RESUMO

Thermography generates high-resolution imagery in real time and is a non-invasive and painless technique devoid of physical contact or exposure to any type of radiation. This technique has been successfully applied to different areas, such as health- and safety-related applications, to control cold risk in workers exposed to low-temperature environments. Thus, this study aims to analyze skin temperature variations in three body parts of the upper limbs (fingers, the center of the hands and wrists on both the left and right sides of the body) caused by exposure to low temperatures in air-conditioned and artificially controlled work environments. The objective is to assess thermographys adequacy in controlling workers health risks. This study used environmental monitoring equipment and infrared radiation detection cameras to capture images of the body parts that were evaluated. The research was conducted on 20 workers from two sectors of a poultry slaughterhouse. Among the three body parts evaluated, the lowest temperatures occurred in the workers fingertips, which averaged 16.86ºC. This fact may relate to discomfort, pain, decreased performance, functional imbalance and cold-related diseases caused by faulty conditions and/or the equipment used to ensure the workers thermal comfort. It was concluded that the thermographic evaluation of activities that involve exposure to the cold is efficient, as well as feasible, when quantifying the potential threats of environmental cold to workers health.(AU)

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RESUMO

This research aims at describing data for an epidemiological profile, as well as to contribute to the improvement of systems of information, prevention and risk control of accidents in the workplace in processing and further processing broiler plants. In this study, data from documents of 1,274 investigations of typical work accidents were analyzed. Descriptive statistics were used for the analysis, and the frequency and severity of accidents were calculated according to NBR 14280:2001. The results show that men tend to have more accidents than women; 69.8% of those injured had been in the company for less than 3 years; 37% of the accidents were cuts; 35.6% were bruises; the most affected body parts were hands and fingers, representing a total of 48% of all accidents; 41.6% of victims were not using personal protective equipment (PPE) at the time of the accident; the underlying causative condition of 54.9% of the accidents was the lack of personal safety. The proportion for each accident with leave was 1.7 accidents without leave but with a need for relocation of activity and 10.9 accidents without leave without relocation. There were amputation cases among some of those given leave of absence. For every million hours worked, there were 3.2 accidents with leave and 139.4 days of absence were registered. The study concludes that accident rates in in processing and further processing broiler plants are high, and that it is extremely important to establish an epidemiological profile in order to guide prevention and control actions.(AU)

Assuntos

RESUMO

This research aims at describing data for an epidemiological profile, as well as to contribute to the improvement of systems of information, prevention and risk control of accidents in the workplace in processing and further processing broiler plants. In this study, data from documents of 1,274 investigations of typical work accidents were analyzed. Descriptive statistics were used for the analysis, and the frequency and severity of accidents were calculated according to NBR 14280:2001. The results show that men tend to have more accidents than women; 69.8% of those injured had been in the company for less than 3 years; 37% of the accidents were cuts; 35.6% were bruises; the most affected body parts were hands and fingers, representing a total of 48% of all accidents; 41.6% of victims were not using personal protective equipment (PPE) at the time of the accident; the underlying causative condition of 54.9% of the accidents was the lack of personal safety. The proportion for each accident with leave was 1.7 accidents without leave but with a need for relocation of activity and 10.9 accidents without leave without relocation. There were amputation cases among some of those given leave of absence. For every million hours worked, there were 3.2 accidents with leave and 139.4 days of absence were registered. The study concludes that accident rates in in processing and further processing broiler plants are high, and that it is extremely important to establish an epidemiological profile in order to guide prevention and control actions.

