The effect of asbestosis on lung cancer risk beyond the dose related effect of asbestos alone.

Aims: To determine if the presence of asbestosis is a prerequisite for lung cancer in subjects with known exposure to blue asbestos (crocidolite).

Methods: Former workers and residents of Wittenoom with known amounts of asbestos exposure (duration, intensity, and time since first exposure), current chest x ray and smoking information, participating in a cancer prevention programme (n = 1988) were studied. The first plain chest radiograph taken at the time of recruitment into the cancer prevention programme was examined for radiographic evidence of asbestosis according to the UICC (ILO) classification.

Standardization of finger systolic blood pressure (FSBP) cooling tests.

A finger systolic blood pressure (FSBP) cooling test was introduced in 1977 and standardized during the following years for the optimal provocation and best characterization of an attack of vasospastic Raynaud's phenomenon (RP). The purpose of the present review is to compare and analyse some different techniques used in FSBP cooling tests from different countries and described in the final draft of the international standard, ISO/DIS 14835-2 (2004). The selected FSBP test results indicate to some extent that the tests are reliable and have acceptable diagnostic values despite the use of different techniques to obtain them.

Eighteen days of "living high, training low" stimulate erythropoiesis and enhance aerobic performance in elite middle-distance runners.

The efficiency of "living high, training low" (LHTL) remains controversial, despite its wide utilization. This study aimed to verify whether maximal and/or submaximal aerobic performance were modified by LHTL and whether these effects persist for 15 days after returning to normoxia. Last, we tried to elucidate whether the mechanisms involved were only related to changes in oxygen-carrying capacity.

The additional risk of malignant mesothelioma in former workers and residents of Wittenoom with benign pleural disease or asbestosis.

Aims: To examine the hypothesis that people with benign pleural disease or asbestosis have an increased risk of malignant mesothelioma beyond that attributable to their degree of asbestos exposure.

Methods: Former workers and residents of the crocidolite mining and milling town of Wittenoom are participating in a cancer prevention programme (n = 1988). The first plain chest radiograph taken at the time of recruitment into the cancer prevention programme was read for evidence of benign pleural disease and asbestosis, using the UICC classification.

Effects of asbestos and smoking on gas diffusion in people exposed to crocidolite.

Objective: To examine the effects of asbestos exposure and tobacco smoking on the level and rate of change of the diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO).

Design And Participants: A cohort study of 934 people (including both mine workers and town residents) exposed to crocidolite (blue asbestos) at the asbestos mines and in the town of Wittenoom, Western Australia, between 1943 and 1966. DLCO measurements were taken during a follow-up period from 1992 to 2002.

Plasma concentrations of retinol, carotene, and vitamin E and mortality in subjects with asbestosis in a cohort exposed to crocidolite in Wittenoom, Western Australia.

Objective: We sought to examine the relationships between plasma concentrations of retinol, carotene, and vitamin E and mortality associated with asbestosis in people previously exposed to crocidolite.

Methods: Cox regression modeling was applied to examine these relationships at the first measurement of each vitamin, at the measurement at each visit, and with the rate of change of each vitamin during the follow-up.

Results: There were 76 deaths of people with asbestosis during the follow-up period and 1885 subjects censored.

Heat flux anomalies in Antarctica revealed by satellite magnetic data.

The geothermal heat flux is an important factor in the dynamics of ice sheets; it affects the occurrence of subglacial lakes, the onset of ice streams, and mass losses from the ice sheet base. Because direct heat flux measurements in ice-covered regions are difficult to obtain, we developed a method that uses satellite magnetic data to estimate the heat flux underneath the Antarctic ice sheet. We found that the heat flux underneath the ice sheet varies from 40 to 185 megawatts per square meter and that areas of high heat flux coincide with known current volcanism and some areas known to have ice streams.

Plasma retinol, carotene and vitamin E concentrations and lung function in a crocidolite-exposed cohort from Wittenoom, Western Australia: a cohort study.

Background: Increased rates of death from asbestos related diseases have been reported for people previously employed in the mining and milling operations at Wittenoom (Western Australia), and people who lived in the nearby town, where they were environmentally exposed to crocidolite.

Methods: Annual measurements of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) and plasma concentrations of retinol, carotene and vitamin E have been made since 1992. Mixed effects models were used to examine the associations between lung function and the plasma vitamin levels of retinol, carotene and vitamin E.

Reduced p53 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis is associated with loss of radiation-induced apoptosis.

Objective: Patients with autoimmune disorders exhibit highly reproducible gene expression profiles in their peripheral blood mononuclear cells. This profile includes, at least in part, a collection of underexpressed genes that encode proteins that inhibit cell cycle progression and stimulate apoptosis. We aimed to determine whether this gene expression profile confers functional liability on lymphocytes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Shared gene expression profiles in individuals with autoimmune disease and unaffected first-degree relatives of individuals with autoimmune disease.

