Sexual Harms without Misogyny

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Techniques of Atomic Absorption: Direct Determination of Cadmium in Biological Materials and Metal Speciation by Differential Atomization.

A method was developed for the direct determination of cadmium in biological materials. Determination of metals in biological samples was made difficult by the low concentration, the complex matrix, and the small amount of sample generally available. Current methods for this type of analysis involve either a wet-ashing or a dry-ashing step to break down the organic matrix and concentrate the metals present. These procedures often cause positive and/or negative errors due to contamination of the sample or loss of the metal of interest. The described method avoided these sources of error by eliminating sample pretreatment steps. The method made use of a unique carbon bed atomizer for electrothermal atomic absorption spectroscopy. A sample introduced onto the heated carbon bed was completely decomposed and atomized before being drawn through the lightpath, where atomic absorption was recorded. Use of the carbon bed atomizer efficiently broke down the organic matrix of biological samples, thereby reducing background absorption and eliminating the need for previous ashing steps. The sensitivity of the method (approximatly 10(\u27-13) g) was sufficient so that preconcentration of the sample was unnecessary. Use of the carbon bed atomizer was applied to a study of the cadmium concentrations in whole blood, urine, perspiration, hair, and breath samples collected from a population not occupationaly exposed to the metal. Liquid samples were introduced into the atomizer by placing 1 (mu)l on a 6-mm filter paper disk. This technique immobilized the sample and promoted complete degradation of the matrix. Background signals were reduced to approximately 6-8% absorption. Hair samples were analyzed by dropping 1-cm segments onto the surface of the hot carbon bed. Breath samples were collected by pulling the sample through a bed composed of activated carbon. Data were collected indicating the average cadmium concentration and the range and distribution of cadmium values in blood, urine, sweat, and hair. Comparisons were made between the cadmium concentrations of two or more of these excretory tissues for individuals. Estimates of the average daily excretion of cadmium through each of these tissues were calculated. The total daily excretion of cadmium from the body was estimated to be 180 (mu)g/day, which was approximately equal to the daily intake. The results indicated that the half-life of cadmium in the human body is considerably less than 20-40 years, as is reported in the literature. There has been an increasing demand for analytical techniques which provide not only total metal analysis, but also differentiate between various metal compounds. Such techniques would provide information on the chemical form of a metal in a sample, which has particular significance in toxicological and environmental studies. A technique was developed which used a dual-stage atomizer for atomic absorption spectroscopy to distinguish between different chemical forms of metals. The first stage, consisting of a platinum wire loop, was gradually increased in temperature to vaporize different forms of a metal at their characteristic temperatures. The second stage, which was the carbon bed, was maintained hot to atomize the vaporous metallic species. Absorption traces were obtained for solutions of various lead and cadmium compounds using the platinum loop apparatus. Traces also were obtained for lead and cadmium in whole blood. Differences were observed in the absorption spectra of the various samples

All Work Cultures Discriminate

Courts and commentators have characterized Title VII as requiring no more and no less than the neutral treatment of men and women. Neutrality has much to recommend it as a normative principle and for many years the neutrality paradigm served women well as a legal strategy. A requirement of neutrality, however, may legally permit any neutral employment practice, whether or not it is more congenial on average to members of one sex. Such strong neutrality principles tend to perpetuate the male-oriented status quo. Gender-conscious neutrality must inevitably rest on some vision of which traits are gendered and how persistent sex differences are likely to be. Central to developing such proposals is the study of empirical evidence on differences between men and women. The quest for alternatives to strong neutrality is not an easy one, and must evolve along with our changing understanding of statistical sex differences. This article proposes a few such steps

Practical Rationality, the disciplinary obligation, and authentic mathematical work: A Look at Geometry

Grossman and McDonald (2008) recently argued that the research community needs to move its “attention beyond the cognitive demands of teaching … to an expanded view of teaching that focuses on teaching as a practice (p. 185).” Building on the work of Bourdieu (Bourdieu and Wacquent, 1992; Bourdieu, 1985, 1998), Herbst and Chazan (2003, 2006) have written about mathematics teaching as a practice, just as law and medicine are considered practices, in an attempt to better understand the rationality that produces, regulates, and sustains mathematics instruction. This practical rationality is the commonly held system of dispositions or the “feel for the game” (Bourdieu, 1998, p. 25) that influences practitioners as to those actions that are appropriate in the classroom

