The Non-Unconscionability of Condominium Recreation Leases

The authors evaluate the theory of unconscionability as a basis for challenging long-term condominium recreation leases in Florida. They discuss the situation underlying such challenges and examine recent attempts to apply common law and U.C.C. unconscionability principles to recreation leases. An analysis of the realities of condominium development serves to dispel several commonly held misconceptions about recreation leases. The authors also analyze the presumption of unconscionability under the Florida Condominium Act, contrasting it with the proposed Federal Condominium Act. Recognizing the inefficacy of the unconscionability approach, the authors briefly discuss the recreation lease buy-out as a more feasible alternative solution

The Non-Unconscionability of Condominium Recreation Leases

The authors evaluate the theory of unconscionability as a basis for challenging long-term condominium recreation leases in Florida. They discuss the situation underlying such challenges and examine recent attempts to apply common law and U.C.C. unconscionability principles to recreation leases. An analysis of the realities of condominium development serves to dispel several commonly held misconceptions about recreation leases. The authors also analyze the presumption of unconscionability under the Florida Condominium Act, contrasting it with the proposed Federal Condominium Act. Recognizing the inefficacy of the unconscionability approach, the authors briefly discuss the recreation lease buy-out as a more feasible alternative solution

Self-reported and measured weight, height and body mass index (BMI) in Italy, the Netherlands and North America

Background: Self-reported values of height and weight are used increasingly despite warnings that these data - and derived body mass index (BMI) values - might be biased. The present study investigates whether differences between self-reported and measured values are the same for populations from different regions, and the influences of gender and age. Methods: Differences between self-reported and measured weights, heights and resulting BMIs are compared for representative samples of the adult population of Italy, the Netherlands and North America. Results: We observed that weight is under-reported (1.1 ± 2.6 kg for females and 0.4 ± 3.1 kg for males) and height over-reported (1.1 ± 2.2 cm for females and 1.7 ± 2.1 cm for males), in accordance with the literature. This leads to an overall underestimation of BMI values (0.7 ± 1.2 kg/m2 or 2.8 for females and 0.6 ± 1.1 kg/m2 or 2.3 for males). When BMI values are assigned to four categories (from 'underweight' to 'obesity'), 11.2 of the females and 12.0 of the males are categorized too low when self-reported weights and heights are used, with an extreme of 17.2 for Italian females. Older people tend to relatively over-report height and under-report weight, but the magnitude differs between countries and gender. Conclusion: We conclude that, apart from a general overestimation of height and underestimation of weight resulting in an underestimation of BMI, substantial differences are observed between countries, between females and males and between age groups. © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved

Prediction of carcinogenic potential of chemicals using repeated-dose (13-week) toxicity data

AbstractSub-chronic toxicity studies of 163 non-genotoxic chemicals were evaluated in order to predict the tumour outcome of 24-month rat carcinogenicity studies obtained from the EFSA and ToxRef databases. Hundred eleven of the 148 chemicals that did not induce putative preneoplastic lesions in the sub-chronic study also did not induce tumours in the carcinogenicity study (True Negatives). Cellular hypertrophy appeared to be an unreliable predictor of carcinogenicity. The negative predictivity, the measure of the compounds evaluated that did not show any putative preneoplastic lesion in de sub-chronic studies and were negative in the carcinogenicity studies, was 75%, whereas the sensitivity, a measure of the sub-chronic study to predict a positive carcinogenicity outcome was only 5%. The specificity, the accuracy of the sub-chronic study to correctly identify non-carcinogens was 90%. When the chemicals which induced tumours generally considered not relevant for humans (33 out of 37 False Negatives) are classified as True Negatives, the negative predictivity amounts to 97%. Overall, the results of this retrospective study support the concept that chemicals showing no histopathological risk factors for neoplasia in a sub-chronic study in rats may be considered non-carcinogenic and do not require further testing in a carcinogenicity study

