Introduction Closed system transfer devices (CSTDs) are used to prepare and administer hazardous drugs. Previous studies have explored the vapor and fluid containment performance of CSTDs. A less obvious consideration is the effect of CSTD use on the intended dose for small volume administrations. We assessed six CSTDs to determine if they contribute to volume loss and delivery of less than the intended dose during simulated drug administration. Methods Using an analytical balance, we obtained the mass of each CSTD at four points during simulated drug preparation and subcutaneous administration using sterile water. We used the masses to determine the average volume loss ( VL) for each CSTD. Results Using ANOVA, we identified significant differences in volume loss ( VL) among the mean VL (F(6,59) = 18.45, p = 6.19 × 10−12) for the six CSTDs and control (no CSTD). Four CSTDs had a VL that was statistically different than the control (p < 0.05); the VL for two CSTDs was not statistically different than the control (p > 0.05). Volume loss did not depend on administration volume. Conclusion Volume loss performance varied among CSTDs. Volume loss may be clinically significant for small volumes but is not likely clinically significant for larger volumes. It is the authors’ opinion that 3 mL represents a reasonable administration threshold below which volume loss should be considered clinically significant. Users should consider volume loss in context of the tasks, drugs, users, and environments where CSTDs will be used. The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) General Chapter <800>: Hazardous Drugs–Handling in Healthcare Settings recognizes the lack of CSTD performance standards. USP <800> recommends independent performance evaluation of CSTDs based on peer-reviewed studies. Our study adds to the comparative performance evaluations of CSTDs available on the market at the time of this review.

How many drinks does it take? This study asked participants how many drinks it would take to reach a legal limit of 0.08% BAC and what number of drinks they would need to have before they no longer felt safe supervising a child, swimming, bicycling, driving, and walking. Eighty-eight college students with a mean age of 21.7 years responded to a series of questions based on nationwide studies of traffic safety culture and drinking and driving attitudes conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the American Automobile Association (AAA). In addition, quantitative and qualitative estimates of participants' perceptions of drinking and driving risks at different BAC levels were collected, categorized, and compared to traffic data.

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In many operations, surgical staplers are utilized to ligate and divide blood vessels and other structures. Because staplers are often used to divide major blood vessels, adverse events may be associated with high morbidity and mortality. Previous research has identified a number of distinct failure modes. In the present study, 13 cases involving surgical staplers were identified in the Veterans Health Administration's adverse event database. Pulmonary operations represented the largest group, and outcomes were generally severe. A large number of the root causes involved environmental factors; user, equipment, and task factors were also identified. While surgical stapler use is generally safe, there are a number of steps that surgical teams could take to promote safe use and recovery from adverse events.

Ergonomists and researchers often utilize electromyographic (EMG) recordings to produce estimates of muscular work load in occupational exposure assessment. Prolonged measurements, possible with recent technological advances in portable data acquisition and compact memory storage technologies, require efficient data reduction methods not always available in commercial software packages. The Iowa EMG Analysis Program (IEAP) was created to provide researchers the means to incorporate multiple processing techniques suited for the analysis of prolonged EMG measurements. IEAP currently includes subroutines to calculate the amplitude probability distribution function, exposure variation analysis, clustered exposure variation analysis, and gaps analysis profiles for up to four channels of root-mean-square processed EMG data. Data management functions include the creation of customized hypertext markup language (HTML) documentation and text files able to seamlessly incorporate analysis results into existing statistical software packages. IEAP is a powerful EMG analysis tool ideally suited for ergonomists and researchers involved in occupational ergonomics studies.