Assuntos

RESUMO

Thermography generates high-resolution imagery in real time and is a non-invasive and painless technique devoid of physical contact or exposure to any type of radiation. This technique has been successfully applied to different areas, such as health- and safety-related applications, to control cold risk in workers exposed to low-temperature environments. Thus, this study aims to analyze skin temperature variations in three body parts of the upper limbs (fingers, the center of the hands and wrists on both the left and right sides of the body) caused by exposure to low temperatures in air-conditioned and artificially controlled work environments. The objective is to assess thermographys adequacy in controlling workers health risks. This study used environmental monitoring equipment and infrared radiation detection cameras to capture images of the body parts that were evaluated. The research was conducted on 20 workers from two sectors of a poultry slaughterhouse. Among the three body parts evaluated, the lowest temperatures occurred in the workers fingertips, which averaged 16.86ºC. This fact may relate to discomfort, pain, decreased performance, functional imbalance and cold-related diseases caused by faulty conditions and/or the equipment used to ensure the workers thermal comfort. It was concluded that the thermographic evaluation of activities that involve exposure to the cold is efficient, as well as feasible, when quantifying the potential threats of environmental cold to workers health.

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RESUMO

BACKGROUND: Esophageal carcinoma usually shows poor long-term survival rates, even when esophagectomy, the standard curative treatment is performed. As a result, there has been increasing interest in the neoadjuvant therapy, which could potentially downstage cancer, eliminate micrometastasis and ergo increase resectability and curative (R0) resection. Currently, for the earliest stage esophageal cancers, most guidelines point out to the role of endoscopic treatment, and for T1bN0 upfront surgery. For locally advanced cases, several studies have demonstrated the benefits of neoadjuvant therapy to increase resectability. For clinical stage T2N0 esophageal cancer, there is no consensus as to the optimal treatment strategy. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to compare neoadjuvant therapy with surgery alone on clinical stage T2N0 esophageal cancer patients, concerning overall survival, recurrence, post-operative mortality, anastomotic leak, and R0 resection rate. RESULTS: For overall survival at the mean follow-up point, the neoadjuvant therapy was not associated to a higher probability of survival than upfront surgery in cT2N0 patients (risk difference: 0.00; 95% CI: -0.09, 0.09). There was no difference between neoadjuvant therapy and primary surgery concerning recurrence (risk difference: 0.21; 95% CI: -0.03, 0.45); perioperative mortality (risk difference: 0.00; 95% CI: -0.02, 0.01); and risk for anastomotic leak (risk difference: -0.08; 95% CI: -0.21, 0.05). Pooled data showed that neoadjuvant therapy was associated to a higher risk for positive margins after resection (risk difference: 0.04; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: This review showed that neoadjuvant therapy is not associated to better results than surgery alone, for the management of clinical stage T2N0 esophageal cancer patients, concerning overall survival, recurrence rate, perioperative mortality, anastomotic leak, and seems to be associated to a higher risk for resection with positive margins.

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Achalasia surgical treatment alters the esophagogastric junction anatomy (cardiomyotomy plus fundoplication or esophagectomy and gastric pull-up), thus favoring a certain degree of gastroesophageal reflux. Gastric secretory and hormonal functioning is not completely known in chagasic patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the gastric secretory and hormonal response in patients with end-stage chagasic achalasia compared with normal subjects. Gastric secretion and hormonal response were assessed by estimation of gastric acid secretion (GAS) in basal condition and after pentagastrin stimulation, basal serum gastrin, and serum pepsinogen (SP) in basal condition and after betazole hydrochloride (Histalog; Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, USA) stimulation in 27 patients with chagasic achalasia. The results were then compared with those of 24 normal subjects. In the chagasic group, the mean basal and stimulated GAS were significantly lower than in the control group (basal: 1.277 vs. 3.13, P = 0.002; stimulated: 15.9 vs. 35.8, P = 0.0001). Chagasic patients' SG levels showed a significantly higher basal value than the control group (83.3 vs. 36.8, P = 0.0001). There was a significant increase of SP after stimulation compared with the basal levels in both chagasic and control groups. Although the chagasic patients' SP values were higher than the controls, this difference was not statistically significant, either in basal and stimulated conditions (basal: 122.0 vs. 108.9, stimulated 120 min: 177.1 vs. 158.9). In patients with chronic Chagas' disease (ChD), although autonomic denervation does not suppress the strength of the gastric mucosal cells' secretory response to stimulation, it reduces GAS (parietal cell) without, however, affecting SP production (chief cells). On the other hand, the gastrin-producing cells have continuously been stimulated by low GAS.

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