Class of 2010 Abstract / OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to determine the knowledge of third year pharmacy students about the safety of certain medications during pregnancy and to assess their awareness of an important resource available on medication safety. METHODS: The study used an analytical cross-­‐sectional design. A pre-­‐test was administered to determine baseline knowledge. Dee Quinn provided a presentation on teratogens. The same test was then administered as a post-­‐test to assess the amount of knowledge gained from the presentation. The pre and post-­‐tests were matched for data analysis. A mean and standard deviation were developed for pre and post-­‐test data and the results were compared to each other using a t-­‐test for dependent groups. RESULTS: Students showed a significant increase in knowledge after the presentation (p<0.0001). 78% of students had improved scores after the presentation. 100% of students felt that pharmacists could help make a difference in preventing malformations due to teratogen exposure. There was no significant difference between men and women or students with children and without children. Work experience did not affect knowledge scores. 64% of students felt more comfortable counseling pregnant patients after the presentation. Awareness of the Teratology Information Service improved after the presentation. CONCLUSIONS: After the presentation, students rated themselves as more comfortable speaking with pregnant patients and showed improved knowledge of teratogens. Gender, being a parent and work experience had no relevance on knowledge scores. The investigators recommend that this presentation be given to all students at the College of Pharmacy to improve knowledge in this area.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Sunanda Dissanayake / The percentage of the U.S. population aged 65 years or older is increasing rapidly. Statistics also show this age group was 14.9 percent of the population in 2015 and is expected to be 20.7 to 21.4 percent for the years 2030–2050. Kansas has similar statewide trends with its aging population. Therefore, identifying issues, concerns, and factors associated with severity of older-driver crashes in Kansas is necessary. The Kansas Crash Analysis and Reporting System (KCARS) database maintained by Kansas Department of Transportation was used in this study to identify older-driver crash characteristics, compare older drivers with all drivers, and develop crash severity models. According to KCARS data, older drivers were involved in more than one in five fatal injuries out of all drivers in Kansas from 2010 to 2014. When compared with all drivers, older drivers were overly represented in fatal and incapacitating injuries. The percentage of older-driver fatal injuries was more than the twice that of all drivers. When compared with all drivers, older drivers were involved more often in crashes at four-way intersections, on straight and level roads, in daylight hours, and at a stop or yield signs. An in-depth crash severity analysis was carried out for the older drivers involved in crashes. Three separate binary logistic regression models were developed for single-vehicle crashes where only the older driver was present (Model A), single-vehicle crashes involving an older driver with at least one passenger (Model B), and multi-vehicle crashes involving at least one older driver (Model C). From the crash severity analysis, it was found that left turns were significant in changing the crash severity for Model A, but it was not significant in model B, meaning that older drivers may be safer with passengers. For Model B, none of the passenger attributes were significant, though it was originally developed to identify passenger attributes. Gender of the older driver was not significant in any model. For all models, variables such as safety equipment use, crash location, weather conditions, driver ejected or trapped, and light conditions distinguished crash severity. Furthermore, for Model A, variables such as day of the week, speed, accident class, and maneuver, distinguished crash severity. Moreover, accident class, surface type, and vehicle type changed crash severity in Model B. Number of vehicles, speed, collision type, maneuver, and two-lane roads were significant in Model C. A road-user survey was also conducted to identify habits, needs, and concerns of Kansas' aging road users since it was not advisable to conclude safety factors solely on crash data. The probability of occurrence was calculated by taking the weighted average of answers to a question. Then a contingency table analysis was carried out to identify relationships among variables. For older drivers, seatbelt use as a driver had the highest probability of occurrence. Driving in heavy traffic, merging into traffic, moving away from traffic, and judging gaps were dependent on age group. Findings of this research gave an understanding of older-driver crashes and associated factors. Since more than 85 percent of crash contributory causes were related to drivers, driver awareness programs, driver licensing restrictions, providing public transportation, and law enforcement can be used as countermeasures. Accordingly, results of this study can be used to enhance older-driver safety and awareness programs.

