Biomonitoring study of deoxynivalenol exposure and association with typical cereal consumption in Swedish adults

Deoxynivalenol (DON) is a mycotoxin of the trichothecene family commonly found in cereals infested with different Fusarium species. DON acts primarily on the gastrointestinal and immune system and is suspected to be an underlying agent causing several outbreaks of gastrointestinal disorder among humans, which prompts studies of human exposure and estimations of intake among populations. However, assessing human exposure to mycotoxins is associated with several difficulties. Therefore, a study was undertaken among adults (18-80 years) in a subgroup of Riksmaten, the Swedish national survey investigating dietary habits, examining both the association between urinary DON concentration and dietary intake of cereals, and estimations of daily DON intake. The results indicate that exposure to DON is common among Swedish adults, as this mycotoxin was detected in 292 out of 326 urine samples (90%) at levels ranging from non-detectable to 65.8 ng DON/ml urine with a median level of 2.9 ng/ml. Furthermore, urinary DON (ng/mg creatinine) was associated with intake (g/day) of total cereal grain as well as whole grain. Urinary DON was also significantly associated with breakfast cereals and porridge consumption (P<0.05). Estimated DON intake in this study ranged between 2.5 and 5,443 ng/kg body weight (bw). 1% of the individuals had estimated intakes above the group provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI; 1 μg/kg), whereas the mean and median intakes of 159 and 84 ng DON/kg bw, respectively, were considerably below the PMTDI. Along with the toxicological profile of DON, no serious health implications are to be expected for the majority of Swedish adults, although a potential health concern remains for some high cereal consumers. In conclusion, biomonitoring could prove to be a valuable tool for observing DON exposure among populations.

Hydrogen bonds, hydrophobicity forces and the character of the collapse transition

We study the thermodynamic behavior of a model protein with 54 amino acidsthat is designed to form a three-helix bundle in its native state. The model contains three types of amino acids and five to six atoms per amino acid, and has the Ramachandran torsion angles as its only degrees of freedom.The force field is based on hydrogen bonds and effective hydrophobicity forces. We study how the character of the collapse transition depends on the strengths of these forces. For a suitable choice of these two parameters, it is found that the collapse transition is first-order-like and coincides with the folding transition. Also shown is that the corresponding one- and two-helix segments make less stable secondary structure than the three-helix sequence.

Three-helix-bundle protein in a Ramachandran model

We study the thermodynamic behavior of a model protein with 54 amino acids that forms a three-helix bundle in its native state. The model contains three types of amino acids and five to six atoms per amino acid and has the Ramachandran torsional angles phi(i), psi(i) as its degrees of freedom. The force field is based on hydrogen bonds and effective hydrophobicity forces. For a suitable choice of the relative strength of these interactions, we find that the three-helix-bundle protein undergoes an abrupt folding transition from an expanded state to the native state. Also shown is that the corresponding one- and two-helix segments are less stable than the three-helix sequence.

A conflict of strategies: Medicaid managed care and Medicaid maximization

OBJECTIVE

To examine the influence of state strategies aimed at increasing federal Medicaid matching dollars on the design of states' Medicaid managed care programs.

STUDY DESIGN

Data obtained from the 1996-1997 case studies of 13 states to examine how states have adapted the design of their Medicaid managed care programs in part because of maximization strategies, to accommodate the many roles and responsibilities that Medicaid has assumed over the years.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

Our study showed that as states made the shift to managed care, some found that the responsibilities undertaken in part through maximization strategies proved to be in conflict with their Medicaid managed care initiatives. Among other things, the study revealed that most states included provisions that preserved the health care safety net, such as adapting the managed care benefit package and promoting the participation of safety net providers in managed care programs. In addition, most of the study states continued to pay special subsidies to safety net providers, including hospitals and clinics.

CONCLUSIONS

States have made real progress in moving a large number of Medicaid beneficiaries into managed care. At the same time, many states have specially crafted their managed care programs to accommodate safety net providers and existing funding mechanisms. By making these adaptations states, in the long run, may compromise the central goals of managed care: controlling costs and improving Medicaid beneficiaries' access to and quality of care.

