OXIDATION OF CHLORIDE TO CHLORINE BY CERIC IONS MEDIATED BY DIFFERENT CARBON-BLACKS

A number of different carbon blacks are tested for activity as chlorine catalysts in the oxidation of chloride (2 mol dm-3 in 0.5 mol dm-3 H2SO4) to chlorine by Ce(IV) ions, that is,

Comorbidities and current smoking status amongst patients starting renal replacement therapy in England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 2003 to 2008: national and centre-specific analyses

Introduction: The prevalence of comorbidities in incident renal replacement therapy (RRT) patients changes with age and varies between ethnic groups. This study describes these associations and the independent effect of comorbidities on outcomes. Methods: Adult patients starting RRT between 2003 and 2008 in centres reporting to the UK Renal Registry (UKRR) with data on comorbidity (n ¼ 14,909) were included. The UKRR studied the association of comorbidity with patient demographics, treatment modality, haemoglobin, renal function at start of RRT and subsequent listing for kidney transplantation. The relationship between comorbidities and mortality at 90 days and one year after 90 days from start of RRT was explored using Cox regression. Results: Completeness of comorbidity data was 40.0% compared with 54.3% in 2003. Of patients with data, 53.8% had one or more comorbidities. Diabetes mellitus and ischaemic heart disease were the most common conditions seen in 30.1% and 22.7% of patients respectively. Current smoking was recorded for 14.5% of incident RRT patients in the 6-year period. Comorbidities became more common with increasing age in all ethnic groups although the difference between the 65–74 and 75+ age groups was not significant. Within each age group, South Asians and Blacks had lower rates of comorbidity, despite higher rates of diabetes mellitus. In multivariate survival analysis, malignancy and ischaemic/neuropathic ulcers were the strongest independent predictors of poor survival at 1 year after 90 days from the start of RRT. Conclusion: Differences in prevalence of comorbid illnesses in incident RRT patients may reflect variation in access to health care or competing risk prior to commencing treatment. At the same time, smoking rates remained high in this ‘at risk’ population. Further work on this and ways to improve comorbidity reporting should be priorities for 2010–11.

Slavery, Education, and Inequality

We investigate the effect of slavery on the current level of income inequality across US counties. We find that a larger proportion of slaves over population in 1860 persistently increases inequality, and in particular inequality across races. We also show that a crucial
channel of transmission from slavery to racial inequality is human capital accumulation, i.e., current inequality is primarily influenced by slavery through the unequal educational attainment of blacks and whites. Finally, we provide suggestive evidence that the underlying links run through the political exclusion of former slaves and the resulting negative influence on the local provision of education.

A Note on Race, Ethnicity and Nativity Differences in Remarriage in the United States

The objectives of this study are to produce up-to-date estimates of race/ethnic/nativity differentials for remarriage and repartnership among women in the United States and to see if these differences are due to across-group differences in demographic characteristics. First, we produce lifetable estimates of remarriage and repartnering for white, black, U.S. born Latina and foreign born Latina women. Next, we estimate race/ethnic/nativity differentials for remarriage and repartnership using event-history analysis with and without controls for demographic characteristics. The results suggest a continued overall decline in remarriage rates, while many women repartner by cohabitating. Whites are more likely than blacks or Latinas to remarry and they are also more likely to repartner. Race/ethnic/nativity differentials remain even after accounting for variations in demographic characteristics. This suggests that race/ethnic/nativity differentials in remarriage and repartnering rates, rather than ameliorating disadvantages associated with divorce, reinforce these differentials.

