Anatomical Studies of Cca Penetration Associated With Conventional (Tooth) and With Micro (Needle) Incising

Individual tooth and needle incisions were made on radial and tangential surfaces of white spruce and jack pine heartwood test samples. The samples were pressure-treated with CCA preservative and then dissected in various planes to examine patterns of preservative penetration. Lateral movement of preservative from incisions was generally greater in the radial than in the tangential direction (average R/T ratio about 1.5). Longitudinal movement was in the range of 15 to 20 times that of lateral movement. Ray tissue facilitates movement in the radial plane, but difficulty is encountered in traversing latewood bands. An individual tooth incision resulted in a larger zone of treated wood but also in a greater amount of wood tissue damage than a needle incision. When compared as ratios of treated wood area to damaged wood area at a depth of 9 mm beneath the original treated surface, needle incisions were decidedly superior. For an equivalent degree of preservative treatment, conventional incising teeth damaged about ten times the amount of wood tissue as did incising needles

Including Pathogen Risk in Life Cycle Assessment of Wastewater Management. 1. Estimating the Burden of Disease Associated with Pathogens

The environmental performance of wastewater and sewage sludge management is commonly assessed using life cycle assessment (LCA), whereas pathogen risk is evaluated with quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA). This study explored the application of QMRA methodology with intent to include pathogen risk in LCA and facilitate a comparison with other potential impacts on human health considered in LCA. Pathogen risk was estimated for a model wastewater treatment system (WWTS) located in an industrialized country and consisting of primary, secondary, and tertiary wastewater treatment, anaerobic sludge digestion, and land application of sewage sludge. The estimation was based on eight previous QMRA studies as well as parameter values taken from the literature. A total pathogen risk (expressed as burden of disease) on the order of 0.2–9 disability-adjusted life years (DALY) per year of operation was estimated for the model WWTS serving 28 600 persons and for the pathogens and exposure pathways included in this study. The comparison of pathogen risk with other potential impacts on human health considered in LCA is detailed in part 2 of this article series

Biodegradation of diethyl phthalate in soil by a novel pathway

Biodegradation of diethyl phthalate (DEP) has been shown to occur as a series of sequential steps common to the degradation of all phthalates. Primary degradation of DEP to phthalic acid (PA) has been reported to involve the hydrolysis of each of the two diethyl chains of the phthalate to produce the monoester monoethyl phthalate (MEP) and then PA. However, in soil co-contaminated with DEP and MeOH, biodegradation of the phthalate to PA resulted in the formation of three compounds, in addition to MEP. These were characterised by gas chromatography-electron ionisation mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance as ethyl methyl phthalate, dimethyl phthalate and monomethyl phthalate, and indicated the existence of an alternative pathway for the degradation of DEP in Soil co-contaminated with MeOH. Transesterification or demethylation were proposed as the mechanisms for the formation of the three compounds, although the 7:1 ratio of H2O to MeOH means that transesterification is unlikely. (C) 2000 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Has the ClOpidogrel and Metoprolol in Myocardial Infarction Trial (COMMIT) of early beta-blocker use in acute coronary syndromes impacted on clinical practice in Canada? Insights from the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE)

BACKGROUND: The COMMIT/CCS-2 trial, published in 2005, demonstrated no net benefit of early beta-blocker (BB) therapy in acute coronary syndromes (ACS). We sought to assess the short-term impact of this landmark trial by comparing the use of early BB therapy in patients with a broad spectrum of ACS before and after 2005. METHODS: Using data from the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events and Canadian Registry of Acute Coronary Events, we compared the rates of BB use within the first 24 hours of presentation in the periods 1999 to 2005 and 2006 to 2008, after stratifying patients by the type of ACS (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction [STEMI] and non-ST-segment elevation ACS [NSTEACS]) and clinical presentation. RESULTS: Of the 14,231 patients with ACS, 77.7% received BB therapy within 24 hours of presentation (78.5% and 77.4% in the STEMI and NSTEACS groups, respectively). The early use of BB declined in the STEMI group (80.3% to 76.7%, P = .005) but increased in the NSTEACS group (75.4% to 78.9%, P \u3c .001) after 2005. Long-term BB use, higher systolic blood pressure, and higher heart rate were independent predictors of early BB use. Conversely, patients who were female, older, Killip class \u3e1, and had cardiac arrest at presentation were less likely to receive early BB. Multivariable analysis showed a trend toward lower use of BB among patients with STEMI (adjusted odds ratio 0.76, 95% CI 0.57-1.00, P = .055) and a trend toward more frequent BB use among patients with NSTEACS (adjusted odds ratio 1.22, 95% CI 0.96-1.55, P = .11) after 2005. The temporal trends in the early use of BB differed between patients with STEMI and patients with NSTEACS (P for interaction with period \u3c.001). CONCLUSIONS: Most patients with STEMI or NSTEACS were treated with early BB therapy. In accordance with the COMMMIT/CCS-2 trial, patients with lower systolic blood pressure and higher Killip class in the real world less frequently received early BB therapy. Since the publication of COMMIT/CCS-2, there has been no significant change in the use of BB in patients with STEMI or NSTEACS after controlling for their clinical characteristics

