Low cadmium concentration in whole blood from residents of Northern Sardinia (Italy) with special reference to smoking habits

Introduction. The present study was initiated to investigate the cadmium concentrations in whole blood of Northern Sardinian, non-occupationally exposed adult subjects. Sardinia is a large Italian island which differs genetically and environmentally from other mainland Italian areas. Methods. Two hundred and forty-three adults (157 females and 86 males) were selected in the study area from subjects who were undergoing blood collection for laboratory analysis during the period January 2005-May 2005. Whole blood was analysed by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometer equipped with a Zeeman-effect background corrector (Perkin Elmer ZL5100) and an auto sampler. The adopted analytical procedure uses the Stabilized Platform Temperature Furnace (STPF) technique. Results. The mean value of Blood Cadmium Concentration (BCdC), expressed as Geometric Mean, was 0.32 mg/l (CI 95%: 0.31-0.34 mg/l) significantly ranging from 0.27 mg/l (CI 95%: 0.26-0.29 mg/l) in non-smokers to 0.34 mg/l (CI 95%: 0.30-0.39 mg/l) in ex-smokers up to 0.47 mg/l (CI 95%: 0.42-0.53 mg/l) in smokers (p inf. 0.0001). Discussion. The results show that BCdC levels in Northern Sar- dinian non-occupationally exposed adults are lower than levels found in many other regions, including those within Italy. Nev- ertheless, similar values have been detected in other European countries and cities. Conclusions. In relation to other reports in which data were analysed by strata for smoking habit and age, we found similar BCdC values among non smokers. However, Sardinian smokers seem to show lower levels of blood cadmium

The genetic architecture of membranous nephropathy and its potential to improve non-invasive diagnosis

Membranous Nephropathy (MN) is a rare autoimmune cause of kidney failure. Here we report a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for primary MN in 3,782 cases and 9,038 controls of East Asian and European ancestries. We discover two previously unreported loci, NFKB1 (rs230540, OR = 1.25, P = 3.4 × 10-12) and IRF4 (rs9405192, OR = 1.29, P = 1.4 × 10-14), fine-map the PLA2R1 locus (rs17831251, OR = 2.25, P = 4.7 × 10-103) and report ancestry-specific effects of three classical HLA alleles: DRB1*1501 in East Asians (OR = 3.81, P = 2.0 × 10-49), DQA1*0501 in Europeans (OR = 2.88, P = 5.7 × 10-93), and DRB1*0301 in both ethnicities (OR = 3.50, P = 9.2 × 10-23 and OR = 3.39, P = 5.2 × 10-82, respectively). GWAS loci explain 32% of disease risk in East Asians and 25% in Europeans, and correctly re-classify 20-37% of the cases in validation cohorts that are antibody-negative by the serum anti-PLA2R ELISA diagnostic test. Our findings highlight an unusual genetic architecture of MN, with four loci and their interactions accounting for nearly one-third of the disease risk

Architettura Città e Paesaggio. Il progetto urbano per il quartiere Sant'Elia a Cagliari

Il testo raccoglie alcuni studi e proposte progettuali per il rinnovo del quartiere di edilizia sociale "Sant'Elia" a Cagliari sviluppate tra gli anni 2007 e 2009. Le attività di ricerca e di progetto, volute dalla giunta regionale sarda guidata da Renato Soru, si sono avvalse dei contributi del Dipartimento di Architettura dell'Università degli Studi di Cagliari, del Dipartimento di Architettura e Pianificazione della Facoltà di Architettura e Società del Politecnico di Milano e dello studio olandese OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) di Rem Koolhaas. Il volume - introdotto da un contributo del prof. Enrico A. Corti e da una campagna fotografica dell'arch. Davide Virdis - focalizza l'attenzione sul Concept Masterplan Study, elaboratoro dallo studio OMA ed illustrato da un saggio dell'arch. Cristina Cassandra Murphy (Project Manager di OMA per il progetto Sant'Elia). A partire da questa esperienza progettuale - di cui il libro illustra la complessità del processo di generazione urbana - sono maturate diverse attenzioni progettuali nei corsi della nascente Facoltà di Architettura, che hanno permesso non solo di mantenere vivo il rapporto tra esperienze didattiche e problemi reali della città, ma anche di continuare a tener acceso il dibattito sulle problematiche del quartiere Sant'Elia. In questo senso l'obiettivo di questo libro è stato quello di rivelare immaginari progettuali possibili che potessero permettere di costruire nuovi scenari di vita urbana là dove i desideri dell'uomo oscillano come canne al vento

