Fatty acid esters of monochloropropanediol (MCPD) and glycidol in refined edible oils.

Recently, fatty acid esters of monochloropropanediol (MCPD) and that of glycidol have been reported in refined edible oils. Since then a wealth of research has been published on the factors influencing the formation of these contaminants in foods. It can be noted that the predominant precursors in a given matrix will not necessarily be the same as in other matrices. Further, proven relationships in the past between precursors responsible for free MCPD or free glycidol formation will not necessarily be valid for their fatty acid-esterified counterparts. This review attempts to summarise the current status of the literature as it pertains to the reasons surrounding the manifestation of MCPD esters and glycidyl esters in oils and fats. Recent efforts to mitigate the levels of these contaminants were highlighted and put into the context of their respective reaction matrices. As more accurate occurrence data for MCPD esters and glycidyl esters in other foods are collected, more targeted mitigation experiments can be formulated with respect to the reaction matrices under investigation.

Mass-defect filtering of isotope signatures to reveal the source of chlorinated palm oil contaminants.

This paper reports new insights at the molecular level into the route of a worldwide problem of the food industry: the occurrence of monochloro-propanediol (MCPD) esters. The application of mass defect-driven workflows is described to generate a hypothesis on the identity and occurrence of those thermally labile, chlorinated contaminant precursors that may act as chlorine donors during the formation of MCPD esters. For the first time, holistic mass-defect filtering of isotope signatures is used to pinpoint completely unknown and unexpected chlorine-containing substances naturally present in various extracts of palm fruit and partially and fully refined oils. Supervised multivariate analysis showed the effective classification of samples from various stages of industrial processing, suggesting that these steps strongly impact a complex and dynamic pool of chlorinated substances. In-vitro experiments confirmed that several of these naturally occurring chlorinated plant constituents decompose upon heat treatment, thus potentially being a source of chlorine for further reactions with palm oil lipids in a subsequent chlorination cascade. It is hypothesised that during oil refining the organochlorines naturally present in palm fruits act as a 'chlorine source' for the generation MCPD diesters. This discovery implies that industrial efforts targeting the mitigation of chlorinated substances must intervene at the earliest possible production stage or preferably even prior to oil processing. Current performance and limitations of mass-defect filtering are discussed and future developments are outlined.

Inhibition of receptor tyrosine kinases in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of breast cancer.

Although significant advances have been made in the treatment of breast cancer using chemotherapy, less than half of the patients treated for localized breast cancer benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy and most patients with metastatic cancer eventually develop disease that is chemotherapy resistant. Targeted agents, such as inhibitors of tyrosine kinases, offer the opportunity to reverse chemotherapy resistance and enhance response in patients with localized and advanced breast cancer. Such combined approaches have been established for the treatment of advanced breast cancer and are now demonstrating benefit in the adjuvant arena. This review summarizes the results of several trials involving the use of tyrosine kinase inhibition in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of breast cancer and discusses future directions for breast cancer biotherapy.

Effect of various discriminative stimuli on choice behavior in male siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens).

The current experiment was an exploratory study empirically comparing three discrimination methodologies proposed for use in choice preparations with food rewards. Subjects were thirty-five, healthy, adult male Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens). Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three discrimination groups: a Direction group (using left or right as discriminative stimuli), a Color group (using red or green as discriminative stimuli), and a Bubble group (using the presence or absence of air bubbles as discriminative stimuli). For all three discrimination groups, subjects chose between one or three food pellets in a submerged T-maze. The results from the experiment indicated a statistically significant preference for the three pellets of food over one pellet of food only for the Bubble group. Of particular note is the effect size and observed power obtained for the Bubble group, which was the only group which supported a reasonably powerful test for discrimination, given a sample size of 12 subjects and 0.94 effect size.

The blessing of giving: the importance of reciprocity to self-health care.

This qualitative study of reciprocity and self-health care demonstrated the importance of reciprocity in the lives of 20 elderly participants. Self-health care included actions centering around nutrition, exercise, health care monitoring, and psychospiritual activities. The importance of giving to others and the difficulty in accepting help should their functional capacity diminish create concern among our participants. Nursing interventions based on understanding reciprocity and helping caregivers create opportunities for the older person to reciprocate, despite limited physical resources, are discussed.

Nitric oxide synthase inhibitors have antidepressant-like properties in mice. 1. Acute treatments are active in the forced swim test.

