Health surveillance for former asbestos exposed worker: a specific programme developed in an Italian region

Asbestos-related diseases usually have a long latency since first exposure and this legitimates a health surveillance programme addressed to asbestos workers after the cessation of their occupational exposure. After a brief history of health surveillance initiatives performed in Italy as well as in other countries, we describe a regional programme for former asbestos-exposed workers, focusing on organizational features. A regional group of experts defined its operational and economical aspects. The Regional Council supported the whole programme, making it free of charge for all subjects who fulfil the predefined enrolment criteria (being resident in the region, being younger than 80 years old with cessation of occupational asbestos exposure within the last 30 years). The programme activities are classified in two levels: a first level for a basic health evaluation and a second level for in-depth analyses. In order to guarantee an homogeneous delivery in the whole region, the programme has to be performed by public health services with a quality control of activities. The involvement of specific public health services and the cooperation of social stakeholders are expected to play a major role in overcoming still open critical issues, such as the lack of programme existence awareness and adhesion, the correct stratification of subjects for the follow-up, and the real homogeneous delivery of the health surveillance in whole region

Continuing research on the Syriac Galen Palimpsest:Collaborative Implementation within the Framework of Two European Projects

International audienc

Sviluppo di tecniche di simulazione eterogenea funzionale e numerica applicate all’ingegneria di sistemi aeronautici

Questo studio illustra l’impiego del ‘Model Based Systems Engineering’ (MBSE), in cui strumenti di modellazione funzionale si integrano con modelli numerici, da tempo impiegati in progettazione, per la realizzazione di sistemi complessi. E’ analizzato un sistema antighiaccio aeronautico, sviluppato nell’ambito del progetto ‘CRYSTAL’. L’obiettivo è stato raggiunto collegando il gestore di requisiti IBM DOORS®, IBM RHAPSODY®, che opera in ambiente SysML, e SIMULINK® o DYMOLA®. L’interoperabilità è stata garantita dallo standard di connessione Functional Mock–up Interface (FMI), che ha permesso di validare il processo realizzando la cosiddetta ‘simulazione eterogenea’ di modelli funzionali e numerici integrati

Health surveillance for former asbestos exposed worker: a specific programme developed in an Italian region

Asbestos-related diseases usually have a long latency since first exposure and this legitimates a health surveillance programme addressed to asbestos workers after the cessation of their occupational exposure. After a brief history of health surveillance initiatives performed in Italy as well as in other countries, we describe a regional programme for former asbestos-exposed workers, focusing on organizational features. A regional group of experts defined its operational and economical aspects. The Regional Council supported the whole programme, making it free of charge for all subjects who fulfil the predefined enrolment criteria (being resident in the region, being younger than 80 years old with cessation of occupational asbestos exposure within the last 30 years). The programme activities are classified in two levels: a first level for a basic health evaluation and a second level for in-depth analyses. In order to guarantee an homogeneous delivery in the whole region, the programme has to be performed by public health services with a quality control of activities. The involvement of specific public health services and the cooperation of social stakeholders are expected to play a major role in overcoming still open critical issues, such as the lack of programme existence awareness and adhesion, the correct stratification of subjects for the follow-up, and the real homogeneous delivery of the health surveillance in whole region

La sindrome disesecutiva nel Mild Cognitive Impairment: aspetti clinici e possibilità riabilitative

Le disfunzioni esecutive sembrerebbero coinvolte nella progressione dal mild cognitive impairment (MCI) alla malattia di Alzheimer (AD). La Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) costituisce uno strumento rapido e affidabile per studiare le funzioni esecutive ma raramente è stata utilizzata nel MCI. Scopo del presente lavoro è di esaminare con la FAB le funzioni esecutive in un gruppo di soggetti con MCI amnestico (aMCI) al fine di evidenziare precoci alterazioni e programmare un intervento ribilitativo mirato.Disorders of executive funcctions may involve in the conversion of mild cognitve impairment to Alzheimer desease. The Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) is considered a quick and reliable tool to explore the executive functions but it is not often used in MCI. In this study we examined esecutive functions in aMCI group using the FAB to show early alterations and to the aim to program a specific training

Plasmonic Scattering by Metal Nanoparticles for Solar Cells

We investigate absorption and scattering from metal nanoparticles in view of possible applications to photovoltaic cells. The analysis, accounting for most of the parameters involved in the physical mechanism of scattering, is split into two parts. In the first part, scattering from a metallic sphere is treated analytically to investigate the dependence on sphere size, sphere metal, and surrounding medium. In the second part, scattering from a metallic particle is investigated as a function of particle shape (spheroids, hemispheres and cylinders) via numerical simulations based on the Finite-Difference-Time-Domain (FDTD) method. Aim of the work is to provide a systematic study on scattering and absorption by metal nanoparticles, exploring several combinations of material and geometrical parameters to identify those combinations that could play a key role in solar cell efficiency improvement

Morfometria delle strutture del tronco encefalico in pazienti affetti da atassia spino-cerebellare tipo 2 (SCA 2): indicatore diagnostico e riabilitativo?

Nel nostro studio abbiamo esaminato le strutture del tronco encefalico con la RMN morfometrica in pazienti con SCA2 e ne abbiamo analizzato le relazioni con l’aspetto clinico. I pazienti con SCA2 mostravano una riduzione dell’area del ponte e dei peduncoli cerebellari medi rispetto ai controlli, ma un’area mesencefalica simile. L’area del ponte era inversamente correlata al numero di triplette CAG e direttamente correlata all’età di esordio della malattia. I nostri risultati indicano che la RMN morfometrica è uno strumento utile per determinare il grado di atrofia delle strutture del tronco encefalico nella SCA2.We examined the structures of brainstem with MRI voxel-based morphometry in patients with Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) and investigated the relationships with clinical findings. SCA2 patients had significant smaller area of the pons as compared to controls, but similar midbrain area. Concerning the cerebellar peduncles, MCP was more involved than SCP in SCA2 patients. Area of the pons was inversely correlated to CAG repeats and directly correlated to the age at onset. Our results indicate that MRI morphometric analysis is a useful tool to assess atrophy of brainstem stuctures in SCA2 subjects

Approccio clinico e possibilità di trattamento nella SLA

Il seguente lavoro sottolinea l’importanza di un approccio multidisciplinare alla SLA, malattia degenerativa ad esito infausto. Viene rimarcato l’importanza del lavoro integrato tra le figure professionali che giocano un ruolo centrale nella gestione del paziente.This study underlines the importance of a multidisciplinar approach to SLA. The role of an integrated equipe is fundamental in the management of the patients with SLA