Household solid waste combustion with wood increases particulate trace metal and lung deposited surface area emissions.

In households, municipal solid waste (MSW) is often burned along with wood to get rid of waste, to help in ignition or simply to reduce fuel costs. The aim of this study was to characterize the influence of household waste combustion, along with wood, on the physical and chemical properties of particulate emissions in a flue gas of a masonry heater. The MSW burning alongside wood increased average particulate matter (PM) mass (65%), lung deposited surface areas (LDSA, 15%), black carbon (BC, 65%) concentrations and the average particle size in the flue gas. The influence of MSW was smaller during ignition and burning phases, but especially during fuel additions, the mass, number, and LDSA concentrations increased significantly and their size distributions moved towards larger particles. For wood burning the trace metal emissions were relatively low, but significant increase (3.3-179 -fold increase over cycle) was seen when MSW was burned along the wood. High ratios were observed especially during fuel addition phases but, depending on compounds, also during ignition and burning end phases. The highest ratios were observed for chloride compounds (HCl, KCl, NaCl). The observed increase in light-absorbing particle, trace metal and BC concentrations in flue gas when adding wood with MSW are likely to have negative impacts on air quality, visibility, human health and climate. Furthermore, metals may also affect the condition and lifetime of the burning device due to corrosion.

Estudio piloto: "Programa de soporte a la vinculación hacia dispositivos socio-sanitarios y formativo-laborales, para pacientes esquizofrénicos" / No disponible

Introducción: este estudio piloto pretende evaluar la eficacia de un programa multimodal y multi-terapéutico, dirigido principalmente a fomentar la adherencia hacia dispositivos de rehabilitación vocacional y soporte al empleo, así como dispositivos socia-sanitarios ambulatorios en salud mental. Aglutina algunos de los principales elementos terapéuticos señalados por la literatura científica (Pfammatter, Junghan et al. 2006), aplicándose tanto a los pacientes como a sus familiares simultáneamente. Material y método: 2 grupos terapéuticos fueron reclutados: el grupo de pacientes estaba compuesto por 8 pacientes con esquizofrenia, quienes asistieron a 16 sesiones (semanales); el grupo familiar incluía 8 de sus allegados, acudiendo a 6 sesiones. Ambos grupos se desarrollaron paralelamente (durante 5 meses). Resultados: todos los 8 participantes (asistencia media = 85,19%) completaron el grupo. No se consignó ningún ingreso hospitalario ni cambio de tratamiento farmacológico. Se detectaron mejoras en la asistencia hacia actividades de ocio y sociales, formativas, así como en varias escalas de la SFS (Tabla 1). Sin embargo, ningún cambio significativo a nivel clínico fue detectado en trabajo, Escala GAF y el uso de servicios en salud mental comunitarios. Conclusiones: Esta Aproximación terapéutica multimodal piloto mejora parcialmente el funcionamiento social en pacientes con esquizofrenia, manteniéndose esta mejora a los 6 meses de la intervención

Introduction: This pilot study pretends to test the efficacy of a multimodal therapy program, primarily aimed at fostering the adherence to work, vocational and ambulatory mental heath services. It encompasses the key therapeutic elements signalled on scientific literature (Pfammatter, Junghan et al. 2006), and applied to both patients and their families at the same time. Material and Methods: 2 therapeutic groups were recruited: Patients group was composed for 8 schizophrenic patients who underwent 16 sessions (weakly); the family group included 8 of their relatives, who took 6 sessions. Both groups were executed in parallel and at the same time (over 5 months). Results: All 8 patients finished the group (assistance mean = 85,19%). No hospital entrances and significant pharmacology treatment changes were reported. Improvements in assistance to leisure and social activities, formative activities and several SFS scales (table 1) were detected. Nonetheless, no significant clinical improvement were detected in work, GAF scale, and the use of communitarian health services. Conclusions: This pilot multimodal therapeutic approach partially improves social functioning in schizophrenic patients, for more than 6 months

Cutaneous afferents from the monkeys fingers: responses to tangential and normal forces.

