Development of the Practical Solutions for Pesticide Safety guide used participatory research strategies to identify and evaluate solutions that reduce pesticide exposures for workers and their families and to disseminate these solutions. Project principles were (1) workplace chemicals belong in the workplace, and (2) pesticide handlers and farm managers are experts, with direct knowledge of production practices. The project’s participatory methods were grounded in self-determination theory. Practical solutions were identified and evaluated based on five criteria: practicality, adaptability, health and safety, novelty, and regulatory compliance. Research activities that had more personal contact provided better outcomes. The Expert Working Group, composed of farm managers and pesticide handlers, was key to the identification of solutions, as were farm site visits. Audience participation, hands-on testing, and orchard field trials were particularly effective in the evaluation of potential solutions. Small work groups in a Regional Advisory Committee provided the best direction and guidance for a “user-friendly” translational document that provided evidence-based practical solutions. The “farmer to farmer” format of the guide was endorsed by both the Expert Working Group and the Regional Advisory Committee. Managers and pesticide handlers wanted to share their solutions in order to “help others stay safe,” and they appreciated attribution in the guide. The guide is now being used in educational programs across the region. The fundamental concept that farmers and farmworkers are innovators and experts in agricultural production was affirmed by this study. The success of this process demonstrates the value of participatory industrial hygiene in agriculture. 相似文献
Gastroesophageal reflux is the most common benign disorder of the esophagus and laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication has become the standard surgical treatment for its treatment. In our area, where the use of bougie calibration is debatable, postoperative dysphagia is encountered often after this surgery although it is usually not permanent. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of using a soft silicone tube 39 F in diameter for esophageal calibration during laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication on the incidence of postoperative dysphagia. We divided cases scheduled to undergo laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication between January 2009 and November 2010 into two groups, each consisting 25 patients. Esophageal calibration with a 39 F silicone orogastric tube was used for the first group while there was no operative calibration in the second group. The surgical duration was recorded; the presence and severity of the postoperative dysphagia was calculated by using a dysphagia severity scoring system during the 1-year postoperative follow-up. The dysphagia severity scores were significantly lower in group 1 than group 2 on the postoperative second day and at the end of the first week and first month. We did not find a significant difference at the end of the 6-month and first year. There was also no significant difference regarding surgery duration. The use of a soft orogastric tube 39 F in diameter for esophagus calibration during laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication has significantly decreased the incidence of postoperative transient dysphagia without affecting the duration of surgery. Although dysphagia gradually resolves in the majority of patients, a safe and easy calibration method for its prevention is worth developing, and we believe that the use of our method in larger series could be beneficial. 相似文献
The fast track / ultra-fast-track protocols are techniques used to optimise the patient care process and a quick recovery after cardiac surgery. They are one of the mainstays of efficient practice. With their use, the length of hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) stays are reduced, with a direct impact on costs and the quality of the health service.
Objective
To compare the length of stay in the ICU, length of hospital stay, and post-operative mortality in ultra-fast-track extubated (uFTE) patients and those with conventional extubation (CE) after cardiac surgery.
Methods
Longitudinal, analytical, retrospective study was conducted, with the period between the time of surgery and discharge being included as the study period.
Results
A total of 396 patients older than 18 years who required cardiac surgery were included, of whom 207 patients had (uFTE) and 189 had CE. Although the groups were not comparable due to the statistical differences found, when performing the multivariate adjustment, uFTE maintained its statistical independence and was associated with lower cardiovascular morbidity, such as myocardial ischaemia (95% CI: 0.37-0.86; P = .01) and lower post-surgical vasopressor requirement (95% CI: 0.18-0.49; P < .01). No significant differences were found in the length of hospital stay, ICU stay, or post-operative mortality in the ICU.
Conclusion
Implementing the uFTE strategy, decreases cardiovascular morbidity and vasopressor requirement. The change to uFTE should be accompanied by changes in models and practices in patient recovery to standardised protocols. This study shows that uFTE did not reduce the length of ICU stay, hospital stay, or mortality. 相似文献
Introduction: The rising prevalence of musculoskeletal pathologies in developed countries has caused a dramatic impact on social welfare. Amidst these musculoskeletal pathologies is Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a chronic systemic autoimmune disease that mostly affects the synovium. RA metabolic-associated alterations, including distorted adipokine production, enhance RA inflammatory environment. Among the altered adipokines, visfatin is particularly involved in RA inflammation and catabolism and stands out as an essential enzyme linked to critical cell features.
