Agreement Between SARS-CoV-2 PCR Test Results Using Nasopharyngeal and Mid-Turbinate Specimens Among Asymptomatic Working-Age Adults.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether mid-turbinate specimens reliably detect active infection in asymptomatic adults undergoing regular COVID-19 PCR testing.

Methods: Qualitative agreement between 2481 paired nasopharyngeal and mid-turbinate PCR results was assessed. Mean cycle threshold values for each positive result were evaluated as an indicator of active infection.

GTL synthetic paraffin oil shows low liver and tissue retention compared to mineral oil.

Oral exposure to mineral oil may result in a narrow fraction of mineral oil saturated hydrocarbon (MOSH) being retained in tissues. Excess of MOSH hepatic retention may lead to the formation of lipogranuloma caused by predominantly multiring cycloalkanes (naphthenics) in a critical range of C-C. Although hepatic lipogranuloma is of low pathological concern, MOSH tissue deposition could be minimized by using an oil of similar quality but devoid of naphthenic structures to decrease hepatic retention.

Reply to Schade G. Comment on Hess et al. "Assessing Agreement in Exposure Classifications between Proximity-Based Metrics and Air Monitoring Data in Epidemiology Studies of Unconventional Resource Development.".

We appreciate the comments by Dr [...

Response to Buonocore et al. Comments on Wendt Hess et al. "Assessing Agreement in Exposure Classification between Proximity-Based Metrics and Air Monitoring Data in Epidemiology Studies of Unconventional Resource Development." 2019, , 3055.

We appreciate the comments by Buonocore et al [...

Trends in Cigarette Smoking Prevalence Among Refinery and Petrochemical Plant Workers, 1950 to 1999.

Objective: Smoking is a potential confounder in studies of workplace exposures and smoking-related disease, but little data exist to quantitatively adjust for smoking in statistical models.

Methods: We estimated smoking prevalence trends between 1950 and 1999 for 12,299 female and 43,307 male hourly and salaried petrochemical workers using company physical examination data.

Results: Nearly half of hourly male and female employees smoked during the study period, compared with 38% of salaried males and 29% of females.

Assessing Agreement in Exposure Classification between Proximity-Based Metrics and Air Monitoring Data in Epidemiology Studies of Unconventional Resource Development.

Recent studies of unconventional resource development (URD) and adverse health effects have been limited by distance-based exposure surrogates. Our study compared exposure classifications between air pollutant concentrations and "well activity" (WA) metrics, which are distance-based exposure proxies used in Marcellus-area studies to reflect variation in time and space of residential URD activity. We compiled Pennsylvania air monitoring data for benzene, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, fine particulates and sulfur dioxide, and combined this with data on nearly 9000 Pennsylvania wells.

The sub-chronic toxicity of a naphthenic hydrocarbon solvent in rats.

Cycloalkanes/naphthenes are constituents of complex hydrocarbon solvents, and hence an understanding of their toxicological profile is critical to establish safe limits for occupational exposures to these solvents. Although naphthenes are structurally related to and share a common metabolic fate with the straight and branched chain analogues, some toxicokinetic differences have been noted. The acute central nervous system response to volatile naphthenes in rodents has been shown to be slightly different compared to other alkane analogues.

Using sentinel surveillance system to monitor seasonal and novel H1N1 influenza infection in Houston, Texas: outcome analysis of 2008-2009 flu season.

The advent of the novel H1N1 virus prompted the Houston Department of Health and Human services (HDHHS) to use the existing sentinel surveillance system to effectively monitor the situation of novel H1N1 virus in the Houston metropolitan area. The objective of this study was to evaluate the demographic characteristics and common symptoms associated with confirmed cases of seasonal influenza and Novel H1N1 virus reported to HDHHS between October 2008 and October 2009. A total of 30 providers were randomly selected using the probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling technique to participate in a sentinel surveillance system.