Control of tangential force plays a key role in everyday manipulations. In anesthetized monkeys, forces tangential to the skin were applied at a range of magnitudes comparable to those used in routine manipulations and in eight different directions. The paradigm used enabled separation of responses to tangential force from responses to the background normal force. For slowly adapting type I (SAI) afferents, tangential force responses ranged from excitatory through no response to suppression, with both a static and dynamic component. For fast adapting type I (FAI) afferents, responses were dynamic and excitatory only. Responses of both afferent types were scaled by tangential force magnitude, elucidating the neural basis for previous human psychophysical scaling data. Most afferents were direction selective with a range of preferred directions and a range in sharpness of tuning. Both the preferred direction and the degree of tuning were independent of the background normal force. Preferred directions were distributed uniformly over 360 degrees for SAI afferents, but for FAI afferents they were biased toward the proximo-ulnar direction. Afferents from all over the glabrous skin of the distal segment of the finger responded; there was no evident relationship between the position of an afferent's receptive field on the finger and its preferred direction or its degree of tuning. Nor were preferred directions biased either toward or away from the receptive field center. In response to the relatively large normal forces, some afferents saturated and others did not, regardless of the positions of their receptive fields. Total afferent response matched human psychophysical scaling functions for normal force.

Evaluating the effectiveness of advocacy training for breast cancer advocates in Australia.

There is growing trend in health care for patients and consumers to have an active voice in all decisions related to their care. The purpose of the current study was to assess the effectiveness of an advocacy training programme for breast cancer consumers in Australia. The participants included 51 women who attended a 3-day advocacy training programme in three different states across Australia. Participants completed a pre- and post-questionnaire at 6 months follow-up to assess their involvement in breast cancer advocacy activities and organizations. Findings revealed a significant increase in participants' involvement in serving as a member of a board or committee, working on clinical trials recruitment issues, working on patient resources, and involvement in breast cancer advocacy groups after completing the training programme. However, no change was found in other key advocacy areas, such as, lobbying for change or reviewing research protocols. Implications for future advocacy training programmes and research were discussed.

Neonatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol permanently alters the basal and 17 beta-estradiol induced expression of c-fos proto-oncogene in mouse urethroprostatic complex.

Perinatal estrogen exposure induces permanent structural and functional changes in the male reproductive tract. We have studied the effect of neonatal estrogenization on the estrogen-responsive c-fos proto-oncogene expression in mouse prostate. Fos is involved in growth and differentiation, and may play a central role in regulating diverse estrogen-related cellular differentiation. In adult control mouse prostate, basal c-fos mRNA expression is very low. Neonatal treatment with diethylstilbestrol on days 1-3 (neoDES) results in permanently increased fos expression in the prostatic urethra and all prostatic lobes. In adult castrated animals, estradiol induces a rapid transient increase in c-fos expression in the prostatic urethra, with maximum induction being higher in neoDES animals. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry show that in neoDES mice fos transcripts and protein are localized primarily in the epithelium of posterior periurethral prostatic collecting ducts. These are the sites previously reported to show the most pronounced morphological changes after estrogen treatment. Our results indicate that neonatal estrogenization affects both basal and estrogen stimulated c-fos mRNA levels in the prostate of mature mice, which supports the hypothesis that estrogen-induced morphological changes in mouse prostate may involve altered c-fos expression.

The expression of types X and VI collagen and fibrillin in rat mandibular condylar cartilage. Response to mastication forces.

Types X and VI collagen and fibrillin were localized by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical methods in the mandibular condyles of rats, and the response of these molecules to post-weaning diets of soft food, ordinary pellets, or hardened pellets was studied. Type X collagen was synthesized, particularly in conditions of soft food consistency, by cells in the perichondrium-periosteum and in the bone and by cells at the erosion front between cartilage and bone. Type X collagen synthesis diminished under higher compression forces due to mastication and with increasing age. Type VI collagen and fibrillin were synthesized by cells in the perichondrium-periosteum and by chondrocytes and by stromal osteoblasts and were not modified by higher mechanical forces. In contrast to previous findings in the growth plate of long bones, type X collagen in the mandibular condyle was not synthesized by hypertrophic chondrocytes but was associated with cells of the osteoblastic rather than the chondroblastic phenotype.

