The effect of romosozumab on bone mineral density depending on prior treatment: a prospective, multicentre cohort study in Switzerland.

SUMMARY This multicentre, prospective cohort study measured the effect of romosozumab for 12 months on bone mineral density, taking into account prior therapies. Prior antiresorptive therapy blunted the BMD response to romosozumab, and the duration was correlated with BMD changes at both the lumbar spine and total hip. INTRODUCTION In Switzerland, romosozumab is administered to high-risk osteoporosis patients. Our study aimed to assess the effect of romosozumab on bone mineral density (BMD), taking into account prior therapies. METHODS This multicentre, prospective cohort study measured the effect of romosozumab for 12 months in patients in a nationwide Swiss osteoporosis registry. BMD and bone turnover marker (P1NP and CTX) changes were measured and compared between pre-treated and treatment naïve patients. RESULTS Ninety-nine patients (92 women and 7 men, median age 71 years [65, 76]) were enrolled from January 2021 to December 2023. Among them, 22 had no prior treatment before romosozumab, while 77 had previous therapy (including 23 with a history of prior teriparatide therapy), with a median duration of 6 years [4, 11] of cumulative antiresorptive treatment. Over 12 months, romosozumab led to BMD changes of 10.3% [7.5, 15.5] at the lumbar spine, 3.1% [1.1, 5.8] at the total hip and 3.1% [0.5, 5.3] at the femoral neck, indicating notable variability. Significantly lower BMD responses were observed in pre-treated patients, with the duration of prior antiresorptive therapy inversely associated with BMD increases at the lumbar spine and hip. Other predictors of BMD changes at the total hip included baseline T-scores at the hip, body mass index and baseline CTX level, while the BMD response at the lumbar spine was associated with the lumbar spine T-score at baseline, age and baseline CTX level. CONCLUSION Prior antiresorptive therapy blunted the BMD response to romosozumab, and the duration was correlated with BMD changes at both the lumbar spine and total hip

The Coming of Iron in a Comparative Perspective

The paper deals with the introduction of iron as a new raw material in the transition period between the outgoing Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. Objective of the paper is to introduce the interdisciplinary research group A5: Iron as a new raw material of the Excellence Cluster Topoi. The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations. After a short overview of the history of the spread of iron technology after the decline of the Hittite empire, the central research categories of the group: space, knowledge, innovation and resource are introduced. The interdisciplinary composition of the group enables the integration of different methodological approaches from the archaeological sciences, ancient oriental studies and physical geography. Furthermore, the spatio-temporal potentials and limitations of the single disciplinary methodological approaches are discussed and a brief overview of the regions under investigation is given. The introduction of iron as a new raw material is in detail presented in the light of two case study regions: the Ancient Orient and the Teltow region

A Comparative Analysis of Case Studies from the Old World

The present contribution deals with the concepts of marginal habitats in selected regions of the ancient world, ranging from modern Spain to the Jordanian desert and from Turkey to the Ethiopian highlands. Central to this research is the hypothesis that the occupation of areas beyond the ‘normal’ settlement patterns corresponds to colonization processes which reflect specific social strategies and may have stimulated the development of new technological skills. A review of ‘marginality’ research in various disciplines indicates that there is no comprehensive definition of the concept, which can be approached from a multitude of perspectives and with manifold objectives. A survey of the eight case studies and two more in-depth discussions of the sites of Musawwarat (Sudan) and Ayamonte (Spain) highlight the potentials as well as the limits of the archaeological investigation into past marginalities. Patterns of spatial marginalization are the easiest to detect. The studies also show that we must not limit our analysis to the adverse factors connected to different kinds of marginalities. Instead, our analyses suggest that spatially marginal areas were deliberately chosen for settlement – an integration with core-periphery approaches may help us to understand these scenarios, which have received little attention in ‘marginality’ research in archaeology or elsewhere so far

