Determination of BTEX by GC-MS in air of offset printing plants: Comparison between conventional and ecological inks

The use of inks containing organic solvents by the offset printing process implies in the release of volatile organic compounds to the work environment. Many of these compounds such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and the xylene isomers (well known by the acronym BTEX) are extremely toxic. In this study, the BTEX concentrations were determined in two different printing plants that use distinct types of inks: the conventional and the so-called ecological, which is manufactured based on vegetal oil. Concentration ranges were 43-84, 15-3,480, 2-133, 5-459, and 2-236 μg m-3 for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m + p-xylene, and o-xylene, respectively, for the conventional printing plant. At the ecological printing plant, concentration ranges were below limit of detection (conventional, where mineral oil-based inks are used. However, the worker who cleans the printing matrices is exposed to high concentrations of ethylbenzene and xylenes, due probably to the cleaning product's composition (containing high amounts of BTEX). Although the BTEX concentrations found in both printing work environments were below the limits considered by the Brazilian Law for Activities and Unhealthy Operations (NR-15), the exposure to such vapors characterizes risk to the workers' health for some of the evaluated samples, mainly the personal ones. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.

Innovations in health care services: The CAALYX system

Purpose: This paper describes proposed health care services innovations, provided by a system called CAALYX (Complete Ambient Assisted Living eXperiment). CAALYX aimed to provide healthcare innovation by extending the state-of-the-art in tele-healthcare, by focusing on increasing the confidence of elderly people living autonomously, by building on the knowledge base of the most common disorders and respective characteristic vital sign changes for this age group. Methods: A review of the state-of-the-art on health care services was carried out. Then, extensive research was conducted on the particular needs of the elderly in relation to home health services that, if offered to them, could improve their day life by giving them greater confidence and autonomy. To achieve this, we addressed issues associated with the gathering of clinical data and interpretation of these data, as well as possibilities of automatically triggering appropriate clinical measures. Considering this initial work we started the identification of initiatives, ongoing works and technologies that could be used for the development of the system. After that, the implementation of CAALYX was done. Findings: The innovation in CAALYX system considers three main areas of contribution: (i) The Roaming Monitoring System that is used to collect information on the well-being of the elderly users; (ii) The Home Monitoring System that is aimed at helping the elders independently living at home being implemented by a device (a personal computer or a set top box) that supports the connection of sensors and video cameras that may be used for monitoring and for interaction with the elder; (iii) The Central Care Service and Monitoring System that is implemented by a Caretaker System where attention and care services are provided to elders, where actors as Caretakers, Doctors and Relatives are logically linked to elders. Innovations in each of these areas are presented here. Conclusions: The ageing European society is placing an added burden on future generations, as the 'elderly-to-working-age-people' ratio is set to steadily increase in the future. Nowadays, quality of life and fitness allows for most older persons to have an active life well into their eighties. Furthermore, many older persons prefer to live in their own house and choose their own lifestyle. The CAALYX system can have a clear impact in increasing older persons' autonomy, by ensuring that they do not need to leave their preferred environment in order to be properly monitored and taken care of. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spatial clustering applied to health area

The significant volume of work accidents in the cities causes an expressive loss to society. The development of Spatial Data Mining technologies presents a new perspective for the extraction of knowledge from the correlation between conventional and spatial attributes. One of the most important techniques of the Spatial Data Mining is the Spatial Clustering, which clusters similar spatial objects to find a distribution of patterns, taking into account the geographical position of the objects. Applying this technique to the health area, will provide information that can contribute towards the planning of more adequate strategies for the prevention of work accidents. The original contribution of this work is to present an application of tools developed for Spatial Clustering which supply a set of graphic resources that have helped to discover knowledge and support for management in the work accidents area. © 2011 IEEE.

Versatile and easy-to-assemble measurement system for impedance-based structural health monitoring

In this paper we present a versatile and easy-to-assemble measurement system for structural health monitoring (SHM) based on the electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique. The hardware of the proposed system consists only of a common data acquisition (DAQ) device with external resistors and allows real-time data acquisition from multiple sensors. Besides the low-cost compared to conventional impedance analyzers, the hardware and the software are simple and easier to implement than other measurement systems that have been recently proposed.

