Iowa Highway Safety Program, Iowa Department of Public Safety, 2009

Annual Highway Safety Report for Iowa Department of Public Safety.

Iowa's Blueprint for Safety,

To identify traffic safety problems and thereon develop and implement traffic safety programs designed to reduce death and injury on Iowa’s streets and highways through partnerships with local, county, state and private sector agencies.

Safety of artemether-lumefantrine exposure in first trimester of pregnancy: an observational cohort.

BACKGROUND: There is limited data available regarding safety profile of artemisinins in early pregnancy. They are, therefore, not recommended by WHO as a first-line treatment for malaria in first trimester due to associated embryo-foetal toxicity in animal studies. The study assessed birth outcome among pregnant women inadvertently exposed to artemether-lumefantrine (AL) during first trimester in comparison to those of women exposed to other anti-malarial drugs or no drug at all during the same period of pregnancy. METHODS: Pregnant women with gestational age <20 weeks were recruited from Maternal Health clinics or from monthly house visits (demographic surveillance), and followed prospectively until delivery. RESULTS: 2167 pregnant women were recruited and 1783 (82.3%) completed the study until delivery. 319 (17.9%) used anti-malarials in first trimester, of whom 172 (53.9%) used (AL), 78 (24.4%) quinine, 66 (20.7%) sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) and 11 (3.4%) amodiaquine. Quinine exposure in first trimester was associated with an increased risk of miscarriage/stillbirth (OR 2.5; 1.3-5.1) and premature birth (OR 2.6; 1.3-5.3) as opposed to AL with (OR 1.4; 0.8-2.5) for miscarriage/stillbirth and (OR 0.9; 0.5-1.8) for preterm birth. Congenital anomalies were identified in 4 exposure groups namely AL only (1/164[0.6%]), quinine only (1/70[1.4%]), SP (2/66[3.0%]), and non-anti-malarial exposure group (19/1464[1.3%]). CONCLUSION: Exposure to AL in first trimester was more common than to any other anti-malarial drugs. Quinine exposure was associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes which was not the case following other anti-malarial intake. Since AL and quinine were used according to their availability rather than to disease severity, it is likely that the effect observed was related to the drug and not to the disease itself. Even with this caveat, a change of policy from quinine to AL for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria during the whole pregnancy period could be already envisaged.

Iowa School Safety Guide, April 6, 2012

This document was developed for the schools of Iowa to use as a template to enhance current school safety programs; the creation of this document was a partnered effort at the state level between the aforementioned agencies. The purpose of this document is to give school districts and individual schools a planning resource to use when creating their school safety plans. Ultimately, schools can decide how much of this document they would like to incorporate into their current plan. The original document was created by the Minnesota Department of Homeland Security, and its use was granted to Iowa Homeland Security in 2011. Iowa pulled together a panel of experts to make this document specific to Iowa’s schools, and laws. It’s important to note the partnership created by this document is intended to continue through information sharing in relation to critical assets, infrastructure protection, and school safety. Iowa Homeland Security is a representative in the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Division of Intelligence Fusion Center. This partnership allows for streamlined information sharing to the critical infrastructure owner/operators across the state. The current plan for information sharing is through the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management, Threat information and Infrastructure Protection Program (TIIPP) to the Iowa Department of Education for processing and dissemination statewide. Depending on the type of information being released it could be specific to a school, district or the education sector statewide.

