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Acute Pesticide-Related Illnesses Among Working Youths, 1988–1999, Geoffrey M. Calvert, Louise N. Mehler, Rachel Rosales, Lynden Baum, Catherine Thomsen, Dorilee Male, Omar Shafey, Rupali Das, Michelle Lackovic, Ernest Arvizu

United States Public Health Resources

Objectives. The goal of this study was to describe acute occupational pesticide-related illnesses among youths and to provide prevention recommendations.
Methods. Survey data from 8 states and from poison control center data were analyzed. Illness incidence rates and incidence rate ratios were calculated.
Results. A total of 531 youths were identified with acute occupational pesticide-related illnesses. Insecticides were responsible for most of these illnesses (68%), most of which were of minor severity (79%). The average annual incidence rate among youths aged 15 to 17 years was 20.4 per billion hours worked, and the incidence rate ratio among youths vs adults …

Interferon Gamma Enhances Proteasome Activity In Recombinant Hep G2 Cells That Express Cytochrome P4502e1: Modulation By Ethanol, Natalia A. Osna, Dahn L. Clemens, Terrence M. Donohue Jr.

United States Public Health Resources

We tested the influence of IFNγ on proteasome activity in parental Hep G2 cells that do not metabolize ethanol, as well as in recombinant Hep G2-derived cells that express either or both alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1). IFNγ treatment increased proteasome activity in VL-17A (ADH⁺, CYP2E1⁺) and E-47 (CYP2E1⁺) cells, but not in Hep G2, VI-R2 (parental cells with empty vectors) or in VA-13 (ADH⁺) cells. Proteasome activation by IFNγ correlated positively with the level of CYP2E1 activity. Treatment of VL-17A cells with agents that inhibit CYP2E1 or the inducible …

What Affects Influenza Vaccination Rates Among Older Patients? An Analysis From Inner-City, Suburban, Rural, And Veterans Affairs Practices, Richard Kent Zimmerman, Tammy A. Santibanez, Janine E. Janosky, Michael J. Fine, Mahlon Raymund, Stephen A. Wilson, Inis Jane Bardella, Anne R. Medsger, Mary Patricia Nowalk

United States Public Health Resources

BACKGROUND: Despite strong evidence of the effectiveness of influenza vaccination, immunization rates have reached a plateau that is below the 2010 national goals. Our objective was to identify facilitators of, and barriers to, vaccination in diverse groups of older patients.
METHODS: A survey was conducted in 2000 by computer-assisted telephone interviewing of patients from inner-city health centers, Veterans Affairs (VA) outpatient clinics, rural practices, and suburban practices. The inclusion criteria were age ≥66 years and an office visit after September 30, 1998.
RESULTS: Overall, 1007 (73%) interviews were completed among 1383 patients. Influenza vaccination rates were 91% at VA clinics, …

Chronic Ethanol Consumption Impairs Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis Of Maa-Modified Albumin By Liver Endothelial Cells, Michael J. Duryee, Lynell W. Klassen, Thomas L. Freeman, Monte S. Willis, Dean J. Tuma, Geoffrey M. Thiele

United States Public Health Resources

Alcoholic liver disease has been associated with abnormalities in receptor-mediated endocytosis (RME) which results in abnormal degradation of metabolically altered proteins. Model systems using formaldehyde-modified albumin (f-Alb) have shown an impairment in RME following chronic alcohol consumption utilizing both in situ perfused rat livers and isolated rat liver endothelial cells (LECs). The discovery that alcohol metabolite derived aldehydes can modify proteins prompted a study to determine if malondialdehyde– acetaldehyde-modified albumin (MAA-Alb) would be degraded similar to that reported for f-Alb, and whether ethanol-fed rats would demonstrate an impaired RME with respect to this ligand which occurs as a consequence of …

Reproductive Health Services In Kwazulu Natal, South Africa: A Situation Analysis Study Focusing On Hiv/Aids Services, Lewis Ndhlovu, Catherine Searle, Robert A. Miller, Andrew A. Fisher, Ester Snyman, Nancy L. Sloan

