Occupational exposure to noise and cold environment and the risk of death due to myocardial infarction and stroke.

Purpose: The present study examined a possible association between occupational exposure to noise, working and living in cold conditions, and the risk of mortality in myocardial infarction and stroke.

Methods: The present cohort study consists of 194,501 workers in the Swedish construction industry that participated in health examinations between 1971 and 1993. Noise exposure was defined on a job-exposure matrix based on a survey of the working conditions carried out during the mid 1970s.

Influence of Substrate Heating and Nitrogen Flow on the Composition, Morphological and Mechanical Properties of SiN Coatings Aimed for Joint Replacements.

Silicon nitride (SiN) coatings are promising for joint replacement applications due to their high wear resistance and biocompatibility. For such coatings, a higher nitrogen content, obtained through an increased nitrogen gas supply, has been found to be beneficial in terms of a decreased dissolution rate of the coatings. The substrate temperature has also been found to affect the composition as well as the microstructure of similar coatings.

Musculoskeletal symptoms and exposure to whole-body vibration among open-pit mine workers in the Arctic.

Objectives: This cross-sectional questionnaire study was carried out at 4 open-pit mines in Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden as part of the MineHealth project. The aim has been to compare the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms between drivers of mining vehicles and non-drivers.

Material And Methods: The mine workers were asked whether they had suffered from any musculoskeletal symptoms during the previous 12 months in specified body regions, and to grade the severity of these symptoms during the past month.

Quantitative Time-Resolved Fluorescence Imaging of Androgen Receptor and Prostate-Specific Antigen in Prostate Tissue Sections.

Androgen receptor (AR) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) are expressed in the prostate and are involved in prostate cancer (PCa). The aim of this study was to develop reliable protocols for reproducible quantification of AR and PSA in benign and malignant prostate tissue using time-resolved fluorescence (TRF) imaging techniques. AR and PSA were detected with TRF in tissue microarrays from 91 PCa patients.

Cancer-associated changes in the expression of TMPRSS2-ERG, PCA3, and SPINK1 in histologically benign tissue from cancerous vs noncancerous prostatectomy specimens.

Objective: To investigate whether messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene, a suggested prostate cancer (PCa) biomarker, was specific to cancerous lesions alone and to study the expression of SPINK1 and PCA3 mRNAs in the same cohort to also explore the proposed mutual exclusivity of TMPRSS2-ERG and SPINK1 expression.

Methods: Levels of 2 TMPRSS2-ERG transcripts, PCA3, and SPINK1 mRNAs were measured with highly standardized reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays in cystoprostatectomy specimens from 19 patients with invasive bladder cancer and 174 radical prostatectomy (RP) samples (88 histologically benign prostate [HBP] tissues and 86 from cancerous lesions) from 87 patients with clinically localized PCa.

Results: Expression of TMPRSS2-ERG transcripts was detected in 45 of 88 (51%) HBP tissues from RP specimens and more frequently (57 of 86, 66%) found in cancerous lesions.

Association of transcript levels of 10 established or candidate-biomarker gene targets with cancerous versus non-cancerous prostate tissue from radical prostatectomy specimens.

Objectives: The benefits of PSA (prostate specific antigen)-testing in prostate cancer remain controversial with a consequential need for validation of additional biomarkers. We used highly standardized reverse-transcription (RT)-PCR assays to compare transcript levels of 10 candidate cancer marker genes - BMP6, FGF-8b, KLK2, KLK3, KLK4, KLK15, MSMB, PCA3, PSCA and Trpm8 - in carefully ascertained non-cancerous versus cancerous prostate tissue from patients with clinically localized prostate cancer treated by radical prostatectomy.

Design And Methods: Total RNA was isolated from fresh frozen prostate tissue procured immediately after resection from two separate areas in each of 87 radical prostatectomy specimens.

Noise and hand-arm vibration exposure in relation to the risk of hearing loss.

The aim of this study was to examine the possible association of combined exposure of noise and hand-arm vibration (HAV) and the risk of noise-induced hearing loss. Workers in a heavy engineering industry were part of a dynamic cohort. Of these workers, 189 had HAV exposure, and their age and hearing status were recorded in the same year and were, therefore, included in the analysis.

The effect on the temporary threshold shift in hearing acuity from combined exposure to authentic noise and hand-arm vibration.

Objectives: This study examined and compared the effect on temporary threshold shift in hearing (TTS) in healthy subjects of noise and hand-arm vibration (HAV) combined and separately using controlled and authentic exposure conditions. This study also investigated the effect on TTS in hearing in relation to gender after such exposures.

Methods: Twenty-two healthy subjects (11 men/women, mean age 22 years, range 18-31 years) were exposed both separately and in combination with HAV (6.

Impact of recent screening on predicting the outcome of prostate cancer biopsy in men with elevated prostate-specific antigen: data from the European Randomized Study of Prostate Cancer Screening in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Background: Risk models to predict prostate cancer on biopsy, whether they include only prostate-specific antigen (PSA) or other markers, are intended for use in all men of screening age. However, the association between PSA and cancer probably depends on a man's recent screening history.

Methods: The authors examined the effect of prior screening on the ability to predict the risk of prostate cancer by using a previously reported, 4-kallikrein panel that included total PSA, free PSA, intact PSA, and human kallikrein-related peptidase 2 (hK2).

Sequestration of plant-derived phenolglucosides by larvae of the leaf beetle Chrysomela lapponica: thioglucosides as mechanistic probes.

Feeding larvae of Chrysomela lapponica (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) acquire characteristic O-glucosides from the leaves of their food plants. The glucosides are selectively channeled from the gut to the defensive gland. Subsequent enzymatic transformations generate a blend of different defensive compounds, e.

Risk assessment for biochemical recurrence prior to radical prostatectomy: significant enhancement contributed by human glandular kallikrein 2 (hK2) and free prostate specific antigen (PSA) in men with moderate PSA-elevation in serum.

Most models to predict biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer use pretreatment serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA), clinical stage and prostate biopsy Gleason grade. We investigated whether human glandular kallikrein 2 (hK2) and free prostate-specific antigen (fPSA) measured in pretreatment serum enhance prediction. We retrospectively measured total PSA (tPSA), fPSA and hK2 in preoperative serum samples from 461 men with localized prostate cancer treated with radical prostatectomy between 1999 and 2001.

Treatment of a patient with a nodal peripheral T-cell lymphoma (angioimmunoblastic T-Cell lymphoma) with a human monoclonal antibody against the CD4 antigen (HuMax-CD4).

A patient with a CD4+ refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTL), subtype angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AILD), was treated with a human monoclonal anti-CD4 antibody (HuMax-CD4) iv once weekly for 10 wk. Early during treatment all palpable enlarged lymph nodes disappeared. A decline of normal CD4+ T-cells in the blood mirrored the treatment effect.

Selective transport systems mediate sequestration of plant glucosides in leaf beetles: a molecular basis for adaptation and evolution.

Chrysomeline larvae respond to disturbance and attack by everting dorsal glandular reservoirs, which release defensive secretions. The ancestral defense is based on the de novo synthesis of monoterpene iridoids. The catabolization of the host-plant O-glucoside salicin into salicylaldehyde is a character state that evolved later in two distinct lineages, which specialized on Salicaceae.