Effect of reduced articular function on deposition of type I and type II collagens in the mandibular condylar cartilage of the rat.

A group of rats was fed a soft diet after weaning and the incisors shortened regularly to keep them out of occlusion. The controls were fed a hard diet. Immunohistochemical techniques and image analysis were employed to investigate deposition of pro-type I collagen and type II collagen, and the thickness of articular cartilage layers in the mandibular condyle. The immunostaining against pro-type I collagen was most intense intracellularly in the fibrous and upper chondroblast layers in 30- and 50-day-old rats fed a hard diet. In the rats fed a soft diet, marked intra- and extracellular staining against pro-type I collagen was visible in the upper chondroblast and upper hypertrophic layers but also in the lower hypertrophic layer. The intensity of staining against type II collagen was weak in animals on a soft diet, while in the animals fed a hard diet the staining was intense in the superior layers of mature chondroblasts. The total number of chondroblasts recorded was reduced by 35 percent at the age of 50 days in the soft-diet compared to the hard-diet animals. The results show that the deposition of type I and II collagens, the thickness of the cartilage cell layers and the number of chondrocytes are sensitive to alterations in loading.

Phytoestrogens are partial estrogen agonists in the adult male mouse.

The intake, as well as serum and urinary concentrations, of phytoestrogens is high in countries where incidence of prostate cancer is low, suggesting a chemopreventive role for phytoestrogens. Their significance could be explained by the ability to antagonize the action of more potent endogenous estrogens in initiation or promotion of tumor formation. We have studied estrogenicity and antiestrogenicity of dietary soy and two phytoestrogens, coumestrol and daidzein, in our neoDES mouse model for the study or prostatic neoplasia. Soy was chosen because it is rich in phytoestrogens, is widely used in Oriental diets, and has antiestrogenic and anticarcinogenic properties in the neoDES mouse when given from fertilization onward. In short-term tests with adult animals, no evidence for estrogenicity or antiestrogenicity (capability to antagonize the action of 17 beta-estradiol) of soy was found when development of epithelial metaplasia and expression of c-fos protooncogene in prostate were used as end points of estrogen action. Estrogenic activity of coumestrol and daidzein on c-fos expression was subtle. Coumestrol, either given alone or in combination with 17 beta-estradiol, had no effect on development of epithelial metaplasia. These marginal or missing effects in adult males could be interpreted by assuming that the neonatal period is more critical for estrogenic or antiestrogenic action of soy and phytoestrogens. Once initiated, estrogen-related lesions would develop spontaneously. Alternatively, the chemopreventive action of soy is not due to antiestrogenicity of soy-derived phytoestrogens.

Type II and type III collagen in mandibular condylar cartilage of patients with temporomandibular joint pathology.

PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to examine the presence of type II and type III collagen in the cartilage of the mandibular condyle in different types of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pathology, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), to assess to what degree the newly formed tissue is cartilaginous. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Tissue samples from 46 TMJ surgery patients (37 women and 9 men; mean age, 37 years; range, 14 to 76 years) were investigated. The samples were obtained at surgery mostly from anteriorly situated osteophytes or the anterosuperior uneven articular surface of the condyle. Tissue sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin, toluidine blue, and Gomori's reticular stain. Type II and type III collagens were demonstrated by immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: The amount of type II collagen was variable in the mandibular condylar cartilage. Type III collagen was found in the new osteoid tissue as well as the new chondroid tissue that was synthesized in the most reactive situations. CONCLUSIONS: Type II collagen synthesis occurred mainly in condylar hypertrophy and the intermediate stage of internal derangement of the TMJ. Type III collagen, which is found in fibrous repair tissue, was also found in sites of repair of mandibular condylar cartilage, including RA and osteomyelitis.

Immunohistochemical localization of estrogen-specific 17 beta-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase in the human and mouse prostate.