Toxicokinetics and analytical toxicology of the abused opioid U‐48800 — in vitro metabolism, metabolic stability, isozyme mapping, and plasma protein binding

Due to the risk of new synthetic opioids (NSOs) for human health, the knowledge of their toxicokinetic characteristics is important for clinical and forensic toxicology. U‐48800 is an NSO structurally non‐related to classical opioids such as morphine or fentanyl and offered for abuse. As toxicokinetic data of U‐48800 is not currently available, the aims of this study were to identify the in vitro metabolites of U‐48800 in pooled human liver S9 fraction (pS9), to map the isozymes involved in the initial metabolic steps, and to determine further toxicokinetic data such as metabolic stability, including the in vitro half‐life (t1/2), and the intrinsic (CLint) and hepatic clearance (CLh). Furthermore, drug detectability studies in rat urine should be done using hyphenated mass spectrometry. In total, 13 phase I metabolites and one phase II metabolite were identified. N‐Dealkylation, hydroxylation, and their combinations were the predominant metabolic reactions. The isozymes CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 were mainly involved in these initial steps. CYP2C19 poor metabolizers may suffer from an increased U‐48800 toxicity. The in vitro t1/2 and CLint could be rated as moderate, compared to structural related compounds. After administration of an assumed consumer dose to rats, the unchanged parent compound was found only in very low abundance but three metabolites were detected additionally. Due to species differences, metabolites found in rats might be different from those in humans. However, phase I metabolites found in rat urine, the parent compound, and additionally the N‐demethyl metabolite should be used as main targets in toxicological urine screening approaches

Influence of age on use of cardiac catheterization and associated outcomes in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes

Randomized controlled trials support the use of an early invasive strategy in high-risk patients with non-ST-segment elevation (NSTE) acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Although risk increases with age, limited data are available to support this strategy in older patients. The aims of this study were to examine temporal trends in the management and outcomes of NSTE ACS in elderly patients and to explore reasons for the lower use of early angiography in the aged population. Data from 11,732 patients with NSTE ACS were collected from 3 consecutive Canadian registries (ACS I, ACS II, and Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events [GRACE]/GRACE2) from 1999 to 2007. Rates of in-hospital cardiac catheterization, revascularization, infarction or reinfarction, and death were stratified by age (\u3c65, 65 to 74, and \u3e or = 75 years). Although overall, rates of in-hospital catheterization and revascularization increased over time (p \u3c0.001), the largest increase occurred in patients aged \u3c65 years. The strongest independent negative predictor of the use of cardiac catheterization was age \u3e or = 75 years (adjusted odds ratio 0.45, 95% confidence interval 0.37 to 0.56, p \u3c0.001). Use of an early invasive approach was associated with a reduction in 1-year mortality across all age groups, but the absolute difference was greatest in patients aged \u3e or = 75 years. The underestimation of risk by physicians (ascertained in ACS II) was the most common reason for choosing a conservative strategy. In conclusion, despite an overall increased use of an early invasive strategy, elderly patients with NSTE ACS remain significantly less likely to undergo cardiac catheterization and revascularization and are often erroneously perceived to be at low risk by their physicians. Future studies should determine whether more aggressive treatment of these high-risk elderly patients improves outcomes