OJS (University of Applied Sciences Velika Gorica)
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THE EFFECT OF NEURODYNAMIC TECHNIQUES ON PAIN AND WRIST FUNCTION WITH A CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME: A CASE STUDY
No full textBackground: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) as the most common peripheral neuropathy caused by compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel needs effective treatment. A 57-year-old woman, whose work includes many repetitive wrist movements already had left wrist surgery due to CTS. She underwent corticosteroid injection to the wrist canal by an orthopaedic surgeon to improve her right wrist function, which was also affected by CTS. But after 6 months she felt unbearable pain again. Her right wrist functions (the range of motion and muscle strength) were impaired. In such condition, median nerve neurodynamic techniques (active nerve flossing) was performed to improve the natural physiology of the peripheral nervous system and surrounding tissues.
Aim: To evaluate the effect of neurodynamic techniques for pain and hand function for a person with carpal tunnel syndrome.
Methods: Scientific literature analysis, testing, analysis of statistical data.
Results: After 2 weeks of upper limb neurodynamic techniques (active median nerve flossing) applied for a patient with CTS pain reduced from unbearable to mild. The wrist muscle strength improved from 27 kg to 32 kg. The wrist strength was tested with a hydraulic hand dynamometer. Minor changes were found during active wrist motions: flexion improved from 55º to 64º, extension improved from 37º to 43º.
Conclusion(s): The study showed that the upper limb neurodynamic technique improved hand function and decreased the pain symptoms of CTS.
Presenter e-mail: [email protected]
FIOCRUZ`S HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY PROSPECTIVE STRATEGY
No full textBackground: The links between health, the environment and sustainability have long been recognized as complex, but fundamental to inform policy and action towards health and sustainable development – currently facing unprecedented, emerging and evolving challenges and threats resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding these inter-relations also relies on innovative technologies capable of integrating data and information from a variety of sources – being produced at an accelerated pace given the 4th Industrial Revolution. Adding to these challenges is the need for multisectoral converging agendas, or points of intersection, where policy and action can benefit multiple aspects and sectors of society beyond population health.
Aim: To implement Fiocruz prospective plan on health, the environment and sustainability.
Methods: There are approximately 40 functioning arrangements, including devices, structures, mechanisms and programs, within FIOCRUZ where some or multiple initiatives related to health, the environment and sustainability are thematically covered. They include formal departments and centres, laboratories, observatories, research projects, working groups, map-related platforms, and collaborating centres. There is, however, no instance, space or system that systematically and synergistically organizes and integrates all the activities and processes related to these initiatives. The mechanism proposed in this strategy aims to fill this gap, and will seek to engage in an integrative, synergistic and collaborative approach across all major activities (e.g. research, integration of data and information) with multiple internal and external partners and experts. It is proposed to function as an integrated research and policy network enterprise.
Results: Fiocruz prospective plan on health, the environment and sustainability implemented.
Conclusion(s): This integrated perspective will ensure that the necessary expertise is in place, the actual and emerging gaps in data & information, knowledge and policy needs are being identified, and the work on Health, Environment and Sustainability at Fiocruz is thoroughly and coherently integrated with local, national and international initiatives and projects.
Presenter e-mail: [email protected]
ANTIBIOTICS USAGE HABITS OF ESTONIAN SPEAKING PEOPLE
No full textBackground: With the use of antibiotics since 1940s, the mortality rate from infectious diseases has decreased significantly, however with the massive use and production of antibiotics, new threats like antibiotic resistance have emerged.
Aim: The aim of the study was to examine antibiotics consumption habits of Estonian-speaking people.
Methods: The study was carried out in Connect environment Nov.2019 - Jan.2020, using web-based questionnaire (ethics committee approval 296/T-10, 16.09.2019). There were 498 respondents included in the study. χ2-test and Cramer’s V was used for statistical analysis.
Results: Almost half of the respondents (n=291) had used antibiotics more than five times and about fourth of the respondents up to five times during their lifetime. 205 persons used antibiotics on 482 cases during the previous year. Seven respondents had never used antibiotics. The antibiotics were used mostly for treating urinary tract infections, throat infections and pulmonary infections. 24 diagnosis were mentioned altogether.
