Prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in Brazilian hairdressers

Background There are occupational risks inherent to the activities of professional hairdressers, which are not frequently studied, and therefore not considered in the formulation of health policies for this group. Aims To verify the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMDs) in hairdressers through symptom reports, to characterize the most frequently affected anatomical parts and to identify and analyse risk factors of WRMDs in hairdressing. Methods A cross-sectional epidemiological study of 220 hairdressers from beauty parlours in Sao Paulo (Brazil) was carried out. Each hairdresser completed a self-administered questionnaire which included information on socio-demographic characteristics, working conditions and health-related musculoskeletal system complaints. Ergonomic analyses were also performed in six parlours. Results The prevalence of WRMDs was 71%. Risk factors were associated with psychosocial factors and factors related to discomfort and work fatigue such as lack of acknowledgement of work and uncomfortable posture at work [odds ratio (OR) = 3.54; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.51-8.30], not feeling comfortable with body/neck/shoulders while working (OR = 2.78; 95% CI 1.40-5.54) and having > 15 years of professional activity (OR = 3.04; 95% CI 1.17-7.91). Conclusion Occupational risk factors associated with the development of WRMDs in hairdressers are related to biomechanical, organizational and psychosocial work factors. The high prevalence of WRMDs found highlights the importance of disseminating recommendations for prevention of symptoms with regards to the provision of suitable furniture, equipment and work tools, environmental conditions, size of workplace, work organization and psychosocial work factors.

Participatory ergonomics: Understanding the contributions of reflection groups in a hospital food service

Aim: To identify how the methodology of Reflection Groups (RG) can contribute to approach social-psychological problems, so often observed as obstacles in PE efforts. The objective was also to verify the contributions from RG to the implementation of ergonomics recommendations, which were a starting point and organized group discussions. Method: A concrete case was used as an illustration, and studied in depth: RG with administration and production workers` representatives from the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics of a cardiologic hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil. RG are temporary thinking groups, taking place outside the workplace and having delegative and consultive participation. They make use of Operative Groups, an adapted form of tripartite group, activity as an instrumental resource, group dynamic techniques and videotaping. In 2007, 31 meetings took place during paid working hours with 7 groups of different composition, ranging from 1.5 h to 3 h. Results: Additionally to the positive effects in communication and psychosocial environment, RG could also contribute to changes in interpersonal relationships, cooperation, personal and work behaviours. By dealing with aspects which could hinder the explicit task: fears, conflicts, and stereotyped beliefs and behaviours; resistance to change could be broken and group members could learn. RG allowed input about new risks; continuous information and feedback about ongoing ergonomics interventions so that immediate corrective action could be taken. The main form of participation was in administrative, organizational, and psychosocial problems which required a better clarification and identification of their real causes, commitment, and elaboration of strategies and negotiation of different stakeholders in their solution. Conclusion: RG takes advantage of homogeneous and heterogeneous groups, in face to face communication. The interactions in the groups are task-oriented (explicit task) but attaining groups` goals depends on a relational interaction (implicit task). Relevance to industry: Reflection groups can bring important contributions to ergonomics and industry because they favour the discussion, disclosure of problems and incorporation of solutions, enabling interventions in working organization, psychosocial environment and relationships in a collective and participatory approach, promoting health and social integration. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Associations of serious mental illness with earnings: results from the WHO World Mental Health surveys

Background Burden-of-illness data, which are often used in setting healthcare policy-spending priorities, are unavailable for mental disorders in most countries. Aims To examine one central aspect of illness burden, the association of serious mental illness with earnings, in the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys. Method The WMH Surveys were carried out in 10 high-income and 9 low- and middle-income countries. The associations of personal earnings with serious mental illness were estimated. Results Respondents with serious mental illness earned on average a third less than median earnings, with no significant between-country differences (chi(2)(9)=5.5-8.1, P=0.5-0.79). These losses are equivalent to 0.3-0.8% of total national earnings. Reduced earnings among those with earnings and the increased probability of not earning are both important components of these associations: Conclusions These results add to a growing body of evidence that mental disorders have high societal costs. Decisions about healthcare resource allocation should take these costs into consideration.

Cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in vascular cells under oxidative stress

The PrP(C) is expressed in several cell types but its physiological function is unknown. Some studies associate the PrP(C) with copper metabolism and the antioxidant activity of SOD. Our hypothesis was that changes in PrP(C) expression lead to abnormal copper regulation and induce SOD downregulation in the vascular wall. Objectives: to study whether the PrP(C) expression undergoes induction by agents that trigger endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) and, in this context, to evaluate the SOD activity. Methods: To trigger ERS, in vitro, rabbit aortic smooth muscle cells were challenged for 4, 8 and 18 hours, with angiotensin-II, tunicamycin and 7-ketocholesterol. For in vivo studies rabbit aortic arteries were subjected to injury by balloon catheter. Results: In vitro baseline SOD activity, determined through inhibition of cytochrome-c reduction, was 13.9 +/- 1.2 U/mg protein, angiotensin-II exposed for 8 hours produced an increase in SOD activity, and cellular copper concentration was about 9 times greater only under these conditions. Western blotting analysis for SOD isoenzymes showed an expression profile that was not correlated with the enzymatic activity. PrP(C) expression decreased after exposure to all agents after different incubation periods. RT-PCR assay showed increased mRNA expression for PrP(C) only in cells stimulated for 8 hours with the different stressors. The PrP(C) mRNA expression in rabbit aortic artery fragments, subjected to balloon catheter injury, showed a pronounced increase immediately after overdistension. The results obtained indicated a PrP(C) protection factor during the early part of the ERS exposure period, but did not demonstrate a SOD-like profile for the PrP(C). (C) 2009 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Student characteristics and academic success: An econometric study of the performance of "equity groups"

Like previous volumes in the Educational Innovation in Economics and Business Series, this book is genuinely international in terms of its coverage. With contributions from nine different countries and three continents, it reflects a global interest in, and commitment to, innovation in business education, with a view to enhancing the learning experience of both undergraduates and postgraduates. It should prove of value to anyone engaged directly in business education, defined broadly to embrace management, finance, marketing, economics, informational studies, and ethics, or who has responsibility for fostering the professional development of business educators. The contributions have been selected with the objective of encouraging and inspiring others as well as illustrating developments in the sphere of business education. This volume brings together a collection of articles describing different aspects of the developments taking place in today’s workplace and how they affect business education. It describes strategies for breaking boundaries for global learning. These target specific techniques regarding teams and collaborative learning, transitions from academic settings to the workplace, the role of IT in the learning process, and program-level innovation strategies. This volume addresses issues faced by professionals in higher and further education and also those involved in corporate training centers and industry.

Customer emotions in service failure and recovery encounters

Emotions play a significant role in the workplace, and considerable attention has been given to the study of employee emotions. Customers also play a central function in organizations, but much less is known about customer emotions. This chapter reviews the growing literature on customer emotions in employee–customer interfaces with a focus on service failure and recovery encounters, where emotions are heightened. It highlights emerging themes and key findings, addresses the measurement, modeling, and management of customer emotions, and identifies future research streams. Attention is given to emotional contagion, relationships between affective and cognitive processes, customer anger, customer rage, and individual differences.

Heat stress impairs performance parameters, induces intestinal injury, and decreases macrophage activity in broiler chickens

Studies on environmental consequences of stress on animal production have grown substantially in the last few years for economic and animal welfare reasons. Physiological, hormonal, and immunological deficits as well as increases in animals` susceptibility to diseases have been reported after different stressors in broiler chickens. The aim of the current experiment is to describe the effects of 2 different heat stressors (31 +/- 1 and 36 +/- 1 degrees C/10 h per d) applied to broiler chickens from d 35 to 42 of life on the corticosterone serum levels, performance parameters, intestinal histology, and peritoneal macrophage activity, correlating and discussing the obtained data under a neuroimmune perspective. In our study, we demonstrated that heat stress (31 +/- 1 and 36 +/- 1 degrees C) increased the corticosterone serum levels and decreased BW gain and food intake. Only chickens submitted to 36 +/- 1 degrees C, however, presented a decrease in feed conversion and increased mortality. We also showed a decrease of bursa of Fabricius (31 +/- 1 and 36 +/- 1 degrees C), thymus (36 +/- 1 degrees C), and spleen (36 +/- 1 degrees C) relative weights and of macrophage basal (31 +/- 1 and 36 +/- 1 degrees C) and Staphylococcus aureus-induced oxidative burst (31 +/- 1 degrees C). Finally, mild multifocal acute enteritis characterized by an increased presence of lymphocytes and plasmocytes within the jejunum`s lamina propria was also observed. The stress-induced hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation was taken as responsible for the negative effects observed on the chickens` performance and immune function and also the changes of the intestinal mucosa. The present obtained data corroborate with others in the field of neuroimmunomodulation and open new avenues for the improvement of broiler chicken welfare and production performance.