Safety concerns about CCR5 as an antiviral target.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Clinical trials of CCR5 antagonists attest to their efficacy and tolerance in HIV treatment. However, there has been debate on their long-term safety because of the role of CCR5 in innate immunity. This review highlights gaps in our understanding of epidemiology of infections that are modulated by CCR5, in particular, in HIV-infected individuals. RECENT FINDINGS: In the mouse model, CCR5 has a role in the response against pathogens as diverse as Toxoplama gondii, West Nile virus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, herpes simplex virus, Trypanosoma cruzi, Cryptococcus neoformans, Chlamydia trachomatis, Listeria, and plasmodia. In human cohorts, individuals carrying the defective CCR5Delta32 allele present an increased susceptibility to flavivirus (West Nile virus and tickborne encephalitis virus). The selective pressures that led to the spread of loss-of-function CCR5 mutations in humans (CCR5Delta32), and in mangabeys (CCR5Delta24) are not understood. SUMMARY: The recent availability of CCR5 antagonists has raised concern that genetic, biological, or chemical CCR5 knockout, although beneficial against some pathogens (i.e. HIV), could be deleterious for other processes implicated in pathogen response. The consequences of long-term pharmaceutical intervention on CCR5 should be carefully assessed through rigorous postmarketing surveillance.

Social Media in health. What are the safety concerns for healthcare consumers?

Recent literature has discussed the unintended consequences of clinical information technologies (IT) on patient safety, yet there has been little discussion about the safety concerns in the area of consumer health IT. This paper presents a range of safety concerns for consumers in social media, with a case study on YouTube. We conducted a scan of abstracts on 'quality criteria' related to YouTube. Five areas regarding the safety of YouTube for consumers were identifi ed: (a) harmful health material targeted at consumers (such as inappropriate marketing of tobaccoor direct-to-consumer drug advertising); (b) public display of unhealthy behaviour (such as people displaying self-injury behaviours or hurting others); (c) tainted public health messages (i.e. the rise of negative voices againstpublic health messages); (d) psychological impact from accessing inappropriate, offensive or biased social media content; and (e) using social media to distort policy and research funding agendas. The examples presented should contribute to a better understanding about how to promote a safe consumption and production of social media for consumers, and an evidence-based approach to designing social media interventions for health. The potential harm associated with the use of unsafe social media content on the Internet is a major concern. More empirical and theoretical studies are needed to examine how social media infl uences consumer health decisions, behaviours and outcomes, and devise ways to deter the dissemination of harmful infl uences in social media.

Vaccines safety; effect of supervision or SMS on reporting rates of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) with meningitis vaccine (MenAfriVac?): a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: To ensure vaccines safety, given the weaknesses of the national pharmacovigilance system in Cameroon, there is a need to identify effective interventions that can contribute to improving AEFI reporting. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of: (i) sending weekly SMS, or (ii) weekly supervisory visits on AEFI reporting rate during a meningitis immunization campaign conducted in Cameroon in 2012 using the meningitis A conjugate vaccine (MenAfriVac?). METHODS: Health facilities that met the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to receive: (i) a weekly standardized SMS, (ii) a weekly standardized supervisory visits or (iii) no intervention. The primary outcome was the reported AEFI incidence rate from week 5 to 8 after the immunization campaign. Poisson regression model was used to estimate the effect of interventions after adjusting for health region, type of health facility, type and position of health workers as well as the cumulative number of AEFI reported from weeks 1 to 4. RESULTS: A total of 348 (77.2%) of 451 health facility were included, and 116 assigned to each of three groups. The incidence rate of reported AEFI per 100 health facility per week was 20.0 (15.9-24.1) in the SMS group, 40.2 (34.4-46.0) in supervision group and 13.6 (10.1-16.9) in the control group. Supervision led to a significant increase of AEFI reporting rate compared to SMS [adjusted RR=2.1 (1.6-2.7); p<0.001] and control [RR=2.8(2.1-3.7); p<0.001)] groups. The effect of SMS led to some increase in AEFI reporting rate compared to the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant [RR=1.4(0.8-1.6); p=0.07)]. CONCLUSION: Supervision was more effective than SMS or routine surveillance in improving AEFI reporting rate. It should be part of any AEFI surveillance system. SMS could be useful in improving AEFI reporting rates but strategies need to be found to improve its effectiveness, and thus maximize its benefits.

Medication exposure during pregnancy: a pilot pharmacovigilance system using health and demographic surveillance platform.

