Indoor/Outdoor Air Quality Assessment at School near the Steel Plant in Taranto (Italy)

This study aims to investigate the air quality in primary school placed in district of Taranto (south of Italy), an area of high environmental risk because of closeness between large industrial complex and urban settlement. The chemical characterization of PM2.5 was performed to identify origin of pollutants detected inside school and the comparison between indoor and outdoor levels of PAHs and metals allowed evaluating intrusion of outdoor pollutants or the existence of specific indoor sources. The results showed that the indoor and outdoor levels of PM2.5, BaP, Cd, Ni, As, and Pb never exceeded the target values issued by World Health Organization (WHO). Nevertheless, high metals and PAHs concentrations were detected especially when school were downwind to the steel plant. TheI/Oratio showed the impact of outdoor pollutants, especially of industrial markers as Fe, Mn, Zn, and Pb, on indoor air quality. This result was confirmed by values of diagnostic ratio as B(a)P/B(g)P, IP/(IP + BgP), BaP/Chry, and BaP/(BaP + Chry), which showed range characteristics of coke and coal combustion. However, Ni and As showedI/Oratio of 2.5 and 1.4, respectively, suggesting the presence of indoor sources

Breath analysis for early detection of malignant pleural mesothelioma: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) determination and possible biochemical pathways

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare neoplasm, mainly caused by asbestos exposure, with a high mortality rate. The management of patients with MPM is controversial due to a long latency period between exposure and diagnosis and because of non-specific symptoms generally appearing at advanced stage of the disease. Breath analysis, aimed at the identification of diagnostic Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) pattern in exhaled breath, is believed to improve early detection of MPM. Therefore, in this study, breath samples from 14 MPM patients and 20 healthy controls (HC) were collected and analyzed by Thermal Desorption-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (TD-GC/MS). Nonparametric test allowed to identify the most weighting variables to discriminate between MPM and HC breath samples and multivariate statistics were applied. Considering that MPM is an aggressive neoplasm leading to a late diagnosis and thus the recruitment of patients is very difficult, a promising data mining approach was developed and validated in order to discriminate between MPM patients and healthy controls, even if no large population data are available. Three different machine learning algorithms were applied to perform the classification task with a leave-one-out cross-validation approach, leading to remarkable results (Area Under Curve AUC = 93%). Ten VOCs, such as ketones, alkanes and methylate derivates, as well as hydrocarbons, were able to discriminate between MPM patients and healthy controls and for each compound which resulted diagnostic for MPM, the metabolic pathway was studied in order to identify the link between VOC and the neoplasm. Moreover, five breath samples from asymptomatic asbestos-exposed persons (AEx) were exploratively analyzed, processed and tested by the validated statistical method as blinded samples in order to evaluate the performance for the early recognition of patients affected by MPM among asbestos-exposed persons. Good agreement was found between the information obtained by gold-standard diagnostic methods such as computed tomography CT and model output

Cerebrospinal fluid levels of L-glutamate signal central inflammatory neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis

Excessive extracellular concentrations of L-glutamate (L-Glu) can be neurotoxic and contribute to neurodegenerative processes in multiple sclerosis (MS). The association between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) L-Glu levels, clinical features, and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with MS remains unclear. In 179 MS patients (relapsing remitting, RR, N = 157; secondary progressive/primary progressive, SP/PP, N = 22), CSF levels of L-Glu at diagnosis were determined and compared with those obtained in a group of 40 patients with non-inflammatory/non-degenerative disorders. Disability at the time of diagnosis, and after 1 year follow-up, was assessed using the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). CSF concentrations of lactate and of a large set of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory molecules were explored. CSF levels of L-Glu were slightly reduced in MS patients compared to controls. In RR-MS patients, L-Glu levels correlated with EDSS after 1 year follow-up. Moreover, in MS patients, significant correlations were found between L-Glu and both CSF levels of lactate and the inflammatory molecules interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, and IL-1 receptor antagonist. Altered expression of L-Glu is associated with disability progression, oxidative stress, and inflammation. These findings identify CSF L-Glu as a candidate neurochemical marker of inflammatory neurodegeneration in MS. (Figure presented.)

Cerebrospinal fluid levels of L-glutamate signal central inflammatory neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis

Excessive extracellular concentrations of L-glutamate (L-Glu) can be neurotoxic and contribute to neurodegenerative processes in multiple sclerosis (MS). The association between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) L-Glu levels, clinical features, and inflammatory biomarkers in patients with MS remains unclear. In 179 MS patients (relapsing remitting, RR, N = 157; secondary progressive/primary progressive, SP/PP, N = 22), CSF levels of L-Glu at diagnosis were determined and compared with those obtained in a group of 40 patients with non-inflammatory/non-degenerative disorders. Disability at the time of diagnosis, and after 1 year follow-up, was assessed using the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). CSF concentrations of lactate and of a large set of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory molecules were explored. CSF levels of L-Glu were slightly reduced in MS patients compared to controls. In RR-MS patients, L-Glu levels correlated with EDSS after 1 year follow-up. Moreover, in MS patients, significant correlations were found between L-Glu and both CSF levels of lactate and the inflammatory molecules interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, and IL-1 receptor antagonist. Altered expression of L-Glu is associated with disability progression, oxidative stress, and inflammation. These findings identify CSF L-Glu as a candidate neurochemical marker of inflammatory neurodegeneration in MS. (Figure presented.)

