Brominated flame retardants in the Australian population : 1993-2009

Brominated flame retardants, including hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are used to reduce the flammability of a multitude of electrical and electronic products, textiles and foams. The use of selected PBDEs has ceased, however, use of decaBDE and HBCD continues. While elevated concentrations of PBDEs in humans have been observed in Australia, no data is available on other BFRs such as HBCD. This study aimed to provide background HBCD concentrations from a representative sample of the Australian population and to assess temporal trends of HBCD and compare with PBDE concentrations over a 16 year period. Samples of human milk collected in Australia from 1993 to 2009, primarily from primiparae mothers were combined into 12 pools from 1993 (2 pools); 2001; 2002/2003 (4 pools); 2003/2004; 2006; 2007/2008 (2 pools); and 2009. Concentrations of ∑HBCD ranged from not quantified (nq) to 19 ng g−1 lipid while α-HBCD and γ-HBCD ranged from nq to 10 ng g−1 lipid and nq to 9.2 ng g−1 lipid. β-HBCD was detected in only one sample at 3.6 ng g−1 lipid while ∑4PBDE ranged from 2.5 to 15.8 ng g−1 lipid. No temporal trend was apparent in HBCD concentrations in human milk collected in Australia from 1993 to 2009. In comparison, PBDE concentrations in human milk show a peak around 2002/03 (mean ∑4PBDEs = 9.6 ng g−1 lipid) and 2003/04 (12.4 ng g−1 lipid) followed by a decrease in 2007/08 (2.7 ng g−1 lipid) and 2009 (2.6 ng g−1 lipid). In human blood serum samples collected from the Australian population, PBDE concentrations did not vary greatly (p = 0.441) from 2002/03 to 2008/09. Continued monitoring including both human milk and serum for HBCD and PBDEs is required to observe trends in human body burden of HBCD and PBDEs body burden following changes to usage.

The impact of 'doomed race' assumptions in the administration of Queensland's Indigenous population by the Chief Protectors of Aboriginals from 1897 to 1942

This thesis researched how the anthropological claims of the Aborigines as a 'doomed race' in the decades between 1850 and 1870 became embedded and manifested in pervasive ideologies forming the racist protectionist policies framed in Queensland's Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act - 1897. Administering the Act was the government appointed Chief Protector of Aboriginals. Conferred with extraordinary powers, Chief Protectors acted and made decisions on behalf of successive governments who displayed little interest in Aboriginal affairs. Amendments to the Act between 1897 and 1939 reflected personal agendas and attitudes towards Aborigines by respective Chief Protectors. Conclusively, the research outcomes show that the 'doomed race' theory became a subterfuge for governments to mask society's racial prejudice against Indigenous peoples and allowed governments to dispossess the Indigenous people of their traditional lands without question from white settlers.

An Analysis of Cancer Patients' Survival and Influent Factors from 1993 to 1999 in Linqu County, Shandong Province [山东省临朐县1993~1999年恶性肿瘤患者的生存率及其影响因素分析]

To understand the survival status of cancer patients and influencing factors, an analysis was undertaken using data of 6450 cancer patients living in Linqu County, Shandong, diagnosed between 1993 and 1999. Survival rates were calculated using life table method with SAS 9.0 software. Overall 1-5 year survival rates for all patients were 53.16%, 28.65%, 21.57%, 18.36% and 17.87%, respectively. Cancers with a 5-year survival rate over 25% included ovarium, breast, uterus, stomach and colorectal cancers. Cancers with a 5-year survival lower than 10% were cancers on liver, cervical, lung and bones.Survival rates differed significantly across gender, age of onset, economic status, year of diagnosis and evidence of diagnosis. Patients' economic status, age of diagnosis and year of diagnosis seem to have strong effects on survival. [目的] 了解临朐县恶性肿瘤患者生存现状,探讨影响生存率的因素. [方法] 对临朐县1993～1999年发病的6450例肿瘤患者的生存资料进行分析,利用SAS9.0软件寿命表法计算生存率. [结果] 临朐县1993～1999年的恶性肿瘤患者1～5年生存率分别为53.16%、28.65%、21.57%、18.36%和17.87%,5年生存率超过25%的恶性肿瘤有卵巢癌、乳腺癌、宫体癌、胃癌、结直肠癌,5年生存率低于10%的有肝癌、宫颈癌、肺癌、骨恶性肿瘤.不同性别、发病年龄、经济状况、诊断时间和诊断依据的恶性肿瘤生存率有显著性差异. [结论] 患者经济条件、诊断年龄和诊断时间影响恶性肿瘤生存率.

Surveillance report on injury deaths in Shouguang, 1993-1997 [寿光市疾病监测点1993～1997年意外死亡报告]

In this rural population, injuries claimed 9% of all deaths and was the 4th cause of death. Injury mortality was much higher among men than that for women. The major injury causes were traffic accidents (39%) and suicide (38%). Traffic accidents were the first injury cause for men but suicide the first cause for women. Abstract in Chinese 为查明我市农村居民意外死亡情况，为制定相应控制措施提供参考，我们对寿光市疾病监测点１９９３～１９９７年的居民意外死亡资料进行了分析。死因分类按国际疾病分类（ＩＣＤ－９）标准，标化死亡率采用１９９０年全国标准人口构成计算。１９９３～１９９７年寿光市疾病...

