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Surveillance Effort (surveillance + effort)
Selected AbstractsStreamlining ,search and destroy': cost-effective surveillance for invasive species managementECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 7 2009Cindy E. Hauser Abstract Invasive species surveillance has typically been targeted to where the species is most likely to occur. However, spatially varying environmental characteristics and land uses may affect more than just the probability of occurrence. Biodiversity or economic value, and the ease of detection and control are also likely to vary. We incorporate these factors into a detection and treatment model of a low-density invader to determine the surveillance strategy that minimizes expected management costs. Sites with a high probability of invader occurrence and great benefits associated with detection warrant intensive surveillance; however, the optimum investment is a nonlinear function of these factors. Environments where the invader is relatively easy to detect are prioritized for surveillance, although only a moderate investment is necessary to ensure a high probability of detection. Intensive surveillance effort may be allocated to other sites if the probability of occurrence, budget and/or expected benefits is sufficiently high. [source] Cancer incidence rates among Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) employees: 1974,1997,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 1 2004M. Donald Whorton MD Abstract Background In the mid-1970's an excess of malignant melanoma of the skin was noted among employees at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). A 1984 cancer incidence study showed a non-significant excess of total cancers among female employees with significant excesses for melanoma, rectum and anus, and salivary gland cancers. For male employees, there was a non-significant deficit of total cancer with significant excesses in melanoma and non-brain nervous system cancers. This paper reports the results of a surveillance effort to update our understanding of the patterns of cancer incidence in this population. Methods We used California Cancer Registry (CCR) data to ascertain employees who had worked for six or more consecutive months at LLNL during the 24-year period of 1974 through 1997 who were diagnosed weith cancer during that time frame. We used the Standardized Incidence Ratio (SIR) in our analyses. Results There were 17,785 employees who provided 186,558 person-years of observation: 145,203 were from males and 41,355 were from females. The CCR, through its linkage techniques, identified 541 individuals with invasive cancer and 96 with in situ cancer. A total of 404 males had invasive cancer and 33 had in situ cancer whereas there were 137 females with invasive cancer and 63 with in situ cancer. The SIR for invasive cancer in males was 69 (95% CI 62,76). The overall cancer SIR for males was unaffected by calendar time. There were only two invasive cancer sites with significant excess: melanoma and cancer of the testes. For eight categories or cancer sites, we found a statistical deficit in cancer incidence. The most striking deficit occurred in cancer of the lungs and bronchus with a SIR of 36 (95% CI 26,50). The SIR for invasive cancer in females was 80 (95% CI 67,94). The overall cancer SIR for females decreased over calendar time. There was a statistically significant deficit for cancers of the female genital organs. There were 84 cases of invasive and in situ melanoma in both genders. Time-trend analyses for melanoma showed a significant excess during the years 1974,1985 but a reduction to community rates from 1986 through 1997. There were 21 individuals with testicular cancer with a SIR of 207 (95% CI 129,317). There were no differences in age at diagnosis or cell type with the comparison population. We analyzed the data using the same radiosensitive cancer categories used in the 1984 study. There were no increases in SIRs in any of these categories. Conclusions We found that the LLNL employees had less cancer than expected with males having relatively fewer cancers than females. The lung cancer rate for males was remarkably low. Since 1986 the melanoma rates resemble the community rates. Testicular cancer rates are modestly elevated and appear to have been so for the past 20 years. Lifestyle patterns, including smoking, and cancer screening activities are probably important contributors to the observed low cancer rates. Am. J. Ind. Med. 45:24,33, 2004. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Aerobic Heterotrophic Bacterial and Fungal Communities in the Topsoil of Omo Biosphere Reserve in Southwestern Nigeria,BIOTROPICA, Issue 2 2000A. I. Okoh ABSTRACT As a part of the surveillance effort to monitor the ecological status of Omo Biosphere Reserve in the southwestern region of Nigeria, the aerobic heterotrophic bacterial and fungal communities of the topsoil were investigated in March 1995 and April 1996, before the onset of the rainy season. Four distinct wood-tree plantations, a core strict nature reserve (SNR) area, and a buffer zone were sampled. The topsoil samples (7.5 cm depth), including the litter, were taken with an auger (8 cm diameter) and transported to the laboratory in polyethylene bags. One-gram dry weight equivalent of sample was suspended in 10 ml sterile water, and serial dilutions from it were used for the estimation of bacterial and fungal densities. The bacterial and fungal densities ranged in the order of 106 and 103 cfu/g, respectively. Out of the 18 bacterial and 16 fungal species that were obtained, 13 and 12, respectively, were isolated from the core SNR. About 46 to 69 percent of the bacteria and 50 to 83 percent of the fungi species found in the SNR were absent in different combinations in the plantations and the buffer zone; these variations were significant among the sites monitored. The bacterial and fungal species compositions were significantly different between the SNR and each of the other sites. Proportional distributions within the sites were significant only for the bacterial communities. It would appear that plantation and human activities have caused significant changes in the distribution and species richness of the heterotrophic bacterial and fungal communities relative to the undisturbed SNR area of the Omo Biosphere Reserve. [source] Characterizing violence in health care in British ColumbiaJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 8 2009Rakel N. Kling Abstract Title.,Characterizing violence in health care in British Columbia. Background., The high rate of violence in the healthcare sector supports the need for greater surveillance efforts. Aim., The purpose of this study was to use a province-wide workplace incident reporting system to calculate rates and identify risk factors for violence in the British Columbia healthcare industry by occupational groups, including nursing. Methods., Data were extracted for a 1-year period (2004,2005) from the Workplace Health Indicator Tracking and Evaluation database for all employee reports of violence incidents for four of the six British Columbia health authorities. Risk factors for violence were identified through comparisons of incident rates (number of incidents/100,000 worked hours) by work characteristics, including nursing occupations and work units, and by regression models adjusted for demographic factors. Results., Across health authorities, three groups at particularly high risk for violence were identified: very small healthcare facilities [rate ratios (RR) = 6·58, 95% CI =3·49, 12·41], the care aide occupation (RR = 10·05, 95% CI = 6·72, 15·05), and paediatric departments in acute care hospitals (RR = 2·22, 95% CI = 1·05, 4·67). Conclusions., The three high-risk groups warrant targeted prevention or intervention efforts be implemented. The identification of high-risk groups supports the importance of a province-wide surveillance system for public health planning. [source] Parents' safety beliefs and childhood agricultural injuryAMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 9 2009Muree Larson-Bright PhD Abstract Background This study examined potential associations between parental safety beliefs and children's chore assignments or risk of agricultural injury. Methods Analyses were based on nested case,control data collected by the 1999 and 2001 Regional Rural Injury Study-II (RRIS-II) surveillance efforts. Cases (n,=,425, reporting injuries) and controls (n,=,1,886, no injuries; selected using incidence density sampling) were persons younger than 20 years of age from Midwestern agricultural households. A causal model served as the basis for multivariate data analysis. Results Decreased risks of injury (odds ratio [OR] and 95% confidence intervals [CI]) were observed for working-aged children with "moderate," compared to "very strict" parental monitoring (0.60; 0.40,0.90), and with parents believing in the importance of physical (0.80; 0.60,0.95) and cognitive readiness (0.70, 0.50,0.90, all children; 0.30, 0.20,0.50, females) when assigning new tasks. Parents' safety beliefs were not associated with chore assignments. Conclusions Parents' safety beliefs were associated with reduced risk of childhood agricultural injury; the association was not mediated by chore assignments. Am. J. Ind. Med. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:724,733, 2009. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] | |||||||||||||