Use of 3D printed connectors to redesign full face snorkeling masks in the COVID-19 era: A preliminary technical case-study.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in severe shortages of personal protection equipment and non-invasive ventilation devices. As traditional supply chains could not meet up with the demand, makeshift solutions were developed and locally manufactured by rapid prototyping networks. Among the different global initiatives, retrofitting of full-face snorkeling masks for Non-Invasive-Ventilation (NIV) applications seems the most challenging.

Operational leeway in work situations: do ergonomic risk assessment tools consider operational leeway for job analysis?

Our study shows that information on operational leeway is limited in the originator articles of the ergonomic risk assessment tools for prevention of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The tools' underlying theoretical models do not consider the indicators of operational leeway, and they cannot determine the sufficiency of the situational operational leeway in a work situation. Consequently, regulation of the activity, which ensures the performance goals and the individual's health, has been overlooked.

Comparison of three methods for evaluation of work postures in a truck assembly plant.

This study compared the results of three risk assessment tools (self-reported questionnaire, observational tool, direct measurement method) for the upper limbs and back in a truck assembly plant at two cycle times (11 and 8 min). The weighted Kappa factor showed fair agreement between the observational and direct measurement method for the arm (0.39) and back (0.

A comparison of neck bending and flexion measurement methods for assessment of ergonomic risk.

Head movements of workers were measured in the sagittal plane in order to establish a precise and accurate assessment method to be used in real work situations. Measurements were performed using two inclinometers connected to an embedded recording system. Two quantitative analysis methods were tested, i.

Risk factors for carpal tunnel syndrome related to the work organization: a prospective surveillance study in a large working population.

The study aimed to determine the risk factors for incident carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in a large working population, with a special focus on factors related to work organization. In 2002-2005, 3710 workers were assessed and, in 2007-2010, 1611 were re-examined. At baseline all completed a self-administered questionnaire about personal/medical factors and work exposure.

FOLFIRI® and bevacizumab in first-line treatment for colorectal cancer patients: safety, efficacy and genetic polymorphisms.

Background: Over 50% of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients develop metastases. The aim of this study was to evaluate efficacy and tolerance of first-line FOLFIRI® + bevacizumab (B) treatment for metastatic CRC, and to assess genetic polymorphisms as potential markers.

Methods: Adult patients with histologically-proven, non-resectable metastatic CRC and ECOG ≤ 2 were included.

Absence of transcriptomic signature of response to chemotherapy in metastatic colorectal carcinoma patients.

Aim: Tumor gene-expression profiling may define signatures capable of discriminating between responders and nonresponders to chemotherapy.

Patients & Methods: Fifty seven metastatic colorectal cancer patients were prospectively included and 40 tumors were analyzed. Patients were treated in first line with 5-fluorouracil associated with irinotecan or oxaliplatin.

Evaluation of efficacy and safety of FOLFIRI for elderly patients with gastric cancer: a first-line phase II study.

Objective: Current chemotherapy protocols for gastric cancer present high toxicity. The FOLFIRI regimen has shown promising results with elderly colorectal cancer patients and for gastric cancer patients but this is the first report on elderly gastric cancer patients.

Design: In this multicenter non-randomized phase II trial, we administered the FOLFIRI chemotherapy protocol (irinotecan [180 mg/m(2)], fluorouracil [5-FU] [400 mg/m(2)] and folinic acid 400 mg/m(2) or 200mg/m(2) of l-folinic acid) to patients aged over 70 years with locally-advanced or metastatic gastric cancer combined with Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA).

Modulators of Protein Kinase C Affect SR-BI-Dependent HDL Lipid Uptake in Transfected HepG2 Cells.

SR-BI is a cell surface HDL receptor that mediates selective uptake of the lipid cargo of HDL, an important process in hepatocytes, driving reverse cholesterol transport from cells in the artery wall. To facilitate examination of factors that modulate SR-BI activity in hepatocytes, we have generated fluorescent protein-tagged versions of SR-BI that allow for facile monitoring of SR-BI protein levels and distribution in transfected cells. We show that deletion of the C-terminal cytosolic tail does not affect the distribution of SR-BI in HepG2 cells, nor is the C-terminal cytosolic tail required for SR-BI-mediated uptake of HDL lipids.

