BACKGROUND The objective of this study is to conduct a systematic review of studies reporting the frequency of neurocysticercosis (NCC) worldwide. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS PubMed, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau (CAB) abstracts and 23 international databases were systematically searched for articles published from January 1, 1990 to June 1, 2008. Articles were evaluated for inclusion by at...

OBJECTIVE Worker compensation insurance in Taiwan ensures that a woman under the age of 45 years who has her uterus removed can receive disability compensation benefits. The present study investigated whether such a compensation policy was related to a woman's inclination to have a hysterectomy. METHODS We extracted the records of 16,030 women diagnosed with uterine fibroids (UF) between 2000...

Enhanced ultraviolet radiation (UV) and elevated tropospheric ozone (O3) may individually cause reductions in the growth and productivity of important agricultural crops. However, research regarding their combined effects on important agricultural crops is still scarce, especially on changes in secondary metabolites and endogenous hormones, which are important protective substances and signal c...

BACKGROUND Estimates of select occupational injuries and illnesses often differ across data sources. We explored agreement in injury classifications and the impact of differences on case estimates among records reported to multiple data sources. METHODS We linked cases reported in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) to Washington St...

OBJECTIVES The objectives of this study have been to: 1) describe and compare urban and rural injured worker populations in Alberta, Canada; 2) identify return-to-work outcomes in urban and rural populations; 3) examine the relationship between geographic location of residence and recovery from work-related musculoskeletal injury; and 4) investigate if this relationship is attenuated after cont...

For pandemic influenza planning, realistic estimates of personal protective equipment (PPE) and antiviral medication required for hospital healthcare workers (HCWs) are vital. In this simulation study, a patient with suspected avian or pandemic influenza (API) sought treatment at 9 Australian hospital emergency departments where patient-staff interactions during the first 6 hours of hospitaliza...

Mycotoxins are fungal secondary metabolites that contaminate various feedstuffs and agricultural crops. The contamination of food by mycotoxins can occur before production, during storage, processing, transportation or marketing of the food products. High temperature, moisture content and water activity are among the predisposing factors that facilitate the production of mycotoxins in food. Afl...

BACKGROUND Return to work (RTW) is important for recovery post-injury. Fear of (re)injury is a strong predictor of delayed RTW, and therefore much attention has been given to addressing injured workers' fear beliefs. However, RTW is a socially-negotiated process and it may be important to consider the wider social context of the injured worker, including the beliefs of the key people involved i...

Objective To explore the challenges academic FPs face when assessing patients' functional ability to return to work; to produce a detailed account of FPs' experiences and views on workplace disability management; to describe which parts of the disability assessment and management process FPs would like to modify or relinquish; and to provide solutions to streamline the overall process of assess...