1,720,985 research outputs found
Perdita uditiva dei lavoratori del comparto ceramica: profilo di danno valutato mediante studio longitudinale
No full textOver the period 1980-1990, 2024 workers in ceramic plants in the Emilia-Romagna region, Italy were evaluated for exposure to noise and hearing loss. Data collected by the National Health Service Local of Occupational and Preventive Medicine Units were used. In a relatively young population (34.8 years mean age, 8.98 years s.d.) exposed for not too long to > 90 dBA noise levels (87.2 for less than 4 years) a statistically significant effect of exposure was found only on the audiometric frequency of 6 kHz (95% confidence interval for mean hearing loss for 1 year exposure to > 90 dBA: 0.05-0.72 dB). An initial isolated loss at the audiometric frequency of 6 kHz was found to be significantly associated with (was a prognostic indicator of) a subsequent impairment at 4 kHz
Definition of reference values for Cd-B and Cd-U: methodological aspects and preliminary results
No full textIn the present study, a definition of the reference values of blood cadmium (Cd-B) and urinary cadmium (Cd-U) was attempted, adopting the same methodology as that used for Hg-B by ICOH and IUPAC. Papers published from 1976 onwards were reviewed. The majority of the studies were concerned with the formation of control groups for toxicological and epidemiological investigations rather than with the definition of reference values. Since the number of subjects for whom data on cadmium were available was small, only the data on Cd-B were considered. After evaluation, only four studies were found to be suitable for the establishment of tentative reference values for Cd-B. It is essential in all such studies to check the statistical and analytical methods for correctness, and the case-list must be selected taking smoking into account as the main interfering factor. It was found that Cd-B values show less dispersion when geometric means and standard geometric deviations are used instead of arithmetic means and standard deviations
Selection for necropsy: evaluation of 321 autopsied cases from 3041 consecutive deaths among residents of a defined geographical area
No full textBy undertaking to act as 'medico necroscopo' (the medical doctors in charge of authorizing every burial) in the Unità Socio-Sanitaria Locale (USSL) 70, a region containing 92,500 inhabitants, we were able to collect over a four-year period (1985-88) information on 3371 deaths among residents of the area. Of these, 68.1% died at home, 12.6% in hospital with no autopsy, 9.5% in hospital with an autopsy and 9.8% outside of the USSL region. For the analysis, age, sex and leading cause of death were considered as explanatory variables and place of death and proportion of autopsied cases as the response variables. The factors found to be associated with deaths occurring in hospital were non-neoplastic (particularly cardiovascular and digestive) pathological conditions in patients under the age of 60. People with malignant neoplasms usually died at home, especially when they had a gastric or breast cancer. Factors associated with autopsy were: death at a young age, short length of hospitalization and death from a cardiovascular disease. Sex did not appear to play a direct role in selection for necropsy. Our results indicate that, in our and similar regions, the cases selected for autopsy form a subset that is so specific that any extrapolation to the total deceased population is misleading
Helicobacter pylori CagA seropositivity does not influence inflammatory parameters, lipid concentrations and haemostatic factors in healthy individuals
No full textBACKGROUND:
H. pylori CagA seropositivity has been recently associated with ischaemic heart disease.
OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate whether H. pylori virulence has any effect on certain circulating coagulation factors and on markers of systemic inflammation in healthy individuals.
DESIGN:
Prospective cohort study.
SETTING:
Haematology and gastroenterology unit at a university teaching hospital.
SUBJECTS:
A total of 494 consecutive asymptomatic blood donors attending a blood bank.
MEASUREMENTS:
Blood analysis for haemostatic factors, lipids concentrations, inflammatory parameters as well as determination of anti H. pylori IgG and CagA reactivity by ELISA assayes.
RESULTS:
The overall prevalence of H. pylori infection was 53%; 56% of H. pylori positive sera expressed CagA reactivity. CagA seropositive subjects did not differ significantly from CagA negative or H. pylori negative subjects in values for lipids, haemostatic factors, or inflammatory parameters.
CONCLUSIONS:
CagA seropositivity is not associated with increased systemic inflammation or with raised concentrations of haemostatic factors - predictors of ischaemic heart disease - in healthy individuals
Estimation of pooled reference values for cadmium in blood using meta-analysis and TRACY criteria
No full textReference values for blood-cadmium levels (B-Cd) are available for only a limited number of geographical areas and for particular population strata (sex, age, smoking habits). This paper, in agreement with the TRACY guidelines, describes and discusses the criteria used to rank published papers on reference values for cadmium retrieved by Medline and Toxline between 1976 and 1991. The TRACY criteria deal with the grading of published papers in terms of their suitability for calculating provisional reference values. Only four out of 18 papers were considered suitable for the TRACY project. The four articles were finally used via meta-analysis to provide provisional reference values for smokers and non-smokers. The comparison of results obtained using published statistics and individual data is used to discuss the appropriateness of meta-analysis in the case of cadmium. Due to the availability of large enough studies and to the clear differences across countries, the suitability of a compound upper reference limit to B-Cd levels seems limited
Subclinical disease (SD) in overweight and obese individuals at intermediate cardiovascular (CV) risk
No full textThe identification and validation of process and outcome indicators: reflections on the experience of the Agency for the Italian Regional Health System (ASSR)
No full textAmplified in situ hybridization with peptide nucleic acid probes for differentiation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and nontuberculous Mycobacterium species on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded archival biopsy and autopsy samples
No full textThe aim of this study was to evaluate sensitivity and specificity of in situ hybridization (ISH) using peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes and tyramide-based
amplification for the differentiation between Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and mycobacteria other than tuberculosis (MOTT) on formalin-fixed,
paraffin-embedded tissue samples. We performed ISH simultaneously with both
probes on 86 specimens from different organs: 70 obtained at autopsy and 16 by
biopsy, all with a histologic evidence of mycobacterial infection confirmed by
Ziehl-Neelsen-positive staining. Taking culture as the "gold standard," the
sensitivity and the specificity of the MTB probe were 100% (41/41) and 95%
(38/40), respectively. In only 2 cases ISH failed to identify mycobacteria.
Culture results were not available in 3 cases. We propose ISH as a relatively
simple and rapid method to differentiate mycobacteria on formalin-fixed,
paraffin-embedded specimens (it is more specific than usual histologic stains)
and as an alternative to polymerase chain reaction, allowing the morphologic
evaluation of positive bacilli
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