BACKGROUND: There is limited safety information on most drugs used during pregnancy. This is especially true for medication against tropical diseases because pharmacovigilance systems are not much developed in these settings. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate feasibility of using Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) as a platform to monitor drug safety in pregnancy. METHODS: Pregnant women with gestational age below 20 weeks were recruited from Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) clinics or from monthly house visits carried out for the HDSS. A structured questionnaire was used to interview pregnant women. Participants were followed on monthly basis to record any new drug used as well as pregnancy outcome. RESULTS: 1089 pregnant women were recruited; 994 (91.3%) completed the follow-up until delivery. 98% women reported to have taken at least one medication during pregnancy, mainly those used in antenatal programmes. Other most reported drugs were analgesics (24%), antibiotics (17%), and antimalarial (15%), excluding IPTp. Artemether-lumefantrine (AL) was the most used antimalarial for treating illness by nearly 3/4 compared to other groups of malaria drugs. Overall, antimalarial and antibiotic exposures in pregnancy were not significantly associated with adverse pregnancy outcome. Iron and folic acid supplementation were associated with decreased risk of miscarriage/stillbirth (OR 0.1; 0.08 - 0.3). CONCLUSION: Almost all women were exposed to medication during pregnancy. Exposure to iron and folic acid had a beneficial effect on pregnancy outcome. HDSS proved to be a useful platform to establish a reliable pharmacovigilance system in resource-limited countries. Widening drug safety information is essential to facilitate evidence based risk-benefit decision for treatment during pregnancy, a major challenge with newly marketed medicines.

Tuoteturvallisuusriskien hallinta suorituskyvyn johtamisen tukena sähkö- ja elektroniikkateollisuudessa

Eurooppalaisia ja suomalaisia markkinavalvontatilastoja tutkimalla havaitaan, ettei tuoteturvallisuuden hallinta ole itsestään selvää sähkö- ja elektroniikka-alalla. Vuodesta 2000 maaliskuuhun 2006Euroopan markkinoilla havaittiin 3040 vaarallista kuluttajien käyttöön tarkoitettua sähkötuotetta. Työn päätavoitteena on selvittää, miten tuoteturvallisuusriskien hallinta kytkeytyy yrityksen suorituskyvyn johtamiseen. Työssä on käytetty konstruktiivista tutkimusotetta. Aineistopohjaisen analyysin avulla kartoitetaan suorituskyvyn johtamisen teoriaa, suorituskyvyn käytännön mittaamista pienissä ja keskisuurissa yrityksissä sekä tuoteturvallisuusriskejä jariskienhallinnan periaatteita. Lisäksi kartoitetaan lainsäädännön vaatimuksia, tuotesuunnittelua, valmistusta ja osaamista sekä tarkastellaan tuoteturvallisuuden viranomaisvalvonnan tuloksia. Tutkimuksessa analysoidaan kirjallisuutta ja tilastoja etsien tuoteriskien hallinnan ja suorituskyvyn johtamisen välistä yhteyttä. Analyysiä täydennetään tutkimuksen tekijän kokemuksella tuoteturvallisuuden testauksesta ja sertifioinnista, standardisoimistyöstä sekä tuoteturvallisuuden viranomaisvalvonnasta. Riskienhallinta muodostaa parhaimmillaan osan yrityksen johtamis- ja hallintakäytäntöä. Tuoteturvallisuusriskien hallinta on yrityksen strateginen päätös, joka tukee suorituskyvyn johtamista. Työssämallinnetaan kolme toimintatapaa, joilla eri kehitysvaiheessa olevat sähkö- ja elektroniikkateollisuuden valmistajat voivat hallita tuoteturvallisuusriskejään.Työssä kootaan yhteen tuoteturvallisuuden tekijöitä, jotka suorituskyvyn mittareissa monitoroivat tuoteriskien tilaa. Lisäksi kootaan yhteen riskienhallinnan kustannuksia, joilla yritys voi arvioida etukäteen kokonaiskustannuksia.

