A Survey on Knowledge, Prevention, and Occurrence of Sexually Transmitted Infections among Freshmen from Four Italian Universities

Background. The peak of sexually transmitted infections (STI) among adolescents/young adults suggests a low level of prevention. In order to assess whether the level of sexual health education (SHE), received by several channels, was effective at improving sexual behaviors, we conducted a survey among freshmen from four Italian universities. Methods. This observational cross-sectional study was carried out with an anonymous self-reported paper questionnaire, administered during teaching lectures to university freshmen of the northern (Padua, Bergamo, and Milan campuses) and southern (Palermo campus) parts of the country. Knowledge of STI (a linear numerical score), knowledge of STI prevention (dichotomous variable: yes vs. no) and previous STI occurrence (polytomous variable: "no"; "don't know"; "yes") were the outcomes in the statistical analysis. Results. The final number of freshmen surveyed was 4552 (97.9% response rate). The mean age of respondents was 21.4 ± 2.2 years and most of them (70.3%) were females. A total of 60% of students were in a stable romantic relationship. Only 28% respondents knew the most effective methods to prevent STI (i.e., condom and sexual abstinence), with a slightly higher prevalence of correct answers among females (31.3%) than males (25.8%). Students with history of STIs were 5.1%; they reported referring mostly to their general practitioner (GP) (38.1%) rather than discussing the problem with their partner (13.1%). At multivariable analysis, a significantly higher level of STI knowledge was observed in older students (25+ years of age), biomedical students, and those from a non-nuclear family; lower levels were found among students of the University of Palermo, and those who completed a vocational secondary school education. Those who had less knowledge about the most effective tools to prevent STIs included males, students from the University of Palermo, students registered with educational sciences, economics/political sciences, those of foreign nationality, and those whose fathers had lower educational levels. The risk of contracting a STI was significantly lower only in students not in a stable relationship (relative risk ratio, RRR = 0.67; 95% confidence interval, 95%CI = 0.48; 0.94), whereas such risk was significantly higher in students with higher STI knowledge (RRR = 1.15; 95%CI = 1.08; 1.22). Discussion and Conclusions. University freshmen investigated in this study had poor knowledge of STIs and their prevention. Unexpectedly, those with higher levels of knowledge had an increased risk of STIs. There have been no educational interventions-with good quality and long-term follow-ups-that increased the confidence that such SHE programs could have population level effects. A new high-quality study is therefore recommended to assess the effectiveness of an intervention generating behavioral changes; increasing only STI knowledge may not be sufficient

qualitative thermal characterization and cooling of lithium batteries for electric vehicles

The paper deals with the cooling of batteries. The first step was the thermal characterization of a single cell of the module, which consists in the detection of the thermal field by means of thermographic tests during electric charging and discharging. The purpose was to identify possible critical hot points and to evaluate the cooling demand during the normal operation of an electric car. After that, a study on the optimal configuration to obtain the flattening of the temperature profile and to avoid hot points was executed. An experimental plant for cooling capacity evaluation of the batteries, using air as cooling fluid, was realized in our laboratory in ENEA Casaccia. The plant is designed to allow testing at different flow rate and temperatures of the cooling air, useful for the assessment of operative thermal limits in different working conditions. Another experimental facility was built to evaluate the thermal behaviour changes with water as cooling fluid. Experimental tests were carried out on the LiFePO4 batteries, under different electric working conditions using the two loops. In the future, different type of batteries will be tested and the influence of various parameters on the heat transfer will be assessed for possible optimal operative solutions

Universal newborn hearing screening in the italian region of sicily in 2018

Objectives. We have clarified the role of Universal Neonatal Hearing Screening (UNHS) for both early diagnosis and rapid treatment in order to improve the prognosis of the deaf child and reduce patient management costs. Although in Sicily UNHS has been progres-sively implemented, there is scarce data in the literature on this matter. Therefore, the main objective was to collect in the year 2018 the following data: number of newborns screened for hearing loss, number of infants “referred” to transiently evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE), number of infants with pathologic auditory brainstem response (ABR) and number of infants affected by permanent hearing loss. Methods. UNHS monitoring was conducted through the collection of data through a ques-tionnaire, which was analysed evaluating the effectiveness and adherence to the screening program prepared by the Department for Health Activities and the Epidemiological Obser-vatory (DASOE). Results. In 2018, there were 40,243 newborns in Sicily. A total of 37,562 newborns were screened (93.3%). There were 1,328 “referred” infants with TEOAE (3.5%). On the 2nd lev-el, “referred” newborns examined were 1,080 of 1,328 expected (missing 248 “refer” new-borns, equal to 18.6%). The number of “referred” infants confirmed with TEOAE was 113 of 1,080, while “referred” infants confirmed with ABR were 71. On the 3rd level, 67 of 71 were infants examined: 28 infants were suffering from monolateral hearing loss (13 slight/ mild, 13 moderate, 1 severe and 1 profound) and 39 from bilateral hearing loss (1slight/ mild, 19 moderate, 13 severe and 7 profound). Excluding 7 infants from the NICU, 60 of 37,562 infants had hearing loss (1.5%). Conclusions. The monitoring of the UNHS in Sicily has allowed obtaining the data of individual centres, absent in the literature to date, to verify the effectiveness of the screening, according to JCIH criteria, to highlight some criticalities and, finally, to propose possible solutions