Detta är en rapportering av ett examinationsprojekt inom högskoleingenjörsprogrammet i innovationsteknik och design. Uppdragsgivaren och projektbeställaren var Stefan Bäckström, VD för Roofac AB. Syftet med projektet var att göra en förundersökning om möjligheten att applicera RSS (Roof Safety Systems) fallskyddssystem på tak med fotrännor genom en tillbehörsprodukt. Denna förundersökning skulle därmed leda till en kunskapsbank och material som skulle kunna vara till nytta för vidare utvecklingsarbete av tillbehörsprodukten. Syftet var också att göra en bedömning kring potentialen att erhålla en prototyp som är tillräckligt bra att användas som en tillbehörsprodukt. Metoden att uppfylla syftet med projektet och uppnå de uppsatta målen har varit att använda PU-processen som har präglats i utbildningens olika projektarbeten. I planeringen av projektet har verktyg som WBS, PERT-schema, Gant-schema och projektmodell använts för att strukturera projektet. I förstudien har research, användarundersökning och analyser utförts för att samla kunskap och underlag till konceptframtagningsarbetet. Analyserna resulterade i en kravspecifikation som kan användas som ett underlag för utvärdering av genererade koncept. Även en mockup-modell av tak med fotränna har konstruerats för att underlätta testning och utvärdering av fysiska koncept-prototyper. Konceptframtagningsarbetet har utgjorts av idégenerering, konceptgenerering och konceptutvärdering. Idégenereringen baserades på tre idégenereringssessioner, en med ett gäng studenter, en med produktutvecklingsingenjörer på Semcon i Karlstad och en med uppdragsgivaren och kollega på Roofac. Utifrån idéerna genererades sedan CAD-modeller som användes till att generera koncept. Koncepten utvärderades sedan med hjälp av för- och nackdelslista och matris. Resultatet av utvärderingen blev tre slutgiltiga koncept. För att uppnå målet med att leverera en fysisk modell/prototyp att använda som uppvisningsmaterial under utställningen av projektet, avgränsades prototypframtagnings- och testningsarbetet med att gå vidare med den lämpligaste av de tre slutgiltiga koncepten. Från prototypframtagningen och testningen erhölls en fysisk modell av det koncept som valdes att gå vidare med efter konceptframtagningen. Denna modell användes tillsammans med en mockup-modell vid utställningen av projektet. Baserat på resultatet från förstudien, konceptframtagningen, prototypframtagningen samt mockupbygget har en kunskapsbank samt material erhållits att kunna använda i vidare arbeten. Utifrån detta anses därför att syftet med projektet vara uppfyllt.

A time series study was conducted to investigate the association between variations in daily levels of air pollution and health effects in the city of sao Paulo, Brazil. This study was prompted by positive associations reported in other time series studies, principally in North AmeriE:a and Europe, and preliminary results from some limited analyses reported for sao Paulo. Its aims were to examine specific causes of mortality and hospital admissions, to identify more vulnerable subgroups defined in terms of age, to assess the role of socio-economic conditions in modifying the association and to detail the impact of other potential risk factors, especially meteorological. Daily measurements of air pollutants (PM10, S02, N02, 0 3 and CO) for 12 monitoring stations across the city and several meteorological variables, along with daily counts of mortality for all ages during 3 years and hospitalisations for children during 23 months were available. The time series models used Poisson regression analysis and were adjusted for effects of trend, cyclical patterns (including season), weekday, holidays, meteorological factors, and autocorrelation. Increases in PM10 and S02 were associated with a 3-4% increase in daily deaths for all causes in the elderly (results are presented for an increase from the 10th to the 90th centile of pollution measurements). Cardiovascular deaths were additionally associated with CO (4% increase). Respiratory deaths in the elderly showed higher increases (6%) associated with PM10• No significant effects for children's mortality were observed. Nevertheless, respiratory or pneumonia hospital admissions for children showed significant increases associated with 0 3 (5-8%), N02 (9%), and to a lesser extent with PM10 (9%). There was a significant trend of increasing risk of death according to age with effects only evident for older subjects. However, this age effect was more evident for all cause mortality. There was a weak suggestion of larger effects on mortality for areas economically more affluent. Some indication was found of a harvesting effect occurring in the mortality and hospital admission series in sao Paulo. Results are broadly consistent with those previously reported but somewhat smaller in magnitude. In contrast with an earlier preliminary analysis in Sao Paulo, there were no effects on mortality for children. However, new analyses for hospital admissions indicated that children are at an increased risk of non-fatal illness in relation to air pollution.