Microbial borings in benthic foraminifera from an heavy metal polluted coastal area (Portovesme, southwestern Sardinia)

A monitoring survey from coastal environments facing the industrial area of Portoscuso-Portovesme (South-Western Sardinia, Italy) has revealed intense bioerosional processes in tests of benthic foraminifera collected in water less than 2m deep. Electron Microscopic investigation show that 1) microbial communities extensively infest foraminifera, 2) heavy metals fluxes (Zn, Pb, Cd) and carbonate dissolution are correlated and this correspond to decrease in foraminifera richness, low population density, biodiversity and to marked increase in abnormality and pyritisation of the tests. In addition, carbonate dissolution induced by euendoliths is selective depending on Mg content and morpho-structural types of foraminiferal taxa. The bioerosional process on foraminiferal tests was analyzed via SEM (ESEM QUANTA 200, FEI, Hillsboro, Oregon, and partly with EVOLS15, ZEISS) at Cagliari University (Italy). The epoxy resin-casts of foraminifera were made at Erlangen University (Germany) in collaboration with M. Wisshak. To estimate quantitatively the impact of the microbial borings on the foraminifera and the selective bioerosion on high-Mg and low-Mg foraminiferal tests, 300 individuals were picked randomly from each sample on the fraction >63 μm and were observed with scanning electron microscope. A total of 1200 foraminifera was examined. As well as the bioerosional features on several morpho-structural taxa have been quantitatively calculated. The percentages of calcareous dissolution in foraminifera, distinguish between high-Mg and low-Mg tests, have been compared with heavy metals values, ph-pore waters and richness of specimens. Scanning Electron Microscope images of the test surfaces and of epoxy resin-casts of foraminifera provide the recognition of microboring traces and cavities produced by phototrophic (cyanobacteria, chlorophyta) and heterotrophic (fungi) organisms. Comparing foraminiferal hosts belonging to diversified morpho-structural types with the bioerosional features, our data point out that the increase in heavy metal fluxes is clearly marked by an increase of microbial infestation, reaching a peak at the more polluted sites. Consistent carbonate dissolution differences occur between porcelanaceous imperforate and hyaline perforate groups. When comparing hyaline with porcelanaceous specimens for each sampling site, it was observed that the percentage of bioerosion in hyaline specimens increases from 19.9% to 59.7%, whereas in porcelanaceous tests bioerosion increases from 35.1% to 80.3%. An opposite behavior show the benthic foraminifera assemblages, which abruptly decrease increasing the heavy metal fluxes, while the percentage of the teratological increases (until 11%) in accordance with the increase of the pollutants. Our multiproxy analyses show that the affects of the biochemical dissolution are controlled, as well, by the chemical composition and ultramicrostructure of the foraminifera substrates and by the bioavailability of organic matter in their skeleton texture

Biomineralization processes in heavily metal-polluted environments

Intense industrial activity in SW Sardinia has resulted in heavy metal dispersion processes over a large area. In this study biomineralization processes are shown to be useful for environmental monitoring, in agreement with existing literature. Investigations of benthic foraminifera sampled in shallow water from a metal-contaminated environment (Portoscuso, SW Sardinia) reveal intense micro-boring processes by cyanobacteria, chlorophycean, and fungi. A positive correlation between heavy metal impurity content (Pb and Zn, in particular) and bioerosional processes is found. This result indicates that in the investigated area, the amount of heavy metals discharged cannot be diluted or taken up via water-rock interaction, and are therefore released to the biosphere