Investigation of health effects of hydrogen sulfide from a geothermal source.

Little is known about health effects from chronic exposure to hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The city of Rotorua, New Zealand, is exposed to H2S by virtue of its location over a geothermal field. In this study, the authors classified areas within Rotorua as high-, medium, or low-H2S exposure areas.

The collation of forensic DNA case data into a multi-dimensional intelligence database.

The primary aim of any DNA Database is to link individuals to unsolved offenses and unsolved offenses to each other via DNA profiling. This aim has been successfully realised during the operation of the New Zealand (NZ) DNA Databank over the past five years. The DNA Intelligence Project (DIP), a collaborative project involving NZ forensic and law enforcement agencies, interrogated the forensic case data held on the NZ DNA databank and collated it into a functional intelligence database.

Application of the method of temporal moments to interpret solute transport with sorption and degradation.

In this note, we applied the temporal moment solutions of [Das and Kluitenberg, 1996. Soil Sci. Am.

Evaluation of integrated cell culture-PCR (C-PCR) for virological analysis of environmental samples.

Aims: The aims of this study were to establish an integrated culture-polymerase chain reaction (C-PCR) method for detection of enteric viruses in environmental samples, and to evaluate it for sensitivity, speed and provision of virus infectivity data.

Methods And Results: C-PCR, direct reverse transcription (RT)-PCR, PCR and plaque assay methods were used to detect enteroviruses and adenoviruses in seeded and naturally contaminated environmental samples. Using C-PCR, infectious enterovirus presence was confirmed in 3 d and adenovirus presence in 5 d, compared with up to 10 d required by conventional cell culture methods.

Allele frequencies for the four major sub-populations of New Zealand at three STR loci--HUMTH01, HUMTPOX and CSF1PO.

Allele frequencies for the three STR loci included in the GenePrint CTT multiplex system (HUMTH01, HUMTPOX, HUMCSF1PO) have been determined for the four major sub-populations of New Zealand.

Determination of brevetoxins in shellfish by the neuroblastoma assay.

A neuroblastoma assay for determination of brevetoxins in shellfish was developed together with a method for sample cleanup that allows separation of brevetoxins from most of the components that cause matrix interference in the assay. This improved assay method was applied to a range of shellfish samples with different characteristics. Extracts of naturally contaminated and nontoxic shellfish together with extracts spiked with known amounts of toxin were tested.

Follow-up methods for retrospective cohort studies in New Zealand.

Objectives: To define a general methodology for maximising the success of follow-up processes for retrospective cohort studies in New Zealand, and to illustrate an approach to developing country-specific follow-up methodologies.

Methods: We recently conducted a cohort study of mortality and cancer incidence in New Zealand professional fire fighters. A number of methods were used to trace vital status, including matching with records of the New Zealand Health Information Service (NZHIS), pension records of Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ), and electronic electoral rolls.

Comparison of the variables affecting the recovery of DNA from common drinking containers.

As the boundaries of forensic DNA profiling continue to expand, less obvious sources of biological evidence are being collected at crime scenes for DNA profiling. One example is the recovery of biological evidence from common drink containers, such as bottles and cans, which have been found at crime scenes. There are many variables that may have an impact on recovering a DNA profile from such exhibits.

Exposure of hospitality workers to environmental tobacco smoke.

Objective: To determine quantitatively the extent of exposure of hospitality workers to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure during the course of a work shift, and to relate these results to the customer smoking policy of the workplace.

Subjects: Three categories of non-smoking workers were recruited: (1) staff from hospitality premises (bars and restaurants) that permitted smoking by customers; (2) staff from smokefree hospitality premises; and (3) government employees in smokefree workplaces. All participants met with a member of the study team before they began work, and again at the end of their shift or work day.

Changing epidemiology of human leptospirosis in New Zealand.

The objective was to describe the current epidemiology and trends in New Zealand human leptospirosis, using descriptive epidemiology of laboratory surveillance and disease notification data, 1990-8. The annual incidence of human leptospirosis in New Zealand 1990-8 was 44 per 100,000. Incidence was highest among meat processing workers (163.

Solutions and verification of a scale-dependent dispersion model.

In this paper, analytical solutions are derived for a one-dimensional scale-dependent dispersion model (SDM), considering linear equilibrium sorption and first-order degradation for continuous and pulse contaminant sources, with a constant input concentration in a semi-infinite uniform porous medium. In the SDM model, dispersivity alpha(x) is replaced with a constant epsilon multiplied by the transport distance x. The solution for a pulse source is verified experimentally in the analysis of tritium data obtained from an 8-m-long homogenous pea-gravel column with multiple sampling locations, and the results are compared with those analysed by a commonly used solution of a constant dispersion model (CDM).

A field tracer study of attenuation of atrazine, hexazinone and procymidone in a pumice sand aquifer.

A field tracer experiment, simulating point source contamination, was conducted to investigate attenuation and transport of atrazine, hexazinone and procymidone in a volcanic pumice sand aquifer. Preliminary laboratory incubation tests were also carried out to determine degradation rates. Field transport of the pesticides was observed to the significant under non-equilibrium conditions.

Allele frequencies for the four major sub-populations of New Zealand at the 10 AMPFlSTR SGM Plus loci.

