90 research outputs found
La situazione italiana a un quarto di secolo dalla Conferenza Mondiale sulle Donne di Pechino. Il gap di genere tra ostacoli nel mondo del lavoro e stereotipi culturali
No full textLa Conferenza Mondiale sulle Donne di Pechino rappresenta tutt'ora un punto di riferimento per i diritti e l'equità di genere. Nel volume si ripercorre le tematiche che ne hanno caratterizzato l'ampia articolazion
Biological monitoring of low level exposure to benzene in an oil refinery: Effect of modulating factors
No full textThe aim of the study was to investigate the effect of various factors that modulate the metabolism of benzene, including smoking habits, metabolic genotype of GST and co-exposure to toluene, on the levels of three biomarkers, i.e. urinary benzene (UB), S-phenylmercapturic acid (SPMA) and t,t-muconic acid (t,t-MA), in 146 refinery workers exposed to low levels of air benzene (AB) in the range <1.5–529.2 μg/m3 (mean value 32.6 μg/m3).
The study confirmed the validity of SPMA as a good biomarker of benzene exposure even at low levels of exposure. It was also confirmed that cigarette smoking is the main confounding factor when assessing biological monitoring data of occupational exposure to AB. Our data indicate that the GSTT1, but not the GSTM1 genotype, significantly increases the urinary levels of SPMA, even at low levels of exposure. It is not known, though, whether subjects with a GSTT1 “null” genotype may be more susceptible to the effects of benzene. Finally, environmental toluene appears to inhibit the metabolism of benzene to SPMA even at low concentrations, also resulting in an underestimation by SPMA levels of the actual exposure of workers to benzene
La storia delle donne e di genere e l’Università italiana. L’esperienza della Società Italiana delle Storiche
No full textIl rapporto tra studi delle donne e università italiana è a tutt’oggi un rapporto problematico. Le ragioni non si esauriscono nel gender gap che continua a persistere nel reclutamento e nell’andamento delle carriere delle docenti, ma sono più complesse, e si intrecciano anche con le conseguenze più recenti della crisi del sistema universitario a causa degli effetti congiunti della riforma Gelmini e del complessivo definanziamento del sistema di higher education e della ricerca in Itali
Dalla formazione alla ricerca accademica: il leaky pipeline delle donne. Un'indagine nell'ambito del Progetto Europeo TRIGGER nell'Università di Pisa
No full textL'articolo analizza le carriere femminili e le difficoltà dei percorsi delle donne nel mercato del lavoro per accedere ai ruoli apicali. In particolare si focalizza sulla progressiva perdita di capitale umano nelle diverse teorie attraverso i dati dell'Università di Pisa
Reporting only relative effect measures was potentially misleading: some good practices for improving the soundness of epidemiological results
No full textObjective: In the medical and epidemiological literature there is a growing tendency to report an excessive number of decimal digits (often three, sometimes four), especially when measures of relative occurrence are small; this can be misleading.
Study Design and Setting: We combined mathematical and statistical reasoning about the precision of relative risks with the meaning of the decimal part of the same measures from biological and public health perspectives.
Results: We identified a general rule for minimizing the mathematical error due to rounding of relative risks, depending on the background absolute rate, which justifies the use of one or more decimal digits for estimates close to 1.
Conclusions: We suggest that both relative and absolute risk measures (expressed as a rates) should be reported, and two decimal digits should be used for relative risk close to 1 only if the background rate is at least 1/1,000 py. The use of more than two decimal digits is justified only when the background rate is high (i.e., 1/10 py)
Mass spectrometry in urinary cotinine determination as a passive tobacco smoke biomarker
No full textPassive smoking is to be understood as involuntary inhalation by third parties of substances from the combustion of tobacco and it’s responsible for a considerable share of childhood respiratory disease, including bronchial asthma and acute respiratory infections, but also for the risk of lung cancer and ischemic diseases in adults.
In humans, nicotine is mainly metabolized in the liver and in smaller amounts in the lung and brain, the main metabolite, excreted through the urine of the person, is cotinine [1].
Cotinine is the most representative metabolite, about 75% of nicotine, of which 10-15% is eliminated as such, 12-17% conjugate and the remaining part in other secondary metabolites.
