Exposure to active and passive smoking during pregnancy and severe small for gestational age at term

Objective. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between active smoking as well as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and severe small for gestational age (SGA) at term in a sample of pregnant Italian women. Methods. A case-control study was conducted in nine cities in Italy between October 1999 and September 2000. Cases of severe SGA were singleton, live born, at term children with a birth weight5th percentile for gestational age. Controls (10:1 to cases) were enrolled from among singleton at term births that occurred in the same hospitals one or two days after delivery of the case, with a birth weight10th percentile for gestational age. A total of 84 cases of severe SGA and 858 controls were analyzed. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess active smoking and ETS exposure, as well as potential confounders. Results. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed a relationship between active smoking during pregnancy and severe SGA (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 2.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13-3.68). ETS exposure was associated with severe SGA (adjusted OR 2.51, 95% CI 1.59-3.95) with a dose-response relationship to the number of smokers in the home

EURADOS IC2012N: EURADOS 2012 intercomparison for whole-body neutron dosimetry

The European Radiation Dosimetry Group (EURADOS) IC2012n intercomparison for neutron dosemeters intended to measure personal dose equivalent, Hp(10), was performed in 2012. A total of 31 participants (27 individual monitoring services from Europe, 2 from Japan, 1 from Israel and 1 from USA) registered with 34 dosimetry systems. Participation was restricted to passive or active neutron dosemeters routinely used in individual monitoring of radiation workers. The dosimetry systems were based on thermoluminescence, polyallyldiglycol carbonate, optically stimulated luminescence, fission track detection and silicon diodes (electronic devices). The irradiation tests were chosen to provide the participants with useful information on their dosimetry systems, i.e. linearity, reproducibility, responses for different energies and angles and to simulated workplace fields. The paper will report and discuss the first analysis of the results of the EURADOS IC2012n intercompariso

Increased Adiposity, Dysregulated Glucose Metabolism and Systemic Inflammation in Galectin-3 KO Mice

PMCID: PMC3579848This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Aspects of harmonisation of individual monitoring for external radiation in Europe: Conclusions of a EURADOS action

Following the publication of the EU Council Directive 96/29, EURADOS coordinated two working groups (WGs) for promoting the process of harmonisation on individual monitoring of occupationally exposed persons in Europe. An overview of the major findings of the second WG is presented. Information on the technical and quality standards and on the accreditation and approval procedures has been compiled. The catalogue of dosimetric services has been updated and extended. An overview of national regulations and standards for protection from radon and other natural sources in workplaces has been made, attempting to combine the results from individual monitoring for external, internal and workplace monitoring. A first status description of the active personal dosemeters, including legislative and technical information, and their implementation has been made. The importance of practical factors on the uncertainty in the dose measurement has been estimated. Even if a big progress has been made towards harmonisation, there is still work to be don

Modellazione CFD di un forno di riscaldo per billette

Il presente lavoro descrive il modello matematico sviluppato da CSM, nell’ambiente di calcolo AnsysFLUENT(Computation Fluid Dynamics – CFD), per la simulazione di un forno di riscaldo/trattamento e la validazionecondotta attraverso l’applicazione al riscaldo bilette del walking hearth di Feralpi Siderurgica LAM2.Le simulazioni condotte hanno consentito sia l’analisi di dettaglio della termo-fluidodinamica dei gasall’interno del forno che il calcolo del bilancio energetico complessivo e della curva di riscaldo della billetta,dimostrando la potenzialità del modello per la valutazioni di possibili modifiche sia geometriche che legate alsistema di combustione. La conoscenza dei campi di temperature, velocità, e concentrazione delle speciechimiche in prossimità della superficie delle billette hanno permesso inoltre di calcolare la formazione dellascaglia attraverso l’accoppiamento con un modello già disponibile presso CSM

A shared pottery-making tradition? Early Roman Ware 1 from Cartagena and Elche (Spain)

The so-called Early Roman Ware 1, identified by P. Reynolds in the Alicante region, was widely distributed in the eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula. The presence of this ware in Elche (Alicante) and Valencia opened the possibility that it was widely distributed across the region. Indeed, it has been considered as a possible regional product of the area of Valencia. In Cartagena (ancient Carthago Nova), where our study concentrated originally, ERW1 is relatively common in 2nd and 3rd century CE contexts and has been considered as a local product. The question here is whether the ERW1 detected in Cartagena is the same as known in the Elche and Valencia re- gions? Were they the product of the same workshop or production center and subsequently distributed across the region? Or do we have several production centers, sharing a technological tradition but operating in different areas? To explore this problem, we have initially characterized 29 samples from this Early Roman Ware 1 found in Cartagena (Murcia) and Elche (Alicante), using a combination of analytical techniques. WD-XRF was used for the chemical characterization, XRD for the mineralogical characterization, and, finally, optical microscopy of thin- sections was applied to investigate the petrographic features. The results of the petrographic characterization indicate the existence of a major petrographic fabric group sharing compositional features. Chemistry reveals a slightly more complex picture. One sample originates in an area of metamorphic geology, possibly in Cartagena, while the other samples, although their provenance is still unknown, most probably originated elsewhere, exploiting kaolinitic clay

