Platinum vaporization-deposition coated polycarbonate membranes for comprehensive, multimodal, and correlative microscopic analysis of micro-and nanoplastics and other environmental particles.

Anthropogenic particles, including microplastics, are receiving ever-increasing concern due to their potential environmental impact. Surveys and monitoring require sampling from many environmental and biological matrices, including natural water, drinking water, sediment, and air. However, there are no standard methods for sampling particles in the environment; thereby, many different approaches are used for both single particle and ensemble distribution or bulk chemical analyses.

The physical and psychological aspects of quality of life mediates the effect of radiation-induced urgency syndrome on disability pension in gynecological cancer survivors.

Background: Radiation-induced fecal urgency syndrome is highly prevalent in gynecological cancer survivors. It is associated with decreased quality of life (QoL) and with disability pension. The literature remains unclear about the mediating role of physical and psychological aspects of QoL in the association between urgency syndrome and disability pension.

Disability pension among gynaecological cancer survivors with or without radiation-induced survivorship syndromes.

Purpose: Gynaecological cancer patients treated with external radiation therapy to the pelvis may face long-lasting and long-term gastrointestinal syndromes. The aim of this study was to assess the association between such radiation-induced survivorship syndromes and disability pension among gynaecological cancer survivors treated with pelvic radiation therapy.

Methods: This prospective register study included gynaecological cancer survivors (n=247) treated during 1991-2003, alive at the time of the study, and <65 years of age.

A sustainable working life in the car manufacturing industry: The role of psychosocial factors, gender and occupation.

Aims: In order to add to the existing knowledge about factors associated with retirement timing, in the car industry, it is useful to consider the psychosocial working conditions prior to retirement. This case-control study aimed to investigate relationships between psychosocial job factors and extended work after the age of 62 years among workers in the car industry in Sweden.

Methods: A study invitation with a survey was sent to workers in one of Sweden's largest car manufacturing company, who were employed 2005-2015 and either retired at the age 55-62 years or working at 63 years or older.

Mediating Factors for the Relationship between Stress and Work Ability over Time in Young Adults.

Stress can affect work ability. The aim of this study was to identify how this pathway is mediated over time in young adults. Participants of the Work Ability in Young Adults cohort were selected.

Important work demands for reducing sickness absence among workers with neck or upper back pain: a prospective cohort study.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate what exposure to work demands, physical and psychosocial, is associated with lower levels of sickness absence among workers with neck or upper back pain in different groups, by age, gender, duration of sickness absence and work ability score.

Methods: This study was a prospective study of 4567 workers with neck or upper back pain. Data on neck or upper back pain, work demand and work ability were obtained from the Swedish Work Environment survey over a 3-year period (2009-2013).

Need for recovery in relation to effort from work and health in four occupations.

Objective: To examine three levels of need for recovery (NFR) after work in relation to effort from work demands, demand compensatory strategies, effort-moderating or -reversing resources, and health including health behaviors. A further purpose was to examine occupational characteristics determining NFR.

Methods: 5000 engineers, carpenters, nurses, and home care nurses were invited to participate.

Correction to: Vibration induced injuries in hands in long-term vibration exposed workers.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s12995-019-0242-0.].

Style: J of occupational medicine and toxicology vibration induced injuries in hands in long-term vibration exposed workers.

Introduction: Long-term vibration exposure may cause neurophysiological disturbances such as numbness and tingling, reduced grip strength and difficulties in handling small objects. The dominant hand will usually have a higher vibration exposure than the non-dominant hand, which may cause more severe neurological symptoms and signs in the dominant hand.

Methods: The study is based on 47 (36 males and 11 females) vibration exposed workers, all former patients from the department of Occupational and Environmental medicine, Gothenburg university.

Workplace Interventions can Reduce Sickness Absence for Persons With Work-Related Neck and Upper Extremity Disorders: A One-Year Prospective Cohort Study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate whether workplace interventions are effective in reducing sickness absence in persons with work-related neck and upper extremity disorders and whether disorder improvement after intervention reduces sickness absence.

Methods: This study was a prospective cohort study of workers with work-related neck pain or upper extremity disorders. Data were obtained from the Swedish "Work-related disorders" and "Work environment" surveys.

The Quick Exposure Check (QEC) - Inter-rater reliability in total score and individual items.

The development of musculoskeletal disorders has been linked to various risk factors in the work environment including lifting heavy loads, machine and materials handling, work postures, repetitive work, work with handheld vibrating tools, and work stress. The Quick Exposure Check (QEC) was designed to assess exposure to work-related musculoskeletal risk factors affecting the back, shoulder/arm, wrist/hand, and neck. We investigated the inter-rater reliability of the summary scores and individual items of the QEC by comparing two simultaneous assessments of 51 work tasks, performed by 14 different workers.

Pain could negatively affect school grades - Swedish middle school students with low school grades most affected.

Recurrent headache, abdominal and musculoskeletal pain are common in adolescents and it is therefore important to understand their impact on the transitional period from childhood to adulthood. However, studies of the prevalence over time and implications on educational outcomes are still limited, especially regarding multiple pain symptoms. The present study material consists of questionnaire surveys, completed in 2000 and 2008, including two study populations of 9th grade adolescents aged 15 living in West Sweden (n = 20 877).

Vibrotactile and thermal perception and its relation to finger skin thickness.

Objective: Quantitative measurements of vibrotactile and thermotactile perception thresholds (VPT and TPT, respectively) rely on responses from sensory receptors in the skin when mechanical or thermal stimuli are applied to the skin. The objective was to examine if there is a relation between skin thickness (epidermis and dermis) and VPT or TPT.

Methods: Perception thresholds were measured on the volar side of the fingertip on 148 male subjects, out of which 116 were manual workers exposed to hand-transmitted vibration and 32 were white-collar (office) workers.

