Paleoecological assessment of watershed history in PRIMENet watersheds at Acadia National Park, USA.

Paleoecological reconstructions of forest stand histories for two upland watersheds at Acadia National Park in Maine were completed to support related watershed chemistry studies. The project hypothesis was that forest type and fire history influence long-term cycling and storage of atmospheric mercury and nitrogen within watersheds. The reconstructions document differences in major vegetation composition and disturbance between the burned and unburned watersheds during the past several centuries.

Controls on mercury and methylmercury deposition for two watersheds in Acadia National Park, Maine.

Throughfall and bulk precipitation samples were collected for two watersheds at Acadia National Park, Maine, from 3 May to 16 November 2000, to determine which landscape factors affected mercury (Hg) deposition. One of these watersheds, Cadillac Brook, burned in 1947, providing a natural experimental design to study the effects of forest type on deposition to forested watersheds. Sites that face southwest received the highest Hg deposition, which may be due to the interception of cross-continental movement of contaminated air masses.

Mass balances of mercury and nitrogen in burned and unburned forested watersheds at Acadia National Park, Maine, USA.

Precipitation and streamwater samples were collected from 16 November 1999 to 17 November 2000 in two watersheds at Acadia National Park, Maine, and analyzed for mercury (Hg) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN, nitrate plus ammonium). Cadillac Brook watershed burned in a 1947 fire that destroyed vegetation and soil organic matter. We hypothesized that Hg deposition would be higher at Hadlock Brook (the reference watershed, 10.

Recurrent events counted in evaluations of predictive accuracy.

Objectives: To describe an alternate approach for the calculation of sensitivity and specificity when analyzing the accuracy of screening tools, which can be used when standard calculations may be inappropriate. Sensitivity(ER) (ER denoting event rate) is the number of events correctly predicted, divided by the total number of events. Specificity(ER) is the amount of time that study participants are predicted to be event negative, divided by the total amount of participant observed time.

Mercury in tree swallow food, eggs, bodies, and feathers at Acadia National Park, Maine, and an EPA superfund site, Ayer, Massachusetts.

We monitored nest boxes during 1997-1999 at Acadia National Park, Mt. Desert Island, ME and at an old-field site in Orono, ME to determine mercury (Hg) uptake in tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) eggs, tissues, and food boluses. Also, in 1998-1999 we monitored nest boxes at Grove Pond and Plow Shop Pond at a U.

Perioperative use of the hands-free technique: a semistructured interview study.

OCCUPATIONALLY CONTRACTED bloodborne infections are preventable, but the use of many protective measures remains limited. THERE IS GROWING EVIDENCE that the use of the hands-free technique (HFT) to pass sharp items during surgical procedures is effective in protecting against sharps injury and bloody contamination. RESEARCHERS CONDUCTED in-depth telephone interviews to explore 20 health care providers' knowledge and use of the HFT.

Prognosis in soft tissue disorders of the shoulder: predicting both change in disability and level of disability after treatment.

Background And Purpose: Clinicians often are faced with questions about prognosis and outcome of shoulder disorders. The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of both change in disability and level of disability following physical therapy treatment.

Subjects: The subjects were consecutive patients (n=361) who were receiving physical therapy for soft tissue shoulder disorders.

Medicinal and injection therapies for mechanical neck disorders: a Cochrane systematic review.

Objective: To systematically review randomized trials on medicines and injections used to improve pain, function/disability, and patient satisfaction in adults with mechanical neck disorders (MND) with or without associated headache or radicular findings.

Methods: We searched CENTRAL (Issue 4, 2002), and MEDLINE, EMBASE, MANTIS, CINHAL from their start to March 2003. Two authors independently selected articles, abstracted data, and assessed methodological quality using the Jadad criteria.

Eight predictive factors associated with response patterns during physiotherapy for soft tissue shoulder disorders were identified.

Background And Objective: Combining information on initial and final state with information on speed of response may reflect the clinical reality of the course of recovery from soft tissue shoulder disorders. The purpose was to identify baseline factors that predict patterns of response to physiotherapy.

Study Design And Setting: Prospective cohort of consecutive clients (n=361) with soft tissue shoulder disorders attending physiotherapy.

Reactive oxygen species inactivation of surfactant involves structural and functional alterations to surfactant proteins SP-B and SP-C.

Exposing bovine lipid extract surfactant (BLES), a clinical surfactant, to reactive oxygen species arising from hypochlorous acid or the Fenton reaction resulted in an increase in lipid (conjugated dienes, lipid aldehydes) and protein (carbonyls) oxidation products and a reduction in surface activity. Experiments where oxidized phospholipids (PL) were mixed with BLES demonstrated that this addition hampered BLES biophysical activity. However the effects were only moderately greater than with control PL.

A new instrument for targeting falls prevention interventions was accurate and clinically applicable in a hospital setting.

Background And Objective: To describe the diagnostic accuracy and practical application of the Peter James Centre Falls Risk Assessment Tool (PJC-FRAT), a multidisciplinary falls risk screening and intervention deployment instrument.

