ABSTRACT
Background: The ongoing industrial and infrastructural development in Saudi Arabia carries a high risk of occupational injuries/diseases.
Aims: To compare trends in occupational injuries and diseases among Saudi and non-Saudi insured workers.
Methods: We used the index values method and slope [S] calculation to analyse the occupational injuries/diseases trends from data in the annual statistical reports published by the General Organization for Social Insurance between 2004 and 2014. Data for 10 565 993 [18.5%] Saudi insured workers [SIWs] and 46 402 079 [81.5%] non-Saudi insured workers [NSIWs] and 896 627 occupational injuries/diseases were analysed.
Results: The distribution of incidences of occupational injuries/diseases among NSIWs [93.5%] was 14 times higher than that of SIWs [6.5%]. Occupational injuries/diseases were more likely to increase among NSIWs than SIWs, particularly in the construction, trade, financing and real estate economic activities, and engineering, technicians and service workers occupations. There was a general decreasing trend in occupational injuries/diseases until 2013.
Conclusions: Non-Saudi insured workers were at high risk of occupational injuries/diseases, therefore, implementation of an effective injury prevention programme is required.
Subject(s)
Humans , Occupational Diseases , Transients and Migrants , InsuranceABSTRACT
58 years old man with a history of ischemic heart disease presented with massive hemoptysis. On evaluation with CT chest, he was found to have a large aspergilloma in the left upper lobe. Coronary angiogram was also performed for increasing episodes of angina which showed critical 100% ostial left anterior descending [LAD] stenosis. In view of aspergilloma and hemoptysis, patient could not have conventional open heart surgery and heparinization. Therefore, coronary artery bypass grafting [CABG] was performed on beating heart and this was followed by left upper lobectomy at the same time. Patient had an uneventful post-operative course
ABSTRACT
Forgotten goiter is a rare occurrence [2 - 16% of retrosternal thyroid cases] that depicts recurrence of retrosternal thyroid mass due to growth of remnant thyroid tissue overlooked during an initial thyroidectomy. The patient is a 59-year female who presented with dyspnea and stridor 25 years after total thyroidectomy. She was diagnosed as having a mediastinal mass on radiographic imaging. There were only localized pressure symptoms due to mass effect. The mass was excised employing an extra-cervical approach and using a partial sternotomy. The profuse extension of thyroid tissue, adherent to vital structures in the thorax and the extra-cervical thyroidectomy was a novel experience. The mass was completely excised and the patients symptoms alleviated after the surgery. The patient recovered without any complications and there was no recurrence at 1 year of follow-up
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to analyze the index value trends of injured employed persons (IEPs) covered in Pakistan Labour Force Surveys from 2001-02 to 2012-13. METHODS: The index value method based on reference years and reference groups was used to analyze the IEP trends in terms of different criteria such as gender, area, employment status, industry types, occupational groups, types of injury, injured body parts, and treatment received. The Pearson correlation coefficient analysis was also performed to investigate the inter-relationship of different occupational variables. RESULTS: The values of IEP increased at the end of the studied year in industry divisions such as agriculture, forestry, hunting, and fishing, followed by in manufacturing and construction industry divisions. People associated with major occupations (such as skilled agricultural and fishery workers) and elementary (unskilled) occupations were found to be at an increasing risk of occupational injuries/diseases with an increasing IEP trend. Types of occupational injuries such as sprain or strain, superficial injury, and dislocation increased during the studied years. Major injured parts of body such as upper limb and lower limb found with increasing trend. Types of treatment received, including hospitalization and no treatment, were found to decrease. Increased IEP can be justified due to inadequate health care facilities, especially in rural areas by increased IEP in terms of gender, areas, received treatment, occupational groups and employment status as results found after Pearson correlation coefficient analysis. CONCLUSION: The increasing trend in the IEP% of the total employed persons due to agrarian activities shows that there is a need to improve health care setups in rural areas of Pakistan.
Subject(s)
Humans , Agriculture , Construction Industry , Delivery of Health Care , Joint Dislocations , Employment , Fisheries , Forestry , Hospitalization , Human Body , Lower Extremity , Occupational Diseases , Occupational Groups , Occupational Injuries , Occupations , Pakistan , Sprains and Strains , Upper ExtremityABSTRACT
Somatic embryos of the commercial soybean (Glycine max) cultivar IAS5 were co-transformed using particle bombardment with a synthetic form of the Bacillus thuringiensis delta-endotoxin crystal protein gene cry1Ac, the beta-glucuronidase reporter gene gusA and the hygromycin resistance gene hpt. Hygromycin-resistant tissues were proliferated individually to give rise to nine sets of clones corresponding to independent transformation events. The co-bombardment resulted in a co-transformation efficiency of 44 percent. Many histodifferentiated embryos and 30 well-developed plants were obtained. Twenty of these plants flowered and fourteen set seeds. The integration and expression of the cry1Ac, gusA and hpt transgenes into the genomes of a sample of transformed embryos and all T0, T1, T2 and T3 plants were confirmed by Gus activity, PCR, Southern and western blot, and ELISA techniques. Two T0 plants out of the seven co-transformed plants produced seeds and were analyzed for patterns of integration and inheritance until the T3 generation. Bioassays indicated that the transgenic plants were highly toxic to the velvetbean caterpillar Anticarsia gemmatalis, thus offering a potential for effective insect resistance in soybean.