Medical and public health services at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games: an overview

Planning for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games may benefit from the experience of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Excellent health promotion and prevention activities before and during the Games resulted in fewer medical and public health problems than anticipated. Despite this, there was room for improvement in the level of communication and cooperation between the many service providers to ensure the most appropriate and efficient responses.     

Asthma in United States Olympic athletes who participated in the 1996 Summer Games

The epidermis has a requirement for fatty acids in order to synthesize cellular membranes and the extracellular lipid lamellar membranes in the stratum corneum. Despite high endogenous production of fatty acids the transport of exogenous essential fatty acids into the epidermis is an absolute requirement. Fatty acid uptake by keratinocytes has been shown to be mediated by a transport system. In this study we determined in murine epidermis and human cultured keratinocytes the expression of three putative fatty acid transport related proteins and fatty acyl CoA synthase, an enzyme that facilitates the uptake of fatty acids by promoting their metabolism. In cultured human keratinocytes, mRNA for fatty acid transport protein (FATP), plasma membrane fatty acid binding protein (FABP-pm), and fatty acyl CoA synthase (FACS) were detectable. Differentiation, induced by high calcium, did not affect FATP mRNA levels, but resulted in an approximately 50% increase in FACS mRNA, while decreasing FABP-pm mRNA by 50%. Fatty acid translocase (FAT) mRNA was not detected in cultured human keratinocytes. In murine epidermis, FATP, FABP-pm, FACS, and FAT mRNA were all present. Barrier disruption by either tape stripping or acetone treatment increased FAT mRNA levels by approximately 2-fold without affecting FATP, FABP-pm, or FACS. Occlusion with an impermeable membrane immediately after barrier disruption completely blocked the increase in FAT mRNA levels, indicating that this increase is related to barrier disruption rather than a nonspecific injury effect. In summary, this study demonstrates that several putative fatty acid transport related proteins as well as fatty acyl CoA synthase are expressed in keratinocytes and epidermis, and that the expression of these proteins may be regulated by differentiation and/ or barrier disruption.     

The Polyclinic at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Village

The Polyclinic, staffed mainly by volunteers, successfully provided primary health care during 16,519 patient encounters, 64% involving athletes. However, the profile of patient needs held some surprises.     

Podiatry in the 1996 Summer Olympic Games

The 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, were the largest in Olympic history, with 197 countries participating. These Centennial Games also represented podiatry's greatest involvement in the Olympics to date. The author describes the planning, organization, delivery, and outcome of podiatric medical care in an Olympic Games setting and presents data to assist in the future utilization of podiatry in other multiday, multievent sport competitions.     

Public health response for the 1996 Olympic Games

Extensive planning and preparation by public health agencies were required for the provision of public health services during the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, which brought together more than 10000 athletes from 197 countries and more than 2 million visitors. Public health activities included the development and use of an augmented surveillance system to monitor health conditions and detect disease outbreaks; creation and implementation of 6 environmental health regulations; establishment of a central Public Health Command Center and response teams to coordinate response to public health emergencies; planning for potential mass casualties and the provision of emergency medical services; implementation of strategies for the prevention of heat-related illness; and distribution of health promotion and disease prevention information. Public health agencies should take the lead in organizing and implementing a system for preventing and managing public health issues at future large-scale public events such as the Olympics.     

Doping control in sports--a perspective from the 1996 Olympic Games

Doping-control (DC) procedures, particularly as used at the 1996 Olympic Games, are described, and the role of pharmacists in DC is discussed. DC procedures must be strict and precisely followed to avoid contamination of samples, the appearance of bias, and breaches in security and confidentiality. The process of selecting athletes for testing can be random, nonrandom, or a combination of the two. Escorts are used to notify athletes of their selection, verify their identity, and accompany them to the DC station. When urine specimens are obtained for DC, the voiding process must be directly observed. The specimen is checked for pH and specific gravity and then processed for shipping to a laboratory to be analyzed for banned substances. Medication histories are also obtained, giving athletes the opportunity to declare any substance that has been taken for legitimate medical purposes. Laboratory analysis involves screening and confirmation phases. During the Atlanta Games, roughly 50 pharmacists participated in the DC program as escorts or technical officers. It is logical to involve pharmacists in DC programs because they can develop and conduct drug-testing protocols; educate athletes, coaches, and trainers about drug use and abuse; and help ensure the safe and effective use of medications. Sophisticated doping-control procedures have been developed for athletic competitions, and pharmacists have much to offer DC programs.     

Medical care delivery at the 1996 Olympic Games. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Olympics Surveillance Unit

CONTEXT: Mass gatherings like the 1996 Olympic Games require medical services for large populations assembled under unusual circumstances. OBJECTIVE: To examine delivery of medical services and to provide data for planning future events. DESIGN: Observational cohort study, with review of medical records at Olympics medical facilities. SETTING: One large multipurpose clinic and 128 medical aid stations operating at Olympics-sponsored sites in the vicinity of Atlanta, Ga. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 10715 patients, including 1804 athletes, 890 officials, 480 Olympic dignitaries, 3280 volunteers, 3482 spectators, and 779 others who received medical care from a physician at an Olympic medical station. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of injuries and cases of heat-related illness among participant categories, medical use rates among participants with official Games credentials, and use rates per 10000 persons attending athletic competitions. RESULTS: Injuries, accounting for 35% of all medical visits, were more common among athletes (51.9% of their visits, P < .001) than among other groups. Injuries accounted for 31.4% of all other groups combined. Spectators and volunteers accounted for most (88.9%, P < .001) of the 1059 visits for heat-related illness. The rates for number of medical encounters treated by a physician were highest for athletes (16.2 per 100 persons, P < .001) and lowest for volunteers (2.0 per 100). Overall physician treatment rate was 4.2 per 10000 in attendance (range, 1.6-30.1 per 10000). A total of 432 patients were transferred to hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Organizers used these data during the Games to monitor the health of participants and to redirect medical and other resources to areas of increased need. These data should be useful for planning medical services for future mass gatherings.     

