Smoking: An independent risk factor for lost productivity in chronic rhinosinusitis.

PubMed

Campbell, Adam P; Hoehle, Lloyd P; Phillips, Katie M; Caradonna, David S; Gray, Stacey T; Sedaghat, Ahmad R

2017-08-01

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is associated with a significant loss of patient productivity that costs billions of dollars every year. Smoking is associated with worsening sinonasal symptoms, but its effect on lost productivity in CRS patients has yet to be described. Therefore, we sought to determine the association between smoking and productivity in patients with CRS. Prospective cross-sectional cohort study of 140 patients with CRS. Sinonasal symptom severity was measured using the 22-item Sino-Nasal Outcomes Test. Lost productivity was assessed by asking participants how many days of work and/or school they missed in the last 3 months due to CRS. Associations were sought between lost productivity and smoking. Participants missed a mean of 3.0 days (standard deviation = 12.8 days) of work or school due to CRS. Having any history of smoking was associated with 6 days of lost productivity due to CRS (adjusted β = 6.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.64 to 11.77, P = .031). Although the number of active smokers in our study cohort was very small (N = 6), we performed a univariate association between smoking status, considering former smokers and active smokers separately, and found that active smoking (β = 11.75, 95% CI: 2.11 to 21.40, P = .018) had a much larger impact on CRS-related productivity loss than that experienced by former smokers (β = 4.45, 95% CI: -0.32 to 9.23, P = .070). Smoking (likely driven by active smoking) is independently associated with missed days of work or school in patients with CRS. Further study is needed to determine whether interventions directed at smoking may impact CRS-related productivity loss. 2c Laryngoscope, 127:1742-1745, 2017. © 2017 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Allergic rhinitis and the common cold--high cost to society.

PubMed

Hellgren, J; Cervin, A; Nordling, S; Bergman, A; Cardell, L O

2010-06-01

The common cold and allergic rhinitis constitute a global health problem that affects social life, sleep, school and work performance and is likely to impose a substantial economic burden on society because of absence from work and reduced working capacity. This study assesses the loss of productivity as a result of both allergic rhinitis and the common cold in the Swedish working population. Four thousand questionnaires were sent to a randomized adult population, aged 18-65 years, in Sweden, stratified by gender and area of residence (metropolitan area vs rest of the country). The human capital approach was used to assign monetary value to lost productivity in terms of absenteeism (absence from work), presenteeism (reduced working capacity while at work) and caregiver absenteeism (absence from work to take care of a sick child). Thousand two hundred and thirteen individuals responded, response rate 32%. The mean productivity loss was estimated at 5.1 days or euro 653 per worker and year, yielding a total productivity loss in Sweden of euro 2.7 billion a year. Of the total costs, absenteeism (44%) was the dominant factor, followed by presenteeism (37%) and caregiver absenteeism (19%). Poisson regression analyses revealed that women, people in the 18-29 year age group, and respondents with 'doctor-diagnosed asthma' reported more lost days than the rest of the group. In Sweden, the cost of rhinitis is euro 2.7 billion a year in terms of lost productivity. A reduction in lost productivity of 1 day per individual and year would potentially save euro 528 million.

The impact of occupational stress factors on temporary work disability related to arterial hypertension and its complications.

PubMed

Lazaridis, Konstantinos; Jovanović, Jovica; Jovanović, Jovana; Šarac, Ivana; Jovanović, Stefan

2017-06-01

To determine which specific groups of occupational stress factors influence the duration of temporary work disability related to arterial hypertension and joint complications/co-morbidities. Workers (n = 1398; 1009 in the exposed group, 389 in the control group) with arterial hypertension who worked at one workplace for a minimum of 10 years were divided into 10 subgroups, depending on the presence of joint complications/co-morbidities. The intensity of seven groups of occupational stress factors, the total score of Occupational Stress Index (OSI) and the average number of lost working days during 1 year were analysed. The number of lost working days due to arterial hypertension and joint complications/co-morbidities was significantly higher in the exposed group. In all subgroups of the exposed group there was a high correlation between the number of lost working days and the total OSI score. Specific occupational stress factors were associated with specific complications: High Demands with chronic myocardial infarction, Strictness with cerebral haemorrhage, Conflict/Uncertainty with cerebral infarction, Extrinsic Time Pressure with acute myocardial infarction, and Avoidance/Symbolic Aversiveness with non-insulin-dependent diabetes. There are specific groups of occupational stress factors which can influence the duration of work disability associated with certain complications and co-morbidities of arterial hypertension.

Depression symptoms and lost productivity in chronic rhinosinusitis.

PubMed

Campbell, Adam P; Phillips, Katie M; Hoehle, Lloyd P; Feng, Allen L; Bergmark, Regan W; Caradonna, David S; Gray, Stacey T; Sedaghat, Ahmad R

2017-03-01

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is associated with significant losses of patient productivity that cost billions of dollars every year. The causative factors for decreases in productivity in patients with CRS have yet to be determined. To determine which patterns of CRS symptoms drive lost productivity. Prospective, cross-sectional cohort study of 107 patients with CRS. Sinonasal symptom severity was measured using the 22-item Sinonasal Outcomes Test, from which sleep, nasal, otologic or facial pain, and emotional function subdomain scores were calculated using principal component analysis. Depression risk was assessed with the 2-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2), whereas nasal obstruction was assessed with the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) instrument. Lost productivity was assessed by asking participants how many days of work and/or school they missed in the last 3 months because of CRS. Associations were sought between lost productivity and CRS symptoms. A total of 107 patients were recruited. Patients missed a mean (SD) of 3.1 (12.9) days of work or school because of CRS. Lost productivity was most strongly associated with the emotional function subdomain (β = 7.48; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.71-9.25; P < .001). Reinforcing this finding, lost productivity was associated with PHQ-2 score (β = 4.72; 95% CI, 2.62-6.83; P < .001). Lost productivity was less strongly associated with the nasal symptom subdomain score (β = 2.65; 95% CI, 0.77-4.52; P = .007), and there was no association between lost productivity and NOSE score (β = 0.01; 95% CI, -0.12 to 0.13; P = .91). Symptoms associated with depression are most strongly associated with missed days of work or school because of CRS. Further treatment focusing on depression-associated symptoms in patients with CRS may reduce losses in productivity. Copyright © 2016 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The relationships between lost work time and duration of absence spells: proposal for a payroll driven measure of absenteeism.

PubMed

Hill, James J; Slade, Martin D; Cantley, Linda; Vegso, Sally; Fiellin, Martha; Cullen, Mark R

2008-07-01

To propose a standard measure of absenteeism (the work lost rate [WLR]) be included in future research to facilitate understanding and allow for translation of findings between scientific disciplines. Hourly payroll data derived from "punch clock" reports was used to compare various measures of absenteeism used in the literature and the application of the proposed metric (N = 4000 workers). Unpaid hours and full absent days were highly correlated with the WLR (r = 0.896 to 0.898). The highest percentage of unpaid hours (lost work time) is captured by absence spells of 1 and 2 days duration. The proposed WLR metric captures: 1) The range and distribution of the individual WLRs, 2) the percentage of subjects with no unpaid hours, and 3) the population WLR and should be included whenever payroll data is used to measure absenteeism.

The Relationships Between Lost Work Time and Duration of Absence Spells: Proposal for a Payroll Driven Measure of Absenteeism

PubMed Central

Hill, James J.; Slade, Martin D.; Cantley, Linda; Vegso, Sally; Fiellin, Martha; Cullen, Mark R.

2011-01-01

Objective To propose a standard measure of absenteeism (the work lost rate [WLR]) be included in future research to facilitate understanding and allow for translation of findings between scientific disciplines. Methods Hourly payroll data derived from “punch clock” reports was used to compare various measures of absenteeism used in the literature and the application of the proposed metric (N = 4000 workers). Results Unpaid hours and full absent days were highly correlated with the WLR (r = 0.896 to 0.898). The highest percentage of unpaid hours (lost work time) is captured by absence spells of 1 and 2 days duration. Conclusion The proposed WLR metric captures: 1) The range and distribution of the individual WLRs, 2) the percentage of subjects with no unpaid hours, and 3) the population WLR and should be included whenever payroll data is used to measure absenteeism. PMID:18617841

Is Early Prescribing of Opioid and Psychotropic Medications Associated With Delayed Return to Work and Increased Final Workers' Compensation Cost?

PubMed

Tao, Xuguang Grant; Lavin, Robert A; Yuspeh, Larry; Weaver, Virginia M; Bernacki, Edward J

2015-12-01

To explore the association between the initial 60 days of prescriptions for psychotropic medications and final workers' compensation claim outcomes. A cohort of 11,394 claimants involved in lost time injuries between 1999 and 2002 were followed through December 31, 2009. Logistic regressions and Cox Proportional Hazard Models were used in the analysis. The initial 60 days of prescriptions for psychotropic medications were significantly associated with a final claim cost at least $100,000. Odds ratios were 1.88 for short-acting opioids, 2.14 for hypnotics, antianxiety agents, or antidepressants, and 3.91 for long-acting opioids, respectively. Significant associations were also found between decreased time lost from work and decreased claim closures during the study period. Early prescription of opioids and other psychotropic drugs may be useful predictors of high claim costs and time lost from work.

Interference with work in fibromyalgia - effect of treatment with pregabalin and relation to pain response

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Clinical trials in chronic pain often collect information about interference with work as answers to component questions of commonly used questionnaires but these data are not normally analysed separately. Methods We performed a meta-analysis of individual patient data from four large trials of pregabalin for fibromyalgia lasting 8-14 weeks. We analysed data on interference with work, inferred from answers to component questions of Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), Short Form 36 Health Survey, Sheehan Disability Scale, and Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue, including "How many days in the past week did you miss work, including housework, because of fibromyalgia?" from FIQ. Analyses were performed according to randomised treatment group (pregabalin 150-600 mg daily or placebo), pain improvement (0-10 numerical pain rating scale scores at trial beginning vs. end), and end of trial pain state (100 mm visual analogue pain scale [VAS]). Results Comparing treatment group average outcomes revealed modest improvement over the duration of the trials, more so with active treatment than with placebo. For the 'work missed' question from FIQ the change for patients on placebo was from 2.2 (standard deviation [SD] 2.3) days of work lost per week at trial beginning to 1.9 (SD 2.1) days lost at trial end (p < 0.01). For patients on 600 mg pregabalin the change was from 2.1 (SD 2.2) days to 1.6 (SD 2.0) days (p < 0.001). However, the change in days of work lost was substantial in patients with a good pain response: from 2.0 (SD 2.2) days to 0.97 (SD 1.6) days (p < 0.0001) for those experiencing >/= 50% pain improvement and from 1.9 (SD 2.2) days to 0.73 (SD 1.4) days (p < 0.0001) for those achieving a low level of pain at trial end (<30 mm on the VAS). Patients achieving both >/= 50% pain improvement and a pain score <30 mm on the VAS had the largest improvement, from 2.0 (SD 2.2) days to 0.60 (SD 1.3) days (p < 0.0001). Analysing answers to the other questions yielded qualitatively similar results. Conclusions Effective pain treatment goes along with benefit regarding work. A reduction in time off work >1 day per week can be achieved in patients with good pain responses. PMID:21639874

Interference with work in fibromyalgia: effect of treatment with pregabalin and relation to pain response.

PubMed

Straube, Sebastian; Moore, R Andrew; Paine, Jocelyn; Derry, Sheena; Phillips, Ceri J; Hallier, Ernst; McQuay, Henry J

2011-06-03

Clinical trials in chronic pain often collect information about interference with work as answers to component questions of commonly used questionnaires but these data are not normally analysed separately. We performed a meta-analysis of individual patient data from four large trials of pregabalin for fibromyalgia lasting 8-14 weeks. We analysed data on interference with work, inferred from answers to component questions of Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), Short Form 36 Health Survey, Sheehan Disability Scale, and Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue, including "How many days in the past week did you miss work, including housework, because of fibromyalgia?" from FIQ. Analyses were performed according to randomised treatment group (pregabalin 150-600 mg daily or placebo), pain improvement (0-10 numerical pain rating scale scores at trial beginning vs. end), and end of trial pain state (100 mm visual analogue pain scale [VAS]). Comparing treatment group average outcomes revealed modest improvement over the duration of the trials, more so with active treatment than with placebo. For the 'work missed' question from FIQ the change for patients on placebo was from 2.2 (standard deviation [SD] 2.3) days of work lost per week at trial beginning to 1.9 (SD 2.1) days lost at trial end (p < 0.01). For patients on 600 mg pregabalin the change was from 2.1 (SD 2.2) days to 1.6 (SD 2.0) days (p < 0.001). However, the change in days of work lost was substantial in patients with a good pain response: from 2.0 (SD 2.2) days to 0.97 (SD 1.6) days (p < 0.0001) for those experiencing >/= 50% pain improvement and from 1.9 (SD 2.2) days to 0.73 (SD 1.4) days (p < 0.0001) for those achieving a low level of pain at trial end (<30 mm on the VAS). Patients achieving both >/= 50% pain improvement and a pain score <30 mm on the VAS had the largest improvement, from 2.0 (SD 2.2) days to 0.60 (SD 1.3) days (p < 0.0001). Analysing answers to the other questions yielded qualitatively similar results. Effective pain treatment goes along with benefit regarding work. A reduction in time off work >1 day per week can be achieved in patients with good pain responses.

Medical care surrounding work-related back injury claims among Washington State Union Carpenters, 1989-2003.

PubMed

Kucera, Kristen L; Lipscomb, Hester J; Silverstein, Barbara

2011-01-01

We describe medical care received through workers' compensation (WC) and union-provided insurance surrounding work-related back injuries and examine relationships between care provided and time off work among a large cohort of carpenters. Union records identified a cohort of 20,642 carpenters working in Washington State from 1989-2003 and their private health insurance claims. These data were linked to workers' compensation files from this state-run program including records of medical care. Over 74,000 WC medical encounters resulted from 2959 work-related back injuries. Eleven percent received private care for musculoskeletal back pain within 90 days of work-related injury; this proportion increased with increasing lost days. Delay to physical therapy was more prevalent among those out of work longest. The proportion of claimants with care from both systems and from private utilization only increased after the first 90 days and, for the subset with at least one paid lost work day, after return to work. Examination of medical care through both systems versus solely in workers' compensation provides a more complete understanding of back injury care while also demonstrating complexity. Differences in outcomes based upon treatment shortly after injury are worthy of further exploration.

Short-term Lost Productivity per Victim: Intimate Partner Violence, Sexual Violence, or Stalking.

PubMed

Peterson, Cora; Liu, Yang; Kresnow, Marcie-Jo; Florence, Curtis; Merrick, Melissa T; DeGue, Sarah; Lokey, Colby N

2018-07-01

The purpose of this study is to estimate victims' lifetime short-term lost productivity because of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, or stalking. U.S. nationally representative data from the 2012 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey were used to estimate a regression-adjusted average per victim (female and male) and total population number of cumulative short-term lost work and school days (or lost productivity) because of victimizations over victims' lifetimes. Victims' lost productivity was valued using a U.S. daily production estimate. Analysis was conducted in 2017. Non-institutionalized adults with some lifetime exposure to intimate partner violence, sexual violence, or stalking (n=6,718 respondents; survey-weighted n=130,795,789) reported nearly 741 million lost productive days because of victimizations by an average of 2.5 perpetrators per victim. The adjusted per victim average was 4.9 (95% CI=3.9, 5.9) days, controlling for victim, perpetrator, and violence type factors. The estimated societal cost of this short-term lost productivity was $730 per victim, or $110 billion across the lifetimes of all victims (2016 USD). Factors associated with victims having a higher number of lost days included a higher number of perpetrators and being female, as well as sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking victimization by an intimate partner perpetrator, stalking victimization by an acquaintance perpetrator, and sexual violence or stalking victimization by a family member perpetrator. Short-term lost productivity represents a minimum economic valuation of the immediate negative effects of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking. Victims' lost productivity affects family members, colleagues, and employers. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Does disease activity at start of biologic therapy influence work-loss in RA patients?

PubMed

Olofsson, Tor; Johansson, Kari; Eriksson, Jonas K; van Vollenhoven, Ronald; Miller, Heather; Petersson, Ingemar F; Askling, Johan; Neovius, Martin

2016-04-01

To compare work-loss in RA patients starting their first biologic with high vs moderate disease activity. We identified all RA patients aged 20-63 years in the Swedish Biologics Register who started their first biologic 2007-09 with high disease activity (DAS28 >5.1; n = 868) or moderate disease activity (DAS28 3.2-5.1; n = 854). Work days lost, defined as sick leave and disability pension days from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, were assessed over 5 years after first bio-start. We estimated between-group mean differences adjusted for age, sex, calendar year, education level, disease duration, comorbidities and work-loss the month before bio-start. During 5 years after anti-TNF start, mean monthly work days lost declined from 16.0 to 9.2 (42%; P < 0.001) in patients with high disease activity at baseline and from 12.0 to 7.2 (40%; P < 0.001) in patients with moderate disease activity, with no between-group difference (adjusted mean difference 0.81; 95% CI - 0.44, 2.05). Accumulated 5-year work-loss was, however, higher in the high activity group (724 vs 548 days; adjusted mean difference 70; 95% CI 20, 120), but after stratification on baseline disability pension status, no differences in accumulated work-loss were detected. Substantial work-loss was seen in both patients with high and patients with moderate disease activity at anti-TNF start, with a 5-year decline in mean monthly work days lost by ∼40% in both groups and no between-group difference. Accumulated work-loss over 5 years was higher in the high-activity group, which may be explained by differences in baseline disability pension status. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Impact of acute bleeding on daily activities of patients with congenital hemophilia with inhibitors and their caregivers and families: observations from the Dosing Observational Study in Hemophilia (DOSE).

PubMed

Recht, Michael; Neufeld, Ellis J; Sharma, Vivek R; Solem, Caitlyn T; Pickard, A Simon; Gut, Robert Z; Cooper, David L

2014-09-01

There is limited understanding of the effects of bleeding episodes on the daily lives of patients with congenital hemophilia with inhibitors and their caregivers. This analysis of the Dosing Observational Study in Hemophilia examined the impact of acute bleeding episodes on work, school, and family activities. Patients and caregivers participated in a diary study for 90 or more days or until patients experienced four bleeding episodes. All bleed treatments, interference with daily activities, and quality-of-life assessments were captured in daily records. Patients and caregivers reported planned workdays or school days eligible to be "lost" so as to differentiate from days lost because of disability or nonworking status, weekends, and vacations. Diaries were completed for 39 patients (18 adults and 21 children). Bleeding episodes that continued for 3 or more days (16.4%) accounted for most of the major changes to family plans. For the 38 patients with bleeding episodes, 47% of 491 bleed days fell on planned workdays or school days; the remainder fell on weekends, holidays, or nonworkdays or non-school days and therefore did not count as "lost days." Patients reported a loss of productivity on a greater percentage of eligible bleed days than did caregivers (3.9% vs. 0.8%, respectively). Patients and caregivers reported 13.5%/9.3% fully missed and 3.5%/7.6% partially missed days. This study demonstrated that in hemophilia with inhibitors, bleeding episodes interfere with the daily activities of patients and their caregivers. Furthermore, documenting only lost days underestimated the impact of bleeding episodes because of the high percentage of days without planned work or school. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Outcomes of a pilot hand hygiene randomized cluster trial to reduce communicable infections among US office-based employees.

PubMed

Stedman-Smith, Maggie; DuBois, Cathy L Z; Grey, Scott F; Kingsbury, Diana M; Shakya, Sunita; Scofield, Jennifer; Slenkovich, Ken

2015-04-01

To determine the effectiveness of an office-based multimodal hand hygiene improvement intervention in reducing self-reported communicable infections and work-related absence. A randomized cluster trial including an electronic training video, hand sanitizer, and educational posters (n = 131, intervention; n = 193, control). Primary outcomes include (1) self-reported acute respiratory infections (ARIs)/influenza-like illness (ILI) and/or gastrointestinal (GI) infections during the prior 30 days; and (2) related lost work days. Incidence rate ratios calculated using generalized linear mixed models with a Poisson distribution, adjusted for confounders and random cluster effects. A 31% relative reduction in self-reported combined ARI-ILI/GI infections (incidence rate ratio: 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.49 to 0.98). A 21% nonsignificant relative reduction in lost work days. An office-based multimodal hand hygiene improvement intervention demonstrated a substantive reduction in self-reported combined ARI-ILI/GI infections.

Bioterrorism preparedness--Part II. Smallpox vaccination in a hospital setting.

PubMed

Jacobs, Lenworth M; Emanuelsen, Kathy; McKay, Charles; Burns, Karyl

2004-01-01

The threat of using smallpox as an agent for bioterrorism resulted in a directive for the creation of smallpox response teams. In Connecticut, The Commissioner of the Department of Public Health convened public health and hospital leadership to plan for the vaccination of these teams. The purpose of this paper is to provide a description of the vaccination program at Hartford Hospital, a Center of Excellence for Bioterrorism Preparedness, and to report the results of a survey of the vaccinees regarding the vaccination experience. Ninety persons were vaccinated. Six individuals experienced low-grade fever and 10 had axillary node swelling. One individual experienced significant fatigue. A total of six persons lost time from work. Four lost one day and two persons lost between four to five days of work. There was no autoinoculation, transfer inoculation, vaccinia or any other significant complication. Survey results indicate that most vaccinees felt positive about the experience.

Vaccination versus treatment of influenza in working adults: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

PubMed

Rothberg, Michael B; Rose, David N

2005-01-01

To determine the cost-effectiveness of influenza vaccination, antiviral therapy, or no intervention for healthy working adults, accounting for annual variation in vaccine efficacy. We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis based on published clinical trials of influenza vaccine and antiviral drugs, incorporating 10 years of surveillance data from the World Health Organization. We modeled influenza vaccination, treatment of influenza-like illness with antiviral drugs, or both, as compared with no intervention, targeting healthy working adults under age 50 years in the general community or workplace. Outcomes included costs, illness days, and quality-adjusted days gained. In the base case analysis, the majority of costs incurred for all strategies were related to lost productivity from influenza illness. The least expensive strategy varied from year to year. For the 10-year period, antiviral therapy without vaccination was associated with the lowest overall costs (234 US dollars per person per year). Annual vaccination cost was 239 US dollars per person, and was associated with 0.0409 quality-adjusted days saved, for a marginal cost-effectiveness ratio of 113 US dollars per quality-adjusted day gained or 41,000 US dollars per quality-adjusted life-year saved compared with antiviral therapy. No intervention was the most expensive and least effective option. In sensitivity analyses, lower vaccination costs, higher annual probabilities of influenza, and higher numbers of workdays lost to influenza made vaccination more cost-effective than treatment. If vaccination cost was less than 16 US dollars or time lost from work exceeded 2.4 days per episode of influenza, then vaccination was cost saving compared with all other strategies. Influenza vaccination for healthy working adults is reasonable economically, and under certain circumstances is cost saving. Antiviral therapy is consistently cost saving.

Improving feeding management and work performance of Mashona oxen through strategic supplementation with cobsheath-groundnut stover.

PubMed

Francis, J; Ndlovu, L R

1995-11-01

Six pairs of Mashona oxen ploughed dry, red clay soils in August (winter) and in mid-November (spring). Between September and November the oxen were randomly assigned to 3 feeding groups: no supplement (control), 400 g/head per day of cobsheath-groundnut stover for 70 days and 800 g/head per day of the same supplement for 35 days. Cobsheath-groundnut stover was fed in order to determine its potential as supplementary feed for draught oxen during the dry season. The liveweight (LW) lost by heavy oxen during winter ploughing was lower (P < 0.001) than that of light oxen. During spring ploughing heavy oxen again lost less (P < 0.001) LW than light ones. In addition, non-supplemented oxen lost more LW than those supplemented. Therefore feeding strategies for Mashona draught oxen should aim at providing adequate nutrients to at least maintain LW during the dry season. Heavy oxen outperformed (P < 0.001) light ones during winter ploughing. Work output of supplemented oxen in spring was also significantly greater (P < 0.05) than that of non-supplemented ones. This result demonstrated the benefits of supplementary feed during the dry season. Concentrations of lactate and free fatty acids in plasma, heart rates and rectal temperatures increased (P < 0.05) markedly during work. The increases were higher (P < 0.05) for light oxen, particularly those not fed supplement.

Working at the Weekend: Fathers' Time with Family in the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Hook, Jennifer L

2012-08-01

Whereas most resident fathers are able to spend more time with their children on weekends than on weekdays, many fathers work on the weekends spending less time with their children on these days. There are conflicting findings about whether fathers are able to make up for lost weekend time on weekdays. Using unique features of the United Kingdom's National Survey of Time Use 2000 (UKTUS) I examine the impact of fathers' weekend work on the time fathers spend with their children, family, and partners (N = 595 fathers). I find that weekend work is common among fathers and is associated with less time with children, families, and partners. Fathers do not recover lost time with children on weekdays, largely because weekend work is a symptom of overwork. Findings also reveal that even if fathers had compensatory time, they are unlikely to recover lost time spent as a family or couple.

Working at the Weekend: Fathers’ Time with Family in the United Kingdom

PubMed Central

Hook, Jennifer L.

2012-01-01

Whereas most resident fathers are able to spend more time with their children on weekends than on weekdays, many fathers work on the weekends spending less time with their children on these days. There are conflicting findings about whether fathers are able to make up for lost weekend time on weekdays. Using unique features of the United Kingdom’s National Survey of Time Use 2000 (UKTUS) I examine the impact of fathers’ weekend work on the time fathers spend with their children, family, and partners (N = 595 fathers). I find that weekend work is common among fathers and is associated with less time with children, families, and partners. Fathers do not recover lost time with children on weekdays, largely because weekend work is a symptom of overwork. Findings also reveal that even if fathers had compensatory time, they are unlikely to recover lost time spent as a family or couple. PMID:22844157

Does part-time sick leave help individuals with mental disorders recover lost work capacity?

PubMed

Andrén, Daniela

2014-06-01

This paper aims to answer the question whether combining sick leave with some hours of work can help employees diagnosed with a mental disorder (MD) increase their probability of returning to work. Given the available data, this paper analyzes the impact of part-time sick leave (PTSL) on the probability of fully recovering lost work capacity for employees diagnosed with an MD. The effects of PTSL on the probability of fully recovering lost work capacity are estimated by a discrete choice one-factor model using data on a nationally representative sample extracted from the register of the National Agency of Social Insurance in Sweden and supplemented with information from questionnaires. All individuals in the sample were 20-64 years old and started a sickness spell of at least 15 days between 1 and 16 February 2001. We selected all employed individuals diagnosed with an MD, with a final sample of 629 individuals. The results show that PTSL is associated with a low likelihood of full recovery, yet the timing of the assignment is important. PTSL's effect is relatively low (0.015) when it is assigned in the beginning of the spell but relatively high (0.387), and statistically significant, when assigned after 60 days of full-time sick leave (FTSL). This suggests efficiency improvements from assigning employees with an MD diagnosis, when possible, to PTSL. The employment gains will be enhanced if employees with an MD diagnosis are encouraged to return to work part-time after 60 days or more of FTSL.

Impact of mental disorders on work performance in a community sample of workers in Japan: the World Mental Health Japan Survey 2002-2005.

PubMed

Tsuchiya, Masao; Kawakami, Norito; Ono, Yutaka; Nakane, Yoshibumi; Nakamura, Yosikazu; Fukao, Akira; Tachimori, Hisateru; Iwata, Noboru; Uda, Hidenori; Nakane, Hideyuki; Watanabe, Makoto; Oorui, Masashi; Naganuma, Yoichi; Furukawa, Toshiaki A; Kobayashi, Masayo; Ahiko, Tadayuki; Takeshima, Tadashi; Kikkawa, Takehiko

2012-06-30

Most studies that investigate the impact of mental disorders on work performance have been conducted in Western countries, but this study examines the impact of common mental disorders on sick leave and on-the-job work performance in a community sample of Japanese workers. Data from the World Mental Health Japan survey were analyzed. A subsample of 530 workers aged 20-60years were interviewed using the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview 3.0. The WHO Health and Work Performance Questionnaire, was used to assess sick days and on-the-job work performance for the previous 30days. Linear regression was used to estimate the impact of mental disorders on these indicators of work performance over 12months. Mood disorders, including major depressive disorder, and alcohol abuse/dependence were significantly associated with decreased on-the-job performance. There were no significant associations between mental disorders and sick/absent days. Consistent with previous studies, major depression has a great impact on on-the-job work performance in Japan. The lost productivity was estimated at approximately 28-30 lost days per year. A similar decrease in on-the-job work performance was found for alcohol abuse/dependence, which is stronger than that in other countries, probably attributable to greater tolerance of problematic drinking at Japanese worksites. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Outcomes of a Pilot Hand Hygiene Randomized Cluster Trial to Reduce Communicable Infections Among US Office-Based Employees

PubMed Central

DuBois, Cathy L.Z.; Grey, Scott F.; Kingsbury, Diana M.; Shakya, Sunita; Scofield, Jennifer; Slenkovich, Ken

2015-01-01

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of an office-based multimodal hand hygiene improvement intervention in reducing self-reported communicable infections and work-related absence. Methods: A randomized cluster trial including an electronic training video, hand sanitizer, and educational posters (n = 131, intervention; n = 193, control). Primary outcomes include (1) self-reported acute respiratory infections (ARIs)/influenza-like illness (ILI) and/or gastrointestinal (GI) infections during the prior 30 days; and (2) related lost work days. Incidence rate ratios calculated using generalized linear mixed models with a Poisson distribution, adjusted for confounders and random cluster effects. Results: A 31% relative reduction in self-reported combined ARI-ILI/GI infections (incidence rate ratio: 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.49 to 0.98). A 21% nonsignificant relative reduction in lost work days. Conclusions: An office-based multimodal hand hygiene improvement intervention demonstrated a substantive reduction in self-reported combined ARI-ILI/GI infections. PMID:25719534

Impact of a musculoskeletal disability management program on medical costs and productivity in a large manufacturing company.

PubMed

Bunn, William B; Baver, Robin S; Ehni, Thomas K; Stowers, Allan D; Taylor, David D; Holloway, Anita M; Duong, Duyen; Pikelny, Dan B; Sotolongo, David

2006-12-01

To evaluate a program to reduce musculoskeletal disability-related absenteeism at a North American manufacturing facility. Staged communication and educational interventions targeting physicians to improve care of musculoskeletal conditions and reduce related absenteeism. The program was implemented in three 1-year stages. The first stage required physicians to complete assessment forms for employees claiming disability because of musculoskeletal injuries. The second stage added physician education programs focusing on current clinical guidelines. The third stage incorporated local physician education about the facility's onsite physical therapy program. Annual number of work-related injuries, days lost per injury and per scheduled full-time-equivalent (FTE) employee, light-duty days per injury, average annual indemnity per FTE, indemnity per injury, medical costs per FTE, and medical costs per injury were examined to determine the program's effectiveness. Overall productivity improved by a mean of 12.5 days per injured employee. Mean days lost per work-related injury decreased from 35.1 to 27.6. Number of light-duty days increased from 6.1 to 11.1 per work-related injury. Mean annual indemnity per work-related injury decreased from $9327 to $4493; mean annual medical costs per work-related injury decreased from $4848 to $2679. The annual incidence of musculoskeletal injuries declined by up to 50%. This intervention was associated with reduced musculoskeletal disability-related absenteeism and increased productivity. The program reduced medical costs per work-related injury and improved the company's communications and relationship with local physicians.

Insomnia and the performance of US workers: results from the America insomnia survey.

PubMed

Kessler, Ronald C; Berglund, Patricia A; Coulouvrat, Catherine; Hajak, Goeran; Roth, Thomas; Shahly, Victoria; Shillington, Alicia C; Stephenson, Judith J; Walsh, James K

2011-09-01

To estimate the prevalence and associations of broadly defined (i.e., meeting full ICD-10, DSM-IV, or RDC/ICSD-2 inclusion criteria) insomnia with work performance net of comorbid conditions in the America Insomnia Survey (AIS). Cross-sectional telephone survey. National sample of 7,428 employed health plan subscribers (ages 18+). None. Broadly defined insomnia was assessed with the Brief Insomnia Questionnaire (BIQ). Work absenteeism and presenteeism (low on-the-job work performance defined in the metric of lost workday equivalents) were assessed with the WHO Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ). Regression analysis examined associations between insomnia and HPQ scores controlling 26 comorbid conditions based on self-report and medical/pharmacy claims records. The estimated prevalence of insomnia was 23.2%. Insomnia was significantly associated with lost work performance due to presenteeism (χ² (1) = 39.5, P < 0.001) but not absenteeism (χ² (1) = 3.2, P = 0.07), with an annualized individual-level association of insomnia with presenteeism equivalent to 11.3 days of lost work performance. This estimate decreased to 7.8 days when controls were introduced for comorbid conditions. The individual-level human capital value of this net estimate was $2,280. If we provisionally assume these estimates generalize to the total US workforce, they are equivalent to annualized population-level estimates of 252.7 days and $63.2 billion. Insomnia is associated with substantial workplace costs. Although experimental studies suggest some of these costs could be recovered with insomnia disease management programs, effectiveness trials are needed to obtain precise estimates of return-on-investment of such interventions from the employer perspective.

Introduction to ergonomics for healthcare workers.

PubMed

Waters, Thomas R

2010-01-01

Healthcare workers who handle and move patients as part of their jobs suffer a disproportionately high number of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The majority of reported work-related MSDs are back pain cases that result in significant numbers of lost work days. It is likely that these lost workdays have a substantial impact on the quality and cost of health care. Patient care ergonomics can reduce the risk of work-related MSDs by helping safety experts design the work so it can be safely performed by most workers. This article provides a general overview of ergonomics--what it is, how it can be used to help design safe work, and why all healthcare workers and administrators should know and understand how excessive work demands can lead to increased risk of work-related MSDs. The article will also explain technological solutions that can be implemented to reduce the risk of work-related MSDs for healthcare workers.

Effects of seasonal and pandemic influenza on health-related quality of life, work and school absence in England: Results from the Flu Watch cohort study.

PubMed

Fragaszy, Ellen B; Warren-Gash, Charlotte; White, Peter J; Zambon, Maria; Edmunds, William J; Nguyen-Van-Tam, Jonathan S; Hayward, Andrew C

2018-01-01

Estimates of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and work/school absences for influenza are typically based on medically attended cases or those meeting influenza-like-illness (ILI) case definitions and thus biased towards severe disease. Although community influenza cases are more common, estimates of their effects on HRQoL and absences are limited. To measure quality-adjusted life days and years (QALDs and QALYs) lost and work/school absences among community cases of acute respiratory infections (ARI), ILI and influenza A and B and to estimate community burden of QALY loss and absences from influenza. Flu Watch was a community cohort in England from 2006 to 2011. Participants were followed up weekly. During respiratory illness, they prospectively recorded daily symptoms, work/school absences and EQ-5D-3L data and submitted nasal swabs for RT-PCR influenza testing. Average QALD lost was 0.26, 0.93, 1.61 and 1.84 for ARI, ILI, H1N1pdm09 and influenza B cases, respectively. 40% of influenza A cases and 24% of influenza B cases took time off work/school with an average duration of 3.6 and 2.4 days, respectively. In England, community influenza cases lost 24 300 QALYs in 2010/11 and had an estimated 2.9 million absences per season based on data from 2006/07 to 2009/10. Our QALDs and QALYs lost and work and school absence estimates are lower than previous estimates because we focus on community cases, most of which are mild, may not meet ILI definitions and do not result in healthcare consultations. Nevertheless, they contribute a substantial loss of HRQoL on a population level. © 2017 The Authors. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

3 CFR - The Presidential POWER Initiative: Protecting Our Workers and Ensuring Reemployment

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... workers' compensation payments in fiscal year 2009. Many of these work-related injuries and illnesses are... and health, reduce the financial burden of injury on taxpayers, and relieve unnecessary suffering by... claims; (vi) reducing lost production day rates; and (vii) speeding employees' return to work in cases of...

Bacterial contamination of drinking water and the economic burden of illnesses for the Nepalese households.

PubMed

Atreya, Kishor; Panthee, Santosh; Sharma, Prem

2006-10-01

A household survey was conducted to determine the number of working days lost and household medical expenditure (ME) due to six water-borne diseases in the Terai region of Nepal. Drinking water sources of each household were analysed for total coliforms (TC). The study found 61% of the household water sources were contaminated with TC at the time of sampling. Number of days lost due to water-borne diseases was 8 days for TC-negative households and 10 days for TC-positive households per year. The average annual household medical expenditure was NR 459 for TC-negative households, and NR 789 for TC-positive households (p = 0.02 at proportional to = 0.05). Regression result showed that the presence of TC in the drinking water sources, number of children in the household and income of the household significantly determined ME.

Safety performance factor.

PubMed

Venkataraman, Naray

2008-01-01

Workplace safety performance is computed using frequency rate (FR) and severity rate (SR). Only work time lost due to occupational incidents that need to be reported is counted. FR and SR are the 2 most important safety performance indicators that are applied universally; however, calculations differ from country to country. All injuries and time lost should be considered while calculating safety performance. The extent of severity does not matter as every incident is counted. So, a new factor has to be defined; it should be based on the hours or days lost due to each occupational incident, irrespective of its severity. The new safety performance factor is defined as the average human-hour unit lost due to occupational accidents/incidents, including fatalities, first-aid incidents, bruises and cuts. The formula is simple and easy to apply.

Excess cost burden of diabetes in Southern India: a clinic-based, comparative cost-of-illness study.

PubMed

Sharma, K M; Ranjani, H; Zabetian, A; Datta, M; Deepa, M; Moses, C R Anand; Narayan, K M V; Mohan, V; Ali, M K

2016-01-01

There are few data on excess direct and indirect costs of diabetes in India and limited data on rural costs of diabetes. We aimed to further explore these aspects of diabetes burdens using a clinic-based, comparative cost-of-illness study. Persons with diabetes ( n  = 606) were recruited from government, private, and rural clinics and compared to persons without diabetes matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic status ( n  = 356). We used interviewer-administered questionnaires to estimate direct costs (outpatient, inpatient, medication, laboratory, and procedures) and indirect costs [absence from (absenteeism) or low productivity at (presenteeism) work]. Excess costs were calculated as the difference between costs reported by persons with and without diabetes and compared across settings. Regression analyses were used to separately identify factors associated with total direct and indirect costs. Annual excess direct costs were highest amongst private clinic attendees (INR 19 552, US$425) and lowest amongst government clinic attendees (INR 1204, US$26.17). Private clinic attendees had the lowest excess absenteeism (2.36 work days/year) and highest presenteeism (0.06 work days/year) due to diabetes. Government clinic attendees reported the highest absenteeism (7.48 work days/year) and lowest presenteeism (-0.31 work days/year). Ten additional years of diabetes duration was associated with 11% higher direct costs ( p  < 0.001). Older age ( p  = 0.02) and longer duration of diabetes ( p  < 0.001) were associated with higher total lost work days. Excess health expenditures and lost productivity amongst individuals with diabetes are substantial and different across care settings. Innovative solutions are needed to cope with diabetes and its associated cost burdens in India.

Insomnia and the Performance of US Workers: Results from the America Insomnia Survey

PubMed Central

Kessler, Ronald C.; Berglund, Patricia A.; Coulouvrat, Catherine; Hajak, Goeran; Roth, Thomas; Shahly, Victoria; Shillington, Alicia C.; Stephenson, Judith J.; Walsh, James K.

2011-01-01

Study Objectives: To estimate the prevalence and associations of broadly defined (i.e., meeting full ICD-10, DSM-IV, or RDC/ICSD-2 inclusion criteria) insomnia with work performance net of comorbid conditions in the America Insomnia Survey (AIS). Design/Setting: Cross-sectional telephone survey. Participants: National sample of 7,428 employed health plan subscribers (ages 18+). Interventions: None. Measurements and Results: Broadly defined insomnia was assessed with the Brief Insomnia Questionnaire (BIQ). Work absenteeism and presenteeism (low on-the-job work performance defined in the metric of lost workday equivalents) were assessed with the WHO Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ). Regression analysis examined associations between insomnia and HPQ scores controlling 26 comorbid conditions based on self-report and medical/pharmacy claims records. The estimated prevalence of insomnia was 23.2%. Insomnia was significantly associated with lost work performance due to presenteeism (χ21 = 39.5, P < 0.001) but not absenteeism (χ21 = 3.2, P = 0.07), with an annualized individual-level association of insomnia with presenteeism equivalent to 11.3 days of lost work performance. This estimate decreased to 7.8 days when controls were introduced for comorbid conditions. The individual-level human capital value of this net estimate was $2,280. If we provisionally assume these estimates generalize to the total US workforce, they are equivalent to annualized population-level estimates of 252.7 days and $63.2 billion. Conclusions: Insomnia is associated with substantial workplace costs. Although experimental studies suggest some of these costs could be recovered with insomnia disease management programs, effectiveness trials are needed to obtain precise estimates of return-on-investment of such interventions from the employer perspective. Citation: Kessler RC; Berglund PA; Coulouvrat C; Hajak G; Roth T; Shahly V; Shillington AC; Stephenson JJ; Walsh JK. Insomnia and the performance of US workers: results from the America Insomnia Survey.SLEEP 2011;34(9):1161-1171. PMID:21886353

Impact of Loss of Work Productivity in Patients with Overactive Bladder Treated with Antimuscarinics in Spain: Study in Routine Clinical Practice Conditions.

PubMed

Sicras-Mainar, Antoni; Navarro-Artieda, Ruth; Ruiz-Torrejón, Amador; Sáez-Zafra, Marc; Coll-de Tuero, Gabriel

2015-12-01

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a syndrome characterized by presenting symptoms of urgency, with or without urge incontinence, and normally accompanied by day and night frequency. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of lost work productivity [number of days of sick leave] in patients treated with fesoterodine versus tolterodine and solifenacin to treat OAB in Spain. A retrospective, observational study was carried out using the records (digital databases) of actively working patients (2008-2013). The study population comprised of patients from two autonomous communities; 31 primary care centres agreed to participate. Patients who began first treatment with antimuscarinics (fesoterodine, solifenacin or tolterodine) and who met certain inclusion/exclusion criteria were included in the study. Follow-up lasted for 1 year. The main outcome measures were comorbidity, medication possession ratio (MPR), treatment persistence, and number of days of sick leave and associated costs. Indirect costs were considered to be those related to lost work productivity (number of days of sick leave, exclusively), (1) due to OAB and (2) overall total. The cost was expressed as the average cost per patient (cost/unit). Multivariate analyses (Cox, ANCOVA) were used to correct the models. A total of 3094 patients were recruited into the study; 43.0 % were treated with solifenacin, 29.2 % with tolterodine, and 27.8 % with fesoterodine. The average age of patients was 54 years (standard deviation 9.2), and 62.2 % were women. The comparison of fesoterodine versus solifenacin and tolterodine showed a higher MPR (90.0 vs. 87.0 and 86.1 %, respectively), higher treatment persistence (40.2 vs. 34.7 and 33.6 %), lower use of sick leave (22.8 vs. 52.9 and 36.7 %), total number of days of sick leave (5.1 vs. 9.7 and 9.3 days) and costs corrected for covariates (€371 vs. €703 and €683); p < 0.05. Despite the possible limitations of this study, active patients who began treatment with fesoterodine to treat OAB (compared with solifenacin or tolterodine) had fewer days of sick leave, resulting in lower costs due to lost productivity.

Predictors of lost time from work among nursing personnel who sought treatment for back pain.

PubMed

Pompeii, Lisa A; Lipscomb, Hester J; Dement, John M

2010-01-01

To examine possible predictors of lost workdays among nurses and nurses' aides who sought treatment for work-related back pain. Nursing staff employed at a tertiary care medical center over a 13-year time period (1994 through 2006). We used existing data from clinic surveys administered to nursing personnel during their initial treatment visit to the hospital's occupational health clinic. Predictors of losing ≤ 7 and ≥ 8 workdays was examined. 589 of 708 (83%) nursing personnel with complaints of work-related back pain completed the survey, with 31% resulting in lost workdays. Experiencing sudden onset of pain (RR:1.9; 95% CI: 1.1, 3.1), a combination of severe pain with numbness and tingling in the back/legs (RR: 7.4; 95% CI: 2.9, 18.6), severe pain only (RR: 4.4; 95% CI: 1.8, 11.1), numbness and tingling in the back/legs only (RR: 3.5; 95% CI: 1.0, 12.2), and working < 5 years at the hospital (RR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.2, 4.7) were predictive of losing ≥ 8 workdays. Job title, work demands, work conflicts, and most psychosocial factors were not predictive. Severe pain, neurologic symptoms and sudden onset of pain were predictive of delayed return-to-work; however, these symptoms alone should not be considered indicators of poor outcomes given that most workers who reported these symptoms returned to work in less than 8~days. Among these health care workers, lost workdays appear to be related to more severe pathology rather than workplace characteristics.

Associated Economic Impact of Skatepark-Related Injuries in Southern California

PubMed Central

Vaca, Federico; Mai, Danny; Anderson, Craig L.; Fox, John Christian; Ferrarella, Nik

2007-01-01

Objective: To correlate the types of skatepark-related injuries with medical expenses and the monetary effects of time missed from work or school. Design: Prospective case series and survey with repeat measures over 1 year. Setting: Southern California Level I Trauma Center and Emergency Department. Participants: Subjects age 7 years or older who sustained an injury at a local skatepark and treated in the emergency department were included in the study. Methods: A skatepark-related injury survey was conducted at the time of the subject’s emergency department evaluation.Thereafter, subjects were contacted by telephone at 1 week and 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months post-injury to assess the extent of ongoing follow-up medical care, time lost from work and school for both the subject and parents, and the degree of self-reported disability. The costs of injury were estimated using accepted econometric methods. The cost of medical care and lost household productivity were estimated using data specific to the nature of the injury and the body part injured. Results: Skatepark-related injuries resulted in a mean loss of 1.1 school days and 5.5 work days to the subject and family.The mean total injury costs were $3,167, of which 64% were medical costs and 28% were wages lost by the subject and family. Costs were much greater for subjects aged 26 years and older than for younger subjects and for those with more severe injuries than for less severe injuries. Conclusion: Skatepark injuries resulted in substantial medical costs and lost wages. Injured skatepark users 26 years and older and those with more severe injuries had the highest cost. PMID:18056022

Productivity costs in patients with refractory chronic rhinosinusitis.

PubMed

Rudmik, Luke; Smith, Timothy L; Schlosser, Rodney J; Hwang, Peter H; Mace, Jess C; Soler, Zachary M

2014-09-01

Disease-specific reductions in patient productivity can lead to substantial economic losses to society. The purpose of this study was to: 1) define the annual productivity cost for a patient with refractory chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and 2) evaluate the relationship between degree of productivity cost and CRS-specific characteristics. Prospective, multi-institutional, observational cohort study. The human capital approach was used to define productivity costs. Annual absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost leisure time was quantified to define annual lost productive time (LPT). LPT was monetized using the annual daily wage rates obtained from the 2012 U.S. National Census and the 2013 U.S. Department of Labor statistics. A total of 55 patients with refractory CRS were enrolled. The mean work days lost related to absenteeism and presenteeism were 24.6 and 38.8 days per year, respectively. A total of 21.2 household days were lost per year related to daily sinus care requirements. The overall annual productivity cost was $10,077.07 per patient with refractory CRS. Productivity costs increased with worsening disease-specific QoL (r = 0.440; p = 0.001). Results from this study have demonstrated that the annual productivity cost associated with refractory CRS is $10,077.07 per patient. This substantial cost to society provides a strong incentive to optimize current treatment protocols and continue evaluating novel clinical interventions to reduce this cost. © 2014 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Productivity Costs in Patients with Refractory Chronic Rhinosinusitis

PubMed Central

Rudmik, Luke; Smith, Timothy L.; Schlosser, Rodney J.; Hwang, Peter H.; Mace, Jess C.; Soler, Zachary M.

2014-01-01

Objective Disease-specific reductions in patient productivity can lead to substantial economic losses to society. The purpose of this study was to: 1) define the annual productivity cost for a patient with refractory chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and 2) evaluate the relationship between degree of productivity cost and CRS-specific characteristics. Study Design Prospective, multi-institutional, observational cohort study. Methods The human capital approach was used to define productivity costs. Annual absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost leisure time was quantified to define annual lost productive time (LPT). LPT was monetized using the annual daily wage rates obtained from the 2012 US National Census and the 2013 US Department of Labor statistics. Results A total of 55 patients with refractory CRS were enrolled. The mean work days lost related to absenteeism and presenteeism was 24.6 and 38.8 days per year, respectively. A total of 21.2 household days were lost per year related to daily sinus care requirements. The overall annual productivity cost was $10,077.07 per patient with refractory CRS. Productivity costs increased with worsening disease-specific QoL (r=0.440; p=0.001). Conclusion Results from this study have demonstrated that the annual productivity cost associated with refractory CRS is $10,077.07 per patient. This substantial cost to society provides a strong incentive to optimize current treatment protocols and continue evaluating novel clinical interventions to reduce this cost. PMID:24619604

Day of the week lost time occupational injury trends in the US by gender and industry and their implications for work scheduling.

PubMed

Brogmus, G E

2007-03-01

While there is a growing body of research on the impact of work schedules on the risk of occupational injuries, there has been little investigation into the impact that the day of the week might have. The present research was completed to explore day of the week trends, reasons for such trends and the corresponding implications for work scheduling. Data for the number of injuries and illnesses involving days away from work (lost time; LT) in 2004 were provided by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Office of Safety and Health Statistics. Data from the American Time Use Survey database were used to estimate work hours in 2004. From these two data sources, the rate of LT injuries and illnesses (per 200 000 work hours) by day of the week, industry sector and gender were estimated. The analysis revealed clear differences by day of the week, gender and major industry sector. Sundays had the highest rate overall--nearly 37% higher than the average of the remaining days, Monday to Saturday. Mondays had the next highest rate followed closely by Saturdays. This pattern was not the same for males and females. For males, Mondays had the highest LT rate (27% higher than the average of all other days) with all remaining days having essentially the same rate. For females, Sundays and Saturdays had much higher LT rates--122% and 60% higher, respectively, than the average weekday rate. There were also differences by industry and differences between genders by industry. The present analysis suggests that several factors may be contributing to the weekend and Monday trends observed. Lower-tenured (and younger) workers on the weekends, lower female management/supervision and second jobs on the weekend seem to be contributors to the high Saturday and Sunday LT rates. Differences in day of the week employment by industry did not account for the trends observed. Fraud and overtime also could not be confirmed as contributing to these trends. Monday trends were more complex to explain, with possible explanations including non-work-related weekend injuries being reported on Mondays, soft-tissue symptoms becoming more noticeable on Mondays, greater Monday morning flexion risk and reduced supervision in the construction industry on Mondays. Interpretation of these trends and the implications for work scheduling are discussed.

Employee absenteeism measures reflecting current work practices may be instrumental in a re-evaluation of the relationship between psychological distress/mental health and absenteeism.

PubMed

Hilton, Michael F; Sheridan, Judith; Cleary, Catherine M; Whiteford, Harvey A

2009-01-01

Absenteeism rates are the cornerstone metrics guiding corporate policy for health care investment in employees. However, traditional absenteeism measures do not reflect the contemporary workplace milieu. It is accepted practice that employees work evenings or weekends to makeup time. Using a hours-based absenteeism measure, that accounts for time made-up as well as time lost, this paper evaluates the impact of psychological distress on employee absenteeism.Psychological distress and absenteeism data were collected from 54,264 full-time employees. Consistent with traditional approaches, employees indicated how many days they were absent. Hours based absenteeism was formulated from the ratio of how many hours the employees worked and how many hours were they expected to work in the past seven-days.Concordant with previous concinnous evidence, traditional absenteeism computation indicated that elevated psychological distress is associated with increasing absenteeism. Using the hours-based method psychological distress did not significantly influence absenteeism.Traditional calculations of absenteeism do not reflect the current work practices of the majority of employees. Employees with psychological distress may take time off work but it appears that they make up for lost time possibly to stay up to speed with task driven occupations and avoid performance review.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kochin, I.V.; Livshits, B.Ya.

Process automation in pitch-coke plants has increased productivity, prolonged oven life, reduced manning requirements and, above all, improved working conditions and reduced air pollution. The pollution level in the working places has been reduced 5-fold and industrial diseases have been reduced by 17.5% of cases and 11.9% of days lost. Reductions in temporary absenteeism through illness are a major aid towards higher labor productivity.

Working on the Weekend: Fathers' Time with Family in the United Kingdom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hook, Jennifer L.

2012-01-01

Whereas most resident fathers are able to spend more time with their children on weekends than on weekdays, many fathers work on the weekends, spending less time with their children on these days. There are conflicting findings about whether fathers are able to make up for lost weekend time on weekdays. Using unique features of the United…

Best practice intervention for post-traumatic stress disorder among transit workers.

PubMed

Bender, Ash; Eynan, Rahel; O'Grady, John; Nisenbaum, Rosane; Shah, Ravi; Links, Paul S

2016-03-09

Transportation industry workers are at high risk for exposure to traumatic incidents in the workplace. A considerable number of those exposed to such incidents will develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, which leads to high rates of absenteeism and are costly to the public transit corporation and workplace safety compensation insurance. To determine whether the newly implemented Best Practice Intervention (BPI) provides superior outcomeswhen compared with Treatment-as-Usual (TAU) interventions in improving workers' rates of return to work (RTW), decreasing duration of time lost from work and overall reduction in severity of PTSD symptoms 6 months after exposure. A sequential mixed methods approach was used with qualitative analysis followed by a pre-post intervention design. Sixty-two participants were recruited to the (TAU) phase of the study and 79 to the (BPI) phase. Significant differences were observed between the TAU and BPI groups in number of lost work days (TAU: 20 days vs. BPI: 52 days, p = 0.02). PTSD symptoms decreased with time (MPPS score: 51.3 vs. 24.35; p < 0.001). One-fifth of the participants (21 %) did not return to work by the end of the 6 months follow-up period. The study demonstrated the value of workplace interventions in improving awareness of psychological symptoms after exposure to a traumatic incident and the value of screening for PTSD symptoms.

Illness-associated productivity costs among women with employer-sponsored insurance and newly diagnosed breast cancer.

PubMed

Meadows, Eric S; Johnston, Stephen S; Cao, Zhun; Foley, Kathleen A; Pohl, Gerhardt M; Johnston, Joseph A; Ramsey, Scott D

2010-04-01

Determine lost work time and job attrition for incident breast cancer (BC). The cases were employed women, aged 18 to 64, with BC identified by a validated algorithm between 1999 and 2005, from claims (MarketScan) and attendance databases. Controls without cancer were matched 3:1 on age, comorbidity, and index year. First-year mean disability days were 60 (cases, N = 880) versus 5 (controls, N = 2640) (P < 0.001). The first-year disability costs were $4900 for cases versus $385 for controls (P < 0.001). In years 2 through 4, the disability days and associated costs were similar for the cases versus controls. After 4 years, 56.4% of cases were still enrolled in the employer-sponsored insurance programs compared to 6.5% of controls (P < 0.001). The lost work associated with BC is substantial in the first year after diagnosis. Employee retention is much higher for BC cases versus controls.

32 CFR 310.50 - Lost, stolen, or compromised information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

...)), law enforcement authorities, the chain of command, etc.). (ii) [Reserved] (2) The Senior Component... has occurred. The Senior Component Official for Privacy, or their designee, shall notify the Defense... affected individuals are being notified, and if this will not be accomplished within 10 working days, that...

Development and evaluation of a multifaceted ergonomics program to prevent injuries associated with patient handling tasks.

PubMed

Nelson, Audrey; Matz, Mary; Chen, Fangfei; Siddharthan, Kris; Lloyd, John; Fragala, Guy

2006-08-01

Nurses have one of the highest rates of work-related musculoskeletal injury of any profession. Over the past 30 years, efforts to reduce work-related musculoskeletal disorders in nurses have been largely unsuccessful. The primary goal of this program was to create safer working environments for nursing staff who provide direct patient care. Our first objective was to design and implement a multifaceted program that successfully integrated evidence-based practice, technology, and safety improvement. The second objective was to evaluate the impact of the program on injury rate, lost and modified work days, job satisfaction, self-reported unsafe patient handling acts, level of support for program, staff and patient acceptance, program effectiveness, costs, and return on investment. The intervention included six program elements: (1) Ergonomic Assessment Protocol, (2) Patient Handling Assessment Criteria and Decision Algorithms, (3) Peer Leader role, "Back Injury Resource Nurses", (4) State-of-the-art Equipment, (5) After Action Reviews, and (6) No Lift Policy. A pre-/post design without a control group was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a patient care ergonomics program on 23 high risk units (19 nursing home care units and 4 spinal cord injury units) in 7 facilities. Injury rates, lost work days, modified work days, job satisfaction, staff , and patient acceptance, program effectiveness, and program costs/savings were compared over two nine month periods: pre-intervention (May 2001-January 2002) and post-intervention (March 2002-November 2002). Data were collected prospectively through surveys, weekly process logs, injury logs, and cost logs. The program elements resulted in a statistically significant decrease in the rate of musculoskeletal injuries as well as the number of modified duty days taken per injury. While the total number of lost workdays decreased by 18% post-intervention, this difference was not statistically significant. There were statistically significant increases in two subscales of job satisfaction: professional status and tasks requirements. Self-reports by nursing staff revealed a statistically significant decrease in the number of 'unsafe' patient handling practices performed daily. Nurses ranked program elements they deemed to be "extremely effective": equipment was rated as most effective (96%), followed by No Lift Policy (68%), peer leader education program (66%), ergonomic assessment protocol (59%), patient handling assessment criteria and decision algorithms (55%), and lastly after action reviews (41%). Perceived support and interest for the program started at a high level for managers and nursing staff and remained very high throughout the program implementation. Patient acceptance was moderate when the program started but increased to very high by the end of the program. Although the ease and success of program implementation initially varied between and within the facilities, after six months there was strong evidence of support at all levels. The initial capital investment for patient handling equipment was recovered in approximately 3.75 years based on annual post-intervention savings of over $200,000/year in workers' compensation expenses and cost savings associated with reduced lost and modified work days and worker compensation. This multi-faceted program resulted in an overall lower injury rate, fewer modified duty days taken per injury, and significant cost savings. The program was well accepted by patients, nursing staff, and administrators. Given the significant increases in two job satisfaction subscales (professional status and task requirements), it is possible that nurse recruitment and retention could be positively impacted.

ASSESSING THE COST BURDEN OF DENGUE INFECTION TO HOUSEHOLDS IN SEREMBAN, MALAYSIA.

PubMed

Mia, Md Shahin; Begum, Rawshan Ara; Er, A C; Pereira, Joy Jacqueline

2016-11-01

Dengue is endemic in all parts of Malaysia. However, there is limited data regarding the cost burden of this disease at household level. We aimed to examine the cost of dengue infection at the household level in Seremban District, Malaysia. This cost assessment can provide an insight to policy-makers about economic impact of dengue infection in order to guide and prioritize control strategies. The data were collected via interview. We evaluated120 previous dengue infection patients registered at the Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital, Seremban District, Malaysia. The average duration of dengue illness was 9.69 days. The average household days lost was 18.7; students lost an average of 6.3 days of school and patients and caregivers lost an average of 12.5 days of work. The mean total cost per case of dengue infection was estimated to be USD365.16 with the indirect cost being USD327.90 (89.8% of the total cost) and the direct cost being USD37.26 (10.2% of the total cost). Our findings suggest each episode of dengue infection imposes a significant financial burden at the household level in Seremban District, Malaysia; most of the burden being indirect cost. This cost needs to be factored into the overall cost to society of dengue infection. This data can inform policy makers when allocating resources to manage public health problems in Malaysia.

Shift in Food Intake and Changes in Metabolic Regulation and Gene Expression during Simulated Night-Shift Work: A Rat Model.

PubMed

Marti, Andrea Rørvik; Meerlo, Peter; Grønli, Janne; van Hasselt, Sjoerd Johan; Mrdalj, Jelena; Pallesen, Ståle; Pedersen, Torhild Thue; Henriksen, Tone Elise Gjøtterud; Skrede, Silje

2016-11-08

Night-shift work is linked to a shift in food intake toward the normal sleeping period, and to metabolic disturbance. We applied a rat model of night-shift work to assess the immediate effects of such a shift in food intake on metabolism. Male Wistar rats were subjected to 8 h of forced activity during their rest (ZT2-10) or active (ZT14-22) phase. Food intake, body weight, and body temperature were monitored across four work days and eight recovery days. Food intake gradually shifted toward rest-work hours, stabilizing on work day three. A subgroup of animals was euthanized after the third work session for analysis of metabolic gene expression in the liver by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results show that work in the rest phase shifted food intake to rest-work hours. Moreover, liver genes related to energy storage and insulin metabolism were upregulated, and genes related to energy breakdown were downregulated compared to non-working time-matched controls. Both working groups lost weight during the protocol and regained weight during recovery, but animals that worked in the rest phase did not fully recover, even after eight days of recovery. In conclusion, three to four days of work in the rest phase is sufficient to induce disruption of several metabolic parameters, which requires more than eight days for full recovery.

3 CFR 8800 - Proclamation 8800 of April 17, 2012. National Equal Pay Day, 2012

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... combat equal pay violations. The Task Force has helped women recover millions in lost wages, built... Proclamation Working women power America’s economy and sustain our middle class. For millions of families across our country, women’s wages mean food on the table, decent medical care, and timely mortgage...

Intelligent transportation systems for traveler information : deployment benefits and lessons learned

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-01-01

In the 10 most congested areas of the country, each rush hour traveler pays an annual "congestion tax" of $850 to $1,600 in lost time and fuel and spends a total of almost 8 work days each year stuck in traffic. To address this costly problem, the U....

Seasonal Influenza: An Overview

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Christina; Freedman, Marian

2009-01-01

Seasonal influenza is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. It also has major social and economic consequences in the form of high rates of absenteeism from school and work as well as significant treatment and hospitalization costs. In fact, annual influenza epidemics and the resulting deaths and lost days of productivity…

Disability pension from back pain among social security beneficiaries, Brazil.

PubMed

Meziat Filho, Ney; Silva, Gulnar Azevedo E

2011-06-01

To describe disability pension from back pain. Descriptive study based on data from the Brazilian Social Security Beneficiary Database and the Social Security Statistics Annual Report in 2007. The incidence rate of disability pension from back pain was estimated according to gender and age by Brazilian states. There were also estimated working days lost due to back pain disability by occupation. Idiopathic back pain was the most common cause of disability among social security pension and accidental retirement. Most pensioners were living in urban areas and were commercial workers. The rate of disability pension from back pain in Brazil was 29.96 per 100,000 beneficiaries. A higher rate was seen among males and older individuals. Rondônia showed the highest rate, four times as high as expected (RR= 4.05) followed by Bahia with a rate about twice as high as expected (RR=2.07). Commercial workers accounted for 96.9% of working days lost due to disability. Back pain was a major cause of disability in 2007 mostly among commercial workers showing great differences between the Brazilian states.

28 CFR 301.203 - Payment of lost-time wages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... receive lost-time wages for the number of regular work hours absent from work due to injury sustained in the performance of the assigned work. (b) Lost-time wages are paid for time lost in excess of three... of the inmate's regular work assignment at the time of the injury. [55 FR 9296, Mar. 12, 1990...

28 CFR 301.203 - Payment of lost-time wages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... receive lost-time wages for the number of regular work hours absent from work due to injury sustained in the performance of the assigned work. (b) Lost-time wages are paid for time lost in excess of three... of the inmate's regular work assignment at the time of the injury. [55 FR 9296, Mar. 12, 1990...

Employment and work-related issues in cancer survivors.

PubMed

Mehnert, Anja

2011-02-01

Purpose of this systematic literature review was to identify current knowledge about employment in cancer survivors. Sixty-four studies met inclusion criteria that were original papers published between 01/2000 and 11/2009. Overall, 63.5% of cancer survivors (range 24-94%) returned to work. The mean duration of absence from work was 151 days. Factors significantly associated with a greater likelihood of being employed or return to work were perceived employer accommodation, flexible working arrangements, counseling, training and rehabilitation services, younger age and cancer sites of younger individuals, higher levels of education, male gender, less physical symptoms, lower length of sick leave and continuity of care. Cancer survivors had a significantly increased risk for unemployment, early retirement and were less likely to be re-employed. Between 26% and 53% of cancer survivors lost their job or quit working over a 72-month period post diagnosis. Between 23% and 75% of patients who lost their job were re-employed. A high proportion of patients experienced at least temporary changes in work schedules, work hours, wages and a decline in work ability compared to non-cancer groups. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hydrologic data for the Big Spring basin, Clayton County, Iowa, water year 1990

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kalkhoff, Stephen J.; Kuzniar, R.L.; Kolpin, D.; Harvey, C.A.

1992-01-01

During a low-flow seepage study, May 29 and 30,1990, the measured discharge lost by streams in the basin was 8.56 cubic feet per second, the measured dissolved nitrogen load lost was 0.29 ton per day, and the measured atrazine load lost was 0.028 pound per day. The total measured discharge and total dissolved nitrogen load leaving the basin in streams were 3.63 cubic feet per second and about 0.04 ton per day, respectively.

Hydrologic data for the Big Spring basin, Clayton County, Iowa; water year 1989

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kalkhoff, S.J.; Kuzniar, R.L.

1991-01-01

During a baseflow seepage study, August 16 and 17, the measured discharge lost by streams in the basin was 2.82 cubic feet per second, the measured dissolved nitrogen load lost was 80 pounds per day, and the measured atrazine load lost was 0.002 pound per day. The total measured discharge and total dissolved nitrogen load leaving the basin in streams was 0.07 cubic feet per second and less than 20 pounds per day, respectively.

Exploring the formation of an employee injury team.

PubMed

Klingel, P

1997-01-01

In May 1994, it was noted that lost work days due to employee injuries were out of control at MedCenter Hospital in Marion, OH. An employee injury team was commissioned by the continuous quality improvement steering committee to investigate and make recommendations to reduce lost workdays. An analysis of the situation required a data search that revealed several patterns and trends. This information was then examined and a decision was made to institute a "Back Care: Train the Trainer" program to reduce the major cause of employee injuries--back sprains and strains. The concept of teamwork is defined and the developmental process of a team is explored.

Effect of re-feeding after starvation on biomechanical properties in rat small intestine.

PubMed

Dou, Y; Gregersen, S; Zhao, J; Zhuang, F; Gregersen, H

2001-10-01

Luminal nutrients are essential for maintaining the structural and functional integrity of the gut. Starvation induces pronounced structural and biomechanical remodelling in the rat small intestine. The present work was done to study the recovery process after resumption of food intake. Twenty-five Wistar rats were allocated to five groups. Four groups fasted for 7 days but had free access to water. One of these groups served as fasted controls and was killed at the end of the fast. The other three groups were re-fed for 2, 4 and 7 days before they were euthanised. The fifth group had free access to food during the whole study (fed controls). The intestinal no-load state, zero-stress state and the stress-strain relationship during distension were studied. The intestinal segments were cut transversely into a series of short ring-shaped segments to obtain the no-load state. Each ring was cut in the radial direction to obtain the zero-stress state. The rats regained the lost body weight (22%) by the 7th day of re-feeding. The lost duodenal mass (40%) and jejunal mass (25%) were regained by the 2nd day whereas the lost mass from ileum (18%) was regained by the 4th day. The fasting-induced morphometric changes were normalised by re-feeding on the 2nd day in the duodenum and jejunum, and on the 4th day in the ileum. The longitudinal stress-strain curves shifted to the right after fasting and shifted back within two days following re-feeding (P<0.05). The circumferential stress-strain curves in the fasted or re-fed rats changed in a similar though less pronounced way. Normal values were reached within 4-7 days for the circumferential direction. In conclusion, fasting-induced biomechanical and structural remodelling were normalised by re-feeding in a time- and location-dependent way.

Shift in Food Intake and Changes in Metabolic Regulation and Gene Expression during Simulated Night-Shift Work: A Rat Model

PubMed Central

Marti, Andrea Rørvik; Meerlo, Peter; Grønli, Janne; van Hasselt, Sjoerd Johan; Mrdalj, Jelena; Pallesen, Ståle; Pedersen, Torhild Thue; Henriksen, Tone Elise Gjøtterud; Skrede, Silje

2016-01-01

Night-shift work is linked to a shift in food intake toward the normal sleeping period, and to metabolic disturbance. We applied a rat model of night-shift work to assess the immediate effects of such a shift in food intake on metabolism. Male Wistar rats were subjected to 8 h of forced activity during their rest (ZT2-10) or active (ZT14-22) phase. Food intake, body weight, and body temperature were monitored across four work days and eight recovery days. Food intake gradually shifted toward rest-work hours, stabilizing on work day three. A subgroup of animals was euthanized after the third work session for analysis of metabolic gene expression in the liver by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results show that work in the rest phase shifted food intake to rest-work hours. Moreover, liver genes related to energy storage and insulin metabolism were upregulated, and genes related to energy breakdown were downregulated compared to non-working time-matched controls. Both working groups lost weight during the protocol and regained weight during recovery, but animals that worked in the rest phase did not fully recover, even after eight days of recovery. In conclusion, three to four days of work in the rest phase is sufficient to induce disruption of several metabolic parameters, which requires more than eight days for full recovery. PMID:27834804

Headache-attributed burden and its impact on productivity and quality of life in Russia: structured healthcare for headache is urgently needed.