Females have used more antibiotics during previous year (p=0.001) and also more females have used antibiotics more than five times during lifetime (p=0.001) compared to male respondents. Respondents with healthcare related education have used less antibiotics during previous year than others (p<0.000), but respondent group with higher education level has used more antibiotics compared to others (p=0.048). Respondents’ age or income did not affect the use of antibiotics.
Most respondents have acquired antibiotics by prescription, but there are people who had antibiotics left from previous prescriptions, who had acquired these from pharmacy without prescription, from abroad or from friends and family.
23.3% of respondents have not used the prescribed antibiotics and 24.3% of respondents have had a prescription without seeing the GP. Female respondents have received prescription without a visit to GP more often compared to male respondents (85.1% vs 14.9%; p=0.025). 29.9% have never had a sample taken for laboratory analysis to determine the bacteria. The respondents who were against vaccines tended to be against antibiotics as well (p<0.000).
Conclusion(s): 1. The usage of antibiotics was influenced by gender, education level and health care education. 2. The antibiotics were used mostly for treating urinary tract infections, throat infections and pulmonary infections. 3. The respondents who were against vaccines tended to be against antibiotics as well compared to the respondents who were pro vaccines.
Presenter e-mail: [email protected]
SCHOOLCHILDREN RESPIRATORY HEALTH AND ALLERGIES RELATED TO AIR QUALITY IN INDUSTRIAL AREA OF ESTONIA
No full textBackground: Industrial areas in North-Eastern Estonia are concentrated on power generation from oil shale, oil shale extraction and shale oil production. Compared to other counties of Estonia, children in Ida-Viru county have higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms and asthma. There is high concern that industry-related air pollution affects children health.
Aim: Current study aimed to assess the effect of industry specific pollutants on children respiratory health in industrial area in Estonia.
Methods: Altogether 1,041 3–4 grade schoolchildren from 20 schools in Ida-Viru County participated in the cross-sectional study. We conducted questionnaire study on respiratory health and subsequently made clinical examinations to measure fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), spirometry and allergies (from blood samples). The annual average concentrations of industry-specific air pollutants as benzene, hydrogen sulphide, benzo(a)pyrene and particulate matter (PM10) and fine particles (PM2,5) were modelled in Ida-Viru County using Eulerian air quality dispersion model and participants’ home and school addresses were linked to air pollution exposure. The emissions originated from oil shale industry were also modelled separately to differentiate the effects. We used adjusted logistic regression models to assess how the pollutants exposure has affected respiratory health and allergies among children.
Results: It appeared that parents of Ida-Virumaa children assess the risks of air pollution more often very important than elsewhere in Estonia. Compared to earlier studies in 2014/2015, the asthma prevalence in 2019 had increased (from 13.0 to 13,8%), but there were significantly less children with high FeNO levels (≥30 ppb). This might indicate the trend of better diagnosis and treatment. Regression analysis showed that main drivers of weakened respiratory health and allergy prevalence, are air pollutants like benzene, PM10 and PM2.5. When we assessed separately the effects of only oil shale sector induced pollutants exposure, several more associations with respiratory outcomes appeared to be statistically significant, especially for PM2.5.
Conclusion(s): We can see in some extent children’s health improvement compared to previous studies in the area, but several respiratory outcomes remain high compared to other regions of Estonia. Exposure to air pollutants, especially oil shale sector based, increase the odds for respiratory outcomes.
Presenter e-mail: [email protected]
OCCURENCE OF PEDICULOSIS IN PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN AND PARENT`S AWARENESS OF IT
No full textBackground: Pediculosis is a health concern in Estonia and among other countries around the world. The prevalence of the disease varies by country, but most of them acknowledge that the problem is actual and getting rid of the parasite is more difficult as it seems firstly. Estonian Health Board refers to the annual growing prevalence of lice in Estonian kindergartens. Therefore parents’ knowledge about head lice is not known and this could be the key to fight the disease.
