We read with interest the article in the November 2010 edition by Brown et al. in which the authors have presented their experience in managing 27 patients with supramitral ring (SMR) associated with other cardiac anomalies [1]. Coming from authors with many publications to their credit, we were surprised to read the fourth paragraph of their discussion wherein the authors have sought to be the...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS To examine the risk for cancer mortality among workers exposed to coal tar and coal tar pitch volatiles in a man-made graphite electrode factory. The risk for cancer mortality in this type of factory is still inconclusive, although coal tar and coal tar pitch are recognised as human carcinogens. METHODS The study cohort consisted of 332 male employees who served more than ...

Basal or standard metabolic rate (SMR) has been found to exhibit substantial intraspecific variation in a range of taxa, but the consequences of this variation are little understood. Here we explore how SMR is related to the energy cost of processing food, known as apparent specific dynamic action or the heat increment of feeding. Using juvenile Atlantic salmon Salmo salar, we show that fishes ...

Small multidrug resistance (SMR) proteins comprise a family of bacterial secondary active transporters that confer drug resistance to antiseptics and antibiotics. EmrE has emerged as the model protein of the SMR family and an archetype to understand the ion-coupled transport mechanism. The importance of EmrE is further underscored by its proposed role as an evolutionary predecessor to larger tr...

The study aimed at assessing cancer risk in a cohort of workers employed in the rubber tire production. The cohort consisted of 17,747 workers (11,660 men and 6087 women) employed in a rubber tire plant for at least three months during the years 1950-1995. The cohort follow-up was completed on December 31, 1995. Deaths by causes were analyzed using standardized mortality ratio (SMR) calculated ...

OBJECTIVES To determine the mortality from non-respiratory cancers by work area among active and retired male workers of the German rubber industry. METHODS A cohort of 11,633 male German workers was followed up for mortality from 1 January 1981 to 31 December 1991. Cohort members were active (n = 7536) or retired (n = 4127) on 1 January 1981 and had been employed for at least one year in one...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate mortality risks of angiosarcoma of the liver (ASL), primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and other cancers among 9951 men employed between 1942 and 1972 at 35 US vinyl chloride (VC) or polyvinyl chloride plants followed for mortality through 31 December 2013. METHODS SMR and time-dependent Cox proportional hazards analyses were used to evaluate mortality risks by cumul...

There is increasing interest in the effect of energy metabolism on oxidative stress, but much ambiguity over the relationship between the rate of oxygen consumption and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Production of ROS (such as hydrogen peroxide, H2O2) in the mitochondria is primarily inferred indirectly from measurements in vitro, which may not reflect actual ROS production in...

This study examined the mortality among shipbreaking workers from 1985 to 1997, after the shipbreaking industry was banned in 1985-1986. The study cohort consisted of men including 2,850 flame cutters, 871 lifters, 240 odd-jobbers and 225 other workers registered in 1985 at Kaohsiung Shipbreaking Workers Union. Mortality (n=336) data examined were obtained from the Vital Statistics Registry fro...

OBJECTIVE To study the mortality from cardiovascular and other chronic non-neoplastic diseases after long term exposure to inorganic mercury. Limited information is available on the effect of chronic exposure to mercury on the cardiovascular system. METHODS The mortality was studied among 6784 male and 265 female workers from four mercury mines and mills in Spain, Slovenia, Italy, and the Ukr...