Examining the Impact of Wellness Champions on the Effectiveness of a Workplace Health and Well-Being Program.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of Desire2Move (D2M) implementation fidelity by Wellness Champions on program effectiveness. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Years 1, 3, and 5 of D2M; an annual peer support health and well-being initiative for university employees. PARTICIPANTS: D2M participants included 422 employees from 28 teams; however, only 144 provided survey data (34.1% response rate). INTERVENTION: During the 8-week program, departments competed as teams to accumulate the greatest average physical activity (PA) minutes. Each team selected a Wellness Champion who delivered program information. Each team member recorded PA minutes with MapMyFitness. MEASURES: An electronic survey assessed program implementation fidelity and program satisfaction. ANALYSIS: Median split (median [Mdn] = 21.2) categorized teams into "high" (n = 14; Mdn = 24.0, range = 21.4-25.0) and "low" (n = 14; Mdn = 19.4, range = 14.3-21.0) implementation groups. Independent samples t tests evaluated differences between groups on program satisfaction and team program average PA minutes. RESULTS: Groups were significantly different for program satisfaction, t(26) = -2.76, P = .011, and team program average PA minutes, t(26) = -2.40, P = .024. The "high" implementation group reported greater program satisfaction (mean [M] = 12.6, standard deviation [SD] = 1.8) and team program average PA minutes (M = 2104.4, SD = 807.4) than the "low" implementation group (program satisfaction M = 11.1, SD = 1.1; team program average minutes M = 1340.8, SD = 875.8). CONCLUSION: Wellness Champions positively impacted employee PA participation and program satisfaction.

A Review of Physical Activity Interventions Delivered via Facebook.

BACKGROUND: The use of social networking sites to deliver behavioral interventions is becoming more prevalent. The purpose of this review was to systematically evaluate the published research to determine the effectiveness of Facebook-delivered interventions for promoting physical activity behavior change. METHODS: A search of interventions delivered via Facebook (as the primary delivery method or part of a multifaceted intervention) in which physical activity was the primary or secondary outcome resulted in 8 studies for review. RESULTS: Overall, 87.5% of the Facebook interventions reported some type of significant physical activity behavior change (ie, interactions, main effects for time, differences between conditions); however, only 2 of these interventions found this change to be significantly better for the treatment group than the control group. CONCLUSION: Future researchers are encouraged to test the effectiveness of Facebook-delivered physical activity interventions with additional control groups that receive no aspects of the intervention within experimental study designs, more diverse samples, theory-based content with assessment of mediators of behavior change, direct observations of physical activity, and long-term follow-ups. Although based on a small sample of studies, Facebook appears to be a promising delivery method for physical activity interventions.

Coprological tests underestimate Macracanthorhynchus hirudinaceus burden in wild boar.

The present study evaluated the limitations of the coprological sedimentation test to assess Macracanthorhynchus hirudinaceus infestation in 59 wild boars (Sus scrofa) from central Spain. The coprological sedimentation test appeared to be a poor predictor of both prevalence of infestation and the real parasite burden due to the high number of false negative results (prevalence was reduced from 61 to 16 %). Because of the potential increased risk of this zoonosis, it is suggested that alternative techniques be used in wildlife surveillance programmes.

Male-biased gastrointestinal parasitism in a nearly monomorphic mountain ungulate.

BACKGROUND: Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica pyrenaica) is a nearly monomorphic mountain ungulate with an unbiased sex-specific overwinter adult survival. Few differences in gastrointestinal parasitism have been reported by coprology as yet. This study aims to assess diversity, prevalence, intensity of infection and aggregation of gastrointestinal nematodes in male and female adult chamois. We expect no differences in the parasite infection rates between sexes. FINDINGS: Gastrointestinal tracts of 28 harvested Pyrenean chamois in the Catalan Pyrenees (autumn 2012 and 2013) were necropsied and sexual differences in the diversity and structure of parasite community, prevalence, intensity of infection, and richness were investigated. We found 25 helminth species belonging to 13 different genera. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to our expectations, male chamois showed different parasite communities, higher prevalence, intensity of infection and richness than females. Such sexual differences were clear irrespective of age of individuals. Hence, male chamois must cope with a more diverse and abundant parasite community than females, without apparent biological cost. Further research will be required to confirm this hypothesis.