An opportunistic study was carried out in central Mexico, where one of the world's largest wastewater reuse schemes for agricultural production is located. This scheme provided a unique opportunity to assess the health impact of exposure to wastewater of different qualities on intestinal parasitic infections and diarrhoeal diseases. The central objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of hydraulic retention on reducing the health risks associated with wastewater use. Exposure groups were defined according to eligibility procedures and to the quality of irrigation water. Microbiological quality was measured using nematode eggs and faecal coliforms as indicators. The exposure groups involved households: a) exposed to untreated wastewater; b) exposed to wastewater retained in a single reservoir; c) exposed to wastewater which had passed through two reservoirs in series, and been retained for some time in both; and d) nonwastewater-exposed households (controls). The study outcomes included risk of Ascaris lumbricoides, Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia lamblia infections, as well as the risk of diarrhoeal diseases. The study design was based on two cross-sectional surveys (rainy and dry seasons), and the analyses focused on both comparison of risks between the different exposure groups as well as the identification of at-risk groups. The two surveys involved different intermediate groups - (b) and (c) above - and the main purpose was to assess the effects of single versus double hydraulic retention. They are distinguished mainly for this purpose, rather than the evaluation of possible seasonal fluctuations of the study outcomes. Other variables (i.e. socioeconomic, hygiene and sanitation) were analysed as confounders using a multivariate model. In young children the prevalence rates of A. lumbricoides infection were considerably higher in the raw wastewater group (13.7%), and lower prevalences were observed with decreasing exposure (11.8% in the single reservoir group, 3.3% in the double reservoirs group, and 0.6 - 2.5% in the control group). A high prevalence rate of G.lamblia was observed in children (17 - 20.5%), but no association with untreated wastewater was found. The prevalence rates of E. histolytica infection in children from the various exposure groups ranged between 4.8 - 7.0%, but were considerably higher in older individuals: 15.7 and 16.5% in the two surveys among the raw wastewater group, compared with 13.2% and 14.7% respectively in the controls. In addition, a high prevalence of diarrhoeal diseases (two-weeks recall period) was found in the rainy season, particularly in young children from the raw wastewater exposure group, and lower prevalences were observed with decreasing exposure (29.0% in the raw wastewater group, 26.8% in the two reservoirs group, and 23.0 % in the control group, respectively). The overall prevalences of Cryptosporidium parvum and Trichuris trichiura infections were unexpectedly low (below 1% and 4%, respectively), and excluded from further consideration. The intensity of A. lumbricoides infection was evaluated in a parallel study, and is not reported here. The main findings of the present study can be summarised as follows: - Cropland irrigation with raw wastewater was strongly associated with A. lumbricoides infection in farmworkers and their families, with a risk of diarrhoeal diseases, and with a small but significant risk of E. histolytica infection in individuals aged over 5 years. - The differences observed in the prevalences of A. lumbricoides infection and diarrhoeal diseases were similar in both seasons, but the prevalences in the control group were lower in the dry season; thus, the relative effect of wastewater use was greater in the dry season. - Retention of wastewater in two reservoirs in series (2-6 months) reduced substantially the risk of A. lumbricoides infection, and to a lesser extent the risk of E. histolytica infection, and possibly the risk of diarrhoeal diseases in young children. - Retention of wastewater in a single reservoir (1 - 7 months) did not reduce the risk of A. lumbricoides or E. histolytica infection, but may reduce the ri sk of diarrhoeal diseases in children by 20%. - No association between exposure to raw wastewater and infection with G. lamblia was detected in this research. - Parasitic intestinal infections and diarrhoeal diseases showed significant associations with variables describing personal and domestic hygiene, basic sanitation and socioeconomic characteristics. These results are discussed in relation to local regulations and health protection measures, as well as in light of the WHO 1989 revised guidelines for restricted crop irrigation.

