OBJECTIVE To assess California firefighters' blood concentrations of selected chemicals and compare with a representative US population. METHODS We report laboratory methods and analytic results for cadmium, lead, mercury, and manganese in whole blood and 12 serum perfluorinated chemicals in a sample of 101 Southern California firefighters. RESULTS Firefighters' blood metal concentrations w...

Background We examined the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database to determine factors associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in adults 20 to 55 years of age. Methods NHANES data collected between 2007 and 2014, excluding the 2011-2012 period, were used. Subjects were divided into those with and without RA. Demographic, clinical, and lifestyle fact...

This article looks at the idea that the virtual archaeological reconstructions seen in museums cannot be considered Virtual Reality (VR) as they are based on an artistic conception of the discipline. The cause is to be found in the origins of Archaeology, which began in the 18th century and was closely linked to the History of Art. In the era of New Technologies, this concept has become both th...

BACKGROUND/AIMS A deficit of various hormones during the process of aging and/or a heightened inflammatory state may be causally linked to the development of frailty. Phytoestrogens as weak estrogens, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory agents may counteract this process. METHODS In a cross-sectional study including two cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, i...

It is claimed the hierarchical-age-period-cohort (HAPC) model solves the age-period-cohort (APC) identification problem. However, this is debateable; simulations show situations where the model produces incorrect results, countered by proponents of the model arguing those simulations are not relevant to real-life scenarios. This paper moves beyond questioning whether the HAPC model works, to wh...

Using data from the 1997-2004 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), we examine the role of chronic conditions in recent declines in late-life disability prevalence. Building upon prior studies, we decompose disability declines into changes in the prevalence of chronic conditions and in the risk of disability given a condition. In doing so, we extend Kitigawa's (1955) classical decomposition ...

Recent studies have demonstrated the importance of flavonoid intake and disease risk, however the association between flavonoid intake and obesity has not been evaluated in a nationally representative sample of US adults. The objective of the study was to evaluate the association between flavonoid consumption and established risk factors for obesity and obesity-related inflammation. Data from a...

IMPORTANCE Between 1980 and 2000, the prevalence of obesity increased significantly among adult men and women in the United States; further significant increases were observed through 2003-2004 for men but not women. Subsequent comparisons of data from 2003-2004 with data through 2011-2012 showed no significant increases for men or women. OBJECTIVE To examine obesity prevalence for 2013-2014 ...

This article reports data concerning silicosis-related web-activities using Google Trends (GT) capturing the Internet behavior in the USA for the period 2004-2010. GT-generated data were then compared with the most recent available epidemiological data of silicosis mortality obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the same study period. Statistically significant correla...

BACKGROUND In the past three decades, the elderly population in the United States experienced increase in life expectancy (LE) and disability-free life expectancy (LE(ND)), but decrease in life expectancy with disability (LE(D)). Smoking and obesity are two major risk factors that had negative impacts on these trends. While smoking prevalence continues to decline in recent decades, obesity prev...