ABSTRACT
Facial hair inhibits the functionality of certain respiratory protective equipment, yet employers have a duty of care to provide protection for their employees against communicable respiratory diseases such as COVID-19. Could individuals be forced to remove their facial hair? How can staff with facial hair be protected from COVID-19? These issues present legal and ethical dilemmas for employers and employees alike regarding the provision and use of respiratory and personal protective equipment under health and safety considerations. This is a law review examining various UK statutory instruments and case law surrounding the use of facial hair and the use of respiratory protection. Facial hair is a hazard when considering respiratory protective equipment provision and use. Unless there is an absolute need requiring the removal of facial hair for any reason, individuals have the right to grow facial hair as they see fit. It is arguable though what an "absolute need" may be, as numerous proportional and reasonable adjustments can be made to accommodate facial hair that can mitigate the risks associated with respiratory diseases.
ABSTRACT
The amino acid profiles are usually analyzed in metabolic disorders and other illnesses, such as sepsis. Certain plasma amino acids could be used as predictors of the severity and prognosis of the disease. In the present study, we measured free amino acids (AA) in plasma and urine samples, fractional excretion (FE) of plasma and urine AA, and plasma and urine creatinine levels were also determined.Weanalyzed 188 plasma and urine samples of COVID-19 positive patients by Shimadzu Nexera X2 UHPLC with fluorescence detector. Samples were collected by Department of Emergency Medicine from January to April, 2021. We used Mann-Whitney U-test and ROC curve for statistical analysis. We correlated plasma AA concentration and FE with mortality and the need for mechanical ventilation. In case of mortality, plasma serine, phenylalanine and threonine concentration were significantly different from the control group (p<0.001) and showed high sensitivity (Ser:63.6%;Tre:77.6%;Phe:96.2%) and specificity (Ser:73.1%;Tre:65.4%;Phe:52.1%). The FE of arginine was significant (p<0.001) showing 69.2% sensitivity and 67.3% specificity, but it was less proved to be a good predictor of COVID-19. For mechanical ventilation the following p-values were obtained: plasma serine, glycine and phenylalanine: p<0.001, in case of FE of glycine: p=0.002 and arginine: p=0.003. In terms of significance, we compared our results with CT scores and other laboratory parameters of patients, and the effect of certain diseases (e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, hypertension) was examined on the outcome of COVID-19 disease.