PubMed

Ayzenberg, I; Katsarava, Z; Sborowski, A; Chernysh, M; Osipova, V; Tabeeva, G; Steiner, T J

2014-05-01

The study evaluated headache-attributed burden and its impact on productivity and quality of life (QoL) in Russia. Its purpose was to support recommendations for change. A countrywide population-based random sample of 2725 biologically unrelated adults (aged 18-65 years) in 35 cities and nine rural areas of Russia were interviewed in a door-to-door survey. The structured questionnaire enquired into symptom burden, functional disability, lost productive time and QoL (applying the WHOQoL-8 question set), as well as willingness to pay (WTP) for adequate headache treatment, if it were available. Mean lost paid-work days due to headache in the previous 3 months were 1.9 ± 4.2, and mean lost household work days were 3.4 ± 5.7. The estimated annual indirect cost of primary headache disorders was USD 22.8 billion, accounting for 1.75% of gross domestic product. QoL was reduced by all types of primary headaches. According to WHOQoL-8, it was significantly lower in those with headache on ≥15 days/month than in those with episodic headache (24.7 ± 4.6 vs. 28.1 ± 5.0; P < 0.05) and lower in those with migraine than in those with tension-type headache (TTH) (27.1 ± 4.9 vs. 28.8 ± 5.0; P < 0.05). Average WTP for adequate headache treatment was RUB 455 ± 494 per month (median RUB 300), a sum sufficient in most cases, and correlated with illness severity (higher for headache on ≥15 days/month than for migraine, and for migraine than for TTH). Headache is common, burdensome and costly in Russia and, manifestly, poorly mitigated by existing healthcare. Structured healthcare services for headache need to be urgently put in place. © 2014 The Author(s) European Journal of Neurology © 2014 EFNS.

Effect of certolizumab pegol with methotrexate on home and work place productivity and social activities in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis.

PubMed

Kavanaugh, Arthur; Smolen, Josef S; Emery, Paul; Purcaru, Oana; Keystone, Edward; Richard, Lance; Strand, Vibeke; van Vollenhoven, Ronald F

2009-11-15

To assess the impact of certolizumab pegol (CZP), a novel PEGylated anti-tumor necrosis factor, in combination with methotrexate (MTX) on productivity outside and within the home, and on participation in family, social, and leisure activities in adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The efficacy and safety of CZP (200 mg and 400 mg) plus MTX were assessed in 2 phase III, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials (Rheumatoid Arthritis Prevention of Structural Damage [RAPID] 1 and RAPID 2). The novel, validated, RA-specific Work Productivity Survey (WPS-RA) was used to assess work place and home productivity. WPS-RA responses were collected at baseline and every 4 weeks until withdrawal/study completion. At baseline, 41.6% and 39.8% of subjects were employed outside the home in RAPID 1 and RAPID 2, respectively. Compared with placebo plus MTX, CZP plus MTX significantly reduced work absenteeism and presenteeism among patients working outside the home. Significant reductions in number of household days lost, household days with productivity reduced by >/=50%, and days lost due to RA for participation in family, social, and leisure activities were reported by patients in active treatment relative to placebo plus MTX. Improvements in all measures were observed with CZP plus MTX as early as week 4, and maintained until the study end (12 months in RAPID 1, 6 months in RAPID 2). Findings were consistent with clinical improvements with CZP plus MTX in both trials. CZP plus MTX improved productivity outside and within the home and resulted in more participation in social activities compared with placebo plus MTX. These observations suggest that considerable indirect cost gains might be achieved with this therapeutic agent in RA.

32 CFR 310.14 - Notification when information is lost, stolen, or compromised.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Senior Component Official for Privacy and the Defense Privacy Office). (1) The notification shall be made... notification shall be made as soon as possible, but not later than 10 working days after the loss, theft, or... and forwarded to the Senior Component Official for Privacy who shall forward it to the Defense Privacy...

3 CFR 8653 - Proclamation 8653 of April 11, 2011. National Equal Pay Day, 2011

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... cents for every dollar a man earns. Even when accounting for factors such as experience, education... and her family lost wages, reduced pensions, and diminished Social Security benefits. Though we have... achieving equal pay for equal work is not just a women's issue—it is a family issue. In today's world, women...

Bully at the Blackboard

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koenig, Darlene; Daniels, Roslyn Hester

2011-01-01

His teacher had urged him all year to be more organized, but he still had trouble keeping his work area neat. The boy's papers and other materials were often scattered around, and when his classmates were ready to move on to the next activity, he lagged behind--trying to corral the clutter. On this particular day, the teacher had lost her…

Fall from equipment injuries in U.S. mining: identification of specific research areas for future investigation.

PubMed

Moore, Susan M; Porter, William L; Dempsey, Patrick G

2009-01-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the circumstances leading to fall from equipment injuries in the mining industry. The 2006 and 2007 Mine Safety and Health Administration annual injury databases were utilized for this study whereby the injury narrative, nature of injury, body part injured, mine type, age at injury, and days lost were evaluated for each injury. The majority of injuries occurred at surface mining facilities (approximately 60%) with fractures and sprains/strains being the most common injuries occurring to the major joints of the body. Nearly 50% of injuries occurred during ingress/egress, predominantely during egress, and approximately 25% of injuries occurred during maintenance tasks. The majority of injuries occurred in relation to large trucks, wheel loaders, dozers, and conveyors/belts. The severity of injury was independent of age and the median days lost was seven days; however, there was a large range in severity. From the data obtained in this study, several different research areas have been identified for future work, which include balance and stability control when descending ladders and equipment design for maintenance tasks.

Posthospital Discharge Medical Care Costs and Family Burden Associated with Osteoporotic Fracture Patients in China from 2011 to 2013

PubMed Central

Burge, Russel; Yang, Yicheng; Du, Fen; Lu, Tie; Huang, Qiang; Ye, Wenyu; Xu, Weihua

2015-01-01

Objectives. This study collected and evaluated data on the costs of outpatient medical care and family burden associated with osteoporosis-related fracture rehabilitation following hospital discharge in China. Materials and Methods. Data were collected using a patient questionnaire from osteoporosis-related fracture patients (N = 123) who aged 50 years and older who were discharged between January 2011 and January 2013 from 3 large hospitals in China. The survey captured posthospital discharge direct medical costs, indirect medical costs, lost work time for caregivers, and patient ambulatory status. Results. Hip fracture was the most frequent fracture site (62.6%), followed by vertebral fracture (34.2%). The mean direct medical care costs per patient totaled 3,910¥, while mean indirect medical costs totaled 743¥. Lost work time for unpaid family caregivers was 16.4 days, resulting in an average lost income of 3,233¥. The average posthospital direct medical cost, indirect medical cost, and caregiver lost income associated with a fracture patient totaled 7,886¥. Patients' ambulatory status was negatively impacted following fracture. Conclusions. Significant time and cost of care are placed on patients and caregivers during rehabilitation after discharge for osteoporotic fracture. It is important to evaluate the role and responsibility for creating the growing and inequitable burden placed on patients and caregivers following osteoporotic fracture. PMID:26221563

Direct and indirect costs of tuberculosis among immigrant patients in the Netherlands.

PubMed

Kik, Sandra V; Olthof, Sandra P J; de Vries, Jonie T N; Menzies, Dick; Kincler, Naomi; van Loenhout-Rooyakkers, Joke; Burdo, Conny; Verver, Suzanne

2009-08-05

In low tuberculosis (TB) incidence countries TB affects mostly immigrants in the productive age group. Little empirical information is available about direct and indirect TB-related costs that patients face in these high-income countries. We assessed the direct and indirect costs of immigrants with TB in the Netherlands. A cross-sectional survey at 14 municipal health services and 2 specialized TB hospitals was conducted. Interviews were administered to first or second generation immigrants, 18 years or older, with pulmonary or extrapulmonary TB, who were on treatment for 1-6 months. Out of pocket expenditures and time loss, related to TB, was assessed for different phases of the current TB illness. In total 60 patients were interviewed. Average direct costs spent by households with a TB patient amounted euro353. Most costs were spent when being hospitalized. Time loss (mean 81 days) was mainly due to hospitalization (19 days) and additional work days lost (60 days), and corresponded with a cost estimation of euro2603. Even in a country with a good health insurance system that covers medication and consultation costs, patients do have substantial extra expenditures. Furthermore, our patients lost on average 2.7 months of productive days. TB patients are economically vulnerable.

Sleep, Dietary, and Exercise Behavioral Clusters among Truck Drivers with Obesity: Implications for Interventions

PubMed Central

Olson, Ryan; Thompson, Sharon V.; Wipfli, Brad; Hanson, Ginger; Elliot, Diane L.; Anger, W. Kent; Bodner, Todd; Hammer, Leslie B.; Hohn, Elliot; Perrin, Nancy A.

2015-01-01

Objective Our objectives were to describe a sample of truck drivers, identify clusters of drivers with similar patterns in behaviors affecting energy balance (sleep, diet, and exercise), and test for cluster differences in health and psychosocial factors. Methods Participants’ (n=452, BMI M=37.2, 86.4% male) self-reported behaviors were dichotomized prior to hierarchical cluster analysis, which identified groups with similar behavior co-variation. Cluster differences were tested with generalized estimating equations. Results Five behavioral clusters were identified that differed significantly in age, smoking status, diabetes prevalence, lost work days, stress, and social support, but not in BMI. Cluster 2, characterized by the best sleep quality, had significantly lower lost workdays and stress than other clusters. Conclusions Weight management interventions for drivers should explicitly address sleep, and may be maximally effective after establishing socially supportive work environments that reduce stress exposures. PMID:26949883

Sleep, Dietary, and Exercise Behavioral Clusters Among Truck Drivers With Obesity: Implications for Interventions.

PubMed

Olson, Ryan; Thompson, Sharon V; Wipfli, Brad; Hanson, Ginger; Elliot, Diane L; Anger, W Kent; Bodner, Todd; Hammer, Leslie B; Hohn, Elliot; Perrin, Nancy A

2016-03-01

The objectives of the study were to describe a sample of truck drivers, identify clusters of drivers with similar patterns in behaviors affecting energy balance (sleep, diet, and exercise), and test for cluster differences in health safety, and psychosocial factors. Participants' (n = 452, body mass index M = 37.2, 86.4% male) self-reported behaviors were dichotomized prior to hierarchical cluster analysis, which identified groups with similar behavior covariation. Cluster differences were tested with generalized estimating equations. Five behavioral clusters were identified that differed significantly in age, smoking status, diabetes prevalence, lost work days, stress, and social support, but not in body mass index. Cluster 2, characterized by the best sleep quality, had significantly lower lost workdays and stress than other clusters. Weight management interventions for drivers should explicitly address sleep, and may be maximally effective after establishing socially supportive work environments that reduce stress exposures.

The cost of productivity losses associated with allergic rhinitis.

PubMed

Crystal-Peters, J; Crown, W H; Goetzel, R Z; Schutt, D C

2000-03-01

To measure the cost of absenteeism and reduced productivity associated with allergic rhinitis. The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) was used to obtain information on days lost from work and lost productivity due to allergic rhinitis. Wage estimates for occupations obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) were used to calculate the costs. Productivity losses associated with a diagnosis of allergic rhinitis in the 1995 NHIS were estimated to be $601 million. When additional survey information on the use of sedating over-the-counter (OTC) allergy medications, as well as workers' self-assessments of their reduction in at-work productivity due to allergic rhinitis, were considered, the estimated productivity loss increased dramatically. At-work productivity losses were estimated to range from $2.4 billion to $4.6 billion. Despite the inherent difficulty of measuring productivity losses, our lowest estimate is several times higher than previous estimates of the indirect medical costs associated with allergic rhinitis treatment. The most significant productivity losses resulted not from absenteeism but from reduced at-work productivity associated with the use of sedating OTC antihistamines.

Employee assistance programs, drug testing, and workplace injury.

PubMed

Waehrer, Geetha M; Miller, Ted R; Hendrie, Delia; Galvin, Deborah M

2016-06-01

Little is known about the effects of employee assistance programs (EAPs) on occupational injuries. Multivariate regressions probed a unique data set that linked establishment information about workplace anti-drug programs in 1988 with occupational injury rates for 1405 establishments. EAPs were associated with a significant reduction in both no-lost-work and lost-work injuries, especially in the manufacturing and transportation, communication and public utilities industries (TCPU). Lost-work injuries were more responsive to specific EAP characteristics, with lower rates associated with EAPs staffed by company employees (most likely onsite). Telephone hotline services were associated with reduced rates of lost-work injuries in manufacturing and TCPU. Drug testing was associated with reductions in the rate of minor injuries with no lost work, but had no significant relationship with lost-work injuries. This associational study suggests that EAPs, especially ones that are company-staffed and ones that include telephone hotlines, may prevent workplace injuries. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Work productivity improvement after acid suppression in patients with uninvestigated dyspepsia.

PubMed

Bytzer, Peter; Langkilde, Lars K; Christensen, Erik; Meineche-Schmidt, Villy

2012-07-01

Lost productivity accounts for a significant part of the costs caused by gastrointestinal symptoms. We aimed to describe selfreported productivity in patients presenting with dyspepsia. Data were sourced from a randomized, double-blinded study of two weeks of esomeprazole 40 mg or placebo in 805 primary-care patients with uninvestigated dyspepsia. Work productivity was tested using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire. Treatment effect on work productivity loss was tested according to the likelihood of treatment response. A total of 401/805 employed patients were included in the analysis. The average work productivity loss in the past seven days was 10.5 working hours/week. The productivity loss grew with increasing severity of symptoms at baseline. Following two weeks of treatment, the mean improvement in work productivity was significantly higher for both absenteeism (1 hour versus 0.1 hour, p < 0.05) and presenteeism (5.3 hours versus 4.3 hours, p < 0.05) in patients treated with esomeprazole versus placebo. The most substantial improvement was seen in patients who, based on baseline symptoms, were assessed to be likely treatment responders. Dyspepsia symptoms represent a significant economic burden in terms of lost productivity. The RESPONSE algorithm is successful in determining which patients will benefit from acid suppression in terms of enhanced productivity.

Cost of dengue cases in eight countries in the Americas and Asia: a prospective study.

PubMed

Suaya, Jose A; Shepard, Donald S; Siqueira, João B; Martelli, Celina T; Lum, Lucy C S; Tan, Lian Huat; Kongsin, Sukhontha; Jiamton, Sukhum; Garrido, Fàtima; Montoya, Romeo; Armien, Blas; Huy, Rekol; Castillo, Leticia; Caram, Mariana; Sah, Binod K; Sughayyar, Rana; Tyo, Karen R; Halstead, Scott B

2009-05-01

Despite the growing worldwide burden of dengue fever, the global economic impact of dengue illness is poorly documented. Using a common protocol, we present the first multicountry estimates of the direct and indirect costs of dengue cases in eight American and Asian countries. We conducted prospective studies of the cost of dengue in five countries in the Americas (Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, and Venezuela) and three countries in Asia (Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand). All studies followed the same core protocol with interviews and medical record reviews. The study populations were patients treated in ambulatory and hospital settings with a clinical diagnosis of dengue. Most studies were performed in 2005. Costs are in 2005 international dollars (I$). We studied 1,695 patients (48% pediatric and 52% adult); none died. The average illness lasted 11.9 days for ambulatory patients and 11.0 days for hospitalized patients. Among hospitalized patients, students lost 5.6 days of school, whereas those working lost 9.9 work days per average dengue episode. Overall mean costs were I$514 and I$1,394 for an ambulatory and hospitalized case, respectively. With an annual average of 574,000 cases reported, the aggregate annual economic cost of dengue for the eight study countries is at least I$587 million. Preliminary adjustment for under-reporting could raise this total to $1.8 billion, and incorporating costs of dengue surveillance and vector control would raise the amount further. Dengue imposes substantial costs on both the health sector and the overall economy.

The Cost of Smoking in California.

PubMed

Max, Wendy; Sung, Hai-Yen; Shi, Yanling; Stark, Brad

2016-05-01

The economic impact of smoking, including healthcare costs and the value of lost productivity due to illness and mortality, was estimated for California for 2009. Smoking-attributable healthcare costs were estimated using a series of econometric models that estimate expenditures for hospital care, ambulatory care, prescriptions, home health care, and nursing home care. Lost productivity due to illness was estimated using an econometric model predicting how smoking status affects the number of days lost from work or other activities. The value of lives lost from premature mortality due to smoking was estimated using an epidemiological approach. Almost 4 million Californians still smoke, including 146 000 adolescents. The cost of smoking in 2009 totaled $18.1 billion, including $9.8 billion in healthcare costs, $1.4 billion in lost productivity from illness, and $6.8 billion in lost productivity from premature mortality. This amounts to $487 per California resident and $4603 per smoker. Costs were greater for men than for women. Hospital costs comprised 44% of healthcare costs. Despite extensive efforts at tobacco control in California, healthcare and lost productivity costs attributable to smoking remain high. Compared to costs for 1999, the total cost was 15% greater in 2009. However, after adjusting for inflation, real costs have fallen by 13% over the past decade, indicating that efforts have been successful in reducing the economic burden of smoking in the state. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The impact of a streamlined funding application process on application time: two cross-sectional surveys of Australian researchers

PubMed Central

Barnett, Adrian G; Graves, Nicholas; Clarke, Philip; Herbert, Danielle

2015-01-01

Objective To examine if streamlining a medical research funding application process saved time for applicants. Design Cross-sectional surveys before and after the streamlining. Setting The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia. Participants Researchers who submitted one or more NHMRC Project Grant applications in 2012 or 2014. Main outcome measures Average researcher time spent preparing an application and the total time for all applications in working days. Results The average time per application increased from 34 working days before streamlining (95% CI 33 to 35) to 38 working days after streamlining (95% CI 37 to 39; mean difference 4 days, bootstrap p value <0.001). The estimated total time spent by all researchers on applications after streamlining was 614 working years, a 67-year increase from before streamlining. Conclusions Streamlined applications were shorter but took longer to prepare on average. Researchers may be allocating a fixed amount of time to preparing funding applications based on their expected return, or may be increasing their time in response to increased competition. Many potentially productive years of researcher time are still being lost to preparing failed applications. PMID:25596201

Daily Magnetograms for 1982 from the AFGL (Air Force Geophysics Laboratory) Network.

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-03-01

who as a IN high-school student, carried out much of the computer work that produced the A edited data shown in these plots and who lost his life in...34,. . .. . . . . .. .. .. .. . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . .. . ... .. . . .... .. .. .... *... II * .- eeee OM 04eO 66 eeee OMe IM 12 14e9 1600 18 2M 22 66 .’.W 06 A 82 (DAY 82.M6) UIVERSAL TIrE WGL...lit’ 54437 1 S4571 55315 S32Sg9. .5 42871 F, .. . . . . . . .- - - 88 MW 82 (DAY 82.128) UIVERSAL TIME AFGL MAGN~ETEER PETUFlJ 135

The economic impact of electric saw injuries to the hand.

PubMed

Hoxie, Samuel C; Capo, Jason A; Dennison, David G; Shin, Alexander Y

2009-01-01

Injuries from electric saws cause considerable hand trauma. This study is designed to provide information detailing the costs of these injuries. The study was performed in a tertiary referral academic medical center. The records of patients injured by electric table saws were reviewed. Information regarding demographics, injury severity, medical expense, and time lost from work was analyzed. The patients were stratified by injury severity for further analysis. The mean wage for the region was used to estimate costs of time away from work. The Consumer Protection Agency's review was used to estimate the nationwide burden of these injuries. The study group included 134 patients. Of these patients, 126 were male and 8 were female. The dominant hand was injured in 20; the nondominant, in 114. The mean age was 47.0 years. The mean time lost from work was 64 days. The mean cost of medical expenses for all patients was $22,086, with $8,668 in lost wages, for a total of $30,754 mean cost per injury. The total economic burden for the injuries in this study is $4,121,097. These injuries represent a spectrum of severity, with minor injuries incurring lower hospital fees and requiring less time off work as compared to more involved injuries. Electric saws cause a wide spectrum of injuries that result in not only tremendous physical and emotional pain but also substantial economic impact as well. Technologies that would prevent such injuries would be a socioeconomic advancement. Federal mandates to implement such technologies should be encouraged.

Changes in the body weight of term infants, born in the tropics, during the first seven days of life.

PubMed

Turner, Claudia; Carrara, Verena; Thien, Naw Aye Mya; Paw, Naw Moo Ku; Rijken, Marcus; McGready, Rose; Nosten, François

2013-06-14

Identifying unwell neonates, particularly in the first week of life, is often subjective. If normal values are known, calculating the weight lost or gained from birth weight can be a useful adjunct in the evaluation of the health of a neonate. Serial body weights of well, term, breast fed infants who were attending for routine follow up, were recorded at the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit clinic in Maela Camp for displaced persons on the Thailand Myanmar border. Newborn examination was routine. Weight loss, expressed as percent weight lost from birth weight, and weight gain, expressed as a velocity (g/kg/day), was calculated for the first seven days of life. The results from normal birth weight infants, low birth weight infants (<2.5 kg) and small for gestational age infants (SGA) were examined. In the first week of life there were no significant differences in weight gained or lost across the three study groups. The maximum weight lost was 4.4% (95% CI 4.1 - 4.6%), which occurred on day three. Weight gain ranged from 13 g/kg/day [95% CI 10 - 16] on day four to 18 g/kg/day [95% CI 15 - 20] on days six and seven. Use of these normal values for weight gain and loss, allows infants falling outside of the expected range (95% CI) to be easily identified and subsequently highlighted as needing further medical review.

Analyzing MER Uplink Reports

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Savin, Stephen C.

2005-01-01

The MER project includes two rovers working simultaneously on opposite sides of Mars each receiving commands only once a day. Creating this uplink is critical, since a failed uplink means a lost day and a waste of money. Examining the process of creating this uplink, I tracked the use of the system developed for requesting observations as well as the development, from stage to stage, in forming an activity plan. I found the system for requesting observations was commonly misused, if used at all. There are half a dozen reports to document the creation of the uplink plan and often there are discrepancies among them. Despite this, the uplink process worked very well and MER has been one of the most successful missions for NASA in recent memory. Still it is clear there is room for improvement.

Lost work days in the 6 years leading to premature death from cardiovascular disease in men and women.

PubMed

Singh-Manoux, Archana; Kivimäki, Mika; Sjösten, Noora; Ferrie, Jane E; Nabi, Hermann; Pentti, Jaana; Virtanen, Marianna; Oksanen, Tuula; Vahtera, Jussi

2010-08-01

It is unclear whether individuals experience specific patterns of morbidity prior to premature death from cardiovascular disease (CVD). We examined morbidity levels in the 6 years leading up to death from CVD in 37,397 men and 113,198 women under 65 years of age from the Finnish Public Sector study, with a particular focus on gender differences. Morbidity was assessed using lost days from work, extracted from register data on sickness leave and disability pension. Data on cause-specific mortality were obtained from national health registers. During a median follow-up of 8.5 years, there were 361 CVD deaths (174 from ischaemic heart disease (ICD9 410-414, 427.5; ICD10 I21-I25, I46), 91 from stroke (ICD9 430, 431, 434; ICD10 I60-I60, I61, I63), and 96 from other diseases of circulatory system (ICD9 390-459; ICD10 I00-I99)). Women had lower morbidity than men over the 6 years preceding stroke deaths (RR for mean annual days=0.33 (95% CI 0.14-0.78)). For other causes of CVD mortality, there were no gender differences in morbidity rates prior to death. In men, those who died from CVD had substantially greater morbidity levels than matched controls through the entire 6-year period preceding death (rate ratio=3.59; 95% confidence interval 2.62-4.93). Among women, morbidity days were greater particularly in the year preceding death from stroke. Our results on working age men and women suggest no gender differences in morbidity prior to death from heart disease and lower morbidity in women prior to death from stroke. These findings challenge the widespread belief that women experience more morbidity symptoms than men. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring Neuromuscular Fatigue in Cervical Spinal Musculature of Military Helicopter Aircrew

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-11-01

BSct ABSTRACT Neck pain and muscle furiLiion in aircrew have received considerable attention. We hypothesized nor- niali/ed olectromyography (EMG...the literature with aiicrew-specitic publications indicates a growing concern with regard to cervical spinal injuries and pain in the helicop- ter...individual article.’"’’ Regardless of the exact prevalence. Ilight-induced neck pain results in lost working days from highly trained aircrew that negatively

Patient-reported impact of spondyloarthritis on work disability and working life: the ATLANTIS survey.

PubMed

Ramonda, Roberta; Marchesoni, Antonio; Carletto, Antonio; Bianchi, Gerolamo; Cutolo, Maurizio; Ferraccioli, Gianfranco; Fusaro, Enrico; De Vita, Salvatore; Galeazzi, Mauro; Gerli, Roberto; Matucci-Cerinic, Marco; Minisola, Giovanni; Montecucco, Carlomaurizio; Pellerito, Raffaele; Salaffi, Fausto; Paolazzi, Giuseppe; Sarzi-Puttini, Piercarlo; Scarpa, Raffaele; Bagnato, Gianfilippo; Triolo, Giovanni; Valesini, Guido; Punzi, Leonardo; Olivieri, Ignazio

2016-04-01

The aim was to establish how patients experience the impact of spondyloarthritis (SpA) on work disability and working life. The survey was performed in 17/20 regions in Italy (1 January to 31 March 2013). A multiple-choice questionnaire was published on the official website of the sponsor - the National Association of Rheumatic Patients (ANMAR) - and hard-copies were distributed at outpatient clinics for rheumatic patients. Respondents (n = 770) were of both sexes (56 % men), educated (62 % at high school or more), of working age (75 % aged ≤60 years), and affected by SpA. The most common types diagnosed were ankylosing spondylitis (AS) (39 %) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) (36 %). Respondents were working full-time (45 %), part-time (8 %) or had retired (22 %); 15 % were unemployed (for reasons linked to the disease or for other reasons, students or housewives). Patients reported disability (39 %), were receiving disability benefits (34 %), were experiencing important limitations that were hindering their professional development/career (36 %) and some had to change/leave their job or lost it because of SpA (21 %). Employed respondents (n = 383) had worked on average 32.2 h in the last 7 days. More hours of work were lost over the last 7 days due to SpA (2.39 h vs 1.67 h). The indirect costs of the disease amounted to €106/week for patients reporting well-being/good physical conditions/improvement and €216/week for those reporting permanent impairment. Most patients were in the midst of their productive years and were experiencing considerable difficulties in carrying out their job because of the disease: half of them reported disability and one third were experiencing important limitations in their career perspective.

Impact of a workplace 'sit less, move more' program on efficiency-related outcomes of office employees.

PubMed

Puig-Ribera, Anna; Bort-Roig, Judit; Giné-Garriga, Maria; González-Suárez, Angel M; Martínez-Lemos, Iván; Fortuño, Jesús; Martori, Joan C; Muñoz-Ortiz, Laura; Milà, Raimon; Gilson, Nicholas D; McKenna, Jim

2017-05-16

Few studies have examined the impact of 'sit less, move more' interventions on workplace performance. This study assessed the short and mid-term impacts of and patterns of change within, a 19-week workplace web-based intervention (Walk@WorkSpain; W@WS; 2010-11) on employees´ presenteeism, mental well-being and lost work performance. A site randomised control trial recruited employees at six Spanish university campuses (n = 264; 42 ± 10 years; 171 female), assigned by worksite and campus to an Intervention (IG; used W@WS; n = 129; 87 female) or an active Comparison group (A-CG; pedometer, paper diary and self-reported sitting time; n = 135; 84 female). A linear mixed model assessed changes between the baseline, ramping (8 weeks), maintenance (11 weeks) and follow-up (two months) phases for the IG versus A-CG on (i) % of lost work productivity (Work Limitations Questionnaire; WLQ); (ii) three scales for presenteeism (WLQ) assessing difficulty meeting scheduling demands (Time), performing cognitive and inter-personal tasks (Mental-Interpersonal) and decrements in meeting the quantity, quality and timeliness of completed work (Output); and (iii) mental well-being (Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale). T-tests assessed differences between groups for changes on the main outcomes. In the IG, a multivariate logistic regression model identified patterns of response according to baseline socio-demographic variables, physical activity and sitting time. There was a significant 2 (group) × 2 (program time points) interaction for the Time (F [3]=8.69, p = 0.005), Mental-Interpersonal (F [3]=10.01, p = 0.0185), Output scales for presenteeism (F [3]=8.56, p = 0.0357), and for % of lost work performance (F [3]=10.31, p = 0.0161). Presenteeism and lost performance rose significantly in both groups across all study time points; after baseline performance was consistently better in the IG than in the A-CG. Better performance was linked to employees being more active (Time, p = 0.041) and younger (Mental-interpersonal, p = 0.057; Output, p = 0.017). Higher total sitting time during nonworking days (Mental-interpersonal, p = 0.019) and lower sitting time during workdays (WLQ Index, p = 0.013) also improved performance. Versus an active comparison condition, a 'sit less, move more` workplace intervention effectively reduced an array of markers of lost workday productivity. NCT02960750 ; Date of registration: 07/11/2016.

Army Aircraft Safety Performance Review, FY 87-FY 91. UH-60, OH-58D, AH-64, MH/CH-47D

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-12-01

is $10,000 or more, but less than $200,000; a nonfatal injury that causes any loss of time from work beyond the day or shift on which it occurred; or...a nonfatal illness or disability that causes loss of time from work or disability at any time (lost-time case). Class D accident The resulting...flex horoscope so that a complete inspection of the drive shaft can be made. Wire strike While on approach to land at the scene of a UH-60 wire

The impact of a streamlined funding application process on application time: two cross-sectional surveys of Australian researchers.

PubMed

Barnett, Adrian G; Graves, Nicholas; Clarke, Philip; Herbert, Danielle

2015-01-16

To examine if streamlining a medical research funding application process saved time for applicants. Cross-sectional surveys before and after the streamlining. The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia. Researchers who submitted one or more NHMRC Project Grant applications in 2012 or 2014. Average researcher time spent preparing an application and the total time for all applications in working days. The average time per application increased from 34 working days before streamlining (95% CI 33 to 35) to 38 working days after streamlining (95% CI 37 to 39; mean difference 4 days, bootstrap p value <0.001). The estimated total time spent by all researchers on applications after streamlining was 614 working years, a 67-year increase from before streamlining. Streamlined applications were shorter but took longer to prepare on average. Researchers may be allocating a fixed amount of time to preparing funding applications based on their expected return, or may be increasing their time in response to increased competition. Many potentially productive years of researcher time are still being lost to preparing failed applications. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Skylab

NASA Image and Video Library

1973-05-21

Two seamstresses stitch together a sun-shade for Skylab Orbital Workshop (OWS), the first U.S. experimental space station in orbit, which lost its thermal protection shield during the launch on May 14, 1973. Without the heat shield, the temperature inside the Orbital Workshop became dangerously high, rendering the workshop uninhabitable and threatened deterioration of the interior insulation and adhesive. Engineers and scientists at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) worked tirelessly around the clock on the emergency repair procedure. The Skylab crew and the repair kits were launched just 11 days after the incident. The crew successfully deployed the twin-pole sail parasol sun-shade during their EVA (Extravehicular Activity) the next day.

Psychological distress, related work attendance, and productivity loss in small-to-medium enterprise owner/managers.

PubMed

Cocker, Fiona; Martin, Angela; Scott, Jenn; Venn, Alison; Sanderson, Kristy

2013-10-15

Owner/managers of small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) are an under-researched population in terms of psychological distress and the associated health and economic consequences. Using baseline data from the evaluation of the Business in Mind program, a mental health promotion intervention amongst SME owner/managers, this study investigated: (i) prevalence of high/very high psychological distress, past-month sickness absenteeism and presenteeism days in SME owner/managers; (ii) associated, self-reported lost productivity; and (iii) associations between work, non-work and business-specific factors and work attendance behaviours. In our sample of 217 SME owner/managers 36.8% reported high/very high psychological distress. Of this group 38.7% reported past-month absenteeism, 82.5% reported past-month presenteeism, and those reporting presenteeism were 50% less productive as than usual. Negative binomial regression was used to demonstrate the independent effects of socio-demographic, work-related wellbeing and health-related factors, as well as various individual and business characteristics on continuous measures of absenteeism and presenteeism days. Health-related factors (self-rated health and treatment) were the strongest correlates of higher presenteeism days (p < 0.05). Work-related wellbeing factors (job tension and job satisfaction) were the strongest correlates of higher absenteeism days (p < 0.05). Higher educational attainment, treatment and neuroticism were also correlated with more absenteeism days. SME-specific information about the occurrence of psychological distress, work attendance behaviour, and the variables that influence these decisions, are needed for the development of guidelines for managing psychological distress within this sector.

Psychological Distress, Related Work Attendance, and Productivity Loss in Small-to-Medium Enterprise Owner/Managers

PubMed Central

Cocker, Fiona; Martin, Angela; Scott, Jenn; Venn, Alison; Sanderson, Kristy

2013-01-01

Owner/managers of small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) are an under-researched population in terms of psychological distress and the associated health and economic consequences. Using baseline data from the evaluation of the Business in Mind program, a mental health promotion intervention amongst SME owner/managers, this study investigated: (i) prevalence of high/very high psychological distress, past-month sickness absenteeism and presenteeism days in SME owner/managers; (ii) associated, self-reported lost productivity; and (iii) associations between work, non-work and business-specific factors and work attendance behaviours. In our sample of 217 SME owner/managers 36.8% reported high/very high psychological distress. Of this group 38.7% reported past-month absenteeism, 82.5% reported past-month presenteeism, and those reporting presenteeism were 50% less productive as than usual. Negative binomial regression was used to demonstrate the independent effects of socio-demographic, work-related wellbeing and health-related factors, as well as various individual and business characteristics on continuous measures of absenteeism and presenteeism days. Health-related factors (self-rated health and treatment) were the strongest correlates of higher presenteeism days (p < 0.05). Work-related wellbeing factors (job tension and job satisfaction) were the strongest correlates of higher absenteeism days (p < 0.05). Higher educational attainment, treatment and neuroticism were also correlated with more absenteeism days. SME-specific information about the occurrence of psychological distress, work attendance behaviour, and the variables that influence these decisions, are needed for the development of guidelines for managing psychological distress within this sector. PMID:24132134

The Economic Gains of Achieving Reduced Alcohol Consumption Targets for Australia

PubMed Central

Magnus, Anne; Cadilhac, Dominique; Sheppard, Lauren; Cumming, Toby; Pearce, Dora; Carter, Rob

2012-01-01

Objectives. To inform prevention policy, we estimated the economic benefits to health, production, and leisure in the 2008 Australian population of a realistic target reduction in per capita annual adult alcohol consumption. Methods. We chose a target of 6.4 liters annually per capita on average. We modeled lifetime health benefits as fewer incident cases of alcohol-related disease, deaths, and disability adjusted life years. We estimated production gains with surveyed participation and absenteeism rates. We valued gains with friction cost and human capital methods. We estimated and valued household production and leisure gains from time-use surveys. Results. A reduction of 3.4 liters of alcohol consumed annually per capita would result in one third fewer incident cases of disease (98 000), deaths (380), working days lost (5 million), days of home-based production lost (54 000), and a A$ 789-million health sector cost reduction. Workforce production had a A$ 427 million gain when we used the friction cost method. By contrast, we estimated a loss of 28 000 leisure days and 1000 additional early retirements. Conclusions. Economic savings and health benefits from reduced alcohol consumption may be substantial—particularly in the health sector with reduced alcohol-related disease and injury. PMID:22594720

The effect of spiked boots on logger safety, productivity and workload.

PubMed

Kirk, P; Parker, R

1994-04-01

Analysis of 1657 lost-time logging accidents in the New Zealand logging industry (1985-1991) indicates that 17.5% were as a result of slips, trips and falls and a total of 2870 days were lost. Most (56%) of these slipping, tripping and falling accidents occurred in the felling and delimbing phase of the logging operation, where 37% of the workforce are employed. In an attempt to reduce the number of slipping injuries to loggers employed in felling and delimbing, a study of the effectiveness of spike-soled (caulk) boots was undertaken. Four loggers were intensively observed at work, by continuous time-study methods, while wearing their conventional rubber-soled boots and then spike-soled boots. The number of slips, work methods used, physiological workload and productivity were compared for loggers wearing the two footwear types. Results indicated that spike-soled boots were associated with a significant reduction in the frequency of slips and had no adverse effect on work methods, physiological workload or productivity. Spike-soled boots are now being promoted for use by loggers in New Zealand as a simple method to reduce slipping, tripping and falling accidents.

Recruiter Stress: An Experiment Using Text-messages as a Stress Intervention

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-02-01

messages covered a number of areas (e.g., physiological, cognitive , social) and were generally self-contained with 140 characters or less (to meet text...although most differences here are small and within margins of errors. The two most noticeable differences are for the impact of work stress on job...order to compute estimated hour and day losses. Using recruiter population estimates, over 4,500 man-hours were lost due to late arrivals and over 9,500

Sleep and Health Resilience Metrics in a Large Military Cohort.

PubMed

Seelig, Amber D; Jacobson, Isabel G; Donoho, Carrie J; Trone, Daniel W; Crum-Cianflone, Nancy F; Balkin, Thomas J

2016-05-01

Examine the relationship between self-reported sleep parameters and indicators of resilience in a US military population (n = 55,021). Longitudinal analyses (2001-2008) were conducted using subjective data collected from Millennium Cohort Study questionnaires and objective data from military records that included demographics, military health, and deployment information. Subjective sleep duration and insomnia symptoms were collected on the study questionnaire. Resilience metrics included lost work days, self-rated health, deployment, frequency and duration of health care utilization, and early discharge from the military. Generalized estimating equations and survival analyses were adjusted for demographic, military, behavioral, and health covariates in all models. The presence of insomnia symptoms was significantly associated with lower self-rated health, more lost work days, lower odds of deployment, higher odds of early discharge from military service early, and more health care utilization. Those self-reporting < 6 h (short sleepers) or > 8 h (long sleepers) of sleep per night had similar findings, except for the deployment outcome in which those with the shortest sleep were more likely to deploy. Poor sleep is a detriment to service members' health and readiness. Leadership should redouble efforts to emphasize the importance of healthy sleep among military service members, and future research should focus on the efficacy of interventions to promote healthy sleep and resilience in this population. A commentary on this article appears in this issue on page 963. © 2016 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

77 FR 67860 - 60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Statement Regarding a Lost or Stolen U.S...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-14

...: Statement Regarding a Lost or Stolen U.S. Passport Book and/or Card ACTION: Notice of request for public... Information Collection: Statement Regarding a Lost or Stolen U.S. Passport Book and/or Card. OMB Control...: Bureau of Consular Affairs, Passport Services, Office of Program Management and Operational Support...

76 FR 13443 - 30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Form DS-0064, Statement Regarding a Lost or...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-11

... DS-0064, Statement Regarding a Lost or Stolen Passport, 1405-0014 ACTION: Notice of request for... Collection: Statement Regarding a Lost or Stolen Passport. OMB Control Number: 1405-0014. Type of Request... supporting documents from Passport Forms Management Officer, U.S. Department of State, Office of Program...

Injury surveillance in construction: what is an "injury", anyway?

PubMed

Welch, Laura S; Hunting, Katherine

2003-08-01

Over the last decade, there has been a decline in injuries with days away from work in construction, associated with an increase in injuries with restricted work activity only. We abstracted demographics, diagnosis, cause-of-injury, and hospital discharge information for 481 workers from one large construction project treated in an urban Emergency Department (ED). The project safety team provided data on all injuries from this site, including first aid cases. This site had fewer injuries with days away from work than expected from national rates. Two hundred and fifty-six injuries were reported on the OSHA log, and of those 93 entailed days away from work; 1,515 injuries were considered first aid/medical only. We used a sample of the data to estimate that the site classified as "recordable" 128 of the 481 ED-treated injuries from this site (27%). The pattern of injury varies depending on the subset of injuries examined. Lost time injuries, as reported in BLS data, record fewer lacerations and eye injuries, and more strains and sprains. No one surveillance system presents the full spectrum of occupational injury. Tracking all injuries allow early recognition of injury risks, and therefore can lead to more effective prevention. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Mental disorders: employment and work productivity in Singapore.

PubMed

Chong, Siow Ann; Vaingankar, Janhavi Ajit; Abdin, Edimansyah; Subramaniam, Mythily

2013-01-01

To examine the association between mental disorders and work disability in the adult resident population in Singapore. Data are from the Singapore Mental Health Study, which was a household survey of a nationally representative sample. The main instrument used was the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Employment-related information was collected using the modified employment module of the CIDI. A total of 6,429 respondents were included in the analysis, 71 % (n = 4,594) were employed, 24.5 % (n = 1,522) were economically inactive and 4.5 % (n = 313) were unemployed. Among the employed, 2.3 % had a 12-month prevalence of at least one mental disorder, while 5.3 % of the unemployed had at least one mental disorder. The average number of work loss days (absenteeism) per capita among those with a mental disorder was 0.5 per month that is equivalent to an annualized national projection of approximately 0.3 million productivity days. The average work-cutback days (presenteeism) were 0.4 days among this group. Of the mentally ill in the workforce, a high proportion (86.5 %) did not ever seek help for problems related to mental health. Our findings provide information on the significant consequences of mental disorders on the workforce in terms of lost work productivity, which could pave the way for a more rational allocation of scarce resources.

Hydrologic data for the Big Spring basin, Clayton County, Iowa, water year 1988

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kalkhoff, Stephen J.

1989-01-01

During a baseflow seepage study, June 28 and 29, the discharge lost by streams in the basin was 5.57 cubic feet per second and the dissolved nitrogen load lost was 0.19 tons per day. The discharge and total dissolved nitrogen leaving the basin in streams was 2.93 cubic feet per second and 0.02 tons per day, respectively.

Economic costs due to workers' sick leave at wastewater treatment plants in Bulgaria.

PubMed

Toseva, Elka Ilieva; Stoyanova, Rumyana; Turnovska, Tanya

2018-03-09

The compensatory mechanisms of social security include expenses for sick leave. The aim of the study is to determine the economic cost due to sick leave among workers in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), comparing with the same economic indicators of the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) in Bulgaria. The sick leave of 111 workers at 3 WWTPs was studied in the period 2012-2014 on the grounds of registered absences from work due to temporary incapacity for work. The economic indicators of the NSSI, the gross salary at WWTPs, payable social security contributions and compensatory payments for sick leave have been used for economic cost calculation for temporary incapacity of the workers. The frequency of cases and the frequency of lost days due to temporary incapacity were increased in the observed period at WWTPs and in Bulgaria, and it is significantly higher for the employed at WWTPs. The percentage share of workers equivalent to 1.66% at WWTPs have not worked for an entire year as a result of temporary incapacity in 2012, 2.76% - in 2013, and 4.61% - in 2014. The economic burden due to sick leave at WWTPs was raised from EUR 4913.02 in 2012 to EUR 16 895.80 for 2014 for employers and the NSSI. The frequency of cases and the frequency of lost days due to temporary incapacity were increased in the observed period at WWTPs and in Bulgaria, and it is significantly higher for the employed at WWTPs. The economic burden was equally distributed between employers and the NSSI. Med Pr 2018;69(2):129-141. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Headache in a nonclinical population in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. A community-based study.

PubMed

Matuja, W B; Mteza, I B; Rwiza, H T

1995-05-01

Headache is a common symptom that constitutes a major health problem to all countries in the world with a variable prevalence from about 20.2% in the African population to about 80% in populations of the civilized world. Community-based studies in African populations are still scanty, and the impact on health facility utilization and sickness absence from work is unknown. After a simple random selection, 1540 urban workers and students of higher education completed a standardized self-administered questionnaire on headache. A total of 815 (52%), (620 (51%) men, 195 (60%) women) admitted to having suffered a headache requiring medication or medical consultation in the last year. Of these, 366 (23.7%) had recurrent headache not attributable to systemic disease. Of the total with recurrent headache, there was a significant preponderance of women over men with sex prevalence of 28.9% and 22.4%, respectively (X2 P = 0.0001). Combined vascular-muscular-type of headache exceeded all types of headache, accounting for 35.8% of cases, followed by migraine accounting for 30.8% of cases. Organic disease was rare, accounting for 8.5% of cases, and psychogenic causes of headache were even rarer at less than 1.2% of cases. Within 2 months of onset of recurrent headaches, over 32% of sufferers had utilized the health facility at their place of work or study. A significant number of cases (175) had an average of 11.3 lost work days per year in comparison to a control group of 154 persons with an average of 5.7 lost work days per year for reasons other than headache (X2 P = 0.0005).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Healthy Life-Years Lost and Excess Bed-Days Due to 6 Patient Safety Incidents: Empirical Evidence From English Hospitals.

PubMed

Hauck, Katharina D; Wang, Shaolin; Vincent, Charles; Smith, Peter C

2017-02-01

There is little satisfactory evidence on the harm of safety incidents to patients, in terms of lost potential health and life-years. To estimate the healthy life-years (HLYs) lost due to 6 incidents in English hospitals between the years 2005/2006 and 2009/2010, to compare burden across incidents, and estimate excess bed-days. The study used cross-sectional analysis of the medical records of all inpatients treated in 273 English hospitals. Patients with 6 types of preventable incidents were identified. Total attributable loss of HLYs was estimated through propensity score matching by considering the hypothetical remaining length and quality of life had the incident not occurred. The 6 incidents resulted in an annual loss of 68 HLYs and 934 excess bed-days per 100,000 population. Preventable pressure ulcers caused the loss of 26 HLYs and 555 excess bed-days annually. Deaths in low-mortality procedures resulted in 25 lost life-years and 42 bed-days. Deep-vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolisms cost 12 HLYs, and 240 bed-days. Postoperative sepsis, hip fractures, and central-line infections cost <6 HLYs and 100 bed-days each. The burden caused by the 6 incidents is roughly comparable with the UK burden of Multiple Sclerosis (80 DALYs per 100,000), HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis (63 DALYs), and Cervical Cancer (58 DALYs). There were marked differences in the harm caused by the incidents, despite the public attention all of them receive. Decision makers can use the results to prioritize resources into further research and effective interventions.

Workplace smoking related absenteeism and productivity costs in Taiwan

PubMed Central

Tsai, S; Wen, C; Hu, S; Cheng, T; Huang, S

2005-01-01

Objective: To estimate productivity losses and financial costs to employers caused by cigarette smoking in the Taiwan workplace. Methods: The human capital approach was used to calculate lost productivity. Assuming the value of lost productivity was equal to the wage/salary rate and basing the calculations on smoking rate in the workforce, average days of absenteeism, average wage/salary rate, and increased risk and absenteeism among smokers obtained from earlier research, costs due to smoker absenteeism were estimated. Financial losses caused by passive smoking, smoking breaks, and occupational injuries were calculated. Results: Using a conservative estimate of excess absenteeism from work, male smokers took off an average of 4.36 sick days and male non-smokers took off an average of 3.30 sick days. Female smokers took off an average of 4.96 sick days and non-smoking females took off an average of 3.75 sick days. Excess absenteeism caused by employee smoking was estimated to cost US$178 million per annum for males and US$6 million for females at a total cost of US$184 million per annum. The time men and women spent taking smoking breaks amounted to nine days per year and six days per year, respectively, resulting in reduced output productivity losses of US$733 million. Increased sick leave costs due to passive smoking were approximately US$81 million. Potential costs incurred from occupational injuries among smoking employees were estimated to be US$34 million. Conclusions: Financial costs caused by increased absenteeism and reduced productivity from employees who smoke are significant in Taiwan. Based on conservative estimates, total costs attributed to smoking in the workforce were approximately US$1032 million. PMID:15923446

Workplace smoking related absenteeism and productivity costs in Taiwan.

PubMed

Tsai, S P; Wen, C P; Hu, S C; Cheng, T Y; Huang, S J

2005-06-01

To estimate productivity losses and financial costs to employers caused by cigarette smoking in the Taiwan workplace. The human capital approach was used to calculate lost productivity. Assuming the value of lost productivity was equal to the wage/salary rate and basing the calculations on smoking rate in the workforce, average days of absenteeism, average wage/salary rate, and increased risk and absenteeism among smokers obtained from earlier research, costs due to smoker absenteeism were estimated. Financial losses caused by passive smoking, smoking breaks, and occupational injuries were calculated. Using a conservative estimate of excess absenteeism from work, male smokers took off an average of 4.36 sick days and male non-smokers took off an average of 3.30 sick days. Female smokers took off an average of 4.96 sick days and non-smoking females took off an average of 3.75 sick days. Excess absenteeism caused by employee smoking was estimated to cost USD 178 million per annum for males and USD 6 million for females at a total cost of USD 184 million per annum. The time men and women spent taking smoking breaks amounted to nine days per year and six days per year, respectively, resulting in reduced output productivity losses of USD 733 million. Increased sick leave costs due to passive smoking were approximately USD 81 million. Potential costs incurred from occupational injuries among smoking employees were estimated to be USD 34 million. Financial costs caused by increased absenteeism and reduced productivity from employees who smoke are significant in Taiwan. Based on conservative estimates, total costs attributed to smoking in the workforce were approximately USD 1032 million.

Workplace disability in migraine: an Italian experience.

PubMed

D'Amico, D; Genco, S; Perini, F

2004-10-01

Workplace disability due to migraine has not been extensively researched in non-English speaking countries. We assessed the repercussions of headache, and particularly of migraine, on work in a sample of employees from an Italian company (Bulgari). Information was obtained through a self-answering questionnaire in "all headaches" sufferers, and through direct interview in migraine sufferers (diagnosis according to IHS criteria). Headache frequency, pain intensity and headache-related disability were higher in migraineurs than in "all headaches" sufferers. About a quarter of migraineurs missed at least one day in the three months prior to the interview due to headache, and around 10% lost two or more days over the same period. Moore than 50% of migraineurs reported 1-7 days per month at work with headache, with reduction in productivity level by 50% or more in 15% of respondents. Our data confirmed that headaches, and particularly migraine, cause a considerable reduction in workplace productivity. Workplace interventions to effectively manage migraine are needed.

Comparing Data from the Poisons Information Centre with Employers' Accident Reports Reveal Under-Recognized Hazards at the Workplace.

PubMed

Schenk, Linda; Öberg, Mattias

2018-05-28

Records of injuries and incidents provide an important basis for injury prevention related to hazardous substances at the workplace. The present study aimed to review available data on injuries and incidents involving hazardous substances and investigate how data from the Poisons Information Centre could complement the records of the Swedish Work Environment Authority. We found two major obstacles for using injury/incident data based on employers' mandatory reporting. First, it was not possible to quickly and reliably identify injuries caused by hazardous substances, and second, data identifying substances or products are not systematically included. For two out of five investigated injuries with lost working days likely due to chemical injuries, we could not identify substances and/or products involved. The records based on calls to the Poisons Information Centre allow better understanding of chemical hazards and products. Besides the large share of unidentified chemical hazards in the injury statistics, the most striking difference was found for cleaning agents. Cleaning agents were implicated in one-third of the occupational cases that the consulting Poisons Information Centre expert judged to pose a major risk and in need of immediate healthcare. Only one in 10 injuries with lost days reported by employers was related to this type of product. The identification of exposures and symptoms by the Poisons Information Centre allow recognition of chemicals with problematic occupational uses. Hence, these records may serve as an important complement to official injury statistics related to incidents with hazardous substances at work.

Hours Lost to Planned and Unplanned Dental Visits Among US Adults.

PubMed

Kelekar, Uma; Naavaal, Shillpa

2018-01-11

Poor oral health is associated with lost hours at work or school, which may affect a person's productivity. The objective of our study was to estimate work or school hours lost to dental visits among adults aged 18 and older by the types of visits (emergency or unplanned; routine, planned, or orthodontic; or cosmetic) and to determine the factors associated with hours lost. We used the most recent Oral Health Supplement data, from the 2008 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), to estimate the total hours lost at work or school for dental visits among adults in the United States. The associations of the hours lost in unplanned and planned dental visits with socioeconomic characteristics, oral health status, and affordability were calculated. We used χ 2 tests and logistic regression to determine associations at P < .05. An average of 320.8 million work or school hours were lost annually for dental care in the United States, of which 92.4 million hours were for emergency (unplanned) care (0.99 h/adult), 159.8 million for routine (planned) care or orthodontic care (1.71 h/adult), and 68.6 million for cosmetic care (0.73 h/adult). Adults with poor oral health were more likely to lose one or more hours in unplanned dental visits (OR = 5.60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.25-9.63) than those who reported very good oral health. Not being able to afford dental care was positively associated with more work hours lost in unplanned care (odds ratio [OR] = 2.56; 95% CI, 1.76-3.73). Compared with Hispanic adults, non-Hispanic white adults (OR = 2.09; 95% CI, 1.40-3.11) and non-Hispanic Asian adults and adults of other races/ethnicities (OR =1.91; 95% CI, 1.06-3.47) were more likely to lose any hours for planned care. Consistently, those with more than a high school education were more likely to lose any hours in planned care (OR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.06-1.83) than those with a high school education or less. Dental problems result in hours lost from work and may adversely affect a person's productivity. There is disparity in lost hours at work by race/ethnicity and dental care affordability.

78 FR 15799 - 30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Statement Regarding a Lost or Stolen U.S...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-12

...: Statement Regarding a Lost or Stolen U.S. Passport Book and/or Card ACTION: Notice of request for public... Collection: Statement Regarding a Lost or Stolen U.S. Passport Book and/or Card OMB Control Number: 1405-0014... Affairs, Passport Services, Office of Program Management and Operational Support, Program Coordination...

Monetary value of lost productivity over a five year follow up in early rheumatoid arthritis estimated on the basis of official register data on patients' sickness absence and gross income: experience from the FIN-RACo trial.

PubMed

Puolakka, K; Kautiainen, H; Pekurinen, M; Möttönen, T; Hannonen, P; Korpela, M; Hakala, M; Arkela-Kautiainen, M; Luukkainen, R; Leirisalo-Repo, M

2006-07-01

To explore the monetary value of rheumatoid arthritis related loss of productivity in patients with early active disease. In a prospective cohort substudy of the FIN-RACo Trial, 162 patients with recent onset rheumatoid arthritis, aged 18 to 65 years and available to the workforce, were followed up for five years. Loss of work productivity in euros 2002 was estimated by data on absence for sickness and on income (human capital approach) from official databases. Treatment responses were evaluated by area under the curve (AUC) of the ACR-N measure and by increase in number of erosions in radiographs of hands and feet. The health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) at six months was linked to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). In all, 120 (75%) patients, women more often (82%) than men (61%) (p=0.002), lost work days. The mean lost productivity per patient-year was euro7217 (95% confidence interval (CI), 5561 to 9148): for women, euro6477 (4858 to 8536) and for men, euro8443 (5389 to 12,898). There was an inverse correlation with improvement: euro1101 (323 to 2156) and euro14 952 (10,662 to 19,852) for the highest and lowest quartiles of AUC of ARC-N, respectively. Lost productivity was associated with increase in the number of erosions and with disability in "changing and maintaining body position" subcategory of the ICF. Despite remission targeted treatment with disease modifying antirheumatic drugs, early rheumatoid arthritis results in substantial loss of productivity. A good improvement in the disease reduces the loss markedly.

Day of Remembrance

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-01-31

NASA personnel, family members of those lost in Challenger, Columbia, Apollo 1 and members of the public watch as a wreath is laid at the Tomb of the Unknowns by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden as part of NASA's Day of Remembrance, Friday, Jan. 31, 2014, at Arlington National Cemetery. The wreaths were laid in memory of those men and women who lost their lives in the quest for space exploration. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Treadmill desks: A 1-year prospective trial.

PubMed

Koepp, Gabriel A; Manohar, Chinmay U; McCrady-Spitzer, Shelly K; Ben-Ner, Avner; Hamann, Darla J; Runge, Carlisle F; Levine, James A

2013-04-01

Sedentariness is associated with weight gain and obesity. A treadmill desk is the combination of a standing desk and a treadmill that allow employees to work while walking at low speed. The hypothesis was that a 1-year intervention with treadmill desks is associated with an increase in employee daily physical activity (summation of all activity per minute) and a decrease in daily sedentary time (zero activity). Employees (n = 36; 25 women, 11 men) with sedentary jobs (87 ± 27 kg, BMI 29 ± 7 kg/m(2) , n = 10 Lean BMI < 25 kg/m(2) , n = 15 Overweight 25 < BMI < 30 kg/m(2) , n = 11 Obese BMI > 30 kg/m(2) ) volunteered to have their traditional desk replaced with a treadmill desk to promote physical activity for 1 year. Daily physical activity (using accelerometers), work performance, body composition, and blood variables were measured at Baseline and 6 and 12 months after the treadmill desk intervention. Subjects who used the treadmill desk increased daily physical activity from baseline 3,353 ± 1,802 activity units (AU)/day to, at 6 months, 4,460 ± 2,376 AU/day (P < 0.001), and at 12 months, 4,205 ± 2,238 AU/day (P < 0.001). Access to the treadmill desks was associated with significant decreases in daily sedentary time (zero activity) from at baseline 1,020 ± 75 min/day to, at 6 months, 929 ± 84 min/day (P < 0.001), and at 12 months, 978 ± 95 min/day (P < 0.001). For the whole group, weight loss averaged 1.4 ± 3.3 kg (P < 0.05). Weight loss for obese subjects was 2.3 ± 3.5 kg (P < 0.03). Access to the treadmill desks was associated with increased daily physical activity compared to traditional chair-based desks; their deployment was not associated with altered performance. For the 36 participants, fat mass did not change significantly, however, those who lost weight (n = 22) lost 3.4 ± 5.4 kg (P < 0.001) of fat mass. Weight loss was greatest in people with obesity. Access to treadmill desks may improve the health of office workers without affecting work performance. Copyright © 2012 The Obesity Society.

KSC-04pd2092

NASA Image and Video Library

2004-10-04

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC sports a patchwork façade after the holes created by recent hurricanes were covered with corrugated steel. The VAB lost 820 panels from the south wall during Hurricane Frances, and 25 additional panels pulled off the east wall by Hurricane Jeanne. Employees of Met-Con, a subcontractor in Cocoa, Fla., worked night and day on scaffolds hung from the 525-foot-high roof to close the holes and enable the facility to return to normal operations.

Acquisition of a Circular Dichroism Spectrometer to Study Biological Molecules at Interfaces

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-10

H133C double mutant) was immobilized by itself and co-immobilized with poly- sorbitol methacrylate on maleimide SAM surfaces. The purpose of this...work is to see whether the hydromimetic poly- sorbitol methacrylate can protect protein secondary structure when the co-immobilized protein-polymer...partially lost its secondary structure after the sample was exposed to air for 1 day. The co-immobilized NsfB-H360C-H133C double mutant and poly- sorbitol

Day of Remembrance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Uri, John

2018-01-01

Every year in late January, NASA holds a Day of Remembrance, honoring the astronauts lost in three major space flight accidents: Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia. In an odd tragic coincidence, all three of the accidents happened in late January or early February, although many years apart: Apollo 1 on January 27, 1967; Challenger on January 28, 1986; and Columbia on February 1, 2003. While the day is a solemn one to commemorate the astronauts who lost their lives, it is also a day to reflect on the errors that led to the accidents and to remind all NASA workers and managers to be ever vigilant so that preventable accidents don't happen again.

Productivity loss due to presenteeism among patients with arthritis: estimates from 4 instruments.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; Gignac, Monique A M; Beaton, Dorcas; Tang, Kenneth; Anis, Aslam H

2010-09-01

To estimate and compare lost work hours attributable to presenteeism, defined as reduced productivity while working, in individuals with osteoarthritis (OA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to 4 instruments. In our prospective study, 250 workers with OA (n = 130) or RA (n = 120) were recruited from community and clinical sites. Lost hours due to presenteeism at baseline were estimated using the Health and Labor Questionnaire (HLQ), the Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ), the World Health Organization's Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ), and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI). Only those respondents working over the past 2 weeks were included. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to compare the lost-time estimates, according to each instrument. Of the 212 respondents included in the analyses, the frequency of missing and "0" values among the instruments was different (17% and 61% for HLQ, 8% and 5% for WLQ, 1% and 16% for HPQ, 0% and 27% for WPAI, respectively). The average numbers of lost hours (SD) per 2 weeks due to presenteeism using HLQ, WLQ, HPQ, and WPAI were 1.6 (3.9), 4.0 (3.9), 13.5 (12.5), and 14.2 (16.7). The corresponding costs for the 2-week period were CAN$30.03, $83.05, $284.07, and $285.10. The differences in the lost-hour estimates according to instruments were significant (p < 0.001). Among individuals with arthritis, estimates of productivity losses while working vary widely according to the instruments chosen. Further research on instrument design and implications for a standardized approach to estimate lost time due to presenteeism is needed.

Respiratory predictors of disability days: a five year prospective study of U. S. coal miners

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ames, R.G.; Trent, R.B.

1985-01-01

A 5-year prospective analysis tests the hypothesis that coal miners who have impaired respiratory health also experience greater numbers of disability days due to occupational injury. Occupational and respiratory health information collected for the period 1977 through 1981 by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on 1,118 U.S. underground coal miners was linked to coal miner injury records collected under a mandatory reporting system by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Respiratory impairment, based on spirometric measures, and a questionnaire measure of chronic bronchitis symptoms, after adjustment for cigarette smoking and total years of underground mining,more » did not provide statistically significant prediction of average disability days. In addition, respiratory impairment did not predict the number of episodes of occupational injuries resulting in days lost from work.« less

Nitrogen availability in composted poultry litter using natural amendments.

PubMed

Turan, N Gamze

2009-02-01

Poultry litter compost is used as fertilizer on agricultural land because of its high nutrient content. A major limitation of land application of poultry litter compost is the loss of nitrogen via NH3 volatilization. The present work was conducted to monitor nitrogen availability during composting of poultry litter with natural zeolite, expanded perlite, pumice and expanded vermiculite. Poultry litter was composted for 100 days using five in-vessel composting simulators with a volumetric ratio of natural materials:poultry litter of 1:10. It was found that natural materials significantly reduced NH3 volatilization. At the end of the process, the control treatment without any natural materials had the lowest rate of total N: 72% of the initial total N was lost from the compost made with no amendment, while 53, 42, 26 and 16% of initial total N was lost from compost containing expandable perlite, expandable vermiculite, pumice and natural zeolite, respectively.

Brief telephone interventions for problem gambling: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Abbott, Max; Hodgins, David C; Bellringer, Maria; Vandal, Alain C; Palmer Du Preez, Katie; Landon, Jason; Sullivan, Sean; Rodda, Simone; Feigin, Valery

2018-05-01

Problem gambling is a significant public health issue world-wide. There is substantial investment in publicly funded intervention services, but limited evaluation of effectiveness. This study investigated three brief telephone interventions to determine whether they were more effective than standard helpline treatment in helping people to reduce gambling. Randomized clinical trial. National gambling helpline in New Zealand. A total of 462 adults with problem gambling. INTERVENTIONS AND COMPARATOR: (1) Single motivational interview (MI), (2) single motivational interview plus cognitive-behavioural self-help workbook (MI + W) and (3) single motivational interview plus workbook plus four booster follow-up telephone interviews (MI + W + B). Comparator was helpline standard care [treatment as usual (TAU)]. Blinded follow-up was at 3, 6 and 12 months. Primary outcomes were days gambled, dollars lost per day and treatment goal success. There were no differences across treatment arms, although participants showed large reductions in gambling during the 12-month follow-up period [mean reduction of 5.5 days, confidence interval (CI) = 4.8, 6.2; NZ$38 lost ($32, $44; 80.6%), improved (77.2%, 84.0%)]. Subgroup analysis revealed improved days gambled and dollars lost for MI + W + B over MI or MI + W for a goal of reduction of gambling (versus quitting) and improvement in dollars lost by ethnicity, gambling severity and psychological distress (all P < 0.01). MI + W + B was associated with greater treatment goal success for higher gambling severity than TAU or MI at 12 months and also better for those with higher psychological distress and lower self-efficacy to MI (all P < 0.01). TAU and MI were found to be equivalent in terms of dollars lost. In treatment of problem gambling in New Zealand, brief telephone interventions are associated with changes in days gambling and dollars lost similar to more intensive interventions, suggesting that more treatment is not necessarily better than less. Some client subgroups, in particular those with greater problem severity and greater distress, achieve better outcomes when they receive more intensive treatment. © 2017 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Unintended costs and consequences of school closures implemented in preparation for Hurricane Isaac in Harrison County School District, Mississippi, August-September 2012

PubMed Central

Zheteyeva, Yenlik; Rainey, Jeanette J.; Gao, Hongjiang; Jacobson, Evin U.; Adhikari, Bishwa B.; Shi, Jianrong; Mpofu, Jonetta J.; Bhavnani, Darlene; Dobbs, Thomas; Uzicanin, Amra

2017-01-01

Introduction School closures, while an effective measure against the spread of disease during a pandemic, may carry unintended social and economic consequences for students and families. We evaluated these costs and consequences following a 4-day school closure in Mississippi’s Harrison County School District (HCSD). Methods In a survey of all households with students enrolled in HCSD, we collected information on difficulties related to the school closure, including interruption of employment and pay, loss of access to subsidized school meals, and arrangement of alternative childcare. We analyzed this information in the context of certain demographic characteristics of the survey respondents and households, such as race, level of education, and income. We also estimated the average number of lost work days and documented the childcare alternatives chosen by households affected by the school closure. Results We received 2,229 (28.4%) completed surveys from an estimated 7,851 households eligible to participate. About half (1,082 [48.5%]) of the households experienced at least some difficulty during the closure, primarily in three areas: uncertainty about duration of the closure, lost income, and the effort of arranging alternate childcare. Adults working outside the home, particularly the major wage earner in the household, were more likely to suffer lost income while schools were closed, an effect mitigated by paid leave benefits. Difficulty arranging childcare was reported most frequently by respondents with lower levels of education and households with younger children. Beyond the top three concerns expressed by households in HCSD, the survey also shed light on the issue of food insecurity when subsidized school meals are not available. Reported by 17.9% of households participating in the subsidized school lunch program, difficulty providing meals during the closure was associated with higher numbers of dependent children, selection of “other” as the race of the household respondent, and lower levels of education. Conclusion To help prevent undue financial hardship in families of school children, public health authorities and school administrators should provide recommendations for childcare alternatives and paid leave or remote work options during prolonged school closures, particularly to households in which all adults work outside of the home. PMID:29091717

Cost savings associated with the use of the Ho:YAG laser in knee arthroscopy: a comparative retrospective review of 140 conventional and laser-assisted procedures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Michael D.

1994-09-01

The impact of using the 2.1 micrometers Ho:YAG laser in orthopaedic surgery has not been fully investigated, especially as to what affect it may have on an employee's return to work and normal activities. In this retrospective review of 140 patients who underwent arthroscopic surgery at our facility, there were found to be significant decreases in time on crutches and time off from work when laser-assisted knee arthroscopies were compared to procedures where conventional mechanical or motorized instruments were used. The patients who had laser-assisted knee arthroscopies discontinued use of crutches 5 days earlier than the conventional group and returned to work 10 days earlier than their counterparts who had undergone conventional arthroscopic surgery. The ability to return to work more quickly translates into significant cost savings for employers who otherwise would have to replace the worker with temporary help, pay overtime, or face lost productivity due to an employee's absence following arthroscopic knee surgery.

Direct and indirect costs associated with the onset of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. Western Consortium of Practicing Rheumatologists.

PubMed

Newhall-Perry, K; Law, N J; Ramos, B; Sterz, M; Wong, W K; Bulpitt, K J; Park, G; Lee, M; Clements, P; Paulus, H E

2000-05-01

To examine the direct and indirect costs of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) during the first year of disease. As part of a longitudinal observational study, 150 patients with seropositive RA of 5.9 +/- 2.9 mo duration were recruited through the Western Consortium of Practicing Rheumatologists. Subjects completed questionnaires about health care services and resources utilized and about the number of days of usual activity lost as a result of RA during the 6 month period prior to enrolment. Study participants had active RA as evidenced by mean tender and swollen joint counts of 24.9 +/- 13.5 and 20.6 +/- 11.6, respectively, and moderate functional impairment reflected by a mean Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) score of 1.24 +/- 0.7. The average total direct cost of RA was $200/month. Health care visits, medications, and radiographs accounted for 78% of the total direct cost, while expenditures for hospitalizations accounted for only 3.5% of the total. The average number of days of usual activity lost per month because of RA was 3.8 +/- 7.7, translating into an average indirect cost of $281/month. Of the 95 subjects who were gainfully employed prior to disease onset, 12 were disabled and 5 were on sick leave as a result of RA, corresponding to a work disability rate of 18%. Work disabled subjects reported significantly lower total household incomes and higher HAQ disability and global disease activity scores than subjects who continued working. In this group of patients with seropositive RA substantial costs, both direct and indirect, were incurred during the first year of disease.

[Relationship between Working Schedule and Sleeping Hours with Overweight and Obesity in Spanish Adult Population According to Data from the National Health Survey 2012].