KRAS and BRAF mutational status in primary colorectal tumors and related metastatic sites: biological and clinical implications.

Background: KRAS and BRAF mutations in primary colorectal tumors (PT) are predictive of nonresponse to anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibodies in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). The question of primary resistance to anti-EGFR treatment as a result of the presence of KRAS or BRAF mutations only in metastases has been raised but not resolved.

Methods: We analyzed the mutational status of KRAS and BRAF in 64 new patients with mCRC and performed a systematic review of published data from 285 patients.

Determination of carboxyhaemoglobin in humans following low-level exposures to carbon monoxide.

This study proposes to estimate carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb) levels in the blood of men and women of various ages exposed to common concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) using a model with only one free parameter while integrating alveoli-blood and blood-tissue CO exchanges. The model retained is essentially that of Coburn et al. (1965) with two important additions: an alveoli compartment for the dynamics of CO exchanges between alveoli and blood, and a compartment for the significant amounts of CO bound to heme proteins in extravascular spaces.

Comparison of hepatic recurrences after resection or intraoperative radiofrequency ablation indicated by size and topographical characteristics of the metastases.

Aims: Intraoperative use of radiofrequency ablation (IRFA) to treat liver metastases is controversial. The aim of this study was to compare local recurrence rate and survival after IRFA versus resection.

Methods: Three groups from 99 patients were consecutively operated on for 307 liver metastases with 2years of follow up: group 1, IRFA alone (n=34); group 2, IRFA plus resection (n=28); group 3, resection alone (n=37).

A comparison of sediment deposition in two adjacent floodplains of the River Adour in southwest France.

Two floodplains within the catchment of the River Adour (SW France) have been examined in order to analyse spatio-temporal variations in discharge and suspended matter flux. Both floodplain zones were found to be excellent sites for the interception of suspended sediment. The narrow riparian vegetative strips (RVS) within each zone were found to retain 92-98% of the sediment trapped within the floodplain during each of three separate flood events.

Assessment of absorbed doses of carbaryl and associated health risks in a group of horticultural greenhouse workers.

Objective: This study was undertaken to estimate the absorbed doses of carbaryl and the associated health risks in a group of horticultural greenhouse workers in the Province of Quebec, Canada, using a toxicokinetic modeling approach.

Methods: A mathematical model was developed to relate the absorbed dose of carbaryl, the evolution of its body burden and that of its metabolites and the urinary excretion rate of biomarkers. The free parameters of this model were determined using published time course data in volunteers exposed to carbaryl under controlled conditions.

Cholesterol depletion inhibits fatty acid uptake without affecting CD36 or caveolin-1 distribution in adipocytes.

Caveolin-1 and CD36 are plasma membrane fatty acid binding proteins that participate in adipocyte fatty acid uptake and metabolism. Both are associated with cholesterol-enriched caveolae/lipid rafts in the plasma membrane that are important for long chain fatty acid uptake. Depletion of plasma membrane cholesterol reversibly inhibited oleate uptake by adipocytes without altering the amount or the cell surface distribution of either caveolin-1 or CD36.

Could bipolar vessel sealers prevent bile leaks after hepatectomy?

Background And Aims: The aim of this work was to test the feasibility of using a bipolar low thermal acting system inducing collagenic sealing but not protein coagulation to secure hepatic parenchyma cutting.

Materials And Methods: Thirty consecutive hepatectomies were carried out using kellyclasy plus ligatures and clips (controls), while the following 50 hepatectomies used kellyclasy plus bipolar vessels sealer (BVS). Blood loss, duration of hepatic pedicle clamping, length of hospital stay, and complications were recorded.

Cathepsin D, a lysosomal protease, regulates ABCA1-mediated lipid efflux.

To identify genes involved in the regulation of plasma high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (HDL-C) levels, patients with low HDL-C and age- and sex-matched controls (normal HDL-C) were extensively characterized. Comparative transcriptome analysis was carried out in cholesterol-loaded monocyte-derived macrophages from low HDL subjects segregated into groups with or without cholesterol efflux defects or ABCA1 mutations. Clusters of differentially regulated genes were evident in the low HDL groups as compared with controls.

