OBJECTIVES To identify risks for HIV infection related to incarceration among injecting drug users in Bangkok, Thailand. DESIGN Case-control study of sexual and parenteral exposures occurring before, during, and after the most recent incarceration. SETTING Metropolitan Bangkok. PARTICIPANTS Non-prison based injecting drug users formerly incarcerated for at least six months in the previous...

PURPOSE To compare 21 and 27 gauge (G) needles used for fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of thyroid nodules to obtain better specimens for adequacy and cytological diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred patients with thyroid nodules (100 nodules) were included in this study. Each nodule was aspirated with both 27 G and 21 G needles. The obtained aspirates were classified as adequate and ina...

ABSTRACT Epicuticular wax on needles was evaluated for its influence on Cronartium ribicola infection of resistant and susceptible selections of Pinus strobus. Environmental scanning electron microscopy comparisons revealed that needles from a resistant selection of eastern white pine, P327, had a significantly higher percentage of stomata that were occluded with wax, fewer basidiospores germin...

This study searched the available needle exchange program (NEP) literature for return rate data. A total of 26 articles were found. The overall worldwide return rate was 90%, although this ranged from a low of 15% to a high of 112%. U.S. NEP return rates were gathered from only eight studies, indicating a clear need for more data, although U.S. return rates were comparable to those from NEPs ou...

To examine the effects of water stress and Cenangium ferruginosum (CF) on the fungal endophytic community of needles of Pinus koraiensis (PK), fungal endophytes isolated from the needles of 5-year-old PK seedlings were compared before and after exposure to water stress conditions and artificial inoculation with CF ascospores. Artificial CF inoculation was successfully confirmed using PCR with C...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants known to be hazardous to human health. Pine needles and mosses are useful bio-indicators for assessing PAH pollutions; however, the differences in their PAH uptake mechanisms have not been sufficiently discussed. In this study, the properties of pine needles and mosses as bio-indicators of PAHs were investigated o...

The aim of this review and synthesis is to illustrate the gradual transformation of needles and cones from litter to humus. Individual needles may follow quite different decomposition pathways, which contributes to a diverse humus structure. In the litter layer (Oi), about 40% of the needles were excavated by special mites that produced slowly decomposable excrements. In the fermentation layer ...