PubMed

Marqueta de Salas, María; Rodríguez Gómez, Lorena; Enjuto Martínez, Diego; Juárez Soto, José Juan; Martín-Ramiro, José Javier

2017-03-01

Obesity is a public health problem worldwide. The aim of the present study was to determine the association between the type of working schedule and the sleeping hours per day with obesity and overweight. Cross-sectional study of the National Health Survey in 2012. We conducted an analysis of multinomial logistic regression and estimated the rates of possible risk of obesity and overweight versus the normal weight in relation to the type of working schedule and sleeping hours. Obesity among those who worked at night was 17,50% and those who had irregular works was 17,92%. Overweight among those who performed part-time works was 40,81% and 39,17% in night works. The obesity and overweight among those who slept less than six hours a day were 24,42% and 40,99% respectively. Regression analysis logistic showed OR=1,83 (IC95% 1,15-1,75) in irregular works and OR= 1,83 (IC95% 1,59-2,11) in people who slept less than six hours. Whenever overweight and obesity are present, a positive association between irregular jobs and short patterns of rest has been found, but stadistical significance is lost when estimating the OR adjusting the confounding factors.

Challenging Expected Patterns of Weight Loss in Full-Term Breastfeeding Neonates Born by Cesarean.

PubMed

Thulier, Diane

To determine the mean weight loss (MWL) of newborns and to examine the effect of weight loss > 7% on exclusive breastfeeding rates. A secondary analysis from a retrospective case-control study of maternal hydration and neonatal weight. A Level III maternity hospital in the Northeast region of the United States. A total of 286 women and their term breastfeeding newborns born by cesarean. Data were collected by chart review from birth through Days 3 or 4. Newborns who lost more than 7% of birth weight by Day 3 were included in the case group, and newborns who lost 7% or less by Day 3 were included in the control group. A significance level of .05 was used for all statistical analysis. Day 3 MWL for all newborns was 8% (n = 286, 7.9% ± 2.2%). MWL for the control group (n = 121) was 6% (5.93% ± 1.31%), and MWL for the case group (n = 165) was over 9% (9.35% ± 1.38%). Predominately breastfed newborns were still losing weight on Day 4 (MWL = 7.58%). Newborns who lost 7% or less had little change in exclusive breastfeeding, from 87% to 80% by Day 4. In contrast, exclusive breastfeeding in newborns who lost more than 7% dropped markedly, from 90% to 53% (p < .001). Weight loss of more than 7% appears to be a normal phenomenon among full-term newborns. When weight loss reached 7%, formula supplementation increased markedly. Predominately breastfed newborns are most at risk for continued weight loss after hospital discharge. Copyright © 2017 AWHONN, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cost analysis related to dose-response of spinal manipulative therapy for chronic low back pain: outcomes from a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Vavrek, Darcy A; Sharma, Rajiv; Haas, Mitchell

2014-06-01

The purpose of this analysis is to report the incremental costs and benefits of different doses of spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) in patients with chronic low back pain (LBP). We randomized 400 patients with chronic LBP to receive a dose of 0, 6, 12, or 18 sessions of SMT. Participants were scheduled for 18 visits for 6 weeks and received SMT or light massage control from a doctor of chiropractic. Societal costs in the year after study enrollment were estimated using patient reports of health care use and lost productivity. The main health outcomes were the number of pain-free days and disability-free days. Multiple regression was performed on outcomes and log-transformed cost data. Lost productivity accounts for most societal costs of chronic LBP. Cost of treatment and lost productivity ranged from $3398 for 12 SMT sessions to $3815 for 0 SMT sessions with no statistically significant differences between groups. Baseline patient characteristics related to increase in costs were greater age (P = .03), greater disability (P = .01), lower quality-adjusted life year scores (P = .01), and higher costs in the period preceding enrollment (P < .01). Pain-free and disability-free days were greater for all SMT doses compared with control, but only SMT 12 yielded a statistically significant benefit of 22.9 pain-free days (P = .03) and 19.8 disability-free days (P = .04). No statistically significant group differences in quality-adjusted life years were noted. A dose of 12 SMT sessions yielded a modest benefit in pain-free and disability-free days. Care of chronic LBP with SMT did not increase the costs of treatment plus lost productivity. Copyright © 2014 National University of Health Sciences. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Validation of the work and health interview.

PubMed

Stewart, Walter F; Ricci, Judith A; Leotta, Carol; Chee, Elsbeth

2004-01-01

Instruments that measure the impact of illness on work do not usually provide a measure that can be directly translated into lost hours or costs. We describe the validation of the Work and Health Interview (WHI), a questionnaire that provides a measure of lost productive time (LPT) from work absence and reduced performance at work. A sample (n = 67) of inbound phone call agents was recruited for the study. Validity of the WHI was assessed over a 2-week period in reference to workplace data (i.e. absence time, time away from call station and electronic continuous performance) and repeated electronic diary data (n = 48) obtained approximately eight times a day to estimate time not working (i.e. a component of reduced performance). The mean (median) missed work time estimate for any reason was 11 (8.0) and 12.9 (8.0) hours in a 2-week period from the WHI and workplace data, respectively, with a Pearson's (Spearman's) correlation of 0.84 (0.76). The diary-based mean (median) estimate of time not working while at work was 3.9 (2.8) hours compared with the WHI estimate of 5.7 (3.2) hours with a Pearson's (Spearman's) correlation of 0.19 (0.33). The 2-week estimate of total productive time from the diary was 67.2 hours compared with 67.8 hours from the WHI, with a Pearson's (Spearman's) correlation of 0.50 (0.46). At a population level, the WHI provides an accurate estimate of missed time from work and total productive time when compared with workplace and diary estimates. At an individual level, the WHI measure of total missed time, but not reduced performance time, is moderately accurate.

Chronic physical illness, psychiatric disorder and disability in the workplace.

PubMed

Dewa, C S; Lin, E

2000-07-01

While agreement is growing that mental illness burdens the North American economy, how it impacts productivity--particularly compared to physical illness--is unclear. Hypothesizing that lost work days are only the tip of the iceberg, we also examined the association of mental and chronic physical illness with partial work days and days requiring extra effort to function. Data from 4225 employed individuals, aged 18-54, were analyzed. These were a subset of respondents to the Ontario Health Survey's Mental Health Supplement, a 1990/91 epidemiologic survey of households across Ontario, Canada. Psychiatric disorder was assessed using the University of Michigan' modification of WHO's Composite International Diagnostic Interview (UM-CIDI). Similar to US reports, professional/managerial groups had lower rates of affective and anxiety disorders and fewer disability days compared to the rest of the workforce. However, no single occupational group was consistently at greater risk for either physical or psychiatric problems. Even after accounting for sociodemographic characteristics and work conditions, mental and physical status had clear, but different, impacts on productivity. Physical conditions alone had a fairly constant effect across all types of disability days and were the largest contributor to total work day loss. They also significantly impacted partial and extra effort days but were far less important than conditions involving a mental disorder. Respondents with mental health problems, either alone or in combination with physical illnesses, appeared more likely to go to work but to require greater effort to function. WHO projects that mental illness will become the second most important cause of global disease burden in the next century. Our findings suggest that among working individuals, it affects productivity more subtly than does physical illness. However, with an estimated eight percent of Ontario's workforce experiencing more than two months annually of decreased productivity, it still incurs significant social and economic costs.

Productivity costs decrease after endoscopic sinus surgery for refractory chronic rhinosinusitis.

PubMed

Rudmik, Luke; Smith, Timothy L; Mace, Jess C; Schlosser, Rodney J; Hwang, Peter H; Soler, Zachary M

2016-03-01

The primary objective of this pilot study was to define the change in productivity costs following endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Secondary objectives were to identify CRS-related characteristics that may influence the degree of productivity improvement after ESS. Prospective, multi-institutional, observational cohort study. The human capital approach was used to define productivity costs. Annual absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost leisure time were quantified to define annual lost productive time (LPT). LPT was monetized using the annual daily wage rates obtained from the 2012 US Census and the 2013 US Department of Labor statistics. Twenty-seven patients with refractory CRS who underwent ESS were followed for a mean of 15 months (range, 8-25 months). Following ESS, there were improvements in annual absenteeism (22 days reduced to 3 days), annual presenteeism (41 days reduced to 19 days), and annual household days lost (12 days reduced to 6 days). Overall, the preoperative productivity costs were reduced after ESS ($9,190 vs. $3,373, respectively; P < .001). Daily productivity is negatively impacted by the presence of CRS. The outcomes from this study provide the first insights into the reduced productivity costs associated with receiving ESS for refractory CRS. Future studies with larger sample sizes will need to validate the results from this pilot study. 2c Laryngoscope, 126:570-574, 2016. © 2015 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Productivity Costs Decrease After Endoscopic Sinus Surgery for Refractory Chronic Rhinosinusitis

PubMed Central

Rudmik, Luke; Smith, Timothy L.; Mace, Jess C.; Schlosser, Rodney J.; Hwang, Peter H.; Soler, Zachary M.

2015-01-01

Objective The primary objective of this pilot study was to define the change in productivity costs following endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Secondary objectives were to identify CRS-related characteristics that may influence the degree of productivity improvement after ESS. Study Design Prospective, multi-institutional, observational cohort study. Methods The human capital approach was used to define productivity costs. Annual absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost leisure time was quantified to define annual lost productive time (LPT). LPT was monetized using the annual daily wage rates obtained from the 2012 US National Census and the 2013 US Department of Labor statistics. Results 27 patients with refractory CRS who underwent ESS were followed for a mean of 15 [SD 4.0] months (range: 8 – 25 months). Following ESS, there were improvements in annual absenteeism (22 days reduced to 3 days), annual presenteeism (41 days reduced to 19 days), and annual household days lost (12 days reduced to 6 days). Overall, the preoperative productivity costs were reduced after ESS, $9,097 vs. $3,301, respectively (p<0.001). Conclusion Daily productivity is negatively impacted by the presence of CRS. The outcomes from this study provide the first insights into the reduced productivity costs associated with receiving ESS for refractory CRS. Future studies with larger sample sizes will need to validate the results from this pilot study. PMID:26371457

Simulating the impact of changing trends in smoking and obesity on productivity of an industrial population: an observational study

PubMed Central

Bhojani, Faiyaz A; Tsai, Shan P; Wendt, Judy K; Koller, Kim L

2014-01-01

Objective To estimate the impact of trends in smoking and obesity prevalence on productivity loss among petrochemical employees from 1980 to 2009. Methods Smoking and obesity informations were collected during company physical examinations. Productivity loss was calculated as differential workdays lost between smokers and non-smokers, and obese and normal-weight employees. Results During 1980–2009, smoking prevalence decreased from 32% to 17%, while obesity prevalence increased from 14% to 42%. In 1982, lost productivity from obesity was an estimated 43 days/100 employees, and for smoking, 65 days/100 employees, but by 1987, workdays lost due to obesity exceeded that attributable to smoking. In 2007, workdays lost from obesity were 3.7 times higher than for smoking. Conclusions Owing to the increasing trend in obesity, the productivity impact on employers from obesity will continue to rise without effective measures supporting employee efforts to achieve healthy weight through sustainable lifestyle changes. PMID:24747795

Methylprednisolone does not inhibit the release of growth hormone after intravenous injection of a novel growth hormone secretagogue in rats.

PubMed

Malmlöf, K; Johansen, P B; Haahr, P M; Wilken, M; Oxlund, H

1999-12-01

The present study was undertaken to study the growth hormone-releasing properties and growth-promoting effect of a GH secretagogue ipamorelin (IPA) in rats given the synthetic glucocorticoid methylprednisolone (MP). In a first experiment, rats received either saline or MP (5.0 mg/kg) for 8 days. Treatment with MP significantly (P< 0.001) decreased body weight gain, but the acute response to either IPA or growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) in terms of plasma GH was not changed. In a second experiment, venous catheters were surgically implanted. On the next day, rats were randomly allocated to receive saline alone, MP alone (5.0 mg/kg) or MP plus IPA in doses of 0.4 or 1.6 mg/kg/day for 10 days. IPA was administered intravenously four times a day.MP treatment significantly (P< 0.05) retarded recovery from surgery in terms of body weight. Thus, saline treated animals lost 4.0 +/- 3.5 g over the entire experimental period, whereas animals receiving MP lost 13. 6 +/- 2.9 g. When IPA was given together with MP, losses in body weight were significantly (P< 0.05) reduced to 2.3 +/- 2.0 and 1.6 +/- 2.0 g in animals given the high and low dose of IPA, respectively. In parallel with this IGF-I levels increased. In conclusion, this work shows that MP does not disrupt the response of the GH-IGF-I axis to an exogenous stimulus like IPA, and repeated stimulation leads to increases in IGF-I and of body weight gain. Copyright 1999 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

A systematic review of lost-time injuries in the global mining industry.

PubMed

Nowrouzi-Kia, Behdin; Gohar, Basem; Casole, Jennifer; Chidu, Carla; Dumond, Jennifer; McDougall, Alicia; Nowrouzi-Kia, Behnam

2018-05-01

Mining is a hazardous occupation with elevated rates of lost-time injury and disability. The purpose of this study is twofold: 1) To identify the type of lost-time injuries in the mining workforce, regardless of the kind of mining and 2) To examine the antecedent factors to the occupational injury (lost-time injuries). We identified and extracted primary papers related to lost-time injuries in the mining sector by conducting a systematic search of the electronic literature in the eight health and related databases. We critically reviewed nine articles in the mining sector that examined lost-time injuries. Musculoskeletal injuries (hand, back, limbs, fractures, lacerations and muscle contusions), slips and falls were identified as types of lost-time injuries. The review identified the following antecedent factors related to lost-time injuries: the mining work environment (underground mining), being male, age, working with mining equipment, organizational size, falling objects, disease status, job training and lack of occupational safety management teams, recovery time, social supports, access to health services, pre-injury health status and susceptibility to injury. The mining sector is a hazardous environment that increases workers' susceptibility to occupational injuries. There is a need to create and implement monitoring systems of lost-time injuries to implement prevention programs.

Road deicing salt irreversibly disrupts osmoregulation of salamander egg clutches.

PubMed

Karraker, Nancy E; Gibbs, James P

2011-03-01

It has been postulated that road deicing salts are sufficiently diluted by spring rains to ameliorate any physiological impacts to amphibians breeding in wetlands near roads. We tested this conjecture by exposing clutches of the spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) to three chloride concentrations (1 mg/L, 145 mg/L, 945 mg/L) for nine days, then transferred clutches to control water for nine days, and measured change in mass at three-day intervals. We measured mass change because water uptake by clutches reduces risks to embryos associated with freezing, predation, and disease. Clutches in controls sequestered water asymptotically. Those in the moderate concentrations lost 18% mass initially and regained 14% after transfer to control water. Clutches in high concentration lost 33% mass and then lost an additional 8% after transfer. Our results suggest that spring rains do not ameliorate the effects of deicing salts in wetlands with extremely high chloride concentrations. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

21 CFR 1301.76 - Other security controls for practitioners.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... writing, of the theft or significant loss of any controlled substances within one business day of... controlled substances lost in relation to the type of business; (2) The specific controlled substances lost..., (5) Whether the specific controlled substances are likely candidates for diversion; (6) Local trends...

21 CFR 1301.76 - Other security controls for practitioners.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... writing, of the theft or significant loss of any controlled substances within one business day of... controlled substances lost in relation to the type of business; (2) The specific controlled substances lost..., (5) Whether the specific controlled substances are likely candidates for diversion; (6) Local trends...

Migraine Nurses in Primary Care: Costs and Benefits.

PubMed

van den Berg, Jan S P; Steiner, Timothy J; Veenstra, Petra J L; Kollen, Boudewijn J

2017-09-01

We examined the costs and benefits of introducing migraine nurses into primary care. Migraine is one of the most costly neurological diseases. We analyzed data from our earlier nonrandomized cohort study comparing an intervention group of 141 patients, whose care was supported by nurses trained in migraine management, and a control group of 94 patients receiving usual care. Estimates of per-person direct costs were based on nurses' salaries and referrals to neurologists. Indirect costs were estimated as lost productivity, including numbers of days of absenteeism or with <50% productivity at work due to migraine, and notional costs related to lost days of household activities or days of <50% household productivity. Analysis was conducted from the payer's perspective. After 9 months the direct costs were €281.11 in the control group against €332.23 in the intervention group (mean difference -51.12; 95% CI: -113.20-15.56; P = .134); the indirect costs were €1985.51 in the control group against €1631.75 in the intervention group (mean difference 353.75; 95% CI: -355.53-1029.82; P = .334); and total costs were €2266.62 in the control group, against €1963.99 in the intervention group (mean difference 302.64; 95% CI: -433.46-1001.27; P = .438). When costs attributable to lost household productivity were included, total costs increased to €6076.62 in the control group and €5048.15 in the intervention group (mean difference 1028.47; 95% CI: -590.26-2603.67; P = .219). Migraine nurses in primary care seemed in this study to increase practice costs but decrease total societal costs. However, it was a nonrandomized study, and the differences did not reach significance. For policy-makers concerned with headache-service organization and delivery, the important messages are that we found no evidence that nurses increased overall costs, and investment in a definitive study would therefore be worthwhile. © 2017 American Headache Society.

Sensitivity analysis and economic optimization studies of inverted five-spot gas cycling in gas condensate reservoir

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shams, Bilal; Yao, Jun; Zhang, Kai; Zhang, Lei

2017-08-01

Gas condensate reservoirs usually exhibit complex flow behaviors because of propagation response of pressure drop from the wellbore into the reservoir. When reservoir pressure drops below the dew point in two phase flow of gas and condensate, the accumulation of large condensate amount occurs in the gas condensate reservoirs. Usually, the saturation of condensate accumulation in volumetric gas condensate reservoirs is lower than the critical condensate saturation that causes trapping of large amount of condensate in reservoir pores. Trapped condensate often is lost due to condensate accumulation-condensate blockage courtesy of high molecular weight, heavy condensate residue. Recovering lost condensate most economically and optimally has always been a challenging goal. Thus, gas cycling is applied to alleviate such a drastic loss in resources. In gas injection, the flooding pattern, injection timing and injection duration are key parameters to study an efficient EOR scenario in order to recover lost condensate. This work contains sensitivity analysis on different parameters to generate an accurate investigation about the effects on performance of different injection scenarios in homogeneous gas condensate system. In this paper, starting time of gas cycling and injection period are the parameters used to influence condensate recovery of a five-spot well pattern which has an injection pressure constraint of 3000 psi and production wells are constraint at 500 psi min. BHP. Starting injection times of 1 month, 4 months and 9 months after natural depletion areapplied in the first study. The second study is conducted by varying injection duration. Three durations are selected: 100 days, 400 days and 900 days. In miscible gas injection, miscibility and vaporization of condensate by injected gas is more efficient mechanism for condensate recovery. From this study, it is proven that the application of gas cycling on five-spot well pattern greatly enhances condensate recovery preventing financial, economic and resource loss that previously occurred.

Macroscopic anomalies before the September 2010 M = 7.1 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitehead, N. E.; Ulusoy, Ü.

2013-01-01

Previous published work after the Kobe and İzmit earthquakes (1995 and 1999, respectively) demonstrated some reported meteorological and animal behaviour precursors were valid. Predictions were freshly tested for the Christchurch earthquake (M = 7.1, 4 September 2010). An internet survey with nearly 400 valid replies showed relative numbers of reports in precursor categories the day before the quake, were statistically significantly different from those in the preceding three days (excess meteorological events and animal behaviour). The day before the quake, there was also altered relative precursor class occurrence within 56 km compared with further away. Both these confirmed the earlier published work. Owners were woken up by unique pet behaviour 12 times as often in the hour before the quake compared with other hours immediately before (statistically highly significant). Lost and Found pet reports were double normal the week before, and 4.5 times normal both the day before the quake, and 9 days before. (Results were again statistically significant). Unique animal behaviour before the quake was often repeated before the numerous aftershocks. These pet owners claimed an approximate 80% prediction reliability. However, a preliminary telephone survey suggested that animals showing any precursor response are a minority. Some precursors seem real, but usefulness seemed mostly restricted to 7 cases where owners were in, or near, a place of safety through disruptive pet behaviour, and one in which owners were diverted by a pet from being struck by falling fixtures. For a later 22 February 2011 M = 6.3 quake no reports of escape through warning by pets were recorded, which raises serious questions whether such prediction is practically useful, because lives claimed saved are extremely low compared with fatalities. It is shown the lost-pet statistics dates, correspond to ionospheric anomalies recorded using the GPS satellite system and geomagnetic disturbance data, and claimed as precursory. The latter more objective measurements may be the way of the future, but improved statistical treatment should include observations over longer periods of time without earthquakes.

Effect of Continued Medical Therapy on Productivity Costs for Refractory Chronic Rhinosinusitis.

PubMed

Rudmik, Luke; Soler, Zachary M; Smith, Timothy L; Mace, Jess C; Schlosser, Rodney J; DeConde, Adam S

2015-11-01

It is estimated that lost productivity related to chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) costs society in excess of $13 billion per year in the United States. Given this tremendous cost to society, it is important to evaluate the effect of current interventions on improving this productivity loss. To define the change in productivity costs in patients with refractory CRS who select continued medical therapy. Observational cohort study. Thirty-eight patients with a guideline-based diagnosis of CRS whose initial appropriate medical therapy failed were enrolled from 4 tertiary-level rhinology clinics. The study was conducted from December 6, 2010, to April 23, 2013, and data analysis was performed from December 6, 2010, to June 1, 2015. Continued medical therapy for CRS. The human capital approach was applied to quantify productivity costs. Absenteeism, presenteeism, and lost leisure time were quantified to define annual lost productive time, which was measured at enrollment (baseline) and at a minimum of 6 months after treatment. Lost productive time was monetized using the annual daily wage rates obtained from the 2012 US National Census and the 2013 US Department of Labor statistics. Thirty-eight patients with refractory CRS who selected continued medical therapy had a mean (SD) baseline annual productivity cost of $3464 ($4900) per patient. After continued medical therapy for a mean of 12.8 (4.8) months, productivity costs were $2730 ($3720) (before vs after continued medical therapy productivity cost, P = .74). Mean annual absenteeism was reduced from 5 (12) days to 2 (8) days (P = .02). Mean annual presenteeism (17 [27] days reduced to 15 [23] days; P = .93) and mean annual household days lost (7 [7] days reduced to 6 [6] days; P = .51) were maintained at baseline levels. There were no significant differences in productivity outcomes based on endoscopy, the 22-item Sinonasal Outcome Test score, age, or polyp status (all P ≥ .11). Patients with refractory CRS often make treatment decisions based on the degree of quality-of-life and productivity impairment. Outcomes from this study suggest that productivity in patients with refractory CRS who have minor reductions in baseline productivity can remain stable with continued medical therapy. Physicians can use this information to inform appropriate patients with CRS of their expected outcomes from continued medical therapy.

Discriminant validity, responsiveness and reliability of the arthritis-specific Work Productivity Survey assessing workplace and household productivity in patients with psoriatic arthritis

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Introduction The novel arthritis-specific Work Productivity Survey (WPS) was developed to estimate patient productivity limitations associated with arthritis within and outside the home, which is an unmet need in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The WPS has been validated in rheumatoid arthritis. This report assesses the discriminant validity, responsiveness and reliability of the WPS in adult-onset PsA. Methods Psychometric properties were assessed using data from the RAPID-PsA trial (NCT01087788) investigating certolizumab pegol (CZP) efficacy and safety in PsA. WPS was completed at baseline and every 4 weeks until Week 24. Validity was evaluated at baseline via known-groups defined using first and third quartiles of patients’ Disease Activity Score 28 based on C-reactive protein (DAS28(CRP)), Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI), Short Form-36 (SF-36) items and PsA Quality of Life (PsAQoL) scores. Responsiveness and reliability were assessed by comparing WPS mean changes at Week 12 in American College of Rheumatology 20% improvement criteria (ACR20) or HAQ-DI Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID) 0.3 responders versus non-responders, as well as using standardized response means (SRM). All comparisons were conducted on the observed cases in the Randomized Set, regardless of the randomization group, using a non-parametric bootstrap-t method. Results Compared with patients with a better health state, patients with a worse health state had on average 2 to 6 times more household work days lost, more days with reduced household productivity, more days missed of family/social/leisure activities, more days with outside help hired and a significantly higher interference of arthritis per month. Among employed patients, those with a worse health state had 2 to 4 times more workplace days lost, more days with patient workplace productivity reduced, and a significantly higher interference of arthritis on patient workplace productivity versus patients with a better health state. WPS was also responsive to clinical changes, with responders having significantly larger improvements at Week 12 in WPS scores versus non-responders. The effect sizes for changes in productivity in ACR20 or HAQ-DI MCID responders were moderate (0.5 < SRM < 0.8) or small. Conclusions These analyses demonstrate the validity, responsiveness and reliability of the WPS, as an instrument for the measurement of patient productivity within and outside the home in an adult-onset PsA population. PMID:24996416

Normal people working in normal organizations with normal equipment: system safety and cognition in a mid-air collision.

PubMed

de Carvalho, Paulo Victor Rodrigues; Gomes, José Orlando; Huber, Gilbert Jacob; Vidal, Mario Cesar

2009-05-01

A fundamental challenge in improving the safety of complex systems is to understand how accidents emerge in normal working situations, with equipment functioning normally in normally structured organizations. We present a field study of the en route mid-air collision between a commercial carrier and an executive jet, in the clear afternoon Amazon sky in which 154 people lost their lives, that illustrates one response to this challenge. Our focus was on how and why the several safety barriers of a well structured air traffic system melted down enabling the occurrence of this tragedy, without any catastrophic component failure, and in a situation where everything was functioning normally. We identify strong consistencies and feedbacks regarding factors of system day-to-day functioning that made monitoring and awareness difficult, and the cognitive strategies that operators have developed to deal with overall system behavior. These findings emphasize the active problem-solving behavior needed in air traffic control work, and highlight how the day-to-day functioning of the system can jeopardize such behavior. An immediate consequence is that safety managers and engineers should review their traditional safety approach and accident models based on equipment failure probability, linear combinations of failures, rules and procedures, and human errors, to deal with complex patterns of coincidence possibilities, unexpected links, resonance among system functions and activities, and system cognition.

Return-to-work for multiple jobholders with a work-related musculoskeletal disorder: A population-based, matched cohort in British Columbia.

PubMed

Maas, Esther T; Koehoorn, Mieke; McLeod, Christopher B

2018-01-01

Multiple jobholders (MJHs) have a higher risk of injury compared to single jobholders (SJHs), but it is unknown if return-to-work (RTW) after a work injury is affected by multiple jobholding. This study examined the association between multiple versus single jobholding and time to RTW for workers with a work-related musculoskeletal disorder (MSD). We used administrative workers' compensation data to identify injured workers with an accepted MSD lost-time claim between 2010-2014 in British Columbia, Canada (n = 125,639 SJHs and 9,029 MJHs). The outcome was days until RTW during twelve months after the first day of time-loss. The MJH and SJH cohorts were balanced using coarsened exact matching that yielded a final matched cohort of 8,389 MJHs and 8,389 SJHs. The outcome was estimated with Cox regression, using piecewise models, and the hazard ratios were stratified by type of MSD, a serious injury indicator, gender, weekly workdays preceding MSD, and wage categories. MJHs were less likely to RTW compared to SJHs within the first six months after the first time-loss day, with greater and longer lasting effects for males, workers with a serious injury, and a higher wage. No difference between MJHs and SJHs was found for workers who had a six- or seven-day work week preceding MSD, for workers with dislocations, and for workers who were still off work after six months. Overall, MJHs with a workweek of maximum five days are disadvantaged compared to SJHs in terms of RTW following a work-related MSD within the first six months after the first time-loss day. This difference might be caused by more precarious job contracts for MJHs that challenges RTW because of lack of support for modified work, higher workload, and reduced likelihood that MJHs file a workers' compensation claim. Despite adjusting for type of MSD, severity of injury and occupation, the differences persisted for the vast majority of the study sample.

Return-to-work for multiple jobholders with a work-related musculoskeletal disorder: A population-based, matched cohort in British Columbia

PubMed Central

Koehoorn, Mieke; McLeod, Christopher B.

2018-01-01

Introduction Multiple jobholders (MJHs) have a higher risk of injury compared to single jobholders (SJHs), but it is unknown if return-to-work (RTW) after a work injury is affected by multiple jobholding. This study examined the association between multiple versus single jobholding and time to RTW for workers with a work-related musculoskeletal disorder (MSD). Methods We used administrative workers’ compensation data to identify injured workers with an accepted MSD lost-time claim between 2010–2014 in British Columbia, Canada (n = 125,639 SJHs and 9,029 MJHs). The outcome was days until RTW during twelve months after the first day of time-loss. The MJH and SJH cohorts were balanced using coarsened exact matching that yielded a final matched cohort of 8,389 MJHs and 8,389 SJHs. The outcome was estimated with Cox regression, using piecewise models, and the hazard ratios were stratified by type of MSD, a serious injury indicator, gender, weekly workdays preceding MSD, and wage categories. Results MJHs were less likely to RTW compared to SJHs within the first six months after the first time-loss day, with greater and longer lasting effects for males, workers with a serious injury, and a higher wage. No difference between MJHs and SJHs was found for workers who had a six- or seven-day work week preceding MSD, for workers with dislocations, and for workers who were still off work after six months. Conclusions Overall, MJHs with a workweek of maximum five days are disadvantaged compared to SJHs in terms of RTW following a work-related MSD within the first six months after the first time-loss day. This difference might be caused by more precarious job contracts for MJHs that challenges RTW because of lack of support for modified work, higher workload, and reduced likelihood that MJHs file a workers’ compensation claim. Despite adjusting for type of MSD, severity of injury and occupation, the differences persisted for the vast majority of the study sample. PMID:29614128

78 FR 20223 - Cesar Chavez Day, 2013

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-04

... Chavez Day, 2013 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Every year, Americans... have given up or given in, Cesar Chavez never lost hope in the power of opportunity. He lived each day... Chavez Day. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate service, community, and...

Big Bang Day : Afternoon Play - Torchwood: Lost Souls

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2009-10-13

Martha Jones, ex-time traveller and now working as a doctor for a UN task force, has been called to CERN where they're about to activate the Large Hadron Collider. Once activated, the Collider will fire beams of protons together recreating conditions a billionth of a second after the Big Bang - and potentially allowing the human race a greater insight into what the Universe is made of. But so much could go wrong - it could open a gateway to a parallel dimension, or create a black hole - and now voices from the past are calling out to peoplemore » and scientists have started to disappear... Where have the missing scientists gone? What is the secret of the glowing man? What is lurking in the underground tunnel? And do the dead ever really stay dead? Lost Souls is a spin-off from the award-winning BBC Wales TV production Torchwood. It stars John Barrowman, Freema Agyeman, Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd, Lucy Montgomery (of Titty Bang Bang) and Stephen Critchlow.« less

Big Bang Day : Afternoon Play - Torchwood: Lost Souls

ScienceCinema

None

2017-12-09

Martha Jones, ex-time traveller and now working as a doctor for a UN task force, has been called to CERN where they're about to activate the Large Hadron Collider. Once activated, the Collider will fire beams of protons together recreating conditions a billionth of a second after the Big Bang - and potentially allowing the human race a greater insight into what the Universe is made of. But so much could go wrong - it could open a gateway to a parallel dimension, or create a black hole - and now voices from the past are calling out to people and scientists have started to disappear... Where have the missing scientists gone? What is the secret of the glowing man? What is lurking in the underground tunnel? And do the dead ever really stay dead? Lost Souls is a spin-off from the award-winning BBC Wales TV production Torchwood. It stars John Barrowman, Freema Agyeman, Eve Myles, Gareth David-Lloyd, Lucy Montgomery (of Titty Bang Bang) and Stephen Critchlow.

Memorising Milton's Paradise lost: a study of a septuagenarian exceptional memoriser.

PubMed

Seamon, John G; Punjabi, Paawan V; Busch, Emily A

2010-07-01

At age 58, JB began memorising Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost. Nine years and thousands of study hours later, he completed this process in 2001 and recalled from memory all 12 books of this 10,565-line poem over a 3-day period. Now 74, JB continues to recite this work. We tested his memory accuracy by cueing his recall with two lines from the beginning or middle of each book and asking JB to recall the next 10 lines. JB is an exceptional memoriser of Milton, both in our laboratory tests in which he did not know the specific tests or procedures in advance, and in our analysis of a videotaped, prepared performance. Consistent with deliberate practice theory, JB achieved this remarkable ability by deeply analysing the poem's structure and meaning over lengthy repetitions. Our findings suggest that exceptional memorisers such as JB are made, not born, and that cognitive expertise can be demonstrated even in later adulthood.

Comorbid anxious signs and symptoms in major depression: impact on functional work capacity and comparative treatment outcomes.

PubMed

Tollefson, G D; Souetre, E; Thomander, L; Potvin, J H

1993-01-01

Psychological distress is a driver both of direct and indirect health care costs. Depression compromises functional well-being, such as work productivity. Comorbid anxious features often complicate the recognition of depression and may herald a poor prognosis. We report the results of a cross-sectional naturalistic study to determine the impact of three interventions (no antidepressant, fluoxetine, or tricyclic antidepressant therapy) on relative risk of work days lost in 454 French outpatients with either major or minor depression. Most depressed patients also manifested anxious features (76% with a Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety score > or = 12). The presence of anxiety was related to the severity of depression, work absenteeism, and current social instability. Depression severity (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score > or = 26, including the contributions of anxious symptoms), psychiatric comorbidity, and psychomotor retardation best predicted continued work absenteeism. Patients with major depression were more likely to receive an antidepressant if they had a past history of depressive episodes and/or previous work disability. Patients with minor depression were less likely to receive drug therapy than patients with major depression, despite their current work disability. Among patients who received fluoxetine or a tricyclic antidepressant for at least 8 weeks, fluoxetine was associated with statistically significantly lower mean anxiety and depression scores and fewer work days missed.

17 CFR 240.17f-1 - Requirements for reporting and inquiry with respect to missing, lost, counterfeit or stolen...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... securities exchange who effects securities transactions through the trading facilities of the exchange and... can obtain a negotiable securities certificate; or (3) A reporting institution whose business... the securities certificate has been missing or lost for a period of two business days. Such report...

77 FR 67026 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested: Report of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-08

... Lost ATF Form 5400.30, Intrastate Purchase of Explosives Coupon ACTION: 60-day notice. The Department... the following four points: --Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for... or Lost ATF F 5400.30, Intrastate Purchase Explosives Coupon. (3) Agency form number, if any, and the...

Skylab

NASA Image and Video Library

1973-05-01

Engineers from the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and its contractors were testing the twin-pole sunshade at the Skylab mockup in the MSFC Building 4619. The Skylab Orbital Workshop (OWS) lost its thermal protection shield during launch on May 14, 1963. Without the heat shield, the temperature inside the OWS became dangerously high, rendering the workshop uninhabitable and threatened deterioration of the interior insulation and adhesive. Engineers from the MSFC, its contractors, and NASA persornel at other centers worked day and night for several days to develop the way to save the Skylab OWS. Eventually, they developed, tested, rehearsed, and approved three repair options. These options included a parasol sunshade and a twin-pole sunshade to restore the temperature inside the workshop, and a set of metal cutting tools to free the jammed solar panel.

A/R systems reduce delayed and denied reimbursements.

PubMed

Escobar, Carlos

2007-01-01

The day-to-day benefits of a comprehensive billing and collections system are pro-active and preventive--administrators are increasingly learning that accelerating billings hastens collections and, ultimately, facility profitability. Effective billing and collections management services work closely with the facility, matching nightly "dumps" of patient files with transcripts. This marriage of otherwise disparate data creates a billing unit that reduces errors and ensures no billable procedures are lost. Ultimately, the goal of any medical practice that engages an ASP application or outsource solution is not to sit idly by while allowing a billing company to take control of a practice's revenue stream. The ability to track the billing process from transcript submission to payment provides a facility with all information necessary to manage cash flow, revenues, and even personal and practice financial planning.

Where chloroquine still works: the genetic make-up and susceptibility of Plasmodium vivax to chloroquine plus primaquine in Bhutan.

PubMed

Wangchuk, Sonam; Drukpa, Tobgyel; Penjor, Kinley; Peldon, Tashi; Dorjey, Yeshey; Dorji, Kunzang; Chhetri, Vishal; Trimarsanto, Hidayat; To, Sheren; Murphy, Amanda; von Seidlein, Lorenz; Price, Ric N; Thriemer, Kamala; Auburn, Sarah

2016-05-12

Bhutan has made substantial progress in reducing malaria incidence. The national guidelines recommend chloroquine (CQ) and primaquine (PQ) for radical cure of uncomplicated Plasmodium vivax, but the local efficacy has not been assessed. The impact of cases imported from India on the genetic make-up of the local vivax populations is currently unknown. Patients over 4 years of age with uncomplicated P. vivax mono-infection were enrolled into a clinical efficacy study and molecular survey. Study participants received a standard dose of CQ (25 mg/kg over 3 days) followed by weekly review until day 28. On day 28 a 14-day regimen of PQ (0.25 mg/kg/day) was commenced under direct observation. After day 42, patients were followed up monthly for a year. The primary and secondary endpoints were risk of treatment failure at day 28 and at 1 year. Parasite genotyping was undertaken at nine tandem repeat markers, and standard population genetic metrics were applied to examine population diversity and structure in infections thought to be acquired inside or outside of Bhutan. A total of 24 patients were enrolled in the clinical study between April 2013 and October 2015. Eight patients (33.3 %) were lost to follow-up in the first 6 months and another eight patients lost between 6 and 12 months. No (0/24) treatment failures occurred by day 28 and no (0/8) parasitaemia was detected following PQ treatment. Some 95.8 % (23/24) of patients were aparasitaemic by day 2. There were no haemolytic or serious events. Genotyping was undertaken on parasites from 12 autochthonous cases and 16 suspected imported cases. Diversity was high (H E 0.87 and 0.90) in both populations. There was no notable differentiation between the autochthonous and imported populations. CQ and PQ remains effective for radical cure of P. vivax in Bhutan. The genetic analyses indicate that imported infections are sustaining the local vivax population, with concomitant risk of introducing drug-resistant strains.

The University Lost: The Meaning of the University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McFarlane, Donovan A.

2014-01-01

This essay examines the current state of the University in terms of lost meaning and value, especially from the perspective of scholarship. The author specifically points to three works of literature and writers on the subject, and how these works have significantly contributed to our understanding of what is taking place within the modern…

Improvements in productivity at paid work and within the household, and increased participation in daily activities after 24 weeks of certolizumab pegol treatment of patients with psoriatic arthritis: results of a phase 3 double-blind randomised placebo-controlled study

PubMed Central

Kavanaugh, A; Gladman, D; van der Heijde, D; Purcaru, O; Mease, P

2015-01-01

Objectives To evaluate the effect of certolizumab pegol (CZP) on productivity outside and within the home, and on participation in family, social and leisure activities in adult patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Methods RAPID-PsA (NCT01087788) is a phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. 409 patients with active PsA were randomised 1:1:1 to placebo, CZP 200 mg every 2 weeks (Q2W) or CZP 400 mg every 4 weeks (Q4W). The arthritis-specific Work Productivity Survey (WPS) assessed the impact of PsA on paid work and household productivity, and participation in social activities during the preceding month. WPS responses were compared between treatment arms using a non-parametric bootstrap-t method. Results At baseline, 56.6%, 60.1% and 61.5% of placebo, CZP 200 mg Q2W and CZP 400 mg Q4W patients were employed. By week 24, employed CZP patients reported an average of 1.0–1.8 and 3.0–3.9 fewer days of absenteeism and presenteeism, respectively, per month compared with 1.0 and 0.3 fewer days for placebo patients (p<0.05). Within the home, by week 24, CZP patients reported an average of 3.0–3.5 household work days gained per month versus 1.0 day for placebo (p<0.05). CZP patients also reported fewer days with reduced household productivity or days lost for participation in family, social and leisure activities. Improvements with CZP were seen as early as week 4 and continued to week 24. Conclusions CZP treatment significantly improved productivity at paid work and within the home, and resulted in greater participation in social activities for PsA patients. Trial registration number NCT01087788. PMID:24942382

Improvements in workplace and household productivity with certolizumab pegol treatment in axial spondyloarthritis: results to week 96 of a phase III study

PubMed Central

Braun, Jürgen; Rudwaleit, Martin; Purcaru, Oana; Kavanaugh, Arthur F

2018-01-01

Objectives To evaluate the effect of certolizumab pegol (CZP) on work and household productivity, and on participation in family, social and leisure activities in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), including ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic (nr-) axSpA. Methods RAPID-axSpA (NCT01087762) was a phase III, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to week (Wk) 24, dose-blind to Wk48 and open-label to Wk204. A total of 325 patients were randomised 1:1:1 to placebo, CZP 200 mg Q2W or CZP 400 mg Q4W. The validated arthritis-specific Work Productivity Survey assessed the impact of axSpA on work and household productivity and participation in social activities during the preceding month. Data are shown to Wk96, with responses compared between treatment arms (placebo vs CZP 200 mg and 400 mg dose groups combined) and subpopulations using a non-parametric bootstrap-t method. Results At baseline, 63.2% of placebo and 72.0% of CZP patients were employed. By Wk24, CZP patients reported on average 1.0 fewer days of absenteeism and 2.6 fewer days of presenteeism per month, compared with 0.4 and 0.9 fewer days for placebo. At home, by Wk24, CZP patients reported on average 3.0 household work days gained per month versus 1.3 for placebo. CZP patients reported fewer days with reduced household productivity or days lost for social participation. Similar improvements were observed in AS and nr-axSpA subpopulations and improvements with CZP were maintained to Wk96. Conclusions Compared with placebo, treatment with CZP significantly improved work and household productivity and resulted in greater social participation for patients with axSpA, which could lead to considerable indirect cost gains. Trial registration number NCT01087762. PMID:29670761

Reducing Cancelations on the Day of Scheduled Surgery at a Children's Hospital.

PubMed

Pratap, Jayant Nick; Varughese, Anna M; Mercurio, Patti; Lynch, Terri; Lonnemann, Teresa; Ellis, Andrea; Rugg, John; Stone, W Ray; Bedinghaus, Cindi

2015-05-01

Cancelation on the day of surgery (DoSC) represents a costly wastage of operating room (OR) time and causes inconvenience, emotional distress, and financial cost to families. A quality improvement project sought to reduce lost OR time due to cancelation. Key drivers of the process included effective 2-way communication with families, compliance with fasting rules, and decision-making on patient illness before the day of surgery. A multidisciplinary team conducted serial tests of change addressing the various key drivers. Interventions were simplified, colorful, personalized preoperative instruction sheets and text-message reminders to caregivers' cellphones, as well as a defined institutional decision-making pathway to permit rescheduling before the day of surgery in case of patient illness concerns. After initial smaller-scale testing, the interventions were implemented across all patients and sites. Data were collected from the hospital information technology system and analyzed by using control charts and statistical process control methods. Mean OR time lost due to DoSC was decreased from a baseline of 5.7 to 3.6 hours/day in testing with a subset of surgical services at the hospital's base campus, and then from 6.6 hours to 5.5 hours/day when implemented across all services at both surgical sites. By applying quality improvement methods, significant reductions were made in time lost due to DoSC. The impact can be significant by improving institutional resource utilization. Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

75 FR 80565 - 60-Day Notice of Proposed Renewal of Information Collection: Form DS-0064, Statement Regarding a...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-22

... Collection: Form DS-0064, Statement Regarding a Lost or Stolen Passport, 1405-0014. ACTION: Notice of request... Regarding a Lost or Stolen Passport. OMB Control Number: 1405-0014. Type of Request: Extension of a... methods: E-mail: [email protected] . Mail (paper, disk, or CD-ROM submissions): Passport Forms...

78 FR 2441 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested; Report of Lost...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-11

... Stolen ATF F 5400.30, Intrastate Purchase of Explosives Coupon ACTION: 30-Day notice. The Department of... encouraged. Your comments should address one or more of the following four points: --Evaluate whether the... collection. (2) Title of the Form/Collection: Report of Stolen or Lost ATF F 5400.30, Intrastate Purchase of...

Lost Instruction: The Disparate Impact of the School Discipline Gap in California

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Losen, Daniel J.; Whitaker, Amir

2017-01-01

This report is the first to analyze California's school discipline data as measured by days of missed instruction due to suspension. The state reports the number of suspensions for each district, disaggregated by racial/ethnic groups, but it does not provide any information on how much instructional time was lost. The authors used information from…

Nonwage losses associated with occupational injury among health care workers.

PubMed

Guzman, Jaime; Ibrahimova, Aybaniz; Tompa, Emile; Koehoorn, Mieke; Alamgir, Hasanat

2013-08-01

To examine nonwage losses after occupational injury among health care workers and the factors associated with the magnitude of these losses. Inception cohort of workers filing an occupational injury claim in a Canadian province. Worker self-reports were used to calculate (1) the nonwage economic losses in 2010 Canadian dollars, and (2) the number of quality-adjusted days of life lost on the basis of the EuroQOL Index. Most workers (84%; n = 123) had musculoskeletal injuries (MSIs). Each MSI resulted in nonwage economic losses of Can$3131 (95% confidence interval, Can$3035 to Can$3226), lost wages of Can$5286, and 7.9 quality-adjusted days of life lost within 12 weeks after injury. Losses varied with type of injury, region of the province, and occupation. Non-MSIs were associated with smaller losses. These estimates of nonwage losses should be considered in workers' injury compensation policies and in economic evaluation studies.

Different approaches to valuing the lost productivity of patients with migraine.

PubMed

Lofland, J H; Locklear, J C; Frick, K D

2001-01-01

To calculate and compare the human capital approach (HCA) and friction cost approach (FCA) methods for estimating the cost of lost productivity of migraineurs after the initiation of sumatriptan from a US societal perspective. Secondary, retrospective analysis to a prospective observational study. A mixed-model managed care organisation in western Pennsylvania, USA. Patients with migraine using sumatriptan therapy. Patient-reported questionnaires collected at baseline, 3 and 6 months after initiation of sumatriptan therapy. The cost of lost productivity estimated with the HCA and FCA methods. Of the 178 patients who completed the study, 51% were full-time employees, 13% were part-time, 18% were not working and 17% changed work status. Twenty-four percent reported a clerical or administrative position. From the HCA, the estimated total cost of lost productivity for 6 months following the initiation of sumatriptan was $US117905 (1996 values). From the FCA, the six-month estimated total cost of lost productivity ranged from $US28329 to $US117905 (1996 values). This was the first study to retrospectively estimate lost productivity of patients with migraine using the FCA methodology. Our results demonstrate that depending on the assumptions and illustrations employed, the FCA can yield lost productivity estimates that vary greatly as a percentage of the HCA estimate. Prospective investigations are needed to better determine the components and the nature of the lost productivity for chronic episodic diseases such as migraine headache.

Direct, indirect, and intangible costs after severe trauma up to occupational reintegration - an empirical analysis of 113 seriously injured patients.

PubMed

Anders, Benjamin; Ommen, Oliver; Pfaff, Holger; Lüngen, Markus; Lefering, Rolf; Thüm, Sonja; Janssen, Christian

2013-01-01

Although seriously injured patients account for a high medical as well as socioeconomic burden of disease in the German health care system, there are only very few data describing the costs that arise between the days of accident and occupational reintegration. With this study, a comprehensive cost model is developed that describes the direct, indirect and intangible costs of an accident and their relationship with socioeconomic background of the patients. This study included 113 patients who each had at least two injuries and a total Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) greater than or equal to five. We calculated the direct, indirect and intangible costs that arose between the day of the accident and occupational reintegration. Direct costs were the treatment costs at hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Indirect costs were calculated using the human capital approach on the basis of the work days lost due to injury, including sickness allowance benefits. Intangible costs were assessed using the Short Form Survey (SF-36) and represented in non-monetary form. Following univariate analysis, a bivariate analysis of the above costs and the patients' sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics was performed. At an average Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 19.2, the average direct cost per patient were €35,661. An average of 185.2 work days were lost, resulting in indirect costs of €17,205. The resulting total costs per patient were €50,431. A bivariate analysis showed that the costs for hospital treatment were 58% higher in patients who graduated from lower secondary school [Hauptschule] (ISS 19.5) than in patients with qualification for university admission [Abitur] (ISS 19.4). The direct costs of treating trauma patients at the hospital appear to be lower in patients with a higher level of education than in the comparison group with a lower educational level. Because of missing data, the calculated indirect costs can merely represent a general trend, so that the bivariate analysis can only be seen as a starting point for further studies.

Direct, indirect, and intangible costs after severe trauma up to occupational reintegration – an empirical analysis of 113 seriously injured patients

PubMed Central

Anders, Benjamin; Ommen, Oliver; Pfaff, Holger; Lüngen, Markus; Lefering, Rolf; Thüm, Sonja; Janssen, Christian

2013-01-01

Aim: Although seriously injured patients account for a high medical as well as socioeconomic burden of disease in the German health care system, there are only very few data describing the costs that arise between the days of accident and occupational reintegration. With this study, a comprehensive cost model is developed that describes the direct, indirect and intangible costs of an accident and their relationship with socioeconomic background of the patients. Methods: This study included 113 patients who each had at least two injuries and a total Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) greater than or equal to five. We calculated the direct, indirect and intangible costs that arose between the day of the accident and occupational reintegration. Direct costs were the treatment costs at hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Indirect costs were calculated using the human capital approach on the basis of the work days lost due to injury, including sickness allowance benefits. Intangible costs were assessed using the Short Form Survey (SF-36) and represented in non-monetary form. Following univariate analysis, a bivariate analysis of the above costs and the patients’ sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics was performed. Results: At an average Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 19.2, the average direct cost per patient were €35,661. An average of 185.2 work days were lost, resulting in indirect costs of €17,205. The resulting total costs per patient were €50,431. A bivariate analysis showed that the costs for hospital treatment were 58% higher in patients who graduated from lower secondary school [Hauptschule] (ISS 19.5) than in patients with qualification for university admission [Abitur] (ISS 19.4). Conclusions: The direct costs of treating trauma patients at the hospital appear to be lower in patients with a higher level of education than in the comparison group with a lower educational level. Because of missing data, the calculated indirect costs can merely represent a general trend, so that the bivariate analysis can only be seen as a starting point for further studies. PMID:23798979

Functional outcome and cost-effectiveness of pulsed electromagnetic fields in the treatment of acute scaphoid fractures: a cost-utility analysis.

PubMed

Hannemann, Pascal F W; Essers, Brigitte A B; Schots, Judith P M; Dullaert, Koen; Poeze, Martijn; Brink, Peter R G

2015-04-11

Physical forces have been widely used to stimulate bone growth in fracture repair. Addition of bone growth stimulation to the conservative treatment regime is more costly than standard health care. However, it might lead to cost-savings due to a reduction of the total amount of working days lost. This economic evaluation was performed to assess the cost-effectiveness of Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields (PEMF) compared to standard health care in the treatment of acute scaphoid fractures. An economic evaluation was carried out from a societal perspective, alongside a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial involving five centres in The Netherlands. One hundred and two patients with a clinically and radiographically proven fracture of the scaphoid were included in the study and randomly allocated to either active bone growth stimulation or standard health care, using a placebo. All costs (medical costs and costs due to productivity loss) were measured during one year follow up. Functional outcome and general health related quality of life were assessed by the EuroQol-5D and PRWHE (patient rated wrist and hand evaluation) questionnaires. Utility scores were derived from the EuroQol-5D. The average total number of working days lost was lower in the active PEMF group (9.82 days) compared to the placebo group (12.91 days) (p = 0.651). Total medical costs of the intervention group (€1594) were significantly higher compared to the standard health care (€875). The total amount of mean QALY's (quality-adjusted life year) for the active PEMF group was 0.84 and 0.85 for the control group. The cost-effectiveness plane shows that the majority of all cost-effectiveness ratios fall into the quadrant where PEMF is not only less effective in terms of QALY's but also more costly. This study demonstrates that the desired effects in terms of cost-effectiveness are not met. When comparing the effects of PEMF to standard health care in terms of QALY's, PEMF cannot be considered a cost-effective treatment for acute fractures of the scaphoid bone. Netherlands Trial Register (NTR): NTR2064.

Impact of chronic lymphatic filariasis on quantity and quality of productive work among weavers in an endemic village from India.

PubMed

Babu, B V; Swain, B K; Rath, K

2006-05-01

To assess the impact of hydrocele and lymphoedema on the quantity and quality of productive work of weavers. Case-control study in an endemic village in Andhra Pradesh, India. We collected qualitative data on work activities from cases and age- and sex-matched controls through informal discussions and observation. The mean (+/-standard deviation) daily work time of cases was 7.38 h (+/-2.47), significantly less than that of controls (8.17+/-2.41 h). Lost work time was equivalent to around 29 days of work in a year. Gender had significant influence on the mean number of working hours in this occupational group. Most cases could not weave, which is physically demanding, and preferred less strenuous tasks such as spinning, starching, dyeing or sizing. Hard physical labour constitutes 71.5% of total work time among patients and 83.7% in controls. As income also depends on the type of work, cases earn less. Filariasis has an adverse impact on the productivity of weavers, and morbidity management strategies and control programmes need to take this into account.

Indirect costs related to caregivers' absence from work after paediatric tonsil surgery.

PubMed

Gudnadottir, Gunnhildur; Tennvall, G Ragnarson; Stalfors, J; Hellgren, J

2017-06-01

Tonsillotomy has gradually replaced tonsillectomy as the surgical method of choice in children with upper airway obstruction during sleep, because of less postoperative pain and a shorter recovery time. The aim of this study was to examine the costs related to caregivers' absenteeism from work after tonsillectomy (TE) and tonsillotomy (TT). All tonsillectomies and tonsillotomies in Sweden due to upper airway obstruction during 1 year, reported to the National Tonsil Surgery Register in children aged 1-11 were included, n = 4534. The number of days the child needed analgesics after surgery was used as a proxy to estimate the number of work days lost for the caregiver. Data from the Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) regarding the days the parents received temporary parental benefits in the month following surgery were also analysed. The indirect costs due to the caregivers' absenteeism after tonsillectomy vs tonsillotomy were calculated, using the human capital method. The patient-reported use of postoperative analgesic use was 77% (n = 3510). Data from the Social Insurance Agency were gathered for all 4534 children. The mean duration of analgesic treatment was 4.6 days (indirect cost of EUR 747). The mean number of days with parental benefits was 2.9 (EUR 667). The indirect cost of tonsillectomy was 61% higher than that of tonsillotomy (EUR 1010 vs EUR 629). The results show that the choice of surgical method affects the indirect costs, favouring the use of tonsillotomy over tonsillectomy for the treatment of children with SDB, due to less postoperative pain.

Success of a weight loss plan for overweight dogs: The results of an international weight loss study

PubMed Central

Flanagan, John; Bissot, Thomas; Hours, Marie-Anne; Moreno, Bernabe; Feugier, Alexandre

2017-01-01

Introduction Obesity is a global concern in dogs with an increasing prevalence, and effective weight loss solutions are required that work in different geographical regions. The main objective was to conduct an international, multi-centre, weight loss trial to determine the efficacy of a dietary weight loss intervention in obese pet dogs. Methods A 3-month prospective observational cohort study of weight loss in 926 overweight dogs was conducted at 340 veterinary practices in 27 countries. Commercially available dry or wet weight loss diets were used, with the initial energy allocation being 250–335 kJ/kg target body weight0.75/day (60–80 kcal/kg target body weight0.75/day) depending on sex and neuter status. The primary outcome measure was percentage weight loss; the main secondary outcomes were changes in activity, quality of life, and food-seeking behaviour, which were subjectively determined from owner descriptions. Results At baseline, median (range) age was 74 (12 to 193) months and median body condition score was 8 (range 7–9). 896 of the 926 dogs (97%) lost weight, with mean weight loss being 11.4 ±5.84%. Sexually intact dogs lost more weight than neutered dogs (P = 0.001), whilst female dogs lost more weight than male dogs (P = 0.007), with the difference being more pronounced in North and South American dogs (median [Q1, Q3]: female: 11.5% [8.5%, 14.5%]; male: 9.1% [6.3%, 12.1%], P = 0.053) compared with those from Europe (female: 12.3% [8.9%, 14.9%]; male: 10.9% [8.6%, 15.4%]). Finally, subjective scores for activity (P<0.001) and quality of life (P<0.001) increased sequentially, whilst scores for food-seeking behaviour decreased sequentially (P<0.001) during the study. Conclusion This is the largest international multi-centre weight loss study conducted to date in obese dogs. Most dogs lost a clinically significant amount of weight, although there were notable differences between dogs of different sex, neuter status and in different geographical locations. PMID:28886096

Can increasing adult vaccination rates reduce lost time and increase productivity?

PubMed

Rittle, Chad

2014-12-01

This article addresses limited vaccination coverage by providing an overview of the epidemiology of influenza, pertussis, and pneumonia, and the impact these diseases have on work attendance for the worker, the worker's family, and employer profit. Studies focused on the cost of vaccination programs, lost work time, lost employee productivity and acute disease treatment are discussed, as well as strategies for increasing vaccination coverage to reduce overall health care costs for employers. Communicating the benefits of universal vaccination for employees and their families and combating vaccine misinformation among employees are outlined. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

Effects of statewide health promotion in primary schools on children's sick days, visits to a physician and parental absence from work: a cluster-randomized trial.

PubMed

Kesztyüs, Dorothea; Lauer, Romy; Traub, Meike; Kesztyüs, Tibor; Steinacker, Jürgen Michael

2016-12-12

Based on the World Health Organization's global school health initiative we investigate intervention effects of statewide health promotion in schools on the numbers of children's sick days and visits to a physician, and parental days off work due to child illness. Cluster-randomized trial with 1-year follow-up in primary schools in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Anthropometric measurements of first and second grade school children were taken by trained staff. Parents filled in questionnaires for information about socio-demographics, health-related variables, numbers of children's sick days, visits to a physician, and days parents had to stay off work to care for a sick child. Longitudinal differences in the outcome variables were calculated between baseline and follow-up. Intraclass correlation coefficients were determined to quantify a possible clustering of data in schools. Accordingly, linear models and linear mixed models were applied to identify relationships and ascertain significances. Data from 1943 children (1 st grade n = 1024, 6.6 ± 0.4 years old; 2 nd grade n = 919, 7.6 ± 0.4 years old) were available at baseline. Unadjusted differences regarding both grades were found between mean longitudinal changes in intervention and control group in children's sick days (-3.2 ± 7.1 vs. -2.3 ± 5.6, p = 0.013), and maternal days off work (-0.9 ± 2.4 vs. -0.5 ± 2.8, p = 0.019). The intervention effect on sick days was adjusted in a linear regression for baseline values, gender and migration background and confirmed for first grade children (B = -0.83, p = 0.003). The intervention effect on maternal days off work lost its significance after adjusting for baseline values. No significant differences were detected in the numbers of children's visits to a physician and paternal days off work. School-based health promotion slightly reduces sick days in first grade children. Subsequently, parents may not need to stay off work themselves. Small individual effects add up to larger benefits in a statewide implementation of health promotion. Additionally, health promotion may also positively contribute to school success. The study was registered on the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS), Freiburg University, Germany, under the DRKS-ID: DRKS00000494 . Registered: 25 August 2010.

76 FR 56943 - Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance, 2011

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-14

... of life--from helping the homeless to teaching underserved students to bringing relief to disaster... loved, the lives they touched, and the courageous acts they inspired. On Patriot Day and National Day of... honor of the individuals who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. I invite the Governors of the...

Predictors and economic burden of serious workplace falls in health care.

PubMed

Alamgir, H; Ngan, K; Drebit, S; Guiyun Li, H; Keen, D

2011-06-01

To examine the demographic and workplace risk factors of serious falls and associated economic burden in Canadian health care workers. Fall injury data during 2005-2008 from a workplace health and safety surveillance system were linked with workers' compensation claims and payroll records. The costs for treatment and wage loss and days lost for accepted time-loss claims were calculated. Demographic and work-related factors were identified to distinguish the risk for more serious falls from less serious falls. Nine hundred and thirty-eight fall injury claims were captured among 48 519 full-time equivalent workers. Workers >60 years, part time or employed in the long-term care sector sustained a higher proportion of serious falls (>70%). Over 75% of falls were serious for care aides, facility support service workers and community health workers. In the multivariate analysis, the risk of serious falls remained higher for workers in the long-term care sector [odds ratio (OR) 1.71; P < 0.05] compared with those in acute care and for care aides (OR 1.72; P < 0.05), facility support service workers (OR 2.58; P < 0.01) and community health workers (OR 3.61; P < 0.001) compared with registered nurses (RNs). The median number of days lost was higher for females, long-term care workers, licensed practical nurses and care aides. Females, long-term care workers, RNs, licensed practical nurses, care aides and maintenance workers had the most costly falls. Reducing work-related serious fall injuries would be expected to bring about significant benefits in terms of reduced pain and suffering, improved workplace productivity, reduced absenteeism and reduced compensation costs.

Prediction of global solar irradiance based on time series analysis: Application to solar thermal power plants energy production planning

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Martin, Luis; Marchante, Ruth; Cony, Marco

2010-10-15

Due to strong increase of solar power generation, the predictions of incoming solar energy are acquiring more importance. Photovoltaic and solar thermal are the main sources of electricity generation from solar energy. In the case of solar thermal energy plants with storage energy system, its management and operation need reliable predictions of solar irradiance with the same temporal resolution as the temporal capacity of the back-up system. These plants can work like a conventional power plant and compete in the energy stock market avoiding intermittence in electricity production. This work presents a comparisons of statistical models based on time seriesmore » applied to predict half daily values of global solar irradiance with a temporal horizon of 3 days. Half daily values consist of accumulated hourly global solar irradiance from solar raise to solar noon and from noon until dawn for each day. The dataset of ground solar radiation used belongs to stations of Spanish National Weather Service (AEMet). The models tested are autoregressive, neural networks and fuzzy logic models. Due to the fact that half daily solar irradiance time series is non-stationary, it has been necessary to transform it to two new stationary variables (clearness index and lost component) which are used as input of the predictive models. Improvement in terms of RMSD of the models essayed is compared against the model based on persistence. The validation process shows that all models essayed improve persistence. The best approach to forecast half daily values of solar irradiance is neural network models with lost component as input, except Lerida station where models based on clearness index have less uncertainty because this magnitude has a linear behaviour and it is easier to simulate by models. (author)« less

Sleep and Health Resilience Metrics in a Large Military Cohort

PubMed Central

Seelig, Amber D.; Jacobson, Isabel G.; Donoho, Carrie J.; Trone, Daniel W.; Crum-Cianflone, Nancy F.; Balkin, Thomas J.

2016-01-01

Study Objectives: Examine the relationship between self-reported sleep parameters and indicators of resilience in a US military population (n = 55,021). Methods: Longitudinal analyses (2001–2008) were conducted using subjective data collected from Millennium Cohort Study questionnaires and objective data from military records that included demographics, military health, and deployment information. Subjective sleep duration and insomnia symptoms were collected on the study questionnaire. Resilience metrics included lost work days, self-rated health, deployment, frequency and duration of health care utilization, and early discharge from the military. Generalized estimating equations and survival analyses were adjusted for demographic, military, behavioral, and health covariates in all models. Results: The presence of insomnia symptoms was significantly associated with lower self-rated health, more lost work days, lower odds of deployment, higher odds of early discharge from military service early, and more health care utilization. Those self-reporting < 6 h (short sleepers) or > 8 h (long sleepers) of sleep per night had similar findings, except for the deployment outcome in which those with the shortest sleep were more likely to deploy. Conclusions: Poor sleep is a detriment to service members' health and readiness. Leadership should redouble efforts to emphasize the importance of healthy sleep among military service members, and future research should focus on the efficacy of interventions to promote healthy sleep and resilience in this population. Commentary: A commentary on this article appears in this issue on page 963. Citation: Seelig AD, Jacobson IG, Donoho CJ, Trone DW, Crum-Cianflone NF, Balkin TJ. Sleep and health resilience metrics in a large military cohort. SLEEP 2016;39(5):1111–1120. PMID:26951391

Sports and recreational injuries: regional rural injury study‐II: impact on agricultural households and operations

PubMed Central

Kurszewski, L S; Gerberich, S G; Serfass, R C; Ryan, A D; Renier, C M; Alexander, B H; Carlson, K Ferguson; Masten, A S

2006-01-01

Objectives To identify the incidence, severity, and potential risk factors for sports/recreational injuries incurred by children and adults in a five state, rural, Midwest, agricultural household population. Methods Computer assisted telephone interviews that included questions about all injuries were completed for eligible, participating households for 1999; 16 538 people participated, including 8488 children less than 20 years of age. Rates and 95% confidence intervals were calculated, and causal models guided multivariate models. Results Of a total of 2586 injuries, 1301 (50%) were not related to agricultural activity. Among these, 733 (28%) were associated with sports/recreational activities including multiple person sports (64%), general play activities (19%), and single person sports (14%). The overall rate was 46.4 injury events per 1000 persons per year. Rates for children were 99.4 for boys and 64.3 for girls. For adults (aged 20 and above), rates were 11.9 for men and 4.8 for women. For children, 93% received health care, 44% were restricted for seven or more days, and 18% lost agricultural work time of seven or more days; the respective proportions for adults were 88%, 45%, and 17%. Multivariate analysis for children showed increased risks for Nebraska residents, males, and those 10–14 or 15–19 years. For adults, increased risks were identified for males and those 20–24 years; decreased risks were observed for Nebraska residents and those 45–54 years. Conclusions Sports/recreational activities are an important source of injury with relevant consequences for this population, including significant restricted daily activity and lost agricultural work time. Key findings provide a basis for further study to address these burdens. PMID:16547145

Cost per case or total cost? The potential of prevention of hand injuries in young children – Retrospective and prospective studies

PubMed Central

Ljungberg, Elinor M; Carlsson, Katarina Steen; Dahlin, Lars B

2008-01-01

Background Health-care costs for hand and forearm injuries in young children are poorly documented. We examined costs in 533 children injured years 1996–2003. Methods Health-care costs and costs for lost productivity were retrospectively calculated in children from three catchment areas in Sweden. Seven case categories corresponding to alternative prevention strategies were constructed. Results Over time, diminishing number of ward days reduced the health-care cost per case. Among children, the cost of lost productivity due to parental leave was 14 percent of total cost. Fingertip injuries had low median costs but high total costs due to their frequency. Complex injuries by machine or rifle had high costs per case, and despite a low number of cases, total cost was high. Type of injury, surgery and physiotherapy sessions were associated with variations in health-care cost. Low age and ethnic background had a significant effect on number of ward days. Conclusion The costs per hand injury for children were lower compared to adults due to both lower health-care costs and to the fact that parents had comparatively short periods of absence from work. Frequent simple fingertip injuries and rare complex injuries induce high costs for society. Such costs should be related to costs for prevention of these injuries. PMID:18606018

20 CFR 10.215 - How does OWCP compute the number of days of COP used?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... of days of COP used? COP is payable for a maximum of 45 calendar days, and every day used is counted toward this maximum. The following rules apply: (a) Time lost on the day or shift of the injury does not... 20 Employees' Benefits 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false How does OWCP compute the number of days of...

Nutrition in the Bin: A Nutritional and Environmental Assessment of Food Wasted in the UK.

PubMed

Cooper, Karen A; Quested, Tom E; Lanctuit, Helene; Zimmermann, Diane; Espinoza-Orias, Namy; Roulin, Anne

2018-01-01

The UK currently has the most detailed, directly measured data for food wasted in the home. This includes information on the exact types of food wasted. These data allow calculation of the nutrients within that waste, as well as its environmental impact. The results progress the conversation beyond how much food is wasted or its energy content; it permits the implications for nutrition and sustainability to be assessed in detail. Data for UK household food waste were expressed as an average waste per capita for each type of food. Each food type was matched with an item (or group of items) from the UK Composition of Foods (7th Ed). The level of nutrients wasted was compared to UK Reference Nutrient Intakes (RNIs) for adult women (19-50 years, used as a proxy for general population requirements). The data were normalized into "nutrient days" wasted per capita per year, then into the number of complete diet days (for 21 nutrients plus energy). Results show that approximately 42 daily diets were discarded per capita per year. By individual nutrient, the highest losses were vitamin B 12 , vitamin C, and thiamin (160, 140, and 130 nutrient days/capita/year, respectively). For protein, dietary energy and carbohydrates, 88, 59, and 53 nutrient days/capita/year, respectively, were lost. Substantial losses were also found for under-consumed nutrients in the UK: calcium, which was mostly lost via bakery (27%) and dairy/eggs (27%). Food folate was mainly lost through fresh vegetables/salads (40%) and bakery (18%), as was dietary fiber (31 and 29%, respectively). Environmental impacts were distributed over the food groups, with wasted meat and fish the single largest contribution. For all environmental impacts studied, the largest contribution came from agricultural production. This paper shows that there are areas where interventions preventing food waste and promoting healthy eating could work together (e.g., encouraging consumption of vegetables or tackling overbuying, especially of unhealthy foods). Food manufacturers and retailers, alongside governments and NGOs, have a key role to minimize waste of environmentally impactful, nutrient-dense foods, for instance, by helping influence people's behaviors with appropriate formulation of products, packaging, portioning, use of promotions, or public education.