Este artículo presenta un estudio acerca del riesgo percibido en el sector de la construcción. El estudio se realizó a partir del análisis de cuestionarios provenientes de una muestra de trabajadores de la construcción del sur de España. Se presenta el perfil del riesgo percibido obtenido según los enfoques del llamado paradigma psicométrico a través de atributos cualitativos y se analizan los resultados. El atributo relativo a como el trabajo afecta a la salud a largo plazo es el más puntuado. Lo cual representa una novedad con respecto a otros estudios previos. A su vez se analizan mediante un análisis de la varianza (ANOVA) los efectos de la variable sociodemográfica oficio con respecto a los distintos atributos del riesgo percibido del cuestionario. Se presentan las diferencias obtenidas entre el grupo de albañiles y estructuristas. / This article presents a study of the perceived risk in the construction sector. The study was conducted from the analysis of questionnaires from several samples of construction workers from southern Spain. We report the perceived risk profile obtained from the psychometric paradigm through qualitative attributes and then we analyze the results. Stands out the attribute regarding how work affects our own long-term health. This represents something new with respect to previous studies. Also analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) the effects of socio-demographic variable craft with respect to the different attributes of the perceived risk of the questionnaire. It presents the differences obtained between the group of masons and framers.

No description available.

The research objectives were:- 1.To review the literature to establish the factors which have traditionally been regarded as most crucial to the design of effectlve exhaust ventilation systems. 2. To design, construct, install and calibrate a wind tunnel. 3. To develop procedures for air velocity measurement followed by a comprehensive programme of aerodvnamic data collection and data analysis for a variety of conditions. The major research findings were:- a) The literature in the subject is inadequate. There is a particular need for a much greater understanding of the aerodynamics of the suction flow field. b) The discrepancies between the experimentally observed centre-line velocities and those predicted by conventional formulae are unacceptably large. c) There was little agreement between theoretically calculated and observed velocities in the suction zone of captor hoods. d) Improved empirical formulae for the prediction of centre-line velocity applicable to the classical geometrically shaped suction openings and the flanged condition could be (and were) derived. Further analysis of data revealed that: - i) Point velocity is directly proportional to the suction. flow rate and the ratio of the point velocity to the average face velocity is constant. ii) Both shape, and size of the suction opening are significant factors as the coordinates of their points govern the extent of the effect of the suction flow field. iii) The hypothetical ellipsoidal potential function and hyperbolic streamlines were found experimentally to be correct. iv) The effect of guide plates depends on the size, shape and the angle of fitting. The effect was to very approximately double the suction velocity but the exact effect is difficult to predict. v) The axially symmetric openings produce practically symmetric flow fields. Similarity of connection pieces between the suction opening and the main duct in each case is essential in order to induce a similar suction flow field. Additionally a pilot study was made in which an artificial extraneous air flow was created, measured and its interaction with the suction flow field measured and represented graphically.

The thesis examines the system of occupational health and safety in France. It analyses the use of expert manpJwer in the field with a view to establishing the pJssibility of a profession in health and safety. An input-output model is developed to bring together the necessary elements of prevention of accidents and occupational diseases. The role of institutions concerned with health and safety is analysed with reference to this model. The research establishes the need for a health and safety specialist role. The recognition and status of this role are found to be subject to other criteria including the acceptance by institutions of such a specialist role. The model is also used to define the role of this specialist as expected by the various institutions intervening in the field.

No description available.