The EU Green Deal's ambition for a toxic-free environment: Filling the gap for science-based policymaking.

Around the world, many ambitious environmental conventions and regulations have been implemented over recent decades. Despite this, the environment is still deteriorating. An increase in the volume and diversity of chemicals is one of the main drivers of this deterioration, of which biodiversity loss is a telling indicator.

Feeding Behavioural Studies with Freshwater Gammarus spp.: The Importance of a Standardised Methodology.

Freshwater Gammarids are common leaf-shredding detritivores, and they usually feed on naturally conditioned organic material, in other words leaf litter that is characterised by an increased palatability, due to the action and presence of microorganisms (Chaumot et al. 2015; Cummins 1974: Maltby et al. 2002).

Inpatient healthcare-associated bloodstream infections in older people.

This retrospective study describes inpatient healthcare-associated bloodstream infections (HABSI) in older adults and explores whether urinary catheters (presence/insertion/removal) were related to HABSI events. One hundred and sixty-seven HABSI events were identified, predominantly (124, 74%) with Gram-negative bacteria. HABSI was attributed to a urinary source in 110 patients (66%), with over half (63, 57%) of these associated with urinary catheters.

Antiepileptic drugs and anesthesia.

Anesthetists commonly encounter epileptic patients when undergoing surgery. This review article discusses the drugs used to treat epilepsy and their relevant effects on anesthesia.

Parecoxib and paracetamol for pain relief following minor day-stay gynaecological surgery.

Paracetamol and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are often administered for postoperative analgesia. Dilatation and curettage, with or without hysteroscopy, is a common day-stay procedure that is associated with pain that is partly mediated by prostaglandins. This study aimed to investigate the analgesic efficacy of adjunctive paracetamol and parecoxib in this setting.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs during pregnancy and the initiation of lactation.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and aspirin, which are available as "over-the counter" medications in most countries, are widely used by both pregnant and lactating women. They are popular non-opioid analgesics for the treatment of pain after vaginal and operative delivery. In addition, NSAIDs are used for tocolysis in premature labor, and low-dose aspirin has a role in the prevention of preeclampsia and recurrent miscarriage in antiphospholipid syndrome.

Hyperfibrinolysis diagnosed by rotational thromboelastometry in a case of suspected amniotic fluid embolism.

Rotational thromboelastometry is a viscoelastomeric, point-of-care method for testing haemostasis in whole blood which can be visualised rapidly, in real time, in the operating theatre. Advantages over traditional coagulation tests relate to the rapid feedback of results and the ability to visualise hyperfibrinolysis. We present a case of suspected amniotic fluid embolism that presented with sudden respiratory arrest associated with haemodynamic compromise during a non-elective caesarean delivery.

New formulations of fentanyl for acute pain management.

Intravenous fentanyl citrate has stood the test of time as a valuable formulation for pain management. The desirable physicochemical properties of fentanyl have allowed the development of several alternative formulations for delivery using less invasive routes, for example, transmucosal (intranasal, oral buccal and oral sublingual) and transdermal. These new formulations have been applied to clinical settings in which rapid onset of analgesia is desired, using convenient but noninvasive methods.

Tramadol in pregnancy and lactation.

Tramadol produces analgesic effects through both non-opioid and weak opioid activity and is commonly used to treat mild to moderate pain. It has been in use for over 30 years and has a well-established safety profile in the general population. Since tramadol is not licensed for use in pregnancy and lactation, there is limited clinical research on its use in this patient population.

An essay on 'health capital' and the Faustian bargains struck by workers in the globalised shipping industry.

It has long been understood that work directly generates ill health and disability through injuries and occupational exposure to toxic and carcinogenic materials, but the more complex relationship between work and ill health that is seemingly mediated through psychological distress is more controversial. For example, the 'Karasek model', whereby high job demands coupled with limited latitude in decision making were thought to generate ill health, has not been supported in large-scale surveys. This paper postulates an alternative linking mechanism between work and health, namely Mildred Blaxter's concept of 'health capital', and specifically explores the value of the concept in understanding lay theorising about the links between labour intensification and self-perceived health: workers' perceptions that their work has become more effortful may be bracketed with their belief that their continuing employment is demanding accelerating expenditure of their health capital.

A population-based record linkage study of mortality in hepatitis C-diagnosed persons with or without HIV coinfection in Scotland.

Infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is known to increase the risk of death from severe liver disease and, because HCV status is strongly associated with a history of injecting drug use, the effect of a key disease progression cofactor, infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), is of interest. We examined all-cause, liver-related and drug-related mortality and excess risk of death from these causes in a large cohort of HCV-monoinfected and HIV-coinfected persons in Scotland. The study population consisted of 20,163 persons confirmed to be infected with hepatitis C through laboratory testing in Scotland between 1991 and 2005.

Conflict and user involvement in drug misuse treatment decision-making: a qualitative study.