KSC-2012-1128

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-01-26

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The names of U.S. space explorers who have been lost are engraved on the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana, Deputy Director Janet Petro, and United Space Alliance’s Vice President for Aerospace Services/Florida Site Director Mark Nappi placed a wreath at the memorial during Kennedy’s NASA Day of Remembrance. The Day of Remembrance honors members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery, including the astronaut crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. Kennedy civil service and contractor employees, along with the general public, paid their respects throughout the day. The visitor complex provided flowers for visitors to place at the memorial. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

Indirect costs in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a review of the economic burden on employers and individuals in the United States.

PubMed

Patel, Jeetvan G; Nagar, Saurabh P; Dalal, Anand A

2014-01-01

To review and summarize existing literature on the indirect burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the US. Medline, Scopus, and OvidSP databases were searched using defined search terms to identify relevant studies. Eligible studies were published in English between January 2000 and April 2012 and calculated the indirect burden of COPD in a US population in terms of prevalence, incidence or costs of productivity loss, disability, morbidity, or mortality. Of 53 studies identified, eleven met eligibility criteria, with data years spanning 1987-2009. Estimates of workforce participation range from 56% to 69% among individuals with COPD and from 65% to 77% among individuals without COPD. Approximately 13%-18% of those with COPD are limited in the amount or type of work they can do and one-third or more experience general activity limitation. Estimates of restricted activity days range from 27-63 days per year. Estimates of mean annual sick leave and/or disability days among employed individuals with COPD range from 1.3-19.4 days. Estimates of bed confinement range from 13-32 days per year. Estimated mean annual indirect costs were $893-$2,234/person (US dollars) with COPD ($1,521-$3,348 in 2010 [US dollars]) and varied with the population studied, specific cost outcomes, and economic inputs. In studies that assessed total (direct and indirect) costs, indirect costs accounted for 27%-61% of total costs, depending on the population studied. COPD is associated with substantial indirect costs. The disease places a burden on employers in terms of lost productivity and associated costs and on individuals in terms of lost income related to absenteeism, activity limitation, and disability. Consideration of indirect as well as direct costs is necessary to gain a more complete view of the societal burden of COPD.

Indirect costs in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A review of the economic burden on employers and individuals in the United States

PubMed Central

Patel, Jeetvan G; Nagar, Saurabh P; Dalal, Anand A

2014-01-01

Objective To review and summarize existing literature on the indirect burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the US. Methods Medline, Scopus, and OvidSP databases were searched using defined search terms to identify relevant studies. Eligible studies were published in English between January 2000 and April 2012 and calculated the indirect burden of COPD in a US population in terms of prevalence, incidence or costs of productivity loss, disability, morbidity, or mortality. Results Of 53 studies identified, eleven met eligibility criteria, with data years spanning 1987–2009. Estimates of workforce participation range from 56% to 69% among individuals with COPD and from 65% to 77% among individuals without COPD. Approximately 13%–18% of those with COPD are limited in the amount or type of work they can do and one-third or more experience general activity limitation. Estimates of restricted activity days range from 27–63 days per year. Estimates of mean annual sick leave and/or disability days among employed individuals with COPD range from 1.3–19.4 days. Estimates of bed confinement range from 13–32 days per year. Estimated mean annual indirect costs were $893–$2,234/person (US dollars) with COPD ($1,521–$3,348 in 2010 [US dollars]) and varied with the population studied, specific cost outcomes, and economic inputs. In studies that assessed total (direct and indirect) costs, indirect costs accounted for 27%–61% of total costs, depending on the population studied. Conclusions COPD is associated with substantial indirect costs. The disease places a burden on employers in terms of lost productivity and associated costs and on individuals in terms of lost income related to absenteeism, activity limitation, and disability. Consideration of indirect as well as direct costs is necessary to gain a more complete view of the societal burden of COPD. PMID:24672234

75 FR 56463 - Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance, 2010

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-15

... from every corner of our country joined together to demonstrate the unparalleled human capacity for... our Nation continue to honor the memory of those lost on September 11, and they reaffirm our charge to...

A comparison of a novel time-based summary measure of dairy cow health against cumulative disease frequency.

PubMed

McConnel, Craig S; McNeil, Ashleigh A; Hadrich, Joleen C; Lombard, Jason E; Heller, Jane; Garry, Franklyn B

2018-01-01

There is an increasing push for dairy production to be scientifically grounded and ethically responsible in the oversight of animal health and well-being. Addressing underlying challenges affecting the quality and length of productive life necessitates novel assessment and accountability metrics. Human medical epidemiologists developed the Disability-Adjusted Life Year metric as a summary measure of health addressing the complementary nature of disease and death. The goal of this project was to develop and implement a dairy Disease-Adjusted Lactation (DALact) summary measure of health, as a comparison against cumulative disease frequency. A total of 5694 cows were enrolled at freshening from January 1st, 2014 through May 26th, 2015 on 3 similarly managed U.S. Midwestern Plains' region dairies. Eleven health categories of interest were tracked from enrollment until culling, death, or the study's completion date. The DALact accounted for the days of life lost due to illness, forced removal, and death relative to the average lactation length across the participating farms. The DALact consistently identified mastitis as the primary disease of concern on all 3 dairies (19,007-23,955 days lost). Secondary issues included musculoskeletal injuries (19,559 days), pneumonia (11,034 days), or lameness (8858 days). By comparison, cumulative frequency measures pointed to mastitis (31-50%) and lameness (25-54%) as the 2 most frequent diseases. Notably, the DALact provided a robust accounting of health events such as musculoskeletal injuries (5010-19,559 days) and calving trauma (2952-5868 days) otherwise overlooked by frequency measures (0-3%). The DALact provides a time-based method for assessing the overall burden of disease on dairies. It is important to emphasize that a summary measure of dairy health goes beyond simply linking morbidity to culling and mortality in a standardized fashion. A summary measure speaks to the burden of disease on both the well-being and productivity of individuals and populations. When framed as lost days, years, or lactations the various health issues on a farm are more comprehensible than they may be by frequency measures alone. Such an alternative accounting of disease highlights the lost opportunity costs of production as well as the burden of disease on life as a whole.

Economic and Social Impact of Pertussis Among Adolescents in San Diego County.

PubMed

Varan, Aiden K; Harriman, Kathleen H; Winter, Kathleen; Thun, Melissa D; McDonald, Eric C

2016-02-01

During recent pertussis epidemics, adolescents have experienced a large burden of disease. We assessed the impact of pertussis among San Diego adolescents and their households. Parents of pertussis patients aged 13-17 years were surveyed about health care utilization, missed work and school, and other factors. Costs of medical visits, medication use, and lost wages were estimated. The parents of 53 (of 108 [49%]) eligible 2013 pertussis patients were interviewed; 51 (96%) of these patients previously received tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis vaccine. Medical visits included primary care (81%), urgent care (11%), and emergency department (9%); all patients received antibiotics. Forty-seven households (89%) received a post-exposure prophylaxis recommendation, and five (9%) reported ≥1 unpaid parental leave day. Thirty-eight patients (72%) missed ≥1 school day (mean = 5.4 days). Societal costs were estimated at $315.15 per household and $236,047.35 in San Diego during 2013-2014. Even among vaccinated adolescents, pertussis can result in considerable societal costs. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Breastfeeding Act will aid working mothers. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

PubMed

1987-01-01

Although survey data suggest that the vast majority of women in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are aware that breastfeeding is the optimal form of infant nutrition, by the time of the 6-week postpartum visit, 31% of mothers have stopped breastfeeding exclusively and 26% are resorting to bottle-feeding alone. This pattern has been attributed to the fact that 40% of all women in the Northern Mariana Islands work outside the home, and the majority of these women are government employees who receive only 2 weeks of paid maternity leave. Nurses and physicians are in agreement that 2 weeks is not sufficient time to establish breastfeeding. To remedy this situation, a Family Act has been drafted that includes the following provisions: 1) 30 days of paid maternity leave; 2) 5 days of paid paternity leave; 3) 30 additional days of maternity leave without pay for pregnancy-related illnesses; 4) 30 additional days of parental leave for the care of a child with a serious health condition; 5) 1-hour breastfeeding breaks at work for 1 year; 6) permission for parents to use sick leave to accompany a child to the physician; and 7) job protection while pregnant or breastfeeding. The status of the act is still pending due to the loss of documents caused by typhoon Kim. However, the act has the support of groups such as Catholic Social Services, the Women's Affairs Commission, and members of the Civil Service Commission. It has been estimated that this act could save the government US$160,599/year in averted costs due to time lost from work because of childhood illnesses and lack of natural child spacing.

Total costs of IBS: employer and managed care perspective.

PubMed

Cash, Brooks; Sullivan, Sean; Barghout, Victoria

2005-04-01

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal motility disorder that typically affects persons of working age and is costly to employers. The financial burden attributable to the direct (use of healthcare resources) and indirect (missed days from work [absenteeism] and loss of productivity while at work [presenteeism]) costs of IBS is similar to that of other common long-term medical disorders, such as asthma, migraine, hypertension, and congestive heart failure. The symptoms of IBS are significantly bothersome and place a substantial burden on the personal and working lives of patients. As with other long-term medical conditions that have a significant impact on productivity, directed efforts by employers can address IBS in the workplace and thereby potentially decrease its impact. In this article, the symptoms of IBS and its impact on patients and on society as a whole are discussed; options are outlined by which employers can help reduce the total costs of IBS, including lost productivity (both absenteeism and presenteeism), in the workplace.

Evaluation of an anaerobic digestion system for processing CELSS crop residues for resource recovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strayer, R. F.; Finger, B. W.; Alazraki, M. P.

1997-01-01

Three bioreactors, connected in series, were used to process CELSS potato residues for recovery of resources. The first stage was an anaerobic digestor (8 L working volume; cow rumen contents inoculum; fed-batch; 8 day retention time; feed rate 25 gdw day^-1) that converted 33% of feed (dry weight loss) to CO_2 and ``volatile fatty acids'' (vfa, 83:8:8 mmolar ratio acetic:propionic:butyric). High nitrate-N in the potato residue feed was absent in the anaerobic effluent, with a high portion converted to NH_4^+-N and the remainder unaccounted and probably lost to denitrification and NH_4^+ volatilization. Liquid anaerobic effluent was fed to an aerobic, yeast biomass production vessel (2 L volume; Candida ingens inoculum; batch [pellicle] growth; 2 day retention time) where the VFAs and some NH_4^+-N were converted into yeast biomass. Yeast yields accounted for up to 8% of potato residue fed into the anaerobic bioreactor. The third bioreactor (0.5 L liquid working volume; commercial nitrifier inoculum; packed-bed biofilm; continuous yeast effluent feed; recirculating; constant volume; 2 day hydraulic retention time) was used to convert successfully the remaining NH_4^+-N into nitrate-N (preferred form of N for CELSS crop production) and to remove the remaining degradable soluble organic carbon. Effluents from the last two stages were used for partial replenishment of minerals for hydroponic potato production.

Evaluation of an Anaerobic Digestion System for Processing CELSS Crop Residues for Resource Recovery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Strayer, R. F.; Finger, B. W.; Alazraki, M. P.

1997-01-01

Three bioreactors, connected in series, were used to process CELSS potato residues for recovery of resources. The first stage was an anaerobic digestor (8 L working volume; cow rumen contents inoculum; fed-batch; 8 day retention time; feed rate 25 gdw/day) that converted 33% of feed (dry weight loss) to CO2 and "volatile fatty acids" (vfa, 83:8:8 mmolar ratio acetic:propionic:butyric). High nitrate-N in the potato residue feed was absent in the anaerobic effluent, with a high portion converted to NH4(+)-N and the remainder unaccounted and probably lost to denitrification and NH4(+) volatilization. Liquid anaerobic effluent was fed to an aerobic, yeast biomass production vessel (2 L volume; Candida ingens inoculum; batch [pellicle] growth; 2 day retention time) where the VFAs and some NH4(+)-N were converted into yeast biomass. Yeast yields accounted for up to 8% of potato residue fed into the anaerobic bioreactor. The third bioreactor (0.5 L liquid working volume; commercial nitrifier inoculum; packed-bed biofilm; continuous yeast effluent feed; recirculating; constant volume; 2 day hydraulic retention time) was used to convert successfully the remaining NH4(+)-N into nitrate-N (preferred form of N for CELSS crop production) and to remove the remaining degradable soluble organic carbon. Effluents from the last two stages were used for partial replenishment of minerals for hydroponic potato production.

Injuries in women associated with a periodized strength training and running program.

PubMed

Reynolds, K L; Harman, E A; Worsham, R E; Sykes, M B; Frykman, P N; Backus, V L

2001-02-01

Forty-five women participated in a 24-week physical training program designed to improve lifting, load carriage, and running performance. Activities included weightlifting, running, backpacking, lift and carry drills, and sprint running. Physicians documented by passive surveillance all training-related injuries. Thirty-two women successfully completed training program. Twenty-two women (48.9%) suffered least 1 injury during training, but only 2 women had to drop out of the study because of injuries. The rate of injury associated with lost training time was 2.8 injuries per 1,000 training hours of exposure. Total clinic visits and days lost from training were 89 and 69, respectively. Most injuries were the overuse type involving the lower back, knees, and feet. Weightlifting accounted for a majority of the lost training days. A combined strength training and running program resulted in significant performance gains in women. Only 2 out of 45 participants left the training program cause of injuries.

Mobile Applications Improve Quality of Life on Citizens with Disorientation: The 'NeverLost App' Paradigm.

PubMed

Fotiou, Sotirios; Vlamos, Panayiotis

2017-01-01

Mobile technology has been evolved as an important tool in healthcare. Mobile applications are being designed in order to assist patients in their everyday life and also to play a vital role on the improvement of their everyday activities and quality of life. Meanwhile students use advanced techniques in order to design and implement high quality applications that aim to introduce them to the advantages of the mobile technology. In this paper we present the steps for the creation of the application NeverLost that was inspired, designed, created and tested by students of the Secondary Education. NeverLost is an Android application that helps individuals (mainly children) with disabilities, as well as older patients with lack of orientation manage their day-to-day activities. A research of the general benefits that students using this app is presented, as well as their future proposals for the evolution of the app in other aspects of healthcare and quality of life of senior citizens or patients with neurodegenerative diseases.

Hidden costs associated with venous thromboembolism: impact of lost productivity on employers and employees.

PubMed

Page, Robert L; Ghushchyan, Vahram; Gifford, Brian; Read, Richard Allen; Raut, Monika; Bookhart, Brahim K; Naim, Ahmad B; Damaraju, C V; Nair, Kavita V

2014-09-01

To determine productivity loss and indirect costs with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). Medical and pharmacy claims with short-term disability (STD) and long-term disability (LTD) claims from 2007 to 2010 were analyzed from the Integrated Benefits Institute's Health and Productivity Benchmarking (IBI-HPB) database (STD and LTD claims) and IMS LifeLink™ data (medical and pharmacy claims), which were indirectly linked using a weighting approach matching from IBI-HPB patients' demographic distribution. A total of 5442 DVT and 6199 PE claims were identified. Employees with DVT lost 57 STD and 440 LTD days per disability incident. The average per claim productivity loss from STD and LTD was $7414 and $58181, respectively. Employees with PE lost 56 STD and 364 LTD days per disability incident. The average per claim productivity loss from STD and LTD was $7605 and $48,751, respectively. Deep vein thrombosis and PE impose substantial economic burdens.

The prevalence and incidence of work absenteeism involving neck pain: a cohort of Ontario lost-time claimants.

PubMed

Côté, Pierre; Kristman, Vicki; Vidmar, Marjan; Van Eerd, Dwayne; Hogg-Johnson, Sheilah; Beaton, Dorcas; Smith, Peter M

2008-02-15

Cohort study. To measure the prevalence and incidence of work absenteeism involving neck pain in a cohort of claimants to the Ontario Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB). According to workers' compensation statistics, neck pain accounts for a small proportion of lost-time claims. However, these statistics may be biased by an underenumeration of claimants with neck disorders. We studied all lost-time claimants to the Ontario WSIB in 1998 and used 2 methods to enumerate neck pain cases. We report the prevalence and incidence of neck pain using 2 denominators: (1) annual number of lost-time claimants and (2) an estimate of the Ontario working population covered by the WSIB. The estimated percentage of lost-time claimants with neck pain ranged from 2.8% (95% CI 2.5-3.3) using only codes specific for neck pain to 11.3% (95% CI 9.5-13.1) using a weighted estimate of codes capturing neck pain cases. The health care sector had the highest percentage of claims with neck pain. The annual incidence of neck pain among the Ontario working population ranged from 6 per 10,000 full-time equivalents (FTE) (95% CI 5-6) to 23 per 10,000 FTE (95% CI 20-27) depending on the codes used to capture neck pain. Male workers between the ages of 20 and 39 years were the most likely to experience an episode of work absenteeism involving neck pain. Neck pain is a common and burdensome problem for Ontario workers. Our study highlights the importance of properly capturing all neck pain cases when describing its prevalence and incidence.

A Randomized Trial Comparing Stapled Rectal Mucosectomy Versus Open and Semiclosed Hemorrhoidectomy.

PubMed

Ripetti, Valter; La Vaccara, Vincenzo; Greco, Santi; Arullani, Augusto

2015-11-01

Different results have been reported concerning the postoperative outcomes of different surgical approaches for hemorrhoids. We aimed to determine the postoperative outcome following 3 main surgical techniques. A prospective, randomized trial was designed with 180 patients in 3 arms of 60 patients each. The study was conducted from April 1999 to January 2007 at the University Hospital "Campus Bio-Medico di Roma." All of the patients who were referred for hemorrhoid surgery were enrolled according to inclusion and exclusion criteria (ISRCTN12040297). Treatments according to the open, semiclosed, and stapled techniques were compared. Sample size was calculated to determine a difference in terms of the intensity of postoperative pain at the first week and the days required for return to work activity. After 1 week, patients who underwent semiclosed hemorrhoidectomy reported significantly less pain (p < 0.01) and a significant decrease in analgesic intake from the third postoperative day (p < 0.01) than after the other 2 techniques. The patients resumed work ≈11 days after semiclosed and stapled techniques (11.8 and 11.6 days), which was earlier compared with 21.3 days in the open group (p < 0.05). The high number of patients excluded might be considered a limitation of the study, but our selection criteria including patients living within 50 km of the hospital allowed for a low rate (9.4%) of patients lost to follow-up. This study found an earlier resumption of work and less pain in patients who underwent the stapled and semiclosed procedures rather than open, which was associated with more complications, particularly because of a higher rate of stenosis (see Video, Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/DCR/A196).

Statistics of AUV's Missions for Operational Ocean Observation at the South Brazilian Bight.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

dos Santos, F. A.; São Tiago, P. M.; Oliveira, A. L. S. C.; Barmak, R. B.; Miranda, T. C.; Guerra, L. A. A.

2016-02-01

The high costs and logistics limitations of ship-based data collection represent an obstacle for a persistent in-situ data collection. Satellite-operated Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV's) or gliders (as these AUV's are generally known by the scientific community) are presented as an inexpensive and reliable alternative to perform long-term and real-time ocean monitoring of important parameters such as temperature, salinity, water-quality and acoustics. This work is focused on the performance statistics and the reliability for continuous operation of a fleet of seven gliders navigating in Santos Basin - Brazil, since March 2013. The gliders performance were evaluated by the number of standby days versus the number of operating days, the number of interrupted missions due to (1) equipment failure, (2) weather, (3) accident versus the number of successful missions and the amount and quality of data collected. From the start of the operations in March 2013 to the preparation of this work (July 2015), a total of 16 glider missions were accomplished, operating during 728 of the 729 days passed since then. From this total, 11 missions were successful, 3 missions were interrupted due to equipment failure and 2 gliders were lost. Most of the identified issues were observed in the communication with the glider (when recovery was necessary) or the optode sensors (when remote settings solved the problem). The average duration of a successful mission was 103 days while interrupted ones ended on average in 7 days. The longest mission lasted for 139 days, performing 859 continuous profiles and covering a distance of 2734 Km. The 2 projects performed together 6856 dives, providing an average of 9,5 profiles per day or one profile every 2,5 hours each day during 2 consecutive years.

Multidisciplinary intensive functional restoration versus outpatient active physiotherapy in chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Roche-Leboucher, Ghislaine; Petit-Lemanac'h, Audrey; Bontoux, Luc; Dubus-Bausière, Valérie; Parot-Shinkel, Elsa; Fanello, Serge; Penneau-Fontbonne, Dominique; Fouquet, Natacha; Legrand, Erick; Roquelaure, Yves; Richard, Isabelle

2011-12-15

Randomized parallel group comparative trial with a 1-year follow-up period. To compare in a population of patients with chronic low back pain, the effectiveness of a functional restoration program (FRP), including intensive physical training and a multidisciplinary approach, with an outpatient active physiotherapy program at 1-year follow-up. Controlled studies conducted in the United States and in Northern Europe showed a benefit of FRPs, especially on return to work. Randomized studies have compared these programs with standard care. A previously reported study presented the effectiveness at 6 months of both functional restoration and active physiotherapy, with a significantly greater reduction of sick-leave days for functional restoration. A total of 132 patients with low back pain were randomized to either FRP (68 patients) or active individual therapy (64 patients). One patient did not complete the FRP; 19 patients were lost to follow-up (4 in the FRP group and 15 in the active individual treatment group). The number of sick-leave days in 2 years before the program was similar in both groups (180 ± 135.1 days in active individual treatment vs. 185 ± 149.8 days in FRP, P = 0.847). In both groups, at 1-year follow-up, intensity of pain, flexibility, trunk muscle endurance, Dallas daily activities and work and leisure scores, and number of sick-leave days were significantly improved compared with baseline. The number of sick-leave days was significantly lower in the FRP group. Both programs are efficient in reducing disability and sick-leave days. The FRP is significantly more effective in reducing sick-leave days. Further analysis is required to determine if this overweighs the difference in costs of both programs.

Care homes and the Mental Capacity Act 2005: Changes in understanding and practice over time.

PubMed

Manthorpe, Jill; Samsi, Kritika

2016-07-01

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 provides the legal framework in England and Wales for the making of decisions in respect of people who have never had or have lost decision-making capacity. As part of a 5-year research program investigating the implementation and adoption of the Mental Capacity Act in dementia practice, we interviewed staff working in different care homes at two time points (32 staff at Time 1 in 2008 and 27 staff at Time 2 in 2012) in South East England. At baseline Time 1, daily practice seemed to resonate with Mental Capacity Act principles of respecting decisions and trying to act in a person's best interests. This paper reports Time 2 findings. We found that few care home staff interviewed specifically reported finding the Mental Capacity Act helpful in crystallizing the legal basis of their work. Most continued to offer illustrations of day-to-day practice in which they paid attention to individual choices, took account of the wishes of residents' families, and tried to act in residents' best interests but referred major decisions to their seniors. This study highlights the potential of referring to specific day-to-day practice in care homes when offering training or scrutinizing practice in dementia care more generally so that the work is set in its legal as well as moral framework. Care home staff in this study reported that advanced planning and pre-specifying preferences were more common among new care home residents, especially those with dementia, indicating that greater understanding of these is required by staff. © The Author(s) 2014.

OPERATION EVEREST II: Effects of a Simulated Ascent to 29,000 Feet on Nutrition and Body Composition

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-05-29

Torr. During the sarie time periods the carbohydrate (CHO) intake decreased Xrom 62.1% to 53.2% ( p ,< 0.001). All subjects..lost body weight with a mean...Torr. During the same time periods the carbohydrate (CHO) intake decreased from 62.1% to 53.2% ( p < 0.001). All subjects lost body weight with a mean...Mean body weight loss for the 38 days was 7.44+2.24 kg ( p ɘ.01) ranging from 4.2 to 9.9 kg (Table 8). The subjects lost 8.9+2.0% of their sea level body

Work-related injuries in drywall installation.

PubMed

Lipscomb, H J; Dement, J M; Gaal, J S; Cameron, W; McDougall, V

2000-10-01

Administrative data sources were used to describe the work-related injuries of drywall carpenters, to calculate rates of occurrence, and to explore high risk sub-groups. Health insurance eligibility files were used to identify a cohort of active union carpenters affiliated with a union local whose predominant work involved drywall installation in the state of Washington. These files contained the hours worked by each individual for each month between January 1989 and December 1995, providing person-hours at risk as a union carpenter. The Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) provided records of workers' compensation claims filed by these individuals. Over seven years 1773 drywall carpenters filed 2567 workers' compensation claims representing an overall rate of 53.3 per 200,000 hours worked. These claims were filed by 1046 different individuals, or 59.0 percent of the cohort. Claims resulting in paid lost time from work were filed at a rate of 12.5 per 200,000 hours worked (n = 609) by 445 (25.1%) different individuals. The most common mechanisms of injury involved being struck (38.3%), overexertion (28.1%), and falls (13.2%). Struck by injuries most commonly involved cuts to the upper extremity. Overexertion injuries were most commonly described as sprains or strains involving the back. Sheetrock was associated with over 40 percent of these injuries. Falls most commonly involved injuries to the knee followed by the back and multiple injuries. Struck by injuries decreased steadily with increasing age and increasing time in the union. There was a steady increase in the rate of falls with increasing age. Overexertion injuries were responsible for the greatest proportion of costs for medical care, permanent impairment, and paid lost days. The high rates of overexertion injuries among these workers is consistent with known ergonomic stresses on drywall jobs. However, these workers are also at high risk of acute traumatic injuries.

Weight Change and Workplace Absenteeism in the HealthWorks Study

PubMed Central

VanWormer, Jeffrey J.; Linde, Jennifer A.; Harnack, Lisa J.; Stovitz, Steven D.; Jeffery, Robert W.

2014-01-01

Objective Little is known about the relationship between weight change and workplace absenteeism. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which weight change predicted 2-year absenteeism. Methods A longitudinal analysis of 1,228 employees enrolled in a worksite-randomized controlled trial was performed. Participants were all working adults in the Minneapolis, MN, area (USA). Results The final model indicated a significant interaction between weight change and baseline BMI. The difference in absenteeism ranged from (mean ± SE) 3.2 ± 1.2 days among healthy weight employees who maintained their weight to 6.6 ± 1.1 days among obese employees who gained weight (and slightly higher among healthy weight employees who lost weight). The adjusted model also indicated that participants who were male, not depressed, nonsmokers, and had lower baseline absenteeism had significantly less workplace absenteeism relative to participants who were female, depressed, smokers, and had higher baseline absenteeism. Conclusion Absenteeism was generally low in this sample, but healthy weight employees who maintained their body weight over 2 years had the fewest number of sick days. More research is needed in this area, but future workforce attendance interventions may be improved by focusing on the primary prevention of weight gain in healthy weight employees. PMID:23108493

Prospective morbidity surveillance of Shell refinery and petrochemical employees.

PubMed Central

Tsai, S P; Dowd, C M; Cowles, S R; Ross, C E

1991-01-01

Results for a prospective morbidity study of 14,170 refinery and chemical workers from 1981 through 1988 are presented. Illness/absence data for this study were extracted from the morbidity section of the Shell Health Surveillance System which includes records of all illness/absences in excess of five days. Age adjusted annual morbidity frequency rates and annual durations of absence are presented by age, sex, job, and work status. Generally, rates and durations of absence were highest for older age groups, women, and production workers. Increased risk was associated with the presence of known disease risk factors. Overall, 48% of the employees had at least one illness/absence in excess of five days during the eight year period. Twelve per cent of the employees had four or more absences, which accounted for 54% of the total number of absences and 52% of the total work days lost. Among men, the five most common conditions accounted for 72% of all illness/absences. In descending order they were injuries (25%), respiratory illnesses (17%), musculoskeletal disorders (14%), digestive illnesses (9%), and heart disease (7%). Similar patterns were noted among women. These findings may be useful in setting priorities and directing efforts such as health education programmes and other strategies for the prevention of disease. PMID:2015205

Weight change and workplace absenteeism in the HealthWorks study.

PubMed

VanWormer, Jeffrey J; Linde, Jennifer A; Harnack, Lisa J; Stovitz, Steven D; Jeffery, Robert W

2012-01-01

Little is known about the relationship between weight change and workplace absenteeism. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which weight change predicted 2-year absenteeism. A longitudinal analysis of 1,228 employees enrolled in a worksite-randomized controlled trial was performed. Participants were all working adults in the Minneapolis, MN, area (USA). The final model indicated a significant interaction between weight change and baseline BMI. The difference in absenteeism ranged from (mean ± SE) 3.2 ± 1.2 days among healthy weight employees who maintained their weight to 6.6 ± 1.1 days among obese employees who gained weight (and slightly higher among healthy weight employees who lost weight). The adjusted model also indicated that participants who were male, not depressed, nonsmokers, and had lower baseline absenteeism had significantly less workplace absenteeism relative to participants who were female, depressed, smokers, and had higher baseline absenteeism. Absenteeism was generally low in this sample, but healthy weight employees who maintained their body weight over 2 years had the fewest number of sick days. More research is needed in this area, but future workforce attendance interventions may be improved by focusing on the primary prevention of weight gain in healthy weight employees. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg.

Estimating direct and indirect costs of premenstrual syndrome.

PubMed

Borenstein, Jeff; Chiou, Chiun-Fang; Dean, Bonnie; Wong, John; Wade, Sally

2005-01-01

To quantify the economic impact of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) on the employer. Data were collected from 374 women aged 18-45 with regular menses. Direct costs were quantified using administrative claims of these patients and the Medicare Fee Schedule. Indirect costs were quantified by both self-reported days of work missed and lost productivity at work. Regression analyses were used to develop a model to project PMS-related direct and indirect costs. A total of 29.6% (n = 111) of the participants were diagnosed with PMS. A PMS diagnosis was associated with an average annual increase of $59 in direct costs (P < 0.026) and $4333 in indirect costs per patient (P < 0.0001) compared with patients without PMS. A PMS diagnosis correlated with a modest increase in direct medical costs and a large increase in indirect costs.

Meaning of work and the returning process after breast cancer: a longitudinal study of 56 women.

PubMed

Lilliehorn, Sara; Hamberg, Katarina; Kero, Anneli; Salander, Pär

2013-06-01

An increasing number of women survive breast cancer and a majority return to work. However, findings based on mean values may conceal individual processes that need to be better understood to discuss meaningful rehabilitation. The purpose of this study is to describe the sick-leave pattern of a group of Swedish women with primary breast cancer but foremost to explore their ideas about what motivates and discourages their return to work. Fifty-six women were repeatedly interviewed over a period of 18-24 months. Interview sections that clearly illustrated the women's experiences and ideas about work were categorized using the comparative similarities-differences technique. The average length of sick leave was 410 days (range 0-942). Six months after the first day of sick leave, 29% worked at least their previous service grade. At 12 months, 55% and at 18 months 57% did so. Those treated with chemotherapy had in average more than twice as large sick leave as those who did not. Three categories emerged. 'Motives for not returning to work' consists of four subcategories: 'I'm still too fragile to return to work'; 'My workplace is a discouraging place'; 'I took an opportunity to pause' and 'I've lost the taste for work'. 'Motives for returning' consists of two sub-categories: 'Work generates and structures my everyday life' and 'I miss my workplace'. Finally, 'Transition in work approach' reflects a changed approach to work. The meaning of work varies over time, but first and foremost work was regarded as an important part of the healing process as it restores the disruption of everyday life. Guidelines cannot be reduced to a linear relationship with biomedical variables but the individual context of everyday life must be considered. © 2012 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Fragility Hip Fractures in Elderly Patients in Bhubaneswar, India (2012-2014): A Prospective Multicenter Study of 1031 Elderly Patients.

PubMed

Dash, Sunil K; Panigrahi, Ranajit; Palo, Nishit; Priyadarshi, Ashok; Biswal, Manas

2015-03-01

Elderly patients with hip fracture constitute Single Largest Group of Emergency Orthopaedics Admissions. In 2050, 6.26 million hip fractures worldwide, approximately 50%, will occur in Asia. Only small number of reports on incidence of hip fractures in the Asian population exist. India lacks data registry for fragility hip fractures, therefore, the magnitude and standard of patient care are not known. A prospective multicenter study was conducted from January 2012 to April 2014 to describe population-based longitudinal trends, namely, age-specific incidence, fracture type, timing of presentation, kilometers traveled, timing of surgery, hospital stay, man hours lost, pressure ulcers, weight bearing, 30-day return, 3-month mortality, and so on, of fragility hip fractures. A total of 1031 patients were included with 59.7% females and 40.3% of male patients, with a female-male ratio of 1.5:1. Commonest mode: Falls 45%. 56.4% IT fractures. 66.2%patients operated, Operative/Conservative Ratio of 2.8:1. Patients travel a mean distance of 86.4 kilometers for quality treatment. Of the patients, 85.9 % presented late due to ignorance and misguiding quack practice. Incidence of delayed surgery was 69.3%. Persistent electrolytes imbalance and hyperglycemia normalized in 81.2% by second or third postoperative day. The man hours lost was 157.85 hours/person. Medical complications was more (90%) in patients who had delays in surgeries and presentation. Mortality rate was 6.2 %. Patients travel long for quality treatment, most of them are misguided, present late with significant complications and sufferings, and their pockets half drained depriving them off best treatment. Early presentation and operation have better prognosis and rehabilitation, facilitates early return to work, and independence. Increased pressure sores, infections, hospital stay, treatment cost, depression, and mortality are directly related to delays in surgeries and presentation. Estimated losses according to lost man hours may go up to 10 million dollars.

New Hampshire's Changing Wintertime Climate: Impact on Forestry Practices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wurtzel, J. B.; Wake, C. P.

2007-12-01

Over the past four decades wintertime temperatures in New England have risen more than 2 degrees Celsius. This has had a significant impact on winter recreation in the region. Here we examine the effect of New Hampshire's warming wintertime climate on the logging industry, a vital source of revenue in New Hampshire, particularly in the northern counties such as Coos and Grafton. Recent statements from the industry have indicated that warmer wintertime temperatures have reduced the number of days for which the road is frozen and able to support the weight of the logging trucks. To assess the magnitude of change in New Hampshire, we examined the change in number of frozen road days in 15 locations for the period December through March for the years 1970 to 2007. We applied a Freeze-Thaw formula, based on daily mean temperatures, to determine when the roads were frozen or thawed. By dividing the state into three regions based on latitude and taking the mean results of the 5 towns located in each region, we find that since 1970 the northern region has lost 9 frozen road days and the central region has lost 10 frozen road days. The southern region also shows a loss in frozen days but with a much weaker trend. We also performed a sensitivity analysis by calculating trends using start years from 1965 to 1975 and found that the original results were robust. The strongest individual town trend was found in Berlin, located in Coos County, having already lost 18 days since 1970. Using estimates from a prior study suggest that the cost of a 9 day reduction in frozen road days per winter represents a loss of more than one million dollars in stumpage fees per year. The results of this study suggest that the forestry industry may need to consider alternative methods for logging in the near future.

Injuries and fatalities among emergency medical technicians and paramedics in the United States.

PubMed

Maguire, Brian J; Smith, Sean

2013-08-01

Emergency medical services personnel treat 22 million patients a year, yet little is known of their risk of injury and fatality. Work-related injury and fatality rates among US paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are higher than the national average for all occupations. Data collected by the Department of Labor (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics were reviewed to identify injuries and fatalities among EMTs and paramedics from 2003 through 2007. The characteristics of fatal injuries are described and the rates and relative risks of the non-fatal injuries were calculated and compared to the national average. Of the 21,749 reported cases, 21,690 involved non-fatal injuries or illnesses that resulted in lost work days among EMTs and paramedics within the private sector. Of the injuries, 3,710 (17%) resulted in ≥31 days of lost work time. A total of 14,470 cases (67%) involved sprains or strains; back injury was reported in 9,290 of the cases (43%); and the patient was listed as the source of injury in 7,960 (37%) cases. The most common events were overexertion (12,146, 56%), falls (2,169, 10%), and transportation-related (1,940, 9%). A total of 530 assaults were reported during the study period. Forty-five percent of the cases occurred among females (females accounted for 27% of employment in this occupation during 2007). In 2007, EMTs and paramedics suffered 349.9 injuries with days away from work per 10,000 full-time workers, compared to an average of 122.2 for all private industry occupations (Relative risk = 2.9; 95% CI: 2.7-3.0). During the study period, 59 fatalities occurred among EMTs and paramedics in both the private industry and in the public sector. Of those fatalities, 51 (86%) were transportation-related and five (8%) were assaults; 33 (56%) were classified as "multiple traumatic injuries." Data from the DOL show that EMTs and paramedics have a rate of injury that is about three times the national average for all occupations. The vast majority of fatalities are secondary to transportation related-incidents. Assaults are also identified as a significant cause of fatality. The findings also indicate that females in this occupational group may have a disproportionately larger number of injuries. Support is recommended for further research related to causal factors and for the development, evaluation and promulgation of evidence-based interventions to mitigate this problem.

Mental Health Distress and Related Factors Among Prefectural Public Servants Seven Months After the Great East Japan Earthquake

PubMed Central

Suzuki, Yuriko; Fukasawa, Maiko; Obara, Akiko; Kim, Yoshiharu

2014-01-01

Background To develop an empirically informed support measure for workers, we examined mental health distress and its risk factors among prefectural public servants who were affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and faced a demanding workload in the midterm of the disaster. Methods We conducted a self-administered health survey of all public servants in the Miyagi prefectural government two and seven months after the Great East Japan Earthquake (3743 workers, 70.6% of all employees). We calculated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for mental distress (defined as K6 score ≥10) in the domain of disaster-work-related stressors, work-related stressors, and disaster-related stressors. Results Among those with better levels of workplace communication, the only factor that increased the risk of mental distress was not taking a non-work day each week (adjusted OR 2.55, 95% CI 1.27–5.14). Among those with poorer levels of workplace communication, in addition to not taking a non-work day each week (adjusted OR 3.93, 95% CI 3.00–5.15), handling residents’ complaints (adjusted OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.00–2.42), having dead or missing family members (adjusted OR 2.87, 95% CI 1.53–5.38), and living in a shelter more than two months after the disaster (adjusted OR 2.80, 95% CI 1.32–5.95) increased the risk of mental distress. Conclusions All workers should be encouraged to take a non-work day each week. Among workers with poor workplace communication, special attention should be given to those who handle residents’ complaints, have lost a family member(s), and are living in a shelter for a prolonged period of time. PMID:24857952

The lost children.

PubMed

Smith, S

1999-03-01

Women who have lost children to perinatal complications, are subjected to pain and grief continuously; however their agony increases on remembrance days such as birthdate, or on Mother's Day. Fathers, siblings and grandparents suffer too. Common disorders of pregnancy, such as pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), or the more serious pre-eclampsia, HELLP syndrome, or eclampsia, can lead to devastating effects such as miscarriage, stillbirth, or neonatal death; or at the very least, a sick infant. With many of these consequences, the loss of the dreams, hopes and plans that parents have made is imminent. The investigation of the psychosocial aspects of 'high-risk' pregnancy has never been fully addressed. However, the threat of loss, or the actual experience, may provoke the onset of a potential psychological crisis during the perinatal period. Therefore, it is important that these issues be addressed by the nurse in order to aid the development of coping mechanisms to enable women and their families to deal with what may happen. This may be done by predicting the stages of the bereavement process experienced by these women and their family members, as outlined in the Kubler-Ross model of bereavement (1969), which is indicative of many types of grief reactions. Other issues including the restriction in activity, uncertainty of pregnancy outcomes, disruption in work or career activities, financial strains, and reduced labour and birthing options, become concerns for high-risk pregnant women. The way women deal with these issues and the pathways nurses can take to help these women develop effective coping strategies, will be addressed also.

Time evolution of surface chlorophyll patterns from cross-spectrum analysis of satellite color images

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Denman, Kenneth L.; Abbott, Mark R.

1988-01-01

The rate of decorrelation of surface chlorophyll patterns as a function of the time separation between pairs of images was determined from two sequences of CZCS images of the Pacific Ocean area adjacent to Vancouver Island, Canada; cloud-free subareas were selected that were common to several images separated in time by 1-17 days. Image pairs were subjected to two-dimensional autospectrum and cross-spectrum analysis in an array processor, and squared coherence estimates found for several wave bands were plotted against time separation, in analogy with a time-lagged cross correlation function. It was found that, for wavelengths of 50-150 km, significant coherence was lost after 7-10 days, while for wavelengths of 25-50 km, significant coherence was lost after only 5-7 days. In both cases, offshore regions maintained coherence longer than coastal regions.

3 CFR 9015 - Proclamation 9015 of September 10, 2013. Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... never undo the pain and injustice borne that terrible morning, nor will we ever forget those we lost. On... such great evil. As we mark the anniversary of September 11, I invite all Americans to observe a...

3 CFR 8559 - Proclamation 8559 of September 10, 2010. Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... at the heart of our country. The Americans we lost came from every color, faith, and station. They... as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set...

Sports injuries profile of a first division Brazilian soccer team: a descriptive cohort study.

PubMed

Reis, Guilherme F; Santos, Thiago R T; Lasmar, Rodrigo C P; Oliveira Júnior, Otaviano; Lopes, Rômulo F F; Fonseca, Sérgio T

2015-01-01

To establish the injury profile of soccer players from a first division Brazilian soccer team. In addition, we investigated the association between the characteristics of the injuries and the player's age and position. Forty-eight players from a Brazilian first division soccer team were followed during one season. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the injury profile. Spearman's tests were used to verify the association between the number and severity of injuries and the player's age. Chi-square test was used to verify the association between type of injury and player's position. Fisher's exact test was used to verify the association between the severity of injuries and player's position. The incidence of injuries was 42.84/1000 hours in matches and 2.40/1000 hours in training. The injury severity was 19.5±34.4 days off competition or training. Lower limb was the most common location of injury and most injuries were muscular/tendinous, overuse, non-recurrent, and non-contact injuries. Player's age correlated with the amount and severity of muscle and tendon injuries. Defenders had more minimal injuries (1-3 days lost), while forwards had more moderate (8-28 days lost) and severe injuries (>28 days lost). Furthermore, wingbacks had more muscle and tendon injuries, while midfielders had more joint and ligament injuries. The injury profile of the Brazilian players investigated in this study reflected regional differences in soccer practices. Results confirm the influence of the player's age and position on the soccer injuries profile.

Risk factors for non-fatal occupational injuries among construction workers: A case-control study.

PubMed

Khashaba, E; El-Helaly, M; El-Gilany, A H; Motawei, S M; Foda, S

2018-02-01

Substance abuse is a serious problem, because it affects both workers and young people. Prevalence and consequences of cannabis abuse among construction workers in particular are not well studied in Egypt. To determine the association between non-fatal occupational injuries among construction workers and their demographic and occupational factors and to assess the frequency of cannabis abuse and its relationship to injury severity and workdays lost. A case-control study was conducted at Mansoura Emergency Hospital. Cases were 100 acutely injured male workers. A control group of 90 healthy age-matched workers was selected from 8 construction sites. Workers were interviewed, and a questionnaire was completed that included socio-demographic data, full occupational history, and causes and type of injury. Injury outcome measures included lost workdays and the injury severity score (ISS). Cannabis abuse in injured workers was monitored by preliminary testing of urine and confirmatory testing of blood. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the independent predictors of occupational injuries were rural residence, being a carpenter or painter and past history of injuries. The most common accidents were slipping falls (62%). Confirmed cannabis test was positive in 51.1% of the injured workers. Median days away from work were greater among cannabis users than non-users. The ISS was significantly higher among users compared to non-users ( p < 0.05). Cannabis abuse can increase injury severity and prolong workdays lost. Drug testing is recommended for at-risk construction workers with inadequate safety measures.

Weight change in the term baby in the first 2 weeks of life.

PubMed

Crossland, D S; Richmond, S; Hudson, M; Smith, K; Abu-Harb, M

2008-04-01

Midwives once used serial weighing to highlight lactation problems, but this is now discouraged for the fear of undermining maternal confidence. To explore weight changes in healthy newborn term babies, to gain information to aid interpretation of such measurements and to construct a centile chart for those exclusively breastfed during the first 2 weeks. Two hundred ninety-nine mothers weighed their baby daily using the same electronic scales. In 46 cases, three or more consecutive measurements were omitted leaving 253 series to evaluate, of which 111 were exclusively breastfed. Breastfed babies lost a mean 6.4% of birthweight (95% CI: 5.5-7.3%) before starting to gain, and 54% took more than 8 days to regain birthweight. Artificially fed babies lost less (3.7%, 95% CI: 2.7-4.7%), but 39% had not regained their birthweight by 8 days. Once birthweight was regained, average gain was about 1% of birthweight per day in both breast- and artificially-fed babies. Measurements less than 5 days apart predicted average weight gain poorly. Feeding problems should be considered if weight is not increasing by 6 days, but some healthy babies take 17 days to regain their birthweight.

Assessment of nursing management and utilization of nursing resources with the RAFAELA patient classification system--case study from the general wards of one central hospital.

PubMed

Rainio, Anna-Kaisa; Ohinmaa, Arto E

2005-07-01

RAFAELA is a new Finnish PCS, which is used in several University Hospitals and Central Hospitals and has aroused considerable interest in hospitals in Europe. The aim of the research is firstly to assess the feasibility of the RAFAELA Patient Classification System (PCS) in nursing staff management and, secondly, whether it can be seen as the transferring of nursing resources between wards according to the information received from nursing care intensity classification. The material was received from the Central Hospital's 12 general wards between 2000 and 2001. The RAFAELA PCS consists of three different measures: a system measuring patient care intensity, a system recording daily nursing resources, and a system measuring the optimal nursing care intensity/nurse situation. The data were analysed in proportion to the labour costs of nursing work and, from that, we calculated the employer's loss (a situation below the optimal level) and savings (a situation above the optimal level) per ward as both costs and the number of nurses. In 2000 the wards had on average 77 days below the optimal level and 106 days above it. In 2001 the wards had on average 71 days below the optimal level and 129 above it. Converting all these days to monetary and personnel resources the employer lost 307,745 or 9.84 nurses and saved 369,080 or 11.80 nurses in total in 2000. In 2001 the employer lost in total 242,143 or 7.58 nurses and saved 457,615 or 14.32 nurses. During the time period of the research nursing resources seemed not have been transferred between wards. RAFAELA PCS is applicable to the allocation of nursing resources but its possibilities have not been entirely used in the researched hospital. The management of nursing work should actively use the information received in nursing care intensity classification and plan and implement the transferring of nursing resources in order to ensure the quality of patient care. Information on which units resources should be allocated to is needed in the planning of staff resources of the whole hospital. More resources do not solve the managerial problem of the right allocation of resources. If resources are placed wrongly, the problems of daily staff management and cost control continue.

Internal connections and conversations: the internalized other interview in bereavement work.

PubMed

Moules, Nancy J

Much of the work of grief lies in the ways the bereaved learn to maintain connection to the deceased in their lives, while living alongside the physical absence of them. The theory of an Internalized Other Interview is that we carry within ourselves impressions, memories, beliefs, assessments, doctrines, and codes of those who have shaped our lives through relationship. This internalized community of commentators is active in our lives on a day-to-day basis, but when someone dies, their active voice in the dialogue is shifted to a perceived inactivity. However, I argue that, despite the physical absence of the other, the voice continues to resonate and interact in our formation of our worlds. How our loved ones live on inside us influences who we are in the world and in our bereavement. As a result of our research and clinical work, I have come to believe that the active interviewing of the deceased person as internalized in the bereaved can have powerful and healing effects. In this article, I share the results of the research related to this intervention, describe the history located in Internalized Other Interviewing, and offer a transcription of an Internalized Other Interview with a young man and his family who recently lost both his brother and father.

Education and cost/benefit ratios in pulmonary patients.

PubMed

Folgering, H; Rooyakkers, J; Herwaarden, C

1994-04-01

The need for education of pulmonary patients stems from bad symptom perception, problems in using instruments for assessment of the severity of obstruction, problems in understanding and using (inhaled) medications, and lack in insight in the process of the underlying disease. Education of asthma patients usually leads to better management of the disease, less visits to doctors, less hospital admissions, and less days lost at school or at work. The use of medication often increases. Quality of life improves after an education program. The cost-benefit balance usually is favourable. The effects of education in COPD patients is equivocal. The costs usually are high; the benefits are substantially less than in the asthma group.

NASA Day of Remembrance

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-01-29

Stennis Space Center Director Gene Goldman (left) and Deputy Director Patrick Scheuermann place a wreath in StenniSphere in memory of the 17 astronauts lost in service of the space program since 1967. The wreath was placed during NASA's 2009 Day of Remembrance, observed each year on the last Thursday of January.

2017 A Day of Remembrance

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-01-26

Apollo launch team member John Tribe addresses guests at Kennedy Space Center's Day of Remembrance ceremony. Held this year in the Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, the annual event honors the contributions of all astronauts who lost their lives in the quest for space exploration.

An empirical study of employment and disability over three years among survivors of major disasters.

PubMed

Rasco, Sarah S; North, Carol S

2010-01-01

This study was designed to clarify the relationship between exposure to disaster and future employment. Survivors of seven disasters and their employment histories were prospectively followed over three years. At the time of the disasters, 86 percent were working, and at follow-up, 84 percent were working. All of the 261 individuals employed on the day of the disaster described themselves as not disabled at follow-up, although one individual who dropped out of the workforce to become a self-described housewife shortly after the disaster and who developed PTSD may have left the workforce because of lasting emotional effects of the disaster. The reasons she provided for changing job status were not disaster related, however. Long-standing employment disability was virtually nonexistent in this highly exposed sample of trauma survivors, but it is possible that some cases of PTSD-related disability were lost to follow-up. Further work is needed to explore psychological disability in other trauma survivor populations.

Prevalence and burden of headache disorders in Lithuania and their public-health and policy implications: a population-based study within the Eurolight Project.

PubMed

Rastenytė, Daiva; Mickevičienė, Dalia; Stovner, Lars Jacob; Thomas, Hallie; Andrée, Colette; Steiner, Timothy J

2017-12-01

The Eurolight project assessed the impact of headache disorders in ten EU countries, using the same structured questionnaire but varying sampling methods. In Lithuania, sample selection employed methods in line with consensus recommendations for population-based burden-of-headache studies. The survey was cross-sectional. We identified, from the Residents' Register Service, a sample of inhabitants of Kaunas city and surrounding Kaunas region reflecting age (in the range 18-65 years), gender and rural/urban distributions of Lithuania. Medical students called unannounced at their homes and conducted face-to-face interviews employing a structured questionnaire. Of 1137 people in the pre-identified sample, 573 (male 237 [41.4%], female 336 [58.6%]; mean age 40.9 ± 13.8 years) completed interviews (participation proportion: 50.4%). Gender-adjusted 1-year prevalences were: any headache 74.7%; migraine 18.8%; tension-type headache (TTH) 42.2%; all headache on ≥15 days/month 8.6%; probable medication-overuse headache (pMOH) 3.2%. Migraine (OR: 3.6) and pMOH (OR: 2.9) were associated with female gender. All headache types except TTH were associated with significantly diminished quality of life. Migraine caused a mean 4.5% loss in paid worktime per affected male and 3.5% per affected female. Lost per-person times due to TTH were much less, but to pMOH and other headache on ≥15 days/month much higher. Among the entire workforce, lost productivity to migraine was estimated at 0.7%, to TTH 0.3% and to pMOH or other headache on ≥15 days/month 0.5%. The total of 1.5% may translate directly into lost GDP. Alternative calculations based on headache yesterday (with little recall error) produced, for all headache, a corroborating 1.7%. Similar losses from household work would also drain the nation's economy. Our findings were comparable to those from earlier studies using similar methods in Russia and Georgia. The multiple burdens from headache in Lithuania indicate substantial ill-health and unmet need for health care. The heavy burdens on individuals are matched by heavy economic burden. Of particular concern is the high prevalence of headache on ≥15 days/month, seen also in Russia and Georgia. Health policy in Lithuania must heed WHO's advice that effective treatment of headache, clearly desirable for its health benefits, is also expected to be cost-saving.

Investigation of a Novel PLGA/CaP Scaffold in the Healing of Tooth Extraction Sockets to Alveolar Bone Preservation in Humans.

PubMed

Araujo-Pires, Ana Claudia; Mendes, Vanessa Cristina; Ferreira-Junior, Osny; Carvalho, Paulo Sérgio Perri; Guan, Limin; Davies, John Edward

2016-06-01

It is expected that 40% to 60% of initial alveolar bone volume will be lost up to 6 months after tooth extraction. OsteoScaf(TM) (TRT, Toronto, ON, Canada) (poly (DL-lactide-co-glycololide/calcium phosphate [PLGA/CaP] scaffold) is a novel bone substitute material and represents a promising alternative for maintaining alveolar bone integrity in this clinical scenario. Here it was hypothesized that OsteoScaf would reduce alveolar bone lost after tooth extraction in patient, acting as a clot-retention device. A total of 10 patients (32 sockets) were included in the study, of which 16 sockets were grafted with OsteoScaf and 16 were used as control (coagulum alone). Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) was performed both immediately following extraction and also at 120 days postoperatively, at which time biopsy samples were also harvested for histological analyses. Quantitative analysis of CBCT showed less bone resorption in the OsteoScaf groups, being 10.5% to 14.4% less bone lost in the center of the socket, 15.4% in the buccal region, and 12.6% in the palatal. Qualitative histological analysis showed new bone tissue in direct apposition to the scaffold - demonstrating its osteoconductive nature. OsteoScaf diminished the expected bone lost during the postextraction remodeling of the alveolar bone ridge at 120 days postextraction. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

3 CFR 8413 - Proclamation 8413 of September 10, 2009. Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... lives we lost 8 years ago. On a bright September day, innocent men, women, and children boarded planes... brave men and women in uniform who continue to protect our country at home and abroad. In April, I was... next great chapter in our Nation’s history and ensure that future generations continue to enjoy the...

National trends in occupational injuries before and after 1992 and predictors of workers' compensation costs.

PubMed

Bhushan, Abhinav; Leigh, J Paul

2011-01-01

Numbers and costs of occupational injuries and illnesses are significant in terms of morbidity and dollars, yet our understanding of time trends is minimal. We investigated trends and addressed some common hypotheses regarding causes of fluctuations. We pulled data on incidence rates (per 100 full-time employed workers) for injuries and illnesses from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and on costs and benefits from the National Academy of Social Insurance for 1973 through 2007. Rates reflected all injury and illness cases, lost work-time cases, and cases resulting in at least 31 days away from work. We adjusted dollar costs (premiums) and benefits for inflation and measured them per employed worker. We plotted data in time-trend charts and ran linear regressions. From 1973 to 1991, there was a weak to nonexistent downward trend for injury and illness rates, and rates were strongly and negatively correlated with the unemployment rate. From 1992 to 2007, there were strong, consistent downward trends, but no longer were there statistically significant correlations with unemployment. Significant predictors (and signs) of workers' compensation premiums for 1973-2007 included medical price inflation (positive), number of lost-time injuries (positive), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (negative), and inflation-adjusted interest rate on U.S. Treasury bonds (negative). Dollars of benefits were positively and significantly predicted by medical inflation and number of lost-time cases. For 1992-2007, the Dow Jones variable was the only robust predictor of premiums; the number of injuries was not a significant positive predictor. We had two major conclusions. First, the year 1992 marked a sharp contrast in trends and correlations between unemployment and incidence rates for occupational injuries and illnesses. Second, for the entire time period (1973-2007), insurance carriers' premiums were strongly associated with returns on investments.

National Trends in Occupational Injuries Before and After 1992 and Predictors of Workers' Compensation Costs

PubMed Central

Bhushan, Abhinav; Leigh, J. Paul

2011-01-01

Objective Numbers and costs of occupational injuries and illnesses are significant in terms of morbidity and dollars, yet our understanding of time trends is minimal. We investigated trends and addressed some common hypotheses regarding causes of fluctuations. Methods We pulled data on incidence rates (per 100 full-time employed workers) for injuries and illnesses from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and on costs and benefits from the National Academy of Social Insurance for 1973 through 2007. Rates reflected all injury and illness cases, lost work-time cases, and cases resulting in at least 31 days away from work. We adjusted dollar costs (premiums) and benefits for inflation and measured them per employed worker. We plotted data in time-trend charts and ran linear regressions. Results From 1973 to 1991, there was a weak to nonexistent downward trend for injury and illness rates, and rates were strongly and negatively correlated with the unemployment rate. From 1992 to 2007, there were strong, consistent downward trends, but no longer were there statistically significant correlations with unemployment. Significant predictors (and signs) of workers' compensation premiums for 1973–2007 included medical price inflation (positive), number of lost-time injuries (positive), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (negative), and inflation-adjusted interest rate on U.S. Treasury bonds (negative). Dollars of benefits were positively and significantly predicted by medical inflation and number of lost-time cases. For 1992–2007, the Dow Jones variable was the only robust predictor of premiums; the number of injuries was not a significant positive predictor. Conclusion We had two major conclusions. First, the year 1992 marked a sharp contrast in trends and correlations between unemployment and incidence rates for occupational injuries and illnesses. Second, for the entire time period (1973–2007), insurance carriers' premiums were strongly associated with returns on investments. PMID:21886322

Characteristics of occupational musculoskeletal disorders of five sectors in service industry between 2004 and 2013.

PubMed

Choi, Hyun-Woo; Kim, Young-Ki; Kang, Dong-Mug; Kim, Jong-Eun; Jang, Bo-Young

2017-01-01

' Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs)' have been mostly reported in the manufacturing industry but recently the occurrence of industrial injuries has been constantly increasing in the service industry. This research is going to analyze the data about workers' compensation for WRMSDs in five different service sectors and identify characteristics of occupations with the highest approved occupations. According to the data released from the Korea Worker's Compensation & Welfare Service, the overview of 12,730 cases of workers' compensation for WRMSDs in five service sectors from 2004 to 2013 is going to be analyzed and the source data is going to be classified by the Korean Standard Classification of Occupations to select the top five occupations that have the highest number of approval. After selecting each five occupations from the service sector that have work related musculoskeletal disorders, the result showed that the occupation with the highest number of approval in the health and social care sector were the early childhood educators, cooks in the school canteens in education services sector, garbage collectors in the sanitation and similar services sector, deliverymen in wholesale and retail, consumer goods repair and building cleaners in general management businesses such as those in building maintenance. The major event observed in the top five occupations was the overexertion and reaction as a cause of WRMSDs. The day when the WRMSDs mostly occurred was on Monday and the most likely time was 10 am. The median days away from work and lost working days are 29-90 days and 0-50 days respectively. The difference in each occupation was observed in year of service, age, and gender. 83.21% of the approved cases of workers' compensation for WRMSDs occurred in the top 25 occupations in all of the five service sectors, which meant that the approval of workers' compensation is concentrated in specific occupations. This research is going to suggest preventive measures for work related musculoskeletal disorders in the service industry and to help prioritize the preventive measures. Not applicable.

[Has application of the decree banning the use of cement with a high chromium VI content led to a reduction in occupational cement dermatitis in salaried workers in the construction industries?].

PubMed

Halioua, Bruno; Bensefa-Colas, Lynda; Crepy, Marie-Noëlle; Bouquiaux, Barbara; Assier, Haudrey; Billon, Stéphane; Chosidow, Olivier

2013-03-01

Active employees in the construction industry are particularly exposed to occupational cement eczema (OCE) which affects the hands in 80 to 90% of cases. The importance of OCE in France and the impact of the application of decree n(o). 2005-577 on 26 May 2005 were estimated from data collected by the Occupational risks division of the French national health insurance fund for salaried workers (CNAMTS). This decree prohibits the placing on the market and use of cement (and preparations containing it) with a chromium VI content above 0.0002% in order to reduce its hazardousness. All cases of OCE reported to and recognized by the CNAMTS between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2008 among construction workers were selected. The following parameters were noted in each case: age, gender, industrial sector concerned, local French National health insurance agency, causal agent and the number of working days lost. The incidence per 100,000 salaried workers could be determined from the total number of salaried workers followed up by occupational medicine as well as those working in the construction industry. For the five years studied, 3698 cases of occupational eczema (OE) were reported in construction workers and this was 17.1% of the total number of cases of OE for all salaried employees (n=12.689). Cement was the causal agent most frequently involved in the construction sector (57.8%, 2139/3698). The annual incidence of OCE decreased from 37.8 to 21.1 new cases per 100,000 employees in the construction industry per year between 2004 and 2008. The total number of days lost from work due to OCE decreased by 39% during the study period. This descriptive study highlights the importance and socio-economic impact of OCE in the construction industry. Application of decree n(o). 2005-577 on 26 May 2005 may explain a reduction in OCE. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

Nutrition in the Bin: A Nutritional and Environmental Assessment of Food Wasted in the UK

PubMed Central

Cooper, Karen A.; Quested, Tom E.; Lanctuit, Helene; Zimmermann, Diane; Espinoza-Orias, Namy; Roulin, Anne

2018-01-01

The UK currently has the most detailed, directly measured data for food wasted in the home. This includes information on the exact types of food wasted. These data allow calculation of the nutrients within that waste, as well as its environmental impact. The results progress the conversation beyond how much food is wasted or its energy content; it permits the implications for nutrition and sustainability to be assessed in detail. Data for UK household food waste were expressed as an average waste per capita for each type of food. Each food type was matched with an item (or group of items) from the UK Composition of Foods (7th Ed). The level of nutrients wasted was compared to UK Reference Nutrient Intakes (RNIs) for adult women (19–50 years, used as a proxy for general population requirements). The data were normalized into “nutrient days” wasted per capita per year, then into the number of complete diet days (for 21 nutrients plus energy). Results show that approximately 42 daily diets were discarded per capita per year. By individual nutrient, the highest losses were vitamin B12, vitamin C, and thiamin (160, 140, and 130 nutrient days/capita/year, respectively). For protein, dietary energy and carbohydrates, 88, 59, and 53 nutrient days/capita/year, respectively, were lost. Substantial losses were also found for under-consumed nutrients in the UK: calcium, which was mostly lost via bakery (27%) and dairy/eggs (27%). Food folate was mainly lost through fresh vegetables/salads (40%) and bakery (18%), as was dietary fiber (31 and 29%, respectively). Environmental impacts were distributed over the food groups, with wasted meat and fish the single largest contribution. For all environmental impacts studied, the largest contribution came from agricultural production. This paper shows that there are areas where interventions preventing food waste and promoting healthy eating could work together (e.g., encouraging consumption of vegetables or tackling overbuying, especially of unhealthy foods). Food manufacturers and retailers, alongside governments and NGOs, have a key role to minimize waste of environmentally impactful, nutrient-dense foods, for instance, by helping influence people’s behaviors with appropriate formulation of products, packaging, portioning, use of promotions, or public education. PMID:29644218

42 CFR 102.81 - Calculation of benefits for lost employment income.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... VACCINES SMALLPOX COMPENSATION PROGRAM Calculation and Payment of Benefits § 102.81 Calculation of benefits... of work lost as a result of a covered injury or its health complications if the smallpox vaccine... based on the smallpox vaccine recipient or vaccinia contact's gross employment income, which includes...

42 CFR 102.81 - Calculation of benefits for lost employment income.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... VACCINES SMALLPOX COMPENSATION PROGRAM Calculation and Payment of Benefits § 102.81 Calculation of benefits... of work lost as a result of a covered injury or its health complications if the smallpox vaccine... based on the smallpox vaccine recipient or vaccinia contact's gross employment income, which includes...

42 CFR 102.81 - Calculation of benefits for lost employment income.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... VACCINES SMALLPOX COMPENSATION PROGRAM Calculation and Payment of Benefits § 102.81 Calculation of benefits... of work lost as a result of a covered injury or its health complications if the smallpox vaccine... based on the smallpox vaccine recipient or vaccinia contact's gross employment income, which includes...

42 CFR 102.81 - Calculation of benefits for lost employment income.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... VACCINES SMALLPOX COMPENSATION PROGRAM Calculation and Payment of Benefits § 102.81 Calculation of benefits... of work lost as a result of a covered injury or its health complications if the smallpox vaccine... based on the smallpox vaccine recipient or vaccinia contact's gross employment income, which includes...

42 CFR 102.81 - Calculation of benefits for lost employment income.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... VACCINES SMALLPOX COMPENSATION PROGRAM Calculation and Payment of Benefits § 102.81 Calculation of benefits... of work lost as a result of a covered injury or its health complications if the smallpox vaccine... based on the smallpox vaccine recipient or vaccinia contact's gross employment income, which includes...

Evaluating sickness absence duration by musculoskeletal and mental health issues: a retrospective cohort study of Scottish healthcare workers.

PubMed

Demou, Evangelia; Smith, Shanley; Bhaskar, Abita; Mackay, Daniel F; Brown, Judith; Hunt, Kate; Vargas-Prada, Sergio; Macdonald, Ewan B

2018-01-26

Sickness absence (SA) among healthcare workers is associated with occupational and non-occupational risk factors and impacts employee health, healthcare delivery and patient health. At the same time, healthcare is one of the employment sectors with the highest rates of work-related ill health in the UK. Musculoskeletal (MSK) and mental health (MH) issues are leading causes of SA, but there is a lack of research on how certain MSK/MH conditions impact on SA duration. The study aim is to determine differences in SA duration by MH and MSK disorders in healthcare employees. Survival analyses were used to estimate SA duration due to MSK and MH problems over 6 years, and Cox's proportional hazards models to determine the HRs of returning to work, using a bespoke Scottish health board database with over 53 000 SA events. SA duration and time to return-to-work (RTW) were estimated for employees by age, gender, job and health conditions. MSK and MH conditions accounted for 27% and 6% of all SA events and 23.7% and 19.5% of all days lost, respectively. Average SA duration was 43.5 days for MSK and 53.9 days for MH conditions. For MSK conditions, employees with low back or neck pain had the fastest RTW (median P 50 : 7 days), whereas employees absent due to depression took the longest (P 50 : 54 days). The most influential sociodemographic variables affecting RTW were age, gender and job category. Using a unique and rich database, we found significant differences in SA duration by presenting condition in healthcare workers. MH conditions, and depression specifically, accounted for the most working days' absence. Significant variations in duration were also observed for MSK conditions. Our findings can inform public health practitioners and healthcare managers of the most significant factors impacting MSK-related and MH-related SA to develop and implement tailored and targeted workplace interventions. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Costs and outcome for serious hand and arm injuries during the first year after trauma - a prospective study.

PubMed

Rosberg, Hans-Eric; Carlsson, Katarina Steen; Cederlund, Ragnhild I; Ramel, Eva; Dahlin, Lars B

2013-05-24

To study costs and outcome for serious hand and arm injuries during the first year after the trauma. In patients with a Hand Injury Severity Score (HISS) > 50, DASH and EQ-5D scores as well as factors related to costs within the health care sector, costs due to lost production and total costs were evaluated. Cox-regression analysis stratifying for mechanism of injury was used to analyse return to work. The majority of the 45 included patients (median 42 years 16-64) were men with severe (n = 9) or major (n = 36) injuries with different type of injuries (amputations n = 13; complex injuries n = 18; major nerve injuries/full house n = 13; burn injury n = 1). DASH and EQ-5D decreased and increased, respectively, significantly over time during one year. Total costs (+34%) and costs of lost production were highest for persons injured at work. Factors associated with higher health care costs were age >50 years (+52%), injury at work (+40%) and partial labour market activity (+66%). Costs of lost production had a significant role in total costs of injury. Patients with major injuries had longer duration of sick leave. Patients with severe injuries were more likely to return to work [(RR 3.76 (95% CI 1.38-10.22) from Cox regression, controlling for age, gender and presence of nerve injury]. Despite the fact that work environments have constantly improved over the last decades, we found that hand injuries at work were most costly both in terms of health care and costs of lost production, although the severity, i.e. HISS, did not differ from injuries occurring at home or during leisure.

Parachuting: a sport of chance and expense.

PubMed

Baiju, D S R; James, L A

2003-03-01

This paper seeks to determine the cost to the NHS associated with treating parachute-related injuries. More specifically, it compares the training received by civilians to that received by military personnel together with the types of parachutes used or the type of jump. It also reviews the information given to civilian jumpers prior to their first jump. Fifty-three jumpers suffered injuries in the period under review. Of these, 32 cases with 41 injuries were transferred to Accident and Emergency Department for treatment. Injuries involved most of the musculoskeletal system. Twenty-six (n=32) patients were admitted for treatment, with an average length of hospital stay of 6.8 days. Post-discharge, the length of time lost from work was 42.8 days. The cost to the NHS was calculated at pound 4026.50 per patient treated. This did not include time lost from work, subsequent follow up or any other secondary procedures. Civilian parachute jumpers were trained for 6.5h compared to 31.5h for military personnel. Twenty-seven patients used rectangular rather than circular parachutes. Thirty of the 41 injuries occurred during static line jumps, with 7 occurring during tandem jumps and only 5 during free-fall jumps. Twenty-three of the 32 jumpers sustained the injury during their first jump. First-time civilian jumpers were given a minimum of information regarding risks and injuries prior to their jump and were inadequately insured against potential injuries. The cost of caring for these patients is substantial when compared to the money that is raised for charity during some of the jumps. Private insurance, with the NHS legally able to claim expenses would help to offset these medical costs. It is also possible that by increasing civilian training, there may be a reduction in the number of injuries sustained by first-time civilian jumpers from 1.1 to 1.2% (11% in charity jumps) to the military figures of 0.22-0.89%.

