Flumioxazin, a PPO inhibitor: A weight-of-evidence consideration of its mode of action as a developmental toxicant in the rat and its relevance to humans.

Flumioxazin, is a herbicide that has inhibitory activity on protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO), a key enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway for heme. Flumioxazin induces anemia and developmental toxicity in rats, including ventricular septal defect and embryofetal death. Studies to elucidate the mode of action (MOA) of flumioxazin as a developmental toxicant and to evaluate its relevance to humans have been undertaken.

Developmental toxicity studies on triclopyr acid, triclopyr butoxyethyl ester and triclopyr triethylamine salt in the rabbit.

Developmental toxicity studies have been conducted in the rabbit on triclopyr acid and its active-ingredient variants, triclopyr triethylamine salt (T-TEA) and triclopyr butoxyethyl ester (T-BEE), which are dissociated or hydrolysed in vivo to triclopyr acid. In this paper, the available developmental toxicity studies on triclopyr acid, T-TEA and T-BEE are summarised and evaluated. For triclopyr acid and T-TEA, there was no evidence of impaired reproductive performance, fetotoxicity, or teratogenicity, even at maternally toxic doses.

Reproductive and developmental evaluations of triclopyr acid, triclopyr butoxyethyl ester and triclopyr triethylamine salt in the rat.

Reproductive and developmental toxicity studies have been conducted in rat and rabbit on triclopyr acid and its active-ingredient variants, triclopyr butoxyethyl ester (T-BEE) and triclopyr triethylamine salt (T-TEA). In this paper the results of a rat two-generation study on triclopyr acid are presented, together with a review of all the reproductive and developmental toxicity data available from the rat studies. In the rat two-generation study, triclopyr acid was administered in the diet, giving doses of 0, 5, 25 or 250 mg/kg bw per day.

Wrist weight-bearing tolerance in healthy adults.

Study Design: Cross-sectional.

Introduction: No information is available in the literature regarding the amount of weight-bearing tolerance in a normal human wrist.

Purpose Of The Study: To establish the normal limits of human wrist weight-bearing tolerance and to determine if gender, age and height are predictors of this weight-bearing tolerance.

Threshold of toxicological concern (TTC) for botanicals - Concentration data analysis of potentially genotoxic constituents to substantiate and extend the TTC approach to botanicals.

This paper evaluates use of the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) approach to assess safety of botanical preparations that may contain potentially genotoxic constituents, based on estimation of the fraction that may be genotoxic. A database of 107 chemical constituents of botanicals was compiled and their potential for genotoxicity evaluated from published data. Forty-three constituents met the criteria for potential genotoxicity.

A Study of Capstone Courses Utilized in United States Doctor of Physical Therapy Program Curricula.

Capstone courses in professional curricula provide opportunities for students to synthesize and integrate clinical and theoretical information from previous coursework. The purpose of this research was to ascertain the number and type of capstone projects utilized by Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs in the United States. Programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) that published web-accessible curricula were evaluated for the presence of the word capstone in the course title or description.

Thresholds of Toxicological Concern for cosmetics-related substances: New database, thresholds, and enrichment of chemical space.

A new dataset of cosmetics-related chemicals for the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) approach has been compiled, comprising 552 chemicals with 219, 40, and 293 chemicals in Cramer Classes I, II, and III, respectively. Data were integrated and curated to create a database of No-/Lowest-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level (NOAEL/LOAEL) values, from which the final COSMOS TTC dataset was developed. Criteria for study inclusion and NOAEL decisions were defined, and rigorous quality control was performed for study details and assignment of Cramer classes.

Differential diagnosis of a patient referred to physical therapy for dizziness: a case report.

Study Design: Case report.

Background: Dizziness is a common and debilitating condition across the lifespan. Patients with this complaint must be carefully examined to determine the cause of dizziness, rule out the presence of central nervous system dysfunction, and determine the appropriateness of physical therapy intervention.

Identifying the brain regions associated with acute spasticity in patients diagnosed with an ischemic stroke.

Spasticity is a common impairment found in patients that have been diagnosed with a stroke. Little is known about the pathophysiology of spasticity at the level of the brain. This retrospective study was performed to identify an association between the area of the brain affected by an ischemic stroke and the presence of acute spasticity.

A Non-surgical Intervention for Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex Tears.

Background And Purpose: The current literature contains no reports of treatment options other than surgery following failed conservative management of a triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) tear. The purpose of this study is to describe the use of a novel brace as a non-surgical intervention for TFCC tears.

Methods: This paper is a case study of a subject with a magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed TFCC tear.

Reliability of the TTC approach: learning from inclusion of pesticide active substances in the supporting database.

Data on pesticide active substances were used to assess the reliability of the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) approach. Pesticides were chosen as a robust test because of their potential for toxicity. 328 pesticide substances were classified on the basis of their chemical structure, according to the generic scheme proposed by the European Food Safety Authority.

