222Rn concentration in the atmosphere in Milan and in the plain around

Radon measurements at ground level are a useful tool for the study on atmospheric stability or mixing conditions. Radon concentration in the atmosphere was measured in Milan over a continuous four-year period from 1996 to 1999. In the town area pollutants emitted during late evening and night hours by motor traffic as well as by industrial plants accumulate at low height concurring with radon accumulation in the Nocturnal Stable Layer. In years 1998-1999 radon measurements were taken in Landriano, an area located 30 km south of the town. In Lombard plain there are numerous huge plants, thermoelectric power stations burning by methane and carbon, oil refineries; moreover other plants are being carried out. With the aim to control the contribute of these plants to air pollution, it is important to know atmospheric stability and turbulence conditions. Landriano is only few kilometres from the thermoelectric power station in Tavazzano. In this paper the results of measuring campaigns as well as the comparison of radon concentrations between the two sites surveyed are reported. The general criteria of the measurements, the interpretative models of radon concentration in the atmosphere are discussed

Ozone in Lombardy: Years 1998-1999

Photochemical pollutants, especially ozone, have reached very high levels in Lombardy in recent years, with peaks of up to 150 ppb in late spring and summer. Lombardy, lying on the Po Plain, supports a large number of cities and industries and these, along with heavy traffic, produce copious amounts of primary pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and numerous volatile organic compounds. Furthermore, the peculiar orography of this region fosters the stagnation of air masses on a basin-scale and the presence of diurnal breezes towards northern areas, along with the evolution of the Mixing Layer, spread the polluted air masses over a large territory. Numerous stations in Lombardy give the concentrations of ozone and of nitrogen oxides. In this paper, ozone measurements carried out at the plain area around Milan and at pre-alpine sites in the spring and summer 1998 and 1999 will be shown and discussed, focusing on the months of May and July. The study of temporal and spatial behaviour of ozone goes hand in hand with the analysis of the Boundary Layer’s evolution. A number of radon stations were operating in Milan and in other sites in Lombardy. Measurements of atmospheric concentrations of radon yield an index of atmospheric stability, of the formation of thermal inversion, of convective turbulence, and of the movement of air masses, and hence they are very relevant to the understanding of the conditions of atmospheric pollutants

Study on RN-222 concentration in the soil

The measurement of radon 222 concentration in the soil is made on the gases collected from the soil at 1 metre depth by a low-flow intake pump and which are conveyed into a system of detection and evaluation of the radiations emitted by radon and its decay products. Two kinds of approaches were used which carry out the measurements by means of alpha-particles counters or beta-radiation counters, respectively. The study was performed in a hole dug in the basement of the Institute of Physics; the soil is the one typical of the Lombard plain. The measurements were performed during two yearly campaigns from 1993 through 1996. The study shows wide oscillations of radon concentration which occur every 24 and 12 hours. These effects were noticed during the whole campaign. Radon concentration oscillations are compared with the pressure oscillations related to atmospheric tides

Use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in cancer patients. An italian multicenter survey

INTRODUCTION: Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) include a wide range of products (herbs, vitamins, minerals, and probiotics) and medical practices, developed outside of the mainstream Western medicine. Patients with cancer are more likely to resort to CAM first or then in their disease history; the potential side effects as well as the costs of such practices are largely underestimated. PATIENTS AND METHOD: We conducted a descriptive survey in five Italian hospitals involving 468 patients with different malignancies. The survey consisted of a forty-two question questionnaire, patients were eligible if they were Italian-speaking and receiving an anticancer treatment at the time of the survey or had received an anticancer treatment no more than three years before participating in the survey. RESULTS: Of our patients, 48.9% said they use or have recently used CAM. The univariate analysis showed that female gender, high education, receiving treatment in a highly specialized institute and receiving chemotherapy are associated with CAM use; at the multivariate analysis high education (Odds Ratio, (OR): 1.96 95% Confidence Interval, CI, 1.27-3.05) and receiving treatment in a specialized cancer center (OR: 2.75 95% CI, 1.53-4.94) were confirmed as risk factors for CAM use. CONCLUSION: Roughly half of our patients receiving treatment for cancer use CAM. It is necessary that health professional explore the use of CAM with their cancer patients, educate them about potentially beneficial therapies in light of the limited available evidence of effectiveness, and work towards an integrated model of health-care provision