Incidence and Impact of Selected Infectious Diseases in Childhood.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vital and Health Statistics, 1991

1991-01-01

This report provides estimates of the lifetime and annual incidence of certain infectious diseases of children in various demographic groups. Data on the social and health care impact of the diseases in terms of limited activity, days spent in bed, school days lost, contacts with physicians, hospitalizations, surgery, and use of medication are…

Contact events in rugby union and their propensity to cause injury

PubMed Central

Fuller, Colin W; Brooks, John H M; Cancea, Rebecca J; Hall, John; Kemp, Simon P T

2007-01-01

Objective The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of contact events in professional rugby union matches and to assess their propensity to cause injury. Design The study was a two‐season (2003/2004 and 2005/2006) prospective cohort design. It included 645 professional rugby union players from 13 English Premiership rugby union clubs. The main outcome measures were: incidence of match contact events (events per game); incidence (injuries per 1000 player‐hours and per 1000 contact events), risk (days lost per 1000 player‐hours and per 1000 contact events) and diagnosis of injury; referee's decision. Risk factors were player–player contact, position on pitch and period of play. Results Tackles (221.0 events/game) and rucks (142.5 events/game) were the most common events and mauls (13.6%) and scrums (12.6%) the most penalised. Tackles (701.6 days/1000 player‐hours) were responsible for the greatest loss of time but scrums (213.2 days lost/1000 events) and collisions (199.8 days lost/1000 events) presented the highest risk per event. Conclusions Tackles were the game event responsible for the highest number of injuries and the greatest loss of time in rugby union because they were by far the most common contact event. Collisions were 70% more likely to result in an injury than a tackle and scrums carried a 60% greater risk of injury than a tackle. The relative propensities for contact events to cause injury were rated as: lineout – very low; ruck – low; maul and tackle – average; collision and scrum – high. PMID:17513332

Methods to determine transit losses for return flows of transmountain water in Fountain Creek between Colorado Springs and the Arkansas River, Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kuhn, Gerhard

1988-01-01

Methods were developed by which transit losses could be determined for transmountain return flows in Fountain Creek between Colorado Springs, Colorado, and its confluence with the Arkansas River. The study reach is a complex hydrologic system wherein a substantially variable streamflow interacts with an alluvial aquifer. The study approach included: (1) calibration and verification of a streamflow-routing model that contained a bank-storage-discharge component; (2) use of the model to develop the methods by which transit losses could be calculated; and (3) design of an application method for calculating daily transit loss using the model results. Sources of transit losses that were studied are bank storage, channel storage, and evaporation. Magnitude of bank-storage loss primarily depends on duration of a recovery period during which water lost to bank storage is returned to the stream. Net loss to bank storage can vary from about 50% for a 0-day recovery period to about 2% for a 180-day recovery period. Virtually all water lost to bank storage could be returned to the stream with longer recovery periods. Channel-storage loss was determined to be about 10% of a release quantity. Because the loss on any given day is totally recovered in the form of gains from channel storage on the subsequent day, channel storage is a temporary transit loss. Evaporation loss generally is less than 5% of a given daily transmountain return-flow release, depending on month of year. Evaporation losses are permanently lost from the system. (USGS)

Contact events in rugby union and their propensity to cause injury.

PubMed

Fuller, Colin W; Brooks, John H M; Cancea, Rebecca J; Hall, John; Kemp, Simon P T

2007-12-01

The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of contact events in professional rugby union matches and to assess their propensity to cause injury. The study was a two-season (2003/2004 and 2005/2006) prospective cohort design. It included 645 professional rugby union players from 13 English Premiership rugby union clubs. The main outcome measures were: incidence of match contact events (events per game); incidence (injuries per 1000 player-hours and per 1000 contact events), risk (days lost per 1000 player-hours and per 1000 contact events) and diagnosis of injury; referee's decision. Risk factors were player-player contact, position on pitch and period of play. Tackles (221.0 events/game) and rucks (142.5 events/game) were the most common events and mauls (13.6%) and scrums (12.6%) the most penalised. Tackles (701.6 days/1000 player-hours) were responsible for the greatest loss of time but scrums (213.2 days lost/1000 events) and collisions (199.8 days lost/1000 events) presented the highest risk per event. Tackles were the game event responsible for the highest number of injuries and the greatest loss of time in rugby union because they were by far the most common contact event. Collisions were 70% more likely to result in an injury than a tackle and scrums carried a 60% greater risk of injury than a tackle. The relative propensities for contact events to cause injury were rated as: lineout--very low; ruck--low; maul and tackle--average; collision and scrum--high.

Productivity cost calculations in health economic evaluations: correcting for compensation mechanisms and multiplier effects.

PubMed

Krol, Marieke; Brouwer, Werner B F; Severens, Johan L; Kaper, Janneke; Evers, Silvia M A A

2012-12-01

Productivity costs related to paid work are commonly calculated in economic evaluations of health technologies by multiplying the relevant number of work days lost with a wage rate estimate. It has been argued that actual productivity costs may either be lower or higher than current estimates due to compensation mechanisms and/or multiplier effects (related to team dependency and problems with finding good substitutes in cases of absenteeism). Empirical evidence on such mechanisms and their impact on productivity costs is scarce, however. This study aims to increase knowledge on how diminished productivity is compensated within firms. Moreover, it aims to explore how compensation and multiplier effects potentially affect productivity cost estimates. Absenteeism and compensation mechanisms were measured in a randomized trial among Dutch citizens examining the cost-effectiveness of reimbursement for smoking cessation treatment. Multiplier effects were extracted from published literature. Productivity costs were calculated applying the Friction Cost Approach. Regular estimates were subsequently adjusted for (i) compensation during regular working hours, (ii) job dependent multipliers and (iii) both compensation and multiplier effects. A total of 187 respondents included in the trial were useful for inclusion in this study, based on being in paid employment, having experienced absenteeism in the preceding six months and completing the questionnaire on absenteeism and compensation mechanisms. Over half of these respondents stated that their absenteeism was compensated during normal working hours by themselves or colleagues. Only counting productivity costs not compensated in regular working hours reduced the traditional estimate by 57%. Correcting for multiplier effects increased regular estimates by a quarter. Combining both impacts decreased traditional estimates by 29%. To conclude, large amounts of lost production are compensated in normal hours. Productivity costs estimates are strongly influenced by adjustment for compensation mechanisms and multiplier effects. The validity of such adjustments needs further examination, however. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Estimated Annual Cost of Uterine Leiomyomata in the United States

PubMed Central

CARDOZO, Eden R.; CLARK, Andrew D.; BANKS, Nicole K.; HENNE, Melinda B.; STEGMANN, Barbara J.; SEGARS, James H.

2011-01-01

Objective To estimate the total annual societal cost of uterine fibroids in the United States, based on direct and indirect costs, including associated obstetric complications. Study Design A systematic review of the literature was conducted to estimate the number of women seeking treatment for symptomatic fibroids annually, the costs of medical and surgical treatment, work lost and obstetric complications attributable to fibroids. Total annual costs were converted to 2010 U.S. dollars. A sensitivity analysis was performed. Results The estimated annual direct costs (surgery, hospital admissions, outpatient visits, medications) were $4.1 to $9.4 billion. Estimated lost work costs ranged from $1.55 to $17.2 billion annually. Obstetric outcomes attributed to fibroids resulted in a cost of $238 million to $7.76 billion annually. Uterine fibroids were estimated to cost the US $5.9 to $34.4 billion annually. Conclusions Obstetric complications associated with fibroids contributed significantly to their economic burden. Lost work costs may account for the largest proportion of societal costs due to fibroids. PMID:22244472

[Analysis of occupational chronic n-hexane poisoning economic burden].

PubMed

Yu, Xintian; Qiu, Xingyuan; Bian, Huanfeng; Zhang, Suli; Zhu, Zhiliang; Wu, Junhua

2014-07-01

To study the economic burden caused by occupational chronic n-hexane poisoning. Information about the cost of treatment, compensation, board, wage, diagnosis, escorts, transportation and the days off work were collected in a 34 cases of occupational chronic n-hexane poisoning accident to estimate the economic burden. There were 4 mild, 19 moderate, 11 severe in the 34 cases and the total cost was 6 084 809 yuan. The hospitalization days was respectively (204.0 ± 3.7) d, (226.6 ± 78.3) d and (417.6 ± 94.1) d, averaging (285.8 ± 96.3) d. The treatment cost was respectively 62 525.8, 69 409.7 and 128 155.6 yuan. The compensation was respectively 20 000.0, 20 052.6 and 30 290.9 yuan. The wage was respectively 23 460.0, 26 062.6 and 47 644.0 yuan. The board was respectively 17 566.5, 19 499.8 and 36 230.1 yuan. The days of work was respectively (176.8 ± 3.2) d, (196.4 ± 67.9) d and (361.4 ± 81.6) d, averaging (247.7 ± 83.5). The lost productivity was respectively 1 809 724.8, 2 010 350.4 and 3 699 290.4 yuan. The economic burden of occupational chronic n-hexane poisoning was so heavy that prevention measures should be strengthened.

Family Practitioners' Advice about Taking Time Off Work for Lower Respiratory Tract Infections: A Prospective Study in Twelve European Primary Care Networks.

PubMed

Godycki-Cwirko, Maciek; Nocun, Marek; Butler, Christopher C; Little, Paul; Verheij, Theo; Hood, Kerenza; Fleten, Nils; Kowalczyk, Anna; Melbye, Hasse

2016-01-01

Acute cough and lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) are one of the most important causes of lost working hours. to explore variation and predictors in family practitioners (FPs) advice to patients with LRTIs about taking time off work in different European countries. Prospective observational study in primary care networks in 12 countries, with multilevel mixed-effects binomial logistic regression. 324 FPs recruited 1616 employed adults who presented to primary care with LRTIs. The proportion of patients advised to take time off work varied from 7.6% in the Netherlands to 89.2% in Slovakia, and of these, 88.2% overall were advised to stay off work for seven days or less. None of Finnish or Dutch patients were advised to take more than 7 days off, in contrast to 35.5% of Polish and 27.0% of Slovak patients. The strongest predictors of FPs' advice about time off work were: patient symptoms interfering with normal activities (OR 4.43; P<0.001), fever (2.49; P<0.001), patients feeling generally unwell (2.21; P<0.001), antibiotic prescribing (1.51; P = 0.025) and auscultation abnormality (1.50; P = 0.029). Advice to take time off was not associated with patient reported recovery. There is large variation in FPs' advice given to patients with LRTIs in Europe about taking time off work, which is not explained by differences in patients' reported illness duration, but might be explained by differences in regulations around certification and sick pay. Evidence based guidance for advising patients about taking time off work for this common condition is needed.

The Promise and Perils of Population Research on Same-Sex Families.

PubMed

Reczek, Corinne; Spiker, Russell; Liu, Hui; Crosnoe, Robert

2017-12-01

As a follow-up to our 2016 study, this article presents new findings examining the relationship between same-sex family structure and child health using the 2008-2015 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). After discussing NIHS data problems, we examine the relationship between family structure and a broad range of child well-being outcomes, including school days lost, behavior, parent-rated health, emotional difficulties, and activity limitations. We find both similarities (school days lost, behavior, parent-rated health) and differences (emotional difficulties and activity limitations) across our two studies using different survey years, but our overall conclusions are robust. We further discuss the implications of our findings for future research on this topic, including how to account for biological relatedness in a study on child health in same-sex families.

Rate of degradation of lambda-cyhalothrin and methomyl in grapes (Vitis vinifera L.).

PubMed

Banerjee, Kaushik; Upadhyay, Ajay Kumar; Adsule, Pandurang G; Patil, Sangram H; Oulkar, Dasharath P; Jadhav, Deepak R

2006-10-01

Rates of degradation of lambda-cyhalothrin and methomyl residues in grape are reported. The dissipation behavior of both insecticides followed first-order rate kinetics with similar patterns at standard and double-dose applications. Residues of lambda-cyhalothrin were lost with pre-harvest intervals (PHI) of 12.0-12.5 and 15.0-15.5 days, corresponding to the applications at 25 and 50 g a.i. ha-1, respectively. In the case of methomyl, residues were lost with PHI of 55.0 and 61.0 days, following applications at 1 and 2 kg a.i. ha-1, respectively. The PHI, recommended on the basis of the experimental results, was shown to be effective in minimizing residue load of these insecticides below their maximum residue limits (MRLs) in vineyard samples.

Reclaiming "Lost Prizes": An Interview with Ken McCluskey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Bockern, Steve

2012-01-01

This article presents an interview with Dr. Ken McCluskey, Dean and Professor of Education at the University of Winnipeg. He is known internationally for his work in several areas including: (1) mentoring; (2) attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; (3) at-risk children and youth (where his "Lost Prizes" and related projects serve as…

Return of the Lost Boys to South Sudan: A Strategy to Building a Stronger South Sudan

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

country.2 It was in these Murahiliin raids that the young South Sudanese boys and girls who would become known as the “Lost Boys” were separated...visit the camp reported seeing “only naked bodies, very thin, of boys, as far as the eye could see. They did not even have tukls [huts] to live in.”4...Challenges of the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan Community in Winnipeg” (Working Paper No. WP01-09, University of Winnipeg, 2009). 4 government of

Ability of induced corpora lutea to maintain pregnancy from the third month of gestation to term in cattle.

PubMed

Starbuck, M J; Poole, D H; Inskeep, E K

2006-07-15

The local relationship between the pregnant uterine horn and the CL during maternal recognition of pregnancy is well-documented. It continues beyond that time; pregnancies were maintained in lutectomized cows when CL were induced on the ovary ipsilateral, but not contralateral, to the uterine horn of pregnancy during Days 28-53. This study evaluated factors affecting maintenance of pregnancy by CL induced after Day 53, in lutectomized cows that had received exogenous progesterone from Day 29 to 15 days after induction of a CL. Twenty-four suckled beef cows were lutectomized on Day 29 of gestation; pregnancy was maintained with progesterone from two controlled internal drug releasing (CIDR) inserts, exchanged every 5 days. Beginning on Day 53, ovaries and viability of pregnancy were evaluated by ultrasonography every 5 days. When a follicle >or=10 mm in diameter was present ipsilateral to the fetus, each cow received 1,000 IU of hCG. Following induction of a CL (20 of 24), progesterone was reduced to a single CIDR for 5 days, then removed. Retention of pregnancy was confirmed by rectal palpation and calving. Cows with induced CL maintained pregnancy to term, including four with the CL contralateral to the fetus. Three cows failed to form normal CL by Day 98 and lost pregnancy after removal of exogenous progesterone. One cow that did not respond to hCG lost pregnancy during exogenous progesterone. In conclusion, CL induced after Day 53 maintained pregnancy to term, even when induced contralateral to the pregnant uterine horn.

1,000 Days: Mobilizing Investments for Healthier, More Prosperous Futures

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sullivan, Lucy Martinez; Sakayan, Mannik; Cernak, Kimberly

2018-01-01

Good nutrition during the 1,000-day window between pregnancy and 2 years old can give children the opportunity to reach their full potential. Conversely, malnutrition early in life can cause irreversible damage to a child's brain development and physical growth, leading to a lifetime of poor health and lost potential. Each year, malnutrition costs…

75 FR 32085 - Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 2010

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-07

... they laid down their lives. We mourn with the families and friends of those we have lost, and hope they... Nation's founding, America's sons and daughters have given their lives in service to our country. From... departed our world as heroes and gave their lives for a cause greater than themselves. On Memorial Day, we...

76 FR 56937 - National Days of Prayer and Remembrance, 2011

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-14

... and remembrance the men, women, and children who died in New York City, in Pennsylvania, and at the... we lost is a safer, stronger, and more resilient Nation. Since that day, a generation has come of age.... At home, communities have come together to make us a stronger country, united by our diversity, our...

21 CFR 1301.74 - Other security controls for non-practitioners; narcotic treatment programs and compounders for...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... controlled substances within one business day of discovery of the theft or loss. The supplier is responsible... selected pursuant to paragraph (e) of this section, within one business day of discovery of such theft or... of business; (2) The specific controlled substances lost; (3) Whether the loss of the controlled...

21 CFR 1301.74 - Other security controls for non-practitioners; narcotic treatment programs and compounders for...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... controlled substances within one business day of discovery of the theft or loss. The supplier is responsible... selected pursuant to paragraph (e) of this section, within one business day of discovery of such theft or... of business; (2) The specific controlled substances lost; (3) Whether the loss of the controlled...

Workers' compensation experience of North Carolina residential construction workers, 1986-1994.

PubMed

Dement, J M; Lipscomb, H

1999-02-01

A total of 31,113 workers' compensation claims among 7,400 North Carolina Homebuilders Association (NCHA) members and their subcontractors for the period 1986-1994 were analyzed to calculate workers' compensation claim incidence density rates. For the 7 years studied, the average rate (cases/200,000 work hours) for all claims was 16.40 and the rate for medical or lost time cases was 10.78. Highest rates for cases involving medical costs or paid lost time by mechanism of injury were observed for being struck by an object (3.1), lifting/movement (1.97), falls from a different level (1.13), striking against an object (0.87), and falls on the same level (0.46). Rates by mechanism of injury were highest for muscle strains (2.34), wounds/punctures (2.33), bruises/contusions (1.24), fractures/dislocations (0.98), and injuries to the eyes (0.81). Among medical cost or lost work time cases, body parts with highest injury rates were back/shoulders (1.99), fingers (1.31), leg/knee (1.00), hand/wrist (1.00), foot/ankle (0.86), and eyes (0.82). Injury rates were found to vary substantially among the residential construction trades. For more serious injuries involving medical costs greater than $2,000 or any lost work time, rates were highest for welders and cutters (28.1), insulators (24.3), roofers (19.4), and carpenters (15.3). The same general trends by trade were observed for cases involving paid lost time except that roofers were highest, with a rate of 9.1, followed by insulators (8.5), welders and cutters (5.8), and carpenters (5.8). Rates of falls from a different level resulting in medical costs or lost work time were highest for roofers (5.54), insulators (3.53), carpenters (2.05), and drywall installers (1.99). Descriptive information for falls from a different level resulting in paid lost time during 1993-1994 (n = 219) were reviewed to better determine the causes and circumstances of injuries. Falls from a roof accounted for 25.4 percent of the cases followed by falls involving scaffolds (23.9%) and ladders (20.6%), and falls from ceiling joists, floor joists, or framing (14.8%). Twenty-six work-related deaths occurred with vehicle accidents (n = 6) being the major known cause of death, followed by falls (n = 3), being struck by an object (n = 3), electric shock (n = 2), and contact with energy or chemicals (n = 2). Consistent with other analyses of workers' compensation data, chronic occupational diseases are not well captured in the workers' compensation claims among home builders; therefore, a companion study has examined mortality patterns among North Carolina construction workers.

Staff Judge Advocate Handbook. Revision

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-04-01

4H.. ERRONEOUSLY REPORTED LEAVE 4l ERRONEOUSLY RjtOIE- 41. ERRONEOUSLY REPORIED LOS1 tIME (DAY FO DAY LOST TIME (10 DAY MONTH) - 49 AMPIFI IC REMARKS...with a bad-conduct discharge ( delete if inappropriate); Confinement for months; rorfeiture of 2/3 pay per month for -_ months; and Reduction to the...organization and operational material may be amplified further or tailored through deletion , substitution, or addition within this volume to conform to the

Naval Medical R and D News

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-01-01

person- days were lost among U.S. military personnel due to malaria than to bullets during every military campaign fought in malaria-endemic regions...is Hospital Corpsman Second Class Alison Heads, and the Blue Jacket of the Year award is Hospital Corpsman Third Class Justin L. Heads. Chief...Every Day Is World AIDS Day for the DoD HIV/AIDS Prevention Program SAN DIEGO — The DoD HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP), which is

The association of health risks with on-the-job productivity.

PubMed

Burton, Wayne N; Chen, Chin-Yu; Conti, Daniel J; Schultz, Alyssa B; Pransky, Glenn; Edington, Dee W

2005-08-01

Decreased on-the-job productivity represents a large yet poorly characterized indirect cost to employers. We studied the impact of employee health risk factors on self-reported worker productivity (presenteeism). Using a brief version of the Work Limitation Questionnaire incorporated into a Health Risk Appraisal, 28,375 employees of a national company responded to the survey. The association between health risks and work limitation and each of the four domains was examined. Percentage of lost productivity also was estimated. Ten of 12 health risk factors studied were significantly associated with self-reported work limitations. The strength of the associations varied between risks and the four domains of work limitation. Perception-related risk factors such as life dissatisfaction, job dissatisfaction, poor health, and stress showed the greatest association with presenteeism. As the number of self-reported health risk factors increased, so did the percentage of employees reporting work limitations. Each additional risk factor was associated with 2.4% excess productivity reduction. Medium and high-risk individuals were 6.2% and 12.2% less productive than low-risk individuals, respectively. The annual cost of lost productivity in this corporation was estimated at between 99Mdollars and 185Mdollars or between 1392dollars and 2592dollars per employee. Health risk factors represent additional causes of lost productivity.

Impact of swine influenza and quarantine measures on patients and households during the H1N1/09 pandemic.

PubMed

Teh, Benjamin; Olsen, Karen; Black, Jim; Cheng, Allen C; Aboltins, Craig; Bull, Kirstin; Johnson, Paul D R; Grayson, M Lindsay; Torresi, Joseph

2012-04-01

To assess the secondary attack rates (SAR) and impact of the 2009 H1N1 epidemic in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and the measures implemented to control household transmission. Patients with polymerase chain reaction-confirmed influenza A and pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) were identified from hospital and microbiology laboratory records and asked to take part in a retrospective survey. Information obtained included: the constellation of symptoms, contact history, secondary infection, and household information, including adherence and attitudes towards quarantine measures. The overall SAR of pH1N1 index patients was 30.6%, but a significantly lower SAR was noted with oseltamivir treatment (36.6% vs 22.8%, p < 0.05). The greatest reduction in SAR was observed when index patients aged 0-4 y received oseltamivir (83.3% vs 22.2%, p < 0.01). Quarantine was requested of 65.8% of patients and 92.8% self-reported adhering to recommendations. pH1N1 index patients, the number of median days bed-bound is 2.5 days, being unable or too sick to work for a median of 5.0 days, and lost a median of 7.0 days of work for reasons related to an influenza-like illness. The pH1N1 influenza pandemic had a significant clinical impact on households. Public health interventions such as oseltamivir treatment of index cases were beneficial in reducing secondary attack rates, whilst quarantine measures were found to have high rates of self-reported compliance, understanding, and acceptability.

Work-attributed illness arising from excess heat exposure in Ontario, 2004-2010.

PubMed

Fortune, Melanie K; Mustard, Cameron A; Etches, Jacob J C; Chambers, Andrea G

2013-09-12

To describe the incidence of occupational heat illness in Ontario. Heat illness events were identified in two population-based data sources: work-related emergency department (ED) records and lost time claims for the period 2004-2010 in Ontario, Canada. Incidence rates were calculated using denominator estimates from national labour market surveys and estimates were adjusted for workers' compensation insurance coverage. Proportional morbidity ratios were estimated for industry, occupation and tenure of employment. There were 785 heat illness events identified in the ED encounter records (incidence rate 1.6 per 1,000,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) months) and 612 heat illness events identified in the lost time claim records (incidence rate 1.7 per 1,000,000 FTE months) in the seven-year observation period with peak incidence observed in the summer months. The risk of heat illness was elevated for men, young workers, manual workers and those with shorter employment tenure. A higher proportion of lost time claims attributed to heat illness were observed in the government services, agriculture and construction sectors relative to all lost time claims. Occupational heat illnesses are experienced in Ontario's population and are observed in ED records and lost time claims. The variation of heat illness incidence observed with worker and industry characteristics, and over time, can inform prevention efforts by occupational health services in Ontario.

Safety of herbal medicine in treatment of weight loss

PubMed Central

Najafian, Jamshid; Abdar-Esfahani, Morteza; Arab-Momeni, Morteza; Akhavan-Tabib, Afshan

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND Obesity is a common health problem in both developed and developing countries. There are many unconventional therapies, including herbal medicine, to treat this condition. Some people believe that herbal medicines are safe. This case and review is about adverse complication of treating obesity with some herbal medicine. CASE REPORT A 19 year old male with sever obesity (120 kg) used green tea (15 cups of green tea per day) and an intensive dietary regimen to lose weight. He lost 30 kg after 2 months. At that time, one day after usual exercise he suddenly lost consciousness due to left ventricular fibrillation. CONCLUSION Use of herbal medicine for weight reduction is not always safe. Moreover, for some herbal medicine the risk is sufficient to shift the risk-benefit balance against the use that medicine. PMID:24963315

Surgical wound healing in radio-tagged adult Pacific lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus held on different substrata

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mesa, M.G.; Magie, R.J.; Copeland, E.S.; Christiansen, H.E.

2011-01-01

Radio-tagged adult Pacific lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus held in a raceway with Plexiglas-lined walls and bottom healed more slowly and retained sutures longer than fish held in an all-concrete raceway or one with Plexiglas walls and a cobble-lined bottom. On all substrata, healing depended on when sutures were lost, and fish that lost their sutures in <14 days post-surgery healed faster than those that kept sutures longer. Long-term suture retention led to tissue trauma, infection and poor survival.

Teaching from the Heart: Reflections, Encouragement, and Inspiration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Draper, Sharon M.

This book offers inspiration and encouragement to any person who may have lost sight of the rewards of teaching from a teacher who was the 1997 Teacher of the Year. It features essays, conversations, and poems that can provide a boost when teachers need one. The chapters are: "First Days--My First Days of School, as a Student Teacher, as a…

Remembering Important People On The Day Of The Dead

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Curriculum Review, 2005

2005-01-01

This article describes a project that can help students learn more about historic figures-or remember lost loved ones--with this Day of the Dead project from Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. The purpose is to remember the wonderful things the person did, and to celebrate his or her life. Directions for construction, as well as a suggested list of…

Retrieving the lost fermionic entanglement by partial measurement in noninertial frames

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Xing; Xie, Ying-Mao; Yao, Yao; Li, Yan-Ling; Wang, Jieci

2018-03-01

The initial entanglement shared between inertial and accelerated observers degrades due to the influence of the Unruh effect. Here, we show that the Unruh effect can be completely eliminated by the technique of partial measurement. The lost entanglement could be entirely retrieved or even amplified, which is dependent on whether the optimal strength of reversed measurement is state-independent or state-dependent. Our work provides a novel and unexpected method to recover the lost entanglement under Unruh decoherence and exhibits the ability of partial measurement as an important technique in relativistic quantum information.

Ocular injuries and eye care seeking patterns following injuries among cocoa farmers in Ghana.

PubMed

Bert, Boadi-Kusi Samuel; Rekha, Hansraj; Percy, Mashige Khathutshelo

2016-03-01

The work environment of cocoa farmers exposes them to several ocular hazards that predispose them to eye diseases and injuries. However, the extent of ocular injuries and health seeking patterns following these injuries are unknown among cocoa farmers in Ghana. To determine the prevalence of ocular injuries and health seeking behaviour following injury among cocoa farmers in Ghana. Five hundred and fifty six participants were recruited through simple random sampling using a multistage approach from four cocoa growing districts in Ghana. A structured questionnaire was used to collect relevant information such as demography, ocular hazards and injuries experienced. An ocular examination was also conducted to assess the eye health of the participants. Descriptive and regression statistics were used to analyze the data. The rate of ocular injuries was calculated by using the number of injuries reported that resulted in lost work time/days divided by the number of worker years at risk of injury (sum of years worked in cocoa farms for all the participants). The rate of ocular injuries was 11.3/1000 worker years (95% CI: 9.4 - 31) which led to lost work time of 37.3/1000 worker years (95% CI: 34.1 - 40.8). The major causes of ocular injury were plants/branches (n=73, 51.1%), chemicals (n=27, 18.9%), cocoa pod/husk (n=14, 9.8%) and occurred mostly during weeding, harvesting and chemical spraying. Few (n=34, 6.1%) participants reported the use of ocular protection. Fifty-five (38.5%) participants visited the local chemical shops, while 37 (25.9%) visited hospitals/clinics for ocular treatment of their injuries. There is a high rate of ocular injuries among cocoa farmers who make insufficient use of appropriate eye care services. There is the need for eye health education among cocoa farmers in Ghana.

Kinetics of the metal components of intratracheally instilled stainless steel welding fume suspensions in rats.

PubMed

Kalliomäki, P L; Hyvärinen, H K; Aitio, A; Lakoma, E L; Kalliomäki, K

1986-02-01

The kinetics of iron, chromium, nickel, and cobalt from manual metal arc and metal inert gas stainless steel welding fumes were studied. Neutron activated welding fumes, in aqueous suspensions, were instilled intratracheally into rats. The follow up continued for up to 106 days. From both fumes, approximately 10% of the injection bolus was immediately lost into the gastrointestinal tract, to be recovered in the faeces within three days. Thereafter, a pronounced difference was seen in the kinetics of the two types of fumes. After the first day, chromium, nickel, and iron were lost from the lungs with half times of about 53, 49, and 73 days after exposure to MMA/SS fumes, whereas practically no loss could be seen in the metal components of the metal inert gas welding fumes within two months. The disposition of chromium from MMA/SS fumes closely resembled that of intratracheally instilled water soluble chromates. On the other hand, the disappearance of trivalent chromium from MIS/SS fumes was considerably slower than that of the practically water insoluble chromates, or even of trivalent chromium salts. Thus the physical characteristics of the fume appreciably affect the kinetics of the clearance of chromium compounds from the lungs.

Posttraumatic stress among young children after the death of a friend or acquaintance in a terrorist bombing.

PubMed

Pfefferbaum, B; Gurwitch, R H; McDonald, N B; Leftwich, M J; Sconzo, G M; Messenbaugh, A K; Schultz, R A

2000-03-01

The effects of traumatic loss on children who reported a friend or acquaintance killed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing of a federal office building were examined. Twenty-seven children who lost a friend or acquaintance and 27 demographically matched controls were assessed eight to ten months after the bombing. All but three of the children continued to experience posttraumatic stress symptoms. Those who lost a friend watched significantly more bombing-related television coverage than those without losses. Those who lost a friend had significantly more posttraumatic stress symptoms at the time of the assessment than those who lost an acquaintance. Parents and those working with children should be alert to the impact of loss even when it involves nonrelatives.

Whatever happened to "What might have been"? Regrets, happiness, and maturity.

PubMed

King, Laura A; Hicks, Joshua A

2007-10-01

Although lost opportunities and mistaken expectations are unpleasant to think and talk about, these experiences may have a role to play in personality development. Drawing on research using narratives of lost possible selves, the authors review the relations of regrettable experiences to 2 important and independent aspects of maturity, happiness and complexity. Thinking about a lost possible self is related to concurrent regrets, distress, and lowered well-being; however, elaborating on a lost possible self is related, concurrently, to complexity and predicts complexity, prospectively, over time. In this article, the authors describe the role that regrettable experiences have in promoting both happiness and complexity. Finally, expanding on previous work, the authors examine potential affordances of happy maturity and suggest psychological capacities that may promote happy maturity. Copyright 2007 APA, all rights reserved.

Economic Benefits of Achieving Realistic Smoking Cessation Targets in Australia

PubMed Central

Cadilhac, Dominique; Sheppard, Lauren; Cumming, Toby; Pearce, Dora; Carter, Rob

2011-01-01

Objectives. We estimated the economic impact of reductions in the prevalence of tobacco smoking on health, production, and leisure in the 2008 Australian population. Methods. We selected a prevalence target of 15%. Cohort lifetime health benefits were modeled as fewer incident cases of tobacco-related diseases, deaths, and disability-adjusted life-years. We estimated production gains by comparing surveyed participation and absenteeism rates of adult smokers and ex-smokers valued according to the human capital and friction cost approaches. We estimated household production and leisure gains from time use surveys and valued these gains with the appropriate proxy. Results. In the 2008 Australian population, an absolute reduction in smoking prevalence of 8% would result in 158 000 fewer incident cases of disease, 5000 fewer deaths, 2.2 million fewer lost working days, and 3000 fewer early retirements and would reduce health sector costs by AUD 491 million. The gain in workforce production was AUD 415 million (friction cost) or AUD 863 million (human capital), along with gains of 373 000 days of household production and 23 000 days of leisure time. Conclusions. Lowering smoking prevalence rates can lead to substantial economic savings and health benefits. PMID:21164092

Fluorescence Stability of Mercaptopropionic Acid Capped Cadmium Telluride Quantum Dots in Various Biochemical Buffers.

PubMed

Borse, Vivek; Kashikar, Adisha; Srivastava, Rohit

2018-04-01

Quantum dots are the semiconductor nanocrystals having unique optical and electronic properties. Quantum dots are category of fluorescent labels utilized for biological tagging, biosensing, bioassays, bioimaging and in vivo imaging as they exhibit very small size, signal brightness, photostability, tuning of light emission range, longer photoluminescence decay time as compared to organic dyes. In this work, we have synthesized and characterized mercaptopropionic acid capped cadmium telluride quantum dots (MPA-CdTe QDs) using hydrothermal method. The study further reports fluorescence intensity stability of quantum dots suspended in different buffers of varying concentration (1-100 mM), stored at various photophysical conditions. Fluorescence intensity values were reduced with increase in buffer concentration. When the samples were stored at room temperature in ambient light condition the quantum dots suspended in different buffers lost the fluorescence intensity after day 15 (except TRIS II). Fluorescence intensity values were found stable for more than 30 days when the samples were stored in dark condition. Samples stored in refrigerator displayed modest fluorescence intensity even after 300 days of storage. Thus, storage of MPA-CdTe QDs in refrigerator may be the suitable choice to maintain its fluorescence stability for longer time for further application.

Increased Risk of Upper Respiratory Infection in Military Recruits Who Report Sleeping Less Than 6 h per night.

PubMed

Wentz, Laurel M; Ward, Mark D; Potter, Claire; Oliver, Samuel J; Jackson, Sarah; Izard, Rachel M; Greeves, Julie P; Walsh, Neil P

2018-05-09

Professional sleep associations recommend 7-9 h of sleep per night for young adults. Habitually sleeping less than 6 h per night has been shown to increase susceptibility to common cold in otherwise healthy, adult civilians. However, no investigations have examined the importance of sleep duration on upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) and loss of training days in military recruits. The purpose of this study was to describe self-reported sleep duration in a large cohort of military recruits and to assess the relationship between reported sleep duration and incidence of URTI's. We hypothesized that recruits who reported sleeping less than the recommended 7-9 h per night during training suffered a greater incidence of URTI and, as a consequence, lost more training days compared with recruits who met sleep recommendations. Participants included 651 British Army recruits aged 22 ± 3 yr who completed 13 wk of basic military training (67% males, 33% females). Participants were members of 21 platoons (11 male, 10 female) who commenced training across four seasons (19% winter, 20% spring, 29% summer, and 32% autumn). At the start and completion of training, participants completed a questionnaire asking the typical time they went to sleep and awoke. Incidence of physician-diagnosed URTI and lost training days due to URTI were retrieved from medical records. Self-reported sleep duration decreased from before to during training (8.5 ± 1.6 vs. 7.0 ± 0.8 h; p < 0.01). Prior to training, 13% of participants reported sleeping less than the recommended 7 h sleep per night; however, this increased to 38% during training (X2 = 3.8; p= 0.05). Overall, 49 participants (8%) were diagnosed by a physician with at least one URTI and 3 participants (<1%) were diagnosed with two URTI's. After controlling for sex, body mass index, season of recruitment, smoking, and alcohol, participants who reported sleeping less than 6 h per night during training were four times more likely to be diagnosed with URTI compared with participants who slept 7-9 h per night in a logistic regression model (OR 4.4; 95% CI, 1.5-12.9, p < 0.01). On average, each URTI resulted in 2.9 ± 1.5 lost training days. Participants who were diagnosed with URTI had more overall lost training days for any illness compared with participants who did not report a URTI during basic military training (3.3 ± 1.9 vs. 0.4 ± 1.3; p < 0.01). In a large population of British Army recruits, these findings show that more than one third of participants failed to meet sleep duration recommendations during training. Furthermore, those who reported sleeping less than 6 h per night were four times more likely to be diagnosed with an URTI and lost more training days due to URTI. Since sleep restriction is considered a necessary element of military training, future studies should examine interventions to reduce any negative effects on immunity and host defense.

Glial responses, neuron death and lesion resolution after intracerebral hemorrhage in young vs. aged rats.

PubMed

Wasserman, Jason K; Yang, Helen; Schlichter, Lyanne C

2008-10-01

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) usually affects older humans but almost no experimental studies have assessed aged animals. We address how aging alters inflammation, neuron death and lesion resolution after a hemorrhage in the rat striatum. In the normal aged brain, microglia displayed a 'dystrophic' phenotype, with shorter cellular processes and large gaps between adjacent cells, and there was more astrocyte reactivity. The ICH injury was monitored as hematoma volume and number of dying neurons at 1 and 3 days, and the volume of the residual lesion, ventricles and lost tissue at 28 days. Inflammation at 1 and 3 days was assessed from densities of microglia with resting vs. activated morphologies, or expressing the lysosomal marker ED1. Despite an initial delay in neuron death in aged animals, by 28 days, there was no difference in neuron density or volume of tissue lost. However, lesion resolution was impaired in aged animals and there was less compensatory ventricular expansion. At 1 day after ICH, there were fewer activated microglia/macrophages in the aged brain, but by 3 days there were more of these cells at the edge of the hematoma and in the surrounding parenchyma. In both age groups a glial limitans had developed by 3 days, but astrocyte reactivity and the spread of activated microglia/macrophages into the surrounding parenchyma was greater in the aged. These findings have important implications for efforts to reduce secondary injury after ICH and to develop anti-inflammatory therapies to treat ICH in aged humans.

Epidemiology and man-days loss in burn injuries amongst workers in an oil industry.

PubMed

Sarma, B P

2001-08-01

This retrospective study, conducted at the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (Assam Oil Division) Hospital, Digboi, in a period of 5 yr amongst workers of IOC Ltd. (AOD) describes work-associated injuries. Out of 2320 cases of different types of injuries involving workers over this period, 820 (35.3%) occurred at the workplace. 1430 (61.6%) at home or other places and 70 (3.1%) occurred on way to the workplace. Burn injuries were found in 132 cases (5.8% of the total injuries), but constituted 12.6% of the accidents at the workplace. The majority of the other injuries were soft tissue injuries, including sprains 1288 (55.5%) and hand injuries 688 (29.5%). Major burns (above 20% BSB) were found only in 5 cases. The most common sites of involvement in minor burns were the hands (45 cases), the legs (35 cases) and face (20 cases) with the remaining involving the chest and abdomen. Scald injury was observed in 66/132 (50%) cases, contact burns in 13/132 (10%) cases, flame burns in 33/132 (25%) cases, chemical burns in 11/132 (8.3%), and electrical burns in 9/132 (7%) cases. Mortality was 1.5%. Working days lost (man-days loss) in burn injuries was found to be higher in comparison to other injuries of similar severity. Causation of industrial burns is discussed and importance of prevention of burns in industries has been emphasised.

In-hospital rehabilitation after multiple joint procedures of the lower extremities in haemophilia patients: clinical guidelines for physical therapists.

PubMed

De Kleijn, P; Fischer, K; Vogely, H Ch; Hendriks, C; Lindeman, E

2011-11-01

This project aimed to develop guidelines for use during in-hospital rehabilitation after combinations of multiple joint procedures (MJP) of the lower extremities in persons with haemophilia (PWH). MJP are defined as surgical procedures on the ankles, knees and hips, performed in any combination, staged, or during a single session. MJP that we studied included total knee arthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty and ankle arthrodesis. Literature on rheumatoid arthritis demonstrated promising functional results, fewer hospitalization days and days lost from work. However, the complication rate is higher and rehabilitation needs optimal conditions. Since 1995, at the Van Creveldkliniek, 54 PWH have undergone MJP. During the rehabilitation in our hospital performed by experienced physical therapists, regular guidelines seemed useless. Guidelines will guarantee an optimal physical recovery and maximum benefit from this enormous investment. This will lead to an optimal functional capability and optimal quality of life for this elderly group of PWH. There are no existing guidelines for MJP, in haemophilia, revealed through a review of the literature. Therefore, a working group was formed to develop and implement such guidelines and the procedure is explained. The total group of PWH who underwent MJP is described, subdivided into combinations of joints. For these subgroups, the number of days in hospital, complications and profile at discharge, as well as a guideline on the clinical rehabilitation, are given. It contains a general part and a part for each specific subgroup. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Major workplace related accidents in Singapore: A major trauma centre's experience.

PubMed

Ng, Zhi Xu; Teo, Li Tserng; Go, Karen T S; Yeo, Yen Teng; Chiu, Ming Terk

2010-12-01

Major workplace related accidents pose a significant healthcare resource challenge in Singapore. Our study looks at the epidemiology of patients who were admitted for workplace related accidents, in a single institution, with an Injury Severity Score of >9. There were 196 cases of major workplace related accidents admitted between January 2006 and December 2007. The median age of patients admitted was 37 years with a large percentage being males (95.4%) and non-residents (57.1%). The most common ethnic group was Chinese (53.1%) followed by Indians (23.5%). The most common mechanism of injury was fall from height (66.3%) followed by injuries as a result of falling objects at work (21.9%). The percentage of patients who required surgical intervention was 69.9%. Patients admitted for major workplace related accidents had a median length of stay of 5 days in the hospital, a median length of 24 days of medical leave (ML), certifying them unfit for duty and the average cost of stay for each patient was S$11,000. We have a better understanding of the epidemiology and socio-economic impact of workplace related accidents through this study. Workplace related accidents result in significant number of man-days lost from work and monetary cost to employers, medical insurance and the hospital. With an improved understanding, we propose methods to prevent and reduce such accidents in future. A direct consequence of which will be the possible reduction of hospitalisation costs and better allocation of healthcare resources in the future.

Disabling and fatal occupational claim rates, risks, and costs in the Oregon construction industry 1990-1997.

PubMed

Horwitz, Irwin B; McCall, Brian P

2004-10-01

This study estimated injury and illness rates, risk factors, and costs associated with construction work in Oregon from 1990-1997 using all accepted workers' compensation claims by Oregon construction employees (N = 20,680). Claim rates and risk estimates were estimated using a baseline calculated from Current Population Survey data of the Oregon workforce. The average annual rate of lost-time claims was 3.5 per 100 workers. More than 50% of claims were by workers under 35 years and with less than 1 year of tenure. The majority of claimants (96.1%) were male. There were 52 total fatalities reported over the period examined, representing an average annual death rate of 8.5 per 100,000 construction workers. Average claim cost was $10,084 and mean indemnity time was 57.3 days. Structural metal workers had the highest average days of indemnity of all workers (72. 1), highest average costs per claim ($16,472), and highest odds ratio of injury of all occupations examined. Sprains were the most frequently reported injury type, constituting 46.4% of all claims. The greatest accident risk occurred during the third hour of work. Training interventions should be extensively utilized for inexperienced workers, and prework exercises could potentially reduce injury frequency and severity.

The association between employee obesity and employer costs: evidence from a panel of U.S. employers.

PubMed

Van Nuys, Karen; Globe, Denise; Ng-Mak, Daisy; Cheung, Hoiwan; Sullivan, Jeff; Goldman, Dana

2014-01-01

To estimate the employer costs associated with employee obesity. The study used cross-sectional analysis of employee health-risk assessment, disability, workers' compensation, and medical claims data from 2006 to 2008. The study took place in the United States from 2006 to 2008. A panel database with 29,699 employees drawn from a panel of employers and observed for 3 years each (N = 89,097) was used. Workdays lost owing to illness and disability; the cost of medical, short-term disability, and workers' compensation claims; and employees' adjusted body mass indices (BMI) were measured. We model the number and probability of workdays lost from illness, short-term disability, and workers' compensation events; short-term disability and workers' compensation payments; and health care spending as a function of BMI. We estimate spline regression models and fit results using a third-degree fractional polynomial. Probability of disability, workers' compensation claims, and number of days missed owing to any cause increase with BMI above 25, as do total employer costs. The probability of a short-term disability claim increases faster for employees with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, or diabetes. Normal weight employees cost on average $3830 per year in covered medical, sick day, short-term disability, and workers' compensation claims combined; morbidly obese employees cost more than twice that amount, or $8067, in 2011 dollars. Obesity is associated with large employer costs from direct health care and insurance claims and indirect costs from lost productivity owing to workdays lost because of illness and disability.

Search methods that people use to find owners of lost pets.

PubMed

Lord, Linda K; Wittum, Thomas E; Ferketich, Amy K; Funk, Julie A; Rajala-Schultz, Päivi J

2007-06-15

To characterize the process by which people who find lost pets search for the owners. Cross-sectional study. Sample Population-188 individuals who found a lost pet in Dayton, Ohio, between March 1 and June 30, 2006. Procedures-Potential participants were identified as a result of contact with a local animal agency or placement of an advertisement in the local newspaper. A telephone survey was conducted to identify methods participants used to find the pets' owners. 156 of 188 (83%) individuals completed the survey. Fifty-nine of the 156 (38%) pets were reunited with their owners; median time to reunification was 2 days (range, 0.5 to 45 days). Only 1 (3%) cat owner was found, compared with 58 (46%) dog owners. Pet owners were found as a result of information provided by an animal agency (25%), placement of a newspaper advertisement (24%), walking the neighborhood (19%), signs in the neighborhood (15%), information on a pet tag (10%), and other methods (7%). Most finders (87%) considered it extremely important to find the owner, yet only 13 (8%) initially surrendered the found pet to an animal agency. The primary reason people did not surrender found pets was fear of euthanasia (57%). Only 97 (62%) individuals were aware they could run a found-pet advertisement in the newspaper at no charge, and only 1 person who was unaware of the no-charge policy placed an advertisement. Veterinarians and shelters can help educate people who find lost pets about methods to search for the pets' owners.

Decrease the Number of Glovebox Glove Breaches and Failures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hurtle, Jackie C.

2013-12-24

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is committed to the protection of the workers, public, and environment while performing work and uses gloveboxes as engineered controls to protect workers from exposure to hazardous materials while performing plutonium operations. Glovebox gloves are a weak link in the engineered controls and are a major cause of radiation contamination events which can result in potential worker exposure and localized contamination making operational areas off-limits and putting programmatic work on hold. Each day of lost opportunity at Technical Area (TA) 55, Plutonium Facility (PF) 4 is estimated at $1.36 million. Between July 2011 and Junemore » 2013, TA-55-PF-4 had 65 glovebox glove breaches and failures with an average of 2.7 per month. The glovebox work follows the five step safety process promoted at LANL with a decision diamond interjected for whether or not a glove breach or failure event occurred in the course of performing glovebox work. In the event that no glove breach or failure is detected, there is an additional decision for whether or not contamination is detected. In the event that contamination is detected, the possibility for a glove breach or failure event is revisited.« less

Work expectations, cultural sensitivity, schizophrenia, and suicide risk in male patients.

PubMed

Lewine, Richard; Shriner, Brooke

2009-04-01

This study examines the relationship between "vocational lost potential" and suicide risk in a mixed sample of severely and persistently mentally ill psychiatric patients. We hypothesized that increased lost potential would be associated with increased suicide risk indicator ratings and that this relationship would be moderated by patients' social class of origin. One hundred sixty-seven psychiatric patients rated a range of clinical symptoms and vocational expectations, as well as providing sociodemographic information including their parents' years of education (used as a proxy for social class of origin). Contrary to our prediction, the results suggest that individuals from higher social class who experience minimal lost potential may be at a higher risk for suicide than their counterparts with maximal lost potential; this is especially true when based on fathers' educational level. In discussing the clinical implications of our findings, we suggest that a subgroup of individuals' vocational success may depend on first addressing the cognitive conflict inherent in the phenomenon of lost potential.

The estimated cost of "no-shows" in an academic pediatric neurology clinic.

PubMed

Guzek, Lindsay M; Gentry, Shelley D; Golomb, Meredith R

2015-02-01

Missed appointments ("no-shows") represent an important source of lost revenue for academic medical centers. The goal of this study was to examine the costs of "no-shows" at an academic pediatric neurology outpatient clinic. This was a retrospective cohort study of patients who missed appointments at an academic pediatric neurology outpatient clinic during 1 academic year. Revenue lost was estimated based on average reimbursement for different insurance types and visit types. The yearly "no-show" rate was 26%. Yearly revenue lost from missed appointments was $257,724.57, and monthly losses ranged from $15,652.33 in October 2013 to $27,042.44 in January 2014. The yearly revenue lost from missed appointments at the academic pediatric neurology clinic represents funds that could have been used to improve patient access and care. Further work is needed to develop strategies to decrease the no-show rate to decrease lost revenue and improve patient care and access. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Localized Fault Recovery for Nested Fork-Join Programs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kestor, Gokcen; Krishnamoorthy, Sriram; Ma, Wenjing

Nested fork-join programs scheduled using work stealing can automatically balance load and adapt to changes in the execution environment. In this paper, we design an approach to efficiently recover from faults encountered by these programs. Specifically, we focus on localized recovery of the task space in the presence of fail-stop failures. We present an approach to efficiently track, under work stealing, the relationships between the work executed by various threads. This information is used to identify and schedule the tasks to be re-executed without interfering with normal task execution. The algorithm precisely computes the work lost, incurs minimal re-execution overhead,more » and can recover from an arbitrary number of failures. Experimental evaluation demonstrates low overheads in the absence of failures, recovery overheads on the same order as the lost work, and much lower recovery costs than alternative strategies.« less

Comparison of data sources for the surveillance of work injury

PubMed Central

Chambers, Andrea; McLeod, Christopher; Bielecky, Amber; Smith, Peter M

2012-01-01

Objective The objective of this study was to compare the incidence of work-related injury and illness presenting to Ontario emergency departments to the incidence of worker's compensation claims reported to the Ontario Workplace Safety & Insurance Board over the period 2004–2008. Methods Records of work-related injury were obtained from two administrative data sources in Ontario for the period 2004–2008: workers' compensation lost-time claims (N=435 336) and records of non-scheduled emergency department visits where the main problem was attributed to a work-related exposure (N=707 963). Denominator information required to compute the risk of work injury per 2 000 000 work hours, stratified by age and gender was estimated from labour force surveys conducted by Statistics Canada. Results The frequency of emergency department visits for all work-related conditions was approximately 60% greater than the incidence of accepted lost-time compensation claims. When restricted to injuries resulting in fracture or concussion, gender-specific age differences in injury incidence were similar in the two data sources. Between 2004 and 2008, there was a 14.5% reduction in emergency department visits attributed to work-related causes and a 17.8% reduction in lost-time compensation claims. There was evidence that younger workers were more likely than older workers to seek treatment in an emergency department for work-related injury. Conclusions In this setting, emergency department records available for the complete population of Ontario residents are a valid source of surveillance information on the incidence of work-related disorders. Occupational health and safety authorities should give priority to incorporating emergency department records in the routine surveillance of the health of workers. PMID:22267447

Efficiency of overhead ceiling lifts in reducing musculoskeletal injury among carers working in long-term care institutions.

PubMed

Alamgir, Hasanat; Yu, Shicheng; Fast, Catherine; Hennessy, Stephanie; Kidd, Catherine; Yassi, Annalee

2008-05-01

A longitudinal study was conducted in three long-term care facilities to evaluate the effectiveness and cost benefit of overhead lifts in reducing the risk of musculoskeletal injury among healthcare workers. Analysis of injury trends spanning 6 years before intervention (1996-2001) and 4 years after intervention (2002-2005) found a significant and sustained decrease in workers' compensation claims per number of beds and in working days lost per bed. The payback period was estimated under various assumptions and varied from 6.3 to 6.2 years if only direct claim-cost savings were included, and from 2.06 to 3.20 years when indirect savings were added. The significant reductions in injury rates and compensation claims support intervention with overhead ceiling lifts. A more comprehensive evaluation of such programmes should incorporate in the analysis important variables such as staffing ratios, job stresses, injury reporting systems and compensation policies during the study period.

Costs of occupational injuries in agriculture.

PubMed Central

Leigh, J. P.; McCurdy, S. A.; Schenker, M. B.

2001-01-01

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to estimate the costs of job-related injuries in agriculture in the United States for 1992. METHODS: The authors reviewed data from national surveys to assess the incidence of fatal and non-fatal farm injuries. Numerical adjustments were made for weaknesses in the most reliable data sets. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Annual Survey estimate of non-fatal injuries is adjusted upward by a factor of 4.7 to reflect the BLS undercount of farm injuries. To assess costs, the authors used the human capital method that allocates costs to direct categories such as medical expenses, as well as indirect categories such as lost earnings, lost home production, and lost fringe benefits. Cost data were drawn from the Health Care Financing Administration and the National Council on Compensation Insurance. RESULTS: Eight hundred forty-one (841) deaths and 512,539 non-fatal injuries are estimated for 1992. The non-fatal injuries include 281,896 that led to at least one full day of work loss. Agricultural occupational injuries cost an estimated $4.57 billion (range $3.14 billion to $13.99 billion) in 1992. On a per person basis, farming contributes roughly 30% more than the national average to occupational injury costs. Direct costs are estimated to be $1.66 billion and indirect costs, $2.93 billion. CONCLUSIONS: The costs of farm injuries are on a par with the costs of hepatitis C. This high cost is in sharp contrast to the limited public attention and economic resources devoted to prevention and amelioration of farm injuries. Agricultural occupational injuries are an underappreciated contributor to the overall national burden of health and medical costs. PMID:12034913

Costs of occupational injuries in agriculture.

PubMed

Leigh, J P; McCurdy, S A; Schenker, M B

2001-01-01

This study was conducted to estimate the costs of job-related injuries in agriculture in the United States for 1992. The authors reviewed data from national surveys to assess the incidence of fatal and non-fatal farm injuries. Numerical adjustments were made for weaknesses in the most reliable data sets. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Annual Survey estimate of non-fatal injuries is adjusted upward by a factor of 4.7 to reflect the BLS undercount of farm injuries. To assess costs, the authors used the human capital method that allocates costs to direct categories such as medical expenses, as well as indirect categories such as lost earnings, lost home production, and lost fringe benefits. Cost data were drawn from the Health Care Financing Administration and the National Council on Compensation Insurance. Eight hundred forty-one (841) deaths and 512,539 non-fatal injuries are estimated for 1992. The non-fatal injuries include 281,896 that led to at least one full day of work loss. Agricultural occupational injuries cost an estimated $4.57 billion (range $3.14 billion to $13.99 billion) in 1992. On a per person basis, farming contributes roughly 30% more than the national average to occupational injury costs. Direct costs are estimated to be $1.66 billion and indirect costs, $2.93 billion. The costs of farm injuries are on a par with the costs of hepatitis C. This high cost is in sharp contrast to the limited public attention and economic resources devoted to prevention and amelioration of farm injuries. Agricultural occupational injuries are an underappreciated contributor to the overall national burden of health and medical costs.

36 CFR 520.17 - Lost and found.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... immediately referred to the police station. Proper records shall be kept at Police Headquarters of the receipt... Police Headquarters is not claimed by the owner within a period of 60 days, it shall be returned to the...

Towards memory-aware services and browsing through lifelogging sensing.

PubMed

Arcega, Lorena; Font, Jaime; Cetina, Carlos

2013-11-05

Every day we receive lots of information through our senses that is lost forever, because it lacked the strength or the repetition needed to generate a lasting memory. Combining the emerging Internet of Things and lifelogging sensors, we believe it is possible to build up a Digital Memory (Dig-Mem) in order to complement the fallible memory of people. This work shows how to realize the Dig-Mem in terms of interactions, affinities, activities, goals and protocols. We also complement this Dig-Mem with memory-aware services and a Dig-Mem browser. Furthermore, we propose a RFID Tag-Sharing technique to speed up the adoption of Dig-Mem. Experimentation reveals an improvement of the user understanding of Dig-Mem as time passes, compared to natural memories where the level of detail decreases over time.

Distributed hydrological models to quantify ecosystem services and inform land use decisions in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilebore, Beccy; Willis, Kathy

2016-04-01

Landcover conversion is one of the largest anthropogenic threats to ecological services globally; in the EU around 1500 ha of biodiverse land are lost every day to changes in infrastructure and urbanisation. This land conversion directly affects key ecosystem services that support natural infrastructure, including water flow regulation and the mitigation of flood risks. We assess the sensitivity of runoff production to landcover in the UK at a high spatial resolution, using a distributed hydrologic model in the regional land-surface model JULES (Joint UK Land Environment Simulator). This work, as part of the wider initiative 'NaturEtrade', will create a novel suite of easy-to-use tools and mechanisms to allow EU landowners to quickly map and assess the value of their land in providing key ecosystem services.

Non-declarative memory in the rehabilitation of amnesia.

PubMed

Cavaco, S; Malec, J F; Bergquist, T

2005-09-01

The ability of amnesic patients to learn and retain non-declarative information has been consistently demonstrated in the literature. This knowledge provided by basic cognitive neuroscience studies has been widely neglected in neuropsychological rehabilitation of memory impaired patients. This study reports the case of a 43 year old man with severe amnesia following an anterior communicating artery (ACoA) aneurysm rupture. The patient integrated a comprehensive (holistic) day treatment programme for rehabilitation of brain injury. The programme explored the advantages of using preserved non-declarative memory capacities, in the context of commonly used rehabilitation approaches (i.e. compensation for lost function and domain-specific learning). The patient's ability to learn and retain new cognitive and perceptual-motor skills was found to be critical for the patient's improved independence and successful return to work.

Alcohol- and drug-related absenteeism: a costly problem.

PubMed

Roche, Ann; Pidd, Ken; Kostadinov, Victoria

2016-06-01

Absenteeism related to alcohol and other drug (AOD) use can place a substantial burden on businesses and society. This study estimated the cost of AOD-related absenteeism in Australia using a nationally representative dataset. A secondary analysis of the 2013 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (n=12,196) was undertaken. Two measures of AOD-related absenteeism were used: participants' self-reported absence due to AOD use (M1); and the mean difference in absence due to any illness/injury for AOD users compared to abstainers (M2). Both figures were multiplied by $267.70 (average day's wage in 2013 plus 20% on-costs) to estimate associated costs. M1 resulted in an estimation of 2.5 million days lost annually due to AOD use, at a cost of more than $680 million. M2 resulted in an estimation of almost 11.5 million days lost, at a cost of $3 billion. AOD-related absenteeism represents a significant and preventable impost upon Australian businesses. Workplaces should implement evidence-based interventions to promote healthy employee behaviour and reduce AOD-related absenteeism. © 2015 Public Health Association of Australia.

Effects of fasting and refeeding on body composition of captive gray wolves (Canis lupus)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kreeger, T.J.; DelGiudice, G.D.; Mech, L.D.

1997-01-01

We examined the effects of fasting and refeeding on body composition in 9 captive adult gray wolves, Canis lupus (6 males, 3 females), during May-June 1995. Body composition was estimated by the technique of tritiated water dilution. Wolves were immobilized and weighed, baseline blood samples were taken, tritiated water was injected, and additional blood samples were taken before fasting, after 10 d of fasting, and again after 2 d of refeeding. Male wolves lost 8% (P = 0.0001) and females lost 7% body mass (P = 0.01) during the 10 d. Males lost 54% of this mass in water, 28% in fat, and 18% in protein/ash; females lost 58% in water, 20% in fat, and 22% in protein/ash. Upon refeeding, male wolves consumed an average of 6.8 kg (15.3% body mass) of deer meat per day and females consumed 6.4 kg (18.7% body mass). All wolves regained their initial mass. Males regained 24% of this mass in water, 70% in fat, and 6% in protein/ash; females regained 35% in water, 51% in fat, and 14% in protein/ash. This study provided evidence that after prolonged fasting, captive wolves could quickly and efficiently regain lost body mass after refeeding.

Understanding reasons for and outcomes of patients lost to follow-up in antiretroviral therapy programs in Africa through a sampling-based approach.

PubMed

Geng, Elvin H; Bangsberg, David R; Musinguzi, Nicolas; Emenyonu, Nneka; Bwana, Mwebesa Bosco; Yiannoutsos, Constantin T; Glidden, David V; Deeks, Steven G; Martin, Jeffrey N

2010-03-01

Losses to follow-up after initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) are common in Africa and are a considerable obstacle to understanding the effectiveness of nascent treatment programs. We sought to characterize, through a sampling-based approach, reasons for and outcomes of patients who become lost to follow-up. Cohort study. We searched for and interviewed a representative sample of lost patients or close informants in the community to determine reasons for and outcomes among lost patients. Three thousand six hundred twenty-eight HIV-infected adults initiated ART between January 1, 2004 and September 30, 2007 in Mbarara, Uganda. Eight hundred twenty-nine became lost to follow-up (cumulative incidence at 1, 2, and 3 years of 16%, 30%, and 39%). We sought a representative sample of 128 lost patients in the community and ascertained vital status in 111 (87%). Top reasons for loss included lack of transportation or money and work/child care responsibilities. Among the 111 lost patients who had their vital status ascertained through tracking, 32 deaths occurred (cumulative 1-year incidence 36%); mortality was highest shortly after the last clinic visit. Lower pre-ART CD4 T-cell count, older age, low blood pressure, and a central nervous system syndrome at the last clinic visit predicted deaths. Of patients directly interviewed, 83% were in care at another clinic and 71% were still using ART. Sociostructural factors are the primary reasons for loss to follow-up. Outcomes among the lost are heterogeneous: both deaths and transfers to other clinics were common. Tracking a sample of lost patients is an efficient means for programs to understand site-specific reasons for and outcomes among patients lost to follow-up.

Help Kids Stay Safe on the Playground | DoDLive

Science.gov Websites

. One day, as I zoomed past another kid on this imaginary rink, I lost my balance, hit the ice face -first and shot like a hockey puck across its slippery surface before slamming into a chain link fence one else knows I have a fake front tooth, but I am reminded every day of that playground injury many

Stability of Azacitidine in Sterile Water for Injection

PubMed Central

Walker, Scott E; Charbonneau, Lauren F; Law, Shirley; Earle, Craig

2012-01-01

Background: The product monograph for azacitidine states that once reconstituted, the drug may be held for only 30 min at room temperature or 8 h at 4°C. Standard doses result in wastage of a portion of each vial, and the cost of this wastage is significant, adding about $156 000 to annual drug expenditures at the authors’ institution. Objective: To evaluate the stability of azacitidine after reconstitution. Methods: Vials of azacitidine were reconstituted with sterile water for injection. At the time of reconstitution, the temperature of the diluent was 4°C for samples to be stored at 4°C or −20°C and room temperature for samples to be stored at 23°C. Solutions of azacitidine (10 or 25 mg/mL) were stored in polypropylene syringes and glass vials at room temperature (23°C), 4°C, or −20°C. The concentration of azacitidine was determined by a validated, stability-indicating liquid chromatographic method in serial samples over 9.6 h at room temperature, over 4 days at 4°C, and over 23 days at −20°C. The recommended expiry date was determined on the basis of time to reach 90% of the initial concentration according to the fastest observed degradation rates (i.e., lower limit of 95% confidence interval). Results: Azacitidine degradation was very sensitive to temperature but not storage container (glass vial or polypropylene syringe). Reconstitution with cold sterile water reduced degradation. At 23°C, 15% of the initial concentration was lost after 9.6 h; at 4°C, 32% was lost after 4 days; and at −20°C, less than 5% was lost after 23 days. Conclusions: More than 90% of the initial azacitidine concentration will be retained, with 97.5% confidence, if, during the life of the product, storage at 23°C does not exceed 2 h, storage at 4°C does not exceed 8 h, and storage at −20°C does not exceed 4 days. These expiry dates could substantially reduce wastage and cost where the time between doses does not exceed 4 days. PMID:23129863

Evaluation of the Impact of Ambient Temperatures on Occupational Injuries in Spain.

PubMed

Martínez-Solanas, Èrica; López-Ruiz, María; Wellenius, Gregory A; Gasparrini, Antonio; Sunyer, Jordi; Benavides, Fernando G; Basagaña, Xavier

2018-06-01

Extreme cold and heat have been linked to an increased risk of occupational injuries. However, the evidence is still limited to a small number of studies of people with relatively few injuries and with a limited geographic extent, and the corresponding economic effect has not been studied in detail. We assessed the relationship between ambient temperatures and occupational injuries in Spain along with its economic effect. The daily number of occupational injuries that caused at least one day of leave and the daily maximum temperature were obtained for each Spanish province for the years 1994-2013. We estimated temperature-injuries associations with distributed lag nonlinear models, and then pooled the results using a multivariate meta-regression model. We calculated the number of injuries attributable to cold and heat, the corresponding workdays lost, and the resulting economic effect. The study included 15,992,310 occupational injuries. Overall, 2.72% [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.44-2.97] of all occupational injuries were attributed to nonoptimal ambient temperatures, with moderate heat accounting for the highest fraction. This finding corresponds to an estimated 0.67 million (95% CI: 0.60-0.73) person-days of work lost every year in Spain due to temperature, or an annual average of 42 d per 1,000 workers. The estimated annual economic burden is €370 million, or 0.03% of Spain's GDP (€2,015). Our findings suggest that extreme ambient temperatures increased the risk of occupational injuries, with substantial estimated health and economic costs. These results call for public health interventions to protect workers in the context of climate change. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP2590.

Rescue of CD8+ T cell vaccine memory following sublethal γ irradiation.

PubMed

McFarland, Hugh I; Berkson, Julia D; Lee, Jay P; Elkahloun, Abdel G; Mason, Karen P; Rosenberg, Amy S

2015-07-31

Sublethal γ irradiation eliminates CD8+ T cell mediated memory responses. In this work, we explored how these memory responses could be rescued in the aftermath of such exposure. We utilized two models of CD8+ T cell mediated immunity: a mouse model of Listeria monocytogenes (LM) infection in which CD8+ T cells specific for LM expressed antigens (Listeriolysin O, LLO) can be tracked, and a murine skin graft model in which CD8+ T cells mediate rejection across a MHC class I (D(d)) disparity. In the LM immunized mice, LL0 specific CD8+ T memory cells were lost on irradiation, preserved with rapid revaccination with an attenuated strain 1-3 days post-irradiation (PI), and these mice survived a subsequent wild type LM challenge. A genetic "signature of rescue" identified a group of immune-associated mRNA maintained or upregulated following irradiation and rescue. A number of these factors, including IL-36γ, dectin-2 (Clec4n), and mir101c are upregulated rapidly after exposure of mice to sublethal γ radiation alone and are sustained by early, but not later rescue. Such factors will be evaluated as potential therapeutics to replace individual vaccines for global rescue of CD8+ T memory cell responses following sublethal γ irradiation. The skin allograft model mirrored that of the LM model in that the accelerated D(d) skin allograft rejection response was lost in mice exposed to sublethal γ radiation, but infusion of allogeneic D(d) expressing bone marrow cells 1-4 days PI preserved the CD8+ T memory mediated accelerated rejection response, further suggesting that innate immune responses may not always be essential to rescue of CD8+ memory T cells following γ irradiation. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

28 CFR 301.202 - Determination of work-relatedness.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Determination of work-relatedness. 301... INMATE ACCIDENT COMPENSATION Lost-Time Wages § 301.202 Determination of work-relatedness. (a) When the institution safety manager receives notice, or has reason to believe, a work-related injury may result in time...

Work-related factors of presenteeism: The mediating role of mental and physical health.

PubMed

Pohling, Rico; Buruck, Gabriele; Jungbauer, Kevin-Lim; Leiter, Michael P

2016-04-01

Even though work-related factors have been found to play a crucial role in predicting presenteeism, studies investigating established theoretical frameworks of job design features and, in particular, underlying mechanisms are still very scarce. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of the areas of work life according to the Areas of Worklife Scale (AWS; Leiter & Maslach, 2004) on presenteeism. We examined mental and physical health as the underlying process of this relationship and assessed 2 presenteeism outcome measures and their relationship to each other-that is, the frequency of acts of presenteeism and work productivity. Using a cross-sectional design, the study was conducted in a sample of 885 employees from German public service. Results showed that the influence of some, but not all, areas of work life (workload, control, reward, and values) on both acts of presenteeism and health-related lost productivity was mediated by health indicators (well-being and musculoskeletal complaints). Moreover, we found a relationship between health-related lost productivity and acts of presenteeism. The present research clarifies the importance of work-related factors as antecedents of sickness presenteeism. The findings of our study also emphasize the necessity to include both acts of presenteeism and health-related lost productivity in presenteeism research and prevention. Presenteeism should be included as a measure in health prevention interventions because it reflects a crucial part of employee health that is not covered by other measures. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

An evaluation of a weightlifting belt and back injury prevention training class for airline baggage handlers.

