The fate of Escherichia coli O157 in soil and its potential to contaminate drinking water.

The survival and transport of Escherichia coli and E. coli O157 after cattle slurry application were studied on drained plots in both grassland and arable stubble at three sites in Scotland. Leaching losses were between 0.2% and 10% of total E. coli and were dependent on rainfall. Recovery of E. coli in grass and soil declined with approximately first order kinetics. Residual numbers, in excess of background declined more slowly. The pattern was similar for both grass and arable plots. Laboratory incubations of soil cores, with applied slurry containing E. coli and E. coli O157 were performed in soils with different moisture contents at two temperatures for clay loam and sandy loam soils. Both E. coli populations were measured over a 4-week period. Using a dual population approach, the die off of the susceptible pool was linear with a half-life of 3-4 days, and was faster at the higher temperature and lowest moisture content. The resistant pool was not strongly affected by temperature or moisture and had a half-life for die off of between 18 and 24 days. After a 4-week period, < 100 cfu g/soil of E. coli and E. coli O157 remained. The die off rate of E. coli O157 was the same or slightly faster than that of the commensal E. coli population, indicating that the field behaviour of E. coli O157 can be studied by monitoring the total population of E. coli applied with slurry. The risk of significant pollution of water by E. coli is highest immediately after application of slurry, and the first increments of drainflow carry significant concentrations. Thereafter, the risk of pollution is very low. If weather conditions are dry after application on well-drained sandy soils, it is unlikely that any significant losses of organisms to drains will occur. Such data can be used to control and minimise the risk of E. coli O157 contaminating drinking water.

Work hardening: occupational therapy in industrial rehabilitation.

Work hardening, presented in this paper as a "new" service for the industrially injured, is actually well grounded in the traditional models and practices of occupational therapy. From the profession's early roots in industrial therapy to the development of a variety of programs for the industrially injured through the 1950s and 1960s, the historical and philosophical bases of occupational therapy support the use of work as an evaluative and therapeutic medium. What is actually new is the adoption of terminology, technology, and a program format that fits in with the needs of consumers in the 1980s. Recent developments that created the need for the specialized services that occupational therapists are uniquely qualified to provide include growth of private sector vocational rehabilitation, changes in workers' compensation laws, and increasing costs of vocational rehabilitation. This paper describes work hardening in its present form. A case example is given that demonstrates how work hardening can be a cost-effective and time-saving bridge which spans the gap between curative medicine and the return to work.

Work related programs in occupational therapy.

This paper addresses occupational therapists who would like to become involved in work related programs for the industrially injured. The authors review the historical and philosophical bases that support occupational therapy's use of work as an evaluative and therapeutic medium. The workers' compensation process is outlined and key professionals in the system are identified. Three services that the occupational therapist can provide are defined. They are work tolerance screening, work capacity evaluation, and work hardening. An example of basic program structure, including evaluative tools, is given for each of the three services.

Activity guidelines for early subacute and high-risk cardiac patients.

Research in exercise physiology indicates that energy cost can only be used as a rough index in the selection of activity for cardiac patients because it does not accurately predict the cardiac stress associated with any given activity for any given individual. A framework is presented in this paper for occupational therapy assessment of function in the cardiac patient based on determination of cardiac stress with activity through skilled clinical observation employing telemetry EKG, auscultation, and blood pressure recording. Clear activity guidelines are then formulated, using a scientific data base and including modification of activity to reduce cardiac stress. The procedure for skilled clinical observation of function in cardiac patients is described and data are presented from the use of this procedure to evaluate early subacute and high-risk cardiac patients during self-care in an acute hospital.