Hematopoietic response of rats exposed to the impact of an acute psychophysiological stressor on responsiveness to an in vivo challenge with Listeria monocytogenes: Modulation by Chlorella vulgaris prophylactic treatment

In this study, we investigated the hematopoietic response of rats pretreated with CV and exposed to the impact of acute escapable, inescapable or psychogenical stress on responsiveness to an in vivo challenge with Listeria monocytogenes. No consistent changes were observed after exposure to escapable footshock. Conversely, the impact of uncontrollable stress (inescapable and psychogenical) was manifested by an early onset and increased severity and duration of myrelossuppression produced by the infection. Small size CFU-CM colonies and increased numbers of clusters were observed, concurrently to a greater expansion in the more mature population of bone marrow granulocytes. No differences were observed between the responses of both uncontrollable stress regimens. CV prevented the myelossuppression caused by stress/infection due to increased numbers of CFU-GM in the bone marrow. Colonies of cells tightly packed, with a very condensed nucleus; in association with a greater expansion in the more immature population of bone marrow granulocytes were observed. Investigation of the production of colony-stimulating factors revealed increased colony-stimulating activity (CSA) in the serum of normal and infected/stressed rats treated with the algae. CV treatment restored/enhanced the changes produced by stress/infection in total and differential bone marrow and peripheral cells counts. Further studies demonstrated that INF-gamma is significantly reduced, whereas IL-10 is significantly increased after exposure to Uncontrollable stress. Treatment with CV significantly increased INF-gamma levels and diminished the levels of IL-10. Uncontrollable stress reduced the protection afforded by CV to a lethal dose of L. monocytogenes, with survival rates being reduced from (50%) in infected rats to 20% in infected/stressed rats. All together, our results suggest Chlorella treatment as an effective tool for the prophylaxis of post-stress myelossupression, including the detrimental effect of stress on the course and outcome of infections. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neuroendocrine, behavioral and macrophage activity changes induced by picrotoxin effects in mice

The relevance and property of studies related to stress effects on immune function are undisputable. All studies conducted on stress-immune relationships, however, provide from physical and/or psychological stressors. Indeed, as far as it is of our knowledge brain-innate immune responses were not analyzed after anxiogenic-like drugs use. The present experiment was then undertaken to analyze the effects of picrotoxin (0.3, 0.6 and 1.0 mg/kg doses) on behavior, macrophage activity, serum corticosterone and noradrenaline (NE) levels and turnover in the brain of adult mice. Results showed that picrotoxin treatment in mice: (1) decreased motor and rearing activities in an open-field; (2) decreased the number of entries into the plus-maze open-arms and decreased the time spent in the exploration of the plus-maze open-arms; (3) decreased both motor activity and the level of holes exploration in the hole-board; (4) increased the levels of serum corticosterone in dose-dependent way; (5) increased noradrenaline (NE) and MHPG levels and NE turnover in the hypothalamus; and (6) increased Staphylococcus aureus and PMA-induced macrophage oxidative burst. However, and contrary to that reported after physical or psychological stress, this drug induced no effects on macrophage phagocytosis and NE levels and turnover in the frontal cortex. The present results are thus showing that picrotoxin induces some but not all neuro-innate immunity changes previously reported for inescapable foot-shock and psychological stressors in mice. These facts suggest that this chemical stressor triggers CNS pathways that might be somehow different from those fired by inescapable foot-shock and psychological stressors, leading to different neuro-innate immune responses. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All fights reserved.

The impact of stress and anxiety on the pressure pain threshold of myofascial pain patients

