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Biomedical subjects

A Kinney

Publications and source records attributed to A Kinney.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Human exposure to PCBS: modeling and assessment of environmental concentrations on the Akwesasne reservation.

The Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, comprised of approximately 10,000 people, is located along the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York. The Akwesasne reservation has been contaminated by local industries, which are located on the St. Lawrence River and its tributaries, and by upstream sources on the Great Lakes. The closest known source of contamination to the reservation is General Motors (GM) Foundry, which is located less than 100 feet from the reservation's border. This facility is listed on the Environmental Protection Agency's National Priority List and the New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation's (NYSDEC) inactive hazardous waste disposal site list. Contamination to the reservation arising from discharge and secondary transport mechanisms has caused concern to the Mohawk people of Akwesasne. The characterization of the environment at Akwesasne required a historical review of existing environmental data, generation of a database, review of existing data, sampling to augment existing data, data analysis, data modeling and data generation based on a chosen model for all environmental pathways of interest. The objectives this work were to: 1) assess the quality of existing data, 2) create a database which will manage the over 6000 samples recorded taken from the local area, 3) augment the existing data with additional sampling, 4) determine the degradation or attenuation of PCBs and specific congeners in various environmental media over time, and 5) create a model that estimates environmental concentrations of PCBs retro- and pro-spectively for times that sampling had not occurred. The results of this process yielded concentrations of PCBs, congener specific and total, in several environmental medium. Modeling of environmental concentrations through a thirteen-year time period was performed for a fish, wildlife and surface soil. Other media were not modeled due to limited information or non-detectable concentrations reported in past work. Additionally, the study participants activity, consumption and residential information was considered when limiting this modeling effort. The results of this work were used to estimate environmental concentrations through time and space. The results of this work were extremely valuable when determining areas of concern and provided the basis for a detailed exposure assessment of 97 women who reside at the Reservation.

Animals

Chromosomal differences in susceptibility to meiotic aneuploidy.

A basic question concerning the origins of germ cell aneuploidy is whether the same mechanisms operate for all chromosomes, or whether there are chromosome-specific factors influencing the susceptibility to nondisjunction. Although selective loss of some trisomies in early gestation may contribute to the observed differences in trisomy frequency, data from spontaneous abortions, early embryos and gametes strongly suggest that there are real differences in the frequency with which different trisomies arise. In particular the preponderance of trisomy 16 and acrocentric trisomy appears to be present at conception. Maternal and paternal age relationships also differ among trisomies, as do the extent of maternal and paternal contributions, and the relative frequency of meiosis I and meiosis II errors. Recombination patterns associated with nondisjunction also show chromosomal differences. Chromosomal differences in length, centromere position, pericentromeric and other repetitive sequences, recombination patterns and chromatin characteristics might all be related to a differential susceptibility to aneuploidy, but no current explanation accounts for the excess of maternally derived trisomy 16. The existence of chromosome-specific factors makes extrapolation from observations on one chromosome to all aneuploidy unwise, both for investigations into the causes of aneuploidy, and for surveillance of aneuploidy frequency.

Abortion, Spontaneous

Cigarette smoking and spontaneous abortion of known karyotype. Precise data but uncertain inferences.

Data from the first phase (1974-1979) of this New York City case-control study showed that 1) cigarette smoking during pregnancy was associated positively with chromosomally normal spontaneous abortion and 2) both past and current smoking were associated inversely with trisomic loss in women under age 30 years and positively in older women. The authors used data from two subsequent study phases (1979-1982 and 1982-1986) to test the stability of these associations over time and the homogeneity between payment groups (private vs. public). Spontaneous abortions (cases) were classified as chromosomally normal (n = 1,388), trisomic (n = 557), or other chromosomally aberrant (n = 409). Controls (n = 4,165) were women who had registered for prenatal care before 22 weeks' gestation and delivered at 28 weeks or later. For chromosomally normal loss, later data gave modest support to prior observations. In the total sample, current smoking (defined as smoking during the month of the last menstrual period) of 14 or more cigarettes per day was increased among chromosomally normal cases in comparison with controls (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1-1.7) and in comparison with other aberrant cases (adjusted OR = 1.2, 95% CI 0.8-1.8). Stronger associations in public patients than in private patients (adjusted odds ratios of 1.4-1.5 versus 0.8-0.9, respectively) might indicate either a mediating effect of social disadvantage or a chance fluctuation. For trisomic loss, later data did not support prior observations. Associations between trisomy and past or current smoking did not vary significantly with age in either payment group; assuming no effect modification of age, adjusted odds ratios for smoking in relation to trisomy were 0.9-1.0.

Abortion, Spontaneous

Caffeine and spontaneous abortion of known karyotype.

We tested associations of caffeine from beverages with spontaneous abortions of known karyotype. Spontaneous abortions (cases) were classified as chromosomally normal (n = 510) or chromosomally aberrant (n = 389) and, within the latter category, by type of aberration (237 trisomies, 54 monosomies X, 49 triploidies, 49 others). Controls registered for prenatal care before 22 weeks gestation and delivered at 28 weeks or later (n = 1,423). Caffeine intake in the perifertilization period did not differ among case groups and controls. For the highest category, 225+ mg/day, odds ratios (OR), adjusted for payment group and maternal age, were 1.0 for chromosomally normal cases, 0.9 for trisomies, 1.6 for monosomies X, and 0.8 for triploidies. Caffeine intake during pregnancy was tested for associations with chromosomally normal loss using the chromosomally aberrant cases to provide a robust comparison group. Although the proportion of subjects with intake of 225+ mg/day of caffeine intake in the perifertilization period does not influence the risk of chromosomally normal loss or trisomy. For monosomy X and triploidy, no strong associations were observed, but numbers were insufficient to rule out moderate effects. For caffeine intake during pregnancy, we found little evidence to support an influence on chromosomally normal loss.

Abortion, Spontaneous

Disturbed children's and adolescents' comprehension of psychological mechanisms of defense.

This study examined the role of Piagetian logical and analytical reasoning in the comprehension of psychological defense mechanisms among 26 emotionally disturbed boys. Participants assigned to one of three Piagetian cognitive stages, listened to vignettes depicting defensive behaviors of various degrees of logical and structural complexity. Results indicated that, although both within- and between-group performances were at variance with theoretical expectations, consistent age trends in the comprehension of defense mechanisms were observed.

Adolescent