Objective The objective of this study was to explore the association between occupational factors and pregnancy outcomes in a prospective cohort of Irish pregnant women.Design This study has a prospective design.Population The Lifeways cohort included 1124 pregnant women, 676 of whom delivered a single baby and were working at their first prenatal care visit when they filled in a self-administered questionnaire.Methods Occupational factors were measured using this questionnaire and included eight factors describing job and working conditions. Data including pregnancy outcomes were also obtained from clinical hospital records. Logistic regression analysis was used to adjust for well-known risk factors.Main outcome measures Birthweight (£3000 g and £2500 g), preterm delivery (<37 gestation weeks) and small-for-gestationalage.Results Significant associations were found between physical work demands and low birthweight (£2500 g) and working with between a temporary contract and preterm delivery. Trends were also observed between working 40 hours or more a week and shift work, and birthweight of 3000 g or less. The study of a cumulative index showed that being exposed to at least two of these occupational factors significantly predicted birthweight of £3000 g (OR = 2.44, 95% CI: 1.17-5.08) and of £2500 g (OR = 4.65, 95% CI: 1.08-20.07) and preterm delivery (OR = 5.18, 95% CI: 1.00-27.01).Conclusions Our findings suggest that occupational factors may predict birthweight through their predictive effects on preterm delivery. This is one of the few prospective studies on pregnancy outcomes that include working conditions. As they may be modifiable, occupational factors deserve more attention in relation to birth outcomes.

A pilot oral health programme was developed which aimed to improve dental health knowledge and behaviour amongst Irish school children aged 7-12 years. The programme comprised two integral components: a television campaign, run over a 6-week period, was incorporated into the children's programme 'Den TV' on national television, with video clips of a member of the music band Boyzone promoting key oral health messages; and a Smile of the Year contest. Concurrently, a dental nurse delivered an interactive talk with pupils, showed a video of the Den TV oral health programme and distributed posters and leaflets. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the overall intervention on school pupils' dental health knowledge and reported behaviour. Thirty-two primary schools in two health board regions in the Republic of Ireland participated in the study. At baseline and after 6 weeks, 1534 school children completed specially developed questionnaires. There was a positive net effect of the dental nurse intervention in all but one question. The percentage of children who reported using the recommended amount of toothpaste and brushing for 3 min appeared to have been further increased having observed the television campaign. These results are in line with the argument that mass media campaigns work to supplement the one-to-one activities of health professionals in order to effect knowledge and behavioural change.

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of drug use, including injecting drug use, among the prisoner population in the Republic of Ireland. Drug use surveys carried out by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs and Alcohol (NACDA) provide population data, but the most recent drug prevalence data on the Irish prisoner population dated from a 1999 study on Blood Borne Viruses (BBVs) in prisons. Accurate up-to-date data for service planning and policy development were required.MethodsAn observational cross-sectional study was undertaken, with 824 prisoners randomly selected in proportion to the population in each prison. Data collection instruments included a self-completion questionnaire (based on European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction guidelines), and oral fluid samples, which were tested for six drugs. Prevalence proportions and confidence intervals were calculated. T-tests and Chi2 testing were used for group comparisons.ResultsThe response rate was 50% and the sample was representative of the full prison population. Prevalence of any drug  use for individual drugs was, not unexpectedly, higher than in the general population. Results are presented as prevalence range for individual drugs (95% CI lower and upper bounds) for: lifetime, 33% (CI: 30–36%) to 87% (CI: 85–89%); last year, 12 (CI: 10–14%) to 69% (CI: 66–71%); and last month, 2% (CI: 1–3%) to 43% (CI: 40–47%). Lifetime injecting prevalence for any drug was 26% (CI: 23–28%) and lifetime individual drug injecting rates ranged from 2 (CI: 1–2%) to 19% (CI: 17–22%). Women were significantly more likely to inject drugs than men (44% vs 24%, p < 0.01).ConclusionThe findings confirmed the need for drug treatment and harm reduction services in prisons and highlighted key risk areas and groups for specific and targeted interventions. The NACDA has published recommendations for practice, policy and research based on the results.

Recombinant hemopoietic colony-stimulating factors (CSFs), including GM-CSF, G-CSF and IL-3, have been shown to be effective stimulators of both self-renewal and terminal differentiation of blast stem cells in acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML). We have examined the activity of a fourth growth factor, recombinant CSF-1 (or M-CSF), on the growth of leukemic blasts in culture. CSF-1 was found to be active on some, but not all, blast populations. In sensitive cells, CSF-1 often stimulated the production of adherent blast cells incapable of division. This observation leads us to suggest that CSF-1 may be useful in the treatment of selected cases of AML.

1. Rams, fauna-free from birth and initially of 48-65 kg live weight, were allocated to two groups of ten each and given a diet containing 14pg copper/g dry matter; five additional rams were killed and their livers were analysed for Cu.2. One group (faunated) was inoculated with a mixed population of ciliate protozoa, and contained between 60 x lo5 and 195 x lo5 protozoa/ml rumen fluid throughout the 184 d experiment. The other group remained fauna-free. Following blood sampling, three rams in each group were killed on day 63, two on day 125 and four on day 184. One sheep in each group died during the experiment. 3. Faunated rams showed higher weight gains and feed consumption than fauna-free rams. 4. Plasma Cu concentration (pg/ml) increased from an initial 0.82 to a final 1 .OO in faunated and 1.36 in fauna-free rams. Liver Cu concentration @g/g dry matter) increased from an initial 745 to a final 962 and 1684 in faunated and in fauna-free sheep respectively, representing a 4.3-fold greater increase in the fauna-free than in the faunated group. The absorption and retention of Cu was 38-50% higher in the fauna-free than in the faunated rams.5. It was suggested that rumen ciliate protozoa increased rumen production of sulphide (through increased breakdown of soluble proteins) which complexed part of the Cu, making it unavailable for absorption and utilization. Therefore, ciliate protozoa could determine susceptibility to chronic Cu toxicity in sheep.The Animal Research Centre sheep flock was re-established in 1980 by hysterectomy (Heaney et al. 1981) in order to eradicate maedi-visna disease. Although there was no change made in the dietary regimen there was an outbreak of chronic copper toxicity in this flock, 10-12 months later, resulting in a high daily rate of mortality. The toxicity was alleviated by dietary supplements of molybdenum and sulphur and by decreasing dietary Cu from 10-14 to 5-8 ,ug/g dry matter (Hidiroglou et al. 1984). It was later established that the flock remained fauna-free after repopulation by hysterectomy. Therefore, studies were initiated to discover the possible connection between the fauna-free status and the outbreak of chronic Cu toxicity. The present paper provides evidence that the introduction of rumen ciliate protozoa to fauna-free sheep decreased the absorption of Cu and its accumulation in the liver. It was concluded that the outbreak of chronic Cu toxicity in the flock was induced by the absence of rumen ciliate protozoa. M A T E R I A L S A N D METHODS AnimalsTwenty-five crossbred naturally fauna-free rams were randomly selected from a pool of forty animals. The live weight of the selected rams was between 48 and 65 kg. They were allocated to three mean equal live-weight groups of five, ten and ten animals. DietOn a g/kg dry matter basis, the diet comprised: maize silage 824, soya-bean meal 160, \itamin/mineral premix 16. The premix contained (g/kg): 620 cobalt-iodized salt, 186