Exploring the Participant-Related Determinants of Simulator Sickness in a Physical Motion Car Rollover Simulation as Measured by the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire.

Physical motion driving simulators serve as a valuable research and training tool. Since many simulator participants suffer from simulator sickness (SS), we aimed to gain a better understanding of participant-related variables that may influence its incidence and severity. The study involved a 2-min mobile-platform car rollover simulation conducted in a group of 100 healthy adult participants.

How paramedics perceive internal noise in ambulance? sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) and Subjective Noise Assessment.

Introduction: This article discusses the correlation between sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) as a feature of personality and temperament and paramedics' subjective perception of noise inside an ambulance. Description of the theoretical basis of SPS has been strongly depicted.

Materials And Methods: : Polish translation of SPS 12-item short scale and a survey concerning the subjective perception of noise inside an ambulance have been used in this research.

[Simulator sickness and the in Polish practice. A study involving professional drivers subject to compulsory initial and periodic qualification courses].

Background: A phenomenon of simulator sickness is measurable in terms of physiological symptoms. The article presents the practical use of the (SSQ) in post-exposure research, together with feedback given by the examined drivers.

Material And Methods: The study was conducted on the AutoSim AS 1600 simulator, and involved 130 drivers attending preliminary and periodic qualification courses in road transportation.

[The phenomenon of job stress and burnout syndrome in palliative care].

This paper is focused on the analysis of the phenomenon of occupational burnout from the perspectives of the sick person, his/her family and the helper. Practical principles of effective care for dying people and their families were also indicated in order to make the therapeutic team free from the symptoms of occupational burnout. Med.

Exposure to infrasonic noise in agriculture.

Introduction And Objectives: Although exposure to audible noise has been examined in many publications, the sources of infrasound in agriculture have not been fully examined and presented. The study presents the assessment of exposure to infrasound from many sources at workplaces in agriculture with examples of possible ergonomic and health consequences caused by such exposure.

Materials And Method: Workers'-perceived infrasonic noise levels were examined for 118 examples of moving and stationary agricultural machines (modern and old cab-type tractors, old tractors without cabins, small tractors, grinders, chargers, forage mixers, grain cleaners, conveyors, bark sorters and combine-harvesters).

Audible and infrasonic noise levels in the cabins of modern agricultural tractors--does the risk of adverse, exposure-dependent effects still exist?

Introduction: The agricultural tractor is one of the most commonly used vehicles on farms and one of the most prominent sources of noise. This article presents an exemplary assessment of the audible and infrasonic noise levels in the cabins of selected modern wheeled agricultural tractors.

Materials And Methods: Operator-perceived audible and infrasonic noise levels in the cabins were examined for 20 types of modern tractors during typical conditions of work.

[Exposure of healthcare personnel to ionizing radiation in the light of radiation hormesis hypothesis].

Radiation hormesis is a hypothetical premise that low doses of ionizing radiation (below 200 mSv) may be beneficial to living organisms. According to this hypothesis low doses of radiation stimulate the processes of DNA repair in cells. As a result they decrease the risk of aberration and the development of tumors.

Exposure to audible and infrasonic noise by modern agricultural tractors operators.

The wheeled agricultural tractor is one of the most prominent sources of noise in agriculture. This paper presents the assessment of the operator's exposure to audible and infrasonic noise in 32 selected modern wheeled agricultural tractors designed and produced by world-renowned companies in normal working conditions. The tractors have been in use for no longer than 4 years, with rated power of 51 kW to up to 228 kW (as per 97/68 EC).

Viral hepatitis as an occupational disease in Poland.

Background: In medical terms, occupational diseases are defined as health disorders specifically associated with the working environment of people and their occupational activity. From the medical and legal perspectives, the vast majority of European countries consider particular diseases to be of occupational origin if they are mentioned in the current list of occupational diseases and caused by exposure to factors in the working environment that are harmful to health.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze the occurrence of cases of viral hepatitis certified as an occupational disease in Poland during 1979-2009.

About the influence of Line Edge Roughness on measured effective-CD.

Various reports state that Line Edge/Width Roughness (LER/LWR) has a significant impact on the integrated circuits fabricated by means of lithography, hence there is a need to determine the LER in-line so that it never exceeds certain specified limits. In our work we deal with the challenge of measuring LER on 50 nm resist gratings using scatterometry. We show by simulation that there is a difference between LER and no-LER scatter signatures which first: depends on the polarization and second: is proportional to the amount of LER.

Occurrence of cases of borreliosis certified as an occupational disease in the province of Wielkopolska (Poland).

The aim of the study was to analyze the occurrence of cases of borreliosis to classify as an occupational disease in the province [voivodeship] of Wielkopolska in the years 2000-2007. The data as a basis for this analysis originated from the database on the occupational disease certification created by the Public Health Service in Poznan. Documentation from the years 2000-2007 reviewed.

[An analysis of selected hands hygiene habits in selected population of nursing staff].

Background: Hand washing and disinfection in the regular nursing practice is the cheapest and the most effective way to decrease hospital infections by preventing the microorganism transmission among patients. An attempt to analyze hand hygiene habits among nurses was the aim of this study.

