Nail salon technicians face chronic exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can lead to adverse health outcomes including cancer. In this study, indoor levels of formaldehyde, as well as ...benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene, were measured in 6 Colorado nail salons. Personal exposure VOC measurements and health questionnaires (n = 20) were also performed; questionnaires included employee demographics, health symptoms experienced, and protective equipment used. Cancer slope factors from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and anthropometric data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were then used to estimate cancer risk for workers, assuming 20-yr exposures to concentrations of benzene and formaldehyde reported here. Results show that 70% of surveyed workers experienced at least one health issue related to their employment, with many reporting multiple related symptoms. Indoor concentrations of formaldehyde ranged from 5.32 to 20.6 μg m−3, across all 6 salons. Indoor concentrations of toluene ranged from 26.7 to 816 μg m−3, followed by benzene (3.13–51.8 μg m−3), xylenes (5.16–34.6 μg m−3), and ethylbenzene (1.65–9.52 μg m−3). Formaldehyde levels measured in one salon exceeded the Recommended Exposure Limit from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Cancer risk estimates from formaldehyde exposure exceeded the US EPA de minimis risk level (1 × 10−6) for squamous cell carcinoma, nasopharyngeal cancer, Hodgkin's lymphoma, and leukemia; leukemia risk exceeded 1 × 10−4 in one salon. The average leukemia risk from benzene exposure also exceeded the US EPA de minimis risk level for all demographic categories modeled. In general, concentrations of aromatic compounds measured here were comparable to those measured in studies of oil refinery and auto garage workers. Cancer risk models determined that 20-yr exposure to formaldehyde and benzene concentrations measured in this study will significantly increase worker's risk of developing cancer in their lifetime.
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•VOCs in nail salons exceeded odor thresholds and inhalation reference concentrations.•BTEX levels in nail salons were similar to those in oil refineries and auto garages.•Most nail salon workers reported health issues related to their employment.•Nail technicians who work more than 20 years may experience increased cancer risk.
VOCs measured in this study exceeded odor thresholds and NIOSH exposure limits, and 20-yr exposure to formaldehyde and benzene levels measured here will increase risk of cancer.
Les sciences humaines et sociales ont-elles besoin d’une méthodologie stricte et rigoureuse pour prétendre à l’objectivité ? Dans Vérité et méthode, Gadamer propose de fonder les sciences humaines ...autrement que par le modèle méthodique fourni par les sciences de la nature, qui s’impose depuis le xviie siècle comme le seul modèle menant à la vérité. Pour Gadamer, les sciences humaines peuvent être mieux comprises à partir de leur terre d’origine, l’humanisme, qui est une tradition aujourd’hui largement oubliée. Cet article propose de redécouvrir la tradition humaniste pour comprendre l’apport de la sociologie et des autres sciences humaines, et tâchera de montrer en quoi l’idéal de formation et de sagesse mis en avant chez Gadamer permet de repenser l’attitude du sociologue vis-à-vis de son objet d’étude, soit le monde humain et social auquel il appartient et qui toujours déjà le saisit.
Gene-disruptive mutations contribute to the biology of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), but most of the related pathogenic genes are not known. We sequenced 208 candidate genes from >11,730 cases ...and >2,867 controls. We identified 91 genes, including 38 new NDD genes, with an excess of de novo mutations or private disruptive mutations in 5.7% of cases. Drosophila functional assays revealed a subset with increased involvement in NDDs. We identified 25 genes showing a bias for autism versus intellectual disability and highlighted a network associated with high-functioning autism (full-scale IQ >100). Clinical follow-up for NAA15, KMT5B, and ASH1L highlighted new syndromic and nonsyndromic forms of disease.
We sought to evaluate sociodemographic disparities in insurance coverage among nonelderly adults with a common cancer after Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation.
In total, 109,182 patients aged ...18 to 64 years diagnosed with a common cancer (lung, breast, or prostate cancer) were identified from 2010 to 2014. Multivariable logistic regressions analyzed associations between ACA implementation and uninsured rates on the basis of state approach to Medicaid expansion, stratified by race (black, white), and income (stratified at 138% Federal Poverty Line).