Allele frequencies for the 10 STR loci included in the AMPFlSTR SGM Plus multiplex system have been determined for the four major sub-populations of New Zealand.

Is testicular cancer an occupational disease of fire fighters?

Background: A previous investigation showed an increased risk of testicular cancer among fire fighters in Wellington City, New Zealand, during the 1980s. Other studies of fire fighters had not identified testicular cancer as an occupational disease.

Methods: This was an historical cohort study of mortality and cancer incidence in all paid New Zealand fire fighters, from 1977 to 1995.

Enumeration of Campylobacter in New Zealand recreational and drinking waters.

Aims: To use a published polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for the detection and identification of thermotolerant Campylobacter species (Camp. jejuni, Camp. coli and Camp.

The fallacy of independence testing and the use of the product rule.

Use of the product rule which implies the assumption of within and between locus independence, is still common, particularly in the United States of America. Whilst it may be considered by some to be an acceptable approximation it is not logical to suggest that independence testing somehow "validates" its use. This paper discusses the nature of this fallacy.

The cost-effectiveness of fluoridating water supplies in New Zealand.

Objective: Tooth decay has been substantially reduced in New Zealand, and the difference in caries rates between fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas has narrowed. We investigated whether it is cost-effective to fluoridate water supplies that are now non-fluoridated.

Methods: The net cost of fluoridation was based on the cost of fluoridating a water supply minus the averted costs of treating decay.

Glass on clothing and shoes of members of the general population and people suspected of breaking crimes.

The outer clothing and footwear of 122 people attending a university gymnasium and a private gymnasium were searched for fragments of glass. Both the surfaces and the pockets of the clothing and the uppers and soles of the footwear were searched. New Zealand forensic glass cases have been reviewed to determine the amount of non-matching glass present on the clothing of people who are suspected of breaking crimes.

The New Zealand DNA databank: its development and significance as a crime solving tool.

The New Zealand DNA Databank was established following the introduction of legislation in August 1996. Using the Second Generation Multiplex (SGM), DNA profiles from over 13,000 convicted offenders and volunteer donors have been completed to the National DNA Database. Since June 1998, DNA profiles from over 1,400 unsolved crimes have been entered onto the Crime Sample Database.

Estimated number of cases of foodborne infectious disease in New Zealand.

Aims: To estimate the annual number of cases of infectious intestinal disease caused by foodborne pathogens in New Zealand and estimate the impact of these diseases in terms of days lost to illness.

Methods: Incidence of foodborne diseases were derived from data from infectious disease surveillance and hospital sources, and estimates of unreported illnesses using published population based studies.

Results: The estimated number of cases of foodborne infectious disease is approximately 119 000 per year, including 19 000 general practitioner visits, 400 hospital admissions, 22 cases of long term illness and two deaths.

An improved method for STR analysis of bloodstained denim.

Indigo dye is used to dye denim and other fabrics. It is now accepted that if this is co-extracted with the DNA, it may inhibit PCR amplification. A simple, improved method is described for the extraction of DNA from bloodstained denim for PCR amplification and short tandem repeat (STR) analysis.

Applications and extensions of subpopulation theory: a caseworkers guide.

This paper extends the calculation of conditional probabilities from those given by Balding and Nichols to casework situations where a series of possible DNA types are possible. Such situations may occur when a sample is identified containing a mixture of DNA from two or more people or where extra information can be determined about the subpopulation under consideration by analysis of additional samples. Using this approach, the error in the estimated likelihood ratios is expected to reduce as the number of additional individuals typed from the subpopulation increases.

Sunlight inactivation of fecal bacteriophages and bacteria in sewage-polluted seawater.

Sunlight inactivation rates of somatic coliphages, F-specific RNA bacteriophages (F-RNA phages), and fecal coliforms were compared in seven summer and three winter survival experiments. Experiments were conducted outdoors, using 300-liter 2% (vol/vol) sewage-seawater mixtures held in open-top chambers. Dark inactivation rates (k(D)s), measured from exponential survival curves in enclosed (control) chambers, were higher in summer (temperature range: 14 to 20 degrees C) than in winter (temperature range: 8 to 10 degrees C).

Comparison of serum beta-hexosaminidase isoenzyme B activity with serum carbohydrate-deficient transferrin and other markers of alcohol abuse.

We have compared beta-hexosaminidase (beta-Hex) activity, carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) values in serum from male alcoholic patients with the corresponding values in moderate and non-drinking subjects. The total beta-Hex activity was 2.5 times higher in the alcoholics than in the moderate drinkers and this increase was mainly due to a 5-fold increase in the activity of the B-isoform of the enzyme.

Estimation of blood alcohol concentrations after social drinking.

Requests for estimates of blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) are often made when blood samples are taken some hours after the time of interest. Many believe that such estimates are not reliable because the subject's alcohol clearance rate is never known and often there is uncertainty as to whether the subject was postabsorptive at the time in question. In order to evaluate the potential errors associated with BAC estimates under these non-ideal conditions, BAC estimates were compared with empirical data obtained from 24 healthy males, ranging in age from 22 to 56 years, who took part in a three hour social drinking session.