Green and Lash (1999) commented, in a letter to the editor, on our paper reporting an increased incidence of renal cell cancer in workers exposed to high concentrations of trichloroethene over extended periods of time (Vamvakas et al. 1998). Unfortunately, because of irregular handling of the letter by the editorial management of the journal, we were not in a position to follow common practice, that is to respond immediately and in the same issue (see footnote).We do not accept the statement at the outset of Green and Lash's letter that signi®cant methodological¯aws make our results unreliable. Rather, we regard their criticism as unsubstantiated, for following reasons.

GENICA is a population-based case-control study on breast cancer with detailed information on shift work characteristics. We are the first to show the associations between night shift work and breast cancer with respect to estrogen receptor (ER) positive and negative tumors. Our results suggest a stronger association of chronobiological mechanisms with the development of ER-negative breast cancers. Original article Scand J Work Environ Health. 2013;39(5):448-455. doi:10.5271/sjweh.3360 Night work and breast cancer estrogen receptor status -results from the German GENICA study Objectives The potential mechanisms that link night-shift work with breast cancer have been extensively discussed. Exposure to light at night (LAN) depletes melatonin that has oncostatic and anti-estrogenic properties and may lead to a modified expression of estrogen receptor (ER) α. Here, we explored the association between shift work and breast cancer in subgroups of patients with ER-positive and -negative tumors. AffiliationMethods GENICA (Gene-ENvironment Interaction and breast CAncer) is a population-based case-control study on breast cancer with detailed information on shift work from 857 breast cancer cases and 892 controls. ER status was assessed by immunohistochemical staining. Associations between night-shift work and ER-positive and -negative breast cancer were analyzed with conditional logistic regression models, adjusted for potential confounders.Results ER status was assessed for 827 cases and was positive in 653 and negative in 174 breast tumors.Overall, 49 cases and 54 controls were "ever employed" in shift work including night shifts for ≥1 year. In total, "ever shift work" and "ever night work" were not associated with an elevated risk of ER-positive or -negative breast tumors. Night work for ≥20 years was associated with a significantly elevated risk of ER-negative breast cancer [odds ratio (OR) 4.73, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.22-18.36].Conclusions Our case-control study suggests that long-term night-shift work is associated with an increased risk of ER-negative breast cancers. Further studies on histological subtypes and the analysis of other potentially relevant factors are crucial for discovering putative mechanisms.

Improvement and standardization of SPT extracts for wheat and rye flour is highly recommended.

SUMMARYWe examined the expression of the CD45RO antigen, which characterizes the antigen primed/memory phenotype of T lymphocytes, as a marker for congenital infection in blood samples of newborns and fetuses. CD45RO expression on T cells was determined by triple-colour fluorescence flow cytometry. In total 537 blood samples of newborns and infants up to an age of 3 months and 89 fetal blood samples from gestational weeks 19-31 were analysed. Of the newborns and infants, 74 had a clinically, serologically and/or antigenically evident infection, and four of the fetuses had a confirmed intra-uterine infection. In 35 infants with acute predominantly bacterial infections such as sepsis or pneumonia, 17 (48 . 6%) had elevated CD45RO bright expression. In 39 infants with proven pre-, peri-or early post-natal infections with toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus (CMV), rubella, herpes simplex virus (HSV) or human herpes virus type 6 (HHV6), 25 (64 . 1%) exhibited enhanced CD45RO bright expression. Three of four fetuses with confirmed intra-uterine infection (three with CMV, one with parvovirus B19) exhibited elevated CD45RO bright expression. The specificity of the CD45RO assay for detecting microbial infections was 94 . 6% for newborns and infants up to 3 months and 90 . 6% for fetuses. It is concluded that elevated numbers of CD45RO bright T cells in infants up to 3 months of age strongly suggest an infection. However, the sensitivity of the CD45RO assay is not sufficient to enable the test to be used as a general marker for prescreening infants to detect pre-, peri-or early post-natally acquired infections.

Although patients have concomitant IgE antibody reactivity to chestnut and NRL, cross-reactivity could be demonstrated mainly in those patients with IgE to Hev b 8 (profilin) from NRL.