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Chemical Sensitivity (chemical + sensitivity)
Selected Abstracts"I Never Wanted to Be a Quack!"MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2010The Professional Deviance of Plaintiff Experts in Contested Illness Lawsuits: The Case of Multiple Chemical Sensitivities When medical practitioners act as expert witnesses for the plaintiff in contested illness lawsuits, they can be stigmatized by their professional community. Drawing on ethnographic research surrounding the condition multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) in Australia, this article focuses on: how plaintiff experts specialize; their rationale for deviance from the professional norm; and structural constraints to medical advocacy. By diagnosing and treating the condition as organic, these experts oppose the accepted disease paradigm of the medical community and therefore face professional isolation and peer pressure. They rationalize their continued advocacy within a moral discourse, which includes a professional aspiration toward altruism, an ethical commitment to "truth," and the explicit emphasis that financial gain is not a motivation. For their deviance the experts have been confronted with professional disillusionment and emotional drain. Ultimately, the medical profession is disenfranchising experts who may be vital characters in the quest for understanding about environmental illnesses. [source] Humidity-Sensitive Magnet Composed of a Cyano-Bridged CoII,NbIV Dimetallic AssemblyEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 26 2010Kenta Imoto Abstract Nanoporous magnetic materials composed of metal-assembled complexes are expected to exhibit chemical sensitivity. In this work, we observed a humidity-induced reversible change between ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism in a new type of a cobalt octacyanoniobate based magnet in the high-humidity region. This humidity response is caused by the adsorption and desorption of non-coordinated water (so-called zeolitic water) molecules in the interstitial site. Such a phenomenon is achieved by the structural flexibility of an octacyanometalate-based magnet. [source] Odor processing in multiple chemical sensitivityHUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 3 2007Lena Hillert Abstract Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is characterized by somatic distress upon exposure to odors. As in other idiopathic environmental intolerances, the mechanisms behind the reported hypersensitivity are unknown. Using the advantage of the well-defined trigger (odor), we investigated whether subjects with MCS could have an increased odor-signal response in the odor-processing neuronal circuits. Positron emission tomography (PET) activation studies with several different odorants were carried out in 12 MCS females and 12 female controls. Activation was defined as a significant increase in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during smelling of the respective odorant compared to smelling of odorless air. The study also included online measurements of respiratory frequency and amplitude and heart rate variations by recording of R wave intervals (RR) on the surface electrocardiogram. The MCS subjects activated odor-processing brain regions less than controls, despite the reported, and physiologically indicated (decreased RR interval) distress. In parallel, they showed an odorant-related increase in activation of the anterior cingulate cortex and cuneus-precuneus. Notably, the baseline rCBF was normal. Thus, the abnormal patterns were observed only in response to odor signals. Subjects with MCS process odors differently from controls, however, without signs of neuronal sensitization. One possible explanation for the observed pattern of activation in MCS is a top-down regulation of odor-response via cingulate cortex. Hum. Brain Mapp, 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] The Colours of MoleculesIMAGING & MICROSCOPY (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2006Chemical Force Microscopy Enables a New Look on Surfaces Abstract As the surface functionality is gaining more and more relevance in modern surface technology, the need for an analytical tool with chemical sensitivity and high lateral resolution is becoming important more than ever. In this article, we introduce the novel method "Chemical Force Microscopy" (CFM), which is enabling the chemical mapping of the surface with nm-resolution for the first time. This method has proved to be efficient to optimise and understand different processes on industrial surfaces. In the fields like plasma, coating, cell biology, pharmaceutical and printing technologies, this method has shown to be supremely efficient. [source] Safe Houses and Green Architecture: Reflections on the Lessons of the Chemically SensitiveJOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION, Issue 4 2000James Wasley Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a controversial condition involving heightened sensitivities to chemicals and allergens. Retreating to "safe" environments is the best available therapy, making the dwellings of those with MCS compelling studies of healthful design. Safe environments have been offered as exemplars of "green" architecture and have been parodied so as to ridicule environmental concern. In both cases, real lessons are obscured. Reflecting on a study of dwellings built by people with MCS, this essay seeks to clarify the relationship of these unique constructions to ecologically minded architecture as a whole. The dialogue between safe and green points towards their synthesis. [source] High-precision isotopic analysis of palmitoylcarnitine by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization ion-trap tandem mass spectrometryRAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY, Issue 22 2006ZengKui Guo Single quadrupole gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) has been widely used for isotopic analysis in metabolic investigations using stable isotopes as tracers. However, its inherent shortcomings prohibit it from broader use, including low isotopic precision and the need for chemical derivatization of the analyte. In order to improve isotopic detection power, liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-itMS2) has been evaluated for its isotopic precision and chemical sensitivity for the analysis of [13C]palmitoylcarnitine. Over the enrichment range of 0.4,10 MPE (molar % excess), the isotopic response of LC/ESI-itMS2 to [13C]palmitoylcarnitine was linear (r,=,1.00) and the average isotopic precision (standard deviation, SD) was 0.11 MPE with an average coefficient of variation (CV) of 5.6%. At the lower end of isotopic enrichments (0.4,0.9 MPE), the isotopic precision was 0.05 MPE (CV,=,8%). Routine analysis of rat skeletal muscle [13C4]palmitoylcarnitine demonstrated an isotopic precision of 0.03 MPE for gastrocnemius (n,=,16) and of 0.02 MPE for tibialis anterior (n,=,16). The high precision enabled the detection of a small (0.08 MPE) but significant (P,=,0.01) difference in [13C4]palmitoylcarnitine enrichments between the two muscles, 0.51 MPE (CV,=,5.8%) and 0.43 MPE (CV,=,4.6%), respectively. Therefore, the system demonstrated an isotopic lower detection limit (LDL) of ,0.1 MPE (2 × SD) that has been impossible previously with other organic mass spectrometry instruments. LC/ESI-itMS2 systems have the potential to advance metabolic investigations using stable isotopes to a new level by significantly increasing the isotopic solving power. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Prospective study of clinical symptoms and skin test reactions in medical students exposed to formaldehyde gasTHE JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 5 2007Sachiko TAKAHASHI ABSTRACT Previous investigators have reported the occurrence of both allergic and non-allergic systemic complications due to exposure to formaldehyde gas. However, little is known about the pathogenic link between formaldehyde-induced clinical symptoms and patch test results, or about the long-term effects of formaldehyde exposure. In the present study, a questionnaire was administered to 143 medical students, and 60 of them were tested by patch test for formaldehyde at the beginning and end of a human anatomy laboratory course. Another group of 76 students who had finished the course 2,4 years previously were administered another questionnaire, and the patch test was carried out on 58 of them. The frequencies of skin irritation, eye soreness, lacrimation, eye fatigue, rhinorrhea, throat irritation, general fatigue and mood swings increased after repeated exposure. Two (3.3%) of 60 students became positive to 1% formaldehyde at the end of the anatomy course (one male with allergic hand dermatitis due to direct contact with formaldehyde, and one female with an atopic background with unbearable physical symptoms) while the remaining 58 showed a negative reaction throughout the study period. The vast majority of students complained of various non-allergic, physical symptoms, and recovered from such symptoms without subsequent complications. No progression to multiple chemical sensitivity was found. Students with an episode of atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis were susceptible to formaldehyde exposure, and developed mucocutaneous symptoms, probably due to the impaired barrier function and remodeling of the skin and mucosa. [source] | |||||||||||||