This study was undertaken to determine whether there was an association between air pollutant levels and hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Taipei, Taiwan. Hospital admissions for COPD and ambient air pollution data for Taipei were obtained for the period 1996-2003. The relative risk of hospital admission was estimated using a case-crossover approach, controlling for weather variables, day of the week, seasonality, and long-term time trends. In the single-pollutant model, on warm days (> or = 20 degrees C) statistically significant positive associations were found in all pollutants except sulphur dioxide (SO2). However, statistically significant effects for COPD admissions on cool days (< 20 degrees C) were observed only for SO2 levels. For the two-pollutant model, NO2 and O3 were significant in combination with each of the other four pollutants on warm days. This study provides evidence that higher levels of ambient air pollutants increases the risk of hospital admissions for COPD in Taiwan.
Research has shown that long-term exposure to lead harms the hematological system. The homeostatic iron regulator HFE (hemochromatosis) mutation, which has been shown to affect iron absorption and iron overload, is hypothesized to be related to lead intoxication in vulnerable individuals. The aim of our study was to investigate whether the HFE genotype modifies the blood lead levels that affect the distributions of serum iron and other red blood cell indices. Overall, 121 lead workers and 117 unexposed age-matched subjects were recruited for the study. The collected data included the blood lead levels, complete blood count, serum iron, total iron binding capacity, transferrin, and ferritin, which were measured during regular physical examinations. All subjects filled out questionnaires that included demographic information, medical history, and alcohol and tobacco consumption. HFE genotyping for C282Y and H63D was determined using polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR/RFLP). The mean blood lead level in lead workers was 19.75 µg/dL and was 2.86 µg/dL in unexposed subjects. Of 238 subjects, 221 (92.9%) subjects were wild-type (CCHH) for HFE C282Y and H63D, and 17 (7.1%) subjects were heterozygous for a H63D mutation (CCHD). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that blood lead was significantly negatively associated with hemoglobin (Hb), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), and mean corpuscular volume (MCV), whereas the HFE variant was associated negatively with MCV and positively with ferritin. An interactive influence on MCV was identified between blood lead and HFE variants. Our research found a significant modifying effect of the HFE variant, which possibly affected MCV. The HFE H63D heterozygous (CCHD) variant seemed to provide a protective factor against lead toxicity. Future studies should focus on competing binding proteins between iron and lead influenced by gene variation.
an expert assessment. P2 was a multiple exposure assessment (15 scenarios) anchored by a recent measurement series (1375 personal measurements of inhalable SAS dust concentration) and used expert assessments. Results Cumulative exposure estimates for P1 averaged 56.9 mg/ m 3 -years (range: 0.1 to 419); for a selected P2 scenario the mean was 31.8 mg/m 3 -years (range: 0.4 to 480), (p < 0.0001). Averages varied between the 15 P2-scenarios from 12.6 to 109.6 mg/m 3 -years. Different time trends for SAS concentrations were observed. Conclusions Both approaches suffer from considerable uncertainties that need to be considered in the epidemiological morbidity study. Changes Questionnaire] were available for 98 police officers assessed 6 years after Katrina. The Survey of Perceived Organisational Support scale was used to assess organisational and supervisory support. Linear regression and ANOVA/ANCOVA were used to compare mean levels of depression and PTSD across quartiles of total life change events score. Results Mean age was 42.5 years; 27% were female. Mean levels of CES-D and PCL-C did not differ significantly between male and female officers. Total life events score was positively and significantly associated with depression and PTSD in both unadjusted and multivariable adjusted models (p < 0.001). Among officers who scored low on organisational support, mean levels of CES-D and PCL-C increased significantly with the increasing quartiles of total life event score (p = 0.005 and p = 0.001, respectively) in fully adjusted models. Associations were not significant among officers who scored high on organisational support. Conclusions Our findings suggest that a higher number of life change events is significantly associated with increasing symptoms of depression and PTSD among officers, and these associations are modified by organisational support. Previous studies suggest that stressful life events are associated with chronic depression. Future studies are warranted to investigate independent contributions of individual life events in associations involving depression, PTSD and support. -2014-102362.191 Objectives Both lead recycling and lead-containing paint are the main source of lead exposure. During the lead industrial processes, the workers exposed to many elements including nonessential elements and essential elements. The aim of this study was to compare lead (Pb) with cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), selenium (Se), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) in blood between lead-exposed and non-exposed workers. Method There were 109 lead workers and 329 non-exposed workers enrolled. The whole blood concentration of Pb was determined by graphite atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS), while the others (Cd, As, Se, Co, Cu and Zn) were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICPMS). We analysed the associations between the seven elements and the worker health examination data. Finally, multiple linear regressions were used to analyse elements interactions. Results The mean age of all workers was 40....
In conclusion, this study found that the Bsm and ALAD genes influence bone density among lead workers. However, the mechanism and exact relationship between these two genes and bone density require further investigation.
employment characteristics (paid vs. self-employed workers), smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity. Conclusions Our current results suggest that high emotional demand in both genders as well as low job control in men might play a crucial role in increasing the odds of suicidal ideation in sales and services workers. These serious links were still significant after controlling for individual risk factors such as for age, household income, and lifestyle factors. Furthermore, strong additive relationships of combination of high emotional demand with low job control to the odds of suicidal ideation were found both in men and women. Objectives Limited research indicates that using English-language only surveys in prevalence studies conducted in the general population or in specific ethnic populations may result in unrepresentative samples and biassed results. In this study we investigated whether participants from ethnic minorities who chose to complete a study interview in a language other than English (LOTE) differed from those who completed the interview in English. Method This study was conducted within the Migrant Australian Workplace Exposure Study, a population-based telephone survey that assessed the prevalence of exposure to occupational carcinogens among 749 workers of Chinese, Vietnamese and Arabic ancestry. The study was conducted in Australia in 2013. Modified Poisson regression determined the demographic factors associated with completing the interview in a LOTE. 0132Results Participants who completed the interview in a LOTE differed from those who completed the interview in English on several demographic factors, including sex, city of residence and country of birth. They were more likely to have a post-school qualification and to speak a LOTE at home, and were also more likely to be exposed at carcinogens at work compared with those who completed the interview in English (40% compared with 29%, P Difference <0.01). Conclusions The participants who choose to complete the study interview in their native language had several demographic differences to those participants who completed it in English, and were more likely to be exposed to carcinogens at work. Prevalence studies that offer only English-language study instruments are unlikely to produce representative samples of minority groups, and may therefore produce biassed results.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.