Aim: The aim of the research was to find out the occurrence of head lice infestation in pre-school children and their parents awareness about the disease.
Methods: To find out the prevalence of head lice, web-based questionnaire was carried out in various Internet environments to reach parents. Parents' awareness was explained by 20 statements. It was carried out in the beginning of 2020. The most important groupings were made between those whose children had pediculosis and those who did not, as well as whether those children who had pediculosis went a childcare institution regularly.
Results: There was 1141 respondent, median age was 32.7 years. The survey included participants from all Estonian counties, most respondents were from Tartu and Tartu county. Pediculosis occurred in 30.9% of children studied. Parents whose children had had pediculosis, used different medications, 98.6% of cases parents rated the chosen treatment to be effective. Head lice were most common in children aged 4–6 years and the study also found that most children with pediculosis went regularly to kindergarten or daycare. The incidence of pediculosis was higher among older parents' children, knowledge was also better in older respondents, which may be due to the fact that their. Parents' awareness was explained by 20 statements with an average score of 13.2 per respondent.
Conclusion(s): The occurrence of pediculosis in pre-school children is about 30% of the children. The parents’ awareness of pediculosis is good. most of the parents had correct answers to at least half of the statements. The knowledge was better among parents who had had experience with pediculosis. People with medical education (n=130) had the highest awareness of head lice and pediculosis.
Presenter e-mail: [email protected]
A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE EVOLUTION ON SOUTHERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND CULICIDAE VECTORS
No full textBackground: Culicidae vectors are insects that have the ability to transmit several diseases such as malaria, zika or dengue. The development of these vectors is mainly influenced by temperature, relative humidity and precipitation of their environment. Therefore, climate change can increase the geographical distribution of diseases transferred by these vectors.
Aim: The predominant goals of this review is to identify the primary Culicidae vectors in Southern European countries, understand how climate change can influence the geographical distribution of these vectors as well as their impact on the health of the population of the affected areas.
Methods: The bibliographical research started on the 1 st of October 2019 and ended on the 20 ieth of April 2020 and was carried out resorting to data bases suchlike Google Schoolar, Web of Science, BioMed Central (BMC) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Whilst writing this review 23 original scientific articles, 1 master´s degree dissertation and 10 scientific reports were consulted, mainly in English and in Portuguese.
Results: After having analysed the 32 selected articles, we concluded that the most abundant species on Southern European countries were the species within the genus Culex, Anopheles, Aedes, Culiseta and Ochlerotatus and pass on diseases like west nile virus, malaria or zika. Environmental factors such as temperature, relative humidity and precipitation can impact the development of these species whose survival rests upon climate change. The primary environmental alterations will most likely be the increase of the global temperature, decrease of precipitation, and decrease of the relative humidity´s percentage on Southern European countries.
Conclusion(s): We gathered that this vectors will continue to have ideal conditions to thrive in the countries mentioned above and that no country in Southern Europe will have an adequate climate to the development of vectors pertaining to the genus Aedes which can lead to the disappearance of these species of vectors.
Presenter e-mail: [email protected]
ASIAN WASP - AN ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PROBLEM IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF COIMBRA - PORTUGAL
No full textBackground: With the increase in the urbanization and population mobility, the biodiversity has been greatly affected. Globalization has facilitated the dispersion of many species that become a threat, reaching the status of invasive species with an impact on the ecosystems. The Asian wasp was spotted in 2011 in Portugal. The biological cycle of Asian wasp is anual, although the climatic conditions attend to is development
Aims: observe the growth over the years of sightings of nests, relating the life cycle of this species with the time of the year when it’s more propitious to is incidence, taking into account the impacts on the environment and the health of the population.
Methods: The nature of this study was observational zoological and of retrospective cohort. Data and records were provided by the Portuguese Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests. The data were evaluated: in IBM SPSS Version 25 program.