Materials And Methods: A randomly selected group of 150 nurses (146 women and 4 men, aged 22-56, mean, 32 years) participated in the study.

[Determinants of the locomotor system load and their health effects among midwives].

Background: This paper presents an analysis of current knowledge of ergonomic weight lifting, work conditions and their health effects on the locomotor system in the selected group of midwives employed in hospitals.

Material And Methods: The analysis was carried out in a population of 107 midwives, aged 25-57 years. The 36-45 age group was most representative (57%).

[Knowledge, hygiene behavior and risk of bloodborne infections in the selected staff of beauty parlors and hairdressing salons].

Background: The aim of the study was to examine hygiene practices and risk factors for bloodborne infections in the selected staff of beauty parlors and hairdressing salons.

Material And Methods: In this study, 118 people (112 women and 6 men), aged 18-55 years, were surveyed. The majority of the respondents (76 people) fell within the 20-29 age group.

[Risk bloodborne infections in health care workers].

The paper presents current data on epidemiology and risk factors responsible for incidents leading to blood-borne infections among health care workers. In many countries, the number of this type of incidents has markedly decreased, whereas in Poland blood-borne infections are still a serious problem. Unfortunately, the circumstances, in which such incidences happen, are frequently caused by oversight and typical mistakes.

[Tuberculosis as an occupational disease in the province of Wielkopolska].

Background: The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the general population of Poland is still quite high as compared to the "old" Fifteen of the European Union. In Poland, occupational TB has recently been diagnosed almost entirely among medical personnel and social workers. The aim of the study was to analyze TB epidemiology in the province of Wielkopolska, taking account of the largest pulmonological hospital in this region.

[Prophylactic and therapeutic application of thiamine (vitamin B1)--a new point of view].

Usefulness and application of vitamin B1 (thiamine) and it's derivatives (benfotiamine, sulfotiamine) in some environmental diseases like congestive heart failure and diabetes is described. Possibility of its use in geriatry and in pain-associated diseases is also analysed. Concise description of the role of thiamine in the human organism, its content in some food products and results of this vitamin deficiency are also presented.

[Influence of shift work on the diet and gastrointestinal complains among nurses. A pilot study].

Background: The work of nurses in hospitals is connected with shift and night work. Numerous publications suggest that shift work is responsible for some gastrointestinal disturbances (heartburn, dyspepsia, loss of appetite, stomach pain). It is not yet conclusive whether shift and night work is responsible for more frequent occurrence of chronic gastric and duodenal ulcer diseases.

[Epidemiology of viral hepatitis cases, types B and C, transmitted from carriers--health service workers to patients. Is it still a"no problem" issue in Poland].

This paper presents current epidemiological data on transmissions of HBV and HCV from infected health care workers to patients. In view of the increasing risk of those transmissions, in many countries, relevant legal regulations have been adopted to limit occupational activity of infected health care workers. In Poland, there is a real risk of such accidents (especially regarding HCV).

[The level of knowledge of post-exposure prohylaxis of blood-borne infections at the workplace observed in nurses].

Background: The principles of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) of HIV, HBV, and HCV at the workplace have already been defined in available publications. Nurses belong to the occupational group that is especially exposed to risk of blood-borne infections. The aim of this study was to assess their knowledge of post-exposure prophylaxis of HIV, HBV and HCV.

[Diabetes mellitus--a problem for occupational medicine physicians].

The authors present current data concerning occupational certification in diabetic patients. Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in everyday occupational medicine practice. In diabetes type 1, the main problem faced by an occupational medicine physician is to certify the presence or absence of contraindications for jobs, which pose the risk of serious traumas resulting from possible disturbances of consciousness.

Needlestick injuries in nurses--the Poznań study.

Objectives: Needlestick injuries in healthcare workers are common. They are one of the main ways of transmitting large numbers of pathogenic micro-organisms in healthcare institutions. The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence and circumstances of needlestick injuries in a selected population of nurses from the city of Poznań and the Wielkopolskie province.

[Does exogenous melatonin prove to be effective in the prevention and treatment of pathologies associated with shift and night work?].

The current data concerning the efficacy of exogenous melatonin treatment, especially with respect to night-shift workers, are presented. Therapy of sleep disorders experienced by night-shift workers is not always successful. To assess the results of melatonin therapy in shift workers, it is essential to perform extensive analyses of numerous physiological functions that may be affected by this work system as well as of possible late health effects in this group of workers.

[Efficacy of therapeutic exercises in low back pain surveyed in a group of nurses].

Background: The aim of the survey was to analyze the efficacy of therapeutic exercises in a selected group of nurses and to show the interest of nurses in kinesitherapy as a method for preventing back pain complaints.

Materials And Methods: A questionnaire survey covered a group of 102 active nurses, being at the same time part-time students of the Poznań Medical University.

Results: The study revealed very frequent low back complaints among the nurses.

[Prophylaxis of occupational exposure to tuberculosis among physicians].

This article presents problems involved in the prevention of tuberculosis, which is essential in the practice of occupational medicine physicians. Tuberculosis prevention is an important issue since TB morbidity in Poland is relatively high compared with other European countries. The authors discuss TB risk factors among health care workers, epidemiology of tuberculosis as an occupational disease in European countries, including Poland, and the principles of medical prevention.