37 research outputs found
Air pollution and related respiratory diseases: the experience of a Local Health Authority in Liguria (North Italy)
Background. Numerous epidemiological studies have shown that air pollution due to both industry and heavy traffic has short- and long-term effects on health. The study was carried out in an industrial area with heavy urban and motorway traffic in the Province of Genoa (Italy).
Methods. The study was carried out from June 2005 to July 2008. An epidemiologic study was conducted by monitoring an elementary/ middle school situated in an area of recent industrial development and an elementary/middle school located in an area free from sources of industrial pollution. Furthermore, we conducted an investigation of workers in commercial premises situated in one area of heavy vehicular traffic. In the study areas, environmental monitoring campaigns were carried out in order to determine the association between indoor and outdoor pollution and respiratory disorders.
Results and discussion. The study did not bring to light any specific health problems attributable with certainty to industrial emissions. The impact of pollution caused by motor traffic proved to be greater than that due to industrial emissions. More exhaustive sampling campaigns should be implemented in order to quantify the effects of specific sources of emissions and to correlate these sources with pollutants (industry, urban traffic, motorway traffic)
Molecular epidemiology of measles in Liguria, Italy: a tool for the elimination of the infection
no Abstrac
Molecular epidemiology and case-control approaches for management of an outbreak of hepatitis A in Liguria, Italy
Introduction and methods. Hepatitis A remains an important
public health problem in low endemicity areas, because of the
social and economic high burden of cyclical outbreaks. In this
study we described an outbreak of HAV infection occurred in the
city of Genoa and in its proximity and the viral circulation in the
post-epidemic period. In order to identify risk factors associated to
the illness and to determine the source of infection and the dynamics
of virus evolution, we conducted an epidemiological and molecular
investigation by a case-control study and by sequence analysis of
high variable regions of the genome.
Results. From May to October 2005, 58 HAV hepatitis cases were
notified. The case-control study showed that beach establishment
attending is strongly associated with HAV hepatitis (OR = 24.5,
p-value inf. 0.01), at multivariate analysis. The profile of epidemic
curve, the clinical onset of primary cases who occurred in few
weeks and the geographic distribution of cases clearly indicated
a common exposure to a point source: the outbreak can be probably
associated with a contaminated food product dispensed in
the affected area.
The outbreak has been mainly caused by a single variant, confirming
the common exposure to a point source; this variant previously circulated
within homosexual man (MSM) network in Northern Europe.
During the outbreak and in the following months, different variants
originating from Southeast Asia, Southern America and Northern
Africa, have co-circulated: all these cases were related to international
travel and none of these had determined secondary cases.
Discussion. The epidemiological picture of hepatitis A in Liguria is
characterized by a wide heterogeneity of circulating HAV strains.
This pattern could be associated with the increase of imported
cases and transmission within network of persons with similar risk
factors. Molecular approach coupled to descriptive and analytical
epidemiological studies appeared un-replaceable tools for management
and control of HAV outbreaks, because of their capacity
to recognize infection origin, transmission patterns and dynamics
of virus evolution
Bright single photon emitters with enhanced quantum efficiency in a two-dimensional semiconductor coupled with dielectric nano-antennas
Single photon emitters in atomically-thin semiconductors can be deterministically positioned using strain induced by underlying nano-structures. Here, we couple monolayer WSe2 to high-refractive-index gallium phosphide dielectric nano