Prevalence of Musculoskeletal Symptoms and Predictors of Seeking Healthcare among Iowa Farmers.

Farmers experience musculoskeletal symptoms such as pain and disability at a higher rate than other professions, yet little is known about the associated environmental and health factors. The objective of this research is to describe health screening data, musculoskeletal symptoms, and farm safety environmental scores to determine the relationships among these variables for Midwest famers. The sample (n = 438) included farmers from 38 counties that surround ten AgriSafe clinic sites in Iowa who were principal farm operators and/or spouses, farmed at least 20 hours per week on average, and had agricultural production of at least $1,000 in sales a year. Musculoskeletal symptom prevalence varied by age and joint, with the lowest prevalence of 28% for the elbow and the highest prevalence of over 73% for the lower back. The average number of painful joints was 4.15 (SD = 2.75) over the last year, with significantly more older farmers experiencing knee pain. Of farmers in the older age category (N = 223), 144 (64.6%) were in the low safety category (safety score ≤ 95). Significant predictors of seeking healthcare due to musculoskeletal symptoms included doctor-diagnosed arthritis (OR = 1.742; 95% CI: 1.024-2.963), employee help on the farm (OR = 2.162; 95% CI: 1.254-3.727), hip pain (OR = 2.959; 95% CI: 1.751-5.001), and upper back pain (OR = 2.036; 95% CI: 1.204-3.443). Health and safety professionals can use a standardized health and safety checklist to identify areas of concern and increase the safety and health of farmers.

Retrofitting tractors with rollover protective structures: perspective of equipment dealers.

This study was one of a cluster of studies that originated via requests for proposals from the NIOSH National Agricultural Tractor Safety Initiative. The present study design consisted of several steps: (1) formation of an advisory group, (2) development and testing of a standard paper self-responding survey instrument, (3) sample selection of farm equipment dealers, (4) administration of the survey, (5) assessment and analysis of the survey, and (6) in-person response panel of dealers (n = 80) to review results of the questionnaire for further definition and sharpening of the recommendations from the survey. A key finding is that most dealers do not currently sell or install ROPS retrofit kits. Barriers cited by dealers included (1) actual or perceived lack of farmer demand, (2) injury liability, (3) expensive freight for ordering ROPS, (4) lack of dealer awareness of the magnitude of deaths from tractor overturns and the high life-protective factor of ROPS, and (5) difficulty and incursion of non-recoverable expenses in locating and obtaining specific ROPS. Despite not currently selling or installing ROPS, dealers responded favorably about their future potential role in ROPS promotion and sales. Dealers were willing to further promote, sell, and install ROPS if there was demand from farmers. Recommendations include establishing a ROPS "clearing house" that dealers could contact to facilitate locating and obtaining ROPS orders from customers. Additional recommendations include education and social marketing targeting farm machinery dealers as well farmers, manufacturers, and policy makers.

Persistent polyclonal B lymphocytosis: morphological, immunological, cytogenetic and molecular analysis of an Italian case.

We describe a case of persistent polyclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (PPBL) studied by morphological, immunological, cytogenetic and molecular analysis. PPBL is a rare lymphoproliferative disorder with an unclear natural history. Although a few cases of malignancies are observed during PPBL, this disorder is usually considered to be an indolent syndrome. A longer follow-up in a larger number of patients is needed in order to clarify the natural history of PPBL and its potential to transform into a malignancy. As PPBL is a rare disease, establishing an international PPBL registry could be the most effective way to understand the natural history of this disease and to discover its etiologic factors.

The role of interferon-alpha in the treatment of myeloproliferative disorders.