Results: It was found that in the municipality of Coimbra, 2019 was the year with the highest numbers of observation records, the definitive nests were those that had the most prevalent nests located in the trees while the primary nests were found in housing spaces. The parishes that hád a higher frequency of registrations were Santo António dos Olivais, União de Freguesias de São Martinho do Bispo/ Ribeira de Frades, União de Freguesias de Sé Nova/Santa Cruz/Almedina/São Bartolomeu.
Conclusion(s): This study allowed us to understand which factors are favorable to the appearance of invasive species in Portugal, their reproduction and propagation, as well as the impacts they have on the environment and population, which can lead to the death if a person that has been bitten has an allergic reaction and can destroy hives and feed on bees.
Presenter e-mail: [email protected]
Quantum Computers - An Emerging Cybersecurity Threat
No full textQuantum computational supremacy may potentially endanger the current cryptographic protection methods. Although quantum computers are still far from a practical implementation in information processing and storage, they should not be overlooked in the context of cybersecurity. Quantum computers operate with qubits - units of information that are governed by the fundamental principles of quantum physics, such as quantum superposition of states and quantum coherence. In order to address the new challenge that quantum computers pose to cybersecurity, the very principles of their operation have to be understood and are overviewed in this contribution
WORKPLACE MANAGEMENT OF BIOLOGICAL RISK DURING COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) PANDEMIC
No full textBackground: The COVID-19 global pandemic brought several challenges to occupational safety and health practice. There is, however, a potential knowledge gap regarding the practical feasibility and impact of the (re)assessment of the occupational risks, particularly, biological risks in this context.
Aim: The purpose of this work is to present a qualitative biological risk assessment method and to provide guidance to occupational and environmental safety and health practitioners when conducting a biological risk assessment.
Methods: The main steps of the biological risk assessment are explained with some inputs regarding the novelty posed by SARS-CoV-2 and a biological qualitative risk assessment method is presented and applied to two different activities – wastewater treatment plant and a symphonic orchestra.
Results: In both cases, the assessment considered that vulnerable workers were working from home or in medical leave. The results showed low or medium risk level for the assessed tasks. For medium risk level, additional controls are advised, such maintain social distancing, sanitize instruments/equipment before use, use proper and well-maintained PPE (when applicable), and promote awareness sessions to spread good practices at work.
Conclusion(s): Employers must be aware of their obligations regarding biological risk assessment and OSH practitioners must be prepared to screen and link the abundance of scientific evidence generated following the outbreak, with the technical practice. This work could be an important contribution to OSH practice since it highlights the need to (re)assess occupational risks, especially biological risk, to ensure safe conditions at work, providing technical guidance.
Presenter e-mail: [email protected]
CONSUMER PERCEPTION ON FOOD SAFETY OF ONLINE FOOD DELIVERY SERVICES
No full textBackground: Assessment of food safety and hygiene are challenges for Online Food Delivery (OFD) services to ensuring the food is safely prepared and delivered to consumers. It is important to understand the consumers’ concern and experience so that this new trend of food consumption is protected under public health initiatives.
Aim: This study aims to assess the level of food safety knowledge of consumers using OFD services. Perceptions of consumers on the aspects of food safety in online food ordering and delivery services were determinants for the sociodemographic factors influencing the use of OFD services.
Methods: The questionnaire of consumer knowledge and perception of food safety OFD services was developed and completed by 437 Sungai Buloh, Malaysia respondents.
Results: The results showed that consumers have a good and adequate level of knowledge (59.3%) and perception (66.4%) on food safety of OFD services. Food contamination, as according to consumers, can be caused by the way of packaging and food containers if not handled properly during delivery. Most consumers have never experienced symptoms of food poisoning from ordering online; therefore, they felt more confident with the food orders made and were willing to cooperate in providing feedback on the quality of food received and make complaints to the authorities in the event of symptoms of food poisoning through OFD services.
Conclusion(s): The OFD platform must be responsible for auditing the qualifications of the participated food premises. The consumer complaint system developed by the Ministry of Health should empower the consumers and become an aspect to maintain the food establishment’s entitlement in OFD services.
Presenter e-mail: [email protected]