ОСОБЕННОСТИ ДЕГРАДАЦИИ ПОЛИЭЛЕКТРОЛИТНЫХ ГИДРОГЕЛЕЙ НА ОСНОВЕ ФУНКЦИОНАЛИЗИРОВАННЫХ ПОЛИАКРИЛАМИДОВ ПРИ ТЕПЛОВОМ СТАРЕНИИ

The transformation of the intermolecular complex of chromium (III)–polymer into the intramolecular one was revealed to be the main reason for degradation of polyelectrolyte hydrogels based on sulfonated and carboxylated polyacrylamides crosslinked by chromium (III) acetate during thermal aging, while the mineralized water addition caused polymer salts to precipitate. Hydrogel destruction occurred at a relatively high content of carboxylate groups formed due to the hydrolysis of amide or substituted amide groups. NMR 13C and NMR 1H spectroscopy showed that the hydrolysis of the functional groups in polyelectrolyte hydrogel containing a sulfo group proceeded slowly, thus resulting in a higher resistance to thermal aging as compared to that based on carboxylated polyacrylamide.Установлено, что при тепловом старении полиэлектролитных гидрогелей на основе карбоксилированного и сульфонированного полиакриламидов, сшитых ацетатом хрома (III), основной причиной их деградации является превращение межмолекулярного комплекса хром (III)–полимер во внутримолекулярный, а в минерализованной воде – высаждение полимерных солей. Разрушение гидрогеля происходит при достаточно высоком содержании карбоксилатных групп, образующихся в результате гидролиза амидных или замещенных амидных групп макромолекул. Методами спектроскопии ЯМР 13С и ЯМР 1Н обнаружено, что гидролиз функциональных групп в гидрогеле, содержащем сульфогруппу, протекает медленнее, что приводит к его более высокой устойчивости к тепловому старению по сравнению с гидрогелем на основе карбоксилированного полиакриламида

Effect of a 6-month vegan low-carbohydrate (‘Eco-Atkins’) diet on cardiovascular risk factors and body weight in hyperlipidaemic adults: a randomised controlled trial

Objective: Low-carbohydrate diets may be useful for weight loss. Diets high in vegetable proteins and oils may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. The main objective was to determine the longer term effect of a diet that was both low-carbohydrate and plant-based on weight loss and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Design, setting, participants A parallel design study of 39 overweight hyperlipidaemic men and postmenopausal women conducted at a Canadian university-affiliated hospital nutrition research centre from April 2005 to November 2006. Intervention Participants were advised to consume either a low-carbohydrate vegan diet or a high-carbohydrate lacto-ovo vegetarian diet for 6 months after completing 1-month metabolic (all foods provided) versions of these diets. The prescribed macronutrient intakes for the low-carbohydrate and high-carbohydrate diets were: 26% and 58% of energy from carbohydrate, 31% and 16% from protein and 43% and 25% from fat, respectively. Primary outcome Change in body weight. Results: 23 participants (50% test, 68% control) completed the 6-month ad libitum study. The approximate 4 kg weight loss on the metabolic study was increased to −6.9 kg on low-carbohydrate and −5.8 kg on high-carbohydrate 6-month ad libitum treatments (treatment difference (95% CI) −1.1 kg (−2.1 to 0.0), p=0.047). The relative LDL-C and triglyceride reductions were also greater on the low-carbohydrate treatment (treatment difference (95% CI) −0.49 mmol/L (−0.70 to −0.28), p<0.001 and −0.34 mmol/L (−0.57 to −0.11), p=0.005, respectively), as were the total cholesterol:HDL-C and apolipoprotein B:A1 ratios (−0.57 (−0.83, −0.32), p<0.001 and −0.05 (−0.09, −0.02), p=0.003, respectively). Conclusions: A self-selected low-carbohydrate vegan diet, containing increased protein and fat from gluten and soy products, nuts and vegetable oils, had lipid lowering advantages over a high-carbohydrate, low-fat weight loss diet, thus improving heart disease risk factors. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/), #NCT00256516