Oral health-related quality of life and satisfaction before and after treatment with complete dentures in a Dental School in Brazil

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of treatment with new complete dentures on oral health-related quality of life and satisfaction of edentulous patients attending the Prosthodontic Department in a Dental School in Brazil. Methods: A total of 70 edentulous subjects (37-86 years) treated by undergradute students at the Araçatuba Dental School, University of State of São Paulo, were accessed. A specific questionnaire for edentulous patients (EDENT) based on the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-EDENT) was applied to collect information on patient oral health-related quality of life. Questions related to the personal satisfaction of the edentulous patients with their complete dentures were also included. The patients were accessed before the treatment, and 3 months after receiving the new dentures. Results: After rehabilitation with new complete dentures, all domains of OHIP-EDENT showed significant improvements. There was also a significant improvement in patient satisfaction after placement of new complete dentures. Furthermore, it was possible to observe association between upper denture satisfaction and age. Conclusion: Conventional complete dentures may have a positive impact on oral health-related quality of life and satisfaction of edentulous patients. © 2012 Japan Prosthodontic Society.

Polymer Matrix-Based Piezoelectric Composite for Structural Health Monitoring

Structural health monitoring (SHM) refers to the procedure of assessing the structure conditions continuously so it is an alternative to conventional nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques [1]. With the growing developments in sensor technology acoustic emission (AE) technology has been attracting attention in SHM applications. AE are characterized by waves produced by the sudden internal stress redistribution caused by the changes in the internal structure, such as fatigue, crack growth, corrosion, etc. Piezoelectric materials such as Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) ceramic have been widely used as sensor due to its high electromechanical coupling factor and piezoelectric d coefficients. Because of the poor mechanical characteristic and the lack in the formability of the ceramic, polymer matrix-based piezoelectric composites have been studied in the last decade in order to obtain better properties in comparison with a single phase material. In this study a composite film made of polyurethane (PU) and PZT ceramic particles partially recovered with polyaniline (PAni) was characterized and used as sensor for AE detection. Preliminary results indicate that the presence of a semiconductor polymer (PAni) recovering the ceramic particles, make the poling process easier and less time consuming. Also, it is possible to observe that there is a great potential to use such type of composite as sensor for structure health monitoring.

Psychometric Properties of the Oral Health Impact Profile and New Methodological Approach

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Resistência anti-helmíntica em equinos na Região Oeste do Estado de São Paulo

Pós-graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia Animal - FEIS

Rapid Assessment of Seed Removal and Frugivore Activity as a Tool for Monitoring the Health Status of Tropical Forests

Ecological processes in tropical forests are being affected at unprecedented rates by human activities. Yet, the continuity of ecological functions like seed dispersal is crucial for forest regeneration. It thus becomes increasingly urgent to be able to rapidly assess the health status of these processes in order to take appropriate management measures. We tested a method to rapidly evaluate seed removal rates on two animal-dispersed tree species, Virola kwatae and V.michelii (Myristicaceae), at three sites in French Guiana with increasing levels of anthropogenic disturbance. We counted fallen fruits, fruit valves, and seeds of each focal fruiting tree in a single 1m2 quadrat, and calculated two indices: the proportion of seeds removed and the proportion of fruits opened by mammals. They both provide an indirect and rapid assessment of frugivore activity. Our results showed a significant decrease in the proportion of removed seeds (16%) and fruits opened (19%) at the most impacted site in comparison with the other two sites (79% for seeds, 60% and 35% for fruits). This testifies to an increased impoverishment of the primate and toucan communities at the disturbed sites. This standardized protocol provides fast information about the health status of the community of seed dispersers and predators and of their seed removal services. It is time- and cost-effective and is not species-specific, allowing comparisons among sites or over time. We suggest using it with the pantropical Myristicaceae and any other capsule-producing family to rapidly assess the health status of seed removal processes across the tropics.

The Effect of a Community-Based, Primary Health Care Exercise Program on Inflammatory Biomarkers and Hormone Levels

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Impact of Replacing Conventional Complete Dentures with Implant-Supported Fixed Complete Dentures

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of replacing conventional mandibular complete dentures with implant-supported fixed complete dentures (ISFDs) on the oral health related quality of life (OHOOL) of edentulous patients and on the associated kinesiographic parameters. The patients had their complete dentures replaced by ISFDs and were assessed after 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 months. An improvement of general OHQOL was observed 2 months after treatment with ISFDs. Kinesiographic recordings revealed significant mandibular vertical and horizontal opening increases and a greater vertical intrusion of the maxillary complete dentures during clenching after the treatment with ISFD.