HIV and AIDS

This Horizons report examines the readiness of reproductive health services in South Africa, which are primarily geared to women, to deliver HIV and AIDS treatment, care, and prevention services. The goal of the study was to obtain information from a representative sample of provincial health care facilities offering reproductive health services in KwaZulu Natal to meet the growing demand for HIV/AIDS-related services. Ninety-eight hospitals, community health centers, and clinics participated in the situation analysis that identified gaps in service delivery and determined priorities for service integration. Results of the study were presented to a large audience of Department of Health, …

Empowering Communities To Respond To Hiv/Aids: Ndola Demonstration Project On Maternal And Child Health: Operations Research Final Report, Hope Humana, Linkages, National Food And Nutrition Commission, Ndola District Health Management Team, Horizons Program, Zambia Integrated Health Project

HIV and AIDS

A pre–post intervention study conducted in Zambia by Horizons and local NGOs and governmental organizations demonstrated that HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and infant feeding counseling (IFC) to mothers attending maternal and child health (MCH) clinics are vital components of any mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) reduction strategy, whether or not antiretrovirals (ARVs) are available. These interventions enable mothers to make informed and healthy decisions. Data from the Ndola Demonstration Project yielded encouraging results from efforts to improve the capacity of mothers to make informed decisions about their own health and the health of their infant. The interventions succeeded in raising …

Rethinking Pegram : Why Erisa Health Benefits Administrators Should Have A Comprehensive Legal Requirement Of Fiduciary Duty, Bradley Ray Helfand

Public Health Theses

In the 2000 case Pegram v. Herdrich, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that administrators of health benefits plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 do not have a fiduciary duty towards beneficiaries when making "mixed decisions" involving treatment and eligibility components. This thesis, Rethinking Pegram: Why ERISA Health Benefits Administrators Should Have a Comprehensive Legal Requirement of Fiduciary Duty, challenges the Court's opinion on grounds of legal precedent and public health ethics. While the legal critique of Pegram is an elaboration of earlier scholarship, the public health ethics critique represents a unique contribution …

Information For Authors

International Journal of Global Health

No abstract provided.

Improving Postpartum Care Among Low Parity Mothers In Palestine, Center For Development In Primary Health Care (Cdphc)

Reproductive Health

In an effort to improve the health status of Palestinian women and their children in the West Bank and Gaza, USAID, in collaboration with the Palestinian Ministry of Health and a number of NGOs, designed and funded a 28-month pilot activity, the Pilot Health Project (PHP), that was expected to have a positive impact on the health of women and children. This report describes the results of the intervention designed to measure the effectiveness of a second home visit on low-parity women in 1) improving their knowledge and practices regarding their own health as well as the health of their …

Microfinance And Households Coping With Hiv/Aids In Zimbabwe: An Exploratory Study, Carolyn Barnes, Erica Keogh, Nontokozo Nemarundwe, Loveness Nyikahadzoi, Ellen Weiss

HIV and AIDS

This study, conducted in Zimbabwe, sought to better understand the relationship between a microfinance program, Zambuko Trust, and how microentrepreneurs’ households cope with the impact of HIV/AIDS. The study examined how HIV/AIDS is affecting Zambuko’s operations and what microfinance institutions (MFIs) can do to lessen the impact of HIV/AIDS on their clients and operations. The findings indicate several small yet important ways that MFI programs help microentrepreneurs and their families respond to these impacts through access to credit and business management training. Participation in a microfinance program led to income smoothing and better financial management, which can help households mitigate …

Seniors Count Follow-Up Study, Nina M. Silverstein, Heather Connors, May Jawad

Gerontology Institute Publications

Seniors Count is an ongoing outreach initiative under the direction of Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino with the leadership and support of Joyce Williams, Boston's Commissioner on Affairs of the Elderly. The program's purpose is to "identify and reach out to those members of the city's elderly population who live in private housing arrangements and help provide them with the information and services they [may] need" (Boston Commission on Affairs of the Elderly, 2002). Since the program's inception in 1999, it has reached over 5,500 community-dwelling elders in the City of Boston (Boston Commission on Affairs of the Elderly, 2002). …

