Non-carcinogenic occupational exposure risk related to foundry emissions: focus on the workers involved in olfactometric assessments.

The scope of this work is the evaluation of the non-carcinogenic occupational risk related to foundry emissions, focusing on the category of workers involved in olfactometric assessments. Odor pollution from industrial activities such as foundries is a serious environmental concern. Sensorial techniques (e.g. dynamic olfactometry, EN13725:2003) currently represent the preferred method for odor emission characterization. During olfactometric analyses, human assessors are directly exposed to the odor at increasing concentrations, thus requiring the assessment of the associated exposure risk to guarantee workers' safety. This paper presents an investigation aiming to produce an inventory of compounds emitted from foundries together with their odor thresholds and toxicological limits (TLVs), with the final objective to propose a procedure for ensuring workers' safety during olfactometric analyses. Looking at the database resulting from this study, among the >100 compounds emitted by foundries, 8 have a maximum concentration above their TLV. Among those, ammonia, H2S, phenol, toluene and trimethylamine, produce an odor stimulus before they reach a toxic concentration, thus not representing a risk for olfactometric workers. Benzene, formaldehyde and SO2 are identified as the most critical compounds because they may reach toxic concentrations in foundry emissions, and they start being perceived by humans above their TLV. The proposed procedure entails a minimum dilution factor of 27'000 to be applied to odor samples analyzed by olfactometry, which however might result inapplicable in practical cases, thus pointing out the necessity to adopt chemical measurements to investigate specifically the concentration of the most critical compounds identified in this study

Le pari opportunità in Regione Emilia-Romagna nella prospettiva dell’ECG

Questo breve saggio è l’esito del corso di Alta Formazione in “Sviluppo di Competenze di Governance per l’Educazione alla Cittadinanza globale” svolto presso l’Università di Bologna nel semestre ottobre 2023 – marzo 2024 e della visita esplorativa realizzata il 31 gennaio 2024 da parte di due funzionarie della Regione Emilia-Romagna, presso l’Area dedicata alle Pari Opportunità, impegnata in attività di Educazione alla Cittadinanza globale. La visita ha permesso di sviluppare utili considerazioni su elementi chiave per costruire percorsi di Educazione alla Cittadinanza globale, con implicazioni anche sul piano organizzativo

A genetic algorithm optimized fractal model to predict the constriction resistance from surface roughness measurements

The electrical contact resistance greatly influences the thermal behavior of substation connectors and other electrical equipment. During the design stage of such electrical devices, it is essential to accurately predict the contact resistance to achieve an optimal thermal behavior, thus ensuring contact stability and extended service life. This paper develops a genetic algorithm (GA) approach to determine the optimal values of the parameters of a fractal model of rough surfaces to accurately predict the measured value of the surface roughness. This GA-optimized fractal model provides an accurate prediction of the contact resistance when the electrical and mechanical properties of the contacting materials, surface roughness, contact pressure, and apparent area of contact are known. Experimental results corroborate the usefulness and accuracy of the proposed approach. Although the proposed model has been validated for substation connectors, it can also be applied in the design stage of many other electrical equipments.Postprint (author's final draft

High intensity interval training does not have compensatory effects on physical activity levels in older adults

Exercise has beneficial effects on older adults, but controversy surrounds the purported "compensatory effects" that training may have on total daily physical activity and energy expenditure in the elderly. We wanted to determine whether 8 weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) induced such effects on physical activity and energy expenditure in healthy, active older adult men

ASCs-exosomes recover coupling efficiency and mitochondrial membrane potential in an in vitro model of ALS

The amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motoneurons death. Mutations in the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) protein have been identified to be related to the disease. Beyond the different altered pathways, the mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the major features that leads to the selective death of motoneurons in ALS. The NSC-34 cell line, overexpressing human SOD1(G93A) mutant protein [NSC-34(G93A)], is considered an optimal in vitro model to study ALS. Here we investigated the energy metabolism in NSC-34(G93A) cells and in particular the effect of the mutated SOD1(G93A) protein on the mitochondrial respiratory capacity (complexes I-IV) by high resolution respirometry (HRR) and cytofluorimetry. We demonstrated that NSC-34(G93A) cells show a reduced mitochondrial oxidative capacity. In particular, we found significant impairment of the complex I-linked oxidative phosphorylation, reduced efficiency of the electron transfer system (ETS) associated with a higher rate of dissipative respiration, and a lower membrane potential. In order to rescue the effect of the mutated SOD1 gene on mitochondria impairment, we evaluated the efficacy of the exosomes, isolated from adipose-derived stem cells, administrated on the NSC-34(G93A) cells. These data show that ASCs-exosomes are able to restore complex I activity, coupling efficiency and mitochondrial membrane potential. Our results improve the knowledge about mitochondrial bioenergetic defects directly associated with the SOD1(G93A) mutation, and prove the efficacy of adipose-derived stem cells exosomes to rescue the function of mitochondria, indicating that these vesicles could represent a valuable approach to target mitochondrial dysfunction in ALS

