1,720,969 research outputs found
Validità Preditiva di un test di screening per l'acuità visiva e la visione binoculare
No full textDETERMINAIONE DELL'ACRILONITRILE URINARIO TRAMITE MICROESTRAZIONE IN FASE SOLIDA ACCOPPIATA ALLA GASCROMATOGRAFIA/SPETTROMETRIA DI MASSA
No full textdeterminazione dell'acrilonitrile urinario tramite microestrazione in fase solida accoppiata alla gascromatografia/spettrometria di massa
No full textDeterminazione dell’acrilonitrile urinario tramite microestrazione in fase solida accoppiata alla gascromatografia/spettrometria di massa
No full textNEUROBEHAVIORAL AND NEUROENDOCRINE EFFECTS OF OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO PERCHLOROETHYLENE
No full textThe hypothesis that long-term low-level exposure to perchloroethylene (PERC) may impair the dopaminergic control of prolactin (PRL) secretion and negatively affect neurobehavioral performance, was tested in a cross-sectional survey of dry-cleaners. Sixty female workers exposed to PERC in dry-cleaning shops and thirty controls recruited in a cleaning plant not using solvents were examined. PERC air concentration during four-hour random periods varied from 1 to 67 ppm (median 15 ppm). PERC blood levels ranged 12 - 864 mg/l (median 145 mg/l). A set of tests from a computer-based performance evaluation system was administered, including Finger Tapping with both dominant and non-dominant hands, Simple Reaction Times, Digit Symbol, and Shape Comparison in two different versions constructed to test Vigilance and the response to moderate stress, respectively. During the proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle, PERC-exposed workers showed increased serum PRL (12.1 +/- 6.7 ng/ml) as compared to their matched controls (7.4 +/- 3.1 ng/ml, p < 0.001). Prolonged reaction times were also observed in all tests. However, neither the duration of exposure nor air and blood PERC concentrations were significantly correlated with performance. Nor were exposure variables associated with the increased PRL levels
ENDOCRINE EFFECTS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS ASSOCIATED WITH NEURO-BEHAVIORAL PERFORMANCE TESTING
No full textNeurobehavioral effects of manganese in workers from a ferroalloy plant aftertemporary cessation of exposure.
No full textRisk factors for latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in health profession’s students of the University of Parma
No full textBackground and aim of the work: Nowadays Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major Public Health problems for several professional categories. According to Italian law, University students are compared to workers: the main risk for them is represented by biological risk, in particular by blood-transmitted or by air-transmitted agents. As for TB, many scientific studies demonstrated that prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in Medicine and Surgery students was lower than those in health workers and in general population. The main aim of this study is the evaluation both of reliability and predictive value of a specific anamnestic questionnaire for previous exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, in order to identify individuals at risk for TB. The Mantoux Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) would be executed to compare results of questionnaire. Methods: The study included Health Profession’s Degrees who were examinated during health surveillance in the period between June 2014 and March 2016. A questionnaire including 10 closed questions was presented to every student. The questionnaire was considerated positive with at least one positive answer. Results: The questionnaire was presented to 580 students, 500 of which completed TST; 466 students were Italian (93.2%). Questionnaire resulted positive in 89 students (17.8%); 15 of them presented positive TST: 14 of them was strangers (93.3%). Sensibility and specificity of questionnaire resulted 100% and 84% respectively. Conclusions: Our data suggested that anamnestic questionnaire could be considerated an efficient mean for identifying candidates for tuberculin screening in a TB- low prevalence population
Occupational Hazards in Veterinarians: An Updating
Full text linkBackground: The veterinarian is a complex and varied work: risks in veterinary activity show are more typical of manual work than medical profession. Many reviews analyzed occupational risks related to veterinarians, but compared to the past current risks are more different. This review analyzes veterinary profession considering main occupational risk factors, as defined by World Health Organization: physical, chemical, biological or other agents that may cause harm to an exposed person in the workplace and is potentially modifiable.
Methods: Publications investigating physical, chemical, biological, cancer and stress risk as well as effects associated with these exposures through veterinary practice were searched in the PubMed and Web of Science database. Publications were judged to be covered in the review when the following inclusion criteria applied:
Articles should be published in the English language;
Articles published after 2000;
Studies reporting some numerical data about exposures and subjects considered;
Studies concerning health effects regarding only veterinarians associated with exposure to animals, not general population.
Results: Compared to the past, when the main risk of occupational disease was represented by zoonosis (in particular mycotic infections, mange, swine erysipelas, anthrax and tuberculosis), current risks are also represented by new entities such as mental and physical stress. However injuries, radiations, chemicals, zoonosis and allergies continue to represent a considerable portion of professional risks.
Conclusions: Zoonosis, injuries and trauma remain the main occupational risk for veterinarians today, but new emerging risks, such as psychological risks are becoming increasingly important for these workers
Lymphocyte subpopulations in workers exposed occupationally to styrene
No full textIn a group of 32 workers occupationally exposed to styrene, the distribution of lymphocyte subsets was investigated by automated flow cytometry. The group under study consisted of 22 male and 10 female workers aged 39.7, D.S. = 10 years and employed for 6.8 years in factories manufacturing glass fibre-reinforced plastics. A control group (12 males and 7 females) recruited according to the same selection criteria was simultaneously examined. Environmental and biological monitoring was used to characterize styrene exposure. In styrene-exposed workers, phenotypic analysis of peripheral blood revealed a reduced proportion of T helper lymphocytes and a relative increase in the T suppressor subset, leading to a significant inversion of the helper/suppressor ratio (0.92) among heavily exposed workers (greater than 50 ppm, 8h-TWA) as compared to less exposed workers and controls (1.37 and 1.43 respectively). The proportion of natural killer (NK) T lymphocytes was significantly increased among styrene workers. The proportion of B lymphocytes was unchanged as compared to the control group. Dose-response relationships were clearly apparent for the observed increases in the prevalence of abnormalities: none of control subjects showed more than 2 (out of 8) abnormal values as compared to 20 and 40% of styrene workers belonging respectively to the low and high exposure group (p less than 0.007). Only a minority of controls exhibited abnormally high levels of both NK and suppressor T lymphocytes (0-5%), the corresponding figures for styrene workers being 7-10% (low exposure) and 45% (high exposure). As a whole, the findings support the hypothesis of the immunotoxicity of styrene, which could be due either to direct effects on lymphocytes or to indirect mechanisms possibly mediated by neuroendocrine change
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