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of stress and anxiety on the pressure pain threshold (PPT) of masticatory muscles and on the subjective pain report. Forty-five women, students, with mean age of 19.75 years, were divided into two groups: group 1:29 presenting with masticatory myofascial pain (MFP), according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders and group 2: 16 asymptomatic controls. An electronic algometer registered the pain thresholds on four different occasions throughout the academic year. To measure levels of stress, anxiety and pain, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, Lipp Stress Symptoms Inventory and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) were used. Three-way anova and Tukey`s tests were used to verify differences in PPT between groups, times and sites. Levels of anxiety and VAS were compared using Mann-Whitney test, while Friedman`s test was used for the within-groups comparison at different times (T1 to T4). The chi-squared and Cochran tests were performed to compare groups for the proportion of subjects with stress (alpha = 0.05). Differences in PPT recordings between time (P = 0.001) and sites (P < 0.001) were detected. Higher levels of anxiety and lower PPT figures were detected at T2 (academic examination) (P = 0.001). There was no difference between groups for anxiety and stress at any time (P > 0.05). The MFP group also has shown significant increase of VAS at the time of academic examination (P < 0.001). External stressors such as academic examinations have a potential impact on masticatory muscle tenderness, regardless of the presence of a previous condition such as masticatory myofascial pain.

Medullary neurones regulate hypothalamic corticotropin-releasing factor cell responses to an emotional stressor

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation is a hallmark of the stress response. In the case of physical stressors, there is considerable evidence that medullary catecholamine neurones are critical to the activation of the paraventricular nucleus corticotropin-releasing factor cells that constitute the apex of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. In contrast, it has been thought that hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responses to emotional stressors do not involve brainstem neurones. To investigate this issue we have mapped patterns of restraint-induced neuronal c fos expression in intact animals and in animals prepared with either paraventricular nucleus-directed injections of a retrograde tracer, lesions of paraventricular nucleus catecholamine terminals, or lesions of the medulla corresponding to the A1 or A2 noradrenergic cell groups. Restraint-induced patterns of neuronal activation within the medulla of intact animals were very similar to those previously reported in response to physical stressors, including the fact that most stressor-responsive, paraventricular nucleus-projecting cells were certainly catecholaminergic and probably noradrenergic. Despite this, the destruction of paraventricular nucleus catecholamine terminals with 6-hydroxydopamine did not alter corticotropin-releasing factor cell responses to restraint. However, animals with ibotenic acid lesions encompassing either the A1 or A2 noradrenergic cell groups displayed significantly suppressed corticotropin-releasing factor cell responses to restraint. Notably, these medullary lesions also suppressed neuronal responses in the medial amygdala, an area that is now considered critical to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responses to emotional stressors and that is also known to display a significant increase in noradrenaline turnover during restraint. We conclude that medullary neurones influence corticotropin-releasing factor cell responses to emotional stressors via a multisynaptic pathway that may involve a noradrenergic input to the medial amygdala. These results overturn the idea that hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response to emotional stressors can occur independently of the brainstem. (C) 2001 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Syndromes with salivary dysfunction predispose to tooth wear: case reports of congenital dysfunction of major salivary glands, Prader-Willi, congenital rubella, and Sjogren's syndromes.

Four cases-of congenital dysfunction of the major salivary glands as well as of Prader-Willi, congenital rubella, and Sjogren's syndromes-were identified in a series of 500 patients referred for excessive tooth wear. Although there was evidence of consumption of highly acidic drinks, some occlusal parafunction, and unacceptable toothbrushing habits, salivary dysfunction was the salient factor predisposing a patient to tooth wear in these syndromal cases. The 500 subjects have been characterized either as having medical conditions and medications that predispose them to xerostomia or lifestyles in which workplace- and sports-related dehydration lead to reduced salivary flow. Normal salivation, by buffering capacity, clearance by swallowing, pellicle formation, and capacity for remineralization of demineralized enamel, protects the teeth from extrinsic and intrinsic acids that initiate dental erosion. Thus, the syndromes, unrelated in many respects, underline the importance of normal salivation in the protection of teeth against tooth wear by erosion, attrition, and abrasion.

Comparison between Eysenck's and Gray's models of personality in the prediction of motivational work criteria

Impulsivity based on Gray's [Gray, J. A. (1982) The neuropsychology of anxiety: an enquiry into the function of the septo-hippocampal system. New York: Oxford University Press: (1991). The neurophysiology of temperament. In J. Strelau & A. Angleitner. Explorations in temperament: international perspectives on theory and measurement. London. Plenum Press]. physiological model of personality was hypothesised to be more predictive of goal oriented criteria within the workplace than scales derived From Eysenck's [Eysenck. H.J. (1967). The biological basis of personality. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thompson.] physiological model of personality. Results confirmed the hypothesis and also showed that Gray's scale of Impulsivity was generally a better predictor than attributional style and interest in money. Results were interpreted as providing support for Gray's Behavioural Activation System which moderates response to reward. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.