The International Air Cargo Industry: A Modal Analysisprovides an objective "snapshot" of this fascinating industry from the perspective of those who conduct academic research into its expansion and ...consolidation covering three broad economic areas: costs, demand, and development.
From the mid‐1950s, it was observed that liver injury by a variety of toxins greatly sensitized the host to the effects of administered lipopolysaccharide. In the nutritional cirrhosis of choline ...deficiency, and in acute toxic injury as well, the need for the presence of enteric endotoxin was demonstrated. The universality of this association was striking for almost all agents associated with liver injury. In addition, the presence of endotoxemia in human liver disease was documented in the 1970s, when the hypothesis was first proposed, and correlated with the severity of the disease. Despite imposing evidence of the critical role of enteric endotoxin in liver injury, it did not excite much interest in investigators until the 1980s. With the ability to study effects of alcohol in newer delivery systems, and an increased understanding of the role of Kupffer cells in the process, the original hypothesis has been accepted. This historical review details the progress of this novel concept of disease initiation and suggests future directions to bring potential therapies to the bedside. (HEPATOLOGY 2010.)
The human gut contains a vast array of viruses, mostly bacteriophages. The majority remain uncharacterized, and their roles in shaping the gut microbiome and in impacting on human health remain ...poorly understood. We performed longitudinal metagenomic analysis of fecal viruses in healthy adults that reveal high temporal stability, individual specificity, and correlation with the bacterial microbiome. Using a database-independent approach that uses most of the sequencing data, we uncovered the existence of a stable, numerically predominant individual-specific persistent personal virome. Clustering of viral genomes and de novo taxonomic annotation identified several groups of crAss-like and Microviridae bacteriophages as the most stable colonizers of the human gut. CRISPR-based host prediction highlighted connections between these stable viral communities and highly predominant gut bacterial taxa such as Bacteroides, Prevotella, and Faecalibacterium. This study provides insights into the structure of the human gut virome and serves as an important baseline for hypothesis-driven research.
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•The human gut virome is highly individual and stable for up to 1 year•A stable and predominant fraction of viruses constitutes a persistent personal virome•Persistent bacteriophages can be linked to highly predominant gut bacterial taxa•Virulent crAss-like and Microviridae bacteriophages predominate and persist in the gut
Shkoporov et al. demonstrate high individual specificity and temporal stability of the human gut virome. They describe a numerically prevalent and persisting fraction of the viral community, termed persistent personal virome (PPV). The PPV consists mainly of virulent bacteriophages predicted to target major taxonomic groups of gut bacteria.
Household cleaning products may be a significant source of chemical exposures, including carcinogens and suspected endocrine disruptors.
We characterized exposures during routine household cleaning ...and tested an intervention to reduce exposures to cleaning product chemicals.
The Lifting Up Communities with Interventions and Research (LUCIR) Study is a youth-led, community-based intervention project. Youth researchers conducted personal air monitoring with 50 Latina women while they cleaned their homes with their regular cleaning products (preintervention visit) and then 1 week later while they used "green" cleaning products provided by the study (postintervention visit). Air samples were analyzed for volatile and semivolatile organic compounds using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography. We compared pre- and postintervention air concentrations of 47 chemicals of concern, selected because they were on California's Proposition 65 list of carcinogens or reproductive/developmental toxicants or were suspected endocrine disruptors. Youth researchers were integrally involved in the study design, data collection, interpretation, and dissemination of findings.
We observed statistically significant decreases in air concentrations of 17 chemicals of concern when participants switched to green cleaning products, including decreases in geometric mean concentrations of 1,4-dioxane (
), chloroform (
), benzene (
), naphthalene (
), toluene (
), and hexane (
). We observed significant increases in air concentrations of three fragrance compounds: the plant-derived terpene, beta-myrcene (221.5%), and the synthetic musks celestolide (31.0%) and galaxolide (79.6%). Almost all participants (98%) said the replacement products worked as well as their original products, and 90% said that they would consider buying the replacement products in the future.
This study demonstrates that choosing cleaning products that are marketed as green may reduce exposure to several carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. Future studies should determine whether use of unscented green products would further reduce exposure to terpenes and musks. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP8831.
This book condenses the important lessons learned at key points during the author's 30-year career as an intergovernmental conference interpreter and trainer, seeking to define what constitutes good ...interpreting and how to develop the skills and abilities that are conducive to it, as well as fostering practices and technologies that help to maintain high professional standards. The book places interpreting in its historical context as a time- honoured discipline and discusses the effect of modern technology on translating and interpreting, identifying areas where it is most useful (electronic communications media, broadcasting) while stressing that professionaleducation and training of linguists are more important than reliance on technological shortcuts. The book is an invaluable resource to all those working or training in conference interpreting, as well as being a stimulating read for those engaged in the wider work of interpreting.
