Considerations on reduction of indoor air pollution from radioactive emissions from building materials and the ground

The goal of this paper is to study the reduction of health risks from indoor radioactive pollutants, as thoron emissions from common building materials, and radon emission from both building materials and the ground. In particular, when dealing with the indoor environment, one of the most important hazard is represented by radon gas, considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the second largest cause of lung cancer, cigarette smoke being the first. Such a radioactive gas belongs to the natural radioactive background of radiation, and its presence all over the world is unavoidable. Radon gas density varies due to microclimatic factors such as temperature, air pressure, humidity and changes in ground layers. Radon gas emerges from the ground and penetrates building basements, accumulating itself into the indoor air, and being breathed in by people. Taking care of the airtightness of windows allows the radon concentration to build up, in some cases beyond reference levels, together with other chemical pollutants, i.e. combustion residues and solvents. The EU Basic Safety Standards, stated in the Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom, based on the last recommendations from the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and from WHO, are focusing on risks related to radon gas concentration inside dwellings and working places. On considering that Council Directive 2013/59 Euratom has to be transposed into law by each EU Member State by February 2018, it is recommended that radon issues have to be considered during the design phase of the building construction. For NZEB applications a special attention is requested when energy consumption is reduced lower and lower by taking care of airtightness. In such a case, indoor pollutants (chemical, radioactive, particulate, etc.) can significantly accumulate beyond safe levels. This paper describes measurements and remedial actions of study cases, focusing on public and domestic environments

Viral hemorrhagic fevers: advancing the level of treatment

The management of viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) has mainly focused on strict infection control measures, while standard clinical interventions that are provided to patients with other life-threatening conditions are rarely offered to patients with VHFs. Despite its complexity, a proper clinical case management of VHFs is neither futile nor is it lacking in scientific rationale. Given that patient outcomes improve when treatment is started as soon as possible, development and implementation of protocols to promptly identify and treat patients in the earliest phases of diseases are urgently needed. Different pharmacological options have been proposed to manage patients and, as for other life-threatening conditions, advanced life support has been proved effective to address multiorgan failure. In addition, high throughput screening of small molecular libraries has emerged as a novel promising way to find new candidates drugs for VHFs therapy and a relevant number of new molecules are currently under investigation. Here we discuss the current knowledge about VHF clinical management to propose a way to step up the approach to VHFs beyond the mere application of infection control measures

Orthopoxvirus Seroprevalence in Cats and Veterinary Personnel in North-Eastern Italy in 2011

Orthopoxviruses (OPV) are emerging zoonotic pathogens, and an increasing number of human infections is currently reported in Europe and in other continents, warranting heightened attention on this topic. Following two OPV infections reported in veterinarians scratched by sick cats in 2005 and 2007 in North-Eastern-Italy, involving a previously undescribed OPV, a similar strain was isolated by a sick cat from the same territory in 2011, i.e., 6 years later, raising attention on OPV circulation in this region. A surveillance program was launched to assess the OPV seroprevalence among the veterinarians working in local veterinary clinics and in the local wild and domestic cat population; seroprevalence was 33.3% in veterinarians and 19.5% in cats. Seroprevalence in cats was unevenly distributed, peaking at 40% in the area where OPV-infected cats had been observed

Performance of rapid tests in the management of dengue fever imported cases in Lazio, Italy 2014-2019

Abstract Background In Italy, dengue virus is the most frequent agent of imported viral infections. The use of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) may be of help as a preliminary user-friendly quick assay to facilitate dengue diagnosis, as ordinary laboratory diagnosis of dengue fever may require special efforts in terms of tools availability, interpretation of results, and skilled personnel. The performance of RDTs, however, may vary according to different epidemiological and laboratory background. Methods We reviewed five years of laboratory records of two dengue RDT results (Colorimetric SD-Bioline Dengue-Duo-RDT and Fluorimetric SD-Biosensor-STANDARD-F-Dengue-RDT), able to detect viral NS1 antigen and specific IgM and IgG. Diagnostic parameters were calculated using as reference the results of molecular (RT-PCR) and serological (immunofluorescence, IFA) tests. Overall performance, calculated considering the final case definition, was included in the accuracy assessment of RDTs. Results The combined use of NS1 and IgM/IgG RDT for the detection of acute dengue cases resulted in an overall sensitivity and specificity of 87.2% and 97.9% for Colorimetric RDT, 96.2% and 96.2% for Fluorimetric RDT. NS1 was the most reliable marker of acute infection, while IgM resulted falsely positive in nine samples, including sera derived from 2 Zika and 4 non-arbovirus infected patients. Conclusions The inclusion of RDT in the diagnostic algorithm is of undeniable help in the prompt management and surveillance of dengue infection in non-endemic areas. Confirmatory tests are, however, necessary to rule in or rule out dengue fever diagnosis

