Trends in occupational diseases in the Italian agricultural sector, 2004-2017

Objective: To estimate the incidence of, trends in and effect of change in reporting rules on occupational diseases (ODs) in the Italian agricultural sector. Methods: Over a 14-year period (2004-2017), ODs among Italian agricultural workers were diagnosed by physicians and reported to the National Institute for Insurance against Workplace Accidents and Occupational Diseases. OD was defined as a disease with a specific clinical diagnosis (International Classification of Diseases) and was predominantly caused by work-related factors. Trends in incidence and effects of changed eligibility criteria for reporting occupational musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) were estimated using a Poisson regression model. Results: In 2017, the incidence of all ODs was 1295 per 100 000 agricultural workers. MSDs (961 per 100 000 workers) were the most frequently occurring ODs. MSDs and NIHL showed statistically significant increasing time trends, 26% and 7% annual increase, respectively, during the 2004-2017 period. There was no statistically significant change in the incidence of occupational respiratory, skin and cancer diseases during the 14-year period. After changes in reporting rules, the incidence of MSDs showed an immediate increased effect, with an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 2.9 (95% CI 2.65 to 3.14) and a significant annual decreasing trend of -9% (95% CI -6% to -12%) over the years after the changed reporting rules (from 2008 to 2017), and an immediate effect on NIHL with an IRR of 1.3 (95% CI 1.13 to 1.53). Conclusion: In total, 1.3% of the Italian agricultural workers were diagnosed in 2017 as having an OD. Over a 14-year period, the annual incidence of ODs showed a considerable increasing trend consistent with changed eligibility reporting criteria for occupational MSDs and to a lesser extent for NIHL

Psychometric properties of burnout measures: a systematic review.

Occupational Burnout (OB) is currently measured through several Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) and some of them have become widely used in occupational health research and practice. We, therefore, aimed to review and grade the psychometric validity of the five OB PROMs considered as valid for OB measure in mental health professionals (the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the Pines' Burnout Measure (BM), the Psychologist Burnout Inventory (PBI), the OLdenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI)). We conducted systematic literature searches in MEDLINE, PsycINFO and EMBASE databases. We reviewed studies published between January 1980 and September 2018 following a methodological framework, in which each step of PROM validation, the reference method, analytical technics and result interpretation criteria were assessed. Using the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments we evaluated the risk of bias in studies assessing content and criterion validity, structural validity, internal consistency, reliability, measurement error, hypotheses testing and responsiveness of each PROM. Finally, we assessed the level of evidence for the validity of each PROM using the GRADE approach. We identified 6541 studies, 19 of which were included for review. Fifteen studies dealt with MBI whereas BM, PBI, OLBI and CBI were each examined in only one study. OLBI had the most complete validation, followed by CBI, MBI, BM and PBI, respectively. When examining the result interpretation correctness, the strongest disagreement was observed for MBI (27% of results), BM (25%) and CBI (17%). There was no disagreement regarding PBI and OLBI. For OLBI and CBI, the quality of evidence for sufficient content validity, the crucial psychometric property, was moderate; for MBI, BM and PBI, it was very low. To be validly and reliably used in medical research and practice, PROM should exhibit robust psychometric properties. Among the five PROMs reviewed, CBI and, to a lesser extent, OLBI meet this prerequisite. The cross-cultural validity of these PROMs was beyond the scope of our work and should be addressed in the future. Moreover, the development of a diagnostic standard for OB would be helpful to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the PROMs and further reexamine their validity.The study protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD 42019124621)

Optical properties of MgH2 measured in situ in a novel gas cell for ellipsometry/spectrophotometry

The dielectric properties of alpha-MgH2 are investigated in the photon energy range between 1 and 6.5 eV. For this purpose, a novel sample configuration and experimental setup are developed that allow both optical transmission and ellipsometric measurements of a transparent thin film in equilibrium with hydrogen. We show that alpha-MgH2 is a transparent, colour neutral insulator with a band gap of 5.6 +/- 0.1 eV. It has an intrinsic transparency of about 80% over the whole visible spectrum. The dielectric function found in this work confirms very recent band structure calculations using the GW approximation by Alford and Chou [J.A. Alford and M.Y. Chou (unpublished)]. As Pd is used as a cap layer we report also the optical properties of PdHx thin films.Comment: REVTeX4, 15 pages, 12 figures, 5 table

