AIMS To describe the long term mortality experience of a cohort of 2187 male chemical production workers previously exposed to substantial levels of dioxin. METHODS Vital status for a previously identified cohort was determined for an additional 10 years, to 1995. Dioxin exposures took place before 1983 and were sufficient to result in chloracne in 245 individuals. Mortality rates were compar...

BACKGROUND All causes and cancer mortality of 58,320 workers employed at the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA) between 1946 and 1994 were compared with that of the general population in a retrospective cohort study. METHODS Standardized Mortality Ratios (SMR) were computed with reference to the French national population. RESULTS Between 1968 and 1994, 4,809 deaths occurred. A healthy...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Hepatic macrophages (Kupffer cells) are involved in the immunopathology of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). The mannose receptor (MR, CD206), expressed primarily by macrophages, mediates endocytosis, antigen presentation and T-cell activation. A soluble form, sMR, has recently been identified in humans. We aimed to study plasma sMR levels and its correlation with disease sever...

The authors examined cancer mortality in a historical cohort study of 21,863 male and female workers in 36 cohorts exposed to phenoxy herbicides, chlorophenols, and dioxins in 12 countries. Subjects in this updated and expanded multinational study coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer were followed from 1939 to 1992. Exposure was reconstructed using job records, company...

BACKGROUND Thailand has achieved remarkable improvement in health status since the achievement of universal health coverage in 2002. Health equity has improved significantly. However, challenges on health inequity still remain.This study aimed to determine the trends of geographical inequalities in disease specific mortality in Thailand after the country achieved universal health coverage. ME...

BACKGROUND For most arrhythmia syndromes, the risk of sudden cardiac death for asymptomatic mutation carriers is ill defined. Data on the natural history of these diseases, therefore, are essential. The family tree mortality ratio method offers the unique possibility to study the natural history at a time when the disease was not known and patients received no treatment. METHODS AND RESULTS I...

A mortality study was carried out in conjunction with the European mortality study among welders coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The study was aimed at assessing risks for lung cancer in relation to exposure to asbestos, welding fumes containing chromium and nickel, and tobacco smoke. The study included a cohort of 2721 welders and an internal comparison g...

BACKGROUND Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) have a predisposition to leukemia and possibly other cancers and excess mortality from other conditions, but information on the magnitude of risk associated with specific cancers or causes of death is sparse. METHODS Mortality experience and cancer incidence were evaluated in a combined cohort of 4872 individuals with a hospital discharge diagnos...

This review and data analysis outline how fish biologists should most reliably estimate the minimal amount of oxygen needed by a fish to support its aerobic metabolic rate (termed standard metabolic rate; SMR). By reviewing key literature, it explains the theory, terminology and challenges underlying SMR measurements in fishes, which are almost always made using respirometry (which measures oxy...

Decreased susceptibility to chlorhexidine gluconate (CHDN) in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is associated with the qacA, qacB, and smr genes, encoding efflux pumps. A total of 334 MRSA isolates were collected from two Canadian intensive care units between 2005 and 2009. We identified the qacAB genes in 7 strains (2%; 2 qacA genes and 5 qacB genes) and the smr gene in 23 (7%...