Previous studies have demonstrated that antagonists at the NMDA receptor are as efficacious as tricyclic antidepressants in pre-clinical antidepressant screening procedures and in blocking or reversing the behavioral deficits associated with animal analogs of major depressive symptomatology. The NMDA receptor complex gates Ca2+, which interacts with calmodulin to subsequently activate nitric oxide (NO) synthase. We hypothesized that NO synthase antagonists might display antidepressant-like properties, similar to NMDA receptor antagonists. We examined the effects of N(G)-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA), its dextrorotatory enantiomer, D-NNA, N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) and N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) at doses from 1 to 30 mg/kg in the forced swim test in mice. We now report that NO synthase antagonists are as efficacious as imipramine (15 mg/kg) in reducing the duration of immobility in the mouse forced swim test. The effects of NO synthase antagonists, as well as those of imipramine were blocked by pre-treatment with L-arginine (L-Arg) (500 mg/kg). In contrast to imipramine, the NO synthase antagonists were without effect on locomotor activity over the dose range active in the forced swim test (3-10 mg/kg). Likewise, L-Arg was without effect on locomotor activity. These data support the hypothesis that NO synthase antagonists possess antidepressant properties and may represent a novel class of therapeutics for major depressive disorders.

The relationship of reciprocity to self health care in older women.

According to Social Exchange Theory, reciprocity in relationships is essential to functioning within the social context and is an important component in well-being as people age. Because of a potential relationship to meaning in life and hence to self health behaviors this study addressed: (1) Does reciprocity relate to self health care and (2) does reciprocity contribute to the explanation of self health care within a model including functional status, satisfaction with social support, and sense of meaning in life? Data were collected from 69 community dwelling women aged 65 to 99. Analysis indicated general health perception, support provided to others and sense of meaning in life were significant predictors of self health care.

Rural-urban women's experience of symptoms of depression related to economic hardship.

This study compares rural and urban women's experiences of depressive symptoms. Cross-sectional data were used from 623 women 55 years of age and older who were part of a randomly selected community based sample. Theoretical perspectives included individual stress and community context as explanatory factors contributing to differences in the proportion of women who identify having had the experience of symptoms of depression. Results of the analysis using correlation and multiple regression supported the importance of perceptions of financial status. Community type and age were not related to the level of depressive symptoms reported by the women who were interviewed.

Superconducting 7 T wiggler for LSU CAMD.

A superconducting 7 T wiggler is under fabrication in a collaboration between Budker INP and LSU CAMD. The wiggler magnet has been successfully tested inside a bath cryostat and a maximum field of 7.2 T was achieved after six quenches. The main parameters of the wiggler and the method of the wiggler installation onto the storage ring are discussed.

Deep X-ray lithography with a tunable wavelength shifter at CAMD.

An additional X-ray lithography facility is under construction at the Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices. It will receive radiation from a 7.5 T superconducting three-pole wavelength shifter. The critical energy of the insertion device is tunable up to a maximum value of 11.2 keV, allowing for optimization of photon spectra to resist thickness. In particular, this hard X-ray source will allow investigation of X-ray lithography at very high energies for devices with thicknesses in excess of 1 mm, and study of low-cost mass-production concepts, using simultaneously exposed stacks of resist layers.

Developing patient and family education programs for a transplant center.

Patient and family education is an important component of the organ transplant programs at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The Medical Center is in the process of planning a new transplant center which will employ the family-centered, educationally-intensive cooperative care concept. This approach was chosen as the model for the delivery of care at the Lied Transplant Center because it emphasizes efficient, effective clinical care by requiring active participation by the family or essential other, thereby better preparing both the patient and the family for the transition to home and to the community. This article presents the evolution of patient education in our transplant programs, discusses the educational needs of transplant patients across the continuum of care, provides insight into the process of planning educational programs for the new center and provides a sample module for teaching which is based on the Cooperative Care concept.

Cefotaxime twice daily versus ceftriaxone once daily. A randomized controlled study in patients with serious infections.

We randomized 365 patients with serious infections to treatment with either 2 g intravenously (IV) cefotaxime every 12 h or 2 g IV ceftriaxone once daily. Clinical response rates were similar in both treatment groups, with success defined as satisfactory or improved response in 107 of 124 (86.3%) evaluable patients in the cefotaxime group compared with 103 of 114 (90.4%) evaluable patients in the ceftriaxone group. Bacteriologic cure rates were also similar in the two groups (86.4%) in the cefotaxime group compared with 87.0% in the ceftriaxone group). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of drug-related adverse events in the two groups. These results indicate that 2 g cefotaxime twice daily is as effective, both clinically and bacteriologically, as 2 g ceftriaxone once daily in serious infections caused by susceptible pathogens.

Results of a nationwide Veterans Administration Cooperative Study comparing the efficacy and toxicity of carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, and primidone.

In 1985 a 5-year multicenter Veterans Administration Cooperative Study was completed that compared the efficacy and toxicity of phenobarbital, carbamazepine, phenytoin, and primidone in a double-blind prospective study design. A total of 622 patients, either previously untreated or undertreated, were entered into the study. Strict exclusion criteria limited confounding factors such as drug or alcohol abuse. Results showed that each of the four drugs used as monotherapy were similarly effective in the treatment of generalized tonic clonic seizures, but carbamazepine was significantly more effective in the treatment of complex partial seizures as measured by 100% control. When the results for all four drugs were combined, the data showed that approximately 80% of the patients were adequately managed on monotherapy. Differences in toxicity were the most significant factor that discriminated between these four drugs. Both carbamazepine and phenytoin were associated with significantly lower incidences of intolerable side effects than were primidone or phenobarbital. A behavioral toxicity battery was performed whenever possible prior to administration of any antiepileptic drug and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after initiation of monotherapy. Significant differences in performance on all subtests of the battery were found between patients with epilepsy and a control group matched by age, sex, and education. When the differential effects of all four drugs on behavioral toxicity were compared, few statistically significant differences emerged. However, carbamazepine consistently produced fewer adverse effects on tests of attention/concentration and motor performance than did the other three antiepileptic drugs.