Racism Or Realpolitik? U.S. Foreign Policy And The Hiv/Aids Catastrophe In Sub-Saharan Africa, David P. Fidler

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Effects Of The Pesticides Atrazine, Metoachlor And Diazinon And Binary Mixtures On Proliferation Of Human Fibroblasts, Kavita R. Dhanwada, Yijun Deng, Maureen E. Clayton

International Journal of Global Health

The frequent and heavy use of pesticides in agriculture has led to the contamination of surface and ground waters worldwide. Many questions have arisen about the human health effects of exposure to these pesticides and their mixtures. Most of the information about the adverse human health effects due to environmental contaminants comes from studies that focus on exposure to single rather than multiple contaminants since many of the environmental regulations regarding levels of xenobiotic contamination refer only to individual compounds. In this study, MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) cell proliferation assays were performed with normal human fibroblasts to test the toxicity …

Evidence-Based Development Of Health And Family Planning Programs In Bangladesh And Ghana, James F. Phillips, Tanya C. Jones, Frank K. Nyonator, Shruti Ravikumar

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper describes two initiatives that have used experimental studies to guide the development of community-based health and family planning programs. In Bangladesh and Ghana, factorial experiments were implemented in stages. An exploratory phase developed a service system for community-based health care; an experimental phase assessed the demographic impact of the system; a replication phase examined the transferability of the experimental program to a non-research setting; and a scaling-up phase facilitated the extension of the new system to the national health care program. All stages were guided by research, with questions, mechanisms, and outcomes shifting as the process developed. Large-scale …

Determinants Of Old-Age Mortality In Taiwan, Zachary Zimmer, Linda G. Martin, Hui-Sheng Lin

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Relationships among socio-demographic characteristics, general assessments of health, and old-age mortality are well established in developed countries. There is also an increasing focus on the connection between early-life experiences and latelife health. This paper tests these and other associations using representative survey data from Taiwan on the population aged 60 and older in 1989, 1993, and 1996 that have been linked to data on deaths between 1989 and 1999 from a national death registry. The study also explores the possible influence of Taiwan’s Universal Health Insurance Program, instituted in 1995, and whether or not the survival of some groups of …

Estimating Mean Lifetime, John Bongaarts, Griffith Feeney

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The life expectancy implied by current age-specific mortality rates is calculated with life table methods that are among the oldest and most fundamental tools of demography. We demonstrate that these conventional estimates of period life expectancy are affected by an undesirable “tempo effect.” The tempo effect is positive when the mean age at death is rising and negative when the mean age is declining. Estimates of the effect for females in three countries with high and rising life expectancy range from 1.6 years in the United States and Sweden to 2.4 years in France for the period 1980-95.

Completing The Fertility Transition In The Developing World: The Role Of Educational Differences And Fertility Preferences, John Bongaarts

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This study summarizes patterns of educational differentials in wanted and unwanted fertility at different stages of the fertility transition based on data from DHS surveys in 57 less developed countries. As the transition proceeds, educational differentials in wanted fertility tend to decline and differentials in unwanted fertility tend to rise. An assessment of fertility patterns in more and less developed countries with low fertility concludes that these differentials are likely to remain substantial when less developed countries reach the end of their transitions. This finding implies that the educational composition of the population remains a key predictor of overall fertility …

The Ghana Community-Based Health Planning And Services Initiative: Fostering Evidence-Based Organizational Change And Development In A Resource-Constrained Setting, Frank K. Nyonator, John Koku Awoonor-Williams, James F. Phillips, Tanya C. Jones, Robert A. Miller

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Research projects demonstrating ways to improve health services often fail to have an impact on what national health programs actually do. An approach to evidence-based policy development has been launched in Ghana that bridges the gap between research and program implementation. The Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) initiative employs strategies tested in the successful Navrongo experiment to guide national health reforms that mobilize volunteers, resources, and cultural institutions to support community-based primary health care. Over the 1999 to 2002 period, 100 out of the 110 districts in Ghana adopted a CHPS initiative. This paper reviews features of the initiative …