Direct to consumer advertising : the case for greater consumer control

A nyone traveling to the United States from countries other than New Zealand will be surprised by the prevalence of health-related advertisements on television, including ads for drugs. Typically, these TV ads follow a pattern: an ad for a burger at only 99 cents, followed by one for a proton-pump inhibitor, then an ad on healthy home-cooked food delivered directly to your home and an ad for a home-based abdominal workout DVD, followed by an ad for a lipid-lowering drug. There are, however, nuances. After 8 pm, the visitor might encounter an ad for the "little blue pill." This sequence sometimes includes an ad featuring antihistamines for allergic rhinitis in spring and one promoting antidepressants in the winter. Such direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs is usual business in the United States and New Zealand but is prohibited in the rest of the world. Why? Because DTCA for prescribing drugs has pros and cons (discussed elsewhere,1-3 including in JGIM4) that are balanced differently in different countries. Constitutional factors-such as the First Amendment protections on speech, including commercial speech, in the United States5 -as well as patient and population safety considerations, which all differ across countries, modulate reactions to DTCA. Additionally, lack of robust data on the impact of DTCA on prescription drug use adds to the confusion. Evidence, though limited, suggests that DTCA increases drug sales. However, whether the increase in sales corrects existing underuse or encourages over/misuse is not clear.

Drivers and Barriers of Collaboration in the Value Chain of Paperboard-Packed Consumer Goods

Value chain collaboration has been a prevailing topic for research, and there is a constantly growing interest in developing collaborative models for improved efficiency in logistics. One area of collaboration is demand information management, which enables improved visibility and decrease of inventories in the value chain. Outsourcing of non-core competencies has changed the nature of collaboration from intra-enterprise to cross-enterprise activity, and this together with increasing competition in the globalizing markets have created a need for methods and tools for collaborative work. The retailer part in the value chain of consumer packaged goods (CPG) has been studied relatively widely, proven models have been defined, and there exist several best practice collaboration cases. The information and communications technology has developed rapidly, offering efficient solutions and applications to exchange information between value chain partners. However, the majority of CPG industry still works with traditional business models and practices. This concerns especially companies operating in the upstream of the CPG value chain. Demand information for consumer packaged goods originates at retailers' counters, based on consumers' buying decisions. As this information does not get transferred along the value chain towards the upstream parties, each player needs to optimize their part, causing safety margins for inventories and speculation in purchasing decisions. The safety margins increase with each player, resulting in a phenomenon known as the bullwhip effect. The further the company is from the original demand information source, the more distorted the information is. This thesis concentrates on the upstream parts of the value chain of consumer packaged goods, and more precisely the packaging value chain. Packaging is becoming a part of the product with informative and interactive features, and therefore is not just a cost item needed to protect the product. The upstream part of the CPG value chain is distinctive, as the product changes after each involved party, and therefore the original demand information from the retailers cannot be utilized as such – even if it were transferred seamlessly. The objective of this thesis is to examine the main drivers for collaboration, and barriers causing the moderate adaptation level of collaborative models. Another objective is to define a collaborative demand information management model and test it in a pilot business situation in order to see if the barriers can be eliminated. The empirical part of this thesis contains three parts, all related to the research objective, but involving different target groups, viewpoints and research approaches. The study shows evidence that the main barriers for collaboration are very similar to the barriers in the lower part of the same value chain; lack of trust, lack of business case and lack of senior management commitment. Eliminating one of them – the lack of business case – is not enough to eliminate the two other barriers, as the operational model in this thesis shows. The uncertainty of the future, fear of losing an independent position in purchasing decision making and lack of commitment remain strong enough barriers to prevent the implementation of the proposed collaborative business model. The study proposes a new way of defining the value chain processes: it divides the contracting and planning process into two processes, one managing the commercial parts and the other managing the quantity and specification related issues. This model can reduce the resistance to collaboration, as the commercial part of the contracting process would remain the same as in the traditional model. The quantity/specification-related issues would be managed by the parties with the best capabilities and resources, as well as access to the original demand information. The parties in between would be involved in the planning process as well, as their impact for the next party upstream is significant. The study also highlights the future challenges for companies operating in the CPG value chain. The markets are becoming global, with toughening competition. Also, the technology development will most likely continue with a speed exceeding the adaptation capabilities of the industry. Value chains are also becoming increasingly dynamic, which means shorter and more agile business relationships, and at the same time the predictability of consumer demand is getting more difficult due to shorter product life cycles and trends. These changes will certainly have an effect on companies' operational models, but it is very difficult to estimate when and how the proven methods will gain wide enough adaptation to become standards.