Methods for evaluation of masticatory efficiency in conventional complete denture wearers: a systematized review

The objective of this study was to present a systematized review of different methods used to evaluate the masticatory efficiency in conventional complete denture wearers. A survey was conducted in the databases PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane, seeking scientific articles according to the previously selected terms: "Masticatory performance", "Masticatory efficiency" and "Chewing ability complete denture". Moreover, complementary studies have been carried out with library manual search/databases, which included studies related to different ways to assess masticatory efficiency, specifically as it related to conventional complete denture wearers. Forty three papers were selected to be used in the present review. Despite the wide variety of methodologies in the literature, the sieves method is currently considered the gold standard method to evaluation of conventional complete denture wearers masticatory efficiency, since it is the simplest, does not depend on specific devices (beyond the set of sieves), allows for a rational assessment, and it has been widely reproduced in various types of oral rehabilitation. More, the almond, as natural test food, and the optocal (made from the molding material Optosil), as artificial test food, are the most constantly employed test foods to evaluate masticatory efficiency.

Estudo prospectivo sobre a utilização de próteses totais implantossuportadas em pacientes edêntulos

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of replacing conventional mandibular complete dentures by complete fixed dentures on the oral health-related quality of life and kinesiographic parameters of maxillary edentulous patients. Material and Methods: edentulous patients (n = 16) received one set of new complete dentures and after the intraoral adjustments and adaptation period (30 days), the Brazilian version of Oral Health Impact Profile for assessing edentulous subjects (Ohip-Edent) was used to evaluate the oral health-related quality of life (OHQOL) of the participants. Additionally, the kinesiograph instrument K6-I (Myotronics Research Inc., Seattle, WA) was used to record opening and closure range of movement, mandibular movement, and the pattern of maxillary complete denture movement on chewing. Afterwards, the patients had their mandibular complete dentures replaced by a complete fixed denture and the same evaluation protocol was performed after 3 and 6 months. Ohip-Edent responses were analyzed using Wilcoxon's test for repeated measures (α = .05) and Kinesiographic data using the Student´s t test (α = .05). Results: The Ohip-Edent showed an improvement of general oral health-related quality of life after 3 and 6 months of the treatment with complete fixed dentures. Kinesiographic recordings revealed a significant increase on maximum mandibular movements of vertical opening and no differences for the movement of the maxillary complete denture on chewing after treatment with complete fixed dentures was observed. Conclusion: the installation of complete fixed dentures improved the OHQOL and changed mandibular movements, with increases in vertical amplitude of maximal opening.

Intraoral fluoride levels after use of conventional and high-fluoride dentifrices

This study aimed to evaluate saliva and plaque as indicators of intraoral fluoride (F) levels after the use of conventional and high-fluoride dentifrices.Subjects were randomly assigned to brush their teeth with conventional (1000 ppm F), high-fluoride (5000 ppm F), and placebo dentifrices (fluoride free) for 10 days, following a double-blind, crossover protocol. Saliva and plaque samples were collected on the morning of the 5(th) and 10th days, respectively at 1 and 12 h after brushing, and analyzed with an ion-selective electrode after HMDS-facilitated diffusion. Data were analyzed by two-way repeated measures ANOVA, Tukey's test and Spearman's correlation coefficient (p < 0.05).Plaque and salivary F levels were significantly increased after the use of conventional and high-fluoride dentifrices when compared to values obtained for placebo, except plaque 12 h after the use of conventional dentifrice. A positive and significant correlation was found between fluoride concentrations in plaque and saliva for both times of sample collection.Both indicators assessed were able to detect significant differences among treatments and between times after brushing. The use of a high-fluoride dentifrice is able to significantly increase intraoral fluoride levels throughout the day, being therefore a useful therapy for patients at high caries risk.A dentifrice with high fluoride concentration could be regarded as a useful therapy of F delivery for high caries-risk patients, since intraoral F levels were sustained throughout most of the day after using this formulation.

Hepatitis C virus and dental health workers: an update

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)