Areas covered: We discuss the potential mechanism supporting the contribution of visfatin to RA and the association between RA and obesity. We discuss the repurposing of cancer-tested drugs to inhibit visfatin in the context of RA. Additionally, we address the possibility of combining these drugs with current RA therapy. Finally, we explore the future of visfatin as an RA biomarker or therapeutic target.
Expert opinion: Inhibition of visfatin has become an interesting therapeutic approach for RA pathology. Such a feat has already been attained in oncology using small molecule inhibitors, which suggest that a similar course of action would be worth pursuing in the RA context. Visfatin will become an important biomarker and therapeutic target for RA. 相似文献
Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) causes irreversible myocardial damage and release of inflammatory mediators, including cytokines, chemokines and miRNAs. We aimed to investigate changes in the levels of cytokines (IL-6, TNF-α and IL-10), miRNAs profiles (miR-146 and miR-155) and distribution of different monocyte subsets (CD14++CD16-, CD14++CD16+, CD14+CD16++) in the acute and post-healing phases of AMI.
Methods
In eighteen consecutive AMI patients (mean age 56.78?±?12.4 years, mean left ventricle ejection fraction – LVEF: 41.9?±?9.8%), treated invasively, monocyte subsets frequencies were evaluated (flow cytometry), cytokine concentrations were analyzed (ELISA) as well as plasma miRNAs were isolated twice – on admission and after 19.2?±?5.9 weeks of follow-up. Measurements were also performed among healthy volunteers.
Results
AMI patients presented significantly decreased frequencies of classical cells in comparison to healthy controls (median 71.22% [IQR: 64.4–79.04] vs. 84.35% [IQR: 81.2–86.7], p?=?0.001) and higher percent of both intermediate and non-classical cells, yet without statistical significance (median 6.54% [IQR: 5.14–16.64] vs. 5.87% [IQR: 4.48–8.6], p?=?0.37 and median 5.99% [IQR: 3.39–11.5] vs. 5.26% [IQR: 3.62–6.2], p?=?0.42, respectively). In AMI patients both, analyzed plasma miRNA concentrations were higher than in healthy subjects (miR-146: median 5.48 [IQR: 2.4–11.27] vs. 1.84 [IQR: 0.87–2.53], p?=?0.003; miR-155: median 25.35 [IQR: 8.17–43.15] vs. 8.4 [IQR: 0.08–16.9], p?=?0.027, respectively), and returned back to the values found in the control group in follow-up. miR-155/miR-146 ratio correlated with the frequencies of classical monocytes (r=0.6, p?=?0.01) and miR-155 correlated positively with the concentration of inflammatory cytokines ? IL-6 and TNF-α.
Conclusions
These results may suggest cooperation of both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory signals in AMI in order to promote appropriate healing of the infarcted myocardium. 相似文献
The 2008 dioxin crisis occurred as a result of contamination of Irish pork. The event had significant implications for Ireland’s economy and the reputation of its agricultural industry, as well as raising concerns for human health. This study describes the results of a content analysis of Irish and UK newspaper coverage of the 2008 Irish dioxin crisis, as this is likely to provide insight into how public perceptions of this issue were shaped. Articles from 16 print publications were systematically sampled for the period December 2008 to February 2009. The resulting data set of 141 articles was examined using a coding protocol developed based on previous research and refined during piloting. Results indicated that the dioxin crisis was primarily portrayed by the media as an industry/economic crisis, dominant in 26.9% of articles in the sample. Within this dominant portrayal, the agricultural industry was frequently cited as being in crisis (42.6%); however, the implications of the crisis on the wider economic environment also received attention (17.7%). Differences between Irish and UK-based media were also examined, revealing that while the Irish media most frequently described the crisis in terms of its impact on the industry and economy, the UK media were more likely to portray the crisis as a risk to health. These dominant media messages and message framings have implications for the public understanding of the issue in each country and potential consequences regarding perception of the adequacy of existing food policy and regulatory oversight. 相似文献