Adiponectin-Mediated Analgesia and AntiInflammatory Effects in Rat

The adipose tissue-derived protein, adiponectin, has significant anti-inflammatory properties in a variety of disease conditions. Recent evidence that adiponectin and its receptors (AdipoR1 and AdipoR2) are expressed in central nervous system, suggests that it may also have a central modulatory role in pain and inflammation. This study set out to investigate the effects of exogenously applied recombinant adiponectin (via intrathecal and intraplantar routes; 10–5000 ng) on the development of peripheral inflammation (paw oedema) and pain hypersensitivity in the rat carrageenan model of inflammation. Expression of adiponectin, AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 mRNA and protein was characterised in dorsal spinal cord using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blotting. AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 mRNA and protein were found to be constitutively expressed in dorsal spinal cord, but no change in mRNA expression levels was detected in response to carrageenan-induced inflammation. Adiponectin mRNA, but not protein, was detected in dorsal spinal cord, although levels were very low. Intrathecal administration of adiponectin, both pre- and 3 hours post-carrageenan, significantly attenuated thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical hypersensitivity. Intrathecal administration of adiponectin post-carrageenan also reduced peripheral inflammation. Intraplantar administration of adiponectin pre-carrageenan dose-dependently reduced thermal hyperalgesia but had no effect on mechanical hypersensitivity and peripheral inflammation. These results show that adiponectin functions both peripherally and centrally at the spinal cord level, likely through activation of AdipoRs to modulate pain and peripheral inflammation. These data suggest that adiponectin receptors may be a novel therapeutic target for pain modulation

Buckling behavior of multilayer cylindrical shells composed of functionally graded nanocomposite layers under lateral pressure in thermal environments

In this study, the stability behavior of multilayer cylindrical shells made of functionally graded nanocomposite layers (FG-NCLs) subjected to the lateral pressure in thermal environments is investigated. It is postulated that nanocomposite layers forming layered cylindrical shells are made of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)-reinforced polymers that have four types of profiles based on the uniform and linear distributions of mechanical properties. The material properties of SWCNTs are assumed to be dependent on location as well as temperature and are obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. The governing equations are derived as partial differential equations within shear deformation theory (SDT) and solved in a closed form, using the Galerkin procedure, to determine the lateral critical pressure (LCP) in thermal environments. The numerical representations relate to the buckling behavior of multilayer cylindrical shells made of functionally graded nanocomposite layers under the uniform lateral pressure for different CNT patterns and temperatures within SDT and Kirchhoff-Love theory (KLT)

Buckling behavior of multilayer cylindrical shells composed of functionally graded nanocomposite layers under lateral pressure in thermal environments

In this study, the stability behavior of multilayer cylindrical shells made of functionally graded nanocomposite layers (FG-NCLs) subjected to the lateral pressure in thermal environments is investigated. It is postulated that nanocomposite layers forming layered cylindrical shells are made of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT)-reinforced polymers that have four types of profiles based on the uniform and linear distributions of mechanical properties. The material properties of SWCNTs are assumed to be dependent on location as well as temperature and are obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. The governing equations are derived as partial differential equations within shear deformation theory (SDT) and solved in a closed form, using the Galerkin procedure, to determine the lateral critical pressure (LCP) in thermal environments. The numerical representations relate to the buckling behavior of multilayer cylindrical shells made of functionally graded nanocomposite layers under the uniform lateral pressure for different CNT patterns and temperatures within SDT and Kirchhoff-Love theory (KLT)

Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors antagonize lipotoxicity in human myeloid angiogenic cells and ADP-dependent activation in human platelets: Potential relevance to prevention of cardiovascular events

Background: The clear evidence of cardiovascular benefits in cardiovascular outcome trials of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) in type 2 diabetes might suggest an effect on atherosclerotic plaque vulnerability and/or thrombosis, in which myeloid angiogenic cells (MAC) and platelets (PLT) are implicated. We tested the effects of SGLT2i on inflammation and oxidant stress in a model of stearic acid (SA)-induced lipotoxicity in MAC and on PLT activation. The possible involvement of the Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE) was also explored. Method: MAC and PLT were isolated from peripheral blood of healthy subjects and incubated with/without SGLT2i [empagliflozin (EMPA) and dapagliflozin (DAPA) 1-100 μM] to assess their effects on SA (100 μM)-induced readouts of inflammation, oxidant stress and apoptosis in MAC and on expression of PLT activation markers by flow-cytometry after ADP-stimulation. Potential NHE involvement was tested with amiloride (aspecific NHE inhibitor) or cariporide (NHE1 inhibitor). Differences among culture conditions were identified using one-way ANOVA or Friedman test. Results: NHE isoforms (1,5-9), but not SGLT2 expression, were expressed in MAC and PLT. EMPA and DAPA (100 μM) significantly reduced SA-induced inflammation (IL1β, TNFα, MCP1), oxidant stress (SOD2, TXN, HO1), but not apoptosis in MAC. EMPA and DAPA (both 1 μM) reduced PLT activation (CD62p and PAC1 expression). SGLT2i effects were mimicked by amiloride, and only partially by cariporide, in MAC, and by both inhibitors in PLT. Conclusions: EMPA and DAPA ameliorated lipotoxic damage in stearate-treated MAC, and reduced ADP-stimulated PLT activation, potentially via NHE-inhibition, thereby pointing to plaque stabilization and/or thrombosis inhibition as potential mechanism(s) involved in SGLT2i-mediated cardiovascular protection