Primary Schooling In Sub-Saharan Africa: Recent Trends And Current Challenges, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

At the dawn of the twenty-first century we estimate that more than 37 million young adolescents aged 10-14 in sub-Saharan Africa will not complete primary school. Our estimates are based on data from nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys from 26 countries, collectively representing 83 percent of the sub-Saharan youth population. This number is nearly twice the entire population of children aged 10-14 in the United States, virtually all of whom will complete primary school. Reducing the number of uneducated African youth is a primary objective of the United Nations as laid out in the Millennium Development Goal for education, …

The Feasibility Of Computer-Assisted Survey Interviewing In Africa: Experience From Two Rural Districts In Kenya, Paul C. Hewett, Annabel Erulkar, Barbara Mensch

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper explores the use of an audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (audio-CASI) methodology in a household survey of adolescents in two districts of Kenya. Computer software was developed as part of a research project comparing audio-CASI with traditional methods of interviewing about sensitive behaviors, including sexual initiation, risky sexual behavior, coerced sex, and drug and alcohol use. The paper describes the experience of carrying out a household-based study using computers and explores the technical challenges faced by the data collection teams. Few problems emerged with the computer hardware and software, despite the difficult interviewing conditions. The adolescent respondents easily adapted to …

Condom Use And Abstinence Among Unmarried Young People In Zimbabwe: Which Strategy, Whose Agenda?, Ravai Marindo, Steve Pearson, John B. Casterline

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper compares the views about abstinence and condom use expressed by young people in Zimbabwe in focus-group discussions with the views underlying national policies and religious and traditional beliefs. Young people’s decisions to adopt one or the other of these risk-reduction strategies may not necessarily indicate genuine individual choices, but rather their deference to adults’ interests as they understand those interests. Policymakers and traditional and Christian leaders promote abstinence as the exclusive strategy for all young people, whereas nongovernmental organizations and the private sector promote condom use. Evidence from the focus-group discussions indicates that adolescents are aware of this …

Wage Work And Marriage: Perspectives Of Egyptian Working Women [Arabic], Sajeda Amin, Nagah Hassan Al Bassusi

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper explores young working women’s perceptions of marriage and work in contemporary Egypt at a time when an increase in age at marriage was evident from national survey data. Data from two nationally representative labor surveys, the Labor Force Sample Survey of 1988 and the Egypt Labor Market Survey of 1998, show that working conditions and employment opportunities declined significantly for young women even as their educational attainment increased. Indepth interviews were conducted with young women working in a range of salaried jobs in three locations: a rural village in Mansoura, a periurban district near Cairo, and in the …

Population And Development: An Introductory View, Geoffrey Mcnicoll

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

A brief overview of the relationships between population change and economic development, written for readers unfamiliar with the subject. The paper touches on the scale and pace of world development, the economic consequences of population size and rate of growth, patterns of demographic transition, and the scope for policy measures aimed at speeding that transition.

Population And Development: An Introductory View [Arabic], Geoffrey Mcnicoll

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

A brief overview of the relationships between population change and economic development, written for readers unfamiliar with the subject. The paper touches on the scale and pace of world development, the economic consequences of population size and rate of growth, patterns of demographic transition, and the scope for policy measures aimed at speeding that transition.

Legal Movements In Intellectual Property: Trips, Unilateral Action, Bilateral Agreements, And Hiv/Aids, Margo A. Bagley

Faculty Articles

This Article begins with an overview of the relationship between the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the "TRIPS Agreement") and the HIV/AIDS pandemic which created the need for the Doha Declaration. It then discusses two trade-related movements, unilateral action and TRIPS-plus bilateral agreements, that call into question the long-term effectiveness of the TRIPS Agreement process, generally, and the benefits of the Doha Declaration, in particular, in addressing multiple facets of the access to essential medicines problem. This Article concludes that a consideration of these issues should be included in the development of any further TRIPS-related solutions to …

Documentation Des Endotoxines Présentes Dans L'Air Ambiant Des Usines Textiles Du Québec Traitant La Fibre De Coton, Geneviève Marchand, Michèle Lalonde, Carole Pépin, Yves Beaudet, Gilles Boivin, Sylvie Villeneuve