Long-term effect of hand-arm vibration on thermotactile perception thresholds.

Background: Occupational exposure to hand-transmitted vibration (HTV) is known to cause neurological symptoms such as numbness, reduced manual dexterity, grip strength and sensory perception. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to compare thermotactile perception thresholds for cold (TPT) and warmth (TPT) among vibration exposed manual workers and unexposed white collar workers during a follow-up period of 16 years to elucidate if long-term vibration exposure is related to a change in TPT over time.

Methods: The study group consisted of male workers at a production workshop at which some of them were exposed to HTV.

Can sensation of cold hands predict Raynaud's phenomenon or paraesthesia?

Background: Raynaud's phenomenon and neurosensory symptoms are common after hand-arm vibration exposure. Knowledge of early signs of vibration injuries is needed.

Aims: To investigate the risk of developing Raynaud's phenomenon and paraesthesia in relation to sensation of cold hands in a cohort of male employees at an engineering plant.

A Lower Level of Physically Demanding Work Is Associated with Excellent Work Ability in Men and Women with Neck Pain in Different Age Groups.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate which physical and psychosocial work demands were associated with excellent work ability in individuals with neck pain, and to investigate age and sex differences in these associations.

Methods: The study sample was obtained from the Statistics Sweden cross-sectional Work Environment survey and consisted of workers who reported neck pain after work ( = 3,212).

Results: The findings showed an association between excellent work ability and self-reported to lifting, twisted work posture, working with hands in shoulder level or higher, and leaning forward without support and combination of exposures containing these work demands.

The mediating role of recovery opportunities on future sickness absence from a gender- and age-sensitive perspective.

A lack of sufficient recovery during and after work may help to explain impaired health in the long run. We aimed to increase knowledge on the mediating role of recovery opportunities (RO) during and after work on future sickness absence from a gender- and age-sensitive perspective. We used data on RO from a Swedish national survey in 2011 and linked these to sickness absence (>14 days) two years later among the general working population (N = 7,649).

Relationships between work-related factors and musculoskeletal health with current and future work ability among male workers.

Purpose: The purpose was to increase job-specific knowledge about individual and work-related factors and their relationship with current and future work ability (WA). We studied cross-sectional relationships between mental demands, physical exertion during work, grip strength, musculoskeletal pain in the upper extremities and WA and the relationships between these variables and WA 11 years later.

Methods: We used a dataset of a prospective cohort study (1997-2008) among employees of an engineering plant (n = 157).

Opportunities for recovery at work and excellent work ability - a cross-sectional population study among young workers.

Background: Better opportunities for recovery at work are thought to be associated with work ability in a young workforce but evidence is scarce to lacking. The aim of this study was to examine cross-sectional associations between opportunities for recovery at work and excellent work ability among young workers and specifically for young workers with high work demands.

Methods: A study group of 1295 women and 1056 men aged 18-29 years was selected from three biennial years of a population cohort.

Texting on mobile phones and musculoskeletal disorders in young adults: A five-year cohort study.

The aim was to examine whether texting on a mobile phone is a risk factor for musculoskeletal disorders in the neck and upper extremities in a population of young adults. In a longitudinal population-based cohort study with Swedish young adults (aged 20-24 years) data were collected via a web-based questionnaire at baseline (n = 7092) and after one and five years. Cross-sectional associations were found between text messaging and reported ongoing symptoms in neck and upper extremities (odds ratios, ORs 1.

Women with Neck Pain on Long-Term Sick Leave-Approaches Used in the Return to Work Process: A Qualitative Study.

Purpose There are difficulties in the process of return to work (RTW) from long-term sick leave, both in general and regarding sick leave because of neck pain in particular. Neck pain is difficult to assess, problematic to rehabilitate, and hard to cure; and it is not always easy to decide whether the pain is work-related. The outcome of RTW could be dependent upon individuals' approaches, defensive or offensive behaviors, and choices related to their self-efficacy.

Experiences of work ability in young workers: an exploratory interview study.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of and influences on work ability in young workers related to their work and life situation.

Methods: In a qualitative study of a strategic sample of 12 young female and 12 young male workers, aged 25-30 years, in work or recently left work, recruited from the 5-year follow-up of a Swedish cohort, semi-structured interviews were performed to explore the experiences of work ability in these young workers. Systematic text condensation inspired by phenomenology was used in the analysis.

Leisure time computer use and overweight development in young adults--a prospective study.

Background: The prevalence of overweight among Swedish young adults has nearly doubled since the 1980s. The weight increase has been paralleled by the increased use of computers at work, at school, and at leisure time. The aim was to examine leisure time computer use for gaming, and for emailing/chatting, in relation to overweight development in young adults.

Test-retest reliability of neurophysiological tests of hand-arm vibration syndrome in vibration exposed workers and unexposed referents.

Background: Exposure to hand-held vibrating tools may cause the hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). The aim was to study the test-retest reliability of hand and muscle strength tests, and tests for the determination of thermal and vibration perception thresholds, which are used when investigating signs of neuropathy in vibration exposed workers.

Methods: In this study, 47 vibration exposed workers who had been investigated at the department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in Gothenburg were compared with a randomized sample of 18 unexposed subjects from the general population of the city of Gothenburg.

Risk of hearing loss among workers with vibration-induced white fingers.

Background: We examined the risk of hearing loss for workers who use hand-held vibrating tools with vibration-induced white fingers (VWF) compared to workers without VWF.

Methods: Data on 184 participants from a 21-year cohort were gathered with questionnaires and measurements. The effects on hearing status of VWF, hand-arm vibration exposure, smoking habits, age and two-way interactions of these independent variables were examined with binary logistic regression.