Methods: In phase 1, the accuracy of the PJC-FRAT was prospectively compared to a gold standard (the STRATIFY) on a cohort of subacute hospital patients (n = 122). In phase 2, the PJC-FRAT was temporally reassessed using a subsequent cohort (n = 316), with results compared to those of phase 1.

Evidence for TeV gamma-ray emission from a region of the galactic plane.

Gamma-ray emission from a narrow band at the galactic equator has previously been detected up to 30 GeV. We report evidence for a TeV gamma-ray signal from a region of the galactic plane by Milagro, a large-field-of-view water Cherenkov detector for extensive air showers. An excess with a significance of 4.

Mortality and cancer incidence in Ontario glass fiber workers.

Background: In a previous cohort study of glass fiber manufacturing, we found a significant increase in lung cancer. This study extends the follow-up period.

Methods: We conducted a historical prospective study of 2557 men employed in producing glass wool.

Localization of coenzyme Q10 in the center of a deuterated lipid membrane by neutron diffraction.

Quinones (e.g., coenzyme Q, CoQ10) are best known as carriers of electrons and protons during oxidative phosphorylation and photosynthesis.

Medicinal and injection therapies for mechanical neck disorders.

Background: Medicinal therapies and injections are commonly recommended for neck pain, yet controversy persists over their effectiveness.

Objectives: To determine the effect of medicines and injections on pain, function/disability, patient satisfaction and range of motion in participants with mechanical neck disorders (MND).

Search Strategy: We searched CENTRAL (Issue 4, 2002), and MEDLINE, EMBASE, MANTIS, CINHAL from their start to March 2003.

Analysis of reporting return to work in studies comparing open with endoscopic carpal tunnel release: A review of randomized controlled trials.

Background: In studies comparing open with endoscopic carpal tunnel release, return to work (RTW) is often cited as a primary outcome.

Objective: The present study assessed the reporting of RTW and evaluated its usefulness in studies comparing these two methods of carpal tunnel release.

Methods: A computerized search was conducted to find randomized controlled trials that compared open with endoscopic carpal tunnel release, with RTW as an outcome measure.

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing endoscopic and open carpal tunnel decompression.

Controversy exists regarding the benefit of endoscopic carpal tunnel release versus open carpal tunnel release in terms of grip/pinch strength, scar tenderness, pain, return to work, reversible/irreversible nerve damage, and adverse effects. Although a number of randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews have been published on the subject, to date, no large definitive randomized controlled trial or meta-analysis has been performed comparing endoscopic to open carpal tunnel release. This meta-analysis was undertaken to address the effectiveness of endoscopic carpal tunnel release relative to open carpal tunnel release.

Evidence for an oscillatory signature in atmospheric neutrino oscillations.

Muon neutrino disappearance probability as a function of neutrino flight length L over neutrino energy E was studied. A dip in the L/E distribution was observed in the data, as predicted from the sinusoidal flavor transition probability of neutrino oscillation. The observed L/E distribution constrained nu(micro)<-->nu(tau) neutrino oscillation parameters; 1.

Limits on the neutrino magnetic moment using 1496 days of Super-Kamiokande-I solar neutrino data.

A search for a nonzero neutrino magnetic moment has been conducted using 1496 live days of solar neutrino data from Super-Kamiokande-I. Specifically, we searched for distortions to the energy spectrum of recoil electrons arising from magnetic scattering due to a nonzero neutrino magnetic moment. In the absence of a clear signal, we found micro(nu) View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A Cochrane review of manipulation and mobilization for mechanical neck disorders.

Study Design And Objectives: Our systematic review of randomized trials assessed whether manipulation and mobilization relieve pain or improve function/disability, patient satisfaction, and global perceived effect in adults with mechanical neck disorders.

Summary Of Background Data: Neck disorders are common, disabling, and costly.

Methods: Computerized bibliographic databases were searched up to March 2002.

Chemically induced DNA hypomethylation in breast carcinoma cells detected by the amplification of intermethylated sites.

Introduction: Compromised patterns of gene expression result in genomic instability, altered patterns of gene expression and tumour formation. Specifically, aberrant DNA hypermethylation in gene promoter regions leads to gene silencing, whereas global hypomethylation events can result in chromosomal instability and oncogene activation. Potential links exist between environmental agents and DNA methylation, but the destabilizing effects of environmental exposures on the DNA methylation machinery are not understood within the context of breast cancer aetiology.

Payments for care at private for-profit and private not-for-profit hospitals: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: It has been shown that patients cared for at private for-profit hospitals have higher risk-adjusted mortality rates than those cared for at private not-for-profit hospitals. Uncertainty remains, however, about the economic implications of these forms of health care delivery. Since some policy-makers might still consider for-profit health care if expenditure savings were sufficiently large, we undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare payments for care at private for-profit and private not-for-profit hospitals.