An anaesthetist who missed a golden opportunity.

Richard Gordon (1921-2017) was a prolific writer of both humorous fiction and historical reviews. He trained in medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital (Barts) in London and specialised in anaesthesia working at Hill End Hospital, St Albans (where a large proportion of Barts work took place to avoid the impact of the Blitz during the Second World War) and at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford with Robert Macintosh. He published multiple papers and a book on trichlorethylene anaesthesia and edited a textbook of anaesthesia for medical students which ran for 10 editions. His gift for writing and his prominent public persona placed him in a unique position to highlight the importance of the newly emerging speciality of anaesthesia. He did the exact opposite of this and instead created a representation of an uninterested spectator to surgical activity, a representation which still persists in some quarters today.

Electron induced efficient dechlorination of trichlorethylene with S doped Fe2B: The enhancement mechanism of S.

In this work, S doped Fe2B (Fe2B-S) was synthesized by sintering method and applied for the enhanced dechlorination of trichlorethylene (TCE). The degradation ratio (D) of TCE was 99.8% with reaction rate constant (kobs) of 0.956 h-1 by 10.0at% S doped Fe2B (corresponding to Fe2B-S10.0), compared to D and kobs values 37.3% and 0.067 h-1 by Fe2B, respectively. The major dechlorination products of acetylene, ethene, ethane and C3-C6 hydrocarbon compounds were observed from a reductive ß-elimination pathway. S doped and undoped Fe2B could form the first-level in-situ galvanic cell, and the returned S provided a second-level galvanic cell to further enhance electron transfer. The doped S worked as electron donor to increase the density of localized unpaired electrons, and the electron enriched Fe atoms leading to stronger reducibility were verified by the density functional theory (DFT) calculation. This work provides a complete insight into the enhancement mechanism of S doped Fe2B and guides the potential design of zero-valent iron (ZVI) with properties tailored for chlorinated hydrocarbons dechlorination.

Urinary Malondialdehyde (MDA) and N-Acetyl-ß-D-Glucosaminidase (NAG) Associated with Exposure to Trichloroethylene (TCE) in Underground Water.

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is commonly used in various industries. If wastewater in factories is not effectively treated, the inflow into and subsequent contamination of underground water is likely. Our study assessed the association of exposure to TCE in underground water with oxidative stress and renal tubule damage. We selected 579 residents from areas with underground water contaminated with TCE. Each participant was interviewed via a questionnaire. We also assessed their urinary trichloroacetic acid (TCA) levels by gas chromatography (GC)-FID. Urinary malondialdehyde (MDA) and N-acetyl-ß-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) were taken as indicators of oxidative stress and renal tubule damage. We found about 73% of the residents to have consumed underground water. The average duration of consumption was 26 years, with an average of 1.6 L per day. Currently, only 1.5% of the residents still continuously consume underground water. The consumption of underground water positively correlated with heightened urinary TCA levels (r = 0.554). Heightened urinary TCA levels, in turn, were positively associated with NAG levels (r = 0.180) but negatively associated with MDA levels (r = -0.193). The results held even after we had segmented urinary TCA levels into three groups of different levels. The elimination of the source of heightened TCE levels from various industrial effluents is essential. Residents exposed to TCE-laden underground water should periodically undergo health inspections.

Emerging various environmental threats to brain and overview of surveillance system with zebrafish model.

Pathologies related to neurotoxicity represent an important percentage of the diseases that determine the global burden of diseases. Neurotoxicity may be related to the increasing levels of potentially neurotoxic agents that pollute the environment, which generates concern, since agents that affect children may increase the incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders, affecting the quality of life of future citizens. Many environmental contaminants have been detected, and many of them derive from several human activities, including the mining, agriculture, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, beverage and food industries. These problems are more acute in third world countries, where environmental regulations are lax or non-existent. An additional major emerging problem is drug contamination. Periodic monitoring should be performed to identify potential neurotoxic substances using biological tests capable of identifying the risk. In this sense the fish embryo test (FET), which is performed on zebrafish embryos, is a useful, reliable and economical alternative that can be implemented in developing countries.

[An investigation to an accident of occupational trichloroethylene explosion].

Objective: To investigation to an accident of occupational trichloroethylene explosion and analyze the clinical datas. Methods: An investigation was carried out on the explosion of trichloroethylene in a place in shandong province in June 2016, and the clinical data of 4 patients with trichloroethylene poisoning were analyzed. Results: The incident is caused by irregularities in workers, 4 patients were characterized by different levels of the respiratory system, nervous system, liver, and skin lesions. Among them, respiratory system damage was more prominent, mainly manifested as chemical bronchitis and pneumonia, after positive rescue and treatment all recovered and discharged. Conclusions: Trichloroethylene leak can cause severe ex-plosion accidents, can cause workers of the respiratory system, nervous system, liver and skin lesions, mainly glucocorticoids comprehensive therapy has good curative effect.

An investigation to an accident of occupational trichloroethylene explosion / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

Objective@#To investigation to an accident of occupational trichloroethylene explosion and analyze the clinical datas.@*Methods@#An investigation was carried out on the explosion of trichloroethylene in a place in shandong province in June 2016, and the clinical data of 4 patients with trichloroethylene poisoning were analyzed.@*Results@#The incident is caused by irregularities in workers, 4 patients were characterized by different levels of the respiratory system, nervous system, liver, and skin lesions. Among them, respiratory system damage was more prominent, mainly manifested as chemical bronchitis and pneumonia, after positive rescue and treatment all recovered and discharged.@*Conclusions@#Trichloroethylene leak can cause severe ex-plosion accidents, can cause workers of the respiratory system, nervous system, liver and skin lesions, mainly glucocorticoids comprehensive therapy has good curative effect.