Lead causing

Municipal incinerators are often targeted as a primary cause of acid rain. In fact, power plants burning fossil fuels, which produce sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, are actually the leading cause of acid rain, along with automotive exhaust (176,177). In Europe and Japan, studies show that only about 0.02% of all acid rain can be traced to incineration of PVC (178). 

Difficulties with the Na—S system arise ia part from the ceramic nature of the alumiaa separator the specific P-alumiaa is expeasive to prepare and the material is brittie and quite fragile. Separator failure is the leading cause of early cell failure. Cell failure may also be related to performance problems caused by polarization at the sodium/soHd electrolyte iaterface. Lastiy, seal leakage can be a determiaant of cycle life. In spite of these problems, however, the safety and rehabiUty of the Na—S system has progressed to the poiat where pilot plant production of these batteries is anticipated for EV and aerospace apphcations. 

Loss of containment due to mechanical failure or misoperation is a major cause of chemical process accidents. The publication. One Hundred Largest Losses A Thiiiy Year Review of Propeity Damage Losses in the Hydrocarbon Chemical Industry, 9th ed. (M M Protection Consultants, Chicago), cites loss of containment as the leading cause of property loss in the chemical process industries. 

Nowadays the one of the leading cause of death in industrial country is Heart Failure (HF). Under the pathological conditions (e.g., Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD)) the changes in the enzymes activity and ultrastructure of tissue were obtained. The behavior of trace elements may reflect the activity of different types of enzymes. Pathological changes affects only small area of tissue, hence the amount of samples is strictly limited. Thereby, nondestructive multielemental method SRXRF allow to perfonu the analysis of mass samples in a few milligrams, to save the samples, to investigate the elemental distribution on the sample area. 

Electrical accidents, including electrical arcing, short circuits, and overheated electrical equipment, are tlie leading cause of industrial fires. 

Thiamine, whose structure is shown in Figure 18.17, is known as vitamin Bj and is essential for the prevention of beriberi, a nervous system disease that has occurred in the Far East for centuries and has resulted in considerable sickness and death in these countries. (As recently as 1958, it was the fourth leading cause of death in the Philippine Islands.) It was shown in 1882 by the director-general of the medical department of the Japanese nayt that beriberi could be prevented by dietary modifications. Ten years later, Christiaan Eijkman, a Dutch medical scientist working in Java, began research that eventually showed that thiamine was the... 

Human industry is one of the leading causes of air pollution. (Corbis Corporation]... 

Oxygen dissolved in aqueous solutions, even in very low concentrations, is a leading cause of corrosion problems (i.e., pitting) in drilling. Its presence also accelerates the corrosion rate of other corrodents such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. Oxygen plays a dual role both as a cathodic depolarizer and an anodic polarizer or passivator. Within a certain range of concentration the... 

A disease process characterized by deterioration of the macula of the retina that results in a loss of shaip central vision. AMD is the leading cause of central vision loss in the developed countries today for those over the age of fifty years. 

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) affects over 5% of the adult population, is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide and is the only major cause of mortality that is increasing worldwide. It is an inflammatory disorder of the lungs, caused mainly, but not exclusively, by cigarette smoking. 15-20% of smokers develop COPD. 

It has been proposed that the development of the complications of diabetes mellitus may be linked to oxidative stress and therefore might be attenuated by antioxidants such as vitamin E. Furthermore, it is discussed that glucose-induced vascular dysfunction in diabetes can be reduced by vitamin E treatment due to the inactivation of PKC. Cardiovascular complications are among the leading causes of death in diabetics. In addition, a postulated protective effect of vitamin E (antioxidants) on fasting plasma glucose in type 2 diabetic patients is also mentioned but could not be confirmed in a recently published triple-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial [3]. To our knowledge, up to now no clinical intervention trials have tested directly whether vitamin E can ameliorate the complication of diabetes. 

In fossil fuel-fired WT boiler plants, boiler tube failure is perhaps the leading cause of forced outages, so identifying the chain of cause and effect is particularly important. 

Tuberculosis is a major health problem throughout the world, infecting more than 8 million individuals each year. It is die world s leading cause of death from infectious disease Individuals living in crowded conditions, those widi compromised immune systems, and individuals widi debilitative conditions are especially susceptible to tuberculosis. 

In a previous section we mentioned the significance of myosin filament structure. In nematodes two forms of myosin-II, myosin A and B, are required for proper filament stmcture (Epstein, 1988). The two forms of myosin are expressed at the proper time to allow for correct filament assembly. An accessory protein called paramyosin is also required for correct filament assembly. In vertebrate cardiac muscle, there are also two isoforms of myosin-II a-myosin and p-myosin. The proper ratio of these two proteins is of utmost importance for proper muscle activity. The incorrect synthesis of a- and P-myosins results in a severe cardiac disorder known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Genetic transmission of the disease occurs in about 55% of families. The inherited condition is called familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC), and this condition is a leading cause of sudden death in young athletes. 

Another widespread application of cold storage of tissue for transplantation is that of preservation of the cornea. Inj uries leading to corneal scarring, various kinds of diseases, and the production of comeal opacity are leading causes of blindness. Cornea transplantation is a commonly used and highly successful procedure. It... 

HCMV is widespread in the human population. In immunocompetent individuals, the infection is inapparent or associated with mild symptoms. However, HCMV is frequently transmitted perinatally and is the leading cause of neurological disease and hearing loss in congenitally infected newborns, affecting some 8,000 newborns per year in USA alone (Arvin and Alford 1990). Furthermore, following the first 100 days after transplantation, HCMV-induced pneumonia develops in about 50%... 

Stroke is the leading cause of major long-term disability in adults and the third leading cause of death in the United States. On average, a new stroke occurs every 45 seconds. Thrombolytic therapy with intravenous recombinant tissue-plasminogen activator (IV rt-PA) is the most effective treatment for acute ischemic stroke. In this chapter, we review the rationale for thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke, clinical evidence supporting the use of thrombolytics, and the application of thrombolysis in practice. 

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. There are a number of established risk factors including serum cholesterol levels, smoking and family history, which are responsible for between 50 and 75% of the CVD cases, with the remainder due to factors that cause atherosclerosis. Estrogen treatment such as hormone replacement therapy is known to protect against CVD by decreasing the levels of low-density... 

Ischemic heart disease affects over 13 million Americans and is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States.2 The incidence of IHD is higher in middle-aged men compared to women. However, the rate of IHD increases... 

COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States in 2000,119,000 adults died from the disease.3 In 2002, COPD was estimated to cost the United States 32.1 billion, with direct medical costs accounting for 18 billion of the total.3 Morbidity, mortality, and costs are all expected to increase over the next decade. 

Cirrhosis is the result of long-term insult to the liver, so damage is typically not evident clinically until the fourth decade of life. Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis combined were the 12th leading cause of death in the United States in 2002. In patients between the ages of 25 and 64, damage from excessive alcohol use accounted for over one-half of the deaths.2 Alcoholic liver disease and viral hepatitis are the most common causes of cirrhosis in the United States and worldwide. 

Peritonitis is a leading cause of morbidity in PD patients, which often leads to loss of the catheter and subsequent change to HD as the treatment modality. However, recent advances with connectors used during instillation and drainage of dialysate and delivery systems have dramatically decreased the incidence of peritonitis. Peritonitis can be caused by chemical irritation or microorganisms. 

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