Partonic flow and ϕ\phi-meson production in Au+Au collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV

We present first measurements of the $\phi$-meson elliptic flow ($v_{2}(p_{T})$) and high statistics $p_{T}$ distributions for different centralities from $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC. In minimum bias collisions the $v_{2}$ of the $\phi$ meson is consistent with the trend observed for mesons. The ratio of the yields of the $\Omega$ to those of the $\phi$ as a function of transverse momentum is consistent with a model based on the recombination of thermal $s$ quarks up to $p_{T}\sim 4$ GeV/$c$, but disagrees at higher momenta. The nuclear modification factor ($R_{CP}$) of $\phi$ follows the trend observed in the $K^{0}_{S}$ mesons rather than in $\Lambda$ baryons, supporting baryon-meson scaling. Since $\phi$-mesons are made via coalescence of seemingly thermalized $s$ quarks in central Au+Au collisions, the observations imply hot and dense matter with partonic collectivity has been formed at RHIC.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, submit to PR

The energy dependence of ptp_t angular correlations inferred from mean-ptp_{t} fluctuation scale dependence in heavy ion collisions at the SPS and RHIC

We present the first study of the energy dependence of $p_t$ angular correlations inferred from event-wise mean transverse momentum fluctuations in heavy ion collisions. We compare our large-acceptance measurements at CM energies $\sqrt{s_{NN}} =$ 19.6, 62.4, 130 and 200 GeV to SPS measurements at 12.3 and 17.3 GeV. $p_t$ angular correlation structure suggests that the principal source of $p_t$ correlations and fluctuations is minijets (minimum-bias parton fragments). We observe a dramatic increase in correlations and fluctuations from SPS to RHIC energies, increasing linearly with $\ln \sqrt{s_{NN}}$ from the onset of observable jet-related fluctuations near 10 GeV.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Measurement of Transverse Single-Spin Asymmetries for Di-Jet Production in Proton-Proton Collisions at s=200\sqrt{s} = 200 GeV

We report the first measurement of the opening angle distribution between pairs of jets produced in high-energy collisions of transversely polarized protons. The measurement probes (Sivers) correlations between the transverse spin orientation of a proton and the transverse momentum directions of its partons. With both beams polarized, the wide pseudorapidity ($-1 \leq \eta \leq +2$) coverage for jets permits separation of Sivers functions for the valence and sea regions. The resulting asymmetries are all consistent with zero and considerably smaller than Sivers effects observed in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS). We discuss theoretical attempts to reconcile the new results with the sizable transverse spin effects seen in SIDIS and forward hadron production in pp collisions.Comment: 6 pages total, 1 Latex file, 3 PS files with figure

Longitudinal Double-Spin Asymmetry and Cross Section for Inclusive Jet Production in Polarized Proton Collisions at √s = 200 GeV

We report a measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry ALL and the differential cross section for inclusive midrapidity jet production in polarized proton collisions at √s=200  GeV. The cross section data cover transverse momenta

The energy dependence of p\u3csub\u3et\u3c/sub\u3e angular correlations inferred from mean-p\u3csub\u3et\u3c/sub\u3e fluctuation scale dependence in heavy ion collisions at the SPS and RHIC

We present the first study of the energy dependence of pt angular correlations inferred from event-wise mean transverse momentum pt fluctuations in heavy ion collisions. We compare our large-acceptance measurements at CM energies , 62.4, 130 and 200 GeV to SPS measurements at 12.3 and 17.3 GeV. pt angular correlation structure suggests that the principal source of pt correlations and fluctuations is minijets (minimum-bias parton fragments). We observe a dramatic increase in correlations and fluctuations from SPS to RHIC energies, increasing linearly with from the onset of observable jet-related pt fluctuations near 10 GeV