Count, identification and antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria recovered from dental solid waste in Brazil

In Brazil, few studies on microbial content of dental solid waste and its antibiotic susceptibility are available. An effort has been made through this study to evaluate the hazardous status of dental solid waste, keeping in mind its possible role in cross-infection chain. Six samples of solid waste were collected at different times and seasons from three dental health services. The microbial content was evaluated in different culture media and atmospheric conditions, and the isolates were submitted to antibiotic susceptibility testing. A total of 766 bacterial strains were isolated and identified during the study period. Gram-positive cocci were the most frequent morphotype isolated (48.0%), followed by Gram-negative rods (46.2%), Gram-positive rods (5.0%), Gram-negative-cocci (0.4%), and Gram-positive coccobacillus (0.1%). Only two anaerobic bacteria were isolated (0.3%). The most frequently isolated species was Staphylococcus epidermidis (29.9%), followed by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (8.2%), and Enterococcus faecalis (6.7%). High resistance rate to ampicillin was observed among Gram-negative rods (59.4%) and Gram-positive cocci (44.4%). For Gram-negative rods, high resistance was also noted to aztreonam (47.7%), cefotaxime (47.4%), ceftriaxone and cefazolin (43.7%), and ticarcillin-clavulanic acid (38.2%). Against Gram-positive cocci penicillin exhibit a higher resistance rate (45.0%), followed by ampicillin, erythromycin (27.2%), and tetracycline (22.0%). The present study demonstrated that several pathogenic bacteria are present in dental solid waste and can survive after 48 h from the waste generation time and harbor resistance profiles against several clinical recommended antibiotics.     

Multilevel approach to organizational and group safety climate and safety performance: Co-workers as the missing link

The aim of this study is to test a model on the relationships between organizational and group safety climate and safety performance, that highlights the importance of co-workers as a safety climate agent side by side supervisors at group level. The idea is to consider the co-workers’ safety climate as a necessary part of a multilevel model of safety climates’ framework associated to safety performance. Firstly, the assessment of the safety climates’ framework which consider organizational safety climate and at group level supervisor’s and co-workers’ safety climate was performed. Then, the mediating role of co-workers’ safety climate between organizational and supervisor’s safety climate, and worker’s safety behaviours was explored. From the literature, the importance to study safety climate in a multilevel perspective by a theoretical and methodological point of view is known. For these reasons the proposed models were tested with multilevel structural equation modelling. We used a two-level design which considered the individual level and the work-group level. Data collection involved 991 blue-collars, belonging to 91 work groups, from five Italian manufacturing companies. The research highlighted the importance of considering at group level not only climate referred to supervisor, but also climate referred to co-workers. Furthermore, results confirmed the mediating role of co-workers’ safety climate and revealed that co-workers’ safety climate had a stronger influence on safety behaviours, and in particular on safety participation, than supervisor’s safety climate, at individual level as well at group level.     

Ketoprofen Loaded in Natural Rubber Latex Transdermal Patch for Tendinitis Treatment

Ketoprofen is an analgesic with potent anti-inflammatory activity against acute inflammation, subacute inflammation, for the acute and long-term treatment of various inflammatory pathologies, as rheumatoid arthritis and colonic adenocarcinoma. In order to minimize the incidence of systemic events related to ketoprofen, the transdermal drug delivery system development has been most important. The advantages of using natural rubber latex membranes include not only the reduction of adverse systemic events, but also the suitability of the low cost of the material together with its physicochemical properties such as flexibility, mechanical stability, surface porosity and water vapor permeability, and besides being a biocompatible material also presents biological activity to stimulate the angiogenesis, being able to be used in tissue repair. This study demonstrated that ketoprofen was successfully incorporated into natural latex membranes for drug delivery. FTIR indicated that the drug did not interact chemically with the membrane. Moreover, the natural latex membranes released 60% of the ketoprofen incorporated in 50 h. SEM images indicated that a portion of the drug was present on the membrane surface, being this portion responsible for the burst release. The tensile tests showed that the addition of the drug into the natural latex membrane did not influence on the polymer mechanical behavior. In addition, drug-natural latex membranes presented no red blood cell damaging effects. Our data shows that the ketoprofen loaded natural latex membranes is a promising system for sustained drug delivery which can be used to minimize the adverse side effects of high dose systemic drug delivery.     

Monitoring Long-term Trends in Sulfate and Ammonium in US Precipitation: Results from the National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trends Network

Data from the National Atmospheric Deposition Program/National Trends Network (NADP/NTN) indicate significant changes have occurred in precipitation chemistry and the chemical climate in the United States (US). A Seasonal Kendall Trend (SKT) analysis shows statistically significant increases in precipitation ammonium concentrations at 64% of 159 continental US NADP/NTN sites evaluated from Winter 1985 to Fall 2004 (Dec. 1984 – Nov. 2004). Sulfate decreases were widespread, with an SKT analysis indicating statistically significant decreases at 89% of sites evaluated. Ratios of chemical equivalent concentrations of ammonium to sulfate in precipitation have risen to the extent that ammonium now exceeds sulfate over more than half of the continental U.S. on a precipitation-weighted-mean annual basis. These trends in the concentrations of ammonium, sulfate, and other species have been accompanied by significant decreases in the frequency of acidic precipitation (pH < 5.0) in the last decade.     

Medical wastes management in the south of Brazil

In developing countries, solid wastes have not received sufficient attention. In many countries, hazardous and medical wastes are still handled and disposed together with domestic wastes, thus creating a great health risk to municipal workers, the public and the environment. Medical waste management has been evaluated at the Vacacai river basin in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. A total of 91 healthcare facilities, including hospitals (21), health centers (48) and clinical laboratories (22) were surveyed to provide information about the management, segregation, generation, storage and disposal of medical wastes. The results about management aspects indicate that practices in most healthcare facilities do not comply with the principles stated in Brazilian legislation. All facilities demonstrated a priority on segregation of infectious-biological wastes. Average generation rates of total and infectious-biological wastes in the hospitals were estimated to be 3.245 and 0.570 kg/bed-day, respectively.