From theory to practice: a novel meditation program at a global corporation.

Global levels of stress, worry, sadness, and anger hit new highs in recent years, and employee well-being has been identified as a necessary focus in occupational health. Developed over 6 years in a large multi-national company, the Meditation Without Expectations™ 8-week course evolved from theories to practice. The intervention teaches 8 meditation techniques in a specific order and incorporates health coaching and adult learning principles that drive impact. The wellbeing program was offered using a virtual online platform to employees in more than 30 countries during 2021-22. Its effectiveness was evaluated using established standard questions and cutting-edge consumer research methods. The descriptive study uses quantitative and qualitative analyses from more than a thousand employees. Paired t-tests are used to compare pre- and post-course survey scores. The test subjects who completed the 8-week course had significant improvements (p < 0.0001) across genders, geographies, and durations of employment, and in all measured domains of stress, mindfulness, resiliency, and empathy, whereas the comparison group did not. Advanced topics analysis is used to extract common learning objectives from unstructured text submitted by enrolled employees, which helped focus the intervention on what people need or want to learn. A proprietary artificial intelligence model is used to classify subjects' comments after completing the course, finding highly positive outcomes with potential for new habit creation due to a mental model change. A framework of characteristics that make the intervention impactful is also shared.

Sources of microbial pathogens in municipal solid waste landfills in the United States of America.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) categories, as specified by United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), were evaluated for their relative contribution of pathogenic viruses, bacteria, and protozoan parasites into MSW landfills from 1960 to 2007. The purpose of this study was to identify trends and quantify the potential contribution of pathogens in MSW as an aid to the assessment of potential public health risks. A review of the literature was conducted to estimate values for the concentrations of faecal indicator bacteria and pathogens in the major categories of MSW. The major sources of MSW contributing enteric pathogens were food waste, pet faeces, absorbent products, and biosolids. During the last 47 years, recycling of glass, metals, plastic, paper and some organic wastes in MSW has increased, resulting in a decreased proportion of these materials in the total landfilled MSW. The relative proportion of remaining waste materials has increased; several of these waste categories contain pathogens. For all potential sources, food waste contributes the greatest number of faecal coliforms (80.62%). The largest contribution of salmonellae (97.27%), human enteroviruses (94.88%) and protozoan parasites (97%) are expected to come from pet faeces. Biosolids from wastewater treatment sludge contribute the greatest number of human noroviruses (99.94%). By comparison, absorbent hygiene products do not appear to contribute significantly to overall pathogen loading for any group of pathogens. This is largely due to the relatively low volume of these pathogen sources in MSW, compared, for example, with food waste at almost 40% of total MSW.

The state of in vitro science for use in bioaccumulation assessments for fish.

Through the concerted evaluations of thousands of commercial substances for the qualities of persistence, bioaccumulation, and toxicity as a result of the United Nations Environment Program's Stockholm Convention, it has become apparent that fewer empirical data are available on bioaccumulation than other endpoints and that bioaccumulation models were not designed to accommodate all chemical classes. Due to the number of chemicals that may require further assessment, in vivo testing is cost prohibitive and discouraged due to the large number of animals needed. Although in vitro systems are less developed and characterized for fish, multiple high-throughput in vitro assays have been used to explore the dietary uptake and elimination of pharmaceuticals and other xenobiotics by mammals. While similar processes determine bioaccumulation in mammalian species, a review of methods to measure chemical bioavailability in fish screening systems, such as chemical biotransformation or metabolism in tissue slices, perfused tissues, fish embryos, primary and immortalized cell lines, and subcellular fractions, suggest quantitative and qualitative differences between fish and mammals exist. Using in vitro data in assessments for whole organisms or populations requires certain considerations and assumptions to scale data from a test tube to a fish, and across fish species. Also, different models may incorporate the predominant site of metabolism, such as the liver, and significant presystemic metabolism by the gill or gastrointestinal system to help accurately convert in vitro data into representative whole-animal metabolism and subsequent bioaccumulation potential. The development of animal alternative tests for fish bioaccumulation assessment is framed in the context of in vitro data requirements for regulatory assessments in Europe and Canada.

Guidance for evaluating in vivo fish bioaccumulation data.

Currently, the laboratory-derived fish bioconcentration factor (BCF) serves as one of the primary data sources used to assess the potential for a chemical to bioaccumulate. Consequently, fish BCF values serve a central role in decision making and provide the basis for development of quantitative structure-property relationships (QSPRs) used to predict the bioaccumulation potential of untested compounds. However, practical guidance for critically reviewing experimental BCF studies is limited. This lack of transparent guidance hinders improvement in predictive models and can lead to uninformed chemical management decisions. To address this concern, a multiple-stakeholder workshop of experts from government, industry, and academia was convened by the International Life Sciences Institute Health and Environmental Sciences Institute to examine the data availability and quality issues associated with in vivo fish bioconcentration and bioaccumulation data. This paper provides guidance for evaluating key aspects of study design and conduct that must be considered when judging the reliability and adequacy of reported laboratory bioaccumulation data. Key criteria identified for judging study reliability include 1) clear specification of test substance and fish species investigated, 2) analysis of test substance in both fish tissue and exposure medium, 3) no significant adverse effects on exposed test fish, and 4) a reported test BCF that reflects steady-state conditions with unambiguous units. This guidance is then applied to 2 data-rich chemicals (anthracene and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) to illustrate the critical need for applying a systematic data quality assessment process. Use of these guidelines will foster development of more accurate QSPR models, improve the performance and reporting of future laboratory studies, and strengthen the technical basis for bioaccumulation assessment in chemicals management.

Workgroup report: review of fish bioaccumulation databases used to identify persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic substances.

Chemical management programs strive to protect human health and the environment by accurately identifying persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic substances and restricting their use in commerce. The advance of these programs is challenged by the reality that few empirical data are available for the tens of thousands of commercial substances that require evaluation. Therefore, most preliminary assessments rely on model predictions and data extrapolation. In November 2005, a workshop was held for experts from governments, industry, and academia to examine the availability and quality of in vivo fish bioconcentration and bioaccumulation data, and to propose steps to improve its prediction. The workshop focused on fish data because regulatory assessments predominantly focus on the bioconcentration of substances from water into fish, as measured using in vivo tests or predicted using computer models. In this article we review of the quantity, features, and public availability of bioconcentration, bioaccumulation, and biota-sediment accumulation data. The workshop revealed that there is significant overlap in the data contained within the various fish bioaccumulation data sources reviewed, and further, that no database contained all of the available fish bioaccumulation data. We believe that a majority of the available bioaccumulation data have been used in the development and testing of quantitative structure-activity relationships and computer models currently in use. Workshop recommendations included the publication of guidance on bioconcentration study quality, the combination of data from various sources to permit better access for modelers and assessors, and the review of chemical domains of existing models to identify areas for expansion.