Increasing the reliability of fully automated surveillance for central line–associated bloodstream infections

OBJECTIVETo increase reliability of the algorithm used in our fully automated electronic surveillance system by adding rules to better identify bloodstream infections secondary to other hospital-acquired infections.METHODSIntensive care unit (ICU) patients with positive blood cultures were reviewed. Central line–associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) determinations were based on 2 sources: routine surveillance by infection preventionists, and fully automated surveillance. Discrepancies between the 2 sources were evaluated to determine root causes. Secondary infection sites were identified in most discrepant cases. New rules to identify secondary sites were added to the algorithm and applied to this ICU population and a non-ICU population. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and kappa were calculated for the new models.RESULTSOf 643 positive ICU blood cultures reviewed, 68 (10.6%) were identified as central line–associated bloodstream infections by fully automated electronic surveillance, whereas 38 (5.9%) were confirmed by routine surveillance. New rules were tested to identify organisms as central line–associated bloodstream infections if they did not meet one, or a combination of, the following: (I) matching organisms (by genus and species) cultured from any other site; (II) any organisms cultured from sterile site; (III) any organisms cultured from skin/wound; (IV) any organisms cultured from respiratory tract. The best-fit model included new rules I and II when applied to positive blood cultures in an ICU population. However, they didn’t improve performance of the algorithm when applied to positive blood cultures in a non-ICU population.CONCLUSIONElectronic surveillance system algorithms may need adjustment for specific populations.Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2015;36(12):1396–1400</jats:sec

Distribution of Number, Location of Pain and Comorbidities, and Determinants of Work Limitations among Firefighters

© 2020 Goris Nazari et al. Introduction. The unique demands of firefighting results in acute, recurrent, or chronic pain complications. We aimed to describe the percentage distribution of number and location of painful sites among FFs and determine whether work limitations differed based on the number or location of painful sites, age, and/or sex. Methods. About 325 firefighters completed a work limitation questionnaire (WLQ-26) and a checklist to indicate painful regions of the body using either a paper format or an online survey. A one-way ANOVA was employed to analyze the transformed work limitation scores; this was a two-sided test with a significance level of 45 years of age experienced more physical work limitations than FFs≤45years (mean difference: 0.74/10; 95% CI.19-1.29; p=0.008). Conclusions. The majority of firefighters reported having at least one painful site and indicated the spine as the most common painful location. Age, the number of painful sites, and location of pain were identified as a potential contributor to physical/mental and work output limitations

REACH implementation costs in the Belgian food industry:a semi-qualitative study

In this paper we discuss how companies in the Belgian food industry are affected by the REACH legislation and whether their competitiveness is weakened as a result. The study has been carried out through an extensive literature study, an electronic survey, in-depth interviews and a case-study. No indication is observed of REACH compliance significantly hampering the competitive position of Belgian food industry. The overall cost burden seems to be relatively low. In contrast with the chemical industry, large food companies bear the highest costs, whereas the financial impact on small and medium-sized food companies remains limited.<br

Exercise-induced oxidative stress in older adults as a function of habitual activity level

OBJECTIVES: It has been suggested that regular physical activity might maintain and promote the antioxidant defense capacity against oxidative stress. Therefore, we assessed exercise-induced oxidative stress in relation to habitual physical activity level (PAL) in older adults. DESIGN: The study included a 2-week observation period for the measurement of average daily metabolic rate (ADMR) and PAL. Exercise-induced oxidative stress was measured during a 45-minute cycling test at submaximal intensity. SETTING: A university medical research center. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-six subjects volunteered for the study (n = 26; mean age ± standard deviation 60 ± 1; body mass index 27 ± 1 kg/m2). MEASUREMENTS: PAL was determined as ADMR combined with a measurement of basal metabolic rate (BMR): PAL = ADMR/BMR. ADMR was measured over 2 weeks with the doubly labeled water method, preceded by a BMR measurement with a ventilated hood. Antipyrine oxidation was used as marker for oxidative stress in vivo. Reaction of antipyrine with hydroxyl radicals results in the formation of para-hydroxyantipyrine (p-APOH) and ortho-hydroxyantipyrine (o-APOH), where o-APOH is not formed through alternative oxygenetic pathways. RESULTS: PAL was inversely related to the exercise-induced increase in the ratio of o-APOH to native antipyrine (r = -0.49, P = .010). The relationship between PAL and exercise-induced increase in the ratio of p-APOH (r = -0.30, P = .140) or thiobarbituric acid reactive species (r = -0.31, P = .130) did not reach the level of significance. CONCLUSION: Physically active older adults have a reduced exercise-induced oxidative stress than older adults with a lower level of physical activity. It seems that regular physical activity improves the antioxidant defense capacity

The ATP,Mg-dependent protein phosphatase: Regulation by casein kinase-1

AbstractThe free modulator subunit of the ATP,Mg-dependent phosphatase is phosphorylated up to 1 mol per mol by casein kinase-1, up to 1.85 mol per mol after dephosphorylation by the PCSH1 phosphatase, but 10-fold less when purified in the presence of NaF, suggesting an in vivo phosphorylation of the casein kinase-1 sites. Peptide mapping of 32P-modulator labeled by casein kinase-1 or -2 shows a different phosphorylation pattern. Phosphorylation of the inactive phosphatase by casein kinase-1 prevents the subsequent kinase FA-mediated activation, while it does not impair the activated phosphatase

Weight-loss induced changes in physical activity and activity energy expenditure in overweight and obese subjects before and after energy restriction

Activity energy expenditure (AEE) is the component of daily energy expenditure that is mainly influenced by the amount of physical activity (PA) and by the weight of the body displaced. This study aimed at analyzing the effect of weight loss on PA and AEE. The body weight and PA of 66 overweight and obese subjects were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks of 67% energy restriction. PA was measured using a tri-axial accelerometer for movement registration (Tracmor) and quantified in activity counts. Tracmor recordings were also processed using a classification algorithm to recognize 6 common activity types engaged in during the day. A doubly-labeled water validated equation based on Tracmor output was used to estimate AEE. After weight loss, body weight decreased by 13±4%, daily activity counts augmented by 9% (95% CI: +2%, +15%), and this increase was weakly associated with the decrease in body weight (R(2) = 7%; P<0.05). After weight loss subjects were significantly (P<0.05) less sedentary (-26 min/d), and increased the time spent walking (+11 min/d) and bicycling (+4 min/d). However, AEE decreased by 0.6±0.4 MJ/d after weight loss. On average, a 2-hour/day reduction of sedentary time by increasing ambulatory and generic activities was required to restore baseline levels of AEE. In conclusion, after weight loss PA increased but the related metabolic demand did not offset the reduction in AEE due to the lower body weight. Promoting physical activity according to the extent of weight loss might increase successfulness of weight maintenance.Alberto G. Bonomi, Stijn Soenen, Annelies H. C. Goris, Klaas R. Westerter

Re-engineering a NiFe hydrogenase to increase the H2 production bias while maintaining native levels of O2 tolerance

Naturally occurring oxygen tolerant NiFe membrane bound hydrogenases have a conserved catalytic bias towards hydrogen oxidation which limits their technological value. We present an Escherichia coli Hyd-1 amino acid exchange that apparently causes the catalytic rate of H2 production to double but does not impact the O2 tolerance