer screening among southern farmwomen.

Background: Rural residence, access to healthcare facilities, and multiple roles of farmwomen may pose barriers to cervical cancer screening among women living in southern farm states.

Objectives: To compare the proportion of women failing to obtain cervical cancer screening in three Southern states to state-level Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data and to identify factors contributing to cervical cancer screening and detection behaviors.

Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used.

2004 Optical Society Of America's Topical Meeting on Optical Interference Coatings: Manufacturing Problem.

Results are presented for the second Optical Society of America's Optical Interference Coatings Manufacturing Problem. The participants were asked to produce multilayer coatings which, in the 450-650 nm spectral region and for light incident at 60 degrees, would have transmittances of 0.7 and 0.

Prions in skeletal muscles of deer with chronic wasting disease.

The emergence of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer and elk in an increasingly wide geographic area, as well as the interspecies transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy to humans in the form of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, have raised concerns about the zoonotic potential of CWD. Because meat consumption is the most likely means of exposure, it is important to determine whether skeletal muscle of diseased cervids contains prion infectivity. Here bioassays in transgenic mice expressing cervid prion protein revealed the presence of infectious prions in skeletal muscles of CWD-infected deer, demonstrating that humans consuming or handling meat from CWD-infected deer are at risk to prion exposure.

Accuracy of finger-tip palpated tracheostomy tube cuff pressure readings among otolaryngologists.

The tracheal mucosa is very a delicate structure, and pressure-ischaemia problems following the use of cuffed tracheostomy tubes are well documented. Iatrogenic tracheal stenosis is one of the consequences of mucosal ischaemia and is very difficult to treat. In this study the accuracy of finger-tip tested tracheostomy tube cuff inflation pressure, as judged by consultants and non-consultants, was assessed by comparison with manometric pressure readings.

Sleepiness/fatigue and distraction/inattention as factors for fatal versus nonfatal commercial motor vehicle driver injuries.

A retrospective population-based case-control study was conducted to determine whether driver sleepiness/fatigue and inattention/distraction increase the likelihood that a commercial motor vehicle collision (CVC) will be fatal. Cases were identified as CVC drivers who died (fatal) and controls were drivers who survived (nonfatal) an injury collision using the Kentucky Collision Report Analysis for Safer Highways (CRASH) electronic database from 1998-2002. Cases and controls were matched on unit type and roadway type.

Case-control single-marker and haplotypic association analysis of pedigree data.

Related individuals collected for use in linkage studies may be used in case-control linkage disequilibrium analysis, provided one takes into account correlations between individuals due to identity-by-descent (IBD) sharing. We account for these correlations by calculating a weight for each individual. The weights are used in constructing a composite likelihood, which is maximized iteratively to form likelihood ratio tests for single-marker and haplotypic associations.

Transmission of prions from mule deer and elk with chronic wasting disease to transgenic mice expressing cervid PrP.

We generated mice expressing cervid prion protein to produce a transgenic system simulating chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer and elk. While normal mice were resistant to CWD, these transgenic mice uniformly developed signs of neurological dysfunction approximately 230 days following intracerebral inoculation with four CWD isolates. Inoculated transgenic mice homozygous for the transgene array developed disease after approximately 160 days.

Robust control of initiation of prokaryotic chromosome replication: essential considerations for a minimal cell.

A genomically and chemically detailed mathematical model of a "minimal cell" would be useful to understand better the "design logic" of cellular regulation. A "minimal cell" will be a prokaryote with the minimum number of genes necessary for growth and replication in an ideal environment (i.e.

Sleep deprivation and injuries in part-time Kentucky farmers: impact of self reported sleep habits and sleep problems on injury risk.

Part-time farmers who hold off-farm jobs may be at risk for injuries because of impaired performance resulting from inadequate sleep. For this study, 1004 part-time male Kentucky farmers completed a telephone interview for the 1994 to 1995 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-funded Farm Family Health and Hazard Surveillance Project. Questions were included about demographics, sleep habits, and injury occurrence.

Agricultural tasks and injuries among Kentucky farm children: results of the Farm Family Health and Hazard Surveillance Project.

Background: This population-based study reports the prevalent agricultural tasks and the 1-year cumulative incidence of injuries in a sample of 999 children < or = 18 years old living on family farms in Kentucky.

Methods: Data were collected in 1994 to 1995 for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Farm Family Health and Hazard Surveillance Project. A random sample of farm children in 60 Kentucky counties was selected using a cross-sectional, two-stage cluster design.

Diphtheria: the patch remains.

This study analysed the number of patients admitted with diphtheria to a teaching hospital in the state of Assam in India over a period of five years and compared the disease characteristics and management with outcomes and incidences of diphtheria reported in the literature. It was a retrospective analysis of data elicited from clinical records of patients admitted to hospital. A total of 101 admissions were recorded during a five-year period between March 1997 to March 2002, mostly with pharyngeal diphtheria (90 per cent).

Reusable versus disposable instruments in tonsillectomy: a comparative study of outcomes.

Tonsillectomy, traditionally performed using reusable instruments (RIs), has recently been performed using disposable instruments (DIs), to prevent the theoretical risk of spreading new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Following this, there have been concerns of increased risk of complications, especially haemorrhage. We audited our hospital's complication rates of 100 tonsillectomies performed using RI and 100 using DIs.