Envisioning the future of work to safeguard the safety, health, and well-being of the workforce: A perspective from the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The future of work embodies changes to the workplace, work, and workforce, which require additional occupational safety and health (OSH) stakeholder attention. Examples include workplace developments in organizational design, technological job displacement, and work arrangements; work advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, and technologies; and workforce changes in demographics, economic security, and skills. This paper presents the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's Future of Work Initiative; suggests an integrated approach to address worker safety, health, and well-being; introduces priority topics and subtopics that confer a framework for upcoming future of work research directions and resultant practical applications; and discusses preliminary next steps.

Reducing ultrafine particulate emission from multiple 3D printers in an office environment using a prototype engineering control.

Recent studies have shown that high concentrations of ultrafine particles can be emitted during the 3D printing process. This study characterized the emissions from different filaments using common fused deposition modeling printers. It also assessed the effectiveness of a novel engineering control designed to capture emissions directly at the extruder head.

Analysis of Alphabet Patterns of Deviations Found in Patients Without Strabismus in Primary Position.

Aim: To detect alphabet patterns in a group of patients without strabismus and to determine whether they induced any convergence insufficiency type symptoms.

Methods: Data on subjective refraction, distance and near heterophoria, distance and near positive fusional vergence (BO), near point of convergence (NPC), measurements of upgaze and downgaze made 45° above and below the primary position with alternate cover test and a prism bar at a distance of 37.5 cm, were collected from participants of two clinics.

Identification of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles in Histological Samples by Enhanced Darkfield Microscopy and Hyperspectral Mapping.

Nanomaterials are increasingly prevalent throughout industry, manufacturing, and biomedical research. The need for tools and techniques that aid in the identification, localization, and characterization of nanoscale materials in biological samples is on the rise. Currently available methods, such as electron microscopy, tend to be resource-intensive, making their use prohibitive for much of the research community.

Comparative analysis of redox and inflammatory properties of pristine nanomaterials and commonly used semiconductor manufacturing nano-abrasives.

Continued expansion of the nanotechnology industry has necessitated the self-assessment of manufacturing processes, specifically in regards to understanding the health related aspects following exposure to nanomaterials. There exists a growing concern over potential occupational exposure in the semiconductor industry where Al2O3, CeO2 and SiO2 nanoparticles are commonly featured as part of the chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process. Chronic exposure to toxicants can result not only in acute cytotoxicity but also initiation of a chronic inflammatory state associated with diverse pathologies.

Hyperspectral microscopy as an analytical tool for nanomaterials.

Hyperspectral microscopy is an advanced visualization technique that combines hyperspectral imaging with state-of-the-art optics and computer software to enable the rapid identification of materials at the micro- and nanoscales. Achieving this level of resolution has traditionally required time-consuming and costly electron microscopy techniques. While hyperspectral microscopy has already been applied to the analysis of bulk materials and biologicals, it shows extraordinary promise as an analytical tool to locate individual nanoparticles and aggregates in complex samples through rapid optical and spectroscopic identification.

SEM analysis of particle size during conventional treatment of CMP process wastewater.

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are currently employed by many industries and have different physical and chemical properties from their bulk counterparts that may confer different toxicity. Nanoparticles used or generated in semiconductor manufacturing have the potential to enter the municipal waste stream via wastewater and their ultimate fate in the ecosystem is currently unknown. This study investigates the fate of ENMs used in chemical mechanical planarization (CMP), a polishing process repeatedly utilized in semiconductor manufacturing.

Center-level variation in infection rates after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Background: Health-care-acquired infections (HAIs) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality after cardiac surgery. Prior work has identified several patient-related risk factors associated with HAIs. We hypothesized that rates of HAIs would differ across institutions, in part attributed to differences in case mix.

The effect of osteopathic manipulative treatment on postoperative medical and functional recovery of coronary artery bypass graft patients.

Context: Several studies have investigated the use of osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) operations; however, there is little information regarding the effect of OMT in the postoperative recovery of patients undergoing CABG operations.

Methods: Patients scheduled to undergo a CABG operation were voluntarily enrolled and randomly assigned to receive 1 of 3 treatment protocols after their surgical procedure: standardized daily OMT and conventional postoperative care (the OMT group), daily time-matched placebo OMT and conventional postoperative care (the placebo group), or conventional postoperative care only (the control group). Specific OMT techniques used were thoracic inlet myofascial release, standard rib raising (with paraspinal muscle stretch to the L2 vertebral level), and soft tissue cervical paraspinal muscle stretch (with suboccipital muscle release).

Improving patient safety in intensive care units in Michigan.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe the design and lessons learned from implementing a large-scale patient safety collaborative and the impact of an intervention on teamwork climate in intensive care units (ICUs) across the state of Michigan.

Materials And Methods: This study used a collaborative model for improvement involving researchers from the Johns Hopkins University and Michigan Health and Hospital Association. A quality improvement team in each ICU collected and submitted baseline data and implemented quality improvement interventions.

An intervention to decrease catheter-related bloodstream infections in the ICU.

Background: Catheter-related bloodstream infections occurring in the intensive care unit (ICU) are common, costly, and potentially lethal.

Methods: We conducted a collaborative cohort study predominantly in ICUs in Michigan. An evidence-based intervention was used to reduce the incidence of catheter-related bloodstream infections.

The bioconcentration and metabolism of chlorpyrifos by the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica.

Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) were exposed to [14C]chlorpyrifos (O,O-diethyl-O-[3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridyl] phosphorothioate) at an average measured seawater concentration of 0.6 microg/L under flow-through conditions for 28 d. The compound O,O-diethyl-O-(3,5-dichloro-6-methylthio-2-pyridyl)phosphorothioate (DMP) was extracted and identified as the single metabolite observed, and this metabolite constituted the majority of the total [14C] activity in the oyster at all sampling times.