Background: The association between smoking and asthma or wheeze has been extensively studied in cross sectional studies, but evidence from large prospective cohort studies on the incidence of asthma ...during adolescence is scarce. Methods: We report data from a cohort study in two German cities, Dresden and Munich. The study population (n = 2936) was first studied in 1995/6 at age 9–11 years as part of phase II of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC II) and followed up in 2002/3. At baseline the parents completed a questionnaire and children underwent clinical examination and blood sampling. At follow up the young adults completed questionnaires on respiratory health, living, and exposure conditions. Incidence risk ratios (IRR) were calculated and adjusted for potential confounders using a modified Poisson regression approach. Results: The adjusted IRR for incident wheeze for active smokers compared with non-smokers was 2.30 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.88 to 2.82). The adjusted IRR was slightly higher for incident wheeze without a cold (2.76, 95% CI 1.99 to 3.84) and the incidence of diagnosed asthma (2.56, 95% CI 1.55 to 4.21). Analysis of duration and intensity of active smoking indicated dose dependent associations. Stratified analyses showed that the risk of incident wheeze without a cold in atopic smokers increased with decreasing plasma α1-antitrypsin levels at baseline (1.64, 95% CI 1.22 to 2.20 per interquartile range). Conclusions: Active smoking is an important risk factor for the incidence of asthma during adolescence. Relatively lower plasma levels of α1-antitrypsin, although well above currently accepted thresholds, may increase susceptibility to respiratory disease among atopic smokers.
Presented are results of a research on a possibility to use innovative microwave heating for thermal neutralisation of asbestos-containing wastes. In comparison to traditional heating, the innovative ...process is characterised by up to a hundred times reduced energy consumption and two hundred times shorter processing time. Parameters of effective disposal, i.e. microwave radiation power and heating time, as well as kind and quantity of the wetting agent necessary in the microwave heating process that intensifies the process and ensures uniform heat distribution in the heated charges, were determined for five most commonly used products containing various fractions of asbestos fibres. It was demonstrated that the presented innovative and eco-minded technology of disposing asbestos-containing materials is a quick, cheap, economical and effective solution guaranteeing complete degradation of the hazardous fibres.
Background: An increasing number of studies report pet exposure to be associated with lower risk of asthma and allergies. This ‘protective pet effect’ has been suggested to result from a modified ...T‐helper (Th)2‐cell response, or because of increased microbial load in homes where pets are kept. We examined the associations between pet contact and the occurrence of asthma and allergies in children of the rural Allergy and Endotoxin (ALEX) population, taking farm animal contact, endotoxin and cat allergen levels in mattress dust into account.
Methods: Information about contact with pets and farm animals, asthma and allergy were collected for 812 children by a standardized parents’ questionnaire and an interview. Mattress dust endotoxin and cat allergen levels as well as specific IgE and IgG4 antibodies to Fel d1 were determined.
Results: Current contact with dogs was inversely associated with diagnosed hay fever (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.11–0.57), diagnosed asthma (OR 0.29, 95% CI 0.12–0.71), sensitization to cat allergen (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.23–0.99) and to grass pollen (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.33–0.94), but not with increased IgG4 levels. Early and current contact with cats were associated with reduced risk of wheezing (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.23–1.00, and OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.26–0.92, respectively) and grass pollen sensitization. Adjustment for farm animal contact but not for endotoxin and cat allergen exposure attenuated these associations and the effect of pet was stronger among farmers’ children.
Conclusion: Although pet exposure was very frequent in this rural population, the inverse relation between current dog contact, asthma and allergy was mostly explained by simultaneously occurring exposure to stable animals or was restricted to farm children. In addition, a subtle form of pet avoidance may contribute to the protective effect of pet.
Background: A presentation of all aspects of the dorsolateral medulla oblongata syndrome is clinically very rare to find. In most cases patients present with fragmentary symptoms, e.g. ipsilateral ...axial lateropulsion, nystagmus, dysarthria, dysphagia or hemiataxia. However, the clinical presentation and lesion anatomy at the level of the medulla oblongata is still unsatisfactory. The aim of this study was to correlate the functional deficit with structural MRI‐data.
Methods: We included thirteen patients (eight male, five female, mean age 65.5) with medulla oblongata infarction with clinically predominant ipsilateral axial lateropulsion and correlated clinical with structural deficits.
Results: Magnetic resonance imaging lesion mapping demonstrated ipsilateral axial lateropulsion to result from lesions of the spinocerebellar tract, the inferior cerebellar peduncle or the inferior vestibular nucleus. Nystagmus was associated with lesions of the inferior vestibular nucleus, dissociated sensory loss with the spinothalamic tract and hemiataxia with the spinocerebellar tract.
Conclusions: Correlating dysfunction and lesion anatomy is a promising approach to enhance our knowledge on medulla oblongata topography.
Social-medical expert reports from the German statutory pension insurance are essential for the German statutory pension regulatory authority to decide whether to grant services regarding ...participation as well as retirement pensions due to incapacity to work.The objective of this investigation is to determine whether the ICF Core Sets and other international approaches, such as the EUMASS Core Sets or ICF Core Set for vocational rehabilitation cover the content of the social-medical expert reports as well as to propose an approach how the ICF can be economically used by the social medicine practitioner when writing a social-medical expert report.
