Health and working conditions of pregnant women working inside and outside the home in Mexico City

BACKGROUND: To explore differences related to health and working conditions by comparing socio-demographic parameters, reproductive and prenatal care characteristics and working conditions among pregnant women who are employed outside the home (extra-domestic) while still performing a domestic workload versus those who perform exclusively domestic work in the home (intra-domestic). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out at Family Medicine Unit N 31 of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) in Mexico City between April and July 2003. Interviews were conducted with 537 pregnant women engaged in either extra-domestic work plus intra-domestic tasks, or those performing strictly intra-domestic work. Information was obtained regarding their demographic status, prenatal care, reproductive, work characteristics, and health during pregnancy. RESULTS: One hundred ninety-six (36.5%) of the interviewed women had paid jobs outside the home in addition to domestic tasks, while three hundred forty-one (63.5 %) engaged in exclusively intra-domestic occupations. Of the women with paid jobs, 78.6% worked as clerks. Among domestic tasks, we found that the greatest workload was associated with washing of clothes, and our micro-ergonomic analysis revealed that women who worked strictly inside the home had a higher domestic workload versus employed women (69.2 vs. 44.9%). When we analyzed the effect of work on health during pregnancy, we observed that women who worked strictly inside the home were at a higher risk for musculoskeletal and genitourinary symptoms than those employed outside the home. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the effect of intra-domestic work should not be ignored when considering women's health during pregnancy, and that greater attention should be paid to women's working conditions during intra and extra-domestic work

Peripheral T Cell Cytokine Responses for Diagnosis of Active Tuberculosis

BACKGROUND: A test for diagnosis of active Tuberculosis (TB) from peripheral blood could tremendously improve clinical management of patients. METHODS: Of 178 prospectively enrolled patients with possible TB, 60 patients were diagnosed with pulmonary and 27 patients with extrapulmonary TB. The frequencies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) specific CD4(+) T cells and CD8(+) T cells producing cytokines were assessed using overnight stimulation with purified protein derivate (PPD) or early secretory antigenic target (ESAT)-6, respectively. RESULTS: Among patients with active TB, an increased type 1 cytokine profile consisting of mainly CD4(+) T cell derived interferon (IFN)-γ was detectable. Despite contributing to the cytokine profile as a whole, the independent diagnostic performance of one cytokine producing T cells as well as polyfunctional T cells was poor. IFN-γ/Interleukin(IL)-2 cytokine ratios discriminated best between active TB and other diseases. CONCLUSION: T cells producing one cytokine and polyfunctional T cells have a limited role in diagnosis of active TB. The significant shift from a "memory type" to an "effector type" cytokine profile may be useful for further development of a rapid immune-diagnostic tool for active TB

Efecto del color de la capa externa en la edad al primer parto, prolificidad e intervalo entre partos en un rebaño de ovejas de pelo en Campeche, México

El objetivo principal fue evaluar el efecto del color de la oveja (café, blanco, pinto, Blackbelly, y negro) en edad al primer parto (EPP, n = 578), prolificidad (PRO, n = 475) e intervalo entre partos (IEP, n = 438) en un rebaño de ovinos de pelo en Campeche, México. De manera secundaria se evaluaron año de parto, mes de parto, y número de parto de la oveja (primíparas, multíparas). Se analizaron datos de características reproductivas de cinco años (2006-2010) de 340 ovejas y sus crías. El rebaño se manejó bajo condiciones semiextensivas; las ovejas y sus crías pastoreaban durante el día y se encerraban toda la noche. El análisis estadístico se efectuó con el procedimiento GLM del paquete estadístico SAS mediante modelos de efectos fijos. Las medias generales de cuadrados mínimos de EPP, PRO e IEP fueron 463,9±13,0 días, 1,71±0,60 corderos nacidos por oveja parida, y 295,7±17,9 días, respectivamente. El color de la oveja influyó (P ≤ 0,05) en EPP e IEP; los menores promedios para EPP fueron para las ovejas blancas (435,8±1,4), café (438,5±2,4) y pintas (439,7±3,6), mientras que en IEP los menores promedios fueron para las ovejas pintas (284,9±6,9, blancas (288,8±1,6), y negras (291,7±5,8). Hubo efectos significativos (P ≤ 0,05) de año de parto, mes de parto, y número de parto en las tres características. Por sus menores promedios obtenidos en edad al primer parto e intervalo entre partos, se concluye que en este rebaño las ovejas blancas y pintas deberían preferirse en un programa de selección en un intento por disminuir los promedios de ambas características

Radiation transmission, leakage and beam penumbra measurements of a micro-multileaf collimator using GafChromic EBT film

Micro-multileaf collimator systems coupled to linear accelerators for radioneurosurgery treatments require a rigorous dosimetric characterization in order to be used in 3D conformal and intensity modulated stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy applications. This characterization involves high precision measurements of leaf transmission, leakage and beam penumbra through the collimation system and requires the use of detectors with high spatial resolution, high sensitivity and practically no energy dependence. In this work the use of GafChromic EBT radiochromic film to measure the basic dosimetric properties of the m3-mMLC (BrainLAB, Germany) micro-multileaf collimator system integrated to a 6 MV linear accelerator, is reported. Results show that average values of transmission and leakage radiation are 0.93 ± 0.05 % and 1.08 ± 0.08%, respectively. The 80-20 % beam penumbra were found to be 2.26 ± 0.11 mm along the leaf side (perpendicular to leaf motion) and 2.31 ± 0.11 mm along the leaf end (parallel to leaf motion) using square field sizes ranging from 9.1 to 1.8 cm. These measurements are in agreement with values reported in the literature for the same type of mMLC using different radiation detectors. PACS number: 87.56.N