Food Safety Testing: Rapid Molecular Methods for Chemical and Biological Hazards

The central goal of food safety policy in the European Union (EU) is to protect consumer health by guaranteeing a high level of food safety throughout the food chain. This goal can in part be achieved by testing foodstuffs for the presence of various chemical and biological hazards. The aim of this study was to facilitate food safety testing by providing rapid and user-friendly methods for the detection of particular food-related hazards. Heterogeneous competitive time-resolved fluoroimmunoassays were developed for the detection of selected veterinary residues, that is coccidiostat residues, in eggs and chicken liver. After a simplified sample preparation procedure, the immunoassays were performed either in manual format with dissociation-enhanced measurement or in automated format with pre-dried assay reagents and surface measurement. Although the assays were primarily designed for screening purposes providing only qualitative results, they could also be used in a quantitative mode. All the developed assays had good performance characteristics enabling reliable screening of samples at concentration levels required by the authorities. A novel polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based assay system was developed for the detection of Salmonella spp. in food. The sample preparation included a short non-selective pre-enrichment step, after which the target cells were collected with immunomagnetic beads and applied to PCR reaction vessels containing all the reagents required for the assay in dry form. The homogeneous PCR assay was performed with a novel instrument platform, GenomEra^™, and the qualitative assay results were automatically interpreted based on end-point time-resolved fluorescence measurements and cut-off values. The assay was validated using various food matrices spiked with sub-lethally injured Salmonella cells at levels of 1-10 colony forming units (CFU)/25 g of food. The main advantage of the system was the exceptionally short time to result; the entire process starting from the pre-enrichment and ending with the PCR result could be completed in eight hours. In conclusion, molecular methods using state-of-the-art assay techniques were developed for food safety testing. The combination of time-resolved fluorescence detection and ready-to-use reagents enabled sensitive assays easily amenable to automation. Consequently, together with the simplified sample preparation, these methods could prove to be applicable in routine testing.

