Abstract Heart rate variability (HRV) is the change in frequency from one heartbeat to the next, due to the adaptation of the heart’s rhythm in response to an internal or external stimulus. Increased HRV has been reported as a potential indicator of general health. The relationship between structure and function is one of the guiding principles of osteopathy; it considers anatomy essential for explaining physiological dysfunction. There is a paucity of research on the effects of Osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) on the effects of HRV. We hypothesize that OMM can be used safely and to help promote healthier HRV. We herein report on a case of improved HRV after serial OMM sessions.

Heart rate variability (HRV) corresponds to the adaptation of the heart to any stimulus. In fact, among the pathologies affecting HRV the most, there are the cardiovascular diseases and depressive disorders, which are associated with high medical cost in Western societies. Consequently, HRV is now widely used as an index of health. In order to better understand how this adaptation takes place, it is necessary to examine which factors directly influence HRV, whether they have a physiological or environmental origin. The primary objective of this research is therefore to conduct a literature review in order to get a comprehensive overview of the subject. The system of these factors affecting HRV can be divided into the following five categories: physiological and pathological factors, environmental factors, lifestyle factors, non-modifiable factors and effects. The direct interrelationships between these factors and HRV can be regrouped into an influence diagram. This diagram can therefore serve as a basis to improve daily clinical practice as well as help design even more precise research protocols.

Industry began years ago to manufacture engineered nanoparticles (NPs) and introduce them into products and processes.Meanwhile, the question of the risks associated with nanotechnologies remains unanswered.International organizations that monitor these risks are recommending not only total containment of NPs but also an integrative approach to achieving this by design.Techniques such as electrostatic precipitation, filtration, wet scrubbing and mechanical separation are effective at containing or extracting airborne NPs and thus minimizing worker exposure.Each of these techniques has its advantages and limitations.This literature review shows that the development of effective NP containment and control technologies would benefit from proper engineering of the manufacturing system as a whole.

Maintaining ageing workers in the workforce and attracting new workers is an important issue for the floor laying business sector. The aim of this project is to identify solutions having a good probability of success in an ever-changing and greener reality, meaning: solutions that promote health and safety without compromising work efficiency and at an acceptable cost. Three work teams - combining expertise in ergonomics, design and engineering - were formed. In this paper, we summarize the points of views on sustainability expressed by the different actors involved, we present an example of a solution developed – a multi-function trolley -, and briefly exposes issues related to the others products under development.

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the potential of real-time monitoring of airborne cat allergen powder using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) technology. Monoclonal antibodies of cat allergen (Fel d 1) were immobilized onto a gold-coated quartz crystal using a cysteamine self-assembled monolayer (SAM). The QCM responses exhibited negative frequency shifts characteristic of mass uptake onto the sensor surface when exposed to airborne cat allergen powder. The cat allergen powder was 0.01wt% Fel d 1; therefore, antigen–antibody binding occurred despite potential interference from dust particles. The absolute frequency shift increased linearly (log–log, R2=0.968) over the immunosensor working range, from 5.2ng/L to 1.6×105ng/L. Selectivity of the immunosensor between the cat allergen and a test dust was confirmed using SEM images and antibody affinity was confirmed by challenging an Escherichia coli antibody-coated crystal with airborne cat allergen. Positive frequency shifts were observed with the QCM for both negative controls. The research demonstrates that immunosensors based on QCM technology may become a viable alternative to conventional methods of real-time monitoring of bioaerosols.

