Migrant workers in Italy: an analysis of injury risk taking into account occupational characteristics and job tenure

Abstract Background Migrants resident in Italy exceeded 5 million in 2015, representing 8.2% of the resident population. The study of the mechanisms that explain the differential health of migrant workers (as a whole and for specific nationalities) has been identified as a priority for research. The international literature has shown that migrant workers have a higher risk of total and fatal injury than natives, but some results are conflicting. The aim of this paper is to study the injury risk differentials between migrants, born in countries with strong migratory pressure (SMPC), and workers born in high income countries (HIC), taking into account individual and firm characteristics and job tenure. In addition to a comprehensive analysis of occupational safety among migrants, the study focuses on Moroccans, the largest community in Italy in the years of the analysis. Methods Using the Work History Italian Panel-Salute integrated database, only contracts of employment in the private sector, starting in the period between 2000 and 2005 and held by men, were selected. The analysis focused on economic sectors with an important foreign component: engineering, construction, wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage. Injury rates were calculated using a definition of serious occupational injuries based on the type of injury. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) were calculated using a Poisson distribution for panel data taking into account time-dependent variables. Results Injury rates among SMPC workers were higher than for HIC workers in engineering (15.61 ‰ py vs. 8.92 ‰ py), but there were no significant differences in construction (11.21 vs. 10.09), transportation and storage (7.82 vs. 7.23) and the wholesale and retail sectors (4.06 vs. 4.67). Injury rates for Moroccans were higher than for both HIC and total migrant workers in all economic sectors considered. The multivariate analysis revealed an interaction effect of job tenure among both SMPC and Moroccan workers in the construction sector, while in the wholesale and retail trade sector an interaction effect of job tenure was only observed among Moroccan workers. Conclusions Migrant workers have higher occupational injury rates than Italians in the engineering and construction sectors, after two years of experience within the job. Generally the risk differentials vary depending on the nationality and economic sector considered. The analysis of injury risk among migrant workers should be restricted to serious injuries; furthermore, job tenure must be taken into account

Experiences and preliminary results of geophysical methods on historical statues

In recent years, geophysical applications have been significantly grown in rock mechanics field due to their versatility and reliability as diagnostic and/or monitoring tools. Since these methodologies are mainly non-invasive, they can be used for the investigation and characterization of the internal structure of historical artworks or for the monitoring of built cultural heritage, where the non-destructive feature is an indispensable prerequisite. Commonly, the artworks material properties are unknown or strongly altered due to time and physical/chemical agents. Moreover, their nature (mineralogic and petrographic) and origin (in terms of places where the material was exploited) is uncertain and difficult to allocate. Among the available geophysical techniques, seismic methods are useful for detecting the thickness or position of weathered layers, for estimating the physical properties of different materials and for providing information about cracking and degree of fracturing. In this paper, we present some experiences and preliminary results of geophysical characterization of two Tritons statues, discovered in the garden of the Royal Palace of Venaria (Piedmont Region, Italy). The statues were originally part of the Fountain of Hercules, destroyed in the 18th century during the redevelopment works of the Palace. Ultrasonic pulse velocity measurements were performed on each portion of the statues and 3D-imaging of the apparent P-wave velocity were carried out. The performed geophysical investigations were aimed at defining the overall material quality and detecting possible sectors with low resistance properties that might interfere with the coring operations, necessary for the reassembly of the statues. Results of these surveys were also useful for setting up a 3D-FEM model for simulating the material behaviour through an analysis of the forces and loads involved

Minimally invasive adrenalectomy for large pheochromocytoma: not recommendable yet? Results from a single institution case series

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive adrenalectomy represents the treatment of choice of pheochromocytoma (PCC). For large or invasive PCCs, an open approach is currently recommended, in order to ensure complete tumor resection, prevent tumor rupture, avoid local recurrence, and limit perioperative hemodynamic instability. The aim of this study is to analyze perioperative outcomes of laparoscopic adrenalectomies (LAs) for large adrenal PCCs. METHODS: All consecutive LAs for PCC performed at a single institution between 1998 and 2020 were included. Two groups were defined: lesions larger (group 1) and smaller (group 2) than 5 cm. Short-term outcomes were compared in order to find any significant difference between the two groups. OUTCOMES: One hundred fourteen patients underwent LA during the study period: 46 for lesions larger and 68 for lesions smaller than 5 cm. No significant differences were found in patients’ characteristics, median operative time, conversion rate, intraoperative hemodynamic and metabolic parameters, postoperative intensive care unit (ICU) admission rate, complications rate, and length of hospital stay. Long-term oncologic outcomes were similar, with a recurrence rate of 5.1% in group 1 vs 3.6% in group 2 (p = 1). CONCLUSION: Minimally invasive adrenalectomy seems to be safe and effective even in large PCC. The recommendation to prefer an open approach for large PCCs should probably be reconsidered

