Associations Between the Breakroom Built Environment, Worker Health Habits, and Worker Health Outcomes: A Pilot Study Among Public Transit Rail Operators.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between the breakroom built environment and worker health outcomes. METHODS: We conducted this study in a mass transit organization (rail). We collected a user-reported breakroom quality score (worker survey), a worksite health promotion score (validated audit tool), and self-reported worker health outcomes (survey). RESULTS: Among the 12 breakrooms audited and 127 rail operators surveyed, the average worksite health promotion score was 9.1 (out of 15) and the average user-reported breakroom quality was 3.1 (out of 7). After multivariable regression, breakrooms with higher worksite health promotion scores and user-reported breakroom quality were associated with lower odds of depression and fewer medical disability days. CONCLUSIONS: This cross-sectional study demonstrates an association between the quality of the breakroom built environment and worker health, specifically depression and medical disability days.

ESTIMATING THE COST OF AGRICULTURAL MORBIDITY IN MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE.

This article provides an estimate for the economic costs of agricultural injuries sustained in the states of Maine and New Hampshire between the years 2008 and 2010. The authors used a novel dataset of 562 agriculturally related occupational injuries, and cost estimates were generated using the CDC's Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). Individual cases from the dataset that did not match the query options for WISQARS were excluded. Of the 562 agricultural injuries identified in the dataset, 361 met the WISQARS criteria. The remaining 201 cases were judged to be incompatible with the WISQARS query criteria. Significant differences (p 0.0001) were found between the median costs of eight types of injury. Amputations (median = $70,077) and fractures (median = $13,365) were found to be the most expensive types of injury. The total cost of the 361 injuries for which estimates were available was $6,342,270. Injuries that reportedly involved machinery were found to be more expensive than injuries caused by animals. This article highlights the difference in the total cost of injury between types of injuries and demonstrates that agricultural injuries were a significant economic burden for Maine and New Hampshire for the years 2008-2010. These data can be used to direct future preventive efforts. Finally, this article suggests that WISQARS is a powerful tool for estimating injury costs without requiring access to treatment or billing records.

Lipopolysaccharide Biosynthesis Genes of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Promote Resistance to Antimicrobial Chemokines.

Antimicrobial chemokines (AMCs) are a recently described family of host defense peptides that play an important role in protecting a wide variety of organisms from bacterial infection. Very little is known about the bacterial targets of AMCs or factors that influence bacterial susceptibility to AMCs. In an effort to understand how bacterial pathogens resist killing by AMCs, we screened Yersinia pseudotuberculosis transposon mutants for those with increased binding to the AMCs CCL28 and CCL25. Mutants exhibiting increased binding to AMCs were subjected to AMC killing assays, which revealed their increased sensitivity to chemokine-mediated cell death. The majority of the mutants exhibiting increased binding to AMCs contained transposon insertions in genes related to lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis. A particularly strong effect on susceptibility to AMC mediated killing was observed by disruption of the hldD/waaF/waaC operon, necessary for ADP-L-glycero-D-manno-heptose synthesis and a complete lipopolysaccharide core oligosaccharide. Periodate oxidation of surface carbohydrates also enhanced AMC binding, whereas enzymatic removal of surface proteins significantly reduced binding. These results suggest that the structure of Y. pseudotuberculosis LPS greatly affects the antimicrobial activity of AMCs by shielding a protein ligand on the bacterial cell surface.

Sexually transmitted infections in U.S. Air Force recruits in basic military training.

This study reports the counts, prevalence, and trends of five common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among U.S. Air Force recruits during 2012-2014. Chlamydia and genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) were the most commonly identified STIs in females, with a prevalence of 4,841.2 and 432.3 per 100,000, respectively. Genital HSV was the most commonly identified STI in males at 133.4 per 100,000. There were 13 cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea co-infection among females and none among males. STI prevalence was lower than in a similarly aged U.S. civilian population.