Young, vulnerable and uncertain: Young workers' perceptions of work health and safety.

BACKGROUND: Young workers are at an increased risk of work place injury, and are less likely to report hazards or injuries, or apply for workers' compensation even though they are over-represented in workers' compensation statistics in comparison with their older peers. OBJECTIVE: To identify young workers' perceptions of work health and safety (WHS), why and how they report (or do not report) hazards and injuries, and examine where they source WHS information. This paper reports on the first stage of a larger, mixed methods study on WHS and young workers in South Australia. METHODS: A total of 226 young South Australian workers aged between 12 and 25 years completed an online survey. Data were analyzed using chi-squared analysis for categorical variables and t-tests where the dependent variable was continuous. RESULTS: Three quarters of young workers identified stress at work, not being trained to do the job, fatigue from work and lifting heavy things at work as WHS issues, although not necessarily as issues that they have personally experienced. Most young workers obtained information about WHS through their employer although a sizable proportion sourced this information from friends and social media. Young workers identified that they lacked confidence to report WHS issues. When they did report issues, many young workers reported these issues to their parents, despite identifying that their parents were often unable to help. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings contribute to our understanding of young workers' perceptions of work health and safety. Although young workers could identify their concerns about particular health and safety related issues at work, they lacked the confidence to report their concerns and had limited information about where to go for help. The research suggests that there is a need to empower young people to report WHS concerns to their employer and provide structures and processes that encourage reporting.

The use of femoral stems with exchangeable necks in primary total hip arthroplasty increases the rate of revision.

AIMS: Femoral stems with exchangeable (modular) necks were introduced to offer surgeons an increased choice when determining the version, offset and length of the femoral neck during total hip arthroplasty (THA). It was hoped that this would improve outcomes and reduce complications, particularly dislocation. In 2010, the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry (AOANJRR) first reported an increased rate of revision after primary THA using femoral stems with an exchangeable neck. The aim of this study was to provide a more comprehensive up-to-date analysis of primary THA using femoral stems with exchangeable and fixed necks. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data included all primary THA procedures performed for osteoarthritis (OA), reported to the AOANJRR between 01 September 1999 and 31 December 2014. There were 9289 femoral stems with an exchangeable neck and 253 165 femoral stems with a fixed neck. The characteristics of the patients and prostheses including the bearing surface and stem/neck metal combinations were examined using Cox proportional hazard ratios (HRs) and Kaplan-Meier estimates of survivorship. RESULTS: It was found that prostheses with an exchangeable neck had a higher rate of revision and this was evident regardless of the bearing surface or the size of the femoral head. Exchangeable neck prostheses with a titanium stem and a cobalt-chromium neck had a significantly higher rate of revision compared with titanium stem/titanium neck combinations (HR 1.83, 95% confidence interval 1.49 to 2.23, p < 0.001). Revisions were higher for these combinations compared with femoral stems with a fixed neck. CONCLUSION: There appears to be little evidence to support the continued use of prostheses with an exchangeable neck in primary THA undertaken for OA. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2017;99-B:766-73.

Mycotoxins in ingredients of animal feeding stuffs: III. Determination of mycotoxins in rice bran.

Methods used previously for the determination of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2, ochratoxins A and B, cyclopiazonic acid, zearalenone, sterigmatocystin, and moniliformin in maize were applied successfully to rice bran. However, recovery of deoxynivalenol and other trichothecene mycotoxins spiked into samples was lower than expected and no citrinin could be recovered. Forty samples of rice bran used in the animal feed industry were examined for the presence of 20 mycotoxins. The level of contamination of rice bran by mycotoxins was low. Aflatoxin B1 was present in 29 (72.5%) samples, usually together with related aflatoxins, up to a total of 28 micrograms/kg after allowing for recovery losses. Ochratoxin A at a level of 12 and 3 micrograms/kg was confirmed in two samples, while most samples also appeared to contain small concentrations of ochratoxin A. A chromatographic peak corresponding to cyclopiazonic acid occurred in several samples and one sample appeared to contain a low level of moniliformin. Positive confirmation of these last two mycotoxins was difficult and these findings must be regarded with caution. No other toxins were detected.