Maritime Safety in the Gulf of Finland. Review on Policy Instruments

Suomenlahden lisääntynyt meriliikenne on herättänyt huolta meriliikenteen turvallisuuden tasosta, ja erityisesti Venäjän öljyviennin kasvu on lisännyt öljyonnettomuuden todennäköisyyttä Suomenlahdella. Erilaiset kansainväliset, alueelliset ja kansalliset ohjauskeinot pyrkivät vähentämään merionnettomuuden riskiä ja meriliikenteen muita haittavaikutuksia. Tämä raportti käsittelee meriturvallisuuden yhteiskunnallisia ohjauskeinoja: ohjauskeinoja yleisellä tasolla, meriturvallisuuden keskeisimpiä säätelijöitä, meriturvallisuuden ohjauskeinoja ja meriturvallisuuspolitiikan tulevaisuuden näkymiä, ohjauskeinojen tehokkuutta ja nykyisen meriturvallisuuden ohjausjärjestelmän heikkouksia. Raportti on kirjallisuuskatsaus meriturvallisuuden yhteiskunnalliseen sääntelyn rakenteeseen ja tilaan erityisesti Suomenlahden meriliikenteen näkökulmasta. Raportti on osa tutkimusprojektia ”SAFGOF - Suomenlahden meriliikenteen kasvunäkymät 2007 - 2015 ja kasvun vaikutukset ympäristölle ja kuljetusketjujen toimintaan” ja sen työpakettia 6 ”Keskeisimmät riskit ja yhteiskunnalliset vaikutuskeinot”. Yhteiskunnalliset ohjauskeinot voidaan ryhmitellä hallinnollisiin, taloudellisiin ja tietoohjaukseen perustuviin ohjauskeinoihin. Meriturvallisuuden edistämisessä käytetään kaikkia näitä, mutta hallinnolliset ohjauskeinot ovat tärkeimmässä asemassa. Merenkulun kansainvälisen luonteen vuoksi meriturvallisuuden sääntely tapahtuu pääosin kansainvälisellä tasolla YK:n ja erityisesti Kansainvälisen merenkulkujärjestön (IMO) toimesta. Lisäksi myös Euroopan Unionilla on omaa meriturvallisuuteen liittyvää sääntelyä ja on myös olemassa muita alueellisia meriturvallisuuden edistämiseen liittyviä elimiä kuten HELCOM. Joitakin meriturvallisuuden osa-alueita säädellään myös kansallisella tasolla. Hallinnolliset meriturvallisuuden ohjauskeinot sisältävät aluksen rakenteisiin ja varustukseen, alusten kunnon valvontaan, merimiehiin ja merityön tekemiseen sekä navigointiin liittyviä ohjauskeinoja. Taloudellisiin ohjauskeinoihin kuuluvat esimerkiksi väylä- ja satamamaksut, merivakuutukset, P&I klubit, vastuullisuus- ja korvauskysymykset sekä taloudelliset kannustimet. Taloudellisten ohjauskeinojen käyttö meriturvallisuuden edistämiseen on melko vähäistä verrattuna hallinnollisten ohjauskeinojen käyttöön, mutta niitä voitaisiin varmasti käyttää enemmänkin. Ongelmana taloudellisten ohjauskeinojen käytössä on se, että ne kuuluvat pitkälti kansallisen sääntelyn piiriin, joten alueellisten tai kansainvälisten intressien edistäminen taloudellisilla ohjauskeinoilla voi olla hankalaa. Tieto-ohjaus perustuu toimijoiden vapaaehtoisuuteen ja yleisen tiedotuksen lisäksi tieto-ohjaukseen sisältyy esimerkiksi vapaaehtoinen koulutus, sertifiointi tai meriturvallisuuden edistämiseen tähtäävät palkinnot. Poliittisella tasolla meriliikenteen aiheuttamat turvallisuusriskit Suomenlahdella on otettu vakavasti ja paljon työtä tehdään eri tahoilla riskien minimoimiseksi. Uutta sääntelyä on odotettavissa etenkin liittyen meriliikenteen ympäristövaikutuksiin ja meriliikenteen ohjaukseen kuten meriliikenteen sähköisiin seurantajärjestelmiin. Myös inhimilliseen tekijän merkitykseen meriturvallisuuden kehittämisessä on kiinnitetty lisääntyvissä määrin huomiota, mutta inhimilliseen tekijän osalta tehokkaiden ohjauskeinojen kehittäminen näyttää olevan haasteellista. Yleisimmin lääkkeeksi esitetään koulutuksen kehittämistä. Kirjallisuudessa esitettyjen kriteereiden mukaan tehokkaiden ohjauskeinojen tulisi täyttää seuraavat vaatimukset: 1) tarkoituksenmukaisuus – ohjauskeinojen täytyy olla sopivia asetetun tavoitteen saavuttamiseen, 2) taloudellinen tehokkuus – ohjauskeinon hyödyt vs. kustannukset tulisi olla tasapainossa, 3) hyväksyttävyys – ohjauskeinon täytyy olla hyväksyttävä asianosaisten ja myös laajemman yhteiskunnan näkökulmasta katsottuna, 4) toimeenpano – ohjauskeinon toimeenpanon pitää olla mahdollista ja sen noudattamista täytyy pystyä valvomaan, 5) lateraaliset vaikutukset – hyvällä ohjauskeinolla on positiivisia seurannaisvaikutuksia muutoinkin kuin vain ohjauskeinon ensisijaisten tavoitteiden saavuttaminen, 6) kannustin ja uuden luominen – hyvä ohjauskeino kannustaa kokeilemaan