PubMed

Reddell, C R; Congleton, J J; Dale Huchingson, R; Montgomery, J F

1992-10-01

This study evaluated the efficacy of a commercially available weightlifting belt in relation to reduction of lumbar injury incident rate and severity of injuries over an 8-month period. The study used 642 baggage handlers working for a major airline company as participants. Four treatment groups were randomly selected: a group receiving the belt only, a group receiving a 1 h training class only, a group receiving both a belt and a 1 h training class, and a control group receiving nothing. Two treatment groups were added which contained participants who discontinued use of the belt prior to the end of an 8-month study period. Results indicated that there were no significant differences for total lumbar injury incident rate, restricted workday case injury incident rate, lost workdays and restricted workdays rate, and worker's compensation rates. There was, however, a marginal significant difference for lost workday case injury incident rate. Groups with participants who wore the belt for a while then discontinued its use had a higher lost day case injury incident rate than did either the group receiving training only or the control group. Compliance was an overriding factor as the belt questionnaire response indicated that 58% of participants in the belt groups discontinued use of the belt before the end of 8 months. Comments made on the survey forms indicated that the belt was too hot. Similarly, comments suggested that the belt rubbed, pinched, and bruised ribs. Based on these results, the weightlifting belt used for this study cannot be recommended for use in aid of lifting during daily work activities of baggage handlers. Results indicate that use of the belts may, in fact, increase the risk of injury when not wearing a belt following a period of wearing a belt. As industries are experimenting with the use of belts, it is recommended that great care be taken in any further evaluation and close attention directed towards injuries which occur when not wearing the belt following a period of wearing the belt (ie, off-the-job injuries).

Quantification of the impact of endometriosis symptoms on health-related quality of life and work productivity.

PubMed

Fourquet, Jessica; Báez, Lorna; Figueroa, Michelle; Iriarte, R Iván; Flores, Idhaliz

2011-07-01

To quantify the impact of endometriosis-related symptoms on physical and mental health status, health-related quality of life, and work-related aspects (absenteeism, presenteeism, work productivity, and activity impairment). Cross-sectional quantitative study. Academic and research institution. Women (n = 193) with self-reported surgically diagnosed endometriosis from the Endometriosis Patient Registry at Ponce School of Medicine and Health Sciences (PSMHS). Anonymous questionnaire divided into three sections consisting of questions from the Patient Health Survey (SF-12), the Endometriosis Health Profile (EHP-5), and the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Survey (WPAI). Quantification of impact of endometriosis symptoms on physical and mental health status, health-related quality of life, absenteeism, presenteeism, work productivity, and activity impairment. Patients had SF-12 scores denoting statistically significant disability in the physical and mental health components. They also reported an average of 7.41 hours (approximately one working day) of work time lost during the week when the symptoms are worse. In addition, the WPAI scores showed a high impact on work-related domains: 13% of average loss in work time (absenteeism), 65% of work impaired (presenteeism), 64% of loss in efficiency levels (work productivity loss), and 60% of daily activities perturbed (activity impairment). Endometriosis symptoms such as chronic, incapacitating pelvic pain and infertility negatively and substantially impact the physical and mental health status, health-related quality of life, and productivity at work of women. Copyright © 2011 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dissipated energy and entropy production for an unconventional heat engine: the stepwise `circular cycle'

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

di Liberto, Francesco; Pastore, Raffaele; Peruggi, Fulvio

2011-05-01

When some entropy is transferred, by means of a reversible engine, from a hot heat source to a colder one, the maximum efficiency occurs, i.e. the maximum available work is obtained. Similarly, a reversible heat pumps transfer entropy from a cold heat source to a hotter one with the minimum expense of energy. In contrast, if we are faced with non-reversible devices, there is some lost work for heat engines, and some extra work for heat pumps. These quantities are both related to entropy production. The lost work, i.e. ? , is also called 'degraded energy' or 'energy unavailable to do work'. The extra work, i.e. ? , is the excess of work performed on the system in the irreversible process with respect to the reversible one (or the excess of heat given to the hotter source in the irreversible process). Both quantities are analysed in detail and are evaluated for a complex process, i.e. the stepwise circular cycle, which is similar to the stepwise Carnot cycle. The stepwise circular cycle is a cycle performed by means of N small weights, dw, which are first added and then removed from the piston of the vessel containing the gas or vice versa. The work performed by the gas can be found as the increase of the potential energy of the dw's. Each single dw is identified and its increase, i.e. its increase in potential energy, evaluated. In such a way it is found how the energy output of the cycle is distributed among the dw's. The size of the dw's affects entropy production and therefore the lost and extra work. The distribution of increases depends on the chosen removal process.

Patterns of postnatal weight changes in infants with very low and extremely low birth weights.

PubMed

Smith, S L; Kirchhoff, K T; Chan, G M; Squire, S J

1994-01-01

To describe (1) short-term postnatal weight loss and gain patterns in infants with very low and extremely low birth weights and (2) the variables that may affect these weight change patterns. Descriptive, retrospective review. University hospital in the intermountain western United States. Sixty-two charts of infants admitted to a university neonatal intensive care unit from July 1990 through November 1992 were reviewed. Infants who weighed 1000 grams or less were categorized as extremely low birth weight (ELBW) and infants weighing 1001 to 1500 grams were categorized as very low birth weight (VLBW). Each group was comprised of 31 infants. Fifty percent of the sample were male, and 50% were female. Eighty-five percent of the sample were Anglo-American, and 15% were non-Anglo-American. Data were collected on a three-part data collection tool and included demographic and treatment variables. A significant difference was found in the maximum percent weight lost between the two groups, with the ELBW group losing a mean of 14.77% of birth weight and the VLBW group losing a mean of 11.35% of birth weight (t = 2.45, p < 0.05). The day the infants reached their nadir weight was significantly different between the two groups. The ELBW group reached their nadir on day of life 7, and the VLBW group reached their nadir on day of life 6 (t = 2.00, p < 0.05). No significant difference was noted in the time to return to birth weight between the two groups, with a mean of 15 days to return to birth weight. Factors associated with postnatal weight changes were intraventricular hemorrhage, use of diuretics and steroids, day of life when nadir weight occurred, and maximum percent of weight lost. Many of the independent variables were significantly interrelated to each other (r = -0.90 to r = 0.91, p < 0.01 to p < 0.001). However, only the variables that correlated with time to return to birth weight were entered into the regression analysis. These variables included number of days diuretics were given before return to birth weight, maximum percent of weight lost, and day of life the infants reached their nadir weight. Number of days diuretics were given before return to birth weight correlated significantly with time to return to birth weight (r = 0.77, F = 26.66, p < 0.0001) although maximum percent of weight lost and day of life the infants reached their nadir weight had a minimal effect. Further research into the effects of diuretic therapy on weight changes in this population of infants may lead to interventions to minimize the negative effects of diuretics on return to birth weight. In addition, the older growth charts may not be applicable to this population of infants. Generation of new growth charts that provide growth curves based on these data could be useful in developing nutritional therapies that would promote growth and possibly decrease the length of hospital stay for these infants.

Inside the virtual casino: a prospective longitudinal study of actual Internet casino gambling.

PubMed

Labrie, Richard A; Kaplan, Sara A; Laplante, Debi A; Nelson, Sarah E; Shaffer, Howard J

2008-08-01

Participation in Internet gambling is growing rapidly, as is concern about its possible effects on the public's health. This article reports the results of the first prospective longitudinal study of actual Internet casino gambling behaviour. Data include 2 years of recorded Internet betting activity by a cohort of gamblers who subscribed to an Internet gambling service during February 2005. We examined computer records of each transaction and transformed them into measures of gambling involvement. The sample included 4222 gamblers who played casino games. The median betting behaviour was to play casino games once every 2 weeks during a period of 9 months. Subscribers placed a median of 49 bets of euro4 each playing day. Subscribers lost a median of 5.5% of total monies wagered. We determined a group of heavily involved bettors whose activity exceeded that of 95% of the sample; these players bet every fifth day during 17.5 months. On each playing day, these most involved bettors placed a median of 188 bets of euro25. Their median percent of wagers lost, 2.5%, was smaller than that lost by the total sample. Our findings suggest that Internet casino betting behaviour results in modest costs for most players, while some, roughly 5%, have larger losses. The findings also show the need to consider time spent as a marker of disordered gambling. These findings provide the evidence to steer public health debates away from speculation and toward the creation of empirically-based strategies to protect the public health.

Does Replacing Sodium Excreted in Sweat Attenuate the Health Benefits of Physical Activity?

PubMed

Turner, Martin J; Avolio, Alberto P

2016-08-01

International guidelines suggest limiting sodium intake to 86-100 mmol/day, but average intake exceeds 150 mmol/day. Participants in physical activities are, however, advised to increase sodium intake before, during and after exercise to ensure euhydration, replace sodium lost in sweat, speed rehydration and maintain performance. A similar range of health benefits is attributable to exercise and to reduction in sodium intake, including reductions in blood pressure (BP) and the increase of BP with age, reduced risk of stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, and reduced risk of osteoporosis and dementia. Sweat typically contains 40-60 mmol/L of sodium, leading to approximately 20-90 mmol of sodium lost in one exercise session with sweat rates of 0.5-1.5 L/h. Reductions in sodium intake of 20-90 mmol/day have been associated with substantial health benefits. Homeostatic systems reduce sweat sodium as low as 3-10 mmol/L to prevent excessive sodium loss. "Salty sweaters" may be individuals with high sodium intake who perpetuate their "salty sweat" condition by continual replacement of sodium excreted in sweat. Studies of prolonged high intensity exercise in hot environments suggest that sodium supplementation is not necessary to prevent hyponatremia during exercise lasting up to 6 hr. We examine the novel hypothesis that sodium excreted in sweat during physical activity offsets a significant fraction of excess dietary sodium, and hence may contribute part of the health benefits of exercise. Replacing sodium lost in sweat during exercise may improve physical performance, but may attenuate the long-term health benefits of exercise.

Effectiveness of a Hospital-Based Work Support Intervention for Female Cancer Patients – A Multi-Centre Randomised Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

Tamminga, Sietske J.; Verbeek, Jos H. A. M.; Bos, Monique M. E. M.; Fons, Guus; Kitzen, Jos J. E. M.; Plaisier, Peter W.; Frings-Dresen, Monique H. W.; de Boer, Angela G. E. M.

2013-01-01

Objective One key aspect of cancer survivorship is return-to-work. Unfortunately, many cancer survivors face problems upon their return-to-work. For that reason, we developed a hospital-based work support intervention aimed at enhancing return-to-work. We studied effectiveness of the intervention compared to usual care for female cancer patients in a multi-centre randomised controlled trial. Methods Breast and gynaecological cancer patients who were treated with curative intent and had paid work were randomised to the intervention group (n = 65) or control group (n = 68). The intervention involved patient education and support at the hospital and improvement of communication between treating and occupational physicians. In addition, we asked patient's occupational physician to organise a meeting with the patient and the supervisor to make a concrete gradual return-to-work plan. Outcomes at 12 months of follow-up included rate and time until return-to-work (full or partial), quality of life, work ability, work functioning, and lost productivity costs. Time until return-to-work was analyzed with Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Results Return-to-work rates were 86% and 83% (p = 0.6) for the intervention group and control group when excluding 8 patients who died or with a life expectancy of months at follow-up. Median time from initial sick leave to partial return-to-work was 194 days (range 14–435) versus 192 days (range 82–465) (p = 0.90) with a hazard ratio of 1.03 (95% CI 0.64–1.6). Quality of life and work ability improved statistically over time but did not differ statistically between groups. Work functioning and costs did not differ statistically between groups. Conclusion The intervention was easily implemented into usual psycho-oncological care and showed high return-to-work rates. We failed to show any differences between groups on return-to-work outcomes and quality of life scores. Further research is needed to study which aspects of the intervention are useful and which elements need improvement. Trial Registration Nederlands Trial Register (NTR) 1658 PMID:23717406

Influenza vaccination in healthy working adults in Russia: observational study of effectiveness and return on investment for the employer.

PubMed

At'kov, O Yu; Azarov, A V; Zhukov, D A; Nicoloyannis, N; Durand, L

2011-03-01

All age groups are affected by influenza infection, resulting in significant medical and economic burden. Influenza infection of healthy working adults can have a marked effect on companies due to lost work days and reduced productivity. Studies in corporate settings have shown that vaccination programmes reduce this burden, although there is a lack of data in Eastern European countries. To determine the effectiveness of influenza vaccination in healthy working adults in Russia and the economic benefits of such a programme from an employer's perspective. In a prospective, non-randomized, non-placebo-controlled, observational study, healthy vaccinated and unvaccinated adults employed at the Russian Railways Public Corporation were followed for 8 months during the 2005-6 influenza season using questionnaires. A first questionnaire was administered at inclusion to collect general employee information; a second questionnaire was administered to collect data on post-vaccination adverse events; and monthly questionnaires were used to gather data on influenza-like illness (ILI). Effectiveness calculations and cost analyses were performed to evaluate the impact of the influenza vaccination programme on employee productivity and costs for the employer. The study vaccine used was the trivalent, inactivated, split vaccine Vaxigrip® (sanofi pasteur, France). A total of 1331 employees volunteered for the study: 701 were vaccinated and 630 were not. The vaccine effectiveness was 70.4% against ILI events and 80.8% against sick leave days. Assuming that employees working with ILI symptoms had a reduced level of productivity (30-70% of normal), cost savings per vaccinated employee ranged from &U20AC;2.13 to &U20AC;5.43. This study showed that an influenza vaccination programme significantly reduced ILI episodes and absenteeism, and may provide a positive return on investment for the employer.

Modelling the effects of exposure to whole-body vibration on low-back pain and its long-term consequences for sickness absence and associated work disability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burdorf, A.; Hulshof, C. T. J.

2006-12-01

BackgroundExposure to whole-body vibration (WBV) is a well-known risk factor for the occurrence of low-back pain (LBP). Little is known about the long-term course of back pain in workers exposed to WBV and the consequences for (temporary) disability, due to lack of cohort studies with sufficiently long follow-up periods. MethodsA systematic review of the literature was performed to assess associations between exposure to WBV and LBP, sickness absence due to low-back disorders and permanent disability. A meta-analysis was used to estimate the prevalences of LBP and sickness absence due to low-back disorders in occupational populations, depending on relevant exposure characteristics. These prevalences were converted into probabilities for transitions between no complaints, LBP, sickness due to LBP, and disability. A Markov model was applied to evaluate a hypothetical cohort of workers without LBP at the start of the cohort and a follow-up of 40 years (40 cycles of 1 year) to reflect a long-life career with continuous exposure to WBV. ResultsIn this hypothetical cohort it was estimated that among workers with the highest exposure to WBV on average about 47 weeks of their working life were lost due to sick leave because of LBP, which is approximately 2.5% of their working life. When all workers on prolonged sick leave for 52 weeks would remain disabled for the rest of their working life, a maximum of 23.4% of their working life could be lost due to high WBV exposure. Among workers without or low exposure to WBV the corresponding losses were 0.8% and 7.8%, respectively. ConclusionThe approach to assess years of work lost due to an occupational exposure may provide a more adequate description for stakeholders than the traditional measures of relative risk or attributable risk fraction. The concept of work years lost may also facilitate a better appreciation of the potential benefits of preventive measures.

2005 Wisconsin traffic crash facts

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2006-11-01

2005 Facts and Figures : 801 persons were killed in Wisconsin motor vehicle traffic crashes. This is an average of : over two lives lost each day on Wisconsin traffic arteries. : 53,462 persons were injured in 37,515 reported injury crashes a...

2004 Wisconsin traffic crash facts

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-07-01

2004 Facts and Figures - 784 persons were killed in Wisconsin motor vehicle traffic crashes. This is an average of two lives lost each day on Wisconsin trafficways. - 55,258 persons were injured in 38,451 reported injury crashes and 714 fatal crashes...

2006 Wisconsin traffic crash facts

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-01-01

2006 Facts and Figures : 712 persons were killed in Wisconsin motor vehicle traffic crashes. This is an average of : more than two lives lost each day on Wisconsin traffic arteries. : 50,236 persons were injured in 35,296 reported injury cras...

Make Each Five Minutes Count

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunter, Madeline

1973-01-01

Every day contains those unavoidable waiting periods, but they need not be unproductive. You can convert waiting time to learning with the help of sponge activities---learning activities which "sop up" those precious droplets of time that would otherwise be lost. (Author)

3 CFR 9064 - Proclamation 9064 of November 27, 2013. World AIDS Day, 2013

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... channel our energy and compassion into science-based results, an AIDS-free generation is within our reach... in appropriate activities to remember those who have lost their lives to AIDS and to provide support...

Sickness absenteeism is associated with sleep problems independent of sleep disorders: results of the 2016 Sleep Health Foundation national survey.

PubMed

Reynolds, Amy C; Appleton, Sarah L; Gill, Tiffany K; Taylor, Anne W; McEvoy, R Douglas; Ferguson, Sally A; Adams, Robert J

2017-10-01

Sleep disorders are associated with sickness absenteeism (SA), at significant economic cost. Correlates of absenteeism are less well described in nonclinical samples. We determined the relationship between markers of inadequate sleep and SA in a sample of 551 working adults aged ≥18 years across Australia. We considered diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and insomnia symptoms, daytime symptoms, and sleepiness with respect to sickness absenteeism (missing ≥1 day of work in the past 28 days because of problems with physical or mental health). Sickness absenteeism was reported by 27.0% of participants and was more frequent in younger participants, university graduates, and those experiencing financial stress. Sickness absenteeism was independently associated with insomnia (odds ratio [OR]=2.5, confidence interval [CI]=1.5-4.0], OSA (OR=9.8, CI=4.7-20.7), sleep aid use (OR=3.0, CI=1.9-4.7), and daytime symptoms (OR=3.0, CI=2.0-4.6) and inversely associated with perception of getting adequate sleep (OR=0.6, CI=0.4-0.9). Associations persisted in the population free of insomnia and/or OSA. In adults without clinical sleep disorders, sleep behaviors are contributing to sickness absenteeism. An increased focus at an organizational level on improvement of sleep hygiene is important to reduce lost work performance. Copyright © 2017 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The impact of a worksite migraine intervention program on work productivity, productivity costs, and non-workplace impairment among Spanish postal service employees from an employer perspective.

PubMed

Vicente-Herrero, Teofila; Burke, Thomas A; Laínez, Miguel J A

2004-11-01

Migraine is associated with a significant productivity loss to employers, who may benefit from making a migraine intervention available to their employees. To evaluate changes in migraine-related productivity and non-workplace impairment associated with a migraine intervention program from the employer perspective. This was a pre-test post-test study of Spanish Postal Service employees with migraine. The intervention consisted of counseling from occupational health physicians and rizatriptan 10 mg for symptomatic treatment of two subsequent migraine headaches. Physicians also prescribed additional medications for migraine prophylaxis, treatment of tension headaches, and rescue medications. Migraine-related work loss and non-workplace impairment (interference with daily and social activities) were self-reported at baseline (pre-intervention) and separately following each migraine headache (post-intervention) with the aid of a diary. Migraine-related work loss was reported as work loss due to absenteeism, reduced productivity while at work, and the sum of the two (total lost work day equivalents [LWDE]). An employer perspective was taken for the cost analysis, and thus productivity costs were the only costs considered. A total of 436 patients comprised the population for analysis. The number of migraine-related LWDE per migraine attack were 0.48 days per migraine headache in the month before the intervention, decreasing to 0.20 days and 0.07 days per migraine headache during the first and second migraine headaches following the intervention (p < 0.0001 vs. baseline). Total migraine-related productivity costs per migraine headache were 34 euros/patient before the intervention, decreasing to 14 euros/patient and 5 euros/patient during the first and second headaches following the intervention (p < 0.0001). Non-workplace activity impairment was also significantly reduced (p < 0.0001) following the intervention. The main limitations of the study were the lack of a parallel control group and the potential for differential recall bias between the usual care and the intervention periods. In addition, the results may not be generalizable to other employers or other countries. This study documents the value of a workplace migraine intervention program, which focused on migraine prevention and rizatriptan-based symptomatic treatment. It also highlights the important role occupational health clinics can play in helping employers and employees reduce the burden of migraine.

Effectiveness of job rotation for preventing work-related musculoskeletal diseases: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Comper, Maria Luiza Caires; Dennerlein, Jack Tigh; Evangelista, Gabriela Dos Santos; Rodrigues da Silva, Patricia; Padula, Rosimeire Simprini

2017-08-01

Job rotation is an organisational strategy widely used on assembly lines in manufacturing industries to mitigate workers' exposure so as to prevent musculoskeletal disorders. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of job rotation for reducing working hours lost due to sick leave resulting from musculoskeletal diseases. The design consisted of a 1-year cluster randomised controlled trial with a blinded assessor. Production sectors of the textile industry were randomised to intervention and control groups. Both groups received ergonomic training. The intervention group performed a job rotation programme. The primary outcome measure was number of working hours lost due to sick leave as a result of musculoskeletal disease (ICD-10). The secondary outcome measures were musculoskeletal symptoms (Yes/No), risk factors for musculoskeletal diseases (0-10), psychosocial factors and fatigue (0-100), general health (0-100), and productivity (0-10). All secondary outcomes were measured at baseline and 12-month follow-up. At the 12-month follow-up, both groups showed an increase in the number of working hours lost due to sick leave for musculoskeletal disease. There was no significant difference between the job rotation intervention group (mean deviation -5.6 hours, 95% CI -25.0 to 13.8) at the 12-month follow-up and the control group. There were no significant differences between groups for the secondary outcomes (p>0.05). The job rotation programme was not effective in reducing the number of working hours lost due to sick leave, decreasing the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms, or improving perception of musculoskeletal pain and workplace risk factors, psychosocial risk factors and productivity. NCT01979731. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

[nutritionDay- an annual cross-sectional audit of nutrition in healthcare].

PubMed

Schindler, Karin; Kosak, Sigrid; Schütz, Tatjana; Volkert, Dorothee; Hürlimann, Barbara; Ballmer, Peter; Hiesmayr, Michael

2014-03-01

nutritionDay is a worldwide project to determine prevalence of symptoms of malnutrition and reduced nutrient intake as well as risk factors and outcome. Individual units can benchmark their data against data from the reference database of the same specialty. Questionnaires are available in 32 languages. 151'666 patients from 4'877 units in 51 countries have participated between 2006 - 2012. In hospitals 8.1 % had a BMI < 18.5, 45.4 % indicated having lost weight and 49.9 % had not eaten normally last week. On nutritionDay 41.5 % ate the full meal at lunch or dinner and 14 % ate nothing. The odds ratio for death in hospital within 30 days was 2.76 [2.50, 3.05] if having lost weight, increased to a maximum of 6.17 [5.54, 6.88] with a history of decreased intake last week and 7.66 [6.72, 8.74] if no intake was found on nutritionDay despite being allowed to eat. All factors remained significant in multivariate analysis. The most frequent reason for not eating is loss of appetite. Only a maximum of one third of all patients that eat nothing receive support with enteral or parenteral nutrition. Disease-related undernutrition is very frequent in hospitals and is associated with poor outcome. nutritionDay is a measurement tool to determine the prevalence of undernutrition and to benchmark regularly nutrition risk factors and level of interventions against a large recent reference database.

Work-related injury underreporting among young workers: prevalence, gender differences, and explanations for underreporting.

PubMed

Tucker, Sean; Diekrager, Dayle; Turner, Nick; Kelloway, E Kevin

2014-09-01

Although notifying an employer of a lost-time work-related injury is a legal requirement in many jurisdictions, employees frequently do not report such injuries. Based on data from 21,345 young part-time Canadian workers (55% male), we found that 21% of respondents had experienced at least one lost-time injury, with about half reporting the injury to an employer and a doctor. Respondents provided 10 reasons for avoiding reporting lost-time injuries, with perceived low severity of the injury, negative reactions of others, and ambiguity about whether work caused the injury as the most common ones. Additional analysis of these categories revealed that young males cited concern about their self-identity as a reason for not reporting an injury more often than young females did. We discuss the findings in terms of implications for management practice (i.e., educating young workers about accurate injury reporting) and public policy. Targeted campaigns should be developed for young workers, especially young male workers, who are less likely to report injuries than young female workers, to understand the importance of and to encourage injury reporting. Copyright © 2014 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Replacement of Lost Lgr5-Positive Stem Cells through Plasticity of Their Enterocyte-Lineage Daughters.

PubMed

Tetteh, Paul W; Basak, Onur; Farin, Henner F; Wiebrands, Kay; Kretzschmar, Kai; Begthel, Harry; van den Born, Maaike; Korving, Jeroen; de Sauvage, Frederic; van Es, Johan H; van Oudenaarden, Alexander; Clevers, Hans

2016-02-04

Intestinal crypts display robust regeneration upon injury. The relatively rare secretory precursors can replace lost stem cells, but it is unknown if the abundant enterocyte progenitors that express the Alkaline phosphate intestinal (Alpi) gene also have this capacity. We created an Alpi-IRES-CreERT2 (Alpi(CreER)) knockin allele for lineage tracing. Marked clones consist entirely of enterocytes and are all lost from villus tips within days. Genetic fate-mapping of Alpi(+) cells before or during targeted ablation of Lgr5-expressing stem cells generated numerous long-lived crypt-villus "ribbons," indicative of dedifferentiation of enterocyte precursors into Lgr5(+) stems. By single-cell analysis of dedifferentiating enterocytes, we observed the generation of Paneth-like cells and proliferative stem cells. We conclude that the highly proliferative, short-lived enterocyte precursors serve as a large reservoir of potential stem cells during crypt regeneration. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

U.S. Army soldiers' perceptions of arthropod pests and their effects on military missions.

PubMed

Mehr, Z A; Rutledge, L C; Echano, N M; Gupta, R K

1997-12-01

A survey was conducted to determine the effects of biting and stinging arthropods on military personnel, operations, and training. Nearly 70% of respondents reported experiencing problems attributable to arthropods. Arthropods obstructed movement and field position, prevented concealment and cover, disrupted maneuvers, and caused panic. Twenty percent of respondents reported attendance at sick call for treatment of bites or stings, and 4% were hospitalized or assigned to quarters. Median lost time was 2 days. Bee, wasp, and ant stings and spider and chigger bites were the most frequent causes of lost time. Additional training on biting and stinging arthropods, use of repellents and other personal protective measures, first aid for bites and stings, and conditions requiring medical attention is needed in field units to enhance mission performance and reduce time lost because of arthropods. Materials for treatment of bites and stings should be included in first-aid kits issued for field use.

Different architectures of creativity: Louis and Nathaniel Kahn.

PubMed

Golinelli, Paola

2014-04-01

The author analyzes Nathaniel Kahn's documentary film My Architect: A Son's Journey, a tribute to the writer-director's father Louis, the famous architect, who died suddenly when Nathaniel was eleven years old. The film's poetic, evocative images form a testimony to the silent working through that Nathaniel did in searching for his lost father and to the complex intertwining of mourning and creativity. Creativity is seen as both the cause and the effect of working through, as it gives life to a new meaning and allows replacement of the lost object by an object found again. Bereavement, symbolization, and the birth of representation appear to be connected with one another, both when the most elementary representations are involved and when the more complex and artistic ones are. Where and when it is possible to recover a representation that can survive the absence of the lost object, there is a potentially creative psychic space that can be made fertile again. © 2014 The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, Inc.

Healthcare resource use, direct and indirect costs of hypoglycemia in type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and nationwide projections. Results of the HYPOS-1 study.

PubMed

Giorda, C B; Rossi, M C; Ozzello, O; Gentile, S; Aglialoro, A; Chiambretti, A; Baccetti, F; Gentile, F M; Romeo, F; Lucisano, G; Nicolucci, A

2017-03-01

To obtain an accurate picture of the total costs of hypoglycemia, including the indirect costs and comparing the differences between type 1 (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). HYPOS-1 was a multicenter, retrospective cohort study which analyzed the data of 2229 consecutive patients seen at 18 diabetes clinics. Data on healthcare resource use and indirect costs by diabetes type were collected via a questionnaire. The domains of inpatient admission and hospital stay, work days lost, and third-party assistance were also explored. Resource utilization was reported as estimated incidence rates (IRs) of hypoglycemic episodes per 100 person-years and estimated costs as IRs per person-years. For every 100 patients with T1DM, 9 emergency room (ER) visits and 6 emergency medical service calls for hypoglycemia were required per year; for every 100 patients with T2DM, 3 ER visits and 1 inpatient admission were required, with over 3 nights spent in hospital. Hypoglycemia led to 58 work days per 100 person-years lost by the patient or a family member in T1DM versus 19 in T2DM. The costs in T1DM totaled €90.99 per person-year and €62.04 in T2DM. Direct and indirect costs making up the total differed by type of diabetes (60% indirect costs in T1DM versus 43% in T2DM). The total cost associated with hypoglycemia in Italy is estimated to be €107 million per year. Indirect costs meaningfully contribute to the total costs associated with hypoglycemia. As compared with T1DM, T2DM requires fewer ER visits and incurs lower indirect costs but more frequent hospital use. Copyright © 2016 The Italian Society of Diabetology, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition, and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Assessment of the prevalence of occupational accidents and their influential actors in an electricity distribution company during a five-year period.

PubMed

Sadeghain, Marzieh; Farid, Ramin Ataei; Dormohammadi, Ali; Aghaei, Habib Allah; Rahmani, Abdolrasoul; Farhadi, Rozita; Eskandari, Rasoul; Karchani, Mohsen

2013-01-01

Occupational accidents have been considered as one of the most important crippling factors contributing to disabilities and life-threatening situations in many countries. This study was conducted to survey the prevalence of occupational accidents and the factors of that lead to injuries in an Electricity Distribution Company during a five-year period. In this descriptive study, the accident report form included items asking about the season of the year when the accident occurred, the ages and the average age of those injured, the type of employment, work experience, nature of the injuries that occurred, parts of the body affected, treatments that were applied, average number of days lost per accident, the levels of education of those involved, and their marital status. Data was analyzed using SPSS. A total of 66 Electricity Distribution Company workers were determined to be suffering from injuries due to accidents. The accidents mostly occurred in the summer (33%). Most of the injured workers (16.7%) belonged to the age groups of 25 to 29 and 40 to 44; there were no accidents reported for workers who were less than 20. About 48% of the accident victims had to be hospitalized. Furthermore, 35% of the accident victims were treated in outpatient clinics, and 7.4% of the accident victims died. We demonstrated that there were significant relationships between: 1) marital status and accidental injuries (P<0.001); 2) the average age of those injured among both permanent and temporary workers (P<0.001), 3) the level of education and the consequences of the accidents (P<0.001), and 4) the average of days lost per accident in both the permanent and temporary workers (P<0.001). In this study, no significant relationships were found between the accident occurrence and age (P>0.05) or work experience and the distribution of the accidents (P>0.05). This study indicated that most of the injuries in these accidents were related to the nature of employment, marital status, and level of education. The results showed the necessity for providing appropriate safety training for the workers.

Assessment of the prevalence of occupational accidents and their influential actors in an electricity distribution company during a five-year period

PubMed Central

Sadeghain, Marzieh; Farid, Ramin Ataei; Dormohammadi, Ali; Aghaei, Habib Allah; Rahmani, Abdolrasoul; Farhadi, Rozita; Eskandari, Rasoul; Karchani, Mohsen

2013-01-01

Background: Occupational accidents have been considered as one of the most important crippling factors contributing to disabilities and life-threatening situations in many countries. This study was conducted to survey the prevalence of occupational accidents and the factors of that lead to injuries in an Electricity Distribution Company during a five-year period. Methods: In this descriptive study, the accident report form included items asking about the season of the year when the accident occurred, the ages and the average age of those injured, the type of employment, work experience, nature of the injuries that occurred, parts of the body affected, treatments that were applied, average number of days lost per accident, the levels of education of those involved, and their marital status. Data was analyzed using SPSS. Results: A total of 66 Electricity Distribution Company workers were determined to be suffering from injuries due to accidents. The accidents mostly occurred in the summer (33%). Most of the injured workers (16.7%) belonged to the age groups of 25 to 29 and 40 to 44; there were no accidents reported for workers who were less than 20. About 48% of the accident victims had to be hospitalized. Furthermore, 35% of the accident victims were treated in outpatient clinics, and 7.4% of the accident victims died. We demonstrated that there were significant relationships between: 1) marital status and accidental injuries (P<0.001); 2) the average age of those injured among both permanent and temporary workers (P<0.001), 3) the level of education and the consequences of the accidents (P<0.001), and 4) the average of days lost per accident in both the permanent and temporary workers (P<0.001). In this study, no significant relationships were found between the accident occurrence and age (P>0.05) or work experience and the distribution of the accidents (P>0.05). Conclusion: This study indicated that most of the injuries in these accidents were related to the nature of employment, marital status, and level of education. The results showed the necessity for providing appropriate safety training for the workers. PMID:26120397

Kinetics of the metal components of intratracheally instilled stainless steel welding fume suspensions in rats.

PubMed Central

Kalliomäki, P L; Hyvärinen, H K; Aitio, A; Lakoma, E L; Kalliomäki, K

1986-01-01

The kinetics of iron, chromium, nickel, and cobalt from manual metal arc and metal inert gas stainless steel welding fumes were studied. Neutron activated welding fumes, in aqueous suspensions, were instilled intratracheally into rats. The follow up continued for up to 106 days. From both fumes, approximately 10% of the injection bolus was immediately lost into the gastrointestinal tract, to be recovered in the faeces within three days. Thereafter, a pronounced difference was seen in the kinetics of the two types of fumes. After the first day, chromium, nickel, and iron were lost from the lungs with half times of about 53, 49, and 73 days after exposure to MMA/SS fumes, whereas practically no loss could be seen in the metal components of the metal inert gas welding fumes within two months. The disposition of chromium from MMA/SS fumes closely resembled that of intratracheally instilled water soluble chromates. On the other hand, the disappearance of trivalent chromium from MIS/SS fumes was considerably slower than that of the practically water insoluble chromates, or even of trivalent chromium salts. Thus the physical characteristics of the fume appreciably affect the kinetics of the clearance of chromium compounds from the lungs. PMID:3947567

Energy-Saving Melting and Revert Reduction Technology (E-SMARRT): Lost Foam Thin Wall - Feasibility of Producing Lost Foam Castings in Aluminum and Magnesium Based Alloys

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fasoyinu, Yemi; Griffin, John A.

2014-03-31

With the increased emphasis on vehicle weight reduction, production of near-net shape components by lost foam casting will make significant inroad into the next-generation of engineering component designs. The lost foam casting process is a cost effective method for producing complex castings using an expandable polystyrene pattern and un-bonded sand. The use of un-bonded molding media in the lost foam process will impose less constraint on the solidifying casting, making hot tearing less prevalent. This is especially true in Al-Mg and Al-Cu alloy systems that are prone to hot tearing when poured in rigid molds partially due to their longmore » freezing range. Some of the unique advantages of using the lost foam casting process are closer dimensional tolerance, higher casting yield, and the elimination of sand cores and binders. Most of the aluminum alloys poured using the lost foam process are based on the Al-Si system. Very limited research work has been performed with Al-Mg and Al-Cu type alloys. With the increased emphasis on vehicle weight reduction, and given the high-strength-to-weight-ratio of magnesium, significant weight savings can be achieved by casting thin-wall (≤ 3 mm) engineering components from both aluminum- and magnesium-base alloys.« less

ADVERSE EVENTS POST-DTAP AND DTwP VACCINATION IN THAI CHILDREN.

PubMed

Fortuna, Librada; Sirivichayakul, Chukiat; Watanaveeradej, Veerachai; Soonthornworasiri, Ngamphol; Sitcharungsi, Raweerat

2015-07-01

We conducted a prospective study to compare the development of fever (axillary T ≥ 37.9 °C) within 4 hours of vaccination, determine the proportion of children who develop high fever (T ≥ 39°C) and evaluate parental days missed from work due to their children's vaccination with either the diphtheria-tetanus-whole cell pertussis (DTwP) or diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine. The results of this study can help physicians and parents decide whether to have their child vaccinated with the DTwP or more expensive DTaP vaccine. We studied 140 healthy Thai children aged 2 months to 6 years from December 2011 to March 2012 who presented for vaccination. Parents recorded their child's temperature, local and systemic adverse reactions and missed days from work due to these adverse events on a diary card. Of the 140 participants, 72 received the DTwP vaccine and 68 received the DTaP vaccine. The median (IQR) age was 4 (2-6) months and the median weight was 7.1 (5.6-8.7) kg. Twenty children developed fever (axillary T ≥ 37.9°C) within 4 hours following vaccination, 17 (23.6%) had received the DTwP vaccine and 3 (4.4%) had received the DTaP vaccine (p = 0.040). One child (1.4%) who had received the DTwP vaccine and none who received the DTaP vaccine developed high fever (T ≥ 39°C) within 4 hours of vaccination (p = 0.329). Parents of two children who received the DTwP vaccine and one child who received the DTaP vaccine missed work following vaccination (p = 0.059). In conclusion, children who received the DTwP vaccines were more likely to have early post-vaccination fever and higher fever but there was no significant difference between the two groups in parental days lost from work.

Long-term cost and life-expectancy consequences of hypertension.

PubMed

Kiiskinen, U; Vartiainen, E; Puska, P; Aromaa, A

1998-08-01

To estimate hypertension's long-term cost and impact on life expectancy. A 19-year individual follow-up study. Subjects were categorized according to their baseline (1972) diastolic blood pressure (DBP) level into three groups: normotensive (DBP < 95 mmHg), mildly hypertensive (DBP 95-104 mmHg), and severely hypertensive (DBP > 104 mmHg). By using their social security identification numbers, we linked the subjects to a set of national registers covering hospital admissions, use of major drugs, absence due to sickness, disability pensions, and deaths. A random population sample of 10 284 men and women aged 25-59 years from the provinces of Kuopio and North Karelia in eastern Finland. The numbers of years of life and years of work lost, the cost of drugs and hospitalization, and the value of productivity lost due to disability and premature mortality. The difference in life expectancy between normotensive and severely hypertensive men was 2.7 years, of which 2.0 years was due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Among women the corresponding differences were 2.0 and 1.5 years. Severely hypertensive men lost 2.6 years of work more than did normotensive men, of which 1.7 years was due to CVD. Among women the differences were 2.2 and 1.3 years. The mean undiscounted total costs (USA dollars at 1992 prices) were $132 500 among normotensive, $146 500 among mildly hypertensive, and $219 300 among severely hypertensive men, of which CVD accounted for 28, 39, and 43%, respectively. More than 90% of the total costs were indirect productivity losses. Among women the total costs were lower for all DBP categories, as were the shares of CVD-related costs. The proportional increase in costs on going from the lowest to the highest DBP category was, however, somewhat larger among women. On the population level, severe hypertension leads to considerable losses in terms of years of life lost, years of work lost, and costs. However, the overall impact of mild hypertension is much more limited.

A Search for Lost Planets in the Kepler Multi-Planet Systems and the Discovery of the Long-Period, Neptune-Sized Exoplanet Kepler-150 f

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmitt, Joseph R.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Fischer, Debra A.

2017-01-01

The vast majority of the 4700 confirmed planets and planet candidates discovered by the Kepler space telescope were first found by the Kepler pipeline. In the pipeline, after a transit signal is found, all data points associated with those transits are removed, creating a Swiss cheese-like light curve full of holes, which is then used for subsequent transit searches. These holes could render an additional planet undetectable (or lost). We examine a sample of 114 stars with 3+ confirmed planets to see the effect that this Swiss cheesing may have. A simulation determined that the probability that a transiting planet is lost due to the transit masking is low, but non-neglible, reaching a plateau at approximately 3.3% lost in the period range of P = 400 - 500 days. We then model the transits in all quarters of each star and subtract out the transit signals, restoring the in-transit data points, and use the Kepler pipeline to search the transit-subtracted (i.e., transit-cleaned) light curves. However, the pipeline did not discover any credible new transit signals. This demonstrates the validity and robustness of the Kepler pipelines choice to use transit masking over transit subtraction. However, a follow-up visual search through all the transit-subtracted data, which allows for easier visual identification of new transits, revealed the existence of a new, Neptune-sized exoplanet. Kepler-150 f (P = 637.2 days, RP = 3.86 R earth) is confirmed using a combination of false positive probability analysis, transit duration analysis, and the planet multiplicity argument.

A SEARCH FOR LOST PLANETS IN THE KEPLER MULTI-PLANET SYSTEMS AND THE DISCOVERY OF A LONG PERIOD, NEPTUNE-SIZED EXOPLANET KEPLER-150 F.

PubMed

Schmitt, Joseph R; Jenkins, Jon M; Fischer, Debra A

2017-04-01

The vast majority of the 4700 confirmed planets and planet candidates discovered by the Kepler space telescope were first found by the Kepler pipeline. In the pipeline, after a transit signal is found, all data points associated with those transits are removed, creating a "Swiss cheese"-like light curve full of holes, which is then used for subsequent transit searches. These holes could render an additional planet undetectable (or "lost"). We examine a sample of 114 stars with 3+ confirmed planets to see the effect that this "Swiss cheesing" may have. A simulation determined that the probability that a transiting planet is lost due to the transit masking is low, but non-neglible, reaching a plateau at ~3.3% lost in the period range of P = 400 - 500 days. We then model the transits in all quarters of each star and subtract out the transit signals, restoring the in-transit data points, and use the Kepler pipeline to search the transit-subtracted (i.e., transit-cleaned) light curves. However, the pipeline did not discover any credible new transit signals. This demonstrates the validity and robustness of the Kepler pipeline's choice to use transit masking over transit subtraction. However, a follow-up visual search through all the transit-subtracted data, which allows for easier visual identification of new transits, revealed the existence of a new, Neptune-sized exoplanet. Kepler-150 f ( P = 637.2 days, R P = 3.86 R ⊕ ) is confirmed using a combination of false positive probability analysis, transit duration analysis, and the planet multiplicity argument.

Alcohol & highway safety laws : a national overview.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1980-02-01

The problems associated with alcohol and highway safety laws can be measured statistically in terms of the number of traffic deaths per day across the nation, or financially in terms of the billions of dollars in lost income from death and disability...

2009 Wisconsin traffic crash facts

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-10-01

2009 Facts and Figures: 542 persons were killed in Wisconsin motor vehicle traffic crashes. This is an average of just over one life lost each day on Wisconsin traffic arteries. 41,589 persons were injured in 29,907 reported injury crashes and 488 fa...

2010 Wisconsin traffic crash facts

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-01-01

562 persons were killed in Wisconsin motor vehicle traffic crashes. This is an average of just over one life lost each day on Wisconsin traffic arteries. : 40,889 persons were injured in 29,380 reported injury crashes and 517 fatal crashes. 3,845, or...

2008 Wisconsin traffic crash facts

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-01-01

2008 Facts and Figures 587 persons were killed in Wisconsin motor vehicle traffic crashes. This is an average of just over one life lost each day on Wisconsin traffic arteries. 46,637 persons were injured in 33,766 reported injury crashes and 542 fat...

2007 Wisconsin traffic crash facts

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-12-01

2007 Facts and Figures - 737 persons were killed in Wisconsin motor vehicle traffic crashes. This is an average of just over two lives lost each day on Wisconsin traffic arteries. - 50,676 persons were injured in 36,048 reported injury crashes and 65...

[NUTRITIONAL STATUS IN THE EXPERIMENT WITH 105-DAY ISOLATION AS THE FIRST PHASE OF PROJECT MARS-500].

PubMed

Agureev, A N; Afonin, B V; Sedova, E A; Solovieva, A A; Valuev, V A; Sidorenko, L A

2015-01-01

In a 105-day experiment simulating crew life in a space exploration vehicle, shifts in the nutritional status were assessed in 6 test subjects differing in the body mass index, basal metabolism, attitude to the diet, physical exercise and workload. Results of the investigation showed that because of the hard physical work the nutritional status of test subjects was described by more intensive basal metabolism, elevated metabolism of carbohydrates and lipids, and their increased mobilization from depots. Food ration, though it was sufficient to sustain health and fairly high performance, failed to meet fully individual taste preferences and energy needs for physical activities. The heavy workloads required mobilization of lipids from adipose depots, and a decrease of the hepatic detoxification and metabolic capacities. Self-limitation of eating protein-rich desserts led to a relative deficiency of protein intake. These faults of the diet were the reason why 4 out of 6 test subjects reduced their basal metabolism and lost body mass. Recovery of metabolism and slowdown of the body mass loss were achieved by supplementing meals with available protein-containing products.

State-Level Estimates of Cancer-Related Absenteeism Costs

PubMed Central

Tangka, Florence K.; Trogdon, Justin G.; Nwaise, Isaac; Ekwueme, Donatus U.; Guy, Gery P.; Orenstein, Diane

2016-01-01

Background Cancer is one of the top five most costly diseases in the United States and leads to substantial work loss. Nevertheless, limited state-level estimates of cancer absenteeism costs have been published. Methods In analyses of data from the 2004–2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau for 2008, and the 2009 Current Population Survey, we used regression modeling to estimate annual state-level absenteeism costs attributable to cancer from 2004 to 2008. Results We estimated that the state-level median number of days of absenteeism per year among employed cancer patients was 6.1 days and that annual state-level cancer absenteeism costs ranged from $14.9 million to $915.9 million (median = $115.9 million) across states in 2010 dollars. Absenteeism costs are approximately 6.5% of the costs of premature cancer mortality. Conclusions The results from this study suggest that lost productivity attributable to cancer is a substantial cost to employees and employers and contributes to estimates of the overall impact of cancer in a state population. PMID:23969498

A history of fish immunology and vaccination I. The early days.

PubMed

Van Muiswinkel, Willem B

2008-10-01

This historic review describes the people that were involved in studying some aspect of fish immunology and vaccination from as early as 1854. Between 1850 and 1940, most scientists were looking at fish from the angle of comparative anatomy, embryology, physiology, taxonomy and fish diseases. Most publications from this early period are describing the morphology of blood cells and hemopoietic or lymphoid organs. The first publications on specific immune responses and vaccination of fish were found in the period 1935-1938. However, the immune mechanisms behind protective immunization were largely unknown in those days. In the period after 1940, the first researchers can be found devoting their whole career to fish immunology. This paper has been organized largely by individuals and not so much by accomplishments. It is not the intent of this review to evaluate the scientific merit of the work discussed, but to provide the reader with information that was - at least in part - lost to the scientific community. Publications from before 1940 or in languages other than English (e.g. Russian) are usually not found by today's database searches on the Internet.

State-level estimates of cancer-related absenteeism costs.

PubMed

Tangka, Florence K; Trogdon, Justin G; Nwaise, Isaac; Ekwueme, Donatus U; Guy, Gery P; Orenstein, Diane

2013-09-01

Cancer is one of the top five most costly diseases in the United States and leads to substantial work loss. Nevertheless, limited state-level estimates of cancer absenteeism costs have been published. In analyses of data from the 2004-2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau for 2008, and the 2009 Current Population Survey, we used regression modeling to estimate annual state-level absenteeism costs attributable to cancer from 2004 to 2008. We estimated that the state-level median number of days of absenteeism per year among employed cancer patients was 6.1 days and that annual state-level cancer absenteeism costs ranged from $14.9 million to $915.9 million (median = $115.9 million) across states in 2010 dollars. Absenteeism costs are approximately 6.5% of the costs of premature cancer mortality. The results from this study suggest that lost productivity attributable to cancer is a substantial cost to employees and employers and contributes to estimates of the overall impact of cancer in a state population.

The impact of physical activity on sickness absence.

PubMed

Lahti, J; Laaksonen, M; Lahelma, E; Rahkonen, O

2010-04-01

The aim of this study was to examine whether the volume and intensity of physical activity are associated with subsequent sickness absence spells of different lengths, and how much of these associations can be explained by socioeconomic position, body mass index (BMI) and physical health functioning. Baseline data were collected by questionnaire surveys in 2000-2002 among 40-60-year-old employees of Helsinki City (n=6465, 79% women). Sickness absence data were derived from the employer's registers (mean follow-up time 3.9 years). Associations of physical activity with shorter (< or =14 days) and longer (>14 days) sickness absence spells were examined, using Poisson's regression analysis. The volume of physical activity was weakly and somewhat inconsistently associated with sickness absence. However, men and women who were vigorously active systematically had reduced risk of sickness absence, whereas the same volume of moderately intensive physical activity did not reduce the risk of sickness absence. Adjusting for BMI and in particular physical health functioning attenuated these associations, after which the associations lost statistical significance. The results suggest that vigorous physical activity is associated with sickness absence and may contribute to better work ability.

Productivity losses associated with diabetes in the US.

PubMed

Ng, Y C; Jacobs, P; Johnson, J A

2001-02-01

The objective of this study was to estimate the cost of productivity losses in the U.S. attributable to diabetes, with regard to specific demographic and disease-related characteristics in the U.S.. We used the 1989 National Health Interview Survey, a random survey of individuals in the U.S. that included a diabetes supplement. Data on individuals were obtained for labor force participation, hours of work, demographic and occupational characteristics, self-reported health status, and several variables that indicated the presence, duration, and severity (complications) of diabetes. Using multivariate regression analyses, we estimated the association of independent variables (e.g., demographics, health, and diabetes status) with labor force participation, hours of work lost, and the economic value of lost work attributable to diabetes and its complications and duration. In general, the presence of diabetes and complications were found to be related to workforce participation variables. The magnitude of the lost-productivity costs depended on personal characteristics and on the presence and status of diabetes. In general, the loss of yearly earnings amounted to about a one-third reduction in earnings and ranged from $3,700 to $8,700 per annum. Diabetes has a considerable net effect on earnings, and the complications and duration of diabetes have compound effects. Our findings have implications for the cost-effectiveness of diabetes control; the presence of complicating factors is the single most important predictive factor in lost productivity costs attributable to diabetes, and thus the avoidance or retardation of complications will have an impact on indirect health-related costs.

[Pharmacoeconomic analysis of community-acquired pneumonia treatment with telithromycin or clarithromycin].

PubMed

Rubio-Terrés, C; Cots, J M; Domínguez-Gil, A; Herreras, A; Sánchez Gascón, F; Chang, J; Trilla, A

2003-09-01

A pharmacoeconomic analysis was carried out comparing the efficacy of two treatment options for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP): telithromycin and clarithromycin. It was a retrospective analysis using a decision tree model. The efficacy of the two treatment options was estimated from a randomized, double-blind clinical trial, in which 800 mg/day oral telithromycin for 10 days was compared to 1000 mg/day oral clarithromycin for 10 days in patients with CAP (162 and 156 respectively). The use of resources was estimated based on the clinical trial and Spanish sources, and the unit costs from a Spanish health costs database. Costs were evaluated for the acquisition of antibiotic treatments, change of antibiotic due to therapeutic failure, hospital admissions, adverse reactions to treatment, primary care visits, tests and indirect costs (working days lost). The model was validated by a panel of Spanish clinical experts. As the clinical trial was designed to show equivalence, there were no significant differences in efficacy between the treatment options (clinical cure rate 88.3% and 88.5%, respectively), and a cost minimization analysis was performed. In the base case, the average cost of the disease per patient was 308.29 euros with telithromycin and 331.5 euros with clarithromycin (a difference of 23.21 euros). The results were stable in the susceptibility analysis, with differences favorable to telithromycin ranging between 5.50 and 45.45 euros. Telithromycin results in a cost savings of up to 45.45 euros per CAP patient compared to clarithromycin.

Working and Living in Northern vs Southern Ontario Is Associated with the Duration of Compensated Time off Work: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

PubMed

Senthanar, S; Kristman, V L; Hogg-Johnson, S

2015-07-01

Northern Ontario, Canada has a larger elder population, more resource-based employment, and limited access to physicians and specialists compared to southern Ontario. Given these important differences, it is possible that work disability rates will vary between the two Ontario jurisdictions. To determine the association between time lost due to workplace injuries and illnesses occurring in northern vs southern Ontario and work disability duration from 2006--2011. The study base included all lost-time claims approved by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board in Ontario, Canada for workplace injury or illness compensation occurring between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2011. All eligible participants had to be 18 years of age or older at the time of making the claim and participants were excluded if one of the three variables used to determine location (claimant home postal code, workplace geographical code, and WSIB firm location) were missing. Multivariable proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals adjusted for sex, age, occupation, part of body, and nature of injury relating Ontario geographical location to compensated time off work. A total of 156 453 lost-time claims were approved over the study period. Injured and ill workers from northern Ontario were 16% less likely to return to work than those from southern Ontario. Adjustment for potential confounding factors had no effect. The disability duration in northern Ontario is longer than that in southern Ontario. Future research should focus on assessing the relevant factors associated with this observation to identify opportunities for intervention.

Women Empowering Women

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anyikwa, Victoria A.; Chiarelli-Helminiak, Christina M.; Hodge, Diane M.; Wells-Wilbon, Rhonda

2015-01-01

As women in this female-centered profession of social work, we have not effectively advocated for ourselves in terms of leadership in our educational systems. We reexamine the 2008 special section of the "Journal of Social Work Education" on women in the academy and build on information that suggests social work has lost its momentum to…

2003 Wisconsin traffic crash facts

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-10-01

2003 Facts and Figures: 836 persons were killed in Wisconsin motor vehicle traffic crashes. This is an average of two lives lost each day on Wisconsin trafficways. The fatality rate per 100 million miles of travel was 1.4, compared to 1.37 in 2002. 5...

Student Accidents in Hawaii's Public Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taketa, Sachiko

1984-01-01

Review of data collected from student accident report forms in Hawaii public schools revealed that the intermediate grade level had the highest number of school accidents. The significant number of accidents and school days lost may warrant the need for better safety education. (Author/DF)

Student Responses to the Women's Reclamation Work in the Philosophy of Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wojcik, Teresa Genevieve; Titone, Connie

2013-01-01

Reclamation work denotes the process of uncovering the lost contributions of women to the philosophy of education, analyzing their works, making them accessible to a larger audience, and (re)introducing them to the historical record and canon. Since the 1970s, scholars have been engaged in the reclamation work, thus making available to students,…

Towards Memory-Aware Services and Browsing through Lifelogging Sensing

PubMed Central

Arcega, Lorena; Font, Jaime; Cetina, Carlos

2013-01-01

Every day we receive lots of information through our senses that is lost forever, because it lacked the strength or the repetition needed to generate a lasting memory. Combining the emerging Internet of Things and lifelogging sensors, we believe it is possible to build up a Digital Memory (Dig-Mem) in order to complement the fallible memory of people. This work shows how to realize the Dig-Mem in terms of interactions, affinities, activities, goals and protocols. We also complement this Dig-Mem with memory-aware services and a Dig-Mem browser. Furthermore, we propose a RFID Tag-Sharing technique to speed up the adoption of Dig-Mem. Experimentation reveals an improvement of the user understanding of Dig-Mem as time passes, compared to natural memories where the level of detail decreases over time. PMID:24196436

[A basic health care center. Care oriented at the community].

PubMed

Marquilles Bonet, C; Quesada Santaulaira, L; Florensa Roca, C; Piñol Jové, M A; Cruz Esteve, I; Rodríguez Rosich, A

1997-01-01

Principle problems of a basic health care area (Lérida) are identified. This area, which has a patient case load of 22,244 people, was studied during the winter of 1993-94 by using information from various sources. Results indicate that the population of this community are basically young, urban, have a high cultural and social level, and are mostly employed. The principle causes of mortality are the same as in the rest of Cataluña. Diseases that cause the most working days lost to illness are: respiratory, mental and bone-joint problems. The most frequent diseases seen in the clinic are: hypertension, respiratory infections, endocrine and mental. An overall look at the state of health of these patients show that the principle problems are: tobacco use, high blood pressure, arthritis, lumbago, depression, stroke, diabetes and breast cancer.

Safety and health perceptions and concerns of custom harvesters.

PubMed

Steffen, R W; Frazier, K W; Watson, D G; Harrison, T V

2007-11-01

This study elicited the perceptions and concerns of custom harvesters regarding safety and health issues faced in their operations, self-perceived knowledge of selected regulations, and self-perceived ability to train employees on the safe operation of equipment. The average age of custom harvesters' (CH) employees was 22 to 25 years (47.2%). The most common length of the harvest season was 5 to 6 months (70.9%). The most common responses to length of work day were 9 to 11 hours (34.5%) and 12 to 14 hours (54.5%). In general, CH ranked combine operation experience as most important when hiring employees. The CH felt inexperience was the leading contributor to lost-time incidents. They were most concerned about DOT regulations and Worker's Compensation rules, but also felt they had a good knowledge of those areas.

State-level medical and absenteeism cost of asthma in the United States.

PubMed

Nurmagambetov, Tursynbek; Khavjou, Olga; Murphy, Louise; Orenstein, Diane

2017-05-01

For medically treated asthma, we estimated prevalence, medical and absenteeism costs, and projected medical costs from 2015 to 2020 for the entire population and separately for children in the 50 US states and District of Columbia (DC) using the most recently available data. We used multiple data sources, including the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, U.S. Census Bureau, Kaiser Family Foundation, Medical Statistical Information System, and Current Population Survey. We used a two-part regression model to estimate annual medical costs of asthma and a negative binomial model to estimate annual school and work days missed due to asthma. Per capita medical costs of asthma ranged from $1,860 (Mississippi) to $2,514 (Michigan). Total medical costs of asthma ranged from $60.7 million (Wyoming) to $3.4 billion (California). Medicaid costs ranged from $4.1 million (Wyoming) to $566.8 million (California), Medicare from $5.9 million (DC) to $446.6 million (California), and costs paid by private insurers ranged from $27.2 million (DC) to $1.4 billion (California). Total annual school and work days lost due to asthma ranged from 22.4 thousand (Wyoming) to 1.5 million days (California) and absenteeism costs ranged from $4.4 million (Wyoming) to $345 million (California). Projected increase in medical costs from 2015 to 2020 ranged from 9% (DC) to 34% (Arizona). Medical and absenteeism costs of asthma represent a significant economic burden for states and these costs are expected to rise. Our study results emphasize the urgency for strategies to strengthen state level efforts to prevent and control asthma attacks.

Annual direct health care expenditures and employee absenteeism costs in high-risk, low-income mothers with major depression.

PubMed

Ammerman, Robert T; Chen, Jie; Mallow, Peter J; Rizzo, John A; Folger, Alonzo T; Van Ginkel, Judith B

2016-01-15

To determine the health care and labor productivity costs associated with major depressive disorder in high-risk, low-income mothers. This study was conducted using the 1996-2011 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). The MEPS is a nationally-representative database that includes information on health care utilization and expenditures for the civilian, non-institutionalized population in the United States. High-risk mothers were between the ages of 18-35 years, and either unmarried, receiving Medicaid, or with incomes less than 300% of the Federal Poverty Level. Mothers were categorized as being depressed if they had an ICD-9 diagnosis code of 296 or 311 (N=2310) or not depressed (N=18,221). Insurer expenditures, out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses, and lost wage earnings were calculated. After controlling for comorbidities, demographics, region, and year, high-risk depressed mothers were more likely to incur insurer (0.84 vs. 0.79) and OOP expenses (0.84 vs. 0.81) and to have higher insurer ($4448 vs. $3072) and OOP expenses ($794 vs. $523). Depression significantly increased the likelihood of missing work days (OR=1.40; p<0.01). Depression increased overall direct health care expenditures by $1.89 billion (range=$1.28-$2.60 billion) and indirect costs by $523 million annually, with a range of $353-$719 million. In this high-risk population, the direct and indirect aggregate costs of depression-related to health care expenditures and lost work productivity were substantial. These findings establish a quantifiable cost for policy makers and highlight the need to target this population for prevention and treatment efforts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Day Of Remembrance

NASA Image and Video Library

2008-01-31

A wreath placed by NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale and other NASA senior management is seen in between Astronauts Virgil Grissom and Roger Chaffee memorials Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008, at Arlington National Cemetery. The wreath laying ceremony is part of NASA's Day of Remembrance. Wreaths were laid in the memory of those men and women who lost their lives in the quest of space exploration, including the astronaut crews of Columbia, Challenger and Apollo 1. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Nurses' sleep quality, work environment and quality of care in the Spanish National Health System: observational study among different shifts

PubMed Central

Gómez-García, Teresa; Ruzafa-Martínez, María; Fuentelsaz-Gallego, Carmen; Madrid, Juan Antonio; Rol, Maria Angeles; Martínez-Madrid, María José; Moreno-Casbas, Teresa

2016-01-01

Objective The main objective of this study was to determine the relationship between the characteristics of nurses' work environments in hospitals in the Spanish National Health System (SNHS) with nurse reported quality of care, and how care was provided by using different shifts schemes. The study also examined the relationship between job satisfaction, burnout, sleep quality and daytime drowsiness of nurses and shift work. Methods This was a multicentre, observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study, centred on a self-administered questionnaire. The study was conducted in seven SNHS hospitals of different sizes. We recruited 635 registered nurses who worked on day, night and rotational shifts on surgical, medical and critical care units. Their average age was 41.1 years, their average work experience was 16.4 years and 90% worked full time. A descriptive and bivariate analysis was carried out to study the relationship between work environment, quality and safety care, and sleep quality of nurses working different shift patterns. Results 65.4% (410) of nurses worked on a rotating shift. The Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index classification ranked 20% (95) as favourable, showing differences in nurse manager ability, leadership and support between shifts (p=0.003). 46.6% (286) were sure that patients could manage their self-care after discharge, but there were differences between shifts (p=0.035). 33.1% (201) agreed with information being lost in the shift change, showing differences between shifts (p=0.002). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index reflected an average of 6.8 (SD 3.39), with differences between shifts (p=0.017). Conclusions Nursing requires shift work, and the results showed that the rotating shift was the most common. Rotating shift nurses reported worse perception in organisational and work environmental factors. Rotating and night shift nurses were less confident about patients' competence of self-care after discharge. The most common nursing care omissions reported were related to nursing care plans. For the Global Sleep Quality score, difference were found between day and night shift workers. PMID:27496241

Projecting temperature-related years of life lost under different climate change scenarios in one temperate megacity, China.

PubMed

Li, Yixue; Li, Guoxing; Zeng, Qiang; Liang, Fengchao; Pan, Xiaochuan

2018-02-01

Temperature has been associated with population health, but few studies have projected the future temperature-related years of life lost attributable to climate change. To project future temperature-related disease burden in Tianjin, we selected years of life lost (YLL) as the dependent variable to explore YLL attributable to climate change. A generalized linear model (GLM) and distributed lag non-linear model were combined to assess the non-linear and delayed effects of temperature on the YLL of non-accidental mortality. Then, we calculated the YLL changes attributable to future climate scenarios in 2055 and 2090. The relationships of daily mean temperature with the YLL of non-accident mortality were basically U-shaped. Both the daily mean temperature increase on high-temperature days and its drop on low-temperature days caused an increase of YLL and non-accidental deaths. The temperature-related YLL will worsen if future climate change exceeds 2 °C. In addition, the adverse effects of extreme temperature on YLL occurred more quickly than that of the overall temperature. The impact of low temperature was greater than that of high temperature. Men were vulnerable to high temperature compared with women. This analysis highlights that the government should formulate environmental policies to reach the Paris Agreement goal. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Epidemiology of Injuries in Australian Professional Rugby Union 2014 Super Rugby Competition

PubMed Central

Whitehouse, Timothy; Orr, Robin; Fitzgerald, Edward; Harries, Simon; McLellan, Christopher P.

2016-01-01

Background: Rugby union is a collision-based ball sport played at the professional level internationally. Rugby union has one of the highest reported incidences of injury of all team sports. Purpose: To identify the characteristics, incidence, and severity of injuries occurring in Australian professional Super Rugby Union. Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: The present study was a prospective epidemiology study on a cohort of 180 professional players from 5 Australian Super Rugby teams during the 2014 Super Rugby Union Tournament. Team medical staff collected and submitted daily training and match-play injury data through a secure, web-based electronic platform. The injury data included the main anatomic location of the injury, specific anatomic structure of the injury, injury diagnosis, training or match injury occurrence, main player position, mechanism of injury, and the severity of the injury quantified based on the number of days lost from training and/or competition due to injury. Results: The total combined incidence rate for injury during training and match-play across all Australian Super Rugby Union teams was 6.96 per 1000 hours, with a mean injury severity of 37.45 days lost from training and competition. The match-play injury incidence rate was 66.07 per 1000 hours, with a mean severity of 39.80 days lost from training and competition. No significant differences were observed between forward- and back-playing positions for match or training injury incidence rate or severity. Conclusion: The incidence of injury for the present study was lower during match-play than has previously been reported in professional rugby union; however, the overall time loss was higher compared with previous studies in professional rugby union. The high overall time loss was due fundamentally to a high incidence of injuries with greater than 28 days’ severity. PMID:27069947

Intermittent fasting during winter and spring affects body composition and reproduction of a migratory duck

USGS Publications Warehouse

Barboza, P.S.; Jorde, Dennis G.

2002-01-01

We compared food intake, body mass and body composition of male and female black ducks (Anas rubripes) during winter (January-March). Birds were fed the same complete diet ad libitum on consecutive days each week without fasting (control; nine male; nine female) or with either short fasts (2 day.week-1; nine male; nine female), or long fasts (4 day.week-1; eleven male; twelve female). We continued treatments through spring (March-May) to measure the effect of intermittent fasts on body mass and egg production. Daily food intake of fasted birds was up to four times that of unfasted birds. Weekly food intake of males was similar among treatments (364 g.kg-1.week-1) but fasted females consumed more than unfasted females in January (363 g.kg-1.week-1 vs. 225 g.kg-1.week-1). Although both sexes lost 10-14% body mass, fasted females lost less mass and lipid than unfasted females during winter. Total body nitrogen was conserved over winter in both sexes even though the heart and spleen lost mass while the reproductive tract and liver gained mass. Intermittent fasting increased liver, intestinal tissue and digesta mass of females but not of males. Fasting delayed egg production in spring but did not affect size, fertility or hatching of the clutch. Females on long fasts were still heavier than controls after laying eggs. Thus black ducks combine flexibility of food intake with plasticity of digestive tract, liver and adipose tissue when food supply is interrupted during winter. Females modulate body mass for survival and defer reproduction when food supply is interrupted in spring.

Identification of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Mining

PubMed Central

Weston, Eric; Pollard, Jonisha P.

2016-01-01

Work-related musculoskeletal disorder (WMSD) prevention measures have been studied in great depth throughout various industries. While the nature and causes of these disorders have been characterized in many industries, WMSDs occurring in the U.S. mining sector have not been characterized for several years. In this report, MSHA accident/injury/illness data from 2009 to 2013 were characterized to determine the most frequently reported WMSDs in the U.S. mining sector. WMSDs were most frequently reported in workers with less than 5 years or more than 20 years of mining experience. The number of days lost from work was the highest for shoulder and knee injuries and was found to increase with worker age. Underground and surface coal, surface stone and stone processing plants experienced the greatest number of WMSDs over the period studied. WMSDs were most commonly caused by an employee suffering from an overexertion, falls or being struck by an object while performing materials handling, maintenance and repair tasks, getting on or off equipment or machines, and walking or running. The injury trends presented should be used to help determine the focus of future WMSD prevention research in mining. PMID:27294012

Clinical and financial comparison of operative and nonoperative treatment of displaced clavicle fractures.

PubMed

Althausen, Peter L; Shannon, Steven; Lu, Minggen; O'Mara, Timothy J; Bray, Timothy J

2013-05-01

Surgical stabilization of displaced clavicle fractures was once considered to have rare indications. Our purpose was to present the clinical and economic effects of surgical management using data collected from operative and nonoperative patients. Our fracture database was queried from January 1, 2005, to January 1, 2010, identifying 204 patients with displaced midclavicular fractures. Radiographs and charts were reviewed, and questionnaires were distributed. Operative patients had less chronic pain (6.1% vs 25.3%), less cosmetic deformity (18.2% vs 32.5%), less weakness (10.6% vs 33.7%), less loss of motion (15.2% vs 31.3%), and fewer nonunions (0% vs 4.8%). Operative patients missed fewer days of work (8.4 days vs 35.2 days) and required less assistance (3 days vs 7 days) for care at home. Mean income lost was $321.69 versus $10,506.25. Operative patients had a mean emergency department bill of $2,060.51 versus $1,871.92 and had a mean hospital bill of $8,520.30 versus $3,692.65, and anesthesia charges averaged $946.11. Operative patients required less physical therapy, and the mean physical therapy cost was $971.76 versus $1,820. Nonoperative patients required more pain medication ($43.22 vs $45.98). Overall, the cost was $12,976.94 for operative patients and $18,068.27 for nonoperative patients. Patients with displaced clavicle fractures benefit clinically and financially from stabilization. They have less chronic pain, less deformity, less weakness, and better range of motion. They return to work sooner, take less pain medication, and require less physical therapy. Their initial hospital bill is higher because of surgical charges but is balanced by less income loss, resulting in a cost savings of $5,091.33 in operative patients. Copyright © 2013 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Stress management standards: a warning indicator for employee health.

PubMed

Kazi, A; Haslam, C O

2013-07-01

Psychological stress is a major cause of lost working days in the UK. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has developed management standards (MS) to help organizations to assess work-related stress. To investigate the relationships between the MS indicator tool and employee health, job attitudes, work performance and environmental outcomes. The first phase involved a survey employing the MS indicator tool, General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), job attitudes, work performance and environmental measures in a call centre from a large utility company. The second phase comprised six focus groups to investigate what employees believed contributed to their perceived stress. Three hundred and four call centre employees responded with a response rate of 85%. Significant negative correlations were found between GHQ-12 and two MS dimensions; demands (Rho = -0.211, P < 0.001) and relationships (Rho= -0.134, P < 0.05). Other dimensions showed no significant relationship with GHQ-12. Higher levels of stress were associated with reduced job performance, job motivation and increased intention to quit but low stress levels were associated with reduced job satisfaction. Lack of management support, recognition and development opportunities were identified as sources of stress. The findings support the utility of the MS as a measure of employee attitudes and performance.