Nanopartikel am Arbeitsplatz

Nanopartikel sind sehr kleine Partikel, die gezielt so hergestellt sind, dass ihr Durchmesser kleiner als etwa 100 nm ist. Sie werden in der Industrie eingesetzt, weil Materialien mit solch kleinen Dimensionen oft neue Eigenschaften aufweisen, die sie vom Ursprungsmaterial unterscheidet. Das Potenzial für mögliche Gesundheits- und Umwelteffekte von Nanomaterialien wird zurzeit intensiv diskutiert, denn die möglichen Effekte der neuen Eigenschaften auf Umwelt und Gesundheit sind erst unvollständig geklärt. Für die Abklärung der Risiken ist es wichtig, Informationen über die möglichen Expositionen und mögliche Freisetzungen in die Umwelt zu haben. Bisher wurden aber Daten über eingesetzte Stoffmengen und Materialarten selten systematisch erhoben. Wir haben in der Schweiz eine repräsentative Studie durchgeführt, um den Einsatz von Nanopartikeln im gesamten Industriesektor abschätzen zu können. Diese Studie ist unseres Wissens weltweit die erste solche Studie. Sie verwendete die Definition von Nanopartikeln, welche Nanofasern und Agglomerate von Nanopartikeln mit einschließt. Geschätzte 1.300 Arbeiter in 600 Firmen sind direkt an einer Nanopartikelanwendung beteiligt und könnten somit exponiert werden. Dies sind etwa 0,6% der Firmen und etwa 0,08% der Arbeiter des Schweizer Produktionssektors. Um nun zu bestimmen, ob solche Arbeiter mit Nanopartikel in Kontakt kommen oder nicht, stehen verschiedene Messmethoden zur Verfügung. Die aktuelle Technik erlaubt eine quantitative Messung der Anzahl der Partikel in der Luft, deren Masse oder auch Oberfläche. Diese Messgrößen allein geben zwar Hinweise auf die Präsenz von Nanopartikeln, die möglichen Gesundheitseffekte einer Exposition sind aber erst unvollständig abgeklärt und erlauben keine abschließende Risikoanalyse für den Arbeitsplatz. Mehrere Aktionspläne für die Entwicklung eines sicheren und nachhaltigen Umgangs mit Nanomaterialien wurden in den letzten Jahren gestartet (EU, Schweiz). Internationale und nationale Organisationen entwickelten Guidelines und Empfehlungen für industrielle Anwendungen (Internationale Organisation für Normung - ISO, Schweizerische Unfallversicherungsanstalt - SUVA, Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin - BAuA, zusammen mit dem Verband der Chemischen Industrie - VCI). Diese generellen Informationen müssen nun in die Industrie transferiert und an die spezifischen Bedürfnisse der betroffenen Unternehmen angepasst werden. Die aufgezeigte, relativ geringe Verbreitung von Nanopartikelanwendungen in der Industrie weist darauf hin, dass heute Schutzmaßnahmen noch proaktiv und kostengünstig entwickelt und eingeführt werden können. Aber sollte die vorhergesagte "Nano-Revolution" wirklich eintreten, ist die Zeit gekommen, jetzt aktiv zu werden. [Autoren]]]> Nanoparticles ; Industry ; Safety ; Data Collection ; Occupational Exposure ; Occupational Health ger https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_394A39C0520C.P001/REF.pdf http://nbn-resolving.org/urn/resolver.pl?urn=urn:nbn:ch:serval-BIB_394A39C0520C4 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/urn/urn:nbn:ch:serval-BIB_394A39C0520C4 info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersion info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Copying