Occupational exposure influences on gender differences in respiratory health.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate gender differences in the respiratory health of workers exposed to organic and inorganic dusts.

Methods: Meta-analysis techniques incorporating logistic regression were applied to a combined file of 12 occupational health studies.

Results: Meta-analysis of data on 1,367 women and 4,240 men showed that women had higher odds of shortness of breath whether exposed to inorganic dust or having no occupational exposure, with an overall odds ratio (OR) of 2.

Congenital anomalies in the offspring of nurses: association with area of employment during pregnancy.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether registered nurses in specific areas of employment during pregnancy had a higher risk for congenital anomalies in their offspring. An offspring cohort (n = 22,611) was created through linkage of the British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency live and stillbirth records from 1986 to 2000, to a female cohort database of registered nurses. Of these, 16,005 (70.

Respiratory health of two cohorts of terminal grain elevator workers studied 30 years apart.

Introduction: We evaluated the respiratory health of two cohorts of grain terminal elevator workers who participated in one of either respiratory health surveys undertaken in 1978 and 2008.

Methods: Questionnaire and spirometry data from 584 workers from the 1978 survey and 215 workers from the 2008 survey were compared using logistic regression and general linear modeling.

Results: The geometric means of area samples of grain dust averaged 8.

Cancer incidence and adverse pregnancy outcome in registered nurses potentially exposed to antineoplastic drugs.

Background: To determine the relationships of potential occupational exposure to antineoplastic drugs with cancer incidence and adverse pregnancy outcomes in a historical prospective cohort study of female registered nurses (RNs) from British Columbia, Canada (BC).

Methods: Female RNs registered with a professional regulatory body for at least one year between 1974 and 2000 formed the cohort (n = 56,213). The identifier file was linked to Canadian cancer registries.

Rates of congenital anomalies and other adverse birth outcomes in an offspring cohort of registered nurses from British Columbia, Canada.

Objectives: Although there is concern that occupational exposures in some nursing professions may confer reproductive risks, there are few relevant studies. Our objective is to determine if a cohort of female registered nurses (RN) from British Columbia (BC), in comparison to BC women in general, have elevated rates of congenital anomalies, stillbirths, low birth weight, or prematurity in their offspring.

Methods: A cohort of RNs from BC was linked to Vital Statistics birth records and the BC Health Status Registry (HSR) between the years 1986 and 2000.

Exposure to anesthetic gases and congenital anomalies in offspring of female registered nurses.

Background: Studies of offspring of mothers exposed to anesthetic gases have shown associations with congenital anomalies reported by the mothers, but rarely in studies with objectively ascertained outcomes. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine associations between registry-ascertained congenital anomalies in offspring and anesthetic gas exposure of mothers employed as nurses.

Methods: A cohort of registered nurses in British Columbia, Canada, was linked to records of births and congenital anomalies from 1990 to 2000.

Modulatory effects of pH, Cu+2 and sheet breakers on aggregation of amyloid peptides.

The study explores in vitro by circular dichroism and mass spectrometry the effects of pH, Cu+2 ions and sheet-breakers on the secondary structures and self-aggregation of beta-amyloid peptides [Abeta43, Abeta42 and Abeta40] of Alzheimer's disease. Within pH 5.4-7.