Respiratory hospital admission risk near large composting facilities

AbstractBackgroundLarge-scale composting can release bioaerosols in elevated quantities, but there are few studies of health effects on nearby communities.MethodsA cross-sectional ecological small area design was used to examine risk of respiratory hospital admissions within 2500m of all 148 English large-scale composting facilities in 2008–10. Statistical analyses used a random intercept Poisson regression model at Census Output Area (COA) level (mean population 310). Models were adjusted for age, sex, deprivation and tobacco sales.ResultsAnalysing 34,963 respiratory hospital admissions in 4656 COAs within 250–2500m of a site, there were no significant trends using pre-defined distance bands of >250–750m, >750–1500m and >1500–2500m. Using a continuous measure of distance, there was a small non-statistically significant (p=0.054) association with total respiratory admissions corresponding to a 1.5% (95% CI: 0.0–2.9%) decrease in risk if moving from 251m to 501m. There were no significant associations for subgroups of respiratory infections, asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.ConclusionThis national study does not provide evidence for increased risks of respiratory hospital admissions in those living beyond 250m of an outdoor composting area perimeter. Further work using better measures of exposure and exploring associations with symptoms and disease prevalence, especially in vulnerable groups, is recommended to support regulatory approaches

Nontyphoidal Salmonella Gastroenteritis in Children: a 10 Year Review

Introdução: A Salmonella não tifoide é o agente mais frequente das toxinfeções alimentares nos países desenvolvidos. Em Portugal, são notificados em média 450 casos por ano, 80% dos quais em crianças. Métodos: Revisão casuística dos casos confirmados por coprocultura, internados num hospital do grupo I, na região de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo, entre 1999 e 2008. Análise estatística no programa SPSS® v16.0, com aplicação do teste de Spearman e significância estatística para p< 0,05. Resultados: Identificaram-se 213 internamentos. A mediana anual foi de 21 internamentos, 39% ocorrendo no verão. A mediana das idades foi de 4,2 anos, com doze casos em lactentes até aos três meses. Houve um predomínio no sexo masculino (57%). A mediana do total de leucócitos foi de 9300/mL e da proteína C reativa de 8,8 mg/dL, não se relacionando com a ocorrência de bacteriemia. A duração média do internamento foi de 5,2 dias. As principais complicações foram desidratação (117/213), bacteriemia (8/213), convulsão febril (6/213), síndrome de Mallory-Weiss (5/213) e apendicite aguda (3/213). Os serotipos mais isolados foram: S. Enteritidis (76%), S. Typhimurium (19%), outros (S. O4,5:i-, S. Derby, S. Hayfa, S. Menden, S. Rissen) (5%). Encontraram-se 27% de resistências à ampicilina e 15% ao trimetoprim-sulfametoxazol, sem resistências ao ceftriaxone. Conclusões: Nos 10 anos estudados, o número de casos manteve-se elevado, com morbilidade relevante e resistências significativas aos antibióticos de primeira linha

Factors associated with postpartum depressive symptomatology in Brazil: The Birth in Brazil National Research Study, 2011/2012

Background: Depression is one of the most common postpartum mental disorders. Many sociodemographic and individuals risk factors are associated with maternal depression but the impact of high levels of birth intervention is unclear. The Brazilian context is characterized by excessive intervention and frequent non-compliance with recommended obstetric protocols. This study therefore examined the impact of sociodemographic, individual, and obstetric risk factors in postpartum depression. Methods: The Birth in Brazil research study is a national study of 23,894 postpartum women. Information about depression was obtained by telephone interview at 6 to 18 months after birth and was measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Results: The prevalence of probable cases of depression was 26.3%. A multivariate model identified significant sociodemographic and individual risk factors as: brown skin color (OR = 1.15 CI 1.01-1.31), lower economic class (OR=1.70 CI 1.41-2.06), alcohol use (OR= 1.41 CI 1.09-1.84) and a history of mental disorders (OR= 3.13 CI 1.80-5.44). Significant obstetric factors were unplanned pregnancy (OR=1.22 CI 1.05-1.43 for wanted later and OR= 1.38 CI 1.20-1.60 for never wanted), multiparity (OR=1.97 CI 1.58-2.47 for 3 or more children), and poor care during birth (OR= 2.02 CI 1.28-3.20) or of the newborn (OR=2.16 CI 1.51-3.10). Obstetric interventions and complications were not associated with maternal depression. Limitations: Depression was measured only once so we are not able to examine the course over time. The associational and reverse causality cannot be ruled out for some variables. Conclusions: The prevalence of postpartum depression is high in Brazilian women six months after birth. Poor care of women and babies during birth is more important in postpartum depression than physical obstetric or neonatal intervention and complications

A Thorn in a Haystack: A Rare Case of Septic Arthritis

Pantoea agglomerans is a facultative anaerobe and environmental bacterium that could be a cause of opportunistic human infections, especially in wound infection with plant material. Arthritis or synovitis secondary to penetrating plant thorn injuries is not frequently reported. We present the case of a 35-year-old otherwise healthy male with a bramble thorn penetrating injury of the left knee. P. agglomerans was isolated from the synovial fluid. The patient was treated with amoxicillin/clavulanate according to sensitivity testing. This case highlights the importance of precise and thorough medical history, especially for less common presentations, as well as source control.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Anatomia de algumas ocorrências de gemas e seu enquadramento em protocolos de ordenamento territorial – contributo para uma reflexão sobre o estatuto dos depósitos gemíferos portugueses

[Abstract] Anatomy and Classification of Portuguese Gemstone Deposits and their inclusion in Territorial Management Protocols - The concept of gemstone resources includes the consideration of aspects such as the genetic type of deposits, geographical location and geological characterization of the ores. Based on archeological evidences and assuming the geological potentiality it is possible to consider the existence of resources base with gem quality, in Portugal. The main deposits are related to residual granite systems. In order to ensure a sustainable use, economical or patrimonial, it is necessary to classify these occurrences in a context of land management. This paper presents the typology of the most interesting occurrences considering its economical and patrimonial potentiality

Modelling of epitaxial film growth with a Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier dependent on the step height

The formation of mounded surfaces in epitaxial growth is attributed to the presence of barriers against interlayer diffusion in the terrace edges, known as Ehrlich-Schwoebel (ES) barriers. We investigate a model for epitaxial growth using a ES barrier explicitly dependent on the step height. Our model has an intrinsic topological step barrier even in the absence of an explicit ES barrier. We show that mounded morphologies can be obtained even for a small barrier while a self-affine growth, consistent with the Villain-Lai-Das Sarma equation, is observed in absence of an explicit step barrier. The mounded surfaces are described by a super-roughness dynamical scaling characterized by locally smooth (faceted) surfaces and a global roughness exponent $\alpha>1$. The thin film limit is featured by surfaces with self-assembled three-dimensional structures having an aspect ratio (height/width) that may increase or decrease with temperature depending on the strength of step barrier.Comment: To appear in J. Phys. Cond. Matter; 3 movies as supplementary materia

Desenvolvimento e utilização de variações em um único nucleotídeo para o mapeamento de marcadores âncoras e de genes candidatos em Arachis.

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Análise da expressão diferencial de genes de raízes de Arachis stenosperma Krapov. & W.C. Gregory infectadas com o fitonematóide Meloidogyne arenaria (Neal) Chitwood raça 1.

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