[Notebooks on health and work: diaries of public university professors].

The main objective of this article is to present and analyze the research instrument called "health and work notebooks", focusing on the production of knowledge concerning professors' work at a public university. The notebooks serve as a qualitative and participant research technique that is appropriate for the in-depth study of relations between health and work, viewing workplaces as privileged spaces for exercising effective action in the defense of health and the work experience as the principal material for analysis. The notebooks' special quality as a research technique lies in worker's role as protagonist in the research, as the diary's author and co-participant in the study.

[The new organization of labor at public universities: collective consequences of job instability on the health of teachers].

The main objective of this article is to analyze the new organization of labor of university teachers, seeking to investigate the potential relationship with the health status of these workers. It is based on the assumption that job instability in public universities has had repercussions on the health of higher education teachers. A qualitative exploratory study was conducted by means of bibliographic research in indexed databases.

Noise exposure and hypertension: investigation of a silent relationship.

Background: Noise is an important occupational hazard worldwide and hypertension a well-known risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which is currently the greatest cause of disability retirement worldwide. The association between noise exposure and auditory effects is well documented in the biomedical literature, but the same is not true about exposure to different levels of noise and extra-auditory effects. It has been shown that noise exposure levels to be considered for non-auditory effects may not be the same as in the case of auditory effects.

Air quality and emergency pediatric care for symptoms of bronchial obstruction categorized by age bracket in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The objective of this study was to estimate the association between levels of air pollutants and respiratory symptoms in children. An ecological time-series study was conducted between April 2002 and March 2003 with daily data on PM10, SO2, CO, NO2, and O3 and paediatric care in emergency rooms due to symptoms indicating bronchial obstruction. The potential confounding factors considered were: time trend, seasonality, meteorological variables, respiratory infections and the effects of weekends and holidays.

[Air quality and acute respiratory disorders in children].

Objective: To assess the relationship between air pollution and acute respiratory disorders in children.

Methods: A time series ecological study was carried out in three public health posts in a region of the city of Rio de Janeiro (Southeastern Brazil), between April 2002 and March 2003. Data for PM10, SO2, NO2, CO and O3 were analyzed daily and as closure variables, a total of 45,595 emergency pediatric consultations for respiratory symptoms or specifically for disorders in the upper and lower airways.

Blood lead levels during pregnancy in women living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The present study was designed to determine variations in blood lead levels during pregnancy and the influence of physiological anemia during this period on these findings. An exploratory study was made of a cohort of 38 pregnant women whose blood was tested for lead level and erythrocyte counts at different stages of pregnancy. The values obtained for lead were adjusted to take account of the erythrocyte count values, in order to control the influence of pregnancy-related physiological anemia on blood lead levels.