Cotinine is a known biomarker of exposure to active tobacco smoke, and numerous papers correlate its urinary concentration with the number of cigarettes smoked, but it is interesting to evaluate if it is a good biomarker of exposure also to low levels of active tobacco smoke (few cigarettes) or of passive smoke. In order to studies this, we collected two spot urine samples from 568 healthy children, 6-11 years old, who live with a variable number of smokers and reside in two Italian regions with different levels of urbanization and industrialization.
LC-MS/MS determinations were carried out on a 4000 triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (Sciex), equipped with a TurboIonSprayTM interface. Chromatography was performed on an Atlantis dC18 column using variable proportions of 10 mM aqueous formic pH 3.75 acid and methanol at a flow-rate of 0.20 mL/min [2]; quantitative analyses were performed by method of additions in matrix using internal deuterated standard.
Urinary concentrations of cotinine in children who have smoker cohabitants are significantly higher than those in children who live with non-smokers, both in the samples collected in the evening and in the next morning, regardless of place of residence. Moreover, the urinary cotinine levels were significantly higher in urine samples collected in the evening than those collected in the morning. No relations between urinary cotinine levels and urbanization and industrialization grades were observed.
In addition, the urinary cotinine is confirmed as a good biomarker to secondhand smoke exposure since it positively correlates with the number of cigarettes smoked by cohabitant
Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination and containment measures in Italy and the role of occupational physicians
No full textBackground: Vaccine hesitancy is the main barrier to the effective management of COVID-19. This study aims to evaluate attitudes towards vaccination and containment measures in Italy, and the role of occupational physicians in the management of COVID-19. Methods: Between 26 and 31January 2022, we conducted a national online survey including 1000 respondents (631 workers). A series of questions were asked to obtain information on atti-tudes towards COVID-19 vaccination, containment measures and management of COVID-19. Sampling weights were used to obtain national estimates. Results: The majority of respondents (92.6%) received at least two doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (or one dose of Ad26.COV2.S Janssen,), only 4.9% did not get any dose. Most interviewees (79.2%) stated that the decision to be vaccinated was their own choice, while 4.3% were convinced by the general practitioner or the occupational physician. History of SARS-CoV-2 infection was reported by 23.9% of the partici-pants (30.2% among workers); and 40% of the infected workers were contacted/visited by an occupational physician. Conclusions: Vaccine uptake was remarkably high in Italy. Occupational physicians played a relevant role in the management of COVID-1
Observed Differences between Males and Females in Surgically Treated Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Among Non-manual Workers: A Sensitivity Analysis of Findings from a Large Population Study
No full textObjectives: We aimed at assessing whether differences among males and females in carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) epidemiology might be attributable to segregation with respect to occupational biomechanical exposures or differential access to care by sex.
Methods: We analysed surgically treated cases of CTS occurring among non-manual workers in Tuscany between 1997 and 2000. We conducted a Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the difference in occupational biomechanical exposures between males and females necessary to explain the observed incidence rate ratios. We also accounted for the sex-specific probability of receiving surgery after the diagnosis of CTS, as women were reported to be more likely to undergo surgery in a subset of our study population. We quantified the hypothetical biomechanical overload through the hand activity level (HAL) metric proposed by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists. To quantify the effect of HAL on CTS risk, we assumed a prior distribution based on findings from two large cohort studies of industrial workers.
Results: After adjustment for the probability of receiving surgery, women showed a 4-fold incidence of CTS as compared with men. To explain this association among non-manual workers, women should have an average value of HAL at least 5 points higher.
Conclusions: Our analysis does not support the hypothesis that the difference in CTS incidence between males and females is entirely attributable to occupational risk factors or to differential access to surgery. The causal pathway between sex and CTS might include more determinants such as hormonal factors, anthropometric characteristics, and non-occupational exposure to biomechanical overload (e.g. household tasks)
THE RELEVANT ROLE OR OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY IN A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT
No full textESPOSIZIONE A RADIAZIONI NON-IONIZZANTI E OUTCOME SANITARI DI RILIEVO PER IL MEDICO COMPETENTE: DATI DA RECENTI STUDI
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