Brace Treatment for Adults with Spinal Deformities

The bracing indication for adults with spinal deformities is two-fold: (1) pain and (2) deformity. Although pain is more frequent in the adult population with scoliosis, there is no correlation between the angle of curvature and pain intensity. Pain is reportedly more frequent in patients who were operated. Non-specific pain can successfully be treated with stabilisation exercises; however, some patients may need brace treatment to improve their pain. Today, with the help of a simple clinical test, we can distinguish between different types of lower back pain allowing a differential approach to the symptom. There is some evidence that pain can successfully be reduced by these approaches mainly influencing the sagittal profile. In patients with bigger deformities and in patients aiming at reducing their deformity, pattern-specific scoliosis braces are a successful choice according to published research cases. The different specific brace types/designs along with the differential indication for these brace types will be described in this chapter

Brace Treatment for Children and Adolescents with Scoliosis

The aim of brace treatment in patients with scoliosis during growth is (1) to stop curve progression and (2) to improve appearance/cosmesis. There is high quality evidence available supporting brace treatment. According to recent publications, the outcomes of different braces vary to a high extent. Although most of the scoliosis cases will not affect the patient’s health, the impact of braces on the cosmetic outcome to date is not well determined. Standardised asymmetric braces (mainly Chêneau derivatives) have better outcomes than symmetric compression braces and may also lead to significant improvements of the deformity. For symmetric braces, no evidence exists that these could significantly change the deformity. Soft braces have no indication and the use of night-time braces should be largely restricted due to poor outcomes when compared to current standards of full-time bracing

Rate of complications in scoliosis surgery – a systematic review of the Pub Med literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Spinal fusion surgery is currently recommended when curve magnitude exceeds 40–45 degrees. Early attempts at spinal fusion surgery which were aimed to leave the patients with a mild residual deformity, failed to meet such expectations. These aims have since been revised to the more modest goals of preventing progression, restoring 'acceptability' of the clinical deformity and reducing curvature.</p> <p>In view of the fact that there is no evidence that health related signs and symptoms of scoliosis can be altered by spinal fusion in the long-term, a clear medical indication for this treatment cannot be derived. Knowledge concerning the rate of complications of scoliosis surgery may enable us to establish a cost/benefit relation of this intervention and to improve the standard of the information and advice given to patients. It is also hoped that this study will help to answer questions in relation to the limiting choice between the risks of surgery and the <it>"wait and see – observation only until surgery might be recommended"</it>, strategy widely used. The purpose of this review is to present the actual data available on the rate of complications in scoliosis surgery.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>Search strategy for identification of studies; Pub Med and the SOSORT scoliosis library, limited to English language and bibliographies of all reviewed articles. The search strategy included the terms; 'scoliosis'; 'rate of complications'; 'spine surgery'; 'scoliosis surgery'; 'spondylodesis'; 'spinal instrumentation' and 'spine fusion'.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The electronic search carried out on the 1^stFebruary 2008 with the key words "scoliosis", "surgery", "complications" revealed 2590 titles, which not necessarily attributed to our quest for the term "rate of complications". 287 titles were found when the term "rate of complications" was used as a key word. Rates of complication varied between 0 and 89% depending on the aetiology of the entity investigated. Long-term rates of complications have not yet been reported upon.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Scoliosis surgery has a varying but high rate of complications. A medical indication for this treatment cannot be established in view of the lack of evidence. The rate of complications may even be higher than reported. Long-term risks of scoliosis surgery have not yet been reported upon in research. Mandatory reporting for all spinal implants in a standardized way using a spreadsheet list of all recognised complications to reveal a 2-year, 5-year, 10-year and 20-year rate of complications should be established. Trials with untreated control groups in the field of scoliosis raise ethical issues, as the control group could be exposed to the risks of undergoing such surgery.</p