uusia ratkaisuja ja kehittämään toimintaa. Meriturvallisuutta koskevaa sääntelyä on paljon ja yleisesti ottaen merionnettomuuksien lukumäärä on ollut laskeva viime vuosikymmenien aikana. Suuri osa sääntelystä on ollut tehokasta ja parantanut turvallisuuden tasoa maailman merillä. Silti merionnettomuuksia ja muita vaarallisia tapahtumia sattuu edelleen. Nykyistä sääntelyjärjestelmää voidaan kritisoida monen asian suhteen. Kansainvälisen sääntelyn aikaansaaminen ei ole helppoa: prosessi on yleensä hidas ja tuloksena voi olla kompromissien kompromissi. Kansainvälinen sääntely on yleensä reaktiivista eli ongelmakohtiin puututaan vasta kun jokin onnettomuus tapahtuu sen sijaan että se olisi proaktiivista ja pyrkisi puuttumaan ongelmakohtiin jo ennen kuin jotain tapahtuu. IMO:n työskentely perustuu kansallisvaltioiden osallistumiseen ja sääntelyn toimeenpano tapahtuu lippuvaltioiden toimesta. Kansallisvaltiot ajavat IMO:ssa pääasiallisesti omia intressejään ja sääntelyn toimeenpanossa on suuria eroja lippuvaltioiden välillä. IMO:n kyvyttömyys puuttua havaittuihin ongelmiin nopeasti ja ottaa sääntelyssä huomioon paikallisia olosuhteita on johtanut siihen, että esimerkiksi Euroopan Unioni on alkanut itse säädellä meriturvallisuutta ja että on olemassa sellaisia alueellisia erityisjärjestelyjä kuin PSSA (particularly sensitive sea area – erityisen herkkä merialue). Merenkulkualalla toimii monenlaisia yrityksiä: toisaalta yrityksiä, jotka pyrkivät toimimaan turvallisesti ja kehittämään turvallisuutta vielä korkeammalle tasolle, ja toisaalta yrityksiä, jotka toimivat niin halvalla kuin mahdollista, eivät välitä turvallisuusseikoista, ja joilla usein on monimutkaiset ja epämääräiset omistusolosuhteet ja joita vahingon sattuessa on vaikea saada vastuuseen. Ongelma on, että kansainvälisellä merenkulkualalla kaikkien yritysten on toimittava samoilla markkinoilla. Vastuuttomien yritysten toiminnan mahdollistavat laivaajat ja muut alan toimijat, jotka suostuvat tekemään yhteistyötä niiden kanssa. Välinpitämätön suhtautuminen turvallisuuteen johtuu osaksi myös merenkulun vanhoillisesta turvallisuuskulttuurista. Verrattaessa meriturvallisuuden sääntelyjärjestelmää kokonaisuutena tehokkaiden ohjauskeinoihin kriteereihin, voidaan todeta, että monien kriteerien osalta nykyistä järjestelmää voidaan pitää tehokkaana ja onnistuneena. Suurimmat ongelmat lienevät sääntelyn toimeenpanossa ja ohjauskeinojen kustannustehokkuudessa. Lippuvaltioiden toimeenpanoon perustuva järjestelmä ei toimi toivotulla tavalla, josta mukavuuslippujen olemassa olo on selvin merkki. Ohjauskeinojen, sekä yksittäisten ohjauskeinojen että vertailtaessa eri ohjauskeinoja keskenään, kustannustehokkuutta on usein vaikea arvioida, minkä seurauksena ohjauskeinojen kustannustehokkuudesta ei ole saatavissa luotettavaa tietoa ja tuloksena voi olla, että ohjauskeino on käytännössä pienen riskin eliminoimista korkealla kustannuksella. Kansainvälisen tason meriturvallisuus- (ja merenkulku-) politiikan menettelytavoiksi on ehdotettu myös muita vaihtoehtoja kuin nykyinen järjestelmä, esimerkiksi monitasoista tai polysentristä hallintojärjestelmää. Monitasoisella hallintojärjestelmällä tarkoitetaan järjestelmää, jossa keskushallinto on hajautettu sekä vertikaalisesti alueellisille tasoille että horisontaalisesti ei-valtiollisille toimijoille. Polysentrinen hallintojärjestelmä menee vielä askeleen pidemmälle. Polysentrinen hallintojärjestelmä on hallintotapa, jonka puitteissa kaikentyyppiset toimijat, sekä yksityiset että julkiset, voivat osallistua hallintoon, siis esimerkiksi hallitukset, edunvalvontajärjestöt, kaupalliset yritykset jne. Kansainvälinen lainsäädäntö määrittelee yleiset tasot, mutta konkreettiset toimenpiteet voidaan päättää paikallisella tasolla eri toimijoiden välisessä yhteistyössä. Tämän tyyppisissä hallintojärjestelmissä merenkulkualan todellinen, kansainvälinen mutta toisaalta paikallinen, toimintaympäristö tulisi otetuksi paremmin huomioon kuin järjestelmässä, joka perustuu kansallisvaltioiden keskenään yhteistyössä tekemään sääntelyyn. Tällainen muutos meriturvallisuuden hallinnassa vaatisi kuitenkin suurta periaatteellista suunnanmuutosta, jollaisen toteutumista ei voi pitää kovin todennäköisenä ainakaan lyhyellä tähtäimellä.