A retrospective quantitative study design was used to translate a total of 294 social-medical expert reports from patients with low back pain (LBP) or chronic widespread pain (CWP) into the language of the ICF (linking) by 2 independent health professionals and compare the results with the ICF Core Sets for specific health conditions and other international approaches.
The content of social-medical expert reports was largely reflected by the condition specific brief ICF Core Sets, brief ICF Core Sets for vocational rehabilitation and EUMASS Core Sets. The weighted Kappa statistic for the agreement between the 2 health professionals who translated the expert reports were in CWP 0.69 with a bootstrapped confidence interval of 0.67-0.71 and in LBP 0.73 (0.71-0.74).
The analyses show that the content of social-medical expert reports varies enormously. A combination of a condition specific brief ICF Core Set as well as vocational rehabilitation and EUMASS ICF Core Sets as well as all ICF-categories from the expert reports that were named at least in 50% of it can largely provide a basis for preparing expert reports. Within the scope of implementation the need for a specific ICF Core Set for expert reports of the German statutory pension insurance should be further analyzed and discussed.
Summary
Background
Lower frequencies of asthma and hayfever have been observed in children with contact to livestock. At school age, the amount of endotoxin measured in the dust of children's ...mattresses is inversely related to the occurrence of atopic asthma, hayfever and atopic sensitization both in children from farming and non‐farming households.
Objective
The aim of the present study was to investigate which home and lifestyle characteristics of farm and non‐farm families contribute to endotoxin levels measured in different indoor home environments.
Methods
In the framework of the Allergy and Endotoxin (ALEX) Study, endotoxin was measured in dust samples from the living room floor and the child's mattress of 319 farmers' families and 493 non‐farming families, and in settled dust from stables. Endotoxin content of all dust samples was determined by a kinetic Limulus assay (Limulus‐Amebocyte‐Lysate test). Information about the child's activities on farms, home characteristics and cleaning behaviours was obtained from parental questionnaires.
Results
Endotoxin levels in stables did not predict the amount of endotoxin measured in floors or mattresses. However, a dose‐dependent association between the child's activity on the farm and indoor home endotoxin levels was observed, both in farm and non‐farm children. In non‐farm children pet keeping and the frequency of floor cleaning were additionally associated with endotoxin levels, whereas in farm children parental farm activities, study area, time since last cleaning, the mattress type as well as younger age of the children contributed to increased microbial exposure.
Conclusion
These results demonstrate that regular contact to farm animals increases indoor home endotoxin concentrations, both in farm and non‐farm children, and might thus explain the protective effect of contact to livestock on atopic outcomes. To assess children's individual exposure to a microbial environment, measures of mattress dust exposure are needed as stable endotoxin concentrations were not associated with indoor home levels.
A measurement of beam-helicity asymmetries for single-hadron production in deep-inelastic scattering is presented. Data from the scattering of 27.6 GeV electrons and positrons off gaseous hydrogen ...and deuterium targets were collected by the HERMES experiment. The asymmetries are presented separately as a function of the Bjorken scaling variable, the hadron transverse momentum, and the fractional energy for charged pions and kaons as well as for protons and anti-protons. These asymmetries are also presented as a function of the three aforementioned kinematic variables simultaneously.
Summary
Several intracytoplasmic morphological changes in the plasma cells of multiple myeloma have been described previously. However, Auer rod‐like inclusions are rarely found in these types of ...cells. Here, we report a case of multiple myeloma with Auer rod‐like, needle‐shaped intracytoplasmic inclusions in plasma cells. A review of all published cases revealed that this phenomenon is exclusively found in myeloma with kappa‐type paraprotein. The nature of these intracellular inclusions and the relationship to prognostic implications and concomitant illnesses are discussed.
Purpose
Overexpression of
transketolase
-
like gene 1
(
TKTL1
) on RNA and protein level has been linked to tumour progression, metastasis and unfavourable patient outcome in many solid tumours. ...Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) cells show metabolic characteristics resembling deviations observed in TKTL1 overexpressing solid tumour cells. We therefore sought to evaluate
TKTL1
gene expression in different phases of CML.
Methods
A total of 120 peripheral blood samples from 69 patients in various phases of CML and 21 healthy individuals were investigated.
TKTL1
expression levels were determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction using LightCycler™ technology and normalised against beta-glucuronidase expression.
Results
A significantly lower
TKTL1
expression was found in chronic phase (CP) CML patients compared to healthy controls. Lowest expression levels were observed in patients during blast crisis (BC). Baseline
TKTL1
expression in CP patients did not have value in prognostication of subsequent favourable or dismal outcome. Further, more mature granulocytes showed significantly higher
TKTL1
expression compared to immature CD34+ and CD34−/CD33+ cells both in healthy controls and in CML patients.
Conclusion
TKTL1
expression levels appear to decline in the course of CML with lowest levels during BC. A potential reason is a shift of
TKTL1
-high-expressing mature granulocytes towards
TKTL1
-low-expressing immature cells and blasts.
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