Surveillance report on cardiovascular causes of death in Shouguang, 1993-1997 [寿光市疾病监测点1993～1997年心血管疾病死亡监测报告]

This analysis showed that cardiovascular diseases were the number cause of death claiming 34% of all deaths. More than half (52%) of all cardiovascular deaths were due to Cerebrovascular diseases and about one-third (32%) were due to ischaemic heart disease. The mortality of cardiovascular diseases showed an increasing trend during this period (1993-1997). Abstract in Chinese 心血管疾病是威胁人们健康的重要疾病之一，在居民死因中占主要位置。为了解心血管疾病死亡状况，我们对寿光市农村疾病监测点１９９３～１９９７年居民死亡资料进行了统计分析，现报告如下。（标化死亡率采用１９９０年全国标准人口构成计算）。１９９３～１９９７年监测...

Surveillance report on cancer deaths in Shouguang, 1993-1997 (寿光市疾病监测点1993～1997年恶性肿瘤死亡监测报告)

Cancers caused 20% of all deaths in this rural population. The major cancers included lung, stomach, liver, esophageal and colorectal cancers, accounting for 81% of all cancer deaths. Cancer mortality in men was higher than in women.

Cuases of death among rural residents in Shouguang City, 1993-1997 [寿光市1993～1997年农村居民死因分析]

In this rural population, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, cancers and injuries were identified as the major causes of death, responsible for 34%, 30%, 20% and 9%, respectively. Abstract in Chinese 寿光市地处山东半岛中部,渤海莱洲湾南畔,是全国有名的“蔬菜之乡”。为全面了解我市农村居民的死因分布状况,我们对寿光市部分农村居民1993~1997年的死亡资料进行了统计分析。对象与方法自1993年始,从我市选取有代表性的两个乡镇49个自然村约5000..

Hospital separations in the Northern Territory for varicella-zoster virus related illnesses, 1993-1997

A varicella-zoster virus (VZV) vaccine is available overseas, and universal immunisation in childhood is recommended in the United States.1 Any decision to introduce the vaccine to Australia must be based on an assessment of potential benefits and harms. While there has been some assessment of VZV significance in populations in southern Australia,2 the impact on the NT population is not known. It is not a notifiable condition and information on morbidity and mortality is limited to a few data collections. These are hospital separation data, deaths registers, and in 1995 the inclusion of VZV congenital and neonatal complications in the Australian Paediatric Surveillance System. Hospital separation data were analysed to assess the importance of VZV as a cause of severe morbidity and mortality in the NT population.

Expression of thrombospondin-1 in resected colorectal liver metastases predicts poor prognosis

Purpose The aim of this study was to examine the expression and prognostic relevance of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) in tumor biopsies taken from a consecutive series of liver resections done at the University Hospitals of Leicester and the Royal Liverpool Hospital. Experimental Design Patients having undergone a liver resection for colorectal liver metastases at our institutions between 1993 and 1999 inclusive were eligible. Inclusion criteria were curative intent, sufficient tumor biopsy, and patient follow-up data. One hundred eighty-two patients were considered in this study. Standard immunohistochemical techniques were used to study the expression of TSP-1 in 5-μm tumor sections from paraffin-embedded tissue blocks. TSP-1 was correlated with survival using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test for univariate analysis and the Cox proportional hazard model for multivariate analysis. Results One hundred eighty-two patients (male, n = 122 and female, n = 60) ages between 25 and 81 years (mean, 61 years) were included. TSP-1 was expressed around blood vessels (n = 45, 25%) or in the stroma (n = 59, 33%). No expression was detected in the remaining tumors. TSP-1 significantly correlated with poor survival on univariate (P = 0.01 for perivascular expression and P = 0.03 for stromal expression) and multivariate analysis (P = 0.01 for perivascular expression). Conclusion TSP-1 is a negatively prognostic factor for survival in resected colorectal liver metastases. © 2005 American Association for Cancer Research.

In Response: "Oral versus IV treatment for catheter-related bloodstream infections - by Burke A. Cunha"

In his letter Cunha suggests that oral antibiotic therapy is safer and less expensive than intravenous therapy via central venous catheters (CVCs) (1). The implication is that costs will fall and increased health benefits will be enjoyed resulting in a gain in efficiency within the healthcare system. CVCs are often used in critically ill patients to deliver antimicrobial therapy, but expose patients to a risk of catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI). Our current knowledge about the efficiency (i.e. costeffectiveness) of allocating resources toward interventions that prevent CRBSI in patients requiring a CVC has already been reviewed (2). If for some patient groups antimicrobial therapy can be delivered orally, instead of through a CVC, then the costs and benefits of this alternate strategy should be evaluated...

