Our findings suggest the utilization of mobile learning techniques is an effective means to deliver safety awareness training content to dairy workers. Dairy worker safety training should be culturally, linguistically, and literacy appropriate and comprehensive in nature to include all applicable dairy safety hazards. Our observations support the use of mobile devices as just one component of a more comprehensive health and safety management program on farms.

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Milking unit design may influence muscle activity levels among parlor workers. Small reductions in muscle activity associated with milking unit design have the potential to delay the onset of fatigue or development of musculoskeletal health outcomes among parlor workers.

Patients with retinoblastoma and central nervous system (CNS) involvement are rarely curable with available treatments. We designed a high-dose intra-arterial regimen targeting the ophthalmic artery and chiasm combined with intrathecal chemotherapy to treat a 4-year-old patient with retinoblastoma metastasized to the CNS. After three cycles of this regimen, including carboplatin, melphalan, and intrathecal topotecan, a partial response of the orbital tumor mass and chiasmatic lesion, and complete response in the cerebrospinal fluid and bone marrow were achieved. This new treatment strategy may be explored as a treatment component for patients with overt extraocular retinoblastoma and CNS dissemination.

Background: Logging is recognized as one of the most dangerous industries in the United States (US), ranking among those with the highest occupational injury and fatality rates. Although logging operations in the Southeastern US have lower rates of injuries and fatalities compared to other regions of the US, due in part to the use of large machinery to fell timber as opposed to chainsaw felling, safety hazards continue to persist. The hazards present in the logging cut sites in which loggers operate may result in worker injury, illness, or fatality. Our objective was to develop, deliver, and evaluate a safety management and leadership training among logging contractors and supervisors using mobile tablets as a personal learning environment.Methods: A safety leadership and management training vignette was developed based on previously collected focus group needs assessment data. A non-random sample of 31 male logging supervisors received the safety leadership and management training on a mobile tablet. Kirkpatrick Levels 1, 2, and 3 training effectiveness evaluations were performed.Results: A statistically significant large effect size suggests safety knowledge was gained among training participants when comparing post-test scores to pre-test scores (Level-2). Participants rated their training experience favorably (Level-1), and applied knowledge gained from the training throughout their weekly work activities three months after training (Level-3).Conclusion: Our findings suggest the utilization of mobile learning techniques can be an effective means to deliver safety management and leadership training content to logging contractors and supervisors. Future trainings should be linguistically and literacy-level appropriate, as well as comprehensive in nature, including meaningful and relevant content. Our observations support the use of mobile devices as just one component of a more comprehensive health and safety management program for workers in the logging industry.

US large-herd dairy parlour workers experience a high prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms in the upper extremity. The purpose of this study was to estimate and compare full-shift and task-specific muscle activity of the upper extremity among parlour workers. Surface electromyography data were recorded continuously throughout a full work shift for each participant (n = 60). For a subset of participants (n = 33), muscular effort was estimated for milking task cycles. Lower muscle activity levels and higher per cent muscular rest was observed among rotary parlour participants as compared to herringbone and parallel parlour participants for anterior deltoid, forearm flexor and forearm extensor muscles. These findings suggest rotary parlours may offer workstation designs or work organisational dynamics which may be more beneficial to the health and performance of the worker, as compared to parallel or herringbone parlours. Practitioner Summary: Study findings suggest milking parlour configurations present different biomechanical demands on workers which may influence worker health and performance. Our findings will enable more informed decisions regarding both engineering (e.g. parlour configuration or milking equipment) and administrative (e.g. work organisation) control strategies for large-herd milking parlours.

Milking operations represent more than 50% of the work on a dairy ewe farm. The implementation of automatic cluster removers (ACR) is gaining popularity, as it allows the operator to avoid manual cluster detachments, simplifying the milking routines. The aim of this study was to discover the effect on the milking of Manchega ewes over an entire lactation period by using this type of devices, set up with 2 different combinations of milk flow threshold (MF) and delay time (DT) and comparing them with the traditional method using manual cluster removal. During a 15-d pre-experimental period, the animals were milked without ACR and sampling was performed to select 108 ewes and distribute them into 3 groups of similar characteristics according to their parity, milk yield, milking duration, and mammary gland sanitary status. Later, each group was milked for a duration of 4 mo in 3 different conditions: 1 with manual cluster removal, the second setting the ACR at MF 150 g/min and DT 20 s, and the third setting the ACR at MF 200 g/min and DT 10 s. Samplings of milking fraction, milking duration, milk composition, mammary gland sanitary status, teat-end status, and vacuum level in the short milk tubes during milking were performed. The use of ACR limited the vacuum drops in the short milk tubes and the edema in the teat end after milking, although no reduction in the number of new cases of mastitis was observed and the milk composition did not change. Moreover, it was noted that the use of ACR set with MF 150 g/min and DT 20 s was more efficient than the manual cluster removal, as it obtained a similar amount of extracted milk but took less time. Conversely, the use of ACR set with MF 200 g/min and DT 10 s involved a higher reduction in individual milking duration and the milking duration of groups of animals but reduced milk extracted.

Background: The U.S. logging sector is among the most dangerous industrial sectors, with high fatality and non-fatal injury rates. Limited research has addressed work-related musculoskeletal disorders among logging machine operators (LMOs). The purpose of this study was to estimate the 12-month prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and the associated work-related risk factors among LMOs in the Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas (Ark-La-Tex) logging region.Methods: A self-administered 93-item questionnaire with six different sections: (1) demographics, (2) lifestyle and medical background, (3) work experience, (4) job training, (5) occupational heat-related stress, and (6) occupational injuries and MSS was administered to LMOs (n = 88) using Qualtrics Mobile Survey Software®. Poisson regression models were used to estimate crude prevalence ratios (PR), adjusted PR [aPR], and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).Results: Regarding organizational, ergonomic, and handling equipment occupational factors and 12-month MSS prevalence, the adjusted model controlled for age, BMI, smoking status, and drinking status. For organizational, the most problematic factors for the lower back were performing a task over and over (63.2%) and working very fast, for short periods (60.0%). For ergonomics, the most problematic factor for the lower extremities was awkward or cramped conditions (58.1%) and for the lower back was bending/twisting back awkward (55.9%). Last, for handling equipment, the most problematic for both the lower back and lower extremities was handling or grasping small objects (57.1%).Conclusion: Our findings revealed associations between work-related MSS and specific job factors (e.g., organizational, ergonomic, handling equipment, etc.), extreme environmental conditions or environmental, and personal risk factors. In particular, study findings suggest lower back and lower extremities MSS are associated with the a majority of job-related risk factors, lower extremities with extreme environmental conditions, and neck and upper back with personal risk factors.