Behavioral characteristics of epilepsy patients compared with normal controls.

Using neuropsychological testing procedures, we measured the behavioral characteristics of patients with epilepsy unaffected by anticonvulsant drugs and compared these results with control subjects matched for age, sex, and education. In a nationwide VA Cooperative study, 622 patients with well-defined seizure types were given a selected battery of neuropsychological tests prior to and at 1 month after initiation of drug therapy. Seventy-four control subjects were administered the same test battery under standardized conditions at the same VA testing centers. All tests of controls were also repeated 1 month later. The patients with epilepsy scored significantly and consistently below the level of the control subjects on all but three behavioral measures. Differences reaching statistical significance were found on tests of motor function (Finger Tapping, Pegboard, Color Naming), cognitive-attention (Digit Symbol, Discriminative Reaction Time, Word Fluency), and subtests of the Profile of Mood Status (tension, depression, vigor, and confusion). These data provide a profile of behavioral characteristics of unmedicated patients with epilepsy.

Production of vinylidene chloride from the thermal decomposition of methyl chloroform.

This study investigated the extent to which methyl chloroform undergoes thermal decomposition to form vinylidene chloride. The experiment was conducted under laboratory conditions that approximate those found in industrial environments. Methyl chloroform vapors at approximately the TLV concentration of 1910 mg/m3 were passed through a heated quartz tube packed with glass or copper beads. In the presence of glass, the decomposition reaction began at 350 degrees C and was essentially complete at 605 degrees C. Vinylidene chloride was detected in nearly stoichiometric amounts. In the presence of copper, the reaction occurred initially at 180 degrees C. At 442 degrees C no methyl chloroform was detected. Once again, the conversion to vinylidene chloride was nearly complete. Two major conclusions have been derived from this study. First, under these experimental conditions, methyl chloroform undergoes thermal decomposition to yield substantial quantities of vinylidene chloride. Second, the dehydrohalogenation reaction proceeds at much lower temperatures in the presence of copper.

The accreditation of academic programs in industrial hygiene.

The American Academy of Industrial Hygiene has initiated a program to accredit academic programs in industrial hygiene. Guidelines, criteria, and procedures to be employed by the Accreditation Committee are summarized, along with a status report of activities currently underway.

The patient's approach to wellness.

The patient's own approach to wellness is receiving increasing attention as the potential for self-responsibility in assuming wellness behaviors is recognized as one, if not the most, significant factor determining health status. Shifts in patterns of illness and potential for illness intervention are acknowledged as central in moving the focus from illness to wellness. Recognition of the deleterious impact of lifestyle and existing behaviors has raised awareness of the need to promote change in wellness behaviors and mechanisms. The scope and quality of information becoming available related to health promotion is bewildering and often contradictory. Information becomes available daily on nutrition, exercise, stress and relaxation, relatedness and support systems, and consciousness and spirituality . Desires and motivations are complex, combining a wish to perpetuate an affluent lifestyle with recognition that depletion of resources and environmental contaminations are risks to the well-being of individuals and society. Nurses, as well as other health care providers, are concerned with health promotion. We need to view our arena realistically and with full cognizance of balancing reasonable caution in scrutinizing new information with openness to ideas that will expand both the potential for wellness and our potential to contribute to health promotion. We practice in a quagmire of uncertainty, unsubstantiated truths, and demands for assurances and answers. We are asked to provide quality care and to perform responsibly in a cost-effective manner. We are pressured for pragmatics . We need to recognize our urge to capitulate to demands. Since historically we are a caring, responsive practice, we can be trapped into "false assurance." While recognizing appropriate limitations in providing assurances, it is possible to offer assistance in ferreting out information and understanding the degree of confidence with which it can be viewed and to support increasing autonomy. Educational programs can be used in conjunction with relationship skills in enhancing health care, the recipient's adoption of wellness behaviors that promote health.

Occupational and environmental health problems of the developing oil shale industry: a review.

The American oil shale industry is on the threshold of commercial industrial development. Potential occupational hazards include shalosis or oil shale pneumoconiosis, dermatoses, cancer of the skin, lung, and possibly other sites, and accidents. Air, water, and solid waste pollution problems are complicated by the aridity of the Green River oil shale formation located in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. The region currently lacks the schools, health facilities, community services, and skilled labor required for large-scale development. The oil shale industry faces an opportunity and a challenge of prudently assessing and controlling exposures and contributing to the social development of the region.