[Estimating height and body weight from knee height and mid arm circumference in children 9 to 14 years old]. / Estimación de talla y peso en niños de 9 a 14 años a partir de la altura de la rodilla y de la circunferencia media del brazo.

Some individuals with functional limitations or in some clinical or field areas have troubles to get stature and body weight measurement done. It does exist the alternative of estimating these variables from measurements of body segments like knee height (KH) and mid arm circumference (MAC). Of a sample of 113 healthy Venezuelan children, both sexes, 9 to 14 years of age, equations suggested by Ross Laboratories for estimating stature and body weight were applied. It was concluded that the need for an adjustment was evident which done using multiple regression analysis. This allowed us to generate estimated stature an weight by KH and MAC tables, for Venezuelan children.

Exposure to isocyanates and organic solvents, and pulmonary-function changes in workers in a polyurethane molding process.

The extent of adverse health effects of isocyanates when combined with other chemicals is not well documented. This study was conducted as a 2.5-year follow-up as well as to determine daily and weekly effects of exposure to isocyanates and organic solvents on pulmonary function. The concentrations of chemicals sampled were below the recommended exposure criteria. No daily or weekly reduction in the subjects' pulmonary function was observed. The isocyanate/solvent-exposed subjects showed significant long-term reduction in their forced vital capacity (P < 0.05) and expiratory volume in 1 second (P < 0.001). No such changes were observed in non-exposed subjects or in those exposed only to organic solvents. The proportion of subjects who developed respiratory symptoms in the isocyanate-exposed group was not significantly greater than that of the non-exposed group. The results of this study indicate that long-term exposure to isocyanates, even in very low concentrations, may contribute to impaired pulmonary function.

Comfort of personal protective equipment.

The degree of comfort of personal protective equipment (PPE) was investigated in an automobile encapsulating plant. Up to 96.2% of employees used one or a combination of PPE. Only 8% of the workers felt their respirators were comfortable, 30% tolerated their respirators, and 62% rated them as uncomfortable. The percentage of employees who rated their PPE (other than a respirator) as comfortable ranged from 32 to 52%. For comfort factor, coveralls/aprons rated 52%, safety glasses 51%, rubber gloves 42%, and hearing protectors 36%. PPE was tolerable (just acceptable) for about 30% of the employees. To increase the effectiveness and safety of PPE, the human-factor aspects of PPE design should be emphasized more and quality improvement should cover the wearability of PPE.