The three moments of skin cream application: an evidence-based proposal for use of skin creams in the prevention of irritant contact dermatitis in the workplace.

PubMed

Hines, J; Wilkinson, S M; John, S M; Diepgen, T L; English, J; Rustemeyer, T; Wassilew, S; Kezic, S; Maibach, H I

2017-01-01

Contact dermatitis is one of the most common occupational diseases, with serious impact on quality of life, lost days at work and a condition that may be chronically relapsing. Regular prophylactic skin cream application is widely acknowledged to be an effective prevention strategy against occupational contact dermatitis; however, compliance rates remain low. To present a simple programme for skin cream application in the workplace with focus on implementation to drive down the rate of occupational irritant contact dermatitis, an expert panel of eight international dermatologists combined personal experience with extensive literature review. The recommendations are based on clinical experience as supported by evidence-based data from interventional studies. The authors identified three moments for skin cream application in the work place: (i) before starting a work period; (ii) after washing hands; and (iii) after work. Affecting behaviour change requires systematic communications, monitoring and reporting, which is proposed through Kotter's principles of organizational change management. Measurement tools are provided in the appendix. Interventional data based on application of this proposal is required to demonstrate its effectiveness. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

The Burden and Impact of Vertigo: Findings from the REVERT Patient Registry

PubMed Central

Benecke, Heike; Agus, Sam; Kuessner, Daniel; Goodall, Gordon; Strupp, Michael

2013-01-01

Objective: Despite the high prevalence of vertigo globally and an acknowledged, but under-reported, effect on an individual’s wellbeing, few studies have evaluated the burden on healthcare systems and society. This study was aimed to quantitatively determine the impact of vertigo on healthcare resource use and work productivity. Methods: The economic burden of vertigo was assessed through a multi-country, non-interventional, observational registry of vertigo patients: the Registry to Evaluate the Burden of Disease in Vertigo. Patients included were those with a new diagnosis of Meniere’s disease, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, other vertigo of peripheral vestibular origin, or peripheral vestibular vertigo of unknown origin. Results: A total of 4,294 patients at 618 centers in 13 countries were included during the registry. Of the 4,105 patients analyzed, only half were in employment. Among this working patient population, 69.8% had reduced their workload, 63.3% had lost working days, and 4.6% had changed and 5.7% had quit their jobs, due to vertigo symptoms. Use of healthcare services among patients was high. In the 3 months preceding Visit 1, patients used emergency services 0.4 ± 0.9 times, primary care consultations 1.6 ± 1.8 times, and specialist consultations 1.4 ± 2.0 times (all mean ± SD). A mean of 2.0 ± 5.4 days/patient was also spent in hospital due to vertigo. Conclusion: In addition to the negative impact on the patient from a humanistic perspective, vertigo has considerable impact on work productivity and healthcare resource use. PMID:24106487

The Effect of Endometriosis Symptoms on Absenteeism and Presenteeism in the Workplace and at Home.

PubMed

Soliman, Ahmed M; Coyne, Karin S; Gries, Katharine S; Castelli-Haley, Jane; Snabes, Michael C; Surrey, Eric S

2017-07-01

Characterized by pain symptoms, endometriosis affects women's productivity in their prime working years. To evaluate the effect of individual endometriosis symptoms on household chore and employment productivity as measured by presenteeism and absenteeism in a population survey of women with endometriosis. An online survey of U.S. women was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of endometriosis, as well as symptoms, demographics, and clinical characteristics of the respondents. Women aged 18-49 years (inclusive) with endometriosis completed the Health-related Productivity Questionnaire to assess presenteeism and absenteeism for employed and household work. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample, survey responses, and the effect of endometriosis symptom severity on household chore and employment productivity. Regression analyses were performed to examine the effect of individual endometriosis symptoms on employment and household productivity lost because of presenteeism and absenteeism. Of 59,411 women who completed the prevalence screener, 5,879 women (9.9%) met the inclusion criteria for completing the survey; 1,318 women (2.2%) reported endometriosis and at least 1 hour of scheduled household chores in the past 7 days. Of these, 810 women had least 1 hour of scheduled employment in the past 7 days. Mean age was 34.6 years (standard error [SE] ± 0.32); 77.2% of the women were white; 59.3% were married or in a civil union; and 59.1% were employed full or part time. Women with endometriosis had a weekly loss of an average of 5.3 hours (SE ± 0.4) because of employment presenteeism, 1.1 hours (SE ± 0.2) of employment absenteeism, 2.3 (SE ± 0.2) hours of household presenteeism, and 2.5 (SE ± 0.2) hours of household absenteeism. Hourly losses in employment and household chore productivity were significantly greater with increasing symptom severity (mild vs. severe: 1.9 vs. 15.8 total employment hours lost and 2.5 vs. 10.1 total household hours lost; P < 0.0001). Women who experienced 3 endometriosis symptoms concurrently lost a significantly greater number of employment hours because of absenteeism and presenteeism compared with those experiencing 1 or 2 symptoms (P < 0.001). Regression analyses showed that a range of endometriosis symptoms predicted employment and household losses because of presenteeism and absenteeism. There was a significant relationship between the number and patient-reported severity of endometriosis symptoms experienced and hours of employment and household productivity lost because of presenteeism and absenteeism. Study findings indicate a need for guidance strategies to help women and employers manage endometriosis so as to reduce productivity loss. The design and financial support for this study was provided by AbbVie. AbbVie participated in data analysis, interpretation of data, review, and approval of the manuscript. Coyne and Gries are employees of Evidera- Evidence, Value & Access by PPD and were paid scientific consultants for AbbVie in connection with this study. Soliman, Castelli-Hayley, and Snabes are AbbVie employees and may own AbbVie stock or stock options. Surrey is affiliated with Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine and was paid by AbbVie as a consultant for this project. Surrey serves as a consultant for AbbVie outside of this project. All authors participated in data analysis and interpretation, and contributed to the development of the manuscript. The authors maintained control over the final contents of the manuscript and the decision to publish. Study concept and design were contributed by Soliman, Coyne, Gries, and Castelli-Haley. Soliman, Castelli-Haley, Coyne, and Gries collected the data, and data interpretation was performed by Snabes, Surrey, Soliman, Coyne, and Gries. The manuscript was written and revised by Soliman, Coyne, and Gries, along with the other authors.

3 CFR 8558 - Proclamation 8558 of September 10, 2010. National Days of Prayer and Remembrance, 2010

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... lost the comfort and companionship of loved ones and friends in those moments, and we mourn with them... dear friends and loved ones—reinforces our resolve to unite with one another, for the country we all...

3 CFR 8385 - Proclamation 8385 of May 22, 2009. Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 2009

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Nation’s safety before their own for generations. From the first shots fired at Lexington and Concord to..., their families, and all those who have lost loved ones in the defense of our freedom and safety. Today...

The Dynamical Imprint of Lost Protoplanets on the Trans-Neptunian Populations, and Limits on the Primordial Size Distribution of Trans-Neptunian Objects at Pluto and Larger Sizes.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shannon, Andrew Brian; Dawson, Rebekah

2018-04-01

Planet formation remains a poorly understood process, in part because of our limited access to the intermediate phases of planetesimal and protoplanet growth. Today, the vast majority of the accessible remaining planetesimals and protoplanets reside within the Hot Trans-Neptunian Object population. This population has been depleted by 99% - 99.9% over the course of the Solar system's history, and as such the present day size-number distribution may be incomplete at the large size end. We show that such lost protoplanets would have left signatures in the dynamics of the present-day Trans-Neptunian Populations, and their primordial number can thus be statistically limited by considering the survival of ultra-wide binary TNOs, the Cold Classical Kuiper belt, and the resonant populations. We compare those limits to the predicted size-number distribution of various planetesimal and proto-planet growth models.

Bone mineral measurement: Skylab experiment M-078.

PubMed

Vogel, J M

1975-01-01

The observation that bone mineral is lost in patients who are either immobilized or remain in bed for extended periods of time formed the basis for the concern that large amounts of bone mineral may be lost during long periods of weightlessness. This concern was magnified when early X-ray densitometry studies suggested that rather large amounts of mineral could be lost during rather short periods of weightlessness (4-14 days). Even though these Gemini results have recently been modified, they still reflect substantial losses in the upper extremity. This led to a series of prolonged bed-rest studies (30-36 weeks) which, in addition to careful calcium balance, also employed a newer, more precise method of estimating bone mineral in the radius, ulna, and os calcis. It employed an essentially monoenergetic photon source (125I) and a scintillation detector operating in a rectilinear scanning mode to measure bone mineral by the absorptiometric technique. Bed-rest studies revealed variable mineral losses but suggested that little if any is lost during 4-6 weeks, with variable amounts being lost in 8 weeks. Losses up to 40% were noted in the os calcis after 9 months, with essentially none in the radius and ulna. When this technique was employed during the Apollo 14, 15, and 16 missions, only one crewman (CMP Apollo 15) showed significant losses in the os calcis and none in the radius or ulna. These results were, therefore, in concert with the bed-rest data but at variance with the earlier Gemini data. The variability observed during bed rest was reconciled when it was observed that the rate of loss could be correlated with the initial 24-hour urinary hydroxyproline excretion and the initial os calcis mineral content. Prediction terms were established. Measurements of the SL-II crew after 28 days of weightlessness revealed no significant bone mineral losses. The Skylab data lie within the predicted limits obtained from the bed-rest data. The relevance of the prediction terms to the Skylab and longer missions discussed.

Weight maintenance and additional weight loss with liraglutide after low-calorie-diet-induced weight loss: the SCALE Maintenance randomized study.

PubMed

Wadden, T A; Hollander, P; Klein, S; Niswender, K; Woo, V; Hale, P M; Aronne, L

2013-11-01

Liraglutide, a once-daily human glucagon-like peptide-1 analog, induced clinically meaningful weight loss in a phase 2 study in obese individuals without diabetes. The present randomized phase 3 trial assessed the efficacy of liraglutide in maintaining weight loss achieved with a low-calorie diet (LCD). Obese/overweight participants (≥18 years, body mass index ≥30 kg m(-2) or ≥27 kg m(-2) with comorbidities) who lost ≥5% of initial weight during a LCD run-in were randomly assigned to liraglutide 3.0 mg per day or placebo (subcutaneous administration) for 56 weeks. Diet and exercise counseling were provided throughout the trial. Co-primary end points were percentage weight change from randomization, the proportion of participants that maintained the initial ≥5% weight loss, and the proportion that lost ≥5% of randomization weight (intention-to-treat analysis). ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00781937. Participants (n=422) lost a mean 6.0% (s.d. 0.9) of screening weight during run-in. From randomization to week 56, weight decreased an additional mean 6.2% (s.d. 7.3) with liraglutide and 0.2% (s.d. 7.0) with placebo (estimated difference -6.1% (95% class intervals -7.5 to -4.6), P<0.0001). More participants receiving liraglutide (81.4%) maintained the ≥5% run-in weight loss, compared with those receiving placebo (48.9%) (estimated odds ratio 4.8 (3.0; 7.7), P<0.0001), and 50.5% versus 21.8% of participants lost ≥5% of randomization weight (estimated odds ratio 3.9 (2.4; 6.1), P<0.0001). Liraglutide produced small but statistically significant improvements in several cardiometabolic risk factors compared with placebo. Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders were reported more frequently with liraglutide than placebo, but most events were transient, and mild or moderate in severity. Liraglutide, with diet and exercise, maintained weight loss achieved by caloric restriction and induced further weight loss over 56 weeks. Improvements in some cardiovascular disease-risk factors were also observed. Liraglutide, prescribed as 3.0 mg per day, holds promise for improving the maintenance of lost weight.

Missing memories of death: Dissociative amnesia in the bereaved the day after a cancer death.

PubMed

Ishida, Mayumi; Onishi, Hideki; Toyama, Hiroaki; Tsutsumi, Chizuko; Endo, Chieko; Tanahashi, Iori; Takahashi, Takao; Uchitomi, Yosuke

2015-12-01

The death of a loved one is one of the most stressful events of life, and such stress affects the physical and psychological well-being of the bereaved. Dissociative amnesia is characterized by an inability to recall important autobiographical information. Dissociative amnesia in the bereaved who have lost a loved one to cancer has not been previously reported. We discuss herein the case of a patient who developed dissociative amnesia the day after the death of here beloved husband. A 38-year-old woman was referred for psychiatric consultation because of restlessness and abnormal behavior. Her 44-year-old husband had died of pancreatic cancer the day before the consultation. On the day of the death, she looked upset and began to hyperventilate. The next day, she behaved as if the deceased were still alive, which embarrassed her family. At her initial psychiatric consultation, she talked and behaved as if her husband was still alive and in the hospital. Her psychiatric features fulfilled the DSM-V criteria for dissociative amnesia. The death of her husband had been very traumatic for her and was considered to have been one of the causes of this dissociation. This report adds to the list of psychiatric symptoms in the bereaved who have lost a loved one to cancer. In an oncology setting, we should consider the impact of death, the concomitant defense mechanisms, and the background of the families.

37 CFR 202.2 - Copyright notice.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... may be on a container which is designed and can be expected to remain with the work; (11) The notice...) General. (1) With respect to a work published before January 1, 1978, copyright was secured, or the right to secure it was lost, except for works seeking ad interim copyright, at the date of publication, i.e...

Compensation in Higher Education. ERIC/Higher Education Research Currents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trivett, David A.

Compensation in higher education is an inclusive term, since all the benefits associated with teaching, research, work with people, and work with knowledge might be included. But in terms of purchasing power it appears that compensation for work in higher education has lost ground against inflation. In contrast, wage and salary earners in many…

Effects of premium discount on workers' compensation claims in agriculture in Finland.

PubMed

Rautiainen, Risto H; Ledolter, Johannes; Sprince, Nancy L; Donham, Kelley J; Burmeister, Leon F; Ohsfeldt, Robert; Reynolds, Stephen J; Phillips, Kirk; Zwerling, Craig

2005-08-01

The objective of this study was to measure changes in injury claim rates after a premium discount program was implemented in the Finnish farmers' workers' compensation insurance. We focused on measures that could indicate whether the changes occurred in the true underlying injury rate, or only in claims reporting. Monthly injury claim rates were constructed at seven disability duration levels from January 1990 to December 2003. We conducted interrupted time series analyses to measure changes in the injury claim rates after the premium discount was implemented on July 1, 1997. Three additional policy change indicators were included in the analyses. The overall injury claim rate decreased 10.2%. Decreases occurred at four severity levels (measured by compensated disability days): 0 days (16.3%), 1-6 days (14.1%), 7-13 days (19.5%), and 14-29 days (8.4%). No changes were observed at higher severity levels. Minor injuries had a seasonal pattern with higher rates in summer months while severe injuries did not have a seasonal pattern. The premium discount decreased the overall claim rate. Decreases were observed in all categories up to 29 disability days. This pattern suggests that under-reporting contributes to the decrease but may not be the only factor. The value of the premium discount is lower than the value of a lost-time claim, so there was no financial reason to under-report lost-time injuries. Under-reporting would be expected to be greatest in the 0 day category, but that was not the case. These observations suggest that in addition to under-reporting, the premium discount may also have some preventive effect. Copyright (c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

VASCULARIZED COMPOSITE ALLOGRAFT TRANSPLANT SURVIVAL IN MINIATURE SWINE: IS MHC TOLERANCE SUFFICIENT FOR ACCEPTANCE OF EPIDERMIS?

PubMed Central

Cetrulo, Curtis L.; Torabi, Radbeh; Scalea, Joseph R.; Shimizu, Akira; Leto Barone, Angelo A.; Gillon, Brad C.; Tasaki, Masayuki; Leonard, David A.; Cormack, Taylor A.; Villani, Vincenzo; Randolph, Mark A.; Sachs, David H.; Yamada, Kazuhiko

2014-01-01

Background We have previously reported that MGH miniature swine which had accepted class-I mismatched kidneys long-term (LT) following 12 days of high dose Cyclosporine (CyA), uniformly accepted donor-MHC matched kidneys without immunosuppression but rejected donor-MHC matched split-thickness skin grafts (STSG) by day 25, without changes in renal graft function or anti-donor in vitro responses. We have now tested whether this “split tolerance” would also be observed for the primarily-vascularized skin of vascularized composite allografts (VCAs). Methods Group 1 animals (n=3) received donor-MHC matched VCAs <70 days following primary kidney transplant (KTx). Group 2 animals (n=3) received a second donor-matched t KTx followed by a donor-matched VCA >200 days after primary KTx. Results Animals in Group 1 lost the epidermis on days 28, 30, and 40, with all other components of the VCAs remaining viable. Histology showed cellular infiltration localized to dermal-epidermal junction. One of 3 recipients of VCAs including epidermis in Group 2 accepted all components of the VCAs (>200 days). The other two recipients lost only the epidermis at day 45 and 85, with survival of the remainder of the VCA long-term. Conclusions All tissues of a VCA are accepted long-term on animals tolerant of class-I mismatched kidneys, with the exception of epidermis, the survival of which is markedly prolonged compared to STSG, but not indefinite. Exposure of tolerant animals to second donor-matched kidneys prior to VCA increases the longevity of the VCA epidermis, suggesting an increase in the immunomodulatory mechanisms associated with tolerance of the kidney. PMID:24056624

Effectiveness of alcohol-based hand disinfectants in a public administration: Impact on health and work performance related to acute respiratory symptoms and diarrhoea

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background The economical impact of absenteeism and reduced productivity due to acute infectious respiratory and gastrointestinal disease is normally not in the focus of surveillance systems and may therefore be underestimated. However, large community studies in Europe and USA have shown that communicable diseases have a great impact on morbidity and lead to millions of lost days at work, school and university each year. Hand disinfection is acknowledged as key element for infection control, but its effect in open, work place settings is unclear. Methods Our study involved a prospective, controlled, intervention-control group design to assess the epidemiological and economical impact of alcohol-based hand disinfectants use at work place. Volunteers in public administrations in the municipality of the city of Greifswald were randomized in two groups. Participants in the intervention group were provided with alcoholic hand disinfection, the control group was unchanged. Respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms and days of work were recorded based on a monthly questionnaire over one year. On the whole, 1230 person months were evaluated. Results Hand disinfection reduced the number of episodes of illness for the majority of the registered symptoms. This effect became statistically significant for common cold (OR = 0.35 [0.17 - 0.71], p = 0.003), fever (OR = 0.38 [0.14-0.99], p = 0.035) and coughing (OR = 0.45 [0.22 - 0.91], p = 0.02). Participants in the intervention group reported less days ill for most symptoms assessed, e.g. colds (2.07 vs. 2.78%, p = 0.008), fever (0.25 vs. 0.31%, p = 0.037) and cough (1.85 vs. 2.00%, p = 0.024). For diarrhoea, the odds ratio for being absent became statistically significant too (0.11 (CI 0.01 - 0.93). Conclusion Hand disinfection can easily be introduced and maintained outside clinical settings as part of the daily hand hygiene. Therefore it appears as an interesting, cost-efficient method within the scope of company health support programmes. Trial registration number ISRCTN96340690 PMID:20735818

Effectiveness of alcohol-based hand disinfectants in a public administration: impact on health and work performance related to acute respiratory symptoms and diarrhoea.

PubMed

Hübner, Nils-Olaf; Hübner, Claudia; Wodny, Michael; Kampf, Günter; Kramer, Axel

2010-08-24

The economical impact of absenteeism and reduced productivity due to acute infectious respiratory and gastrointestinal disease is normally not in the focus of surveillance systems and may therefore be underestimated. However, large community studies in Europe and USA have shown that communicable diseases have a great impact on morbidity and lead to millions of lost days at work, school and university each year. Hand disinfection is acknowledged as key element for infection control, but its effect in open, work place settings is unclear. Our study involved a prospective, controlled, intervention-control group design to assess the epidemiological and economical impact of alcohol-based hand disinfectants use at work place. Volunteers in public administrations in the municipality of the city of Greifswald were randomized in two groups. Participants in the intervention group were provided with alcoholic hand disinfection, the control group was unchanged. Respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms and days of work were recorded based on a monthly questionnaire over one year. On the whole, 1230 person months were evaluated. Hand disinfection reduced the number of episodes of illness for the majority of the registered symptoms. This effect became statistically significant for common cold (OR = 0.35 [0.17 - 0.71], p = 0.003), fever (OR = 0.38 [0.14-0.99], p = 0.035) and coughing (OR = 0.45 [0.22 - 0.91], p = 0.02). Participants in the intervention group reported less days ill for most symptoms assessed, e.g. colds (2.07 vs. 2.78%, p = 0.008), fever (0.25 vs. 0.31%, p = 0.037) and cough (1.85 vs. 2.00%, p = 0.024). For diarrhoea, the odds ratio for being absent became statistically significant too (0.11 (CI 0.01 - 0.93). Hand disinfection can easily be introduced and maintained outside clinical settings as part of the daily hand hygiene. Therefore it appears as an interesting, cost-efficient method within the scope of company health support programmes. ISRCTN96340690.

Injury to endoscopic personnel from tripping over exposed cords, wires, and tubing in the endoscopy suite: a preventable cause of potentially severe workplace injury.

PubMed

Cappell, Mitchell S

2010-04-01

BACKGROUND The endoscopy unit before remediation may be a high-risk area for slip and fall injuries due to a large number of exposed above-the-floor wires in the endoscopy rooms, dimmed lighting during endoscopic procedures, and staff inattention to obstacles due to preoccupation with the endoscopic patient. AIM To describe a novel, previously unappreciated workplace hazard to endoscopic personnel: Exposed wires in the endoscopy unit.METHODS This study is a retrospective review of 110,000 endoscopic procedures performed during the last 5 years at an academic, teaching hospital with a high-volume endoscopy unit. All significant orthopedic injuries to endoscopic personnel from slips, twists, and falls from tripping over exposed cords in the endoscopy unit were reviewed. The severity of injury was documented based on roentgenographic findings, number of days of missed work, number of days with a modified work schedule, and requirement for orthopedic surgery. The number of potentially exposed cords per endoscopy room was determined. RESULTS During the 5-year study period, three endoscopic personnel suffered significant orthopedic injuries from slips, twists, and falls from tripping over cords, wires, or tubing lying exposed over the floor in the endoscopy suite: The resulting injuries consisted of fourth and fifth metacarpal hand fractures due to a fall after tripping on oxygen tubing; a rib fracture due to tripping on electrical wires trailing from an endoscopy cart; and a grade II ankle sprain due to the foot becoming entangled in oxygen tubing. All injuries resulted in lost days of work [mean 9.3 +/- 11.0 (SD) days] and in additional days of restricted work (mean 41.7 +/- 31.8 days). One injury required orthopedic surgery. Hospital review revealed a mean of 35.3 +/- 7.5 cords, wires, or tubing per endoscopy procedure room, the majority of which were exposed above the floor before remediation (n = 10 rooms). Remediation of exposed wires included: bundling related wires together in a cable to reduce the number of independent wires, covering exposed wires on the floor with a nonslip heavy mat, and running wires from ceiling outlets to equipment high above ground (e.g. mounted endoscopy video monitors). CONCLUSIONS Tripping, slipping, and falling over exposed wires can cause significant injury to endoscopic personnel. This previously undescribed hazard should be preventable by simple remediation, and all endoscopic personnel, hospital architects, hospital administrators, and governmental regulators should be alerted to this potential hazard

Interface cloning and sharing: Interaction designs for conserving labor and maintaining state across 24X7 sensor operations teams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganter, John H.; Reeves, Paul C.

2017-05-01

Processing remote sensing data is the epitome of computation, yet real-time collection systems remain human-labor intensive. Operator labor is consumed by both overhead tasks (cost) and value-added production (benefit). In effect, labor is taxed and then lost. When an operator comes on-shift, they typically duplicate setup work that their teammates have already performed many times. "Pass down" of state information can be difficult if security restrictions require total logouts and blank screens - hours or even days of valuable history and context are lost. As work proceeds, duplicative effort is common because it is typically easier for operators to "do it over" rather than share what others have already done. As we begin a major new system version, we are refactoring the user interface to reduce time and motion losses. Working with users, we are developing "click budgets" to streamline interface use. One basic function is shared clipboards to reduce the use of sticky notes and verbal communication of data strings. We illustrate two additional designs to share work: window copying and window sharing. Copying (technically, shallow or deep object cloning) allows any system user to duplicate a window and configuration for themselves or another to use. Sharing allows a window to have multiple users: shareholders with read-write functionality and viewers with read-only. These solutions would allow windows to persist across multiple shifts, with a rotating cast of shareholders and viewers. Windows thus become durable objects of shared effort and persistent state. While these are low-tech functions, the cumulative labor savings in a 24X7 crew position (525,000 minutes/year spread over multiple individuals) would be significant. New design and implementation is never free and these investments typically do not appeal to government acquisition officers with short-term acquisition-cost concerns rather than a long-term O and M (operations and maintenance) perspective. We share some successes in educating some officers, in collaboration with system users, about the human capital involved in operating the systems they are acquiring.

Risk and predictors of work disability in Chinese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

PubMed

Mok, C C; Cheung, M Y; Ho, L Y; Yu, K L; To, C H

2008-12-01

The aim of this study is to determine the risk and predictive factors for work disability in patients with SLE. A cross-sectional questionnaire study was performed to evaluate the employment status of a sample of consecutive Chinese patients with SLE. Demographic, socioeconomic data (age, gender, marital status, years of education and household income), employment status, self-reported fatigue score and disease characteristics (SLE duration, organ damage and disease activity) were collected. Work disability was defined by the failure to work due to SLE. The cumulative incidence of work disability since the time of SLE diagnosis was studied by a Kaplan Meier's plot, and factors predictive of work disability were studied by Cox regression. A total of 147 patients with SLE were studied (mean age = 39.4 +/- 11.3 years; 95% women). Among 105 patients who were working at the time of SLE diagnosis, 39 (37%) lost their ability to work as a result of SLE after a mean disease duration of 10.0 +/- 6.1 years. Twenty-two (56%) patients lost their work ability within 2 years of diagnosis of SLE. The self-reported reasons for job loss were musculoskeletal pain (87%), skin disease (26%), renal problem (21%), fatigue (85%), memory deterioration (51%), anxiety or depressive symptoms (74%), too frequent sick leave (10%) and long-term hospitalisation (10%). The cumulative risk of work disability was 36% at 5 years after SLE diagnosis. In a Cox regression model, age (HR = 1.06 [1.02-1.11] per year; P = 0.008), self-reported fatigue score (HR = 1.06 [1.01-1.10] per point; P = 0.01) and mean disease activity score in the preceding two years (HR = 1.20 [1.02-1.42] per point; P = 0.03) were independently associated with working disability. In all, 37% of this group of patients with SLE lost their work ability after having the disease for 10 years. More than 50% of these patients developed work disability within the first 2 years of SLE diagnosis. Older age, fatigue and more active disease were independent predictors of work disability.

Rewarding proactive practice.

PubMed

2004-06-01

This month marks the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings and, through media coverage, we will be able to learn more about the experiences of those who participated in this remarkable event in history. Many young men were killed. Others, such as Fred Bentley and Bob Osborne (shown on page 4 ) returned home having lost their sight or limbs. Now in their late seventies and eighties, these people have lived with the legacies of D-Day, overcome handicap and rebuilt their lives.

Effects of using WeChat-assisted perioperative care instructions for parents of pediatric patients undergoing day surgery for herniorrhaphy.

PubMed

Liu, Jun; Zheng, Xin; Chai, Shouxia; Lei, Meirong; Feng, Zehui; Zhang, Xuelin; Lopez, Violeta

2018-02-19

This study examined the effects of WeChat-assisted perioperative instructions for parents whose children were to undergo herniorrhaphy. A randomized controlled trial was conducted in a day surgery center in China. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention (WeChat) group (n = 209) and the control (Leaflet) group (n = 209). The primary outcomes of this study were parents' knowledge regarding hernia and rate of cancellation of children's surgery. The secondary outcomes were the rate of lost-to-follow-up and the rate of complications and adverse events during the seventh postoperative follow-up day. There was a significant difference in the rate of cancelling the surgery and the mean knowledge score between the WeChat group and leaflet groups. The lost-to-follow-up rate was significantly lower in the WeChat group (0.54%) than in the leaflet group (3.66%). The incidence of postoperative complications were higher in the control group. WeChat-assisted perioperative care instructions enhanced parents' knowledge on perioperative instructions and promoted the preparation of their children for day surgery resulting in lower rate of cancelling the surgery. WeChat has the ability to expand health services outside the hospital confines and could be used as an important low-cost health educational medium in China. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

CT-guided infiltration saves surgical intervention and fastens return to work compared to anatomical landmark-guided infiltration in patients with lumbosciatica.

PubMed

Deml, Moritz C; Buhr, Michael; Wimmer, Matthias D; Pflugmacher, Robert; Riedel, Rainer; Rommelspacher, Yorck; Kabir, Koroush

2015-07-01

Infiltration procedures are a common treatment of lumbar radiculopathy. There is a wide variety of infiltration techniques without an established gold standard. Therefore, we compared the effectiveness of CT-guided transforaminal infiltrations versus anatomical landmark-guided transforaminal infiltrations at the lower lumbar spine in case of acute sciatica at L3-L5. A retrospective chart review was conducted of 107 outpatients treated between 2009 and 2011. All patients were diagnosed with lumbar radiculopathic pain secondary to disc herniation in L3-L5. A total of 52 patients received CT-guided transforaminal infiltrations; 55 patients received non-imaging-guided nerve root infiltrations. The therapeutic success was evaluated regarding number of physician contacts, duration of treatment, type of analgesics used and loss of work days. Defined endpoint was surgery at the lower lumbar spine. In the CT group, patients needed significantly less oral analgesics (p < 0.001). Overall treatment duration and physician contacts were significantly lower in the CT group (p < 0.001 and 0.002) either. In the CT group, patients lost significant fewer work days due to incapacity (p < 0.001). Surgery had to be performed in 18.2 % of the non-imaging group patients (CT group: 1.9 %; p = 0.008). This study shows that CT-guided periradicular infiltration in lumbosciatica caused by intervertebral disc herniation is significantly superior to non-imaging, anatomical landmark-guided infiltration, regarding the parameters investigated. The high number of treatment failures in the non-imaging group underlines the inferiority of this treatment concept.

Days lost due to disability of diclofenac-induced adverse drug reactions.

PubMed

Thomas, Dixon; Mathew, Molly; Raghavan, C Vijaya; Mohanta, Guru P; Reddy, Y Padmanabha

2012-01-01

Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) is a widely used measure to quantify the burden of diseases or illness. DALYs for a disease is calculated as the sum of the Years of Life Lost (YLL) due to premature mortality in the population and the equivalent healthy Years Lost due to Disability (YLD). The only difference from the YLD and Days Lost due to Disability (DLD) calculation is that instead of considering the duration of Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) in years, it is calculated in days. DLD was measured for diclofenac tablets to prepare the ADR profile. The study was done on the patients (18-65 years old) attending the community pharmacy at Kasaragod district, South India, with prescription of diclofenac tablets. Patients reported ADRs on their next visit to the pharmacy or they had called to the provided phone number and reported it. Disability Weight (DW) was calculated in an analogue scale from 0-1. Zero represent complete health and 1 represent death or equivalent condition. DW was multiplied with occurrence and duration of ADRs in days. About 943 patients received diclofenac tablets in 1000 prescriptions were successfully followed up for possible, probable and definite ADRs. A total of 561 reactions reported in 2010 for diclofenac tablet in the study population. There were 34 different types of ADRs under 12 physiological systems/organs. Most common reactions were on gastrointestinal (GI) system (48%), followed by skin (14%), Central Nervous System (10%), renal (7%), and cardiovascular (7%). Abdominal pain, cramps or flatulence was the highest occurring GI ADR (107), followed by 43 rashes, 42 nausea/vomiting, 37 indigestion, 34 peptic ulcers, 31 edema etc. DLD for peptic ulcer was considerably high (0.078) per 1000 of the study population on diclofenac. The most damaging ADR were peptic ulcer with or without perforation, followed by rash 0.036 DLD and edema 0.027 DLD. There was considerable DLD by acute renal failure (0.012) Steven-Johnson syndrome (0.013) even though few cases were reported. Diclofenac has a complex adverse drug profile. Around 34 types of reactions were reported. Diclofenac was widely prescribed because of the experiential belief of comparative safety with other NSAIDs. The study shows the importance of pharmacovigilance even on the most prescribed medicine. Most disabling ADR for the study population was peptic ulcer with or without perforation. YLD or DLD are useful measures of calculating disability caused by ADRs. Future studies could focus on improving the usefulness & precision of DLD.

The effect of globalization on employee psychological health and job satisfaction in Malaysian workplaces.

PubMed

Idris, Mohd Awang; Dollard, Maureen F; Winefield, Anthony H

2011-01-01

To examine the impact of globalization on employee psychological health and job satisfaction via job characteristics (i.e., job demands and job resources) in an emerging economy, that of Malaysia. As external factors are regarded as influences on the working environment, we hypothesized that global forces (increased pressure and competition) would have an impact on burnout and job satisfaction via increased demands (role conflict, emotional demands) and reduced resources (supervisor support, coworkers support). Data were collected using a population based survey among 308 employees in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Participants were approached at home during the weekend or on days off from work. Only one participant was selected per household. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. Nearly 54% of respondents agreed that they need to work harder, 25% agreed that their job was not secure and 24% thought they had lost power and control on the job due to global trade competition. Consistent with our predictions, demands mediated the globalization to burnout relationship, and resources mediated the globalization to job satisfaction relationship. Together, these results support the idea that external factors influence work conditions and in turn employee health and job satisfaction. We conclude that the jobs demands-resources framework is applicable in an Eastern setting and that globalization is a key antecedent of working environments.

Validation of the Readiness for Return-To-Work Scale in Outpatient Occupational Rehabilitation in Canada.

PubMed

Park, Joanne; Roberts, Mary Roduta; Esmail, Shaniff; Rayani, Fahreen; Norris, Colleen M; Gross, Douglas P

2018-06-01

Purpose To examine construct and concurrent validity of the Readiness for Return-To-Work (RRTW) Scale with injured workers participating in an outpatient occupational rehabilitation program. Methods Lost-time claimants (n = 389) with sub-acute or chronic musculoskeletal disorders completed the RRTW Scale on their first day of their occupational rehabilitation program. Statistical analysis included exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the readiness items, reliability analyses, and correlation with related scales and questionnaires. Results For claimants in the non-job attached/not working group (n = 165), three factors were found (1) Contemplation (2) Prepared for Action-Self-evaluative and (3) Prepared for Action-Behavioural. The precontemplation stage was not identified within this sample of injured workers. For claimants who were job attached/working group in some capacity (n = 224), two factors were identified (1) Uncertain Maintenance and (2) Proactive Maintenance. Expected relationships and statistically significant differences were found among the identified Return-To-Work (RTW) readiness factors and related constructs of pain, physical and mental health and RTW expectations. Conclusion Construct and concurrent validity of the RRTW Scale were supported in this study. The results of this study indicate the construct of readiness for RTW can vary by disability duration and occupational category. Physical health appears to be a significant barrier to RRTW for the job attached/working group while mental health significantly compromises RRTW with the non-job attached/not working group.

Occupational injury and illness meet the labor market: lessons from labor economics about lost earnings.

PubMed

Boden, Leslie I

2006-09-01

Recent labor economics studies in the United States and Canada have demonstrated that occupational injuries and illnesses often lead to substantial lost earnings for workers and their families. Other studies have shown substantial long-term lost earnings attributable to large-scale layoffs, where no health impairment has taken place. This article uses evidence from these and other studies of apparently different situations to draw inferences about how managers' actions and public policy choices can affect the costs of occupational injuries and illnesses. Although primary prevention remains the policy of choice, reduction in the impact of workplace injuries and illnesses can decrease the costs of these events and can provide substantial benefits. This article proposes two hypotheses and discusses the evidence for each: (a) Loss of the job held at the onset of illness or injury increases time off work and exacerbates workers' lost earnings. (b) Workers' losses may be substantially reduced by policies that encourage employers to rehire people recovering from or disabled by workplace injuries and illnesses.

KSC-2012-1127

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-01-26

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A blue sky is reflected in the massive granite Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida where a large wreath was placed during Kennedy Space Center’s NASA Day of Remembrance. The Day of Remembrance honors members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery, including the astronaut crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. Kennedy civil service and contractor employees, along with the general public, paid their respects throughout the day. The visitor complex provided flowers for visitors to place at the memorial. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KSC-2012-1121

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-01-26

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- An American flag flies at half staff near the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida during Kennedy Space Center’s NASA Day of Remembrance. The Day of Remembrance honors members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery, including the astronaut crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. Kennedy civil service and contractor employees, along with the general public, paid their respects throughout the day. The visitor complex provided flowers for visitors to place at the memorial. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Burden of Respiratory Disease in Korea: An Observational Study on Allergic Rhinitis, Asthma, COPD, and Rhinosinusitis

PubMed Central

Yoo, Kwang-Ha; Ahn, Hae-Ryun; Park, Jae-Kyoung; Kim, Jong-Woong; Nam, Gui-Hyun; Hong, Soon-Kwan; Kim, Mee-Ja; Ghoshal, Aloke Gopal; Muttalif, Abdul Razak Bin Abdul; Lin, Horng-Chyuan; Thanaviratananich, Sanguansak; Bagga, Shalini; Faruqi, Rab; Sajjan, Shiva; Baidya, Santwona; Wang, De Yun

2016-01-01

Purpose The Asia-Pacific Burden of Respiratory Diseases (APBORD) study is a cross-sectional, observational one which has used a standard protocol to examine the disease and economic burden of allergic rhinitis (AR), asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), and rhinosinusitis across the Asia-Pacific region. Here, we report on symptoms, healthcare resource use, work impairment, and associated costs in Korea. Methods Consecutive participants aged ≥18 years with a primary diagnosis of asthma, AR, COPD, or rhinosinusitis were enrolled. Participants and their treating physician completed a survey detailing respiratory symptoms, healthcare resource use, and work productivity and activity impairment. Costs included direct medical cost and indirect cost associated with lost work productivity. Results The study enrolled 999 patients. Patients were often diagnosed with multiple respiratory disorders (42.8%), with asthma/AR and AR/rhinosinusitis the most frequently diagnosed combinations. Cough or coughing up phlegm was the primary reason for the medical visit in patients with a primary diagnosis of asthma and COPD, whereas nasal symptoms (watery runny nose, blocked nose, and congestion) were the main reasons in those with AR and rhinosinusitis. The mean annual cost for patients with a respiratory disease was US$8,853 (SD 11,245) per patient. Lost productivity due to presenteeism was the biggest contributor to costs. Conclusions Respiratory disease has a significant impact on disease burden in Korea. Treatment strategies for preventing lost work productivity could greatly reduce the economic burden of respiratory disease. PMID:27582404

Burden of Respiratory Disease in Korea: An Observational Study on Allergic Rhinitis, Asthma, COPD, and Rhinosinusitis.

PubMed

Yoo, Kwang Ha; Ahn, Hae Ryun; Park, Jae Kyoung; Kim, Jong Woong; Nam, Gui Hyun; Hong, Soon Kwan; Kim, Mee Ja; Ghoshal, Aloke Gopal; Muttalif, Abdul Razak Bin Abdul; Lin, Horng Chyuan; Thanaviratananich, Sanguansak; Bagga, Shalini; Faruqi, Rab; Sajjan, Shiva; Baidya, Santwona; Wang, De Yun; Cho, Sang Heon

2016-11-01

The Asia-Pacific Burden of Respiratory Diseases (APBORD) study is a cross-sectional, observational one which has used a standard protocol to examine the disease and economic burden of allergic rhinitis (AR), asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), and rhinosinusitis across the Asia-Pacific region. Here, we report on symptoms, healthcare resource use, work impairment, and associated costs in Korea. Consecutive participants aged ≥18 years with a primary diagnosis of asthma, AR, COPD, or rhinosinusitis were enrolled. Participants and their treating physician completed a survey detailing respiratory symptoms, healthcare resource use, and work productivity and activity impairment. Costs included direct medical cost and indirect cost associated with lost work productivity. The study enrolled 999 patients. Patients were often diagnosed with multiple respiratory disorders (42.8%), with asthma/AR and AR/rhinosinusitis the most frequently diagnosed combinations. Cough or coughing up phlegm was the primary reason for the medical visit in patients with a primary diagnosis of asthma and COPD, whereas nasal symptoms (watery runny nose, blocked nose, and congestion) were the main reasons in those with AR and rhinosinusitis. The mean annual cost for patients with a respiratory disease was US$8,853 (SD 11,245) per patient. Lost productivity due to presenteeism was the biggest contributor to costs. Respiratory disease has a significant impact on disease burden in Korea. Treatment strategies for preventing lost work productivity could greatly reduce the economic burden of respiratory disease.

Lost Soul or New Dawn? Lifelong Learning Lessons and Prospects from East Asia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duke, Chris

2015-01-01

Most learning takes place in communities, neighbourhoods and workplaces. Here practical solutions to big problems work or fall down. We may call this the iron law of social learning, recognised in "community development", "community capacity-building", "workplace", "work-based" and…

Heat Waves

MedlinePlus

... This typically occurs when people exercise heavily or work in a hot, humid place where body fluids are lost through heavy sweating. Blood flow to the skin increases, causing blood flow to decrease to the vital organs. This ... cool the body, stops working. The body temperature can rise so high that ...

Has Group Work Education Lost Its Social Group Work Essence? A Content Analysis of MSW Course Syllabi in Search of Mutual Aid and Group Conflict Content

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sweifach, Jay Stephen

2015-01-01

This article presents the results of a content analysis of MSW group work course syllabi in an effort to better understand the extent to which mutual aid and group conflict, two important dimensions of social group work, are included and featured as prominent elements in MSW-level group work instruction.

A study of work injuries in eight Asian countries.

PubMed

Ong, C N; Phoon, W O; Tan, T C; Jeyaratnam, J; Cho, S C; Suma'mur, P K; Mahathevan, R; Reverente, B R; Wongphanich, W; Kogi, K

1984-04-01

This study is based on a survey conducted in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand on occupational injuries during the years 1975-1980. The number of work accidents have risen rapidly during this period in all of the 8 countries studied. In the case of Thailand, the total number of work injuries increased four fold from 1975-1978, whereas, in Singapore it has almost doubled in 6 years. The number of permanent disablement nearly trebled in Korea, and the Philippines for the year 1967-1980. The largest percentage of accidents are lost-time injuries in all of the 8 countries. Thailand had a three fold increase in lost-time injuries whilst in Hong Kong the figure doubled. Six out of the 8 countries indicated that the building construction industry had the largest number of fatal accidents, followed by the manufacturing industry.

Oh No, I Lost All of My Work!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zimerman, Martin

2009-01-01

Having been in the computer industry for many years, the author is reminded of one of the earliest tenets of word processing: Saving one's work, and save it often. It's encouraging to see that people trust computers not to lose their work. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, aging computer hardware, a possibly questionable electrical supply, and…

[Research on medical works of Yuan dynasty quoted by Yong le da dian (The Great classic of Yongle reign)].

PubMed

Du, Yong

2003-01-01

The medical works quoted by Yong le da dian (The Great Classic of Yongle reign) are rather numerous, most of them were lost, and the lives of most of the authors were unknown. By careful investigation, the authors and their lives, circulation of these works, are still pursuable.

2014-1288

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-01-31

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Kennedy Space Center Employees and guests placed flowers at the Space Mirror Memorial at the spaceport's Visitor Complex during NASA's Day of Remembrance. A brief ceremony honored the astronauts of Apollo 1, who were lost in 1967, the shuttle Challenger crew, who perished in 1986, the space shuttle Columbia astronauts who were lost in 2003, as well as other astronauts who gave their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery. Dedicated in 1991, the names of fallen astronauts are emblazoned the monument's 4.5-foot-high-by-50-foot-wide polished black granite surface which reflects the sky and has been designated by Congress as a National Memorial. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

77 FR 1938 - Proposed Data Collections Submitted for Public Comment and Recommendations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-12

... lost productivity plus $96 billion in health care expenditures. Although the prevalence of current... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [60-Day-12-0828... Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), Centers for Disease Control and...

78 FR 66786 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-06

... the Regional Railroad Reorganization Act of 1973, as amended, and as extended by the Consolidated... Burden [The estimated annual respondent burden is as follows] Annual Form No. responses Time (minutes... claimed and did not receive income such as vacation pay or pay for time lost for any day claimed is...

Algeria by Clausewitz

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-01-01

remind you that I introduced the notion of "total war" because it was fashionable, in the days and country of Emmanuel Kant , to relate every "object...thin, white beard, and of course Clausewitz, with uniform and lambchops just as in his biography . I lost no time pondering on the weird nature of

3 CFR 8532 - Proclamation 8532 of May 28, 2010. Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, 2010

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... chapter in the American story. Many of today’s warriors know what it means to lose a friend too soon, and... they laid down their lives. We mourn with the families and friends of those we have lost, and hope they...

Lost? Let the Finger-Pointing Begin

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fredette, Michelle

2013-01-01

IT's tough being a digital sign these days. Everyone wants a piece of action. From announcements to advertisements, menus to broadcasts, digital signs provide dynamic messaging tailored to locations and circumstances. With the advent of wayfinding technology, today's digital signs can serve up customized directions around campuses and all of…

Young Asian Women Experiences of the Summer Activities Initiative.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirby, Laura

2002-01-01

Interviews and observations focused on experiences of 15 young Asian women at a 5-day summer adventure program in southern England. Participants seemed bored with presentations about future career options, activities lost their challenge through repetition, and debriefing was weak. However, the women connected with the transferable skills of trust…

Secukinumab Significantly Reduces Psoriasis-Related Work Impairment and Indirect Costs Compared With Ustekinumab and Etanercept in the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Warren, R B; Halliday, A; Graham, C N; Gilloteau, I; Miles, L; McBride, D

2018-05-30

Psoriasis causes work productivity impairment that increases with disease severity. Whether differential treatment efficacy translates into differential indirect cost savings is unknown. To assess work hours lost and indirect costs associated with secukinumab versus ustekinumab and etanercept in the United Kingdom (UK). This was a post hoc analysis of work impairment data collected in the CLEAR study (secukinumab vs. ustekinumab) and applied to the FIXTURE study (secukinumab vs. etanercept). Weighted weekly and annual average indirect costs per patient per treatment were calculated from (1) overall work impairment derived from Work Productivity and Activity Impairment data collected in CLEAR at 16 and 52 weeks by Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) response level; (2) weekly/annual work productivity loss by PASI response level; (3) weekly and annual indirect costs by PASI response level, based on hours of work productivity loss; and (4) weighted average indirect costs for each treatment. In the primary analysis, work impairment data for employed patients in CLEAR at Week 16 were used to compare secukinumab and ustekinumab. Secondary analyses were conducted at different timepoints and with patient cohorts, including FIXTURE. In CLEAR, 452 patients (67%) were employed at baseline. At Week 16, percentages of weekly work impairment/mean hours lost decreased with higher PASI: PASI <50: 22.8%/7.60 hours; PASI 50-74: 13.3%/4.45 hours; PASI 75-89: 6.4%/2.14 hours; PASI ≥90: 4.9%/1.65 hours. Weighted mean weekly/annual work hours lost were significantly lower for secukinumab than ustekinumab (1.96/102.51 vs. 2.40/125.12; P=0.0006). Results were consistent for secukinumab versus etanercept (2.29/119.67 vs. 3.59/187.17; Ρ<0.0001). Average annual indirect cost savings with secukinumab were £355 versus ustekinumab and £1,061 versus etanercept. Results at 52 weeks were similar. Secukinumab significantly reduced work impairment and associated indirect costs of psoriasis compared with ustekinumab and etanercept at Week 16 through 52 in the UK. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Maintenance energy requirements in miniature colony dogs.

PubMed

Serisier, S; Weber, M; Feugier, A; Fardet, M-O; Garnier, F; Biourge, V; German, A J

2013-05-01

There are numerous reports of maintenance energy requirements (MER) in dogs, but little information is available about energy requirements of miniature dog breeds. In this prospective, observational, cohort study, we aimed to determine MER in dogs from a number of miniature breeds and to determine which factors were associated with it. Forty-two dogs participated in the study. MER was calculated by determining daily energy intake (EI) during a period of 196 days (28-359 days) when body weight did not change significantly (e.g. ±2% in 12 weeks). Estimated median MER was 473 kJ/kg(0.75) /day (285-766 kJ/kg(0.75) /day), that is, median 113 kcal/kg(0.75) /day (68-183 kcal/kg(0.75) /day). In the obese dogs that lost weight, median MER after weight loss was completed was 360 kJ/kg(0.75) /day (285-515 kJ/kg(0.75) /day), that is, 86 kcal/kg(0.75) /day, (68-123 kcal/kg(0.75) /day). Simple linear regression analysis suggested that three breeds (e.g. Chihuahua, p = 0.002; Yorkshire terrier, p = 0.039; dachshund, p = 0.035) had an effect on MER. In addition to breed, simple linear regression revealed that neuter status (p = 0.079) and having previously been overweight (p = 0.002) were also of significance. However, with multiple linear regression analysis, only previous overweight status (MER less in dogs previously overweight p = 0.008) and breed (MER greater in Yorkshire terriers [p = 0.029] and less in Chihuahuas [p = 0.089]) remained in the final model. This study is the first to estimate MER in dogs of miniature breeds. Although further information from pet dogs is now needed, the current work will be useful for setting energy and nutrient requirement in such dogs for the future. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2013 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Impact of Health Insurance on Health Care Treatment and Cost in Vietnam: A Health Capability Approach to Financial Protection

PubMed Central

Nguyen, Kim Thuy; Khuat, Oanh Thi Hai; Pham, Duc Cuong; Khuat, Giang Thi Hong

2012-01-01

We applied an alternative conceptual framework for analyzing health insurance and financial protection grounded in the health capability paradigm. Through an original survey of 706 households in Dai Dong, Vietnam, we examined the impact of Vietnamese health insurance schemes on inpatient and outpatient health care access, costs, and health outcomes using bivariate and multivariable regression analyses. Insured respondents had lower outpatient and inpatient treatment costs and longer hospital stays but fewer days of missed work or school than the uninsured. Insurance reform reduced household vulnerability to high health care costs through direct reduction of medical costs and indirect reduction of income lost to illness. However, from a normative perspective, out-of-pocket costs are still too high, and accessibility issues persist; a comprehensive insurance package and additional health system reforms are needed. PMID:22698046

The effects of office ergonomic training on musculoskeletal complaints, sickness absence, and psychological well-being: a cluster randomized control trial.

PubMed

Mahmud, Norashikin; Kenny, Dianna T; Md Zein, Raemy; Hassan, Siti Nurani

2015-03-01

This study explored whether musculoskeletal complaints can be reduced by the provision of ergonomics education. A cluster randomized controlled trial study was conducted in which 3 units were randomized to intervention and received training and 3 units were given a leaflet. The effect of intervention on knowledge, workstation practices, musculoskeletal complaints, sickness absence, and psychological well-being were assessed at 6 and 12 months. Although there was no increment of knowledge among workers, significant improvements in workstation practices in the use of monitor, keyboard, and chair were observed. There were significant reductions in neck and upper and lower back complaints among workers but these did not translate into fewer days lost from work. Workers' stress was found to be significantly reduced across the studies. In conclusion, office ergonomics training can be beneficial in reducing musculoskeletal risks and stress among workers. © 2011 APJPH.

The HUPO proteomics standards initiative--easing communication and minimizing data loss in a changing world.

PubMed

Orchard, Sandra; Hermjakob, Henning

2008-03-01

The amount of data currently being generated by proteomics laboratories around the world is increasing exponentially, making it ever more critical that scientists are able to exchange, compare and retrieve datasets when re-evaluation of their original conclusions becomes important. Only a fraction of this data is published in the literature and important information is being lost every day as data formats become obsolete. The Human Proteome Organisation Proteomics Standards Initiative (HUPO-PSI) was tasked with the creation of data standards and interchange formats to allow both the exchange and storage of such data irrespective of the hardware and software from which it was generated. This article will provide an update on the work of this group, the creation and implementation of these standards and the standards-compliant data repositories being established as result of their efforts.

An evaluation of the effects of bed rest, sleep deprivation and discontinuance of training on the physical fitness of highly trained young men

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olree, H. D.; Corbin, B.; Dugger, G.; Smith, C.

1973-01-01

This experiment was conducted to determine what physiological effects result when highly trained subjects are confined to bed, deprived of sleep, or allowed to discontinue training. Results indicated: (1) There was a moderate increase in strength variables due to the training in this experiment but the stress which the subjects received caused a negligible change in strength variables. (2) The training program resulted in highly significant changes in specific bicycle ergometer variables indicating good increases in cardiopulmonary fitness. Five days of bed rest or fifty hours of sleep deprivation caused comparable drastic decreases in cardiopulmonary fitness. Post stress the subjects reverted to a normal daily schedule and after two weeks they had recovered about half of what they lost. (3) Cardiac output remains relatively constant at a constant work load, but stroke volume increases with conditioning and decreases with deconditioning due to stress.

Water diffusion to assess meat microstructure.

PubMed

Laghi, Luca; Venturi, Luca; Dellarosa, Nicolò; Petracci, Massimiliano

2017-12-01

In the quest for setting up rapid methods to evaluate water retention ability of meat microstructures, time domain nuclear magnetic resonance (TD-NMR) has gained a prominent role, due to the possibility to observe water located outside the myofibrils, easily lost upon storage or cooking. Diffusion weighted signals could be used to monitor the shape and dimension of the pores in which water is confined, thus boosting the information offered by TD-NMR. The work outlines a parsimonious model to describe relative abundance and diffusion coefficient of intra and extra myofibrillar water populations, exchange rate between them, diameter of the myofibrillar cells. To test our model, we registered diffusion and T 2 weighted NMR signals at 20MHz on fresh meat from pectoralis major muscle of 100days old female turkey. We then purposely altered water distribution and myofibrils shape by means of freezing. The model predicted nicely the consequences of the imposed modifications. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Career guidance in England today: reform, accidental injury or attempted murder?

PubMed Central

Roberts, Ken

2013-01-01

In 2011 England's career guidance profession lost its ‘own’ public service organisation and its former dedicated stream of public funding. The immediate causes lay in decisions by the government of the day, but this article revisits the profession's history to seek explanations for its later vulnerability. It is argued that decisions taken early in the profession's history, specifically its complete separation from adult employment services and basing claims to professional expertise almost wholly on occupational psychology, though maybe right at the time, were to have fateful consequences. The article proceeds to argue that career guidance will certainly survive its recent trauma, but the most likely outcome of the current ‘reforms’ – a market in career guidance services – will not create the kind of comprehensive education-to-work bridging service that was once intended and which is still needed. PMID:24009402

Health-related economic costs of the Three-Mile Island accident.

PubMed

Hu, T W; Slaysman, K S

1984-01-01

On March 1979, a nuclear power station at Three-Mile Island (TMI) near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, had a major breakdown. During the two-week period of the accident, about 150,000 residents were evacuated for reasons associated with safety and health. Many residents during and after the accident, regardless of whether they left or stayed, made mental and physical adjustments due to this accident. This paper is to estimate the economic costs incurred by individuals or communities as a result of a change in physical or mental health status and/or a change in health care services due to the TMI accident. The findings indicate that stress symptoms caused by the accident did affect the health-related behaviors of area residents. Of the costs examined, the economic costs of work days lost and physician visits are the largest cost items. There were some increases in consumption of alcohol, cigarettes, and tranquilizers immediately following the accident.

Characterization and Functional Analysis of PEBP Family Genes in Upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.).

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaohong; Wang, Congcong; Pang, Chaoyou; Wei, Hengling; Wang, Hantao; Song, Meizhen; Fan, Shuli; Yu, Shuxun

2016-01-01

Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is a naturally occurring photoperiod-sensitive perennial plant species. However, sensitivity to the day length was lost during domestication. The phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein (PEBP) gene family, of which three subclades have been identified in angiosperms, functions to promote and suppress flowering in photoperiod pathway. Recent evidence indicates that PEBP family genes play an important role in generating mobile flowering signals. We isolated homologues of the PEBP gene family in upland cotton and examined their regulation and function. Nine PEBP-like genes were cloned and phylogenetic analysis indicated the genes belonged to four subclades (FT, MFT, TFL1 and PEBP). Cotton PEBP-like genes showed distinct expression patterns in relation to different cotton genotypes, photoperiod responsive and cultivar maturity. The GhFT gene expression of a semi-wild race of upland cotton were strongly induced under short day condition, whereas the GhPEBP2 gene expression was induced under long days. We also elucidated that GhFT but not GhPEBP2 interacted with FD-like bZIP transcription factor GhFD and promote flowering under both long- and short-day conditions. The present result indicated that GhPEBP-like genes may perform different functions. This work corroborates the involvement of PEBP-like genes in photoperiod response and regulation of flowering time in different cotton genotypes, and contributes to an improved understanding of the function of PEBP-like genes in cotton.

Characterization and Functional Analysis of PEBP Family Genes in Upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

PubMed Central

Wang, Congcong; Pang, Chaoyou; Wei, Hengling; Wang, Hantao; Song, Meizhen; Fan, Shuli; Yu, Shuxun

2016-01-01

Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is a naturally occurring photoperiod-sensitive perennial plant species. However, sensitivity to the day length was lost during domestication. The phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein (PEBP) gene family, of which three subclades have been identified in angiosperms, functions to promote and suppress flowering in photoperiod pathway. Recent evidence indicates that PEBP family genes play an important role in generating mobile flowering signals. We isolated homologues of the PEBP gene family in upland cotton and examined their regulation and function. Nine PEBP-like genes were cloned and phylogenetic analysis indicated the genes belonged to four subclades (FT, MFT, TFL1 and PEBP). Cotton PEBP-like genes showed distinct expression patterns in relation to different cotton genotypes, photoperiod responsive and cultivar maturity. The GhFT gene expression of a semi-wild race of upland cotton were strongly induced under short day condition, whereas the GhPEBP2 gene expression was induced under long days. We also elucidated that GhFT but not GhPEBP2 interacted with FD-like bZIP transcription factor GhFD and promote flowering under both long- and short-day conditions. The present result indicated that GhPEBP-like genes may perform different functions. This work corroborates the involvement of PEBP-like genes in photoperiod response and regulation of flowering time in different cotton genotypes, and contributes to an improved understanding of the function of PEBP-like genes in cotton. PMID:27552108

2011 Holocaust Day of Remembrance

NASA Image and Video Library

2011-05-12

Av Szyller of Covington, La., recounts his experiences as a Jew living in occupied France in the early 1940s during a Holocaust Days of Remembrance gathering at Stennis Space Center on May 12. Szyller was arrested by Nazi soldiers but managed to escape France after several close calls. However, he lost his father and other family members in Auschwitz. Szyller, 83, returned to Europe in 1945 as a sergeant in the U.S. Army. After the war, he located to Louisiana, where he practices clinical psychology.

ING4 Loss in Prostate Cancer Progression

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-10-01

proper transitioning from late stage pregnancy to early lactation [12]. ING4 expres- sion is also lost in some breast cancers [13] where it may suppress...differentiation, Pten is elevated early (Fig. 6a), but decreases after ING4 is induced and CREB becomes active (after day 10). In EMP cells, CREB/ATF1 is...constitutive CREB/ATF1 activation (Fig. 6c) as early as 4 days after differentiation, before it is detected in normal PrECs. We observed a

Day of Remembrance

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-01-25

Mike Oldak, Resnik Family member, left, Chuck Resnik, brother of the late space shuttle Challenger astronaut Judy Resnik, Amy Resnik, sister-in-law of the late Judy Resnik and acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot, right, are seen after laying a wreath at the Space Shuttle Columbia Memorial as part of NASA's Day of Remembrance, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018, Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Wreaths were laid in memory of those men and women who lost their lives in the quest for space exploration. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Risk factors of fatal occupational accidents in Iran.

PubMed

Asady, Hadi; Yaseri, Mehdi; Hosseini, Mostafa; Zarif-Yeganeh, Morvarid; Yousefifard, Mahmoud; Haghshenas, Mahin; Hajizadeh-Moghadam, Parisa

2018-01-01

Occupational accidents are of most important consequences of globalization in developing countries. Therefore, investigating the causes of occupational accidents for improving the job situation and making operational policy is necessary. So the aim of this study was to investigate factors affecting the fatal occupational accidents and also calculate the years of life lost for dead workers. This cross-sectional study was conducted on data related to the 6052 injured workers that was registered in the 2013 registry system of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran. Variables including sex, education, age, job tenure, injury cause, referred location of injured workers, occupation, shift work, season, accident day, damaged part of the body were chosen as independent variables. The Chi-squared and Fisher exact tests were used for univariate analysis and then exact multiple logistic regression was carried out to identify independent risk factors of fatal occupational accidents. Finally, for dead workers, years of life lost, according to the injury causes was calculated. Among the 6052 accidents reported, 33 deaths were recorded. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests showed that factors including: current job tenure ( p  = 0.01), damaged parts of the body ( p  < 0.001) and injury cause ( p  < 0.001) are associated with the fatal accidents. Also exact multiple logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between electric shocks as a cause of injury (OR = 7.04; 95% CI: 1.01-43.74; p  = 0.02) and current job tenure more than 1 year (OR = 0.21; 95% CI: 0.05-0.70; p  = 0.005) with the fatal accidents. The total amount of years of life lost based on causes of injuries was estimated 1289.12 years. In Iran, fatal accident odds in workers with job tenure more than 1 year was less in comparing to the workers with job tenure less and equal to 1 year. Also odd of death for electrical shock was more than other causes of injuries. So it seems that employing of workers who have more than one-year work experience in a specific job and using of appropriate safeguards will be useful for the reducing of fatal occupational accidents.

Analyses of non-fatal accidents in an opencast mine by logistic regression model - a case study.

PubMed

Onder, Seyhan; Mutlu, Mert

2017-09-01

Accidents cause major damage for both workers and enterprises in the mining industry. To reduce the number of occupational accidents, these incidents should be properly registered and carefully analysed. This study efficiently examines the Aegean Lignite Enterprise (ELI) of Turkish Coal Enterprises (TKI) in Soma between 2006 and 2011, and opencast coal mine occupational accident records were used for statistical analyses. A total of 231 occupational accidents were analysed for this study. The accident records were categorized into seven groups: area, reason, occupation, part of body, age, shift hour and lost days. The SPSS package program was used in this study for logistic regression analyses, which predicted the probability of accidents resulting in greater or less than 3 lost workdays for non-fatal injuries. Social facilities-area of surface installations, workshops and opencast mining areas are the areas with the highest probability for accidents with greater than 3 lost workdays for non-fatal injuries, while the reasons with the highest probability for these types of accidents are transporting and manual handling. Additionally, the model was tested for such reported accidents that occurred in 2012 for the ELI in Soma and estimated the probability of exposure to accidents with lost workdays correctly by 70%.

Do the health benefits of cycling outweigh the risks?

PubMed

Johan de Hartog, Jeroen; Boogaard, Hanna; Nijland, Hans; Hoek, Gerard

2010-08-01

Although from a societal point of view a modal shift from car to bicycle may have beneficial health effects due to decreased air pollution emissions, decreased greenhouse gas emissions, and increased levels of physical activity, shifts in individual adverse health effects such as higher exposure to air pollution and risk of a traffic accident may prevail. We describe whether the health benefits from the increased physical activity of a modal shift for urban commutes outweigh the health risks. We have summarized the literature for air pollution, traffic accidents, and physical activity using systematic reviews supplemented with recent key studies. We quantified the impact on all-cause mortality when 500,000 people would make a transition from car to bicycle for short trips on a daily basis in the Netherlands. We have expressed mortality impacts in life-years gained or lost, using life table calculations. For individuals who shift from car to bicycle, we estimated that beneficial effects of increased physical activity are substantially larger (3-14 months gained) than the potential mortality effect of increased inhaled air pollution doses (0.8-40 days lost) and the increase in traffic accidents (5-9 days lost). Societal benefits are even larger because of a modest reduction in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and traffic accidents. On average, the estimated health benefits of cycling were substantially larger than the risks relative to car driving for individuals shifting their mode of transport.

Pectoralis major ruptures in professional American football players.

PubMed

Tarity, T David; Garrigues, Grant E; Ciccotti, Michael G; Zooker, Chad C; Cohen, Steven B; Frederick, Robert W; Williams, Gerald R; DeLuca, Peter F; Dodson, Christopher C

2014-09-01

Pectoralis major injuries are an infrequent shoulder injury that can result in pain, weakness, and deformity. These injuries may occur during the course of an athletic competition, including football. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of pectoralis major ruptures in professional football players and time lost from the sport following injury. We hypothesized that ruptures most frequently occur during bench-press strength training. The National Football League Injury Surveillance System was reviewed for all pectoralis major injuries in all players from 2000 to 2010. Details regarding injury setting, player demographics, method of treatment, and time lost were recorded. A total of 10 injuries-complete ruptures-were identified during this period. Five of the 10 were sustained in defensive players, generally while tackling. Nine occurred during game situations, and 1 occurred during practice. Specific data pertinent to the practice injury was not available. No rupture occurred during weight lifting. Eight ruptures were treated operatively, and 2 cases did not report the method of definitive treatment. The average days lost was 111 days (range, 42-189). The incidence was 0.004 pectoralis major ruptures during the 11-year study period. Pectoralis major injuries are uncommon while playing football. In the National Football League, these injuries primarily occur not during practice or while bench pressing but rather during games. When pectoralis major ruptures do occur, they are successfully treated operatively. Surgery may allow for return to full sports participation. IV, case series.

Prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of primary headache disorders: results of a population-based survey from Bangalore, India.

PubMed

Gururaj, Gopalakrishna; Kulkarni, Girish B; Rao, Girish N; Subbakrishna, D K; Stovner, Lars J; Steiner, Timothy J

2014-01-01

Headache disorders are common and burdensome throughout the world, placing high demand on health care services. Good information on their prevalence and distribution through sectors of the population are a prerequisite for planning interventions and organizing services, but unavailable for India. To find out the prevalence of headache disorders in Karnataka State and establish important sociodemographic associations. Using a door to door survey technique, amongst 2997 households, 2329 individuals were interviewed with a validated structured questionnaire by randomly sampling one adult member (aged 18-65 years) from eligible households in urban (n = 1226) and rural (n = 1103) areas of Bangalore, during the period April 2009 and January 2010. Chi-square, odds ratio (OR), and logistic regression. The 1-year prevalence of headache was 63.9% (62.0% when adjusted for age, gender and habitation) and 1-day prevalence (headache on the day prior to the survey) was 5.9%. Prevalence was higher in the age groups of 18-45 years, among females (OR = 2.3; 95% confidence interval: 1.9-2.7) and those in rural areas. Prevalence was higher in rural (71.2 [68.4-73.8]) than in urban areas (57.3 [54.5-60.1]) even after adjusting for gender. The proportion of days lost to headache from paid work was 1.1%, while overall productivity loss (from both paid and household work) was 2.8%. Headache disorders are a major health problem in India with significant burden. It requires systematic efforts to organize effective services to be able to reach a large number of people in urban and rural India. Education of physicians and other health-care workers, and the public should be a pillar of such efforts.

Cost of tobacco-related diseases, including passive smoking, in Hong Kong.

PubMed

McGhee, S M; Ho, L M; Lapsley, H M; Chau, J; Cheung, W L; Ho, S Y; Pow, M; Lam, T H; Hedley, A J

2006-04-01

Costs of tobacco-related disease can be useful evidence to support tobacco control. In Hong Kong we now have locally derived data on the risks of smoking, including passive smoking. To estimate the health-related costs of tobacco from both active and passive smoking. Using local data, we estimated active and passive smoking-attributable mortality, hospital admissions, outpatient, emergency and general practitioner visits for adults and children, use of nursing homes and domestic help, time lost from work due to illness and premature mortality in the productive years. Morbidity risk data were used where possible but otherwise estimates based on mortality risks were used. Utilisation was valued at unit costs or from survey data. Work time lost was valued at the median wage and an additional costing included a value of USD 1.3 million for a life lost. In the Hong Kong population of 6.5 million in 1998, the annual value of direct medical costs, long term care and productivity loss was USD 532 million for active smoking and USD 156 million for passive smoking; passive smoking accounted for 23% of the total costs. Adding the value of attributable lives lost brought the annual cost to USD 9.4 billion. The health costs of tobacco use are high and represent a net loss to society. Passive smoking increases these costs by at least a quarter. This quantification of the costs of tobacco provides strong motivation for legislative action on smoke-free areas in the Asia Pacific Region and elsewhere.

Stress ratio effects in fatigue of lost foam cast aluminum alloy 356

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palmer, David E.