TCDD exposure-response analysis and risk assessment.

We examined the relation between cancer mortality and time-dependent cumulative exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) estimated from a concentration- and age-dependent kinetic model of elimination, and we estimated incremental cancer risks at age 75. Data from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health study of 3,538 workers with occupational exposure to TCDD were analyzed using standardized mortality ratios and Cox regression procedures. Analyses adjusted for potential confounding by age, year of birth, and race and considered exposure lag periods of 0, 10, or 15 years.

Biological monitoring of exposure to organophosphorus insecticides in a group of horticultural greenhouse workers.

Exposure to selected organophosphorus insecticides (OPs), malathion, diazinon and acephate, was evaluated in a group of horticultural greenhouse workers. This was achieved through measurements of the cumulative urinary excretion time courses of specific and non-specific biomarkers over a 24 h period following the onset of work exposure. For malathion, the absorbed daily doses were estimated from the 24 h cumulative urinary amounts of the specific mono- and di-carboxylic acid metabolites (the sum of MCA and DCA) through the use of a kinetic model.

Exposure reconstruction for the TCDD-exposed NIOSH cohort using a concentration- and age-dependent model of elimination.

Recent studies demonstrating a concentration dependence of elimination of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) suggest that previous estimates of exposure for occupationally exposed cohorts may have underestimated actual exposure, resulting in a potential overestimate of the carcinogenic potency of TCDD in humans based on the mortality data for these cohorts. Using a database on U.S.

Surgical resection after radiochemotherapy in patients with unresectable adenocarcinoma of the pancreas.

Background: The use of chemoradiotherapy for pancreatic cancer has been advocated for its potential ability to downstage locally advanced tumors. This article reports our experience with chemoradiotherapy for patients with unresectable, locally advanced pancreatic cancer (superior mesenteric artery or celiac axis encasement).

Study Design: Since 1998, 61 patients with radiographically unresectable, pathologically confirmed pancreatic adenocarcinoma have received standard fractionation radiation therapy (total dose, 45 Gy at 1.

Capecitabine/oxaliplatin, a safe and active first-line regimen for older patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: post hoc analysis of a large phase II study.

Purpose: The tumor-activated fluoropyrimidine capecitabine achieves response rates superior to those of bolus 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (5-FU/LV) as first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC), with favorable safety and fewer hospitalizations. Capecitabine is also at least as effective as bolus 5-FU/LV in the adjuvant setting, again with a favorable safety profile. Improved outcomes with capecitabine versus bolus 5-FU/LV in the adjuvant setting have been shown in overall trial populations and in patients aged >or= 70 years.

Reconstruction of methylmercury intakes in indigenous populations from biomarker data.

Significant amounts of methylmercury (MeHg) can bioaccumulate in fish and sea mammals. To monitor MeHg exposure in individuals, organic and inorganic mercury are often measured in blood samples or in hair strands, the latter being by far the best integrator of past exposure. With knowledge of the MeHg kinetics in humans, the levels of both biomarkers can be related to MeHg body burden and intakes.

Determination of biological reference values for chlorpyrifos metabolites in human urine using a toxicokinetic approach.

Urinary biomarkers of chlorpyrifos (CPF) exposure are often measured in field studies, although biological reference values (BRVs) are not yet available to assess health risks. This study aimed at proposing BRVs for CPF metabolites in workers' urine based on a toxicokinetic approach. As a first step, a toxicokinetic model was developed, using published human kinetic data, to link the absorbed dose of CPF under a variety of exposure routes and temporal scenarios to the urinary excretion of its major metabolites, 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (3,5,6-TCP) and alkyl phosphates (AP).

Worker exposures to triclopyr: risk assessment through measurements in urine samples.

In the province of Quebec (Canada), the phytocide Garlon 4, whose active ingredient is triclopyr, is often used to prevent trees from reaching electrical conductors. The object of this paper is to assess the potential health risks in workers coming into contact with Garlon 4. Ten workers collected their urine during the 22 h following the beginning of a work shift.