Organisational and occupational risk factors associated with work related injuries among public hospital employees in Costa Rica

Aims: To explore the relation between occupational and organisational factors and work related injuries (WRI) among public hospital employees in Costa Rica.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among a stratified random sample of 1000 employees from 10 of the 29 public hospitals in Costa Rica. A previously validated, self-administered questionnaire which included occupational and organisational factors and sociodemographic variables was used. From the final eligible sample ( n = 859), a total of 842 ( response rate 98%) questionnaires were returned; 475 workers were analysed after excluding not-at-risk workers and incomplete questionnaires. WRI were computed for the past six months.Results: Workers exposed to chemicals (RR = 1.36) and physical hazards ( RR = 1.26) had higher WRI rate ratios than non-exposed workers. Employees reporting job tasks that interfered with safety practices ( RR = 1.46), and a lack of safety training ( RR = 1.41) had higher WRI rate ratios than their counterparts. Low levels of safety climate ( RR = 1.51) and safety practices ( RR = 1.27) were individually associated with an increased risk of WRI. Also, when evaluated jointly, low levels of both safety climate and safety practices showed the highest association with WRI ( RR = 1.92).Conclusions: When evaluated independently, most of the occupational exposures and organisational factors investigated were significantly correlated with an increased injury risk. As expected, some of these associations disappeared when evaluated jointly. Exposure to chemical and physical hazards, lack of safety training, and low levels of safety climate and safety practices remained significant risk factors for WRI. These results will be important to consider in developing future prevention interventions in this setting

A new approach to texture coding using stochastic vector quantization

A new method for texture coding which combines 2-D linear prediction and stochastic vector quantization is presented in this paper. To encode a texture, a linear predictor is computed first. Next, a codebook following the prediction error model is generated and the prediction error is encoded with VQ, using an algorithm which takes into account the pixels surrounding the block being encoded. In the decoder, the error image is decoded first and then filtered as a whole, using the prediction filter. Hence, correlation between pixels is not lost from one block to another and a good reproduction quality can be achieved.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

A glossary for the social epidemiology of work organization. Part 3: terms from labour markets

This is part 3 of a three-part glossary on the social epidemiology of work organisation. The first two parts deal with the social psychology of work and with organisations. This concluding part presents concepts related to labour markets. These concepts are drawn from economics, business and sociology. They relate both to traditional interests in these disciplines and to contemporary ideas on post-industrialisation and globalisation, particularly the growth of employment in service industries, the development of a 24-h economy, increased participation of the female labour force and the perceived needs of employers in emerging high-tech economies.These changes are of particular interest because they are linked to increasing inequality in earnings and changes in social relationships in employment. These concepts have the potential to elucidate the pathways through which health is affected by conditions of work as an underlying cause

Psychosocial factors and work related sickness absence among permanent and non-permanent employees

Study objective: To examine the association between psychosocial work factors and work related sickness absence among permanent and non-permanent employees by sex.Design: A cross sectional survey conducted in 2000 of a representative sample of the European Union total active population, aged 15 years and older. The independent variables were psychological job demands and job control as measures of psychosocial work environment, and work related sickness absence as the main outcome. Poisson regression models were used to compute sickness absence days' rate ratios.Setting: 15 countries of the European Union.Participants: A sample of permanent (n=12875) and non-permanent (n=1203) workers from the Third European Survey on Working Conditions.Results: High psychological job demands, low job control, and high strain and passive work were associated with higher work related sickness absence. The risks were more pronounced in non-permanent compared with permanent employees and men compared with women.Conclusions: This work extends previous research on employment contracts and sickness absence, suggesting different effects depending on psychosocial working conditions and sex

Combined release of platelet-rich plasma and 3D-mesenchymal stem cell encapsulation in alginate hydrogels modified by the presence of silica

We report the modified release of platelet-rich plasma from alginate platelet-rich plasma hydrogels altered by the presence of silica. These PRP–alginate–silica compositions can be used as injectable carriers for viable mesenchymal stem cells

'Globesization': ecological evidence on the relationship between fast food outlets and obesity among 26 advanced economies

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the density of fast food restaurants and the prevalence of obesity by gender across affluent nations. Data on Subway’s restaurants per 100,000 people and proportions of men and women aged 15 years or older with a body mass index (BMI) higher or equal than 30 Kg/m2 were obtained for 26 of 34 advanced economies. Countries with the highest density of Subway restaurants such as the US (7.52 per 100,000) and Canada (7.43 per 100,000) tend also to have a higher prevalence of obesity in both men (31.3% and 23.2% respectively) and women (33.2% and 22.9% respectively). On the other hand, countries with a relatively low density of Subway restaurants such as Japan (0.13 per 100,000) and Norway (0.19 per 100,000) had a lower prevalence of obesity in both men (2.9% and 6.4% respectively) and women (3.3% and 5.9% respectively). Unadjusted linear regression models showed a significant correlation between the density of Subway’s outlets and the prevalence of adult obesity (β=.46; p=0.02 in men and β=.48; p=0.013 in women). When the data were weighted by population size, the association became substantially stronger in both men and women (β=.85; p=0.0001 and β=.84; p=0.0001, respectively). Covariate adjustment did not reduce the size of the associations. Our study raises serious concerns about that the diffusion of fast food outlets worldwide and calls for coordinated political actions to address what we term ‘globesization’, the ongoing globalization of the obesity epidemic

A case study of zeolitization process: 'Tufo Rosso a Scorie Nere' (Vico Volcano, Italy). Inferences for a general model

This paper focuses on the authigenic mineralization processes acting on 'Tufo Rosso a Scorie Nere' (TRS), i.e. one of the main pyroclastic units of the Vico stratovolcano (Latium, Italy). The pyroclastic deposits appear in general massive and made of 'black vitreous vesiculated juvenile scoriae', immersed in an ashy matrix lithified after zeolitization processes. The main minerals are chabazite and phillipsite, and the zeolitic content is locally variable, reaching 68 % wt. Zeolites grow replacing both amorphous fraction and pre-existing phases, occurring inside both matrix and scoriae. Concerning scoriae, zeolitization moves from the rim to the core of the scoriaceous fragment as a function of (a) temperature of the fluids and (b) permeability (primary or secondary). Composition of parental fresh glass and that of zeolitized rocks is compatible with trachyte chemistry, lightly undersaturated in SiO2, and the alteration processes modified the parental rock chemical features. Zeolites genesis is ascribed to a 'geoautoclave-like system', and zeolites display a Si/Al ratio similar to that of the parental glasses. TRS presents promising mineralogical characteristics as supplementary cementitious material in the production of mixed cements