Rapports de recherche scientifique

L’industrie du textile représente environ 750 usines au Québec et implique plus de 33 000 travailleurs. Les travailleurs du coton ont été reconnus, il y a déjà plusieurs années, comme étant un groupe de travailleurs à risque de développer des maladies pulmonaires professionnelles. L’agent étiologique responsable de cette condition respiratoire demeure toutefois encore inconnu. Les endotoxines sont identifiées par certains chercheurs comme étant un agent étiologique potentiel de certains des problèmes respiratoires rencontrés chez les travailleurs de l’industrie du coton.

L’objectif principal du projet était de documenter les concentrations d’endotoxines rencontrées dans l’air ambiant des usines textiles du Québec où …

Évaluation Du Profil De La Surface Des Pistes De Roulement Du Métro De Montréal, Marc J. Richard

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Introduction

• En juillet 2002, suite à une demande de la Société de transport de Montréal (STM), l’IRSST débutait une étude sur les caractéristiques d’exposition vibratoire des opérateurs de motrices MR-63 et MR-73. Dans le cadre de ce projet, l’IRSST désirait entreprendre des démarches afin de mesurer les profils longitudinaux des pistes de roulement du métro de Montréal. Par conséquent, l’objectif de ce projet consistait à ausculter quelques pistes et à évaluer la qualité du profil des pistes de roulement qui existent actuellement sur le réseau.
• Nous savons que l’uni des pistes constitue l’un des principaux indicateurs de la condition des …

Évaluation Interlaboratoire De Gants Destinés À Réduire L'Exposition Aux Vibrations Main-Bras, Paul-Émile Boileau, Jérôme Boutin

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Cette étude présente les résultats d’évaluation de 4 types de gants dans 3 différents laboratoires en appliquant la méthodologie décrite dans la norme internationale ISO 10819 :1996. Les objectifs visés par cette étude consistaient à identifier les sources de variation liées à l’application de cette méthode d’essai et proposer des pistes de solution visant à simplifier la méthode, tout en acroissant la fiabilité et la reproductibilité des résultats. Les résultats des essais interlaboratoires ont établi qu’il pouvait y avoir des différences considérables sur les facteurs de transmission globale pondérée rapportés par les différents laboratoires, ces différences pouvant être plus importantes …

Intégration De La Santé Et De La Sécurité Du Travail Lors De La Conception Du Réaménagement D'Un Centre De Tri De Matières Recyclables, Jacques Lavoie, Serge Guertin, Christine Verdon

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Il existe actuellement une quarantaine de centres de tri et de récupération des déchets domestiques au Québec. Selon une étude de l’IRSST faite en 1999, surtout en été, ces centres comportent des risques d’origine chimique, physique, biologique, ergonomique ainsi que des risques à la sécurité des travailleurs. Dans les recommandations d’époque, il était mentionné le besoin d’intégrer les éléments de santé et de sécurité au travail au début de la conception. Les objectifs de cette présente recherche sont 1) de déterminer par une étude de cas les éléments et les caractéristiques à considérer pour la conception et l’aménagement sécuritaire de …

Analyse Microbiologique Des Fluides De Coupe De Métaux : Étude Exploratoire, Caroline Duchaine, Marc Veillette, Yvon Cormier, Jacques Lavoie, France Desjardins, Hakim Bouzid

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Les fluides de coupe de métaux (FCM) sont couramment utilisés dans l’industrie de la transformation du métal et de ses produits dérivés. Lors de l’application des FCM, des aérosols peuvent être générés. Les aérosols de FCM contiennent un mélange de substances incluant les composantes chimiques de ce dernier et des contaminants biologiques (des cellules ou parties de cellules, de bactéries, ou de moisissures). Si les fluides sont hautement contaminés par les microorganismes, l’exposition respiratoire des travailleurs risque d’être élevée compte tenu de la formation d’aérosols. Les problèmes de santé observés peuvent être causés par plusieurs facteurs dont les divers produits …