Zika virus NS2A inhibits interferon signaling by degradation of STAT1 and STAT2

The Interferon (IFN) response is crucial to restrain pathogenic infections. Investigations into flavivirus-host interactions reported that the high virulence is linked to innate immune evasion. Zika Virus (ZIKV) has developed diversified strategies to evade the innate immune system. We report that the viral protein NS2A counteracts the IFN response by strongly suppressing the IFN signaling. NS2A targets transcription factors STAT1 and STAT2, to impede their nuclear localization, thereby suppressing the transcription of ISRE promoter and IFN-stimulated genes. We found that NS2A promotes degradation of STAT1 and STAT2. Treatment of NS2A transfected cells with MG132 restores the levels of both transcription factors, suggesting the involvement of the proteasome system. Given the impact that the IFN antagonism has on flavivirus virulence, the knowledge gained by characterizing the mechanism through which ZIKV evades the IFN response paves the ground for new strategies to attenuate the pathogenesis and to develop countermeasures against effective pharmacological targets

PRMT1 Is Recruited via DNA-PK to Chromatin Where It Sustains the Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype in Response to Cisplatin

Summary: Protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) is overexpressed in various human cancers and linked to poor response to chemotherapy. Various PRMT1 inhibitors are currently under development; yet, we do not fully understand the mechanisms underpinning PRMT1 involvement in tumorigenesis and chemoresistance. Using mass spectrometry-based proteomics, we identified PRMT1 as regulator of arginine methylation in ovarian cancer cells treated with cisplatin. We showed that DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) binds to and phosphorylates PRMT1 in response to cisplatin, inducing its chromatin recruitment and redirecting its enzymatic activity toward Arg3 of histone H4 (H4R3). On chromatin, the DNA-PK/PRMT1 axis induces senescence-associated secretory phenotype through H4R3me2a deposition at pro-inflammatory gene promoters. Finally, PRMT1 inhibition reduces the clonogenic growth of cancer cells exposed to low doses of cisplatin, sensitizing them to apoptosis. While unravelling the role of PRMT1 in response to genotoxic agents, our findings indicate the possibility of targeting PRMT1 to overcome chemoresistance in cancer. : Protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) overexpression is linked to cancer chemoresistance, but the mechanism is still unclear. Musiani et al. show that, upon cisplatin, PRMT1 is recruited by DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) to chromatin, where it sustains the transcription of genes involved in the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), thus protecting cells from drug-induced apoptosis. Keywords: arginine methylation, MS-based proteomics, replication stress response, PRMT1, SASP, transcription, cisplatin, epigenetic drugs, DNA-P

West Nile virus: the Italian national transplant network reaction to an alert in the north-eastern region, Italy 2011.

We report four cases of West Nile virus (WNV) transmission following a single multiorgan donation in north-eastern Italy. The transmissions were promptly detected by local transplant centres. The donor had been tested for WNV by nucleic acid amplification test (NAT) prior to transplantation and was negative. There were no detected errors in the nationally implemented WNV safety protocols

household transmission and disease transmissibility of a large hav outbreak in lazio italy 2016 2017