A.R.GO. “Analisi delle Risorse umane per una azione di Governance”. Il fabbisogno formativo rilevato nell’area del Medio Basento e della Montagna Materana

Il rapporto tratta deklle caratteristiche socioeconomiche dell’area della collina materana in provincia di Matera, con particolare riferimento alla struttura demografica, a quella occupazionale e produttiva. Successivamente sono ripresi i temi di principale interesse presenti all’interno dei documenti della programmazione a livello locale, anche in relazione a quelli che possono essere gli ambiti più idonei su cui calibrare gli interventi formativi. Il rapporto si conclude con la proposta di intervento formativo, che oltre a basarsi sull’analisi degli indicatori di struttura dell’area, prende spunto dai focus group che hanno preceduto la stesura del rapporto, immaginati nell’ottica della migliore comprensione dei fabbisogni formativi espressi dagli operatori locali. Il rapporto è stato redatto nell'ambito dell'attività dell GAL LE MACINE nell’ambito del programma LEADER + 2000-2006

Thematic Overview:Fighting the immeasurable? Addressing the phenomenon of undeclared work in the European Union: Italy

Undeclared work and the hidden economy has been a constant feature of the Italian economic system. The phenomenon is not confined to the weaker economic areas, being spread throughout the national territory. The issue takes on a particular importance in these less developed areas, namely in the south, because these areas display the highest rates of unemployment and the lowest rates of economic activity. This observation is reinforced by the fact that, in the present phase, the largest share of informal work is found in economic sectors producing the lowest value-added: agriculture and construction. These are key sectors of activity for many regions of southern Italy, and have always been characterised by precarious contracts and seasonal work, and the low-skilled services (personal services, tourism and, more generally, commerce). Undeclared work is present, but to a lower degree, also in the manufacturing sector and in craft production

Proposal for an integrated safety and security management system for Seveso plants

After the critical facts of the 11th of September 2001 and some more recent which occurred both in some facilities and pipelines determined by terrorist attacks, industrial vision of safety for industrial plants, and Risk Analysis has changed and has new duties to consider. Aspects and problems concerning security must be included in the overall safety analysis path, and evaluation of the threats and new parameters as attractiveness, vulnerability and reachability of a target – assumed as centre of danger: storages, process unit, transport and convey units – must be included in the definition of the risk for the plant unit. For some plant, both for those of large multinational company, security is now a key priority. This paper proposes an approach for implementing a Safety and Security Management System (SSMS) taking into account all the characteristics required for Safety Management Systems as indicated in the 82/501/CE Directive also known as Seveso III.Anew overall parameter is introduced to estimate the criticality of a target considering different parameters as its vulnerability, attractiveness, reachability and worst-case scenario approach (intentional attacks are considered to produce catastrophic scenarios involving all the confined substance of a unit or storage). The procedure presents an easy implementation by knowing the main results of risk analysis. It is also possible to give gross evaluations even without knowing the results of risk analysis contained in the Safety Report, a mandatory requirement for dangerous plants. This short-cut evaluation provides useful information for ranking interventions and countermeasures, and to focus on security items within the plant. The SSMS is conceived with a PDCA approach (including the ISO 14001:2004, ISO 16017 and OHSAS 18001:1999 schemes), it includes the organizational structure and all the process and resources for determining and implementing the major accident prevention policy considering both the safety and the security issues. This paper is intended to analyze and give methods to build a SSMS including methods for the identification and evaluation of major hazards, to improve the operation control and the active monitoring of the attractive targets. A test case will be presented and an application of the method will show the importance of the results achieved and the real possibilities of application and integration with SMS of Seveso plant