The estrogen-specific 17 beta-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase (17 beta-HSOR) enzyme protein was stained immunohistochemically in the newborn and adult human prostate as well as in the mouse prostate. In the newborn human prostate, ductal and urethral epithelia were faintly stained, whereas in the adult human prostate, intense staining for 17 beta-HSOR enzyme antigen could be detected in the epithelium of the collecting ducts and urethral epithelium as well as in the epithelium of the intraprostatic vas deferens and seminal vesicle epithelium. Immunostaining was weak in the prostatic tissues of both newborn and adult prostate. No positive cells were found in stroma. The activity of NADPH-dependent 3H-estrone reductase was detectable in cell-free homogenates prepared from human prostatic tissues. The activities showed a good correlation with immunocytochemical findings. In the mouse, neonatal estrogenization resulted in intensively stained epithelium of the collecting ducts at the age of 14 days. Moreover, when adult control and neonatally estrogenized mice were implanted with 17 beta-estradiol, the metaplastic epithelium of the periurethral collecting ducts of neonatally estrogenized mice was intensively stained with 17 beta-HSOR. These findings suggest that metaplastic epithelium rises from 17 beta-HSOR-positive cells. The similar distributions of 17 beta-HSOR-positive cells confirm the concept of homology in the posterior estrogen-responsive periurethral region (containing the periurethral ducts and periurethral glands) of the mouse and humans. Our findings further suggest that the 17 beta-HSOR-positive cells may have the same origin and hormonal control in both species.

Dietary Estrogens Act through Estrogen Receptor-Mediated Processes and Show No Antiestrogenicity in Cultured Breast Cancer Cells.

Dietary estrogens are believed to exert their estrogenic or antiestrogenic (chemopreventive) action in estrogen responsive cells by interacting with the estrogen receptor (ER). The present study was undertaken to evaluate a direct role of ER in estrogenic or antiestrogenic activities of three dietary estrogens (coumestrol, genistein and zearalenone). HeLa cells were transiently co-transfected with an expression vector for ER and an estrogen-responsive reporter gene construct. Coumestrol, genistein, and zearalenone all increased the activity of the reporter gene, only in the presence of the ER, and the activation was blocked with the ER antagonist ICI 164,384, demonstrating an ER-specific, agonist response. In addition, in MCF-7 cells, coumestrol and zearalenone increased the expression of the estrogen-responsive pS2 gene. Coumestrol and genistein inhibited the purified estrogen-specific 17ß-hydroxysteroid oxidoreductase enzyme and the conversion of estrone to 17ß-estradiol in T-47D cells, which contain this enzyme. However, they did not inhibit the estrone-induced proliferation of T-47D cells. In conclusion, coumestrol, genistein, and zearalenone are all potent estrogens in vitro, and they act through ER mediated mechanism. Our findings give no evidence to support the idea that these compounds act as antiestrogens through competition for the binding sites of ER or by inhibition of the conversion of estrone to 17ß-estradiol in breast cancer cells, since this effect was nullified by their agonist action on cell proliferation. Therefore, their suggested chemopreventive action in estrogen-related cancers must be mediated through other mechanisms.

Articular disc and eminence modeling after experimental relocation of the glenoid fossa in growing rabbits.

The articular surface of the glenoid fossa shows some analogy to the mandibular condyle, since the surface is covered by secondary cartilage, which makes the process more elastic than purely bony structures. The condylar cartilage has been shown to be responsive to alterations in load pressures, and this secondary type of cartilage is also able to increase its proliferative activity to a limited extent when the load pressure is altered. The aim here was to measure changes in proliferative activity and type II collagen secretion in the articular surface of the glenoid fossa after steady experimental posterior relocation of the fossa in the rabbit without actively interfering with normal masticatory action. The shape of the articular disc and interrelations of the joint components were measured macroscopically. Twenty-four five-day-old rabbits underwent gluing of the interparietal, temporoparietal, and lambdoidal sutures. Three experimental and 3 control rabbits were injected with tritiated thymidine at 10, 15, 20, and 30 days and were killed after 2 h for histological, autoradiographic, and immunohistochemical examination. The total number of labeled cells in the proliferative layer near the articular eminence was higher in the experimental group, the difference being greatest in the 15- and 20-day-old rabbits. Immunohistochemical examination revealed less staining for type II collagen on the postero-inferior side of the eminence in the experimental group. The articular disc was flattened in the experimental group, and the elastic tissue bundle connecting the articular eminence and the anterior border of the disc was significantly narrower and longer.