Internal threshold of toxicological concern values: enabling route-to-route extrapolation.

The TTC concept uses toxicological data from animal testing to derive generic human exposure threshold values (TTC values), below which the risk of adverse effects on human health is considered to be low. It uses distributions of no-observed-adverse-effect levels (NOAELs) for substances. The 5th percentile value is divided by an uncertainty factor (100) to give a TTC value.

Acquired brain injury self-management programme: a pilot study.

Primary Objective: Traditional rehabilitation is not well suited to individuals with chronic mild symptoms following an acquired brain injury. To address this, this study adapted a supported self-management programme (SMP) for this population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential effectiveness of this novel SMP.

Homologs of genes expressed in Caenorhabditis elegans GABAergic neurons are also found in the developing mouse forebrain.

Background: In an effort to identify genes that specify the mammalian forebrain, we used a comparative approach to identify mouse homologs of transcription factors expressed in developing Caenorhabditis elegans GABAergic neurons. A cell-specific microarray profiling study revealed a set of transcription factors that are highly expressed in embryonic C. elegans GABAergic neurons.

Risk assessment of carcinogens in food.

Approaches for the risk assessment of carcinogens in food have evolved as scientific knowledge has advanced. Early methods allowed little more than hazard identification and an indication of carcinogenic potency. Evaluation of the modes of action of carcinogens and their broad division into genotoxic and epigenetic (non-genotoxic, non-DNA reactive) carcinogens have played an increasing role in determining the approach followed and provide possibilities for more detailed risk characterisation, including provision of quantitative estimates of risk.

The influence of thresholds on the risk assessment of carcinogens in food.

The risks from exposure to chemical contaminants in food must be scientifically assessed, in order to safeguard the health of consumers. Risk assessment of chemical contaminants that are both genotoxic and carcinogenic presents particular difficulties, since the effects of such substances are normally regarded as being without a threshold. No safe level can therefore be defined, and this has implications for both risk management and risk communication.

Racemic versus enantiopure alanine on Cu(110): an experimental study.

The adsorption of racemic alanine on the Cu(110) surface has been compared to that of enantiopure alanine using low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS), and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). No evidence of chiral resolution at the surface was observed for the racemic system, indicating that the formation of separate enantiopure areas is not preferred. Also, in contrast to the enantiopure system, no chirally organized phase was observed for the racemic system.

National diet and nutrition surveys: the British experience.

Objective: The National Diet and Nutrition Surveys (NDNS) are a series of government-funded surveys of food intake, nutrient intake and nutritional status of individuals, undertaken to support nutritional policy and risk assessment. This paper summarises a review that considered the extent to which NDNS met the needs of users and suggested options for the future. The Food Standards Agency has since progressed favoured options.

Agricultural chemicals and endocrine-mediated chronic toxicity or carcinogenicity.

This brief review summarizes information on the endocrine effects and mechanisms of action of certain pesticides and considers whether exposure to pesticides with endocrine activity may play a role in human endocrine-related tumors of the breast, testis, prostate, and endometrium. Both animal and human data are considered. If animal data are to be used effectively for predicting human risk, a thorough understanding of comparative endocrinology and the underlying endocrine and pathological mechanisms contained in the animal model is needed.

Diabetes educators: assessment of evolving practice.

A survey evaluating the professional characteristics and practice patterns of diabetes educators was distributed across the United States. The specific survey aims were to assess whether (1) there continues to be a growing trend among US health professionals who consider themselves diabetes educators to obtain certification as certified diabetes educators (CDEs), (2) duties/services associated with diabetes self-management training (DSMT) and medical/medication management differ between diabetes educators who are CDEs versus those who are non-CDEs, and (3) educator practice patterns differ across the major geographic regions of the United States. Of the 507 diabetes educators completing the survey, 83% identified themselves as CDEs.

A gene expression fingerprint of C. elegans embryonic motor neurons.

Background: Differential gene expression specifies the highly diverse cell types that constitute the nervous system. With its sequenced genome and simple, well-defined neuroanatomy, the nematode C. elegans is a useful model system in which to correlate gene expression with neuron identity.

Supramolecular assembly of strongly chemisorbed size- and shape-defined chiral clusters: S- and R-alanine on Cu(110).

The bonding and self-assembly of a chirally organized monolayer of alanine on the Cu(110) surface has been investigated using reflection-absorption infrared spectroscopy, low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). This multitechnique approach has enabled an in-depth understanding of the hierarchy of chirality transfer: from a single adsorbed molecule, to size-defined chiral clusters, and then to an overall chiral assembly. The data have indicated that the alanine is in its anionic form, bound to the copper surface through the oxygens of the ionized carboxylate group and the nitrogen of the neutral amino group.