Increase the strength characteristics of polymer films by radiation graft polymerization

The possibility of increasing the strength characteristics of polymer films based on polyethylene and polyamide by radiation graft polymerization was investigated. Two methods of graft polymerization (direct method and the method of polymer mixtures cross-linking) on the PMMA films surface were studied. The possibility of increasing the strength and elasticity of polymeric films by radiation modification of polymethyl methacrylate was shown

Effect of endotoxin on cholesterol biosynthesis and distribution in serum lipoproteins in Syrian hamsters

Infection and inflammation increase serum triglyceride and cholesterol levels in rodents and rabbits. Endotoxin (LPS) has been used as a model of infection and its effects on triglyceride metabolism have been previously characterized. In the present study we demonstrate that both low (100 ng/100 g body weight) and high dose (100 μg/100 g body weight) LPS increase serum cholesterol levels in hamsters. The increase in serum cholesterol is first observed 16 h after LPS and persists for at least 24 h. This increase is primarily due to an increase in low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. High density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels decrease after LPS treatment. Both low and high dose LPS increase hepatic cholesterol synthesis (low dose 85%, high dose 205%) and total HMG-CoA reductase activity (low dose 2.97-fold, high dose 9.96-fold). However, the proportion of HMG-CoA reductase in the active form is reduced by LPS treatment. Additionally, the mass of HMG-CoA reductase protein in the liver, measured by Western blotting, is increased after LPS. Moreover, LPS increases hepatic HMG-CoA reductase mRNA levels (low dose 3.1-fold, high dose 14.2-fold). The increase in hepatic HMG- CoA reductase mRNA levels is first seen 4 h after LPS and persists for at least 24 h. In contrast, LPS had only minimal effects on hepatic LDL receptor protein and mRNA levels. These results suggest that LPS increases serum cholesterol levels by increasing hepatic cholesterol synthesis. LPS administration decreases apoE mRNA levels in the liver while having no effect on apoA-I mRNA levels. These results suggest that HMG-CoA reductase is a member of a group of hepatic proteins that are positively regulated by inflammatory stimuli (acute phase proteins) while apoE can be considered a negative acute phase protein in hamsters. It is possible that increases in hepatic HMG-CoA reductase provide cholesterol that allows for the increased production of lipoproteins and elevations in serum lipid levels that may be beneficial to the body's host defense.Peer reviewe

Retrospective methods to estimate radiation dose at the site of breast cancer development after Hodgkin lymphoma radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND: An increased risk of breast cancer following radiotherapy for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) has now been robustly established. In order to estimate the dose-response relationship more accurately, and to aid clinical decision making, a retrospective estimation of the radiation dose delivered to the site of the subsequent breast cancer is required. METHODS: For 174 Dutch and 170 UK female patients with breast cancer following HL treatment, the 3-dimensional position of the breast cancer in the affected breast was determined and transferred onto a CT-based anthropomorphic phantom. Using a radiotherapy treatment planning system the dose distribution on the CT-based phantom was calculated for the 46 different radiation treatment field set-ups used in the study population. The estimated dose at the centre of the breast cancer, and a margin to reflect dose uncertainty were determined on the basis of the location of the tumour and the isodose lines from the treatment planning. We assessed inter-observer variation and for 47 patients we compared the results with a previously applied dosimetry method. RESULTS: The estimated median point dose at the centre of the breast cancer location was 29.75 Gy (IQR 5.8-37.2), or about 75% of the prescribed radiotherapy dose. The median dose uncertainty range was 5.97 Gy. We observed an excellent inter-observer variation (ICC 0.89 (95% CI: 0.74-0.95)). The absolute agreement intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) for inter-method variation was 0.59 (95% CI: 0.37-0.75), indicating (nearly) good agreement. There were no systematic differences in the dose estimates between observers or methods. CONCLUSION: Estimates of the dose at the point of a subsequent breast cancer show good correlation between methods, but the retrospective nature of the estimates means that there is always some uncertainty to be accounted for