Patients with autoimmune disorders exhibit highly reproducible gene expression profiles in their peripheral blood mononuclear cells. These signatures may result from chronic inflammation, other disease manifestations, or may reflect family resemblance. To test the latter hypothesis, we determined gene expression profiles in unaffected first-degree relatives of individuals with autoimmune disease.

Imaging and skeletal muscle disease.

Imaging techniques have assumed increasing importance in the diagnostic approach to patients with muscle disease. These techniques include computed tomography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). For most disorders of muscle, ultrasound and MRI are more useful than computed tomography.

Deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism following physical restraint.

Objective: We describe a case of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) following the use of physical restraint in a patient with a diagnosis of acute delusional psychotic disorder.

Method: A new case report of DVT and PE associated with prolonged physical restraint is presented. The literature on physical restraint, DVT, and PE was reviewed using a search of Medline and Psychinfo from 1966 to the present.

Effects of asbestos and smoking on the levels and rates of change of lung function in a crocidolite exposed cohort in Western Australia.

Background: Increased rates of death from asbestos related diseases have been reported in former workers and residents exposed to crocidolite (blue asbestos) at Wittenoom, Western Australia. Exposure to asbestos is associated with reduced static lung volumes, gas transfer and lung compliance, and a restrictive ventilatory abnormality.

Methods: The effects of crocidolite exposure and smoking history on levels and rates of change of lung function were evaluated using a linear mixed model.

Consensus meeting on microdialysis in neurointensive care.

Background: Microdialysis is used in many European neurointensive care units to monitor brain chemistry in patients suffering subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) or traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Discussion: We present a consensus agreement achieved at a meeting in Stockholm by a group of experienced users of microdialysis in neurointensive care, defining the use of microdialysis, placement of catheters, unreliable values, chemical markers, and clinical use in SAH and in TBI.

Conclusions: As microdialysis is maturing into a clinically useful technique for early detection of cerebral ischemia and secondary brain damage, there is a need to following such definition regarding when and how to use microdialysis after SAH and TBI.

Trends in monitoring patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage.

After aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH), the clinical outcome depends upon the primary haemorrhage and a number of secondary insults in the acute post-haemorrhagic period. Some secondary insults are potentially preventable but prevention requires prompt recognition of cerebral or systemic complications. Currently, several neuro-monitoring techniques are available; this review describes the most frequently used techniques and discusses indications for their use, and their value in diagnosis and prognosis.

A gene expression signature for recent onset rheumatoid arthritis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Background: In previous studies the presence of a distinct gene expression pattern has been shown in peripheral blood cells from patients with autoimmune disease.

Objective: To determine whether other specific signatures might be used to identify subsets of these autoimmune diseases and whether gene expression patterns in early disease might identify pathogenetic factors.

Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were acquired from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and analysed by microarrays containing over 4300 named human genes.

Drug-induced autoimmunity.

Drug induced autoimmune syndromes have been recognized for many years. The classical presentation is that of drug-induced lupus, a generally milder version of the idiopathic disorder that is associated with production of antihistone antibodies. This pattern is now changing, in part due to the many new drugs that have been introduced into clinical practice for treatment of autoimmune diseases, including both conventional pharmaceuticals and biologicals.

Effects of prasterone on disease activity and symptoms in women with active systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: To determine whether prasterone administration results in improvement or stabilization of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disease activity and its symptoms.

Methods: Women with active SLE were treated with prasterone 200 mg/day plus standard SLE treatments or with placebo plus standard SLE treatments for up to 12 months in this randomized, double-blind investigation conducted at 27 centers. Standard SLE treatments included prednisone (/=6 weeks prior to enrollment and remain unchanged during protocol treatment.

Co-localization of differentially expressed genes and shared susceptibility loci in human autoimmunity.

Autoimmune diseases arise from complex interactions between environmental and genetic factors. Genetic linkage scans show that different autoimmune diseases share overlapping susceptibility loci. Lymphocytes from individuals with different autoimmune diseases, as well as unaffected first-degree relatives, also share a common gene expression profile.

Landscape equivalent of the shoving model.

It is shown that the shoving model expression for the average relaxation time of viscous liquids, according to which the activation energy is proportional to the instantaneous shear modulus, follows largely from a classical "landscape" estimation of barrier heights from curvature at energy minima. Although the activation energy in this reasoning involves both instantaneous bulk and shear moduli, the bulk modulus contributes less than 8% to the temperature dependence of the activation energy. This reflects the fact that the physics of the two models are closely related.