Scientists having raised concerns about technological advancements and the associated risks, the Quebec scientific community implemented the work safety component within the Quebec Occupational Health and Safety Research Network (QOHSRN). This initially fostered a first geographical connection among scientists, thus facilitating knowledge exchange and transfer. With various research themes, the first component members made an initial observation of the critical situation in regard to occupational safety in the industrial sector. Yet, occupational safety is a shared concern affecting all industrial sectors, environments and countries. The strategic occupational safety component expanded its efforts toward internationalization to increase the visibility of its activities. The creation of components within other global networks and a journal were the first steps marking this desire for international sharing. With the number of environments affected by occupational health and safety (OHS), research activities in this field involve an interinstitutional and interdisciplinary research community. The QOHSRN’s strategic occupational safety component leads by example by involving researchers from all fields of study and various Quebec universities and research institutions. Research themes within the component are all equally diverse and complementary. They range from the study of occupational safety integration methods at the design stage to technical, organizational, normative, legislative and preventive methods, and the development of new protection devices and equipment. A portrait of the make-up of the QOHSRN’s strategic occupational safety component and its evolution from its creation to the QOHSRN’s 10 th anniversary was also produced and analyzed to show its growing evolution.

Interactions between nanoparticles (NP), humans and the environment are not fully understood yet. Moreover, frameworks aiming at protecting human health have not been adapted to NP but are nonetheless applied to NP-related activities. Consequently, business organizations currently have to deal with NP-related risks despite the lack of a proven effective method of risk-management. To respond to these concerns and fulfill the needs of populations and industries, EquiNanos was created as a largely interdisciplinary provincial research team in Canada. EquiNanos consists of eight platforms with different areas of action, from adaptive decision-aid tool to public and legal governance, while including biological monitoring. EquiNanos resources aim at responding to the concerns of the Quebec nanotechnology industry and public health authorities. Our mandate is to understand the impact of NP on human health in order to protect the population against all potential risks emerging from these high-priority and rapidly expanding innovative technologies. From the Clinical Editor: In this paper by Canadian authors an important framework is discussed with the goal of acquiring more detailed information and establishing an infrastructure to evaluate the interaction between nanoparticles and living organisms, with the ultimate goal of safety and risk management of the rapidly growing fields of nanotechnology-based biological applications. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

As benefi cial applications of nanotechnologies in industry and medicine continue to emerge, so do new problems associated with engineered nanoparticle (ENP) production, which so far is going ahead without prior evaluation of its impact on human health and environment. Worker exposure continues to increase while no global consensus on ENP regulation has been reached. Protection of workers requires an approach to risk management properly adapted to the ENP context. Although ENP properties have been studied in depth over the past 10 years, much uncertainty continues to loom over the defi nition of the key parameters. The aim of this review of the literature was to construct a detailed list of known risks associated with ENPs from an occupational health and safety perspective. A hierarchised network of risks was thus revealed, illustrating the complexity of the system in terms of interdependence of elements of risk.

An original and innovative approach to assess the risks associated to engineered nanoparticles is presented. The primary observations from the literature review are discussed and point out the interdependency of most risk factors. This sole fact justifies the need for an adequate analytical model to ensure a proper risk management for the development of an adaptive decision-making tool. With this objective, optimization-based modelling tests were first conducted in order to validate the feasibility of the method.

The use of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in commercial products has increased substantially over the last few years. Some research has been conducted in order to determine whether or not such materials are cytotoxic, but questions remain regarding the role that physiological media and sera constituents play in ENP aggregation or stabilization. In this study, several characterization methods were used to evaluate the particle size and surface potential of 6 ENPs suspended in a number of culture media and in the presence of different culture media constituents. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) were employed for size determinations. Results were interpreted on the basis of ENP surface potentials evaluated from particle electrophoretic mobilities (EPM). Measurements made after 24h of incubation at 37°C showed that the cell culture medium constituents had only moderate impact on the physicochemical properties of the ENP, although incubation in bovine serum albumin destabilized the colloidal system. In contrast, most of the serum proteins increased colloidal stabilization. Moreover, the type of ENP surface modification played a significant role in ENP behavior whereby the complexity of interactions between the ENPs and the medium components generally decreased with increasing complexity of the particle surface. This investigation emphasizes the importance of ENP characterization under conditions that are representative of cell culture media or physiological conditions for improved assessments of nanoparticle cytotoxicity.