Uses and limitations of faecal egg count for assessing worm burden in wild boars.

The most widely used technique to assess helminth infection in both domestic and wild mammals is the faecal egg count (FEC). Most efforts to test the reliability of FEC as a proxy for parasite load are in small ruminant studies and limited work has evaluated the use of FEC in pigs. The aim of this study was to explore whether FEC is a reliable indicator of helminth load, and to evaluate the effects of sample storage on FEC accuracy in 59 wild boars. Though FEC was useful for assessing most helminth infections (e.g., Metastrongylus spp., Ascaris suum, Trichuris suis), stomach nematodes were often missed. The accuracy of FEC decreased over time, and thus it is recommended that samples be processed within 5 days of collection.

Parasitic helminths in the digestive tract of six species of owls (Strigiformes) in Spain.

A survey was carried out in Catalonia, Spain to determine the prevalence of parasitic helminths infesting the digestive tract of nocturnal raptors (Strigiformes). One hundred birds belonging to six owl species were examined. The number of birds examined ranged between three and 30. The overall level of infestation was 65% and the most frequent helminths present were nematodes, followed by trematodes, cestodes and acanthocephalans. Strigiformes showing the highest levels of infestation were little owls (Athene noctua), 86.7% of which were infested. Helminths with the highest prevalence were Synhimantus spp., intestinal capillarids, Brachylaima spp., cestodes and Centrorhynchus aluconis.

Reverse line blot hybridization used to identify hemoprotozoa in Minorcan cattle.

Piroplasmosis, a tick-borne protozoal disease, is an important disease affecting domestic and wild animals. We performed PCR-based reverse line blot hybridization (RLB) assays on blood samples obtained from 133 cattle exposed to ticks in field conditions in Minorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) in three different seasons. The oligonucleotides used were those for Theileria annulata, T. buffeli, T. taurotragi, T. velifera, Babesia bigemina, B. bovis, B. divergens, and B. major. The RLB technique allowed the simultaneous identification of T. annulata, T. buffeli, B. bigemina, and B. bovis as the piroplasms present in cattle in Minorca. Of the 133 animals, only 4 were not infected by any of the studied parasites. The results indicated endemic piroplasm infection in cattle in Minorca; especially important was the presence of T. annulata. The RLB was highly sensitive and allowed the simultaneous detection and identification of the Theileria and Babesia species in carrier cattle, which cannot be achieved by classical identification methods.

Manejo anestésico de pacientes con lepra lepromatosa sometidas a esterilización quirúrgica / Anesthesic management of patients with lepromatose leprosy soment to surgical sterized

La lepra es una enfermedad granulomatosa crónica transmitida por el Mycobacterium leprae tan antigua como la humanidad. Tiene un período de incubación prolongado que dura años y produce lesiones en piel, mucosas y nervios periféricos. Las lesiones se caracterizan por nódulos que incluyen abundantes fagocitos macrófagos y células gigantes, llenas de lípidos, a menudo ocupados por bacilo o granulomas microscópicos semejantes a tuberculos duros. Se reconocen dos variantes de la enfermedad. La Tuberculosis, porque produce lesiones maculopapulosa simétricas en piel y nervios periféricos y la Lepromatosa que ocurre en pacientes más susceptibles. En ambas formas de lepra, ataca los nervios periféricos. Al infiltrar los filetes sensitivos se presenta anestesia, seguido de úlcera e infecciones de la piel que resultan de la atrofia y los traumatismos de los tejidos insensibles. Los músculos esqueléticos denervados experimentan atrofia. La variedad Lepromatosa es una enfermedad sistémica, que afecta diferentes órganos blandos del organismo.