A wide variety of problem-solving courts have been developed in the United States over the past two decades and are now being adopted in countries around the world. These innovative courts--including ...drug courts, community courts, domestic violence courts, and mental health courts--do not simply adjudicate offenders. Rather, they attempt to solve the problems underlying such criminal behaviors as petty theft, prostitution, and drug offenses. Legal Accents, Legal Borrowing is a study of the international problem-solving court movement and the first comparative analysis of the development of these courts in the United States and the other countries where the movement is most advanced: England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, and Australia.
Personal exposure to pesticides has not been well characterized, especially among adolescents. We used silicone wristbands to assess pesticide exposure in 14 to 16 year old Latina girls (N = 97) ...living in the agricultural Salinas Valley, California, USA and enrolled in the COSECHA (CHAMACOS of Salinas Examining Chemicals in Homes and Agriculture) Study, a youth participatory action study in an agricultural region of California. We determined pesticide concentrations (ng/g/day) in silicone wristbands worn for one week using gas chromatography electron capture detection and employed gas chromatography mass spectrometry to determine the presence or absence of over 1500 chemicals. Predictors of pesticide detections and concentrations were identified using logistic regression, Wilcoxon rank sum tests, and Tobit regression models. The most frequently detected pesticides in wristbands were fipronil sulfide (87%), cypermethrin (56%), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) (56%), dacthal (53%), and trans-permethrin (52%). Living within 100 m of active agricultural fields, having carpeting in the home, and having an exterminator treat the home in the past six months were associated with higher odds of detecting certain pesticides. Permethrin concentrations were lower for participants who cleaned their homes daily (GM: 1.9 vs. 6.8 ng/g/day, p = 0.01). In multivariable regression models, participants with doormats in the entryway of their home had lower concentrations (p < 0.05) of cypermethrin (87%), permethrin (99%), fipronil sulfide (69%) and DDE (75%). The results suggest that both nearby agricultural pesticide use and individual behaviors are associated with pesticide exposures.
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•Multiple pesticides were detected in silicone personal monitoring wristbands.•Dacthal and permethrin concentrations were 3× higher among girls living near fields.•Pesticide levels were higher if pesticides had been used or stored in the home.•Levels were lower among girls with homes that had door mats or were cleaned daily.
An unflinching examination of the moral and professional
dilemmas faced by physicians who took part in the Manhattan
Project. After his father died, James L. Nolan, Jr., took
possession of a box of ...private family materials. To his surprise,
the small secret archive contained a treasure trove of information
about his grandfather's role as a doctor in the Manhattan Project.
Dr. Nolan, it turned out, had been a significant figure. A talented
ob-gyn radiologist, he cared for the scientists on the project,
organized safety and evacuation plans for the Trinity test at
Alamogordo, escorted the "Little Boy" bomb from Los Alamos to the
Pacific Islands, and was one of the first Americans to enter the
irradiated ruins of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Participation on the
project challenged Dr. Nolan's instincts as a healer. He and his
medical colleagues were often conflicted, torn between their duty
and desire to win the war and their oaths to protect life.
Atomic Doctors follows these physicians as they sought to
maximize the health and safety of those exposed to nuclear
radiation, all the while serving leaders determined to minimize
delays and maintain secrecy. Called upon both to guard against the
harmful effects of radiation and to downplay its hazards, doctors
struggled with the ethics of ending the deadliest of all wars using
the most lethal of all weapons. Their work became a very human
drama of ideals, co-optation, and complicity. A vital and vivid
account of a largely unknown chapter in atomic history, Atomic
Doctors is a profound meditation on the moral dilemmas that
ordinary people face in extraordinary times.
The use of household cleaning products can result in exposure to potentially hazardous volatile and semi‐volatile organic compounds (VOCs and SVOCs). “Green” cleaning products have become ...increasingly available, but there is no official “green” standard, and it is difficult for consumers to know what chemicals they may be exposed to while cleaning. We measured air concentrations of 46 VOCs and SVOCs of concern released from conventional and “green” cleaning products during both real‐world household cleaning and a controlled chamber environment, with a focus on chemicals that might increase women's risk of breast cancer, including possible carcinogens, reproductive/developmental toxicants, or endocrine disruptors. Air samples were analyzed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and high‐performance liquid chromatography. First, in a study of 50 women cleaning their own homes using either conventional or “green” cleaning products, we recorded the products used and collected air samples from the breathing zone to determine whether specific products or types of products were associated with increased concentrations of specific VOCs and SVOCs. The results showed that women who used conventional bleach products, disinfecting wipes, and dish soap had higher breathing zone air concentrations of several VOCs, including chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, hexaldahyde, and 1,4‐dioxane, than women who did not use these products. While fewer “green” products were associated with increases in VOC air concentrations, use of “green” all‐purpose cleaners was associated with increases in air concentrations of some fragrance chemicals of concern. In the laboratory, we then selected 9 of the most common conventional products and 7 “green” products used in the in‐home study for measurement of the same VOCs using a continuous stirred cylindrical flow‐through chamber. We found that 75% of the highest VOC emissions were emitted by conventional cleaning products, but we also identified VOC emissions of concern from green products. VOC emissions in the chamber largely agreed with the modeled associations from real‐world cleaning.
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