Type II collagen expression in the mandibular condyle during growth adaptation: an experimental study in the rabbit.

An experiment was designed to mimic orthopedic functional appliances in order to investigate the spatial and temporal characteristics of type II collagen secretion as a marker of cartilage maturation in the mandibular condyle of young rabbits. The position of the glenoid fossa in relation to the condyle was altered so that articulation now took place more posteriorly. Histological sections of the condyles of 15-, 20- and 30-day-old experimental and control animals were stained with toluidine blue and with an anti-type II collagen antibody. A widened progenitor cell layer was found posteriorly in the experimental condyles and a narrow layer was found anteriorly to the articulating region. The chondroblast layer was also widened posteriorly, whereas the hypertrophic cell zone was narrower; the opposite was seen anteriorly. The effect was marked in 15- and 20-day-old animals and weak in 30-day-old animals. Type II collagen stain and strong toluidine blue metachromasia were not observed in the progenitor cell zone until the chondroblasts had acquired a flattened, slightly hypertrophic morphology, which was found deeper in the experimental condyles than in the controls. This is interpreted as a slowing down of the differentiation of chondroblasts as a result of the force applied. The effect of masticatory function may also be explained in terms of delayed differentiation of chondroblasts and increased growth.

Internal derangement of the temporomandibular joint: a histochemical study.

The purpose of this study was to correlate histologic findings in temporomandibular joint (TMJ) condyles and discs with their macroscopic appearance at surgery. The 24 patients with internal derangement of the joint included 20 women and 4 men (mean age, 37 years; range, 18 to 61 years). The tissue lesions varied in degree from mild soft-tissue fraying and bone remodeling to extensive resorption and new cartilage and bone formation with high phosphatase enzyme activities, and even to loss of articular soft tissue and breakdown of cortical bone. Reactions may arise in the hard tissues before they occur in the articular surface layers.

Ossification of the antler in the Lapland reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus).

A histological and histochemical study of biopsy specimens from the Lapland reindeer antler indicated that the intercellular matrix of the cartilage that forms the partitions of longitudinal channels becomes calcified at virtually the initial stage of formation. The lacunae at the peripheries of the cartilaginous partitions are invaded by osteoblasts in a process comparable to endochondral ossification. The very centres of the partitions evidently become directly converted into bone without the presence of e.g. osteoclasts. The osseous partitions are remodelled by osteoclasts. The antler increases in diameter by periosteal apposition.

[Lumbar facet joint syndrome. Significance of non-organic signs. A randomized placebo-controlled clinical study]. / Le syndrome des articulaires. Signification des signes de non-organicité. Une étude clinique randomisée et contrôlée par placebo.

One hundred and nine patients with chronic (greater than 3 months) unilateral low back pain had less than or equal to 2/5 or greater than or equal to 3/5 inappropriate signs (IAS) in 65 and 44 cases, respectively. The patients were randomized in three therapy groups: cortison and local anaesthetic injected intra-articularly into two facet joints (28 patients), the same mixture injected pericapsularly around two facet joints as well (39 patients) and injection of physiologic sodium hydrochloride intra-articularly into two facet joints (42 patients). The effect of the treatment was evaluated within an hour, two and six weeks after the treatment with work status, pain scale, disability score and movements of the lumbar spine. In addition, the patients returned a questionnaire three months after the treatment. Although similar improvement was observed during the follow-up the pain scales and disability scores were, however, in the beginning and at the end of the study more pathological in the group scoring greater than or equal to 3/5 IAS. It is suggested that persistent high levels of IAS depend more on psychosocial factors than on anatomical disorders and therefore explain why the somatic treatment does not work. Identification of these patients may also prevent the doctor from a burn-out syndrome after many failed treatments. This study also shows that if a biological effect of a treatment is to be studied the patients with multiple IAS should be excluded from the material. There was no difference in the results when either intra-articular or pericapsular cortisone and local anaesthetic or saline intra-articularly was used.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)