Safety criteria for the acquisition of meat in Brazilian University restaurants

The present study's objective was to analyze the procedures aimed at guaranteeing sanitary conditions when acquiring meat. The study was conducted with university restaurants of the Federal Institutions of Higher Education (IFES) located in the five regions of Brazil. Data were collected using a questionnaire and an evaluation list, which was available online to restaurant professionals. The results showed that restaurants chose one or two types of meat, the most frequent of which were beef and chicken. In restaurants managed by the IFES, the acquisition of raw material occurred by bidding. For vendor selection, the restaurants required product registration with the Inspection Service and requested regulation of the supplier by the Health Surveillance. Monitoring was carried out through a technical visit to the supplier and a review of the past records of the supplier. A higher percentage of restaurants in the Southeast region met appropriate sanitary and hygienic criteria for the receipt of meat, followed by the South, Midwest, Northeast and North. We conclude that restaurants meet most of the safety criteria set in the legislation. However, some weaknesses are evident in the physical and functional structure, the system of transportation of raw material and the records of control measures at the place of reception.

Accelerating food safety and quality control: The use of antibody engineering techniques in the detec-tion of low-molecular weight food contaminants

The increased awareness and evolved consumer habits have set more demanding standards for the quality and safety control of food products. The production of foodstuffs which fulfill these standards can be hampered by different low-molecular weight contaminants. Such compounds can consist of, for example residues of antibiotics in animal use or mycotoxins. The extremely small size of the compounds has hindered the development of analytical methods suitable for routine use, and the methods currently in use require expensive instrumentation and qualified personnel to operate them. There is a need for new, cost-efficient and simple assay concepts which can be used for field testing and are capable of processing large sample quantities rapidly. Immunoassays have been considered as the golden standard for such rapid on-site screening methods. The introduction of directed antibody engineering and in vitro display technologies has facilitated the development of novel antibody based methods for the detection of low-molecular weight food contaminants. The primary aim of this study was to generate and engineer antibodies against low-molecular weight compounds found in various foodstuffs. The three antigen groups selected as targets of antibody development cause food safety and quality defects in wide range of products: 1) fluoroquinolones: a family of synthetic broad-spectrum antibacterial drugs used to treat wide range of human and animal infections, 2) deoxynivalenol: type B trichothecene mycotoxin, a widely recognized problem for crops and animal feeds globally, and 3) skatole, or 3-methyindole is one of the two compounds responsible for boar taint, found in the meat of monogastric animals. This study describes the generation and engineering of antibodies with versatile binding properties against low-molecular weight food contaminants, and the consecutive development of immunoassays for the detection of the respective compounds.