Manual Handling in Aged Care: Impact of Environment-related Interventions on Mobility

The manual handling of people (MHP) is known to be associated with high incidence of musculoskeletal disorders for aged care staff. Environment-related MHP interventions, such as appropriate seated heights to aid sit-to-stand transfers, can reduce staff injury while improving the patient's mobility. Promoting patient mobility within the manual handling interaction is an endorsed MHP risk control intervention strategy. This article provides a narrative review of the types of MHP environmental controls that can improve mobility, as well as the extent to which these environmental controls are considered in MHP risk management and assessment tools. Although a range of possible environmental interventions exist, current tools only consider these in a limited manner. Development of an assessment tool that more comprehensively covers environmental strategies in MHP risk management could help reduce staff injury and improve resident mobility through auditing existing practices and guiding the design of new and refurbished aged care facilities. Keywords: Activities of daily living, Assistive technology, Manual handling of people, Residential aged care, Role of the environment in the manual handling of peopl

The Impact of the ON-S1 standard on railway risk levels in Australia

The objective of this study was to compare risk levels, based on reported railway occurrences, across Australian states. A secondary aim was to use these numbers to assess the impact of a new reporting system, ON-S1, introduced in 2004, on the calculated risk levels. The Australian nationwide standard, ON-S1, defines how to categorize occurrences and their consequences, but it has not been consistently applied in all states. For example, New South Wales and Victoria use broader definitions of 'serious injury' than specified in ON-S1. This paper outlines challenges related to ON-S1's use and the appropriateness of calculating risks based on reported occurrences. Railway occurrence data from five Australian states/territories from 2001 to 2007 were reviewed. Data on fatalities, serious injuries and train kilometres were obtained from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and The Independent Transport Safety and reliability Regulator's (ITSRR) safety reports. We used these data to calculate an index of Fatalities and Weighted Injuries (FWI), normalized for train kilometres. The results showed that the average annual risk per million train kilometres for the entire period (2001-2007) was highest in New South Wales (FWI 1.28), followed by Victoria (FWI 0.89), South Australia (FWI 0.77), Queensland (FWI 0.34) and Western Australia (FWI 0.26). Following the introduction of ON-S1, the FWI in New South Wales and Victoria doubled from 2004 to 2006. These trends continued into the first half of 2007. The other states showed a stable or decreasing trend. The highest risk appeared to be in the states with the largest populations containing Australia's largest cities. The use of train kilometres to normalize occurrence rates may be inappropriate because this measure does not take into account the number of people travelling on each train. The sharp increase in reported occurrences in New South Wales and Victoria may reflect the misuse of ON-S1, because a similar increase was not observed in the other states. The large difference in risk level between states highlights a need for consistent application of the national reporting regime in Australia to enable valid comparisons of occurrence rates between states.6 page(s

Ethernet burst transport: A scalable solution for optical metro networks

An optical packet transport solution relying on a new Ethernet burst aggregation concept is presented. It allows to simplify and scale switch forwarding functionalities paving the way to 100GE/1TBE. Simulations show 90% packet processing reduction. ©2010 IEEE

«Antisperm antibody detection: 1. Methods and standard protocol»

PROBLEM: Today, antisperm antibody (ASA) detection is one of the most important steps in the evaluation of male infertility. This practice is generally accepted even though there is still some disagreement about the meaning of antisperm immunity and a good deal of controversy about the test regarded as the most suitable for the detection of antibodies directed against sperm antigens. International workshops have tried to standardize universally accepted protocols. A panel of three or four methods is generally advised to provide a correct and complete screening of patients with antisperm immunity. METHOD OF STUDY: This paper reports on the results of a serum exchange workshop for the standardization of the ASA detection in the sera carried out under the auspices of the Italian Society of Endocrinology, which was used as reference laboratory. A careful description of the most widely used methods is reported and proposed as a standard protocol also on the basis of the results of the correlation studies carried out by our group is also reported. CONCLUSIONS: If the proposed methods and procedures will be accepted by the members of the Alps-Adria Society for Immunology of Reproduction, a Study Group for Sperm Antibody Testing, could start its activity having the goal of reaching a consensus on methodology and carrying out a European serum exchange workshop

Immature germ cell separation using a modified discontinous Percoll Gradient technique in human semen

The difficulty of identifying immature germ cells in unstained, fresh semen has led most laboratories to use the broad definition 'round cells' to indicate cells other than spermatozoa, thus grouping together both leukocytes and immature germ cells. This is also the case in research andrology, where very little attention has been given to immature germ cells in the semen apart from some rare exceptions, such as the attempts to study meiosis. Here we report on the use of a discontinuous Percoll gradient method modified to enable the best separation possible of immature germ cells from the other cells found in the ejaculate, in order to obtain a cellular suspension free of spermatozoa. Our technique (intra-assay variation in duplicates < 10%) demonstrated a high immature germ cell concentration in gradient fractions with 30% to 45% Percoll with a small contamination (1.5-6%) of leukocytes, confirmed by May-Grünwald-Giemsa staining, immunofluorescence and cytofluorimetry. The concentrations of immature germ cells ranged from zero in obstructive azoospermia to 2.0 x 10(6)/ml in oligozoospermia and genital tract infection. The purified immature germ cell suspensions obtained can be useful for diagnostic and research purposes

Musculoskeletal disorders in aged care workers : a systematic review of contributing factors and interventions

Background: There is limited evidence on contributing factors and effective interventions for musculoskeletal injuries in aged care workers. Purpose: To systematically review the factors that contribute to musculoskeletal disorder risk amongst workers in the aged care industry, and to undertake a qualitative comparison of the interventions designed and implemented to prevent injury within this workforce. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, Medline, and PubMed. Relevant grey literature was also examined. Articles that reported factors that contribute to musculoskeletal injuries, or interventions to prevent and manage musculoskeletal injuries in residential aged care workers were included. Findings: Of the 864 articles and 35 grey literature publications found, 63 and 29 were included in the review respectively. Results indicate that physical factors such as manual handling of people, use of assistive devices, and physical work environment are most commonly associated with musculoskeletal disorders in this population. Limited evidence of organisational and psychosocial factors considered staffing issues, work schedules, and violence. The heavy emphasis on physical factors is echoed in the grey literature in relevant guidance material and codes of practice focused on assessment and control of risks. There was limited evidence for interventions specific to aged care; existing evidence focused on equipment, training and education, policy and procedure. Interventions incorporating a combination of approaches, such as equipment and training, showed promise while preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of participatory approaches are positive. Discussion: Interventions which address multiple types of contributing factors are needed to adequately prevent musculoskeletal injuries in aged care workers. Tweetable abstract: Review of contributing factors, interventions, and application of knowledge for workrelated musculoskeletal injuries in aged care

APOPTOSIS IN NORMAL AND PATHOLOGIC HUMAN SPERMATOZOA. ULTRASTRUCTURAL AND TUNEL OBSERVATIONS.

ATTI PUBBLICATI SU: ITALIAN JOURNAL OF ANATOMY AND EMBRIOLOGY VOL 105, SUPPL 1 PAG 7