High-Resolution Spectroscopy of TaS in the Visible and Near-Infrared Regions

The spectrum of TaS between 4000 and 20 000 cm-1 has been recorded in emission from a microwave discharge with a resolution between 0.011 and 0.025 cm-1. Seventeen electronic transitions have been rotationally analyzed. Fifteen of these have the ground state, 2Delta, as the lower state and two of them are transitions between excited states. The ground state has been fitted to a Hund's case (a) Hamiltonian. Effective molecular constants have been determined for the excited states, which are mainly described as Hund's case (c). Perturbations that have been found in the excited states are discussed. Transitions between states that are connected neither to the ground state nor to any of the other 14 electronic states of this work have been found. No analysis is presented for these transitions, but some of their characteristic features are described. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

On the Singlet Spectrum of ZrS

Three electronic transitions in the singlet manifold of the zirconium sulphide (ZrS) molecule have been rotationally analyzed. They are the B1Pi-X1Sigma+, C1Sigma+-X1Sigma+, and E1Sigma+-X1Sigma+ systems with (0,0) band heads at 924.60, 731.51, and 494.47 nm, respectively. The ground state X1Sigma+ has an equilibrium bond distance of 2.15661(4) Å. Perturbations in the B1Pi and C1Sigma+ states are discussed. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

A hypertext knowledge based for primary care - LIMEDS in LINCKS

In organized health care, primary care is the first level. It is characterized by the wide span of health problems managed as well as remote location from traditional medical information and knowledge sources. The LIMEDS project has formulated the special requirements for integrated knowledge and data base management in primary care. This paper presents Gösta's book , a hypertext knowledge base implemented in LINCKS, an object oriented, networked database system. Firstly, aspects which make integrated hypermedia systems particularly suitable for application in primary health care are explored. We then describe the hypertext knowledge base, consisting of 500 basic text objects and 3000 links, and current implementations using the NODE data model. NODE is implemented on a SUN III fileserver, and the user interface for the hypertext context on Apple Macintosh (TM). Combination of design methods towards a parallel means-ends strategy was found to be necessary to achieve Gösta's book . Design groups need to be composed of computer science, medical, psychological and organizational competences.

Lipid peroxidation and activities of tyrosine aminotransferase and glutamine synthetase in hepatoma and glioma cells grown in bovine colostrum-supplemented medium

The growth stimulating properties of bovine serum and colostrum were compared in rat hepatoma (HTC) and glioma (C6) cell cultures. A colostrum concentration of 2% was optimal for HTC cells, which then reached a terminal density 40% of that in serum-supplemented medium. The corresponding figures for C6 cells were 10 and 81%, respectively. After 4 d in culture, levels of lipid hydroperoxides were measured and compared. Highest levels of lipid hydroperoxides were found in HTC and C6 cells grown in unsupplemented medium. HTC and C6 cells grown in serum supplemented medium contained levels of 52 and 64%, respectively, of that in unsupplemented medium. The corresponding levels for cells grown in presence of colostrum were 40% for HTC and 44% for C6 cells. To obtain information on any functional alterations in the cells due to the presence of colostrum the induction of tyrosine aminotransferase (EC 2.6.1.5) and glutamine synthetase (EC 6.3.1.2) by dexamethasone was studied. Although colostrum seemed to increase the basal activities of the enzymes, no significant effects on the degree of induction could be detected.

Differential optical absorption spectroscopy system used for atmospheric mercury monitoring

A high-resolution differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) system for long-path atmospheric pollution monitoring is described. The system, consisting of a broadband lamp and a dispersive, fast-scanning optical receiver, separated by a few kilometers, was used in measurements of different pollutants, highlighted by the monitoring of the local concentration of atomic mercury. Mercury levels in the ppt (1:10(12)) range were assessed by comparisons with laboratory measurements.

Simultaneous spatially resolved NO and NO(2) measurements using one- and two-photon laser-induced fluorescence

We demonstrate how spatially resolved distributions of NO and NO(2) can be simultaneously detected by using a single laser pulse at 452 nm. The laser-induced fluorescence from NO was achieved by a two-photon transition in the gamma band at 226 nm followed by UV detection, whereas NO(2) was detected by a one-photon transition followed by Stokes fluorescence.