Significant variations of trace gas composition and aerosol properties at Mt. Cimone during air mass transport from North Africa – contributions from wildfire emissions and mineral dust

Abstract. High levels of trace gas (O3 and CO) and aerosol (BC, fine and coarse particle volumes), as well as high scattering coefficient (σp) values, were recorded at the regional GAW-WMO station of Mt. Cimone (CMN, 2165 m a.s.l., Italy) during the period 26–30 August 2007. Analysis of air-mass circulation, aerosol chemical characterization and trace gas and aerosol enhancement ratios (ERs), showed that high O3 and aerosol levels were likely linked to (i) the transport of anthropogenic pollution from northern Italy, and (ii) the advection of air masses rich in mineral dust and biomass burning (BB) products from North Africa. In particular, during the advection of air masses from North Africa, the CO and aerosol levels (CO: 175 ppbv, BC: 1015 ng/m3, fine particle volume: 3.00 μm3 cm−3, σp: 84.5 Mm−1) were even higher than during the pollution event (CO: 138 ppbv, BC: 733 ng/m3, fine particles volume: 1.58 μm3 cm−3, σp: 44.9 M

Intermittent docetaxel chemotherapy as first-line treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients

Aims: The intermittent administration of chemotherapy is a means of preserving patients' quality of life (QL). The aim of this study was to verify whether the intermittent administration of docetaxel (DOC) improves the patients' QL. Patients & methods: All patients received DOC 70 mg/m every 3 weeks for eight cycles. The patients were randomized to receive DOC continuously or with a fixed 3-month interval after the first four DOC courses. Results: The study involved 148 patients. There was no difference in QL between the groups receiving intermittent or continuous treatment. Intermittence had no detrimental effects on disease control. Conclusion: Although feasible and not detrimental, our results showed that true intermittent chemotherapy in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients failed to improve the patients' QL

Operacionalização do conceito de classe social em estudos epidemiológicos

Procura-se demonstrar que é possível operacionalizar o conceito de classe social de forma a utilizá-lo em estudos epidemiológicos. Foi adaptado às características da formação social de Pelotas, RS (Brasil), modelo de classificação desenvolvido para o México e comparado com o desenvolvido para Ribeirão Preto, SP (Brasil). Mediu-se o poder discriminatório das duas classificações em termos do processo saúde-doença, tendo como variável dependente o crescimento de 5.384 crianças nascidas em 1982. As duas classificações estão associadas com diferenças significativas (PThe development of an operational classification of the Marxist concept of social class that could be used in epidemiological studies is attempted. Although such a classification will necessarily be restricted to the economic dimension of the concept, and leave aside its ideological and legal-political components, it is believed that it may lead to a better understanding of the distribution of ill-health in a given population. Two classifications are described - that developed in Ribeirão Preto, S. Paulo (Brazil), and a new classification based on work done in Mexico. These are compared in terms of how closely associated they are with the patterns of growth of 5,384 young children in the city of Pelotas in Southern Brazil. It is concluded that the proposed classification has greater power of discrimination in terms of child growth than that previously proposed

Warp propagation in astrophysical discs

Astrophysical discs are often warped, that is, their orbital planes change with radius. This occurs whenever there is a non-axisymmetric force acting on the disc, for example the Lense-Thirring precession induced by a misaligned spinning black hole, or the gravitational pull of a misaligned companion. Such misalignments appear to be generic in astrophysics. The wide range of systems that can harbour warped discs - protostars, X-ray binaries, tidal disruption events, quasars and others - allows for a rich variety in the disc's response. Here we review the basic physics of warped discs and its implications.Comment: To be published in Astrophysical Black Holes by Haardt et al., Lecture Notes in Physics, Springer 2015. 19 pages, 2 figure