Effects of simulated weathering on the toxicity of selected crude oils and their components to sea urchin embryos.

Artificial weathering of Angolan crude and a Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) was performed by evaporation and photooxidation. The aliphatic, aromatic, polar and asphaltene fractions of the fresh and weathered oils were isolated. The toxicity of the water accommodated fraction or an oil/fraction dissolved in DMSO was assessed using the sea urchin embryo test.

Measuring nonpolar organic contaminant partitioning in three Norwegian sediments using polyethylene passive samplers.

Freely dissolved pore water concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), penta- and hexachlorobenzene (PeCB and HCB), octachlorostyrene (OCS), p,p'-DDE and p,p'-DDD were measured in bottom sediments from three sites in Norway. Sediments were from Aker Brygge, site of a former shipyard in the inner part of Oslofjord, Frierfjord in the Grenlandsfjord area, impacted during the 50 year-long activity of a magnesium smelter plant, and from Kristiansand harbour, site with high industrial activity. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) membrane samplers were exposed to these sediments in laboratory incubation under constant and low-level agitation for periods of 1, 2, 6, 13, 23 and 50 days.

The BIOZO process--a biofilm system combined with ozonation: occurrence of xenobiotic organic micro-pollutants in and removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrogen from landfill leachate.

We present an assessment of xenobiotic organic micro-pollutants (XOM) occurrence and removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a novel biofilm system combined with ozonation, the BIOZO concept, treating partly stabilised landfill leachate. A novel, staged moving-bed biofilm reactor (SMBBR) design was implemented in laboratory- and pilot-scale, and the PAHs removal efficiency of controlled ozonation was assessed installing the ozonation step in the nitrate recirculation line (Position 1) or between the pre-anoxic and aerobic zones (Position 2). COD removal in a laboratory- and in a pilot-scale SMBBR system with and without ozonation is additionally addressed.

Diabetes and the risk of lung cancer.

Objective: The incidence of some cancers has been reported to be higher in diabetic patients than in the general population. We estimated the incidence of lung cancer in diabetic patients and investigated the hypothesis that the rate of lung cancer is different in diabetic compared with nondiabetic patients.

Research Design And Methods: Diabetic patients and age-, sex-, and general practice-matched nondiabetic control subjects were identified from U.

Triptans in migraine: the risks of stroke, cardiovascular disease, and death in practice.

Background: Triptans are widely used to treat migraine but have been associated with stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), and ischemic heart disease (IHD) in case reports.

Objective: To estimate the incidence of stroke, cardiovascular events, and death in a migraine cohort, stratified by triptan prescription, and investigate whether the risk of these events was increased in those treated with triptans.

Methods: Migraine patients and matched nonmigraine control subjects were identified from the General Practice Research Database.

Myocardial infarction and third generation oral contraceptives: aggregation of recent studies.

Background: Arterial cardiovascular and cerebrovascular adverse events associated with oral contraceptives (OC) are a major concern to the clinician. This paper aggregates the findings of seven recent oral contraceptive studies on the risk of acute myocardial infarction (MI) among users of second (2gen) and third (3gen) generation OC.

Methods: Odds ratios (OR) from seven original studies published between 1996 and 2001 underwent meta-analysis.