PO-332 Genomic landscapes, neoantigen profiles and biological impact of MLH1 inactivation in cancer cells

Introduction Alterations in DNA repair pathways are thought to fuel tumour progression. Mismatch Repair (MMR) deficient cancers show peculiar biological features such as an indolent progression and a resolute therapeutic response to checkpoint inhibitors. The genomic and biological bases of the peculiar clinical features are poorly understood. Further progress in this area is limited by the paucity of models to study the impact of MMR genes inactivation at the genomic and biological levels. To address this issue we developed a bioinformatic workflow to monitor the neoantigen repertoire induced by inactivation of the Mlh1 gene (a key player of the MMR machinery), in murine cell lines. Material and methods We inactivated Mlh1 throughout the CRISPR-Cas9 technology in CT26 (colon cancer), PDAC (pancreatic cancer) and TSA (breast cancer) murine cell lines. We performed whole exome sequencing (WES) at different time points and then we quantified the amount of mutations (SNVs and indels). We generated a pipeline that characterises the neoantigen repertoire, starting from annotated alterations and the HLA of specific murine strain. In parallel, we inoculated MMR-proficient and -deficient cells in immuno-compromised and -competent mice and monitored their growth. Results and discussions In all pre-clinical models analysed we found a massive increment in the number of non-synonymous alterations (up to 100% increase respect to basal population) after Mlh1 inactivation. Notably, analysis of MMR deficient mouse cells at different time points showed a renewal of mutational profile and consequently an accumulation of predicted neoantigens. We further characterised the SNVs and frameshifts acquired by Mlh1-knockout cells. In agreement with data in human tumours, the fraction of predicted neoantigens derived from frameshifts was higher than the SNV-derived neoantigens. When injected in immuno-compromised mice the Mlh1-knockout cells and their wild type counterpart showed comparable growth. On the contrary, MMR-deficient cells but not their control counterpart grew poorly in immuno-competent mice and responded promptly to treatment with checkpoint inhibitors. Conclusion We find that Mlh1 gene inactivation drives dynamic neoantigen profiles, which can be monitored with an ad hoc bioinformatic pipeline. These analyses provide mechanistic support to understand why MMR deficient cells engage the immune system of the host, foster immune surveillance and tumour control

Age determination and authentication of ceramics: advancements in the thermoluminescence dating laboratory in Torino (Italy)

13Classified as an absolute dating method, thermoluminescence (TL) is a well-established radiation-based technique for the age determination and authentication of ceramic materials. Specifically, this method allows the determination of the time elapsed since kiln firing (or later fire events) by evaluating the luminescent emission of ceramics under heating at high temperatures. This paper provides a comprehensive presentation of the TL laboratory developed over the last decade at the Physics Department of the University of Torino. The laboratory was set up in collaboration with TecnArt S.r.l. and is also currently operating within the cultural heritage network of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN-CHNet). More than 10 years of experience in the field has resulted in improvements in procedures, with the development of customised alpha- and beta-irradiation systems and the optimisation of sampling approaches and chemical pre-treatment. Thanks to TecnArt S.r.l., the laboratory has been employed for dating and authenticating hundreds of archaeological sites and artworks, some of which are discussed in this work and compared, when possible, with radiocarbon dating.openopenGuidorzi, Laura; Fantino, Fulvio; Durisi, Elisabetta; Ferrero, Marco; Re, Alessandro; Vigorelli, Luisa; Visca, Lorenzo; Gulmini, Monica; Dughera, Giovanni; Giraudo, Giuseppe; Angelici, Debora; Panero, Elisa; Lo Giudice, AlessandroGuidorzi, Laura; Fantino, Fulvio; Durisi, Elisabetta; Ferrero, Marco; Re, Alessandro; Vigorelli, Luisa; Visca, Lorenzo; Gulmini, Monica; Dughera, Giovanni; Giraudo, Giuseppe; Angelici, Debora; Panero, Elisa; Lo Giudice, Alessandr