Suchergebnisse

The purpose of this study was to investigate the agreement between self-reported tobacco consumption and NicCheck 1^® (Dynagen Inc. Cambridge, Mass., USA) regarding smoking status and nicotine intake in a population of smokers (20.8%) and non-smokers. NicCheck 1 is a dipstick that changes colour in the presence of urinary nicotine metabolites. Smoking was assessed by self-report and NicCheck 1 in 169 males and 191 females (mean age 36.0 SD 0.7). Self-report and NicCheck 1 agreed highly on smoking status, especially in moderate to heavy smokers. With regard to nicotine intake, there was a large overlap in self-reported tobacco consumption between NicCheck 1 levels, despite a relatively high correlation coefficient between self-report and NicCheck 1 in smokers (i.e. 0.74). No effect modification by gender or BMI was found. When both methods were validated against two blood lipid parameters, self-report seemed to do equally well as NicCheck 1 in assessing nicotine intake.

When studying long-term effects of alcohol consumption on health, the stability of alcohol consumption should be known. In this paper the development and stability of alcohol consumption were investigated. Seven measurements of alcohol consumption were carried out over a period of 20 years, starting at age 13 years, in a cohort of 65 men and 85 women. Effects of age, gender, and type of beverage on the stability of drinking as a dichotomous variable (drink or abstain) and on the stability of relative amounts of alcohol consumption were analyzed. The stability of the drink/abstain dichotomy was high (odds ratios >4) and increased with age. The stability of relative amounts of alcohol consumption was moderate (r_S <0.6), and no effect of age was found. No sex effects were found, while the consumption of beer often showed higher stability than that of wine and spirits.

Bangladesh is densely populated and it is expected that the population increases significantly in the coming decade, up to 60% more by 2050 according to IIASA (2013). Demand for drinking water will increase accordingly. These developments may cause significant changes in the hydrological system, e.g. leading to a drop of groundwater pressures. Moreover, climate change and a sea level rise are predicted by the scenarios drawn by the International Panel of Climate Change (IPCC, 2013). This leads to, among others, an increase of salt water intrusion, in surface water as well as in groundwater. The goal of the BRAC WASH II programme is to contribute to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals by providing integrated water services, sanitation and hygiene promotion expanding to hard-to-reach areas and to under-served populations, in collaboration with government and other stakeholders. As part of the programme, innovative research is addressed in six relevant themes, one of which is the theme salt water intrusion. This project, SWIBANGLA – Managing salt water intrusion impacts in Bangladesh, contributes to the theme salt water intrusion. In this project, the focus is on salt water intrusion in coastal groundwater systems, as groundwater is the main resource of drinking water. So, intrusion of sea water into the coastal surface water courses that are under the influence of tidal effect and storm surges are not studied here. When the salt water intrusion processes and dynamics in groundwater systems are understood, adequate water management measures are feasible. Otherwise, a shortage of sufficient, clean fresh water at the right moment for domestic water supply as well as for agricultural use will occur. Currently, a blue print for accurate policy measures on the issue of salt water intrusion does not exist. In current water safety planning practices in Bangladesh, the issue of salt water intrusion in groundwater systems is underexposed. The Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE) is the main ...