Common infection-related conditions and risk of lymphoid malignancies in older individuals

Background: Chronic antigenic stimulation may initiate non-Hodgkin (NHL) and Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) development. Antecedent, infection-related conditions have been associated, but evidence by lymphoproliferative subtype is limited. Methods: From the US SEER-Medicare database, 44 191 NHL, 1832 HL and 200 000 population-based controls, frequency-matched to all SEER cancer cases, were selected. Logistic regression models, adjusted for potential confounders, compared infection-related conditions in controls with HL and NHL patients and by the NHL subtypes diffuse large B-cell, T-cell, follicular and marginal zone lymphoma (MZL). Stratification by race was undertaken. Results: Respiratory tract infections were broadly associated with NHL, particularly MZL. Skin infections were associated with a 15–28% increased risk of NHL and with most NHL subtypes, particularly cellulitis with T-cell lymphoma (OR 1.36, 95%CI 1.24–1.49). Only herpes zoster remained associated with HL following Bonferroni correction (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.28–1.87). Gastrointestinal and urinary tract infections were not strongly associated with NHL or HL. In stratified analyses by race, sinusitis, pharyngitis, bronchitis and cellulitis showed stronger associations with total NHL in blacks than whites (P<0.001). Conclusions: Infections may contribute to the aetiologic pathway and/or be markers of underlying immune modulation. Precise elucidation of these mechanisms may provide important clues for understanding how immune disturbance contributes to lymphoma.

Biometry and primary angle-closure glaucoma among Chinese, white, and black populations

PURPOSE: Primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) is more prevalent among Chinese than whites. The authors tested the hypothesis that Chinese have shallower anterior chambers than do whites, a factor that may be related to PACG prevalence. METHODS: The authors compared anterior chamber depth, axial length, radius of corneal curvature, and refractive error among 531 Chinese, 170 whites, and 188 blacks older than 40 years of age using the same model of instruments and identical technique. RESULTS: Mean anterior chamber depth and axial length did not differ significantly for the three groups. Whites had a significantly higher prevalence of hyperopia > 2 diopters than did Chinese. Radius of corneal curvature was significantly smaller among Chinese than whites or blacks. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that Chinese do not differ on a population basis from other ethnic groups in many of the biometric risk factors known to be of importance for PACG. It will be necessary to identify other ocular biometric parameters to explain the excess burden of PACG among Chinese, which may improve the effectiveness of screening for this disease in all populations.

Age, gender, biometry, refractive error, and the anterior chamber angle among Alaskan Eskimos.

BACKGROUND:

The prevalence of angle-closure glaucoma (ACG) is greater for Eskimos/Inuit than it is for any other ethnic group in the world. Although it has been suggested that this prevalence may be due to a population tendency toward shallower anterior chamber angles, available evidence for other populations such as Chinese with high rates of ACG has not consistently demonstrated such a tendency.

METHODS:

A reticule, slit-lamp, and standard Goldmann one-mirror goniolens were used to make measurements in the anterior chamber (AC) angle according to a previously reported protocol for biometric gonioscopy (BG) (Ophthalmology 1999;106:2161-7). Measurements were made in all four quadrants of one eye among 133 phakic Alaskan Eskimos aged 40 years and older. Automatic refraction, dilated examination of the anterior segment and optic nerve, and A-scan measurements of AC depth, lens thickness, and axial length were also carried out for all subjects.

RESULTS:

Both central and peripheral AC measurements for the Eskimo subjects were significantly lower than those previously reported by us for Chinese, blacks, and whites under the identical protocol. Eskimos also seemed to have somewhat more hyperopia. There were no differences in biometric measurements between men and women in this Eskimo population. Angle measurements by BG seemed to decline more rapidly over life among Eskimos and Chinese than blacks or whites. Although there was a significant apparent decrease in AC depth, increase in lens thickness, and increase in hyperopia with age among Eskimos, all of these trends seemed to reverse in the seventh decade and beyond.

CONCLUSIONS:

Eskimos do seem to have shallower ACs than do other racial groups. Measurements of the AC angle seem to decline more rapidly over life among Eskimos than among blacks or whites, a phenomenon also observed by us among Chinese, another group with high ACG prevalence. This apparent more rapid decline may be due to a cohort effect with higher prevalence of myopia and resulting wider angles among younger Eskimos and Chinese.