Spatial and temporal patterns of locally-acquired dengue transmission in northern Queensland, Australia, 1993-2012

BACKGROUND: Dengue has been a major public health concern in Australia since it re-emerged in Queensland in 1992-1993. We explored spatio-temporal characteristics of locally-acquired dengue cases in northern tropical Queensland, Australia during the period 1993-2012. METHODS: Locally-acquired notified cases of dengue were collected for northern tropical Queensland from 1993 to 2012. Descriptive spatial and temporal analyses were conducted using geographic information system tools and geostatistical techniques. RESULTS: 2,398 locally-acquired dengue cases were recorded in northern tropical Queensland during the study period. The areas affected by the dengue cases exhibited spatial and temporal variation over the study period. Notified cases of dengue occurred more frequently in autumn. Mapping of dengue by statistical local areas (census units) reveals the presence of substantial spatio-temporal variation over time and place. Statistically significant differences in dengue incidence rates among males and females (with more cases in females) (χ(2) = 15.17, d.f.  = 1, p<0.01). Differences were observed among age groups, but these were not statistically significant. There was a significant positive spatial autocorrelation of dengue incidence for the four sub-periods, with the Moran's I statistic ranging from 0.011 to 0.463 (p<0.01). Semi-variogram analysis and smoothed maps created from interpolation techniques indicate that the pattern of spatial autocorrelation was not homogeneous across the northern Queensland. CONCLUSIONS: Tropical areas are potential high-risk areas for mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue. This study demonstrated that the locally-acquired dengue cases have exhibited a spatial and temporal variation over the past twenty years in northern tropical Queensland, Australia. Therefore, this study provides an impetus for further investigation of clusters and risk factors in these high-risk areas.

Conducting Gestures : Institutional and Educational Construction of Conductorship in Finland, 1973-1993

Anu Konttinen: Conducting Gestures Institutional and Educational Construction of Conductorship in Finland, 1973-1993. This doctoral thesis concentrates on those Finnish conductors who have participated in Professor Jorma Panula s conducting class at the Sibelius Academy during the years 1973 1993. The starting point was conducting as a myth, and the goal has been to find its practical opposite the practical core of the profession. What has been studied is whether one can theorise and analyse this core, and how. The theoretical goal has been to find out what kind of social construction conductorship is as a historical, sociological and practical phenomenon. In practical terms, this means taking the historical and social concept of a great conductor apart to look for the practical core gestural communication. The most important theoretical tool is the concept of gesture. The idea has been to sketch a theoretical model based on gestural communication between a conductor and an orchestra, and to give one example of the many possible ways of studying the gestures of a conductor.

Historiebruk kring Nådendal : och den kommemorativa anatomin av klostrets minnesplats

This thesis examines the ruins of the medieval Bridgettine (Birgittan) monastery of Naantali (Vallis Gratiae, f. 1443) in Finland and the transformation of the site into a national heritage and a memory landscape. It was archaeologically surveyed in the 19th century by Professor Sven Gabriel Elmgren (1817 1897). His work was followed by Dr. Reinhold Hausen (1850 1942), who excavated the site in the 1870s. During this time the memories of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) in Sweden were also invented as heritage. Hausen published his results in 1922 thus forming the connection with the next generation of actors involved with the Naantali site: the magnate Amos Anderson (1878 1961), the teacher Julius Finnberg (1877 1955) and the archaeologist Juhani Rinne (1872 1950). They erected commemorative monuments etc. on the Naantali site, thus creating a memory landscape there. For them, the site represented the good homeland in connection with a western-oriented view of the history of Finland. The network of actors was connected to the Swedish researchers and so-called Birgitta Friends, such as state antiquarian Sigurd Curman (1879 1966), but also to the members of the Societas Sanctae Birgittae and the Society for the Embellishment of Pirita, among others. Historical jubilees as manifestations of the use of history were also arranged in Naantali in 1943, 1993 and 2003. It seems as if Naantali is needed in Finnish history from time to time after a period of crisis, i.e. after the Crimean War in the 1850s, the civil war of 1918, during World War II and also after the economic crisis of the early 1990s. In 2003, there was a stronger focus on the international Saint Bridget Jubilee in Sweden and all over Europe. Methodologically, the thesis belongs to the history of ideas, but also to research on the use of history, invented traditions and lieux de mémoire. The material for the work consists of public articles and scholarly texts in books or newspapers and letters produced by the actors and kept in archives in Finland, Sweden and Estonia, in addition to pictures and erected commemorative monuments in situ in the Western Finnish region. Keywords: Nådendal, Naantali monastery, Bridgettines, St. Bridget, use of history, lieux de mémoire, invented traditions, commemorative anatomy, memory landscape, Saint Bridget jubilees , S. G. Elmgren, R. Hausen, A. Anderson, J. Finnberg, J. Rinne, S. Curman, High Church Movement, Pirita, Vadstena.

Tombstone of Herz Benjamin (Naftali); Strangriede Cemetery (R 83.12); Hannover Cemeteries Tombs

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