Mycotoxins in ingredients of animal feeding stuffs: I. Determination of Alternaria mycotoxins in oilseed rape meal and sunflower seed meal.

A multi-toxin method was developed for the detection of some of the known Alternaria mycotoxins, altenuene, iso-altenuene, alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether, tenuazonic acid and altertoxin I in oilseed rape meal and sunflower seed meal. The method involves extraction of the toxins with an acidified mixture of acetonitrile: aqueous potassium chloride solution, followed by liquid-liquid extraction and further purification using gel permeation chromatography. The final extract is then examined on a reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic gradient system with both fluorescence and UV detection. The average recoveries found were 94, 84, 109, 85, 66 and 93% for spiked oilseed rape meal samples and 91, 89, 96, 75, 61 and 102% for spiked sunflower meal samples with limits of determination of about 40, 50, 50, 40, 350 and 200 micrograms/kg for the above toxins, respectively. Detection limits were about 30% of these values. Thirty samples of oilseed rape meal and 22 samples of sunflower meal were examined using the methods developed. Twenty of the oilseed rape products which had been grown in the UK were free from contamination while 10 contained one or more of tenuazonic acid, alternariol and alternariol monomethyl ether. In contrast, all of the sunflower meal samples, of Argentinean, Indian or EC origin, were contaminated with one or more of alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether and tenuazonic acid. Average levels of alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether and tenuazonic acid were 68, 55 and 730 micrograms/kg, respectively for the contaminated samples of oilseed rape meal and 180, 100 and 1900 micrograms/kg, respectively for the contaminated samples of sunflower seed meal.

Determination of mycotoxins in pet foods sold for domestic pets and wild birds using linked-column immunoassay clean-up and HPLC.

A technique referred to as 'linked-column immunoassay clean-up', was developed for the simultaneous determination of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in a range of dry cereal-based pet foods and wild bird food. In addition a method also based on clean-up using immunoaffinity columns was used for the determination of fumonisin mycotoxins in samples known or suspected to contain maize. One hundred samples of pet foods consisting of 35 samples of domestic bird seeds and 15 samples of wild bird food were examined for aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 and ochratoxin A. Twenty samples of these samples were also examined for fumonisins B1 and B2. Limits of detection were about 0.5 micrograms/kg for each aflatoxin and ochratoxin A and 3 and 8 micrograms/kg for fumonisins B1 and B2 respectively. Eighty-four percent of the samples contained no measurable concentrations of mycotoxins. A low level of aflatoxin B1 was found in a sample of cat food and a concentration of 370 micrograms/kg aflatoxin B1 in one sample of peanuts marketed for wild birds. Ochratoxin A was detected in 10% of samples but in low concentrations, the highest of 7 micrograms/kg occurring in a sample of bird food. Fumonisins were found in 30% of the 20 samples tested with a maximum of 750 micrograms/kg total fumonisins being found in a sample of cat food. Five samples each of dog and cat foods were examined for mould count and fungal species as received and after storage under controlled simulated damp conditions. Mould counts in all 10 samples examined were very low when received. The samples in which moisture content had been increased contained visible mould after storage. Penicillium, Eurotium and Aspergillus were the predominant species. However, no ochratoxin A or aflatoxins were detected in these spoiled samples.

Lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity against gliomas.

The effects of peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients with glioma on glioma cells grown in culture was studied using an in vitro microcytotoxicity test. Lymphocytes from 12 of the 20 patients studied showed significant cytotoxic activity against their own tumour cells. Four of them reacted against heterologous glioma cells and 4 also showed some reactivity against foetal brain cells. An attempt to correlate in vitro cytotoxicity with the degree of lymphocytic infiltration of the tumour suggested an association, but the number of cases examined was too small to achieve statistical significance.

An immunofluorescence study of the passive arthus reaction in rat sciatic nerve.

The Arthus reaction, passively induced in rat sciatic nerve by local injection of antibody and intravenous injection of antigen, was studied by immunofluorescence, using fluorescein and tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate. The reaction in nerve is similar to that occurring in skin. Antigen-antibody complexes formed at the site of the reaction activate complement and attract large numbers of polymorphonuclear leucocytes which then ingest the immune complexes. The significance of the Arthus reaction in relation to diseases of the peripheral nervous system is mentioned.