Toxicological impact of organic ultrafine particles (UFPs) in human bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells at air-liquid interface.

Air pollution has significant health effects worldwide, and airborne particles play a significant role in these effects. Ultrafine particles (UFPs) have an aerodynamic diameter of 0.1 µm or less, can penetrate deep into the respiratory tree, and are more toxic due to their large specific surface area, which should adsorb organic compounds. The aim of this study is to show the toxicological effects of UFPs with high organic content at low dose on BEAS-2B cells through at air-liquid interface (ALI) exposure using a Vitrocell® technology and a miniCAST (Combustion Aerosol Standard) generator. In conjunction with this approach, chemical analysis of particles and gas phase was performed to evaluate the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Chemical analyses confirmed the presence of PAHs in UFPs. With this experimental setup, exposure of the BEAS-2B cells induced neither cytotoxicity nor mitochondrial dysfunction. However, an increase of oxidative stress was observed, as assessed through Nrf2, NQO1, HO-1, CuZnSOD, MnSOD, and Catalase gene expression, together with significant induction of genes related to xenobiotic metabolism CYP1A1 and CYP1B1. Negative regulation of inflammatory genes expression (IL-6 and IL-8) was present three hours after the exposition to the UFPs. Taken together, this experimental approach, using repeatable conditions, should help to clarify the mechanisms by which organic UFPs induce toxicological effects.

What makes Argentinian girls unhappy? A cross-cultural contribution to understanding gender differences in depressed mood during adolescence.

The aim of this work is to provide a cross-cultural contribution to the study of gender differences in adolescent mood by providing the results of a random sample of 165 Argentinian boys and girls studied longitudinally by means of a survey at 13-14, 15-16 and 17-18 years old. Using Rosenberg's Depressive Affect Scale, the gender difference, larger than that of many first-world samples, is significant at 15-16 and the gap increases at 17-18. It is already present at 13 in another sample in which Kovacs' Child Depression Inventory was applied. Girls reporting high family warmth, high self-esteem, low anxiety and who do not choose a friend as the most admired person at 13-14 have a better mood on average through adolescence while high self-esteem and weight satisfaction at 13-14 exerts this kind of effect in boys. A buffering effect of self-esteem on levels of girls' dysphoria was also demonstrated.

Latins, Catholics and from the far south: Argentinian adolescents and their parents.

This paper examines the answers given by a random sample of 341 15- to 19-year old Argentinian adolescents, both male and female, in the 10th and 12th grades of high school in Paraná, to questions focusing on their relationship with their parents and formed part of a comprehensive survey on various aspects of their socio-emotional development. Despite the fact that the individuals belong to a different geographical and cultural environment, the findings coincide with those from countries such as the U.S.A., Great Britain, Spain and Australia. Parents are the most important persons in the teenagers' emotional life; they are still identification models for them and neither their friends, partners nor other adults displace them from their central position. The bond is perceived as positive and the satisfaction rests on the support they give. There are disagreement areas hinging on issues such as school performance, time-table for outings, and overcontrol, but there is agreement on moral, religious and political values. Several statistically significant differences in the answers provided by both genders and in the perception of the maternal and paternal roles were found.

[Anticentromere antibodies and lung disease without skin involvement]. / Anticuerpos anticentrómero y enfermedad pulmonar sin manifestaciones cutáneas.

Anticentromere antibodies are closely related to systemic sclerosis and basically to limited cutaneous form. Two patients with different forms of lung disease, positive anticentromere antibodies and absence of the characteristic skin involvement of the systemic sclerosis are presented.

The association of tooth lead content with dental health factors.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships of lead content in the human tooth with the prevalence of caries, dental plaque, pH of saliva, levels of Salivalis lactobacilli (SL) and Mutans streptococci (MS), degree of dental abrasion, tooth colour and toothbrushing frequency. A total of 220 teeth (one per person) were analysed using a microwave oven digestion procedure and lead content was measured by atomic absorption spectrometry. Tooth lead content followed a logarithmic-normal distribution and it increased with the prevalence of caries. Tooth lead concentrations were positively correlated with all the considered dental health factors except the pH of saliva, for which there was a significant negative correlation. Coloured teeth and teeth subject to abrasion showed the highest lead content. The highest number of colonies of SL and MS in saliva paralleled the highest lead tooth levels. Teeth obtained from irregular brushers presented higher tooth lead contents than subjects with a regular toothbrushing frequency. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between tooth lead levels and dental plaque surface, Salivalis lactobacilli number, dental abrasion and dental colour. We conclude that accumulation of lead in teeth is associated with those dental health factors.

"We need a mechanism to report abuses of women's human rights".

PIP: This article discusses the Optional Protocol of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). This convention is the only instrument protecting the human rights of women at the international level. However, even if the convention was the best possible women's human rights documentation, there was no mechanism for reporting the abuses. The women's movement has long been pressing for the approval of the mechanism like the Optional Protocol, because they believe that the Protocol would fulfill the need in allowing the individual and collective accusations of human rights abuses. It means that a woman or a group of women can go to the committee and denounce an action as discriminatory. The committee can only receive reports and make recommendations, whereas having a Protocol would allow the committee to direct complaints, be able to investigate them, and make more specific recommendations. Those countries ratifying the CEDAW don't automatically agree to the Protocol, thus it is the country's discretion to either comply with the Protocol or not. There are also those who are against the Protocol and claim ironically that an Optional Protocol for Political and Civil rights already exists. But such mechanisms do not work for women's rights. What is most needed now is to lobby all national delegations to push the 5th Commission of the United Nations' General Assembly to approve the budget for the protocol.^ieng

From basic needs to basic rights.