Abstract A major outbreak of Hepatitis A Virus (HAV) has swept through Europe between mid-2016 and 2017, mainly within the community of men who have sex with men (MSM). Over the same period, about 1,000 outbreak-related cases of acute Hepatitis A (AHA) were recorded in Lazio region, Italy. We calibrated a Bayesian model to reconstruct likely transmission events within all 44 households where multiple infections were recorded, representing a total of 103 cases from the HAV outbreak in Lazio. Based on information on the observed times of symptom onset, we estimated for the probability distribution function of the HAV generation time and used it to compute the effective and instantaneous reproduction numbers for the considered outbreak from the overall epidemic curve (N = 998 cases). We estimated a mean generation time of 30.2 days (95%CI: 25.2-33.0) and an effective reproduction number of about 1.63 (95% CI: 1.35-1.94). Transmissibility peaked in January 2017, shortly before targeted awareness and vaccination campaigns were put in place by health authorities; however, transmission remained above the epidemic threshold until June 2017. Within households, children (0-15) and young adults (16-30) infected preferentially individuals of the same age class, whereas transmission within older age groups was substantially homogeneous. These results suggest that the implemented interventions were able to slow down HAV transmission, but not to bring it rapidly to a halt. According to our estimates of the HAV transmissibility, about 50% of the at-risk persons should be immunized to prevent similar outbreaks in the future. Our results also indicate spillover from community transmission to household members, suggesting the opportunity of vaccinating household contacts of cases to prevent further spread of the epidemics

La percezione degli infermieri della morte del paziente oncologico: uno studio qualitativo

Background: Il tema della morte è uno dei fondamentali problemi con cui gli infermieri si possono confrontare nell’agire professionale ed al quale difficilmente si è profondamente e sinceramente preparati. Le difficoltà nel gestire il carico emotivo possono indurlo a sviluppare sentimenti negativi nei confronti della vita e, nella pratica clinica tali da influenzare le capacità di caregiving e la qualità delle cure fornite.  OBIETTIVO: esplorare le percezioni dell’infermiere di fronte alla morte del paziente degente nei reparti di oncologia.  METODO: Studio qualitativo fenomenologico. Il campione di infermieri è stato reclutato presso un I.R.C.C.S. di Roma, un Hospice di Latina ed uno di Rieti. I dati sono stati raccolti mediante mediante focus group. Le interviste semi-strutturate caratterizzate da tre domande costruite ad hoc, audio-registrate, sono state poi trascritte ed analizzate utilizzando il framework analysis approach.  RISULTATI: sono stati condotti in totale 7 focus group con una partecipazione in totale di 39 infemieri. Dall’analisi qualitativa sono emersi quattro temi: “I diversi significati della morte”, “Lo strappo della morte”, “Le variabili percettive della morte”, “Le richieste di aiuto”.  CONCLUSIONI: Lo studio ha evidenziato la necessità di fornire al personale infermieristico un importante supporto psicologico ed emotivo, e di porre attenzione agli elementi organizzativi-ambientali per una migliore gestione dell’evento morte in oncologia.  PAROLE CHIAVE: Infermiere, fine vita, morte,paziente oncologico, studio qualitativo, cure palliative, psiconcologia BACKGROUND: Death is one of the basic theme with which nurses are faced, and for which it is hard for them to prepare deeply and sincerely.  The difficulties in handling the emotional burden can cause them to develop negative feelings towards life and clinical practice, so that it affects their caregiving capacity and the quality of care provided.  AIM: To explore nurses’ perceptions facing the death of a hospitalized oncology patient.  METHODS: Qualitative phenomenological study. The sample of nurses was recruited at IRCCS (Scientific Institute for Research and Healthcare) in Rome, a hospice in Latina and a hospice in Rieti. The data were collected by means of focus groups. The semi-structured interviews featuring three guiding questions constructed for this purpose, were audio-recorded, transcribed, and then analyzed using the analysis framework approach.  RESULTS: In total 7 focus groups were conducted with a total participation of 39 nurses. Four themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: “The different meanings of death”, “The rupture of death”, “The perceptual variables of death”, and “Requests for help”.  CONCLUSION: The study highlighted the need to provide nurses with substantial psychological and emotional support, and give consideration to organizational and environmental factors for better management of the event of death in oncology.  KEY WORDS: Nurse, end of life, nurses perception, death, oncology patient, qualitative study, palliative care, psycho-oncology&nbsp