Uninsured rates declined after ACA implementation, with the greatest rate reductions associated with traditional Medicaid expansion (Pinteraction <0.001). Racial disparities in insurance coverage were eliminated with traditional Medicaid expansion where the uninsured rate went from 10.0% to 0.95% among black patients (adjusted odds ratio AORpre-aca 1.52 to AORpost-aca 0.47) but persisted with other state approaches (AORpre-aca 1.15 to AORpost-aca 1.12) (Pinteraction =0.002). Furthermore, socioeconomic coverage gaps were eliminated with traditional Medicaid expansion, where the uninsured rate went from 8.4% to 1.4% among low-income (≤138% Federal Poverty Line) patients, but not with other state approaches (Pinteraction <0.001).
Traditional Medicaid expansion was associated with the elimination of racial and socioeconomic insurance coverage gaps. These results highlight the potential benefits and challenges of the ACA and its provisions, and could instruct ongoing policy.
Automatically identifying chemical and drug names in scientific publications advances information access for this important class of entities in a variety of biomedical disciplines by enabling ...improved retrieval and linkage to related concepts. While current methods for tagging chemical entities were developed for the article title and abstract, their performance in the full article text is substantially lower. However, the full text frequently contains more detailed chemical information, such as the properties of chemical compounds, their biological effects and interactions with diseases, genes and other chemicals. We therefore present the NLM-Chem corpus, a full-text resource to support the development and evaluation of automated chemical entity taggers. The NLM-Chem corpus consists of 150 full-text articles, doubly annotated by ten expert NLM indexers, with ~5000 unique chemical name annotations, mapped to ~2000 MeSH identifiers. We also describe a substantially improved chemical entity tagger, with automated annotations for all of PubMed and PMC freely accessible through the PubTator web-based interface and API. The NLM-Chem corpus is freely available.
Asian Americans (AsA), Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (NHPI) comprise 7.7% of the U.S. population, and AsA have had the fastest growth rate since 2010. Yet the National Institutes of Health ...(NIH) has invested only 0.17% of its budget on AsA and NHPI research between 1992 and 2018. More than 40 ethnic subgroups are included within AsA and NHPI (with no majority subpopulation), which are highly diverse culturally, demographically, linguistically, and socioeconomically. However, data for these groups are often aggregated, masking critical health disparities and their drivers. To address these issues, in March 2021, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, in partnership with 8 other NIH institutes, convened a multidisciplinary workshop to review current research, knowledge gaps, opportunities, barriers, and approaches for prevention research for AsA and NHPI populations. The workshop covered 5 domains: 1) sociocultural, environmental, psychological health, and lifestyle dimensions; 2) metabolic disorders; 3) cardiovascular and lung diseases; 4) cancer; and 5) cognitive function and healthy aging. Two recurring themes emerged: Very limited data on the epidemiology, risk factors, and outcomes for most conditions are available, and most existing data are not disaggregated by subgroup, masking variation in risk factors, disease occurrence, and trajectories. Leveraging the vast phenotypic differences among AsA and NHPI groups was identified as a key opportunity to yield novel clues into etiologic and prognostic factors to inform prevention efforts and intervention strategies. Promising approaches for future research include developing collaborations with community partners, investing in infrastructure support for cohort studies, enhancing existing data sources to enable data disaggregation, and incorporating novel technology for objective measurement. Research on AsA and NHPI subgroups is urgently needed to eliminate disparities and promote health equity in these populations.
Background Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is an uncommon dermatosis with a limited evidence base for treatment. Objective We sought to estimate the effectiveness of topical therapies in the treatment of ...patients with PG. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of UK secondary care patients with a clinical diagnosis of PG that was suitable for topical treatment (recruited between July 2009 and June 2012). Participants received topical therapy after normal clinical practice (primarily topical corticosteroids classes I-III and tacrolimus 0.03% or 0.1%). The primary outcome was speed of healing at 6 weeks. Secondary outcomes included the following: proportion healed by 6 months; time to healing; global assessment; inflammation; pain; quality of life; treatment failure; and recurrence. Results Sixty-six patients (22-85 years of age) were enrolled. Clobetasol propionate 0.05% was the most commonly prescribed therapy. Overall, 28 of 66 (43.8%) ulcers healed by 6 months. The median time to healing was 145 days (95% confidence interval, 96 days to ∞). Initial ulcer size was a significant predictor of time to healing (hazard ratio, 0.94 95% confidence interval, 0.88-1.00); P = .043). Four patients (15%) had a recurrence. Limitations Our study did not include a randomized comparator. Conclusion Topical therapy is potentially an effective first-line treatment for PG that avoids the possible side effects associated with systemic therapy. It remains unclear whether more severe disease will respond adequately to topical therapy alone.
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