Background: This paper examines client/staff conflict and user involvement in drug misuse treatment decision-making.

Methods: Seventy-nine in-depth interviews were conducted with new treatment clients in two residential and two community drug treatment agencies. Fifty-nine of these clients were interviewed again after twelve weeks.

Contribution of problem drug users' deaths to excess mortality in Scotland: secondary analysis of cohort study.

Objectives: To examine the "Scottish effect"-namely, the growing divergence between mortality in Scotland and England that is not explained by national differences in levels of deprivation-and, more specifically, to examine the extent to which the Scottish effect is explained by cross national differences in the prevalence of problem drug use.

Design: Secondary analysis of cohort study (the DORIS study).

Participants: 1033 Scottish drug users recruited to the cohort study in 33 drug treatment facilities across Scotland in 2001-2 and followed up 33 months later in 2004-5.

'Topping up' methadone: an analysis of patterns of heroin use among a treatment sample of Scottish drug users.

Objectives: To determine: (a) whether Scottish drug users on methadone maintenance use heroin less frequently than their peers following other forms of drug treatment; and (b) to what extent those on methadone maintenance 'top up' with heroin.

Design: A cohort study followed-up for 33 months from 2001 to 2004.

Methods: Four hundred and ten interviewees who responded at all four interview sweeps, recruited as new treatment entrants from 28 drug treatment agencies across Scotland.

An informal school-based peer-led intervention for smoking prevention in adolescence (ASSIST): a cluster randomised trial.

Background: Schools in many countries undertake programmes for smoking prevention, but systematic reviews have shown mixed evidence of their effectiveness. Most peer-led approaches have been classroom-based, and rigorous assessments are scarce. We assessed the effectiveness of a peer-led intervention that aimed to prevent smoking uptake in secondary schools.

'Treatment experienced' and 'treatment naïve' drug agency clients compared.

Background: Research on the prevalence and significance of previous treatment is limited, but indicates that many drug agency clients have had prior drug treatment experiences. Furthermore, treatment experienced drug users have different characteristics from treatment novices at treatment entry and poorer outcomes at follow up.

Methods: Data from a national longitudinal study of drug users entering treatment in Scotland were analysed using univariate and multivariate techniques to provide the first systematic comparison of treatment experienced and treatment naïve drug users in the UK.

Borna disease virus: the generation and review of a scientific study.

The paper uses interviews and observational data gathered among a group of UK scientists and civil servants responsible for managing a study examining the possible transmission to humans of Borna disease virus (BDV), a disease primarily of farm animals. From a science and technology studies perspective, the paper examines the social processes whereby this scientific problem (possible human transmission) was constituted as a worthy topic of scientific investigation, came to receive funding, and was subjected to independent review. It appears that BDV research displays only some of the characteristics of 'post-normal science' with little participation by extended peer communities.

Observations of shipboard illness behavior: work discipline and the sick role in a residential work setting.

In this article, the author reports on a small-scale ethnographic study of illness behavior in a residential work setting, a large merchant cargo ship with a multinational crew. Although parallels with previous observational work on illness behavior in residential settings (where illnesses result in treatment only if there is a break in accommodation to symptoms) exist, it is clear that type of setting is pivotal in shaping illness careers. Here, accommodation to symptoms was overlain by the economic imperative to keep the ship functioning: Management feared that the right to the sick role would allow "malingering," whereas workers feared adoption of the sick role would exclude them from employment.

An evaluation of mixed species in-situ and ex-situ feeding assays: the altered response of Asellus aquaticus and Gammarus pulex.

Mixed species feeding assays were undertaken with pollution sensitive (Gammarus pulex) and tolerant (Asellus aquaticus) macro-invertebrates during August 2003 and April 2004. The purpose of this study was to establish if a test animals' response is comparable during in-situ and ex-situ toxicity tests. Seven test sites were established along an undisclosed stream, which received leachate discharge from an unlined, disused UK landfill site.

Acute and sub-lethal toxicity of landfill leachate towards two aquatic macro-invertebrates: demonstrating the remediation potential of air stripping.

A specific leachate that contained 1.036 mg l(-1) of 2-chlorobiphenyl was used in the study (255 mg l(-1) COD and 133 mg l(-1) BOD5). Bench scale (20 l) air stripping trials were used to simulate on a small-scale the treatment potential of this method.

Subjective assessments of safety, exposure to chemicals and use of personal protection equipment in seafaring.

Background: Most of the scientific publications from the maritime area are studies about the mortality and morbidity, while studies about the present hazards of potentially dangerous exposures are relatively rare.

Aims: To describe the seafarers' assessments of the occupational safety on board, their exposure to chemicals and the use of personal protection equipment and to identify the areas for further risk assessment and preventive measures.

Methods: A questionnaire study was carried out in 11 countries among seafarers who attended a regular health examination.