Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal cancer (EC) is the 8th most common cancer and the 6th most frequent cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the most common type of EC. Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been suggested as a risk factor for developing ESCC. In this paper we will review different aspects of the relationship between PAH exposure and ESCC. PAHs are a group of compounds that are formed by incomplete combustion of organic matter. Studies in humans have shown an association between PAH exposure and development of ESCC in many populations. The results of a recent case-control study in a high risk population in northeastern Iran showed a dramatic dose-response relationship between PAH content in non-tumor esophageal tissue (the target tissue for esophageal carcinogenesis) and ESCC case status, consistent with a causal role for PAH exposure in the pathogenesis of ESCC. Identifying the main sources of exposure to PAHs may be the first and most important step in designing appropriate PAH-reduction interventions for controlling ESCC, especially in high risk areas. Coal smoke and drinking mate have been suggested as important modifiable sources of PAH exposure in China and Brazil, respectively. But the primary source of exposure to PAHs in other high risk areas for ESCC, such as northeastern Iran, has not yet been identified. Thus, environmental studies to determining important sources of PAH exposure should be considered as a high priority in future research projects in these areas

The Crescent Student Newspaper, February 16, 1979

Student newspaper of Pacific College (later George Fox University). 10 pages, black and white.https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/the_crescent/1960/thumbnail.jp

Eminent Domain and Racial Discrimination: A Bogus Equation

This paper is a transcript of testimony by Professor J. Peter Byrne before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission on August 12, 2011. This hearing addresses claims that the use of eminent domain for economic development unfairly and disproportionately harms racial and ethnic minorities. These claims draw on the history of urban renewal prior to the 1960’s, when many African Americans and others were displaced by publicly funded projects that bulldozed their homes in largely failed attempts to modernize cities. Justice Clarence Thomas’s dissent in Kelo v. City of New London further argued that the use of eminent domain for economic redevelopment would inevitably harm minorities and the poor. Such concerns in our time are seriously misplaced. Redevelopment projects using eminent domain continue to be an invaluable tool for maintaining the economic competitiveness and livability of urban areas where property ownership is fragmented and where minorities live in large numbers. The discriminatory elements of older urban renewal reflect the racism generally prevalent in political life in the 1940’s and 50’s, and have been largely eliminated by the growth of political power by African Americans and other urban minorities, as well as the changed fiscal relations between the federal and local governments, the effect of which has been to give greater control over redevelopment projects to local political leaders. Use of eminent domain, rarely now applied to residences, today requires political consent and community buy-in

The Regulation of Technology, and the Technology of Regulation

Regulation may inhibit or stimulate technological change. The relationship depends on the technology of regulation - the design and instrument choice of regulatory policy. This essay examines the history of economic and social regulations over the last three decades, the explanatory power of theories of regulatory politics, the choice of regulatory instruments, the assessment of regulatory impacts, and the influence of each of these on the innovation and diffusion of technology (and of regulation). It concludes with recommendations for the future of regulation and technology