allowed only for non-profit organizations https://serval.unil.ch/disclaimer application/pdf oai:serval.unil.ch:BIB_394AB7B08ABD 2022-02-19T02:19:14Z <oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd"> https://serval.unil.ch/notice/serval:BIB_394AB7B08ABD Der Fall aus der Praxis (276). Posttraumatischen Belastungsstorung. [A case from practice (276). Post-traumatic stress syndrome] info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/8378679 Haefliger, J. info:eu-repo/semantics/article article 1993-08 Schweizerische Rundschau fur Medizin Praxis, vol. 82, no. 35, pp. 949-51 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pissn/1013-2058 Accidents, Traffic/*psychology Adult Humans Male Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/*diagnosis/psychology oai:serval.unil.ch:BIB_394AE091D18F 2022-02-19T02:19:14Z openaire documents urnserval <oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd"> https://serval.unil.ch/notice/serval:BIB_394AE091D18F Practicality of Acute and Transitional Care and its consequences in the era of SwissDRG: a focus group study. info:doi:10.1186/s12913-019-4220-0 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1186/s12913-019-4220-0 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/31196075 Wangmo, T. Padrutt, Y. Koné, I. Gächter, T. Elger, B.S. Leu, A. info:eu-repo/semantics/article article 2019-06-13 BMC health services research, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 374 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/eissn/1472-6963 urn:issn:1472-6963 <![CDATA[Switzerland recently introduced Acute and Transitional Care (ATC) as a new financing option and a preventive measure to mitigate potential side effects of Swiss Diagnosis Related Group (SwissDRG). The goal of ATC was to support patients who after acute treatment at a hospital require temporary increased professional care. However, evidence is lacking as to the practicality of ATC. Using qualitative focus group methodology, we sought to understand the implementation and use of ATC. A purposive sample of forty-two professionals from five Swiss cantons participated in this study. We used a descriptive thematic approach to analyse the data. Our findings first reveal that ATC's implementation differs in the five cantons (i.e. federal states). In two cantons, only ambulatory variant of ATC is used; in one canton only stationary ATC has been created, and two cantons had both ambulatory and stationary ATC but preferred the latter. Second, there are intrinsic practical challenges associated with ATC, which include physicians' lack of familiarity with ATC and its regulatory limitations. Finally, participants felt that due to shorter hospital stays because of SwissDRG, premature discharge of patients with complex care needs to stationary ATC takes place. This development does not fit the nursing home concept of care tailored to long-term patients. This empirical study underscores that there is a strong need to improve ATC so that it is uniformly implemented throughout the country and its application is streamlined. In light of the newness of ATC as well as SwissDRG, their impact on the quality of care received by patients is yet to be fully understood. Empirical evidence is necessary to improve these two measures