奥运前期北京市一次典型颗粒物生消过程分析

[目的]探讨奥运前期北京市一次典型过程中细颗粒物的生消规律.[方法]利用中国环科院站点的颗粒物在线监测数据、同期气象观测数据,结合美国怀俄明州立大学网上探空资料和数值预报图等,对2008年8月3～11日北京市一次典型颗粒物生消过程进行了分析.[结果]在颗粒物累积过程中,颗粒物呈现逐步老化现象;此次过程主要受大尺度的天气背景影响,且近地面的小风静风、高湿等气象条件不利于污染扩散;持续偏南气流将河北省、天津市及山东的污染物带入北京;混合层高度与温度层结等对污染有重要影响.[结论]该研究为空气污染过程中影响颗粒物生消过程的因素探讨提供理论依据.     

Mortality during the 1996/7 winter

There was a sharp peak in mortality during the 1996/7 winter, resulting in an estimated 49 thousand excess deaths. This article describes the timing of the winter peak, the population affected and the main causes of death. The relationship between excess winter mortality, temperature and influenza is also explored. The peak in the number of deaths in December 1996 and January 1997 coincided with a peak in the number of deaths attributed to influenza and with low temperatures. However, the excess winter mortality was higher than expected, based on the experience of previous winters.     

Drug and alcohol use by Canadian university athletes: a national survey

To gauge the extent of drug and alcohol use in Canadian university athletes, we estimated the proportion of Canadian university athletes using social and/or ergogenic drugs through survey methods. A secondary purpose was to examine athletes' perceptions of the value of drug testing and drug education programs. Using a stratified random sampling procedure, 754 student athletes were surveyed in eight different sports from eight universities across Canada. Results showed that 17.7 percent of athletes have used major pain medications over the past twelve months, 3 percent reported use of weight loss products, 0.9 percent reported anabolic steroid use, 16.6 percent reported use of smokeless tobacco products, 94.1 percent reported use of alcohol, 65.2 percent reported use of caffeine products, 0.7 percent reported use of amphetamines, 1.0 percent reported use of barbiturates, 19.8 percent reported use of marijuana or hashish, 5.9 percent reported use of psychedelics and 0.8 percent reported use of cocaine/crack.     

Are smiles a sign of happiness? Gold medal winners at the Olympic Games.

All facial behavior displayed by 22 Olympic gold medalists during their awards ceremonies was codified. The awards ceremony contains one stage in which the medalist interacts with others and two noninteractive stages. Observers (including 10 other gold medalists) judged the emotional experience of the gold medalists to be intense happiness throughout the ceremony. However, smiles were frequent only during the interactive stage. As predicted by behavioral ecological theories of facial behavior, happiness was not sufficient for smiling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of anabolic steroids by athletes to increase body weight and strength

Over the past 20 years the taking of anabolic steroids by healthy athletes for the purpose of increasing body weight and strength has become very widespread. The ability of these agents to cause potentially serious side effects is discussed. In a series of 20 subjects studied over 18 months, no side effects of significance were recorded, and marked increases in strength and body weight were achieved.     

中国再次申办奥运会与世博会的必要性和可行性分析

从政治效益、经济效益、文化效益及社会效益等角度系统阐述我国再次申办奥运会及世博会的必要性,并从奥组委与世界展览局规定的相关申办规则、先例等方面分析我国再次申办奥运会和世博会的可行性.同时,从我国已经成功举办过奥运会与世博会积累的经验与成熟的风险规避措施等方面,分析我国再次申办奥运会及世博会的比较优势.最后简要提出再次申办奥运会与世博会的地点选择方案.     

Knowledge and reported use of sport science by elite New Zealand Olympic class sailors

The male holotype and female allotype of Toxorhynchites (Toxorhynchites) macaensis Ribeiro, a new mosquito species from Macau, southern China, are described on the basis of the examination of a type series of 6 males and 7 females. Similarities of the new species with the other species of the Splendens group, to which the new taxon belongs, are discussed and keys to identification of males and females of all the species of the group are provided.     

Atlanta, psychology, and the second siege: Report to APA by the Georgia Psychological Association's Ad Hoc Resource Committee on murdered and missing Atlanta children.

From the summer of 1979 until May of 1981, Atlanta's young Black population was apparently stalked by a ruthless and faceless killer or killers. Before the sensational string of murders stopped abruptly, at least 28 deaths occurred in a 22-mo period, with a 29th child presumed dead. Most of these murders, and possibly others, are believed to be part of the same pattern of killings. Because of the exotic nature of these crimes, and due to the tremendous emotional strain these perplexing murders induced in Atlanta's population, the opportunity for consultation and intervention by professional psychology was prominent. This report chronicles the Atlanta child murders and the individual and organized efforts of professional psychologists to assist the Atlanta Special Task Force and community. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)