PIP: After arriving at an understanding that basic rights refer to all human needs, it is clear that a recognition of the basic needs of female humans must precede the realization of their rights. The old Women in Development (WID) framework only understood women's needs from an androcentric perspective which was limited to practical interests. Instead, women's primary need is to be free from their subordination to men. Such an understanding places all of women's immediate needs in a new light. A human rights approach to development would see women not as beneficiaries but as people entitled to enjoy the benefits of development. Discussion of what equality before the law should mean to women began at the Third World Conference on Women in Nairobi where the issue of violence against women was first linked to development. While debate continues about the distinction between civil and political rights and economic, social, and cultural rights, the realities of women's lives do not permit such a distinction. The concept of the universality of human rights did not become codified until the UN proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The declaration has been criticized by feminists because the view of human rights it embodies has been too strongly influenced by a liberal Western philosophy which stresses individual rights and because it is ambiguous on the distinction between human rights and the rights of a citizen. The protection of rights afforded by the Declaration, however, should not be viewed as a final achievement but as an ongoing struggle. International conferences have led to an analysis of the human-rights approach to sustainable development which concludes that women continue to face the routine denial of their rights. Each human right must be redefined from the perspective of women's needs, which must also be redefined. Women must forego challenging the concept of the universality of human rights in order to overcome the argument of cultural and religious diversity which erodes women's rights. Women can, however, challenge the traditional patriarchal understanding of human rights, drawing on the energy contained in the "basic needs to basic rights" approach.^ieng

Dental lead levels in the Galician population, Spain.

The aim of this study was to investigate tooth lead concentrations in a Spanish population living in Coruña, Spain. A total of 220 teeth were analysed using a microwave oven digestion procedure and lead content was measured by atomic absorption spectrometry. Samples were classified according to age, sex, type of tooth, cause of extraction and place of residence. Tooth lead levels followed a logarithmic-normal distribution. The general geometric mean was 10.36 micrograms/g of tooth. There was a significant increase in teeth lead levels with advancing age. Permanent teeth showed higher values (13.09 +/- 1.07 micrograms/g, mean +/- S.E.M.) than deciduous teeth (3.96 +/- 1.07 micrograms/g). However, no differences were found between sexes. High lead concentrations were detected in pathological teeth, particularly in those with periodontal pathology, suggesting a relation between lead levels and dental disease. Nevertheless, teeth with caries did not show any significant lead increase. People living in urban areas of the coast had the highest lead teeth contamination. This is the first study in Spain which describes the tooth lead levels as a marker of lead exposure.

Microwave oven digestion procedure for atomic absorption spectrometry analysis of bone and teeth.

The purpose of this study was to develop a new method for determination of the mineral element in teeth and bone using a microwave digestion procedure coupled to atomic absorption spectrometry. Samples were ashed at 450 degrees C for 4.5 h and subsequently digested in a microwave oven at maximum power (600 W) for 10 s using a Teflon closed Parr bomb. This method permits the rapid dissolution of the biological samples, avoiding operations such as slicing and cutting which often introduce alterations in sample homogeneity and may contribute to their contamination. The analysis of Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Ba, Cd and Pb showed good reproducibility, precision and accuracy as compared with the certified values for the IAEA H-5 animal bone. Average concentration for those elements in permanent teeth obtained from children aged 11-18 years by orthodontics are given.

[Women become "humans" in the regional preparatory meeting for the World Conference on Human Rights for Latin America and the Caribbean]. / Las mujeres se vuelven "humanas" en la reunion regional preparatoria de la Conferencia Mundial sobre Derechos Humanos para America Latina y el Caribe.

PIP: The Latin American and Caribbean Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights was attended by representatives from over 150 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The women's groups attending the preparatory meeting succeeded in developing a "women's platform" whose proposals were largely adopted by the main conference. The composition of the attending NGOS was varied. Some of the women represented the traditional, androcentric human rights focus, while around 20 of the organizations were feminist. Human rights groups and women's organizations were urged not to wait for a government invitation, but to seek accreditation and attend the conference independently. The feminists prepared for the conference with a preliminary satellite conference in which a 19-point women's platform was created and strategy was discussed. The women consequently were able to use the conference time for meeting and lobbying the delegates. The women's platform was distributed to women's and human rights groups before the conference so that they would arrive prepared to defend it. The satellite conference debated the need to reconceptualize "human rights". The significance of "human being" is often taken to refer to male human being, and human rights might then be considered rights of male human beings. A second theme debated was whether mechanisms to protect the human rights of women are insufficient and marginal in UN activities. The feminization of poverty resulting from neoliberal policies, gender violence as one of the gravest forms of discrimination against women, and the need for recognition of rights required only by women were other topics debated. The final Declaration incorporated a paragraph affirming that violence against women should be considered a violation of human rights.^ieng