Alpha emitter NORM crystal scales in industrial pipelines: A study case.

Radioactive related pollution due to suspended particulate matter dispersion is an important workplace and health care issue. Recycling oil production ducts and contaminated production equipment, represent a health hazard to workers and public alike. Radioactive plate-out NORM scales with crystal deposit is analyzed by different techniques; results provide proper information on physico-chemical features and emitted alpha particles. Recommendations for handling and recycling procedures are included in relation to health risk and radiological hazard.

APOE in non-Alzheimer amyloidoses: transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

BACKGROUND: The APOE genotype has been shown to influence the risk of developing sporadic and familial AD. This effect is isoform-dependent, the APOE epsilon4 allele increasing susceptibility and the APOE epsilon2 allele providing protection. Amyloid formation is an important part of the pathogenesis in AD as well as in spongiform encephalopathies; apoE deposition in amyloid plaques has been documented in both conditions. METHODS: We examined the frequency of the APOE alleles in patients with various forms of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, or prion diseases, including sporadic and iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease associated with PRNP 178N/129V and 200K/129M point mutations and a 24-nucleotide repeat expansion; fatal familial insomnia caused by the 178N/129M mutation; Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease associated with 102L/129M mutation; and kuru. RESULTS: None of the groups we studied had a significant excess of APOE epsilon4 allele when compared with appropriate controls. CONCLUSION: Our results do not support the contention that the APOE epsilon4 allele is a risk factor for developing Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or related disorders.

Residual stresses in ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene loaded cyclically by a rigid moving indenter in nonconforming geometries.

The characterization of stress and deformation fields that incorporate moving cyclic loads and nonlinear material response in ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene components for total knee replacements is required to quantify mechanisms of surface damage. A simulation of stresses in polyethylene components for total knee replacement subjected to cyclic moving loads was performed with use of nonlinear finite element analysis. Convergence to a steady-state cycle of stress and deformation was observed within five cycles of loading. Differential plastic deformation under the surface of the polyethylene led to horizontal residual stresses that were tensile at the surface and compressive in the subsurface. The magnitudes of the residual stresses indicate their importance in surface failure mechanisms. Horizontal residual tensile stresses at the surface are consistent with the initiation and propagation of surface cracks that could cause pitting in polyethylene. Horizontal residual compressive stresses under the surface could cause such cracks to arrest or turn and thus limit damage to a region just beneath the surface. The results emphasize the importance of incorporating nonlinear effects to simulate long-term stress fields associated with surface damage in polyethylene.

Infección por Helicobacter pylori en niños sin dispepsia en Curundú y Parque Lefevre / Helicobacter pylori infection in children without dyspepsia in Curundu and Parque Lefevre

A study of seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori determined by ELISA IgG, was conducted in 83 consecutive healthy children. The majority of the children (55%) had the bacterium. Seropositivity was demonstrated in 55% of the age group 0-5 years old, in 47% of 6-10, and in 67%, of the group 11 to 15. Of the children without sanitary inside their homes 86% were seropositive, versus 47% of the children with sanitary in their homes

[Helicobacter pylori infection in children without dyspepsia in Curundu and Parque Lefevre]. / Infección por Helicobacter pylori en niños sin dispepsia en Curundú y Parque Lefevre.

A study of seroprevalence of Helicobacter pylori determined by ELISA IgG, was conducted in 83 consecutive healthy children. The majority of the children (55%) had the bacterium. Seropositivity was demonstrated in 55% of the age group 0-5 years old, in 47% of 6-10, and in 67%, of the group 11 to 15. Of the children without sanitary inside their homes 86% were seropositive, versus 47% of the children with sanitary in their homes.

[Risk of transmission of cholera by fish products: regional perspective in South America]. / Riesgos de transmisión del cólera por productos pesqueros: perspectiva regional en Sudamérica.

Cholera returned to South America in January 1991, after almost a century of absence. The hygienic status of the countries affected, aggravated by economic and political difficulties, allowed the disease to spread rapidly. In Peru, fishery products were incriminated from the outset, although without conclusive evidence. However, epidemiological and laboratory findings in other countries have confirmed the transmission of the disease by these products. The authors discuss the effects of the recent cholera epidemic on the trade and consumption of fishery products in countries of South America. The actual risk of cholera transmission by food and in particular by the consumption of fishery products is discussed, and a basis for conducting an accurate evaluation of these risks is proposed. Finally, the authors summarise the measures recommended to prevent the transmission of cholera by fishery products.

La participación de los servicios veterinarios en situaciones de desastres

En el presente trabajo se presenta una información actualizada sobre los problemas de salud animal en situaciones de desastres y los avances que se han logrado en tal sentido; también se valora la posibilidad de lograr una participación más activa de los servicos veterinarios de catástrofes (AU)

[Organization of the public health services in Latin America and the Caribbean]. / Organización de los Servicios de salud pública veterinaria en América Latina y el Caribe.

The organisation of veterinary public health (VPH) services in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean has resulted from an historical process which has consolidated the structure of these services and the concept of VPH. This concept comprises five principal plans of action: promotion of animal health in order to increase the production of protein of animal origin; protection of foods for human consumption; vigilance, prevention, control and eradication of zoonoses; promotion of environmental protection, together with the development of biomedical models. These plans of action serve the purpose of improving human health and well-being, which is essential for the socioeconomic development of populations. Within this context, the authors describe the organisation of VPH services for health and agriculture, which have a part to play in intersectorial collaboration and in social participation. Finally, an account is given of progress in the control of rabies, brucellosis and tuberculosis, and the organisation of integrated programmes for food protection and also the control and eradication of foot and mouth disease. Technical cooperation with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) assists these activities and intersectorial coordination, principally between health and agriculture.

Estudio epidemiológico de la estomatitis vesicular en América del Sur

[Introducción] En este trabajo se presenta un estudio general del comportamiento de la incidencia de la estomatitis vesicular (EV) en la población animal en la dimensión espacio-temporal de los cuatro países de América del Sur donde ella se presenta con frecuencia.

[Introduction] This paper presents a general study of the bhavoir of the incidence of vesicular stomatitis (VS) in the animal population in the space-time dimension of the four South American countries in which the isease frequently occurs.