Indoor/Outdoor Air Quality Assessment at School near the Steel Plant in Taranto (Italy)

This study aims to investigate the air quality in primary school placed in district of Taranto (south of Italy), an area of high environmental risk because of closeness between large industrial complex and urban settlement. The chemical characterization of PM2.5 was performed to identify origin of pollutants detected inside school and the comparison between indoor and outdoor levels of PAHs and metals allowed evaluating intrusion of outdoor pollutants or the existence of specific indoor sources. The results showed that the indoor and outdoor levels of PM2.5, BaP, Cd, Ni, As, and Pb never exceeded the target values issued by World Health Organization (WHO). Nevertheless, high metals and PAHs concentrations were detected especially when school were downwind to the steel plant. The / ratio showed the impact of outdoor pollutants, especially of industrial markers as Fe, Mn, Zn, and Pb, on indoor air quality. This result was confirmed by values of diagnostic ratio as B(a)P/B(g)P, IP/(IP + BgP), BaP/Chry, and BaP/(BaP + Chry), which showed range characteristics of coke and coal combustion. However, Ni and As showed / ratio of 2.5 and 1.4, respectively, suggesting the presence of indoor sources

Patient-reported impact of spondyloarthritis on work disability and working life: the ATLANTIS survey

Background: The aim was to establish how patients experience the impact of spondyloarthritis (SpA) on work disability and working life. Methods: The survey was performed in 17/20 regions in Italy (1 January to 31 March 2013). A multiple-choice questionnaire was published on the official website of the sponsor - the National Association of Rheumatic Patients (ANMAR) - and hard-copies were distributed at outpatient clinics for rheumatic patients. Results: Respondents (n = 770) were of both sexes (56 % men), educated (62 % at high school or more), of working age (75 % aged 6460 years), and affected by SpA. The most common types diagnosed were ankylosing spondylitis (AS) (39 %) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) (36 %). Respondents were working full-time (45 %), part-time (8 %) or had retired (22 %); 15 % were unemployed (for reasons linked to the disease or for other reasons, students or housewives). Patients reported disability (39 %), were receiving disability benefits (34 %), were experiencing important limitations that were hindering their professional development/career (36 %) and some had to change/leave their job or lost it because of SpA (21 %). Employed respondents (n = 383) had worked on average 32.2 h in the last 7 days. More hours of work were lost over the last 7 days due to SpA (2.39 h vs 1.67 h). The indirect costs of the disease amounted to \u20ac106/week for patients reporting well-being/good physical conditions/improvement and \u20ac216/week for those reporting permanent impairment. Conclusions: Most patients were in the midst of their productive years and were experiencing considerable difficulties in carrying out their job because of the disease: half of them reported disability and one third were experiencing important limitations in their career perspective

Patient-reported impact of spondyloarthritis on work disability and working life: the ATLANTIS survey

Background: The aim was to establish how patients experience the impact of spondyloarthritis (SpA) on work disability and working life. Methods: The survey was performed in 17/20 regions in Italy (1 January to 31 March 2013). A multiple-choice questionnaire was published on the official website of the sponsor - the National Association of Rheumatic Patients (ANMAR) - and hard-copies were distributed at outpatient clinics for rheumatic patients. Results: Respondents (n = 770) were of both sexes (56 % men), educated (62 % at high school or more), of working age (75 % aged ≤60 years), and affected by SpA. The most common types diagnosed were ankylosing spondylitis (AS) (39 %) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) (36 %). Respondents were working full-time (45 %), part-time (8 %) or had retired (22 %); 15 % were unemployed (for reasons linked to the disease or for other reasons, students or housewives). Patients reported disability (39 %), were receiving disability benefits (34 %), were experiencing important limitations that were hindering their professional development/career (36 %) and some had to change/leave their job or lost it because of SpA (21 %). Employed respondents (n = 383) had worked on average 32.2 h in the last 7 days. More hours of work were lost over the last 7 days due to SpA (2.39 h vs 1.67 h). The indirect costs of the disease amounted to €106/week for patients reporting well-being/good physical conditions/improvement and €216/week for those reporting permanent impairment. Conclusions: Most patients were in the midst of their productive years and were experiencing considerable difficulties in carrying out their job because of the disease: half of them reported disability and one third were experiencing important limitations in their career perspective