Some neurophysiological, psychomotor, and psychological parameters in workers after long-term exposure to cholinesterase-inhibiting insecticides

U radu je ispitivana profesionalna izloženost radnika insekticidima inhibitorima holinesteraze i njihov uticaj na pojedine neurofiziološke, psihomotorne i psihološke parametre. Praćenje parametara je obuhvatilo merenje aktivnosti holinesteraze eritrocita, bioelektrične aktivnosti kore velikog mozga, reakcionih vremena, vizuelne diskriminacije, vizuelne identifikacije i profil indeks emocija. Dobijeni rezultati su upoređivani sa rezultatima kontrolnih grupa, a dobijene razlike su testirane Studentovim t-testom. Osim toga ispitivana je i linearna korelacija pojedinih parametara istraživanja. Razmatrani su mogući mehanizmi nastajanja uočenih promena posmatranih parametara kod grupe radnika profesionalno izloženih insekticidima inhibitorima holinesteraze.The paper deals with the effects of insecticides, cholinesterase inhibitors, on certain neurophysiological, psychomotor, and psychological parameters in occupationally exposed workers. The parameters measured were: the activities of erythrocyte cholinesterase, the bioelectrical activity of the cerebrum core, reaction times, visual discrimination, visual identification and the emotion index profile. The results were compared to the results from control groups, and the differences were analysed by Student\u27s test. The linear correlation of certain parameters was also examined. Possible mechanisms responsible for the changes in parameters are discussed

GSTM1 Modulates Expression of Endothelial Adhesion Molecules in Uremic Milieu

Deletion polymorphism of glutathione S-transferase M1 (GSTM1), a phase II detoxification and antioxidant enzyme, increases susceptibility to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) as well as the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among ESRD patients and leads to their shorter cardiovascular survival. The mechanisms by which GSTM1 downregulation contributes to oxidative stress and inflammation in endothelial cells in uremic conditions have not been investigated so far. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to elucidate the effects of GSTM1 knockdown on oxidative stress and expression of a panel of inflammatory markers in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) exposed to uremic serum. Additionally, we aimed to discern whether GSTM1-null genotype is associated with serum levels of adhesion molecules in ESRD patients. HUVECs treated with uremic serum exhibited impaired redox balance characterized by enhanced lipid peroxidation and decreased antioxidant enzyme activities, independently of the GSTM1 knockdown. In response to uremic injury, HUVECs exhibited alteration in the expression of a series of inflammatory cytokines including retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), C-reactive protein (CRP), angiogenin, dickkopf-1 (Dkk-1), and platelet factor 4 (PF4). GSTM1 knockdown in HUVECs showed upregulation of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), a cytokine involved in the regulation of monocyte migration and adhesion. These cells also have shown upregulated intracellular and vascular cell adhesion molecules (ICAM-1 and VCAM-1). In accordance with these findings, the levels of serum ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 (sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1) were increased in ESRD patients lacking GSTM1, in comparison with patients with the GSTM1-active genotype. Based on these results, it may be concluded that incubation of endothelial cells in uremic serum induces redox imbalance accompanied with altered expression of a series of cytokines involved in arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis. The association of GSTM1 downregulation with the altered expression of adhesion molecules might be at least partly responsible for the increased susceptibility of ESRD patients to CVD

Relapse in resected lung cancer revisited: does intensified follow up really matter? A prospective study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>beside the well known predominance of distant vs. loco-regional relapse, several aspects of the relapse pattern still have not been fully elucidated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>prospective, controlled study on 88 patients operated for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in a 15 months period. Stage IIIA existed in 35(39.8%) patients, whilst stages IB, IIA and IIB existed in 10.2%, 4.5% and 45.5% patients respectively. Inclusion criteria: stage I-IIIA, complete resection, systematic lymphadenectomy with at least 6 lymph node groups examined, no neoadjuvant therapy, exact data of all aspects of relapse, exact data about the outcome of the treatment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>postoperative lung cancer relapse occurred in 50(56.8%) patients. Locoregional, distant and both types of relapse occurred in 26%, 70% and 4% patients respectively. Postoperative cancer relapse occurred in 27/35(77.1%) pts. in the stage IIIA and in 21/40(52.55) pts in the stage IIB. In none of four pts. in the stage IIA cancer relapse occurred, unlike 22.22% pts. with relapse in the stage IB. The mean disease free interval in the analysed group was 34.38 ± 3.26 months.</p> <p>The mean local relapse free and distant relapse free intervals were 55 ± 3.32 and 41.62 ± 3.47 months respectively Among 30 pts. with the relapse onset inside the first 12 month after the lung resection, in 20(66.6%) pts. either T3 tumours or N2 lesions existed. In patients with N0, N1 and N2 lesions, cancer relapse occurred in 30%, 55.6% and 70.8% patients respectively</p> <p>Radiographic aspect T stage, N stage and extent of resection were found as significant in terms of survival. Related to the relapse occurrence, although radiographic aspect and extent of resection followed the same trend as in the survival analysis, only T stage and N stage were found as significant in the same sense as for survival. On multivariate, only T and N stage were found as significant in terms of survival.</p> <p>Specific oncological treatment of relapse was possible in 27/50(54%) patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>the intensified follow up did not increase either the proportion of patients detected with asymptomatic relapse or the number of patients with specific oncological treatment of relapse.</p

Placing the library at the heart of plagiarism prevention: The University of Bradford experience.

yesPlagiarism is a vexed issue for Higher Education, affecting student transition, retention and attainment. This paper reports on two initiatives from the University of Bradford library aimed at reducing student plagiarism. The first initiative is an intensive course for students who have contravened plagiarism regulations. The second course introduces new students to the concepts surrounding plagiarism with the aim to prevent plagiarism breaches. Since the Plagiarism Avoidance for New Students course was introduced there has been a significant drop in students referred to the disciplinary programme. This paper discusses the background to both courses and the challenges of implementation

Rare tracheal tumor: Solitary plasmacytoma

Primary tracheal tumors are rare and trachea is an exceedingly rare site of extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP). We report a case of solitary tracheal plasmacytoma causing symptoms of airway obstruction in a 59-year-old man. Flow/volume loop indicated the fixed central airway obstruction. Computerized tomography and bronchoscopy demonstrated a sessile tumor on posterior tracheal wall obstructing 80% of the lumen. Partial tracheal resection with T-T anastomosis was performed. Pathologic analysis of resected mass revealed EMP. Additional investigations excluded multiple myeloma. There are no signs of disease recurrence after 7-year follow-up

Residue systems efficiency for modular products summation: application to elliptic curves cryptography

Residue systems of representation, like Residue Number Systems (RNS) for primary field(GF (p)) or Trino-mial Residue Arithmetic for binary field (GF (2k)), are characterized by efficient multiplication and costly modular reduction. On the other hand, conventional representations allow in some cases very efficient re-ductions but require costly multiplications. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the complexity of those two different approaches in the summations of products. As a matter of fact, the complexities of the reduction in residue systems and of the multiplication in classical representations are similar. One of the main features of this reduction is that it doesn’t depend on the field. Moreover, the cost of multiplication in residue systems is equivalent to the cost of reduction in classical representations for special well-chosen fields. Taking those properties into account, we remark that an expression like A ∗ B + C ∗D, which requires two products, one addition and one reduction, evaluates faster in a residue system than in a classical one. So we propose to study types of expressions to offer a guide for choosing a most appropriate representation. One of the best domain of application is the Elliptic Curves Cryptography where addition and dou-bling points formulas are composed of products summation. The different kinds of coordinates like affine, projective, and Jacobean, offer a good choice of expressions for our study