The interferons are cytokines with a wide array of biological properties. In hematological malignancies the most used IFN class is -alpha; it has been used for thirty years but the mode of action is still not absolutely clear. Nevertheless, the benefits of IFN-alpha for the treatment of CMD have been described in particular for CML and less for PV, ET and MMM. IFN-alpha is presently considered the golden standard of therapy for CML patients not eligible for SCT; the antileukemic effect has been well documented by hematological and cytogenetic response. The survival advantage for IFN treated patients is remarkable in comparison with patients treated with conventional chemotherapy. Recently, the combination IFN-alpha plus Ara-C has demonstrated to increase the rate of major cytogenetic response and to prolong survival. To date, there is not a generally accepted treatment for ET, PV and MMM, which can reduce the risk of thromboembolism and/or hemorragic events. In several subsets of ET and PV patients, IFN-alpha can be considered as first line therapy. IFN-alpha is usually associated with the development of early and later side effects, that reduce the enthusiasm for its use. In the future PEG-IFN-alpha would improve the quality of life of IFN-treated CMD patients.

Lethal effect of oxamniquine and praziquantel on mice experimentally infected with Schistosoma mansoni.

Lethality caused by administration of oxamniquine and praziquantel to mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni, and their respective controls (uninfected), has been studied. As the results indicate, the infected animals clearly showed higher mortality rates when praziquantel was used. Surprisingly, it may be noted that exactly the contrary occurs in relation to the use of oxamniquine, inasmuch as marked higher mortality rates were seen in the control animals (uninfected). These observations lead to the conclusion that further toxicological studies of antischistosomal drugs using. S. mansoni infected animals are needed.

Changes in pentobarbital induced sleeping-time in mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni and immunosuppressed.

To evaluate whether the intensity of the hepatic granulomatous response induced by S. mansoni eggs plays a role in drug metabolism, mice were infected with 40 cercariae and tested to assess the sodic pentobarbital induced sleeping-time. To decrease the inflammatory reaction the animals were irradiated with 400 Rad or received azathioprine, 20 mg/kg, 3 times a week, for 4 weeks, respectively in or beginning in the 33th post-infection day. In infected animals receiving azathioprine the area of the hepatic granulomas was smaller and the sleeping-time was similar to that of non-infected ones (controls). In mice infected and irradiated the granuloma dimensions were similar to those of animals only infected, in these two latter groups of animals, the sleeping-time was more prolonged than that of the control animals. These results show that: 1) mice with unaltered hepatic granulomatous reaction show reduction in metabolism of sodic pentobarbital; 2) granulomatous response diminished by azathioprine does not interfere with the capacity of metabolism of the anesthetic drug.

Autonomic functions in type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes.

In juvenile type 1 diabetes a computer-aided orthoclinostatic test, giving information on central autonomic reactivity, shows a significant difference, vs control subjects, only in the ortho-to-clino transition (not in clino-to-ortho), while no differences emerge in peripheral autonomic functions. The correlations between the mean values of heart rate in lying and standing positions seem to indicate a different response of the baroceptor reflex in the two groups.

Ultrastructure of gliding bacteria: scanning electron microscopy of Capnocytophaga sputigena, Capnocytophaga gingivalis, and Capnocytophaga ochracea.

When examined by both light and scanning electron microscopy, Capnocytophaga gingivalis, C. sputigena, and C. ochracea displayed three distinct growth zones: the original streak, an intermediate zone, and the advancing edge, or halo zone. On Trypticase (BBL Microbiology Systems)-soy-blood agar, the cells translocated by gliding. C. gingivalis and C. sputigena formed large, irregular isolated colonies, while C. ochracea formed a more confluent cell mass. The cells within the streak zone and in most of the intermediate zone were heaped into mounds, with the individual cells displaying a definite flow pattern, the latter characteristic of C. sputigena and C. gingivalis. The halo zone consisted of tracks of cells which appeared to have translocated back upon themselves, or were restricted in their outward movements by adjacent cells. Also present within the halo zone were small aggregates of cells, referred to as pioneer colonies. The cell surfaces of C. gingivalis and C. ochracea were smooth and free of any apparent extracellular material, whereas C. sputigena was covered with a thick amorphous material, as well as long, thick, cell surface-associated fibrils.