E.D. Amster, S.S. Fertig, U. Baharal, S. Linn, M.S. Green, Z. Lencovsky and R.S. Carel
Background: From 2 to 5 December 2010, Israel experienced the most severe forest fire in its history, resulting in the deaths of 44 rescue workers. Little research exists on the health risks to emergency responders during forest fires, and there is no published research to date on occupational health among firefighters in Israel.
Objectives: To describe the exposures experienced by emergency responders to smoke, fire retardants and stress; the utilization of protective equipment; and the frequency of corresponding symptoms during and following the Carmel Forest fire.
Methods: A cohort of 204 firefighters and 68 police who took part in rescue and fire-abating activities during the Carmel Forest fire were recruited from a representative sample of participating stations throughout the country and interviewed regarding their activities during the fire and their coinciding symptoms. Unpaired two-sample t-test compared mean exposures and symptom frequency for firefighters and police. Chi-square estimates of OR and 95% CI are provided for odds of reporting symptoms, incurring injury or being hospitalized for various risk factors.
Results: Of the study participants, 87% reported having at least one symptom during rescue work at the Carmel Forest fire, with eye irritation (77%) and fatigue (71%) being the most common. Occupational stress was extremely high during the fire; the average length of time working without rest was 18.4 hours among firefighters.
Conclusions: Firefighters and police were exposed to smoke and occupational stress for prolonged periods during the fire. Further research is needed on the residual health effects from exposure to forest fires among emergency responders, and to identify areas for improvement in health preparedness.
J. Chapman and Y. Shoenfeld
O. Eyal, A. Oren and N. Weintrob
I. Fuchs, M. Abu-Shakra and E. Sikuler
Information on reactivation of chronic viral hepatitis infection in patients who are candidates for tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitors (TNFi) is in a constant state of flux. We retrieved the most updated guidelines (in English) of prominent rheumatological and gastroenterological professional societies for the management of chronic hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the context of treatment with TNFi. Subsequently, the major areas of uncertainty and absence of consensus in the guidelines were located and a secondary search for additional studies addressing those areas was performed. Based on our search we formulated a personal interpretation applicable to health care settings with virological laboratories capable of performing viral load measurements, and health systems that can support use of potent nucleoside/tide analogues in well-defined patient populations.
O. Keret
Synthetic biology is a relatively new field of biological research and development that focuses on the engineering of genetic molecular machines with a specific predefined function. Plainly put, the newly engineered organism functions as a machine. It can process information, manufacture, heal and even diagnose. We just have to engineer it to do so. The famous quote "Biology is the nanotechnology that works" is currently being put to the test on a worldwide scale. The application of these machines is theoretically boundless. In laboratories worldwide synthetic biology technologies are being rationally designed to assist in diagnosis or disrupt disease mechanisms. In the not too distant future they are expected to reach the clinical setting. This new field should be distinguished from classic genetic engineering. The latter researches naturally found DNA segments via cloning. It is weakly associated with engineering. Synthetic biology focuses on the engineering of molecular biological machines for the benefit of mankind. This is done via synthetic (computer printed) DNA sequences, man-designed or altered in silico. In this article I will briefly introduce synthetic biology, elaborate on the Biobrick Foundation as an independent fast-growing synthetic biology-sharing movement, and report on selected developing applications for medicine.
A. Goldberg, A. Tsipis and I. Rosenfeld
L. Akria, V. Sonkin, E. Altman, C. Suriu, H.I. Cohen and A. Braester
J.S. Delgado, E. Landa and D. Ben-Dor
N. Elisha, G. Paret, M. Rubinsthein and I. Salem
S. Khoury, S. Shapira, T. Zilberman, Y.A. Mekori and A.Y. Hershko
E. Palmanovich, Y.S. Brin, L. Laver, M. Nyska and B. Kish