Lost foam casting is a highly versatile metalcasting process that offers significant benefits in terms of design flexibility, energy consumption, and environmental impact. In the present work, the fatigue behavior of lost foam cast aluminum alloy 356, in conditions T6 and T7, was investigated, under both zero and non-zero mean stress conditions, with either as-cast or machined surface finish. Scanning electron microscopy was used to identify and measure the defect from which fatigue fracture initiated. Based on the results, the applicability of nine different fatigue mean stress equations was compared. The widely-used Goodman equation was found to be highly non-conservative, while the Stulen, Topper-Sandor, and Walker equations performed reasonably well. Each of these three equations includes a material-dependent term for stress ratio sensitivity. The stress ratio sensitivity was found to be affected by heat treatment, with the T6 condition having greater sensitivity than the T7 condition. The surface condition (as-cast vs. machined) did not significantly affect the stress ratio sensitivity. The fatigue life of as-cast specimens was found to be approximately 60--70% lower than that of machined specimens at the same equivalent stress. This reduction could not be attributed to pore size alone, and is suspected to be due to the greater concentration of pyrolysis products at the as-cast surface. Directions for future work, including improved testing methods and some possible methods of improving the properties of lost foam castings, are discussed.

Soccer-Specific Warm-Up and Lower Extremity Injury Rates in Collegiate Male Soccer Players

PubMed Central

Grooms, Dustin R.; Palmer, Thomas; Onate, James A.; Myer, Gregory D.; Grindstaff, Terry

2013-01-01

Context: A number of comprehensive injury-prevention programs have demonstrated injury risk-reduction effects but have had limited adoption across athletic settings. This may be due to program noncompliance, minimal exercise supervision, lack of exercise progression, and sport specificity. A soccer-specific program described as the F-MARC 11+ was developed by an expert group in association with the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Medical Assessment and Research Centre (F-MARC) to require minimal equipment and implementation as part of regular soccer training. The F-MARC 11+ has been shown to reduce injury risk in youth female soccer players but has not been evaluated in an American male collegiate population. Objective: To investigate the effects of a soccer-specific warm-up program (F-MARC 11+) on lower extremity injury incidence in male collegiate soccer players. Design: Cohort study. Setting: One American collegiate soccer team followed for 2 seasons. Patients or Other Participants: Forty-one male collegiate athletes aged 18–25 years. Intervention(s): The F-MARC 11+ program is a comprehensive warm-up program targeting muscular strength, body kinesthetic awareness, and neuromuscular control during static and dynamic movements. Training sessions and program progression were monitored by a certified athletic trainer. Main Outcome Measure(s): Lower extremity injury risk and time lost to lower extremity injury. Results: The injury rate in the referent season was 8.1 injuries per 1000 exposures with 291 days lost and 2.2 injuries per 1000 exposures and 52 days lost in the intervention season. The intervention season had reductions in the relative risk (RR) of lower extremity injury of 72% (RR = 0.28, 95% confidence interval = 0.09, 0.85) and time lost to lower extremity injury (P < .01). Conclusions: This F-MARC 11+ program reduced overall risk and severity of lower extremity injury compared with controls in collegiate-aged male soccer athletes. PMID:23848519

Metabolic rate M  0.75 in human beings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agrawal, D. C.

2014-11-01

Human beings consume energy every day. Even at rest, energy is still needed for the working of the internal organs. This is achieved by the metabolism of consumed food in the presence of inhaled oxygen. During the resting state this is called the maintenance rate, and follows the mouse-to-elephant formula, Pmet = 70M0.75 kcal per day. Here, M is the body mass of the subject in kilograms. The heat generated in metabolism is lost through the body surface of the subject, so the metabolic rate should also be proportional to the body surface area. In other words, the body surface area in the case of a human being must also depend on M0.75. The present paper examines this issue by finding a relationship between human body surface area and its mass through a very simple model that can be easily understood and verified by physics students, who can also compare it with all the expressions for body surface area available in the literature. This will build confidence in the students that the heat generated from metabolism in fact dissipates through the surface of the body.

Silver nanoparticle production by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum: nanoparticle characterisation and analysis of antifungal activity against pathogenic yeasts

PubMed Central

Ishida, Kelly; Cipriano, Talita Ferreira; Rocha, Gustavo Miranda; Weissmüller, Gilberto; Gomes, Fabio; Miranda, Kildare; Rozental, Sonia

2013-01-01

The microbial synthesis of nanoparticles is a green chemistry approach that combines nanotechnology and microbial biotechnology. The aim of this study was to obtain silver nanoparticles (SNPs) using aqueous extract from the filamentous fungus Fusarium oxysporum as an alternative to chemical procedures and to evaluate its antifungal activity. SNPs production increased in a concentration-dependent way up to 1 mM silver nitrate until 30 days of reaction. Monodispersed and spherical SNPs were predominantly produced. After 60 days, it was possible to observe degenerated SNPs with in additional needle morphology. The SNPs showed a high antifungal activity against Candida and Cryptococcus , with minimum inhibitory concentration values ≤ 1.68 µg/mL for both genera. Morphological alterations of Cryptococcus neoformans treated with SNPs were observed such as disruption of the cell wall and cytoplasmic membrane and lost of the cytoplasm content. This work revealed that SNPs can be easily produced by F. oxysporum aqueous extracts and may be a feasible, low-cost, environmentally friendly method for generating stable and uniformly sized SNPs. Finally, we have demonstrated that these SNPs are active against pathogenic fungi, such as Candida and Cryptococcus . PMID:24714966

Silver nanoparticle production by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum: nanoparticle characterisation and analysis of antifungal activity against pathogenic yeasts.

PubMed

Ishida, Kelly; Cipriano, Talita Ferreira; Rocha, Gustavo Miranda; Weissmüller, Gilberto; Gomes, Fabio; Miranda, Kildare; Rozental, Sonia

2014-04-01

The microbial synthesis of nanoparticles is a green chemistry approach that combines nanotechnology and microbial biotechnology. The aim of this study was to obtain silver nanoparticles (SNPs) using aqueous extract from the filamentous fungus Fusarium oxysporum as an alternative to chemical procedures and to evaluate its antifungal activity. SNPs production increased in a concentration-dependent way up to 1 mM silver nitrate until 30 days of reaction. Monodispersed and spherical SNPs were predominantly produced. After 60 days, it was possible to observe degenerated SNPs with in additional needle morphology. The SNPs showed a high antifungal activity against Candida and Cryptococcus , with minimum inhibitory concentration values ≤ 1.68 µg/mL for both genera. Morphological alterations of Cryptococcus neoformans treated with SNPs were observed such as disruption of the cell wall and cytoplasmic membrane and lost of the cytoplasm content. This work revealed that SNPs can be easily produced by F. oxysporum aqueous extracts and may be a feasible, low-cost, environmentally friendly method for generating stable and uniformly sized SNPs. Finally, we have demonstrated that these SNPs are active against pathogenic fungi, such as Candida and Cryptococcus.

The control of acute diarrhea in a large industrial plant.

PubMed

Martins, J K; Roedl, G

1978-04-01

Diarrhea causes considerable absenteeism and loss of working time among employees in the United States. One hundred employees with acute diarrhea at a Ford Motor Company plant were studied for four months to determine if loperamide hydrochloride treatment would control diarrheal symptoms, reduce absenteeism due to the condition, and be well-tolerated. Diarrhea was controlled with a median dosage of three capsules (6 mg total dose) and a range of two to 12 capsules. Ninety-six percent of the subjects were controlled after the first day, 98% by the third day. A statistically significant number were symptom free at their last clinical visits. Side effects were generally minor in nature. Substantially more than 1,000 man-hours of lost time were saved because of the treatment. Known drug dependents did not suffer from CNS effects or "highs". Loperamide acts directly on the intestinal wall to inhibit excessive peristalsis, thereby providing prompt, effective relief, with normal bowel patterns observed in these patients. The simple, individualized dosage is patient-oriented, rather than based on a fixed regimen. Because of its rapid onset of action, effective control of symptoms, low dosage, and being well-tolerated, loperamide meets the criteria for an effective antidiarrheal agent in industry.

Estimating investment worthiness of an ergonomic intervention for preventing low back pain from a firm's perspective.

PubMed

Hughes, Richard E; Nelson, Nancy A

2009-05-01

A mathematical model was developed for estimating the net present value (NPV) of the cash flow resulting from an investment in an intervention to prevent occupational low back pain (LBP). It combines biomechanics, epidemiology, and finance to give an integrated tool for a firm to use to estimate the investment worthiness of an intervention based on a biomechanical analysis of working postures and hand loads. The model can be used by an ergonomist to estimate the investment worthiness of a proposed intervention. The analysis would begin with a biomechanical evaluation of the current job design and post-intervention job. Economic factors such as hourly labor cost, overhead, workers' compensation costs of LBP claims, and discount rate are combined with the biomechanical analysis to estimate the investment worthiness of the proposed intervention. While this model is limited to low back pain, the simulation framework could be applied to other musculoskeletal disorders. The model uses Monte Carlo simulation to compute the statistical distribution of NPV, and it uses a discrete event simulation paradigm based on four states: (1) working and no history of lost time due to LBP, (2) working and history of lost time due to LBP, (3) lost time due to LBP, and (4) leave job. Probabilities of transitions are based on an extensive review of the epidemiologic review of the low back pain literature. An example is presented.

The migraine ACE model: evaluating the impact on time lost and medical resource Use.

PubMed

Caro, J J; Caro, G; Getsios, D; Raggio, G; Burrows, M; Black, L

2000-04-01

To describe the Migraine Adaptive Cost-Effectiveness Model in the context of an analysis of a simulated population of Canadian patients with migraine. The high prevalence of migraine and its substantial impact on patients' ability to function normally present a significant economic burden to society. In light of the recent availability of improved pharmaceutical treatments, a model was developed to assess their economic impact. The Migraine Adaptive Cost-Effectiveness Model incorporates the costs of time lost from both work and nonwork activities, as well as medical resource and medication use. Using Monte Carlo techniques, the model simulates the experience of a population of patients with migraine over the course of 1 year. As an example, analyses of a Canadian population were carried out using data from a multinational trial, surveys, national statistics, and the available literature. Using customary therapy, mean productivity losses (amounting to 84 hours of paid work time, 48 hours of unpaid work time, and 113 hours of leisure time lost) were estimated to cost $1949 (in 1997 Canadian dollars) per patient, with medical expenditures adding an average of $280 to the cost of illness. With customary treatment patterns, the costs of migraine associated with reduced functional capacity are substantial. The migraine model represents a flexible tool for the economic evaluation of different migraine treatments in various populations.

Beyond Passwords: Usage and Policy Transformation

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

case scenario for lost productivity due to users leaving their CAC at work, in their computer, is costing 261 work years per year with an estimated ...one for your CAC) are you currently using? ..................................................................................................... 43...PASSWORDS: USAGE AND POLICY TRANSFORMATION I. Introduction Background Currently , the primary method for network authentication on the

ES Review: Selections from 2009 and 2010

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smiles, Robin, Ed.

2010-01-01

This fourth edition of the "ES Review" brings together, in one setting, some of the best work from 2009-10. It features: (1) Teacher Quality (Teachers at Work: Improving Teacher Quality Through School Design (Elena Silva); Understanding Teachers Contracts (Andrew J. Rotherham); How Teachers Unions Lost the Media (Richard Whitmire and…

The Complexities of Interprofessional Learning/Working: Has the Agenda Lost Its Way?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewy, Lisa

2010-01-01

Objective: The increasing emphasis of interprofessional working (IPW) and learning (IPL) encourages healthcare professionals to be educated together. However, is the language and understanding clear and consistent across health care? Research Questions: Is there a sound evidence base underpinning IPL/IPW? Do healthcare professionals and workforce…

Economic costs of chronic disease through lost productive life years (PLYs) among Australians aged 45-64 years from 2015 to 2030: results from a microsimulation model.

PubMed

Schofield, Deborah; Shrestha, Rupendra N; Cunich, Michelle M; Tanton, Robert; Veerman, Lennert; Kelly, Simon J; Passey, Megan E

2016-09-22

To project the number of older workers with lost productive life years (PLYs) due to chronic disease and resultant lost income; and lost taxes and increased welfare payments from 2015 to 2030. Using a microsimulation model, Health&WealthMOD2030, the costs of chronic disease in Australians aged 45-64 were projected to 2030. The model integrates household survey data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Surveys of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDACs) 2003 and 2009, output from long-standing microsimulation models (STINMOD (Static Incomes Model) and APPSIM (Australian Population and Policy Simulation Model)) used by various government departments, population and labour force growth data from Treasury, and disease trends data from the Australian Burden of Disease and Injury Study (2003). Respondents aged 45-64 years in the SDACs 2003 and 2009 formed the base population. Lost PLYs due to chronic disease; resultant lost income, lost taxes and increased welfare payments in 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030. We projected 380 000 (6.4%) people aged 45-64 years with lost PLYs in 2015, increasing to 462 000 (6.5%) in 2030-a 22% increase in absolute numbers. Those with lost PLYs experience the largest reduction in income than any other group in each year compared to those employed full time without a chronic disease, and this income gap widens over time. The total economic loss due to lost PLYs consisted of lost income modelled at $A12.6 billion in 2015, increasing to $A20.5 billion in 2030-a 62.7% increase. Additional costs to the government consisted of increased welfare payments at $A6.2 billion in 2015, increasing to $A7.3 billion in 2030-a 17.7% increase; and a loss of $A3.1 billion in taxes in 2015, increasing to $A4.7 billion in 2030-a growth of 51.6%. There is a need for greater investment in effective preventive health interventions which improve workers' health and work capacity. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Economic costs of chronic disease through lost productive life years (PLYs) among Australians aged 45–64 years from 2015 to 2030: results from a microsimulation model

PubMed Central

Schofield, Deborah; Shrestha, Rupendra N; Cunich, Michelle M; Tanton, Robert; Veerman, Lennert; Kelly, Simon J

2016-01-01

Objectives To project the number of older workers with lost productive life years (PLYs) due to chronic disease and resultant lost income; and lost taxes and increased welfare payments from 2015 to 2030. Design, setting and participants Using a microsimulation model, Health&WealthMOD2030, the costs of chronic disease in Australians aged 45–64 were projected to 2030. The model integrates household survey data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Surveys of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDACs) 2003 and 2009, output from long-standing microsimulation models (STINMOD (Static Incomes Model) and APPSIM (Australian Population and Policy Simulation Model)) used by various government departments, population and labour force growth data from Treasury, and disease trends data from the Australian Burden of Disease and Injury Study (2003). Respondents aged 45–64 years in the SDACs 2003 and 2009 formed the base population. Main outcome measures Lost PLYs due to chronic disease; resultant lost income, lost taxes and increased welfare payments in 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030. Results We projected 380 000 (6.4%) people aged 45–64 years with lost PLYs in 2015, increasing to 462 000 (6.5%) in 2030—a 22% increase in absolute numbers. Those with lost PLYs experience the largest reduction in income than any other group in each year compared to those employed full time without a chronic disease, and this income gap widens over time. The total economic loss due to lost PLYs consisted of lost income modelled at $A12.6 billion in 2015, increasing to $A20.5 billion in 2030—a 62.7% increase. Additional costs to the government consisted of increased welfare payments at $A6.2 billion in 2015, increasing to $A7.3 billion in 2030—a 17.7% increase; and a loss of $A3.1 billion in taxes in 2015, increasing to $A4.7 billion in 2030—a growth of 51.6%. Conclusions There is a need for greater investment in effective preventive health interventions which improve workers’ health and work capacity. PMID:27660315

Clinical and economic impact of mirabegron compared with antimuscarinics for the treatment of overactive bladder in Canada.

PubMed

Hakimi, Zalmai; Nazir, Jameel; McCrea, Charles; Berling, Malin; Fatoye, Francis; Ramos, Barbara; Wagg, Adrian

2017-06-01

The β 3 -adrenoceptor agonist, mirabegron, and antimuscarinic agents provide similar efficacy for the treatment of overactive bladder (OAB), but mirabegron appears to be associated with better persistence, perhaps due to an absence of anticholinergic side-effects. This study estimated the expected costs associated with the management of OAB in Canada from a societal perspective by utilizing real-world evidence. An economic model with monthly cycles and a 1-year time horizon was developed to depict a treatment pathway for a hypothetical cohort of 100 patients with OAB. At model entry, patients receive mirabegron or an antimuscarinic. Patients who do not persist may switch treatment, undergo a minimally invasive procedure, or remain symptomatic (uncontrolled). The model includes direct costs (e.g. physician visits) and indirect costs (e.g. lost productivity). A one-way univariate sensitivity analysis assessed a ±20% variation in each of the key model inputs. At 1 year, a greater proportion of patients persisted on treatment with mirabegron compared with antimuscarinics (33% vs 15-23%), and a smaller proportion switched treatment (17% vs 20-22%). The number of healthcare visits (292 vs 299-304), pads used (74,098 vs 77,878-81,669), and work hours lost (4,497 vs 5,372-6,249) were all lower for mirabegron vs antimuscarinics. The estimated total annual cost of treatment per patient with mirabegron was $2,127.46 Canadian dollars (CAD) ($5.82 CAD/day) compared with $2,150.20-$2,496.69 CAD ($5.89-$6.84 CAD/day) for antimuscarinics. The one-way sensitivity analysis indicated the results are robust. Improved persistence observed in routine clinical practice with mirabegron appears to translate into benefits of reduced healthcare resource use, and lower direct and indirect costs of treatment compared with antimuscarinics. Overall, these data suggest that mirabegron may offer clinical and economic benefits for the management of patients with OAB in Canada.

Socioeconomic impact of road traffic injuries in West Africa: exploratory data from Nigeria.

PubMed

Juillard, Catherine; Labinjo, Mariam; Kobusingye, Olive; Hyder, Adnan A

2010-12-01

Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are increasingly contributing to the burden of disease in sub-Saharan Africa, yet little is known about the economic consequences and disability associated with them. To explore cost and disability consequences of RTIs in Nigeria. A population-based survey using two-stage stratified cluster sampling. SUBJECT/SETTING: Information on care-seeking choice, cost of treatment, ability to work, reduction in earnings, and disability were collected on 127 subjects who had suffered an RTI, of 3082 study subjects in seven Nigerian states. Univariate analysis was used to estimate frequency of disability, types of care sought, and trends for work lost, functional ability and cost of treatment. Unadjusted bivariate analysis was performed to explore care-seeking, cost of care, and work lost among disabled and non-disabled people. RTIs resulted in disability for 29.1% of subjects, while 13.5% were unable to return to work. Of the disabled people, 67.6% were unable to perform activities of daily living, 16.7% consequently lost their jobs, and 88.6% had a reduction in earnings. Private physician and hospital treatment were the most common forms of initial treatment sought, but traditional treatment was the most common second form of care sought. Average direct costs of informal and formal treatment were US$6.65 and US$35.64, respectively. Disabled people were more likely to seek formal care (p=0.003) and be unable to work (p=0.002). Economic and functional ramifications must be included in the spectrum of consequences of RTIs to fully appreciate the extent of the burden of disease, implying that health systems should not only address the clinical consequences of RTIs, but the financial ones as well.

Working Health Services Scotland: a 4-year evaluation

PubMed Central

Hanson, M; Bakhshi, A; Kennedy, M; Macdonald, E B

2018-01-01

Abstract Background Working Health Service Scotland (WHSS) supports the self-employed and employees of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Scotland with a health condition affecting their ability to work, who are either absent or at risk of becoming absent due to it. Aims To evaluate the impact on health and work outcomes of WHSS clients over a 4-year period. Methods Data were collected at enrolment, entry, discharge and follow-up at 3 and 6 months after discharge. Clients completed up to three validated health questionnaires at entry and discharge—EuroQol five dimensions (EQ-5D) and visual analogue scale (VAS); Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS); and Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). Results A total of 13463 referrals occurred in the 4-year period; 11748 (87%) were eligible and completed entry assessment and 60% of the latter completed discharge paperwork. The majority of referrals were due to musculoskeletal conditions (84%) while 12% were referred with mental health conditions. Almost a fifth (18%) of cases were absent at entry and back at work at discharge. Work days lost while in WHSS was associated with age, length of absence prior to entering WHSS, primary health condition and time in programme. All health measures showed significant improvements from entry to discharge. Improvement in general health was sustained at 3- and 6-month follow-up. Conclusions The WHSS evaluation findings indicate that participation was associated with positive changes to health and return-to-work. The extent of the positive change in health measures and work ability can be highly important economically for employees and employers. PMID:29390161

Chronic supplementation of creatine and vitamins C and E increases survival and improves biochemical parameters after Doxorubicin treatment in rats.

PubMed

Santos, Ronaldo V T; Batista, Miguel L; Caperuto, Erico C; Costa Rosa, Luis Fbp

2007-12-01

1. Doxorubicin is an anti-cancer drug with well-described effects against a wide range of tumours. However, doxorubicin also exhibits dose-dependent cytotoxicity. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether chronic supplementation of creatine or a mix of vitamins C and E could increase survival and improve plasma parameters 48 h after doxorubicin treatment. 2. Rats were divided into four groups: (i) saline (control); (ii) doxorubicin treated; (iii) a creatine (0.2 g/kg per day)-supplemented group; and (iv) a vitamin C (250 mg/kg per day) and E (400 IU/kg per day)-supplemented group. After 30 days supplementation of rats with either creatine or the vitamins, one dose of doxorubicin (15 mg/kg, i.p.) was administered. 3. There was no difference in weight loss among the groups until the 3rd day after doxorubicin treatment, but the creatine- and vitamin-supplemented groups lived longer compared with the doxorubicin only treated group (6, 7 and 3 days, respectively). The doxorubicin-treated group lost 13.4% bodyweight over 3 days, whereas the creatine- and vitamin-supplemented groups lost approximately 35% 3 days after the administration of doxorubicin. Doxorubicin treatment resulted in an increase in alanine aminotransferase (ALT; P < 0.05), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH; P < 0.05), urea (P < 0.05) and creatinine (P < 0.05) compared with levels observed in the control group. Conversely, creatine supplementation promoted a partial return to control values for LDH (P < 0.05) and creatinine (P < 0.05), whereas the vitamin mix reversed the changes in ALT (P < 0.05), LDH (P < 0.05), urea (P < 0.05) and creatinine (P < 0.05). 4. In conclusion, the results of the present study indicate that the two supplementation protocols decreased the cytotoxic effects of doxorubicin and that a protective effect was more noticeable in animals supplemented with the mixture of vitamins C and E.

The High Court's lost chance in medical negligence: Tabet v Gett (2010) 240 CLR 537.

PubMed

Faunce, Thomas; McEwan, Alexandra

2010-12-01

In 2010 the High Court of Australia in Tabet v Gett (2010) 240 CLR 537 determined an appeal in a medical negligence case concerning a six-year-old girl who had presented to a major paediatric hospital with symptoms over several weeks of headaches and vomiting after a recent history of chicken pox. The differential diagnosis was varicella, meningitis or encephalitis and two days later, after she deteriorated neurologically, she received a lumbar puncture. Three days later she suffered a seizure and irreversible brain damage. A CT scan performed at that point showed a brain tumour. As Australia does not have a no-fault system providing compensation to cover the long-term care required for such a condition, the girl (through her parents and lawyers) sued her treating physician. She alleged that, because a cerebral CT scan was not performed when clinically indicated after the diagnosis of meningitis or encephalitis and before the lumbar puncture, she had "lost the chance" to have her brain tumour treated before she sustained permanent brain damage. She succeeded at first instance, but lost on appeal. The High Court also rejected her claim, holding unanimously that there were no policy reasons to allow recovery of damages based on possible (less than 50%) "loss of a chance" of a better medical outcome. The court held that the law of torts in Australia required "all or nothing" proof that physical injury was caused or contributed to by a negligent party. The High Court, however, did not exclude loss of chance as forming the substance of a probable (greater than 50%) claim in medical negligence in some future case. In the meantime, patients injured in Australia as a result of possible medical negligence (particularly in the intractable difficult instances of late diagnosis) must face the injustice of the significant day-to-day care needs of victims being carried by family members and the taxpayer-funded public hospital system. The High Court in Tabet v Gett again provides evidence that, as currently constituted, it remains deaf to the injustice caused by State legislation excessively restricting the access to reasonable compensation by victims of medical negligence.

Midfoot sprains in the National Football League.

PubMed

Osbahr, Daryl C; O'Loughlin, Padhraig F; Drakos, Mark C; Barnes, Ronnie P; Kennedy, John G; Warren, Russell F

2014-12-01

Midfoot sprains in the National Football League (NFL) are uncommon. There are few studies on midfoot sprains in professional athletes, as most studies focus on severe traumatic injuries resulting in Lisfranc fracture-dislocations. We conducted a study to evaluate midfoot sprains in NFL players to allow for better identification and management of these injuries. All midfoot sprains from a single NFL team database were reviewed over a 15-year period, and 32 NFL team physicians completed a questionnaire detailing their management approach. A comparative analysis was performed analyzing several variables, including diagnosis, treatment methods, and time lost from participation. Fifteen NFL players sustained midfoot sprains. Most injuries occurred during games as opposed to practice, and the injury typically resulted from direct impact rather than torsion. Twelve players had nonoperative treatment, and 3 had operative treatment. Nonoperative management resulted in a mean of 11.7 days of time lost from participation. However, there was a significant (P=.047) difference in mean (SD) time lost between the grade 1 sprain group, 3.1 (1.9) days, and the grade 2 sprain group, 36 (26.1) days. Of the 3 operative grade 3 patients, 1 returned in 73 days, and 2 were injured late in the season and returned the next season. Eleven (92%) of the 12 players who had nonoperative treatment had a successful return to play, and 10 (83%) of the 12 played more games and seasons after their midfoot injury. Depending on the diastasis category, NFL team physicians vary treatment: no diastasis (84% cam walker), latent diastasis (47% surgery, 34% cam walker), and frank diastasis (94% surgery). In the NFL, midfoot sprains can be a source of significant disability. Successful return to play can be achieved with nonoperative management for grade 1 injuries within 1 week and grade 2 injuries within 5 weeks. However, severe injuries with frank diastasis that require operative management will necessitate a more significant delay in return to play. Either way, most NFL athletes will have a successful NFL career after their midfoot sprain injury.

Repair of traumatic skeletal muscle injury with bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells seeded on extracellular matrix.

PubMed

Merritt, Edward K; Cannon, Megan V; Hammers, David W; Le, Long N; Gokhale, Rohit; Sarathy, Apurva; Song, Tae J; Tierney, Matthew T; Suggs, Laura J; Walters, Thomas J; Farrar, Roger P

2010-09-01

Skeletal muscle injury resulting in tissue loss poses unique challenges for surgical repair. Despite the regenerative potential of skeletal muscle, if a significant amount of tissue is lost, skeletal myofibers will not grow to fill the injured area completely. Prior work in our lab has shown the potential to fill the void with an extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffold, resulting in restoration of morphology, but not functional recovery. To improve the functional outcome of the injured muscle, a muscle-derived ECM was implanted into a 1 x 1 cm(2), full-thickness defect in the lateral gastrocnemius (LGAS) of Lewis rats. Seven days later, bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were injected directly into the implanted ECM. Partial functional recovery occurred over the course of 42 days when the LGAS was repaired with an MSC-seeded ECM producing 85.4 +/- 3.6% of the contralateral LGAS. This was significantly higher than earlier recovery time points (p < 0.05). The specific tension returned to 94 +/- 9% of the contralateral limb. The implanted MSC-seeded ECM had more blood vessels and regenerating skeletal myofibers than the ECM without cells (p < 0.05). The data suggest that the repair of a skeletal muscle defect injury by the implantation of a muscle-derived ECM seeded with MSCs can improve functional recovery after 42 days.

Ergonomic Training Reduces Musculoskeletal Disorders among Office Workers: Results from the 6-Month Follow-Up

PubMed Central

Mahmud, Norashikin; Kenny, Dianna Theadora; Md Zein, Raemy; Hassan, Siti Nurani

2011-01-01

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders are commonly reported among computer users. This study explored whether these disorders can be reduced by the provision of ergonomics education. Methods: A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted in which 3 units were randomised for intervention and received training, and 3 units were given a leaflet. The effect of intervention on workstation habits, musculoskeletal disorders, days and episodes of sick leave, and psychological well-being were assessed. Results: A significant improvement in workstation habits was found, and the differences remained significant at the follow-up time point for keyboard, mouse, chair, and desk use. The largest reduction in the percentage of musculoskeletal disorders was in the neck region (−42.2%, 95% CI −60.0 to −24.4). After adjusting for baseline values, significant differences were found at the follow-up time point in the neck, right shoulder, right and left upper limbs, lower back, and right and left lower limbs. No significant differences were found for the days and episodes of sick leave or the psychological well-being among workers after the intervention. Conclusion: Consistent reductions were observed for all musculoskeletal disorders at the follow-up time point, although the difference was not statistically significant for the upper back. The improvements in the musculoskeletal disorders did not translate into fewer days lost from work or improved psychological well-being. PMID:22135582

A randomized trial of an acid-peptic disease management program in a managed care environment.

PubMed

Ofman, Joshua J; Segal, Richard; Russell, Wayne L; Cook, Deborah J; Sandhu, Meenu; Maue, Susan K; Lowenstein, Edward H; Pourfarzib, Ray; Blanchette, Erv; Ellrodt, Gray; Weingarten, Scott R

2003-06-01

To study the effectiveness of a disease management program for patients with acid-related disorders. A cluster-randomized clinical trial of 406 patients comparing a disease management program with "usual practice." Enrolled patients included those presenting with new dyspepsia and chronic users of antisecretory drugs in 8 geographically separate physician offices associated with the Orlando Health Care Group. There were 35 providers in the intervention group and 48 in the control group. The disease management program included evidence-based practice guidelines implemented by using physician champions, academic detailing, and multidisciplinary teams. Processes of care, patient symptoms, quality of life, costs, and work days lost were measured 6 months after patient enrollment. Compared with usual practice, disease management was associated with improvements in Helicobacter pylori testing (61% vs 9%; P = .001), use of recommended H pylori treatment regimens (96% vs 10%; P = .001), and discontinuation rates of proton pump therapy after treatment (70% vs 36%; P = .04). There were few differences in patient quality of life or symptoms between the 2 study groups. Disease management resulted in fewer days of antisecretory therapy (71.7 vs 88.1 days; P = .02) but no difference in total costs. This disease management program for patients with acid-related disorders led to improved processes of care. The effectiveness of such a program in other settings requires further study.

Biogeochemical cycles of carbon, sulfur, and free oxygen in a microbial mat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Canfield, Donald E.; Des Marais, David J.

1993-01-01

Complete budgets for carbon and oxygen have been constructed for cyanobacterial mats dominated by Microcoleus chthonoplastes from the evaporating ponds of a salt works. We infer from the data the various sinks for O2 as well as the sources of carbon for primary production. Although seasonal variability exists, a major percentage of the O2 produced during the day did not diffuse out of the mat but was used within the mat to oxidize both organic carbon and the sulfide produced by sulfate reduction. At night, most of the O2 that diffused into the mat was used to oxidize sulfide, with O2 respiration of minor importance. During the day, the internal mat processes of sulfate reduction and O2 respiration generated as much or more inorganic carbon (DIC) for primary production as diffusion into the mat. Oxygenic photosynthesis was the most important process of carbon fixation. At night, the DIC lost from the mat was mostly from sulfate reduction. Elemental fluxes across the mat/brine interface indicated that carbon with an oxidation state of greater than zero was taken up by the mat during the day and liberated from the mat at night. Overall, carbon with an average oxidation state of near zero accumulated in the mat. Both carbon fixation and carbon oxidation rates varied with temperature by a similar amount.

Health and exercise-related medical issues among 1,212 ultramarathon runners: baseline findings from the Ultrarunners Longitudinal TRAcking (ULTRA) Study.

PubMed

Hoffman, Martin D; Krishnan, Eswar

2014-01-01

Regular exercise is associated with substantial health benefits; however, little is known about the health impact of extreme levels of exercise. This study examined the prevalence of chronic diseases, health-care utilization, and risk factors for exercise-related injuries among ultramarathon runners. Retrospective, self-reported enrollment data from an ongoing longitudinal observational study of 1,212 active ultramarathon runners were analyzed. The most prevalent chronic medical conditions were allergies/hay fever (25.1%) and exercise-induced asthma (13.0%), but there was a low prevalence of serious medical issues including cancers (4.5%), coronary artery disease (0.7%), seizure disorders (0.7%), diabetes (0.7%), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (0.2%). In the year preceding enrollment, most (64.6%) reported an exercise-related injury that resulted in lost training days (median of 14 days), but little nonattendance of work or school due to illness, injury, or exercise-related medical conditions (medians of 0 days for each). The knee was the most common area of exercise-related injury. Prior year incidence of stress fractures was 5.5% with most (44.5%) involving the foot. Ultramarathon runners who sustained exercise-related injuries were younger (p<0.001) and less experienced (p<0.01) than those without injury. Stress fractures were more common (p<0.01) among women than men. We conclude that, compared with the general population, ultramarathon runners appear healthier and report fewer missed work or school days due to illness or injury. Ultramarathon runners have a higher prevalence of asthma and allergies than the general population, and the prevalence of serious medical issues was nontrivial and should be recognized by those providing medical care to these individuals. Ultramarathon runners, compared with shorter distance runners, have a similar annual incidence of exercise-related injuries but higher proportion of stress fractures involving the foot, and it is the younger and less experienced ultramarathoners who appear most at risk for injury.

Prospective study of recovery from copperhead snake envenomation: an observational study.

PubMed

Lavonas, Eric J; Gerardo, Charles J

2015-05-15

Although much is known about signs, symptoms, and management in the acute phase of crotaline snake envenomation, little is known about signs, symptoms, function, and quality of life during the recovery phase. The purpose of this observational pilot investigation is to evaluate the utility of several clinical outcome instruments in the setting of copperhead snakebite, and to characterize the clinical course of recovery. This is a multi-center prospective, open-label, observational study of patients envenomated by copperhead snakes. We administered the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH), Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS), Patient-Specific Functional Scale (PSFS), Work Productivity and Ability Impairment: Special Health Problem (WPAI: SHP), Patients' Global Impression of Change (PGIC), Patient's Global Assessment of Recovery (PGAR), and SF-36 instruments, obtained numeric pain rating scales, and measured grip strength, walking speed, and swelling prior to hospital discharge and 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after envenomation. 20 subjects were enrolled; none were lost to follow-up. Most (80%) had moderate severity swelling, and most (75%) received antivenom. Across the broad range of measures, abnormalities of pain, swelling, impairments of physical and role function, and quality of life persisted for 7-14 days in most subjects. Validated self-reported outcome measures, such as the DASH, LEFS, PSFS, PGIC, SF-36, and the daily activities impairment portion of the WPAI: SHP were more responsive than measurements of swelling or walking speed. Data quality issues limited the utility of the work impairment portion of the WPAI: SHP. Residual signs, symptoms, and impairment in some subjects lasted through the 28-day study period. The study design precluded any assessment of the effectiveness of antivenom. Signs, symptoms, impaired function, and decreased quality of life typically last 7 - 14 days after copperhead envenomation. Several tools appear responsive and useful in studying recovery from pit viper envenomation. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01651299.

Health and Exercise-Related Medical Issues among 1,212 Ultramarathon Runners: Baseline Findings from the Ultrarunners Longitudinal TRAcking (ULTRA) Study

PubMed Central

Hoffman, Martin D.; Krishnan, Eswar

2014-01-01

Regular exercise is associated with substantial health benefits; however, little is known about the health impact of extreme levels of exercise. This study examined the prevalence of chronic diseases, health-care utilization, and risk factors for exercise-related injuries among ultramarathon runners. Retrospective, self-reported enrollment data from an ongoing longitudinal observational study of 1,212 active ultramarathon runners were analyzed. The most prevalent chronic medical conditions were allergies/hay fever (25.1%) and exercise-induced asthma (13.0%), but there was a low prevalence of serious medical issues including cancers (4.5%), coronary artery disease (0.7%), seizure disorders (0.7%), diabetes (0.7%), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (0.2%). In the year preceding enrollment, most (64.6%) reported an exercise-related injury that resulted in lost training days (median of 14 days), but little nonattendance of work or school due to illness, injury, or exercise-related medical conditions (medians of 0 days for each). The knee was the most common area of exercise-related injury. Prior year incidence of stress fractures was 5.5% with most (44.5%) involving the foot. Ultramarathon runners who sustained exercise-related injuries were younger (p<0.001) and less experienced (p<0.01) than those without injury. Stress fractures were more common (p<0.01) among women than men. We conclude that, compared with the general population, ultramarathon runners appear healthier and report fewer missed work or school days due to illness or injury. Ultramarathon runners have a higher prevalence of asthma and allergies than the general population, and the prevalence of serious medical issues was nontrivial and should be recognized by those providing medical care to these individuals. Ultramarathon runners, compared with shorter distance runners, have a similar annual incidence of exercise-related injuries but higher proportion of stress fractures involving the foot, and it is the younger and less experienced ultramarathoners who appear most at risk for injury. PMID:24416176

Frequency of dysmenorrhoea, its impact and management strategies adopted by medical students.

PubMed

Yasir, Saadia; Kant, Bushra; Dar, Muhammad Farooq

2014-01-01

Dysmenorrhea is quite frequent and may affect the daily activities especially during the early years of adolesence. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of dysmenorrhoea, its impact, and the management strategies adopted. This cross-sectional study was done with 356 consenting females studying at Mohiuddin Islamic University, Mirpur Azad Kashmir, between 18-25 years of age, with regular menstrual cycles and normal abdomino-pelvic ultrasound and not taking any medication. Information was gathered regarding age, residence, menstrual history, body mass index (BMI), associated symptoms, remedies used and days lost. A total of 56.1% females had dysmenorrhoea. The mean age of participants was 21.01±1.54 years, mean age of menarche was 12.9±1.65 years, mean duration of menstrual flow was 4.75±1.27 days and mean BMI was 24.1±1.6. 17% of the participants were dieting and 26% had daily milk intake. 25% reported being absent due to pain and number of days lost was 1.5±1.0 days. Common symptoms associated with the dysmenorrhoea were difficulty concentrating in 65%, less involvement in social activities and sleep affected in 64%, mood disturbances in 58% and headache in 56%. Household remedies for dysmenorrhea were used by 43% and 66% used analgesics and only 4% sought medical advice for pain. Dysmenorrhoea is a very common problem affecting academic performance and limiting daily activities requiring appropriate intervention.

Impacts of air pollution wave on years of life lost: A crucial way to communicate the health risks of air pollution to the public.

PubMed

Huang, Jing; Pan, Xiaochuan; Guo, Xinbiao; Li, Guoxing

2018-04-01

Limited studies have explored the impacts of exposure to sustained high levels of air pollution (air pollution wave) on mortality. Given that the frequency, intensity and duration of air pollution wave has been increasing in highly polluted regions recently, understanding the impacts of air pollution wave is crucial. In this study, air pollution wave was defined as 2 or more consecutive days with air pollution index (API) > 100. The impacts of air pollution wave on years of life lost (YLL) due to non-accidental, cardiovascular and respiratory deaths were evaluated by considering both consecutive days with high levels of air pollution and daily air pollution levels in Tianjin, China, from 2006 to 2011. The results showed the durational effect of consecutive days with high levels of air pollution was substantial in addition to the effect of daily air pollution. For instance, the durational effect was related to an increase in YLL of 116.6 (95% CI: 4.8, 228.5) years from non-accidental deaths when the air pollution wave was sustained for 4 days, while the corresponding daily air pollution's effect was 121.2 (95% CI: 55.2, 187.1) years. A better interpretation of the health risks of air pollution wave is crucial for air pollution control policy making and public health interventions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Data equivalency of an interactive voice response system for home assessment of back pain and function.

PubMed

Shaw, William S; Verma, Santosh K

2007-01-01

Interactive voice response (IVR) systems that collect survey data using automated, push-button telephone responses may be useful to monitor patients' pain and function at home; however, its equivalency to other data collection methods has not been studied. To study the data equivalency of IVR measurement of pain and function to live telephone interviewing. In a prospective cohort study, 547 working adults (66% male) with acute back pain were recruited at an initial outpatient visit and completed telephone assessments one month later to track outcomes of pain, function, treatment helpfulness and return to work. An IVR system was introduced partway through the study (after the first 227 participants) to reduce the staff time necessary to contact participants by telephone during nonworking hours. Of 368 participants who were subsequently recruited and offered the IVR option, 131 (36%) used IVR, 189 (51%) were contacted by a telephone interviewer after no IVR attempt was made within five days, and 48 (13%) were lost to follow-up. Those with lower income were more likely to use IVR. Analysis of outcome measures showed that IVR respondents reported comparatively lower levels of function and less effective treatment, but not after controlling for differences due to the delay in reaching non-IVR users by telephone (mean: 35.4 versus 29.2 days). The results provided no evidence of information or selection bias associated with IVR use; however, IVR must be supplemented with other data collection options to maintain high response rates.

Studying work practices: a key factor in understanding accidents on the level triggered by a balance disturbance.

PubMed

Derosier, C; Leclercq, S; Rabardel, P; Langa, P

2008-12-01

Accidents on the level (AOL) rank second amongst the most numerous and serious occupational accidents with days lost in France and are a major health and safety problem in every sector of activity. The case study described in this paper was conducted at a metallurgical company with 300 employees. The aims of this work were dual: 1) to extend the general knowledge required for preventing these accidents; 2) to propose prevention measures to this company. Existing data on company occupational accidents were gathered and analysed to identify a work situation that appeared likely to cause AOL. This work situation was analysed in detail. Several risk factors were identified within this work situation, by way of interviews with 12 operators. These risk factors concerned various dimensions of the work situation, particularly its physical dimension (e.g. templates structure) and organisational dimension (e.g. parts availability). Interviews were conducted, focusing on risk factors perceived by operators and involving allo-confrontations based on accounts of four AOL occurring in this situation. Allo-confrontations were interviews confronting operators with a risk occupational situation that was accidental for one of their colleagues, the latter being absent from the interview. Results highlighted the fact that the work practices implemented are key factors in understanding these accidents. This study underlines the role of work practices in AOL causality and prevention. It also provides explanations associated with various work situation dimensions involving adoption of more or less safe work practices. AOL are serious and frequent in occupational situations. Injury claims analysis and interviews in an industrial company emphasise the specific characteristics of an occupational situation and of prevention actions forming the basis of an intervention. The need for a better understanding of factors affecting work practice is highlighted in relation to research.

Evaluating the precision of passive sampling methods using ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

To assess these models, four different thicknesses of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) passive samplers were co-deployed for 28 days in the water column at three sites in New Bedford Harbor, MA, USA. Each sampler was pre-loaded with six PCB performance reference compounds (PRCs) to assess equilibrium status, such that the percent of PRC lost would range depending on PRC and LDPE thickness. These data allow subsequent Cfree comparisons to be made in two ways: (1) comparing Cfree derived from one thickness using different models and (2) comparing Cfree derived from the same model using different thicknesses of LDPE. Following the deployments, the percent of PRC lost ranged from 0-100%. As expected, fractional equilibrium decreased with increasing PRC molecular weight as well as sampler thickness. Overall, a total of 27 PCBs (log KOW ranging from 5.07 – 8.09) were measured at Cfree concentrations varying from 0.05 pg/L (PCB 206) to about 200 ng/L (PCB 28) on a single LDPE sampler. Relative standard deviations (RSDs) for total PCB measurements using the same thickness and varying model types range from 0.04-12% and increased with sampler thickness. Total PCB RSD for measurements using the same model and varying thickness ranged from: 6 – 30%. No RSD trends between models were observed but RSD did increase as Cfree decreased. These findings indicate that existing models yield precise and reproducible results when using LDPE and PRCs to measure Cfree. This work in

The economic burden of meningitis to households in Kassena-Nankana district of Northern Ghana.

PubMed

Akweongo, Patricia; Dalaba, Maxwell A; Hayden, Mary H; Awine, Timothy; Nyaaba, Gertrude N; Anaseba, Dominic; Hodgson, Abraham; Forgor, Abdulai A; Pandya, Rajul

2013-01-01

To estimate the direct and indirect costs of meningitis to households in the Kassena-Nankana District of Ghana. A Cost of illness (COI) survey was conducted between 2010 and 2011. The COI was computed from a retrospective review of 80 meningitis cases answers to questions about direct medical costs, direct non-medical costs incurred and productivity losses due to recent meningitis incident. The average direct and indirect costs of treating meningitis in the district was GH¢152.55 (US$101.7) per household. This is equivalent to about two months minimum wage earned by Ghanaians in unskilled paid jobs in 2009. Households lost 29 days of work per meningitis case and thus those in minimum wage paid jobs lost a monthly minimum wage of GH¢76.85 (US$51.23) due to the illness. Patients who were insured spent an average of GH¢38.5 (US$25.67) in direct medical costs whiles the uninsured patients spent as much as GH¢177.9 (US$118.6) per case. Patients with sequelae incurred additional costs of GH¢22.63 (US$15.08) per case. The least poor were more exposed to meningitis than the poorest. Meningitis is a debilitating but preventable disease that affects people living in the Sahel and in poorer conditions. The cost of meningitis treatment may further lead to impoverishment for these households. Widespread mass vaccination will save households' an equivalent of GH¢175.18 (US$117) and impairment due to meningitis.

Systematic review: Lost-time injuries in the US mining industry.

PubMed

Nowrouzi-Kia, B; Sharma, B; Dignard, C; Kerekes, Z; Dumond, J; Li, A; Larivière, M

2017-08-01

The mining industry is associated with high levels of accidents, injuries and illnesses. Lost-time injuries are useful measures of health and safety in mines, and the effectiveness of its safety programmes. To identify the type of lost-time injuries in the US mining workforce and to examine predictors of these occupational injuries. Primary papers on lost-time injuries in the US mining sector were identified through a literature search in eight health, geology and mining databases, using a systematic review protocol tailored to each database. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP), Framework of Quality Assurance for Administrative Data Source and the Cochrane Collaboration 'Risk of bias' assessment tools were used to assess study quality. A total of 1736 articles were retrieved before duplicates were removed. Fifteen articles were ultimately included with a CASP mean score of 6.33 (SD 0.62) out of 10. Predictors of lost-time injuries included slips and falls, electric injuries, use of mining equipment, working in underground mining, worker's age and occupational experience. This is the first systematic review of lost-time injuries in the US mining sector. The results support the need for further research on factors that contribute to workplace lost-time injuries as there is limited literature on the topic. Safety analytics should also be applied to uncover new trends and predict the likelihood of future incidents before they occur. New insights will allow employers to prevent injuries and foster a safer workplace environment by implementing successful occupational health and safety programmes. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

Location-based technologies for supporting elderly pedestrian in "getting lost" events.

PubMed

Pulido Herrera, Edith

2017-05-01

Localization-based technologies promise to keep older adults with dementia safe and support them and their caregivers during getting lost events. This paper summarizes mainly technological contributions to support the target group in these events. Moreover, important aspects of the getting lost phenomenon such as its concept and ethical issues are also briefly addressed. Papers were selected from scientific databases and gray literature. Since the topic is still in its infancy, other terms were used to find contributions associated with getting lost e.g. wandering. Trends of applying localization systems were identified as personal locators, perimeter systems and assistance systems. The first system barely considered the older adult's opinion, while assistance systems may involve context awareness to improve the support for both the elderly and the caregiver. Since few studies report multidisciplinary work with a special focus on getting lost, there is not a strong evidence of the real efficiency of localization systems or guidelines to design systems for the target group. Further research about getting lost is required to obtain insights for developing customizable systems. Moreover, considering conditions of the older adult might increase the impact of developments that combine localization technologies and artificial intelligence techniques. Implications for Rehabilitation Whilst there is no cure for dementia such as Alzheimer's, it is feasible to take advantage of technological developments to somewhat diminish its negative impact. For instance, location-based systems may provide information to early diagnose the Alzheimer's disease by assessing navigational impairments of older adults. Assessing the latest supportive technologies and methodologies may provide insights to adopt strategies to properly manage getting lost events. More user-centered designs will provide appropriate assistance to older adults. Namely, customizable systems could assist older adults in their daily walks with the aim to increase their self-confidence, independence and autonomy.

What Is Summer Vacation Costing Us?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henkel, Tara

2010-01-01

This paper explores the standard traditional summer vacation model; this includes the accompanying food insecurity, loss of nutrition and the lost knowledge that must be re-taught at the beginning of each new academic year. It compares the number of academic days attended in various Industrialized Nations compared to the United States. Also,…

20 CFR 340.16 - Debt collection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... RECOVERY OF BENEFITS § 340.16 Debt collection. (a) The Associate Executive Director for Unemployment and... person paying remuneration for time lost or any sum or damages for personal injury to remit the amount of reimbursement due the Board, if any, within 30 days of the date of the payment of remuneration or damages to an...

Frederick Douglass: An American Adult Educator

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ross, Jerry Paul

2010-01-01

Throughout his life, Frederick Douglass struggled to be something extraordinary. He rose from a life in slavery to become the most prominent African-American of his day and a leading figure in the abolitionist movement. Lost in the discussion of his life are the adult education roles that he played throughout his life and career. Beginning while…

Germ Wars

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alderson, Kris

2009-01-01

It's estimated that at least 22 million school days are lost every year because of colds caught by students and faculty, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There's still no cure for the common cold, but there is a time-honored way to prevent it: handwashing, ideally with good old soap and water. It's still the best…

Career Guidance in England Today: Reform, Accidental Injury or Attempted Murder?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Ken

2013-01-01

In 2011 England's career guidance profession lost its "own" public service organisation and its former dedicated stream of public funding. The immediate causes lay in decisions by the government of the day, but this article revisits the profession's history to seek explanations for its later vulnerability. It is argued that decisions…

TX18: Cognitive Workload and Fatigue Study

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

beverages (e.g., coffee , tea, cola, etc.)? Yes No On average, how many caffeinated beverages do you consume in a DAY? ________ On average, how...Not like me at all 5. I have been obsessed with a certain idea or project for a short time but later lost interest.* Very much like me

KSC-03pd0274

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-02-03

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Near the Astronauts Memorial Space Mirror at the KSC Visitor Complex, guests leave flowers as a tribute to the fallen crew of Columbia. The Columbia and her crew of seven were lost on Feb. 1, 2003, over East Texas as they returned to Earth after a 16-day research mission, STS-107.

KSC-03pd0275

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-02-03

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At a site in the KSC Visitor Complex, flowers and mementos are left by guests as a memorial tribute to the fallen crew of Columbia. The Columbia and her crew of seven were lost on Feb. 1, 2003, over East Texas as they returned to Earth after a 16-day research mission, STS-107.

KSC-03pd0273

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-02-03

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Near the Astronauts Memorial Space Mirror at the KSC Visitor Complex, guests leave flowers as a memorial tribute to the fallen crew of Columbia. The Columbia and her crew of seven were lost on Feb. 1, 2003, over East Texas as they returned to Earth after a 16-day research mission, STS-107.

KSC-03pd0276

NASA Image and Video Library

2003-02-03

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At a site in the KSC Visitor Complex, flowers are left by guests as a memorial tribute to the fallen crew of Columbia. The Columbia and her crew of seven were lost on Feb. 1, 2003, over East Texas as they returned to Earth after a 16-day research mission, STS-107.

Every Other Day. Keynote Address.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tiller, Tom

Schools need to be reoriented and restructured so that what is taught and learned, and the way in which it is taught and learned, are better integrated with young people's real-world experiences. Many indicators suggest that the meaningful aspects of school have been lost in the encounter with modern times. The title of this address--"Every…

Landscape habitats [Chapter 2

Treesearch

C. L. Simmons

1994-01-01

This landscape habitat description is based on a ground reconnaissance of the Lost Lake, West Glacier Lake, and East Glacier Lake portions of GLEES conducted during 10 days in July-September 1986 and on subsequent photo interpretation of 1:6000 scale color-infrared photographs. A ground check was conducted in July-August 1987. The classification used is a physiognomic...

A Water Workout Is Fun! Give It a Try!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waters, Liz

2008-01-01

When a family faces the particular challenge of a debilitating illness, disorder, or other disability that is affecting a child, life becomes complicated. Suddenly the need for medications and therapies takes center stage, and things like summer swimming lessons and lazy days poolside can get lost in the shuffle. In this article, the author…

3 CFR 8459 - Proclamation 8459 of November 25, 2009. World AIDS Day, 2009

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... HIV and AIDS, and remembering those we have lost. Over the past three decades, brave men and women... HIV, their loved ones and families, community advocates, and members of the medical profession. On... commitments abroad. Though we have been witness to incredible progress, our struggle against HIV/AIDS is far...

Controlling the unruly maternal body: Losing and gaining control over the body during pregnancy and the postpartum period.

PubMed

Neiterman, Elena; Fox, Bonnie

2017-02-01

This paper examines the feeling of lost control of the body that so many women experience through pregnancy and the postpartum period - why they feel it and how they interpret that feeling - and women's responses to the sense of lost control. For the 63 Canadian women we interviewed, the sense of lost control was related to the degree they felt their bodies changed and the number of physical problems they experienced while pregnant. Many women's references to "luck" as the cause of body changes and problems experienced underscored how little control they felt they had when they were pregnant. At the same time, women felt responsible for the well-being of their babies, and thus experienced guilt about their unruly bodies. Careful attention to diet helped some women, but not others, regain some sense of control; women with past experience of pregnancy who "gave in" to body change were more sanguine. In the postpartum period, body work (especially exercise) functioned to increase women's sense of control, but a variety of motives led them to do this work. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nutritional Counseling Promotes Changes in the Dietary Habits of Overweight and Obese Adolescents with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

PubMed

Carolo, Adriana Lúcia; Mendes, Maria Célia; Rosa E Silva, Ana Carolina Japur de Sá; Vieira, Carolina Sales; Silva de Sá, Marcos Felipe; Ferriani, Rui Alberto; Reis, Rosana Maria Dos

2017-12-01

Objective  To evaluate the effects of nutritional counseling on the dietary habits and anthropometric parameters of overweight and obese adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods  This was a prospective, longitudinal and auto-controlled study. Thirty adolescents aged 13-19 years-old, diagnosed with PCOS received nutritional counseling and were followed-up for 6 months. After the follow-up period, the results were evaluated through body weight, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). Results  Sixty-percent of the adolescents adhered to the nutritional counseling and, of these, 50% lost weight. Adolescents who lost weight changed their dietary habits by adopting hypocaloric diets and eating more meals per day, as per nutritional counseling. The waist circumference (WC) decreased significantly, although the body weight decreased non-significantly after adoption of a hypocaloric diet. Conclusion  Although there was no significant weight loss, there was a considerable reduction in the WC associated with hypocaloric diets and with eating a greater number of meals per day. Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Calcium metabolism before, during, and after a 3-mo spaceflight: kinetic and biochemical changes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, S. M.; Wastney, M. E.; Morukov, B. V.; Larina, I. M.; Nyquist, L. E.; Abrams, S. A.; Taran, E. N.; Shih, C. Y.; Nillen, J. L.; Davis-Street, J. E.;

Organophosphate inhibition of avian salt gland Na, K-ATPase activity

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eastin, W.C.; Fleming, W.J.; Murray, H.C.

1982-01-01

1. Adult black ducks (Anas rubripes) were given freshwater or saltwater (1.5% NaCl) for 11 days and half of each group was also given an organophosphate (17 p.p.m. fenthion) in the diet on days 6–11.2. After 11 days, ducks drinking saltrwater had lost more weight and had higher plasma Na and uric acid concentration and osmolalities than birds drinking freshwater.3. Saltwater treatment stimulated the salt gland to increased weight and Na, K-ATPase activity.4. Fenthion generally reduced plasma and brain cholinesterase activity and depressed cholinesterase and Na, K-ATPase activities in salt glands of birds drinking saltwater.

Leaching of Arsenic from Granular Ferric Hydroxide Residuals under Mature Landfill Conditions

PubMed Central

Ghosh, Amlan; Mukiibi, Muhammed; Sáez, A. Eduardo; Ela, Wendell P.

2008-01-01

Most arsenic bearing solid residuals (ABSR) from water treatment will be disposed in non-hazardous landfills. The lack of an appropriate leaching test to predict arsenic mobilization from ABSR creates a need to evaluate the magnitude and mechanisms of arsenic release under landfill conditions. This work studies the leaching of arsenic and iron from a common ABSR, granular ferric hydroxide, in a laboratory-scale column that simulates the biological and physicochemical conditions of a mature, mixed solid waste landfill. The column operated for approximately 900 days and the mode of transport as well as chemical speciation of iron and arsenic changed with column age. Both iron and arsenic were readily mobilized under the anaerobic, reducing conditions. During the early stages of operation, most arsenic and iron leaching (80% and 65%, respectively) was associated with suspended particulate matter and iron was lost proportionately faster than arsenic. In later stages, while the rate of iron leaching declined, the arsenic leaching rate increased greater than 7-fold. The final phase was characterized by dissolved species leaching. Future work on the development of standard batch leaching tests should take into account the dominant mobilization mechanisms identified in this work: solid associated transport, reductive sorbent dissolution, and microbially mediated arsenic reduction. PMID:17051802

Leaching of arsenic from granular ferric hydroxide residuals under mature landfill conditions.

PubMed

Ghosh, Amlan; Mukiibi, Muhammed; Sáez, A Eduardo; Ela, Wendell P

2006-10-01

Most arsenic bearing solid residuals (ABSR) from water treatment will be disposed in nonhazardous landfills. The lack of an appropriate leaching test to predict arsenic mobilization from ABSR creates a need to evaluate the magnitude and mechanisms of arsenic release under landfill conditions. This work studies the leaching of arsenic and iron from a common ABSR, granular ferric hydroxide, in a laboratory-scale column that simulates the biological and physicochemical conditions of a mature, mixed solid waste landfill. The column operated for approximately 900 days and the mode of transport as well as chemical speciation of iron and arsenic changed with column age. Both iron and arsenic were readily mobilized under the anaerobic, reducing conditions. During the early stages of operation, most arsenic and iron leaching (80% and 65%, respectively) was associated with suspended particulate matter, and iron was lost proportionately faster than arsenic. In later stages, while the rate of iron leaching declined, the arsenic leaching rate increased greater than 7-fold. The final phase was characterized by dissolved species leaching. Future work on the development of standard batch leaching tests should take into account the dominant mobilization mechanisms identified in this work: solid associated transport, reductive sorbent dissolution, and microbially mediated arsenic reduction.

2014-1285

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-01-31

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Under rainy skies, Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana and Deputy Center Director Janet Petro placed a wreath in front of the Space Mirror Memorial at the spaceport's Visitor Complex during NASA's Day of Remembrance. The brief ceremony honored the astronauts of Apollo 1, who were lost in 1967, the shuttle Challenger crew, who perished in 1986, the space shuttle Columbia astronauts who were lost in 2003, as well as other astronauts who gave their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery. Dedicated in 1991, the names of fallen astronauts are emblazoned the monument's 4.5-foot-high-by-50-foot-wide polished black granite surface which reflects the sky and has been designated by Congress as a National Memorial. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

2014-1287

NASA Image and Video Library

2014-01-31

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Under rainy skies, Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana speaks to guests after placing a wreath in front of the Space Mirror Memorial at the spaceport's Visitor Complex during NASA's Day of Remembrance. The brief ceremony honored the astronauts of Apollo 1, who were lost in 1967, the shuttle Challenger crew, who perished in 1986, the space shuttle Columbia astronauts who were lost in 2003, as well as other astronauts who gave their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery. Dedicated in 1991, the names of fallen astronauts are emblazoned the monument's 4.5-foot-high-by-50-foot-wide polished black granite surface which reflects the sky and has been designated by Congress as a National Memorial. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

Managing Injuries of the Neck Trial (MINT): a randomised controlled trial of treatments for whiplash injuries.

PubMed

Lamb, S E; Williams, M A; Williamson, E M; Gates, S; Withers, E J; Mt-Isa, S; Ashby, D; Castelnuovo, E; Underwood, M; Cooke, M W

2012-01-01

To examine the clinical effectiveness of a stepped care approach over a 12-month period after an acute whiplash injury; to estimate the costs and cost-effectiveness of each strategy including treatments and subsequent health-care costs; and to gain participants' perspective on experiencing whiplash injury, NHS treatment, and recovery within the context of the Managing Injuries of the Neck Trial (MINT). Two linked, pragmatic, randomised controlled trials. In Step 1, emergency departments (EDs) were cluster randomised to usual care advice (UCA) or The Whiplash Book advice (WBA)/active management advice. In Step 2, participants were individually randomised to either a single session of advice from a physiotherapist or a physiotherapy package of up to six sessions. An economic evaluation and qualitative study were run in parallel with the trial. Twelve NHS trusts in England comprising 15 EDs. People who attended EDs with an acute whiplash injury of whiplash-associated disorder grades I-III were eligible for Step 1. People who had attended EDs with whiplash injuries and had persistent symptoms 3 weeks after ED attendance were eligible for Step 2. In Step 1, the control intervention was UCA and the experimental intervention was a psycho-educational intervention (WBA/active management advice). In Step 2 the control treatment was reinforcement of the advice provided in Step 1 and the experimental intervention was a package of up to six physiotherapy treatments. The primary outcome was the Neck Disability Index (NDI), which measures severity and frequency of pain and symptoms, and a range of activities including self-care, driving, reading, sleeping and recreation. Secondary outcomes included the mental and physical health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) subscales of the Short Form questionnaire-12 items (SF-12) and the number of work days lost. A total of 3851 patients were recruited to Step 1 of the trial. 1598 patients attending EDs were randomised to UCA, and 2253 were randomised to WBA/active management. Outcome data were obtained at 12 months for 70% and 80% of participants at Step 1 and Step 2, respectively. The majority of people recovered from the injury. Eighteen per cent of the Step 1 cohort had late whiplash syndrome. There was no statistically or clinically significant difference observed in any of the outcomes for participants attending EDs randomised to UCA or active management advice [difference in NDI 0.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) -1.8 to 2.8]. In Step 2 the physiotherapy package resulted in improvements in neck disability at 4 months compared with a single advice session, but these effects were small at the population level (difference in NDI -3.2, 95% CI -5.8 to -0.7). The physiotherapy package was accompanied by a significant reduction in the number of work days lost at 4-month follow-up (difference -40.2, 95% CI -44.3 to -35.8). MINT suggests that enhanced psycho-educational interventions in EDs are no more effective than UCA in reducing the burden of acute whiplash injuries. A physiotherapy package provided to people who have persisting symptoms within the first 6 weeks of injury produced additional short-term benefits in neck disability compared with a single physiotherapy advice session. However, from a health-care perspective, the physiotherapy package was not cost-effective at current levels of willingness to pay. Both experimental treatments were associated with increased cost with no discernible gain in health-related quality of life. However, an important benefit of the physiotherapy package was a reduction in work days lost; consequently, the intervention may prove cost-effective at the societal level. Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN33302125. This project was funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 16, No. 49. See the HTA programme website for further project information.

Costs resulting from premature mortality due to cardiovascular causes: A 20-year follow-up of the DRECE study.

PubMed

Gómez-de la Cámara, A; Pinilla-Domínguez, P; Vázquez-Fernández Del Pozo, S; García-Pérez, L; Rubio-Herrera, M A; Gómez-Gerique, J A; Gutiérrez-Fuentes, J A; Rivero-Cuadrado, A; Serrano-Aguilar, P

2014-10-01

Cardiovascular diseases are still the leading cause of death in Spain. The DRECE study (Diet and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Spain), based on a representative cohort of the Spanish general population, analyzed nutritional habits and lifestyle and their association with morbidity and mortality patterns. We estimated the impact, in terms of loss of productivity, of premature mortality attributed to cardiovascular diseases. The loss of productivity attributed to premature mortality was calculated from 1991, based on the potential years of life lost and the potential years of working life lost. During the 20-year follow-up of a cohort of 4779 patients, 225 of these patients died (men, 152). Sixteen percent of the deaths were attributed to cardiovascular disease. The costs due to lost productivity by premature mortality exceeded 29 million euros. Of these, 4 million euros (14% of the total cost) were due to cardiovascular causes. Premature cardiovascular mortality in the DRECE cohort represented a significant social cost due to lost productivity. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Nurses' sleep quality, work environment and quality of care in the Spanish National Health System: observational study among different shifts.

PubMed

Gómez-García, Teresa; Ruzafa-Martínez, María; Fuentelsaz-Gallego, Carmen; Madrid, Juan Antonio; Rol, Maria Angeles; Martínez-Madrid, María José; Moreno-Casbas, Teresa

2016-08-05

The main objective of this study was to determine the relationship between the characteristics of nurses' work environments in hospitals in the Spanish National Health System (SNHS) with nurse reported quality of care, and how care was provided by using different shifts schemes. The study also examined the relationship between job satisfaction, burnout, sleep quality and daytime drowsiness of nurses and shift work. This was a multicentre, observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study, centred on a self-administered questionnaire. The study was conducted in seven SNHS hospitals of different sizes. We recruited 635 registered nurses who worked on day, night and rotational shifts on surgical, medical and critical care units. Their average age was 41.1 years, their average work experience was 16.4 years and 90% worked full time. A descriptive and bivariate analysis was carried out to study the relationship between work environment, quality and safety care, and sleep quality of nurses working different shift patterns. 65.4% (410) of nurses worked on a rotating shift. The Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index classification ranked 20% (95) as favourable, showing differences in nurse manager ability, leadership and support between shifts (p=0.003). 46.6% (286) were sure that patients could manage their self-care after discharge, but there were differences between shifts (p=0.035). 33.1% (201) agreed with information being lost in the shift change, showing differences between shifts (p=0.002). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index reflected an average of 6.8 (SD 3.39), with differences between shifts (p=0.017). Nursing requires shift work, and the results showed that the rotating shift was the most common. Rotating shift nurses reported worse perception in organisational and work environmental factors. Rotating and night shift nurses were less confident about patients' competence of self-care after discharge. The most common nursing care omissions reported were related to nursing care plans. For the Global Sleep Quality score, difference were found between day and night shift workers. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Indoor NO2 air pollution and lung function of professional cooks.

PubMed

Arbex, M A; Martins, L C; Pereira, L A A; Negrini, F; Cardoso, A A; Melchert, W R; Arbex, R F; Saldiva, P H N; Zanobetti, A; Braga, A L F

2007-04-01

Studies of cooking-generated NO2 effects are rare in occupational epidemiology. In the present study, we evaluated the lung function of professional cooks exposed to NO2 in hospital kitchens. We performed spirometry in 37 cooks working in four hospital kitchens and estimated the predicted FVC, FEV1 and FEF(25-75), based on age, sex, race, weight, and height, according to Knudson standards. NO2 measurements were obtained for 4 consecutive days during 4 different periods at 20-day intervals in each kitchen. Measurements were performed inside and outside the kitchens, simultaneously using Palm diffusion tubes. A time/exposure indicator was defined as representative of the cumulative exposure of each cook. No statistically significant effect of NO2 exposure on FVC was found. Each year of work as a cook corresponded to a decrease in predicted FEV1 of 2.5% (P = 0.046) for the group as a whole. When smoking status and asthma were included in the analysis the effect of time/exposure decreased about 10% and lost statistical significance. On predicted FEF(25-75), a decrease of 3.5% (P = 0.035) was observed for the same group and the inclusion of controllers for smoking status and asthma did not affect the effects of time/exposure on pulmonary function parameter. After a 10-year period of work as cooks the participants of the study may present decreases in both predicted FEV1 and FEF(25-75) that can reach 20 and 30%, respectively. The present study showed small but statistically significant adverse effects of gas stove exposure on the lung function of professional cooks.

An observational study of associations among maternal fluids during parturition, neonatal output, and breastfed newborn weight loss

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Newborn weight measurements are used as a key indicator of breastfeeding adequacy. The purpose of this study was to explore non-feeding factors that might be related to newborn weight loss. The relationship between the intravenous fluids women receive during parturition (the act of giving birth, including time in labour or prior to a caesarean section) and their newborn's weight loss during the first 72 hours postpartum was the primary interest. Methods In this observational cohort study, we collected data about maternal oral and IV fluids during labour or before a caesarean section. Participants (n = 109) weighed their newborns every 12 hours for the first three days then daily to Day 14, and they weighed neonatal output (voids and stools) for three days. Results At 60 hours (nadir), mean newborn weight loss was 6.57% (SD 2.51; n = 96, range 1.83-13.06%). When groups, based on maternal fluids, were compared (≤1200 mls [n = 21] versus > 1200 [n = 53]), newborns lost 5.51% versus 6.93% (p = 0.03), respectively. For the first 24 hours, bivariate analyses show positive relationships between a) neonatal output and percentage of newborn weight lost (r(96) = 0.493, p < 0.001); and b) maternal IV fluids (final 2 hours) and neonatal output (r(42) = 0.383, p = 0.012). At 72 hours, there was a positive correlation between grams of weight lost and all maternal fluids (r(75) = 0.309, p = 0.007). Conclusions Timing and amounts of maternal IV fluids appear correlated to neonatal output and newborn weight loss. Neonates appear to experience diuresis and correct their fluid status in the first 24 hours. We recommend a measurement at 24 hours, instead of birth weight, for baseline when assessing weight change. Because practices can differ between maternity settings, we further suggest that clinicians should collect and analyze data from dyads in their care to determine an optimal baseline measurement. PMID:21843338