Time evolution of restless legs syndrome in haemodialysis patients

Abstract Background Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is characterized by an urge to move the extremities, accompanied by paraesthesiae, in the evening and at night. Uraemic RLS, a type of secondary RLS, occurs commonly in chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease. Progression of uraemic RLS over time is unclear. Therefore we investigated the prevalence, progression over time, risk factors and impact on survival of uraemic RLS in a cohort of dialysis patients. Methods We reviewed at the 7-year follow-up a cohort of haemodialysis (HD) patients we had previously investigated for RLS, through interviews, validated questionnaires and analysis of demographic and clinical data. Results At the 7-year follow-up, RLS was present in 16% of patients, with a persistence rate of 33%. A correlation was obtained between RLS and older age, diabetes, low albumin and low body mass index. RLS was associated with reduced overall survival (median survival of 3.3 versus 3.7 years), particularly with the continuous form of RLS (1.61 years). There was a higher incidence of myocardial infarction and peripheral vascular disease, although not reaching statistical significance. RLS patients had absolute higher scores in all quality of life domains. A large majority of study patients (96%) reported being symptom-free within a few days or weeks following kidney transplantation. Conclusions The development of RLS, especially the continuous form, in patients undergoing HD has important consequences associated with decreased survival. Our results indicated an association between uraemic RLS and ageing, diabetes and malnutrition. Considerable efforts should be focused on the treatment of RLS, since it significantly and persistently impacts the quality of life of HD patients. Kidney transplantation could represent an effective treatment option for that RLS impacts on dialysis patients' quality of life, thus confirming the secondary nature of RLS in most HD patients

Avoidable blindness and value based healthcare: more value with a population approach

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Dirección estratégica y modelos de negocio

EnsayoUn modelo de negocio se da como la forma en que las empresas llevan a cabo su actividad. En el área de administración existe una tendencia generalizada de establecer las características que deben tener un buen modelo de negocio con respecto a uno deficiente. Con lo cual, en este ensayo buscamos mostrar los diferentes modelos que existen y que se pueden adaptar a cada empresa.Introducción 1. Concepto de modelo de negocio 2. Ítems para la evaluación de los modelos de negocios 3. Relación entre modelos de negocios y la dirección estratégica 4. Enfoques de lineamientos estratégicos 5. Lineamientos para una correcta definición de un modelo de negocio 6. Conclusión 7. BibliografíaEspecializaciónEspecialista en Análisis y Administración Financier

Right- vs. left-sided metastatic colorectal cancer: Differences in tumor biology and bevacizumab efficacy

There is evidence of a different response to treatment with regard to the primary tumor localization (right-sided or left-sided) in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). We analyzed the different outcomes and biomolecular characteristics in relation to tumor localization in 122 of the 370 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer enrolled onto the phase III prospective multicenter “Italian Trial in Advanced Colorectal Cancer (ITACa)”, randomized to receive first-line chemotherapy (CT) or CT plus bevacizumab (CT + B). RAS and BRAF mutations; baseline expression levels of circulating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2), ephrin type-B receptor 4 (EPHB4), hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP); and inflammatory indexes such as the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-lymphocyte rate and systemic immune-inflammation index were evaluated. Patients with right-sided tumors showed a longer median progression-free survival in the CT + B arm than in the CT group (12.6 vs. 9.0 months, respectively, p = 0.017). Baseline inflammatory indexes were significantly higher in left-sided tumors, whereas eNOS and EPHB4 expression was significantly higher and BRAF mutation more frequent in right-sided tumors. Our data suggest a greater efficacy of the CT + B combination in right-sided mCRC, which might be attributable to the lower inflammatory status and higher expression of pro-angiogenic factors that appear to characterize these tumors