1,721,012 research outputs found
Letter to the editor re: Dragani et al. (2018), 'Malignant mesothelioma diagnosed at a younger age is associated with heavier asbestos exposure'
No full textNo abstract availabl
Occupational medicine and Total Worker Health®: from preventing health and safety risks in the workplace to promoting health for the total well-being of the worker
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of Public Health interventions for global social and economic development. Still, the community’s well-being depends on each individual ’s health. In addition to pandemics, health conditions can be altered by chronic degenerative diseases, aging, disabilities, and work. Personal behaviors such as poor nutrition, lack of physical activity, tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption, and drug use can also affect health and safety at work. In the last twenty years, we have witnessed rapid changes in the nature of work, workplace and workforce. In parallel, there is increasing attention to fatigue, psychosocial risks and the achievement of decent, sustainable and healthy work as societal goals. Consequently, in 2011, NIOSH developed Total Worker Health®, a holistic approach to worker well-being to help improve worker health and safety. More recently, in Italy, the Ministry of Health has provided for the preparation of projects according to the “Total Worker Health (TWH)” approach in the National Prevention Plan for the five years 2020-2025. As indicated by the Ministry, the strategic role of the occupational physician is fundamental, being the only figure of occupational safety and health professionals able to integrate the health and safety of workers with their well-being to reach the Total Worker Health
Increased concentration of circulating acid glycosaminoglycans in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and essential thrombocytaemia
No full textTo verify whether the increase in the number of circulating blood cells that synthesize glycosaminoglycans, B-lymphocytes or platelets, in proliferative disorders, may be associated with changes in the circulation of acid glycosaminoglycans, the serum and plasma concentrations of these polysaccharides have been measured in terms of their sugar components, following isolation and purification by chromatographic methods, in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia or with essential thrombocythaemia and in healthy controls. In the patients, the concentrations of total circulating glycosaminoglycans and of both glucosamine-containing and galactosamine-containing serum glycosaminoglycans were significantly higher than in controls. These concentrations did not significantly correlate with the number of lymphocytes in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and of platelets in patients with essential thrombocythaemia. Analytical data suggest that excess glycosaminoglycans are mainly composed of chondroitin sulphate molecules and contain heparan sulphate structure
Epigenetic effects of benzene in hematologic neoplasms: The altered gene expression
Full text linkBenzene carcinogenic ability has been reported, and chronic exposure to benzene can be one of the risk elements for solid cancers and hematological neoplasms. Benzene is acknowledged as a myelotoxin, and it is able to augment the risk for the onset of acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, aplastic anemia, and lymphomas. Possible mechanisms of benzene initiation of hematological tumors have been identified, as a genotoxic effect, an action on oxidative stress and inflammation and the provocation of immunosuppression. However, it is becoming evident that genetic alterations and the other causes are insufficient to fully justify several phenomena that influence the onset of hematologic malignancies. Acquired epigenetic alterations may participate with benzene leukemogenesis, as benzene may affect nuclear receptors, and provoke post-translational alterations at the protein level, thereby touching the function of regulatory proteins, comprising oncoproteins and tumor suppressor proteins. DNA hypomethylation correlates with stimulation of oncogenes, while the hypermethylation of CpG islands in promoter regions of specific tumor suppressor genes inhibits their transcription and stimulates the onset of tumors. The discovery of the systems of epigenetic induction of benzene-caused hematological tumors has allowed the possibility to operate with pharmacological interventions able of stopping or overturning the negative effects of benzene
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Occupational exposure to low levels of benzene: biomarkers of exposure, effect and susceptibility.
No full textAbstract
It is accepted that for toxicity to occur, benzene must be bioactivated to metabolites, some of which induce reactive oxygen species that can produce DNA strand breaks and other cytogenetic effects. The aim of this study was to identify useful biomarkers of exposure and effect in workers exposed to low levels of benzene, and to evaluate possible correlations between these parameters.
The study consisted of petrochemical operators and non-exposed controls. Benzene exposure was measured with personal samples (Radiello®). End-shift urine samples were collected for benzene, t,t-muconic acid (t,t-MA) ans S-phenylmercapturic acid (S-PMA) measurement. Blood samples were obtained and lymphocytes were isolated for comet-DNA damage, DNA oxidation (Fpg-and Endo III-sensitive sites), DNA-repair studies and glutathione (GSH) levels. Exfoliated buccal cells, obtained by non-invasive procedure, were considered for monitoring cytogenetic damage, with micronucleus (MN) analysis.
Environmental data showed low benzene exposure of petrochemical operators (9.2 ppb), but significantly higher compared to controls (p = 0.004). Among urinary metabolites, only benzene was significantly high in exposed workers (p = 0.005). Workers showed an increase of comet-DNA oxidation (Fpg) and significant decrease of DNA-repair capacity (-35%) compared to controls. Lymphocyte GSH was significant decreased in exposed (p = 0.036). DNA damage and DNA-base oxidation were significantly correlated with years- and benzene-exposure. A trend of negative correlations were between GSH and DNA damage or DNA-base oxidation (Fpg and Endo III). Exfoliated buccal cells showed significant increase in MN frequency in workers compared to controls (p = 0.0026).
The genotoxic effects induced by benzene at low-level of exposure can be detected with suitable and sensitive biomarkers as the standard and modified comet and the MN assay. Additionally, the buccal cells result to be sensitive targets and useful to study early genotoxic effects in workers exposed to inhaled chemical substances, also at low doses
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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