Environmental risk assessment of GE plants under low-exposure conditions

The requirement for environmental risk assessment (ERA) of genetically engineered (GE) plants prior to large scale or commercial introduction into the environment is well established in national laws and regulations, as well as in international agreements. Since the first introductions of GE plants in commercial agriculture in the 1990s, a nearly universal paradigm has emerged for conducting these assessments based on a few guiding principles. These include the concept of case-by-case assessment, the use of comparative assessments, and a focus of the ERA on characteristics of the plant, the introduced trait, and the receiving environment as well as the intended use. In practice, however, ERAs for GE plants have frequently focused on achieving highly detailed characterizations of potential hazards at the expense of consideration of the relevant levels of exposure. This emphasis on exhaustive hazard characterization can lead to great difficulties when applied to ERA for GE plants under low-exposure conditions. This paper presents some relevant considerations for conducting an ERA for a GE plant in a low-exposure scenario in the context of the generalized ERA paradigm, building on discussions and case studies presented during a session at ISBGMO 12

Symptomatology and health attitudes of chronic hepatitis B patients in the USA

This study was conducted to understand the symptomatology, attitudes, and behaviours of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients in the USA. CHB patients enrolled in this study were recruited through multiple methods, including newspaper advertisements. Interviews were conducted in multiple languages, and all participants had a history of CHB infection for at least 6 months. Patients with documented human immunodeficiency virus or hepatitis C virus coinfection were excluded from data analyses, resulting in a total study population of 258 respondents who completed interviews between April and June 2004. The majority of monoinfected patients were male (57%) and non-Asian (92%, including 52% Caucasian, 32% African American and others). Length of diagnosis was 5.8 years for all participants (9.1-year Asian and 5.1-year non-Asian). Ninety-five per cent of CHB patients reported symptoms of differing severity in the 12 months prior to the survey. The most common symptoms included fatigue/loss of energy (90%) and loss of appetite (79%). Non-Asian patients described greater symptomatology, and were more likely than Asians to consider CHB an overriding concern in their daily activities. Patients were treated either currently or previously with interferon (IFN) described greater symptomatology than those treated without IFN. Survey results indicate that CHB patients may have greater symptomatology than recognized. Disease perceptions and treatment attitudes differ between Asian and non-Asian ethnic groups, with the former appearing to be more accepting and less concerned about the disease. Additional research about CHB symptomatology and health attitudes by ethnicity is needed to ensure that individuals with CHB are educated on the potential health risks and the availability of current treatment options

Reinventing ‘Towel City USA’: Textiles, Tourism and the Future of the Southeastern Mill Town

Throughout the southeastern region of the United States it is common to find towns that were built by textile companies in the late 19th century with the express purpose of manufacturing textile products. Textile companies sought rural areas within this region to build factories and then surrounded the factories with homes, schools, and stores designed to attract and keep workers (Suggs, 2002)

Multiple scattering theory for space filling potentials

Multiple scattering theory (MST) provides an efficient technique for solving the wave equation for the special case of muffin-tin potentials. Here MST is extended to treat space filling non-muffin tin potentials and its validity, accuracy and efficiency are tested by application of the two dimensional empty lattice test. For this test it is found that the traditional formulation of MST does not coverage as the number of partial waves is increased. A simple modification of MST, however, allows this problem to be solved exactly and efficiently. 15 refs., 3 tabs