Nanoparticle usage and protection measures in the manufacturing industry : a representative survey

Addressing the risks of nanoparticles requires knowledge about release into the environment and occupational exposure. However, such information currently is not systematically collected; therefore, this risk assessment lacks quantitative data. The goal was to evaluate the current level of nanoparticle usage in Swiss industry as well as health, safety, and environmental measures, and the number of potentially exposed workers. A representative, stratified mail survey was conducted among 1626 clients of the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (SUVA), which insures 80,000 manufacturing firms, representing 84% of all Swiss manufacturing companies (947 companies answered the survey for a 58.3% response rate). The extrapolation to all Swiss manufacturing companies results in 1309 workers (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1073 to 1545) potentially exposed to nanoparticles in 586 companies (95% CI: 145 to 1027). This corresponds to 0.08% of workers (95% CI: 0.06% to 0.09%) and to 0.6% of companies (95% CI: 0.2% to 1.1%). The industrial chemistry sector showed the highest percentage of companies using nanoparticles (21.2%). Other important sectors also reported nanoparticles. Personal protection equipment was the predominant protection strategy. Only a few applied specific environmental protection measures. This is the first nationwide representative study on nanoparticle use in the manufacturing sector. The information gained can be used for quantitative risk assessment. It can also help policymakers design strategies to support companies developing a safer use of nanomaterial. Notingthe current low use of nanoparticles, there is still time to proactively introduce protective methods. If the predicted "nano-revolution" comes true, now is the time to take action. [Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Journal of occupational and Environmental Hygiene for the following free supplemental resource: a pdf file containing a detailed description of the approach to statistical analyses, English translation of the questionnaire, additional information for Figure 1, and additional information for the SUVA-code.] [Authors]]]> Data Collection ; Environmental Monitoring ; Humans ; Industry ; Nanoparticles ; Occupational Exposure ; Policy Making ; Protective Devices ; Risk Assessment ; Workplace eng https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_3A09102817F4.P001/REF.pdf http://nbn-resolving.org/urn/resolver.pl?urn=urn:nbn:ch:serval-BIB_3A09102817F43 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/urn/urn:nbn:ch:serval-BIB_3A09102817F43 info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Copying allowed only for non-profit organizations https://serval.unil.ch/disclaimer application/pdf oai:serval.unil.ch:BIB_3A0928641E8F 2022-02-19T02:19:18Z openaire documents urnserval <oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd"> https://serval.unil.ch/notice/serval:BIB_3A0928641E8F Pneumopathie d'hypersensibilité Lazor, R. Olgiati, R. info:eu-repo/semantics/article article 2011 VivO2 spécial, no. 5, pp. 14-15 fre https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_3A0928641E8F.P001/REF.pdf http://nbn-resolving.org/urn/resolver.pl?urn=urn:nbn:ch:serval-BIB_3A0928641E8F2 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/urn/urn:nbn:ch:serval-BIB_3A0928641E8F2 info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersion info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Copying allowed only for non-profit organizations https://serval.unil.ch/disclaimer application/pdf oai:serval.unil.ch:BIB_3A0953F50D55 2022-02-19T02:19:18Z openaire documents <oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd"> https://serval.unil.ch/notice/serval:BIB_3A0953F50D55 Automation of RNA-based biomarker extraction from dried blood spots for the detection of blood doping. info:doi:10.4155/bio-2020-0041 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.4155/bio-2020-0041 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/32412781 Loria, F. Manfredi, M. Reverter-Branchat, G. Segura, J. Kuuranne, T. Leuenberger, N. info:eu-repo/semantics/article article 2020-06 Bioanalysis, vol. 12, no. 11, pp. 729-736 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/eissn/1757-6199 urn:issn:1757-6180 <![CDATA[Aim: Transcriptomic biomarkers originating from reticulocytes measured in dried blood spots (DBSs) may be reliable indicators of blood doping. Methods/results: Here, we examined changes in the expression levels of the erythropoiesis-related ALAS2, CA1 and SLC4A1 genes in DBS samples from elite athletes and volunteers of clinical study with recombinant erythropoietin dose. Conclusion: By comparing the mean intraday coefficients of variation for ALAS2L, ALASLC, CA1 and SLC4A1 between manual and automated RNA extractions, an average improvement was observed, whereas the assessment of interday variability provided comparable results for both manual and automated approaches. Our results confirmed that RNA biomarkers on DBS support are efficient to detect blood doping

Industrial nanoparticle application : representative survey among Swiss companies shows low usage and basic protection means

Manufactured nanoparticles are introduced into industrial processes, but they are suspected to cause similar negative health effects as ambient particles. The poor knowledge about the scale of this introduction did not allow global risk analysis so far. In 2006 a targeted telephone survey among Swiss companies (1) showed the usage of nanoparticles in a few selected companies but did not provide data to extrapolate on the totality of the Swiss workforce. To gain this kind of information a layered representative questionnaire survey among 1'626 Swiss companies was conducted in 2007. Data was collected about the number of potentially exposed persons in the companies and their protection strategy. The response rate was 58.3%. An expected number of 586 companies (95%−confidence interval 145 to 1'027) was shown by this study to use nanoparticles in Switzerland. Estimated 1'309 (1'073 to 1'545) workers do their job in the same room as a nanoparticle application. Personal protection was shown to be the predominant type of protection means. Companies starting productions with nanomaterials need to consider incorporating protection measures into the plans. This will not only benefit the workers' health, but will also likely increase the competitiveness of the companies. Technical and organisational protection means are not only more cost−effective on the long term, but are also easier to control. Guidelines may have to be designed specifically for different industrial applications, including fields outside nanotechnology, and adapted to all sizes of companies

Nanoinventory : a representative survey of nanoparticle usage in Suisse industry

Background Addressing the risks of nanoparticles requires knowledge about their hazards, which is generated progressively, but also about occupational exposure and liberation into the environment. However, currently such information is not systematically collected, therefore the risk assessment of this exposure or liberation lacks quantitative data. In 2006 a targeted telephone survey among Swiss companies (1) showed the usage of nanoparticles in a few selected companies but did not provide data to extrapolate on the totality of the Swiss workforce. The goal of this study was to evaluate in a representative way the current prevalence and level of nanoparticle usage in Swiss industry, the health, safety and environment measures, and the number of potentially exposed workers. Results A representative, stratified mail survey was conducted among 1,626 clients of the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (SUVA). SUVA insures about 80,000 manufacturing firms, which represent 84% of all Swiss manufacturing companies. 947 companies answered the survey (58.3% response rate). Extrapolation to all Swiss manufacturing companies results in 1,309 workers (95%-confidence interval, 1,073 to 1,545) across the Swiss manufacturing sector being potentially exposed to nanoparticles in 586 companies (95%-CI: 145 to 1'027). This corresponds to 0.08% (95%-CI: 0.06% to 0.09%) of all Swiss manufacturing sector workers and to 0.6% (95%-CI: 0.2% to 1.1%) of companies. The industrial chemistry sector showed the highest percentage of companies using nanoparticles (21.2% of those surveyed) and a high percentage of potentially exposed workers (0.5% of workers in these companies), but many other important sectors also reported nanoparticles. Personal protection equipment was the predominant protection strategy. Only a minority applied specific environmental protection measures. Conclusions This is the first representative nationwide study on the prevalence of nanoparticle usage across a manufacturing sector. The information about the number of companies can be used for quantitative risk assessment. Furthermore it can help policy makers designing strategies to support companies in the responsible development of safer nanomaterial use. Noting the low prevalence of nanoparticle usage, there would still seem to be time to introduce necessary protection methods in a proactive and cost effective way in Swiss industry. But if the predicted "nano-revolution" becomes true, now is the time to take action

A low number of Swiss companies uses nanoparticles

Nanoparticles &lt;100 nanometres are being introduced into industrial processes, but they are suspected to cause similar negative health effects to ambient particles. Poor knowledge about the scale of introduction has not allowed global risk analysis until now. In 2006 a targeted telephone survey among Swiss companies (1) showed the usage of nanoparticles in a few selected companies but did not provide data to extrapolate to the full Swiss workforce. The purpose of the study presented here was to provide a quantitative estimate of the potential occupational exposure to nanoparticles in Swiss industry. Method: A layered representative questionnaire survey among 1626 Swiss companies of the production sector was conducted in 2007. The survey was a written questionnaire, collecting data about the used nanoparticles, the number of potentially exposed persons in the companies and their protection strategy. Results: The response rate of the study was 58.3%. The number of companies estimated to be using nanoparticles in Switzerland was 586 (95% Confidence Interval 145 to 1027). It is estimated that 1309 workers (95% CI 1073 to 1545) do their job in the same room as a nanoparticle application. Personal protection was shown to be the predominant protection means. Such information is valuable for risk evaluation. The low number of companies dealing with nanoparticles in Switzerland suggests that policy makers as well as health, safety and environmental officers within companies can focus their efforts on a relatively small number of companies or workers. The collected data about types of particles and applications may be used for research on prevention strategies and adapted protection means. However, to reflect the most recent trends, the information presented here has to be continuously updated, and a large-scale inventory of the usage should be considered