Occupational Health Problem Network : the Exposome

We present a thinking on the concept of relational networks applied to the french national occupational disease surveillance and prevention network (R\'eseau National de Vigilance et de Pr\'evention des Pathologies Professionnelles, RNV3P). This approach consists in searching common exposures to occupational health problems

Size-independence of statistics for boundary collisions of random walks and its implications for spin-polarized gases

A bounded random walk exhibits strong correlations between collisions with a boundary. For an one-dimensional walk, we obtain the full statistical distribution of the number of such collisions in a time t. In the large t limit, the fluctuations in the number of collisions are found to be size-independent (independent of the distance between boundaries). This occurs for any inter-boundary distance, including less and greater than the mean-free-path, and means that this boundary effect does not decay with increasing system-size. As an application, we consider spin-polarized gases, such as 3-Helium, in the three-dimensional diffusive regime. The above results mean that the depolarizing effect of rare magnetic-impurities in the container walls is orders of magnitude larger than a Smoluchowski assumption (to neglect correlations) would imply. This could explain why depolarization is so sensitive to the container's treatment with magnetic fields prior to its use.Comment: 5 page manuscript with extra details in appendices (additional 3 pages

Avian influenza

Non peer reviewe

A network-based approach for surveillance of occupational health exposures

In the context of surveillance of health problems, the research carried out by the French national occupational disease surveillance and prevention network (R\'eseau National de Vigilance et de Pr\'evention des Pathologies Professionnelles, RNV3P) aims to develop, among other approaches, methods of surveillance, statistical analysis and modeling in order to study the structure and change over time of relationships between disease and exposure, and to detect emerging disease-exposure associations. In this perspective, this paper aims to present the concept of the "exposome" and to explain on what bases it is constructed. The exposome is defined as a network of relationships between occupational health problems that have in common one or several elements of occupational exposure (exposures, occupation and/or activity sector). The paper also aims to outline its potential for the study and programmed surveillance of composite disease-occupational exposure associations. We illustrate this approach by applying it to a sample from the RNV3P data, taking malignant tumours and focusing on the subgroup of non-Hodgkin lymphomas

Simulation of a semiflexible polymer in a narrow cylindrical pore

The probability that a randomly accelerated particle in two dimensions has not yet left a simply connected domain ${\cal A}$ after a time $t$ decays as $e^{-E_0t}$ for long times. The same quantity $E_0$ also determines the confinement free energy per unit length $\Delta f=k_BT\thinspace E_0$ of a semiflexible polymer in a narrow cylindrical pore with cross section ${\cal A}$. From simulations of a randomly accelerated particle we estimate the universal amplitude of $\Delta f$ for both circular and rectangular cross sections.Comment: 10 pages, 2 eps figure

Long range correlations in DNA : scaling properties and charge transfer efficiency

We address the relation between long range correlations and charge transfer efficiency in aperiodic artificial or genomic DNA sequences. Coherent charge transfer through the HOMO states of the guanine nucleotide is studied using the transmission approach, and focus is made on how the sequence-dependent backscattering profile can be inferred from correlations between base pairs.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Killing for purposes other than slaughter: poultry

Poultry of different ages may have to be killed on-farm for purposes other than slaughter (in which slaughtering is defined as being for human consumption) either individually or on a large scale (e.g. because unproductive, for disease control, etc.). The processes of on-farm killing that were assessed are handling and stunning and/or killing methods (including restraint). The latter were grouped into four categories: electrical methods, modified atmosphere, mechanical methods and lethal injection. In total, 29 hazards were identified and characterised, most of these regard stunning and/or killing. Staff were identified as origin for 26 hazards and 24 hazards were attributed to lack of appropriate skill sets needed to perform tasks or due to fatigue. Specific hazards were identified for day-old chicks killed via maceration. Corrective and preventive measures were assessed: measures to correct hazards were identified for 13 hazards, and management showed to have a crucial role in prevention. Eight welfare consequences, the birds can be exposed to during on-farm killing, were identified: not dead, consciousness, heat stress, cold stress, pain, fear, distress and respiratory distress. Welfare consequences and relevant animal-based measures were described. Outcome tables linking hazards, welfare consequences, animal-based measures, origins, preventive and corrective measures were developed for each process. Mitigation measures to minimise welfare consequences were also proposed. (C) 2019 European Food Safety Authority. EFSA Journal published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd on behalf of European Food Safety Authority.Non peer reviewe

Slaughter of animals: poultry

The killing of poultry for human consumption (slaughtering) can take place in a slaughterhouse or during on-farm slaughter. The processes of slaughtering that were assessed, from the arrival of birds in containers until their death, were grouped into three main phases: pre-stunning (including arrival, unloading of containers from the truck, lairage, handling/removing of birds from containers); stunning (including restraint); and bleeding (including bleeding following stunning and bleeding during slaughter without stunning). Stunning methods were grouped into three categories: electrical, controlled modified atmosphere and mechanical. In total, 35 hazards were identified and characterised, most of them related to stunning and bleeding. Staff were identified as the origin of 29 hazards, and 28 hazards were attributed to the lack of appropriate skill sets needed to perform tasks or to fatigue. Corrective and preventive measures were assessed: measures to correct hazards were identified for 11 hazards, with management shown to have a crucial role in prevention. Ten welfare consequences, the birds can be exposed to during slaughter, were identified: consciousness, heat stress, cold stress, prolonged thirst, prolonged hunger, restriction of movements, pain, fear, distress and respiratory distress. Welfare consequences and relevant animal-based measures were described. Outcome tables linking hazards, welfare consequences, animal-based measures, origins, and preventive and corrective measures were developed for each process. Mitigation measures to minimise welfare consequences were also proposed. (C) 2019 European Food Safety Authority. EFSA Journal published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd on behalf of European Food Safety Authority.Non peer reviewe