The predominant shapes of small opacities on the chest radiographs of 895 British coalminers have been studied. The aims were to determine whether irregular (as distinct from rounded) small opacities can be identified reproducibly, whether their occurrence is related to dust exposure, and whether they are associated with excess prevalence of respiratory symptoms or impairments of lung function. Six of the doctors responsible for regular radiological surveys of all British coalminers each classified all 895 radiographs twice and independently, using the International Labour Organisation's 1980 classification system. The majority view was that 39 films showed predominantly irregular small opacities, 131 showed predominantly small rounded opacities, and 587 showed no small opacities. Readers' opinions varied about the presence and shapes of shadows on the other 138 films. In general, consistency between readers (and within readers on repeated viewings) was satisfactory. The occurrence and profusion of irregular shadows were related significantly both to the men's ages and additionally to their cumulative exposure to respirable coalmine dust as determined from 15 years' dust monitoring close to where the miners had worked. For any given level of exposure, the average level of profusion of the small irregular opacities was less than the corresponding profusion of small rounded opacities. The prevalence rates of chronic cough and phlegm, and of breathlessness, were higher in those with small irregular opacities than in those with no small opacities (category 0/0), but the differences were not statistically significant after adjustment for other factors including smoking habits. The presence of irregular (but not rounded) small shadows was associated with an impairment in respiratory function averaging about 190 ml deficits in both FEVy and FVC. These deficits were not explicable in terms of the men's ages, body sizes, and smoking habits and they were in addition to the lung function losses attributable to the miners' dust exposure as such. It is concluded that the presence and profusion of small irregular opacities should be taken into consideration when assessing the severity of coalworkers' simple pneumoconiosis.The International Labour Organisation's (ILO) ever, also occur on the chest radiographs of coalclassification of the chest radiographic appearances of miners,4 and the frequency of their occurrence has pneumoconiosis distinguishes between small opacities been related -to years worked underground,5 6 sugthat are rounded in shape and those that are irregu-gesting that they, in addition to rounded opacities, lar.1 Present estimates of the risk of coalworkers' sim-might result from dust exposure. Irregular opacities ple pneumoconiosis in relation to respirable dust may also have different clinical implications from exposure are based on studies in which the criterion those of rounded opacities, in that the former have for pneumoconiosis has been the presence of small been related to reduced lung function67 and to...

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by the occurrence of a traumatic event that is beyond the normal range of human experience. The future of PTSD treatment may specifically target the molecular mechanisms of PTSD. In the US, approximately 20% of adults report taking herbal products to treat medical illnesses. L-theanine is the amino acid in green tea primarily responsible for relaxation effects. No studies have evaluated the potential therapeutic properties of herbal medications on gene expression in PTSD. We evaluated gene expression in PTSD-induced changes in the amygdala and hippocampus of Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats were assigned to PTSD-stressed and nonstressed groups that received either saline, midazolam, L-theanine, or L-theanine + midazolam. Amygdala and hippocampus tissue samples were analyzed for changes in gene expression. One-way ANOVA was used to detect significant difference between groups in the amygdala and hippocampus. Of 88 genes examined, 17 had a large effect size greater than 0.138. Of these, 3 genes in the hippocampus and 5 genes in the amygdala were considered significant (P < 0.05) between the groups. RT-PCR analysis revealed significant changes between groups in several genes implicated in a variety of disorders ranging from PTSD, anxiety, mood disorders, and substance dependence.

A comparison of conventional and grid techniques for chest radiography in field surveys. The effect on the quality of chest radiographs using a reciprocating grid with a moderately high kilovoltage (96 to 105 kV) has been studied. A total of 1 710 mineworkers had two postero-anterior chest radiographs taken at the same visit to a linked pair of mobile x-ray units. One film was taken with conventional exposure factors and the other with moderately high kilovoltage and a reciprocating grid. The grid was exchanged between the two units according to a randomized plan so that the first radiograph was not always taken with the same technique.The 3 420 films so produced were subsequently assessed for quality by five doctors experienced in reading chest films. The films were examined singly in random order and the reader did not know which technique had been used for a given film.Four of the readers recorded improved quality using the grid technique for films from men whose antero-posterior chest measurements exceeded 254 mm (10 in), but they preferred the conventional exposure technique for films from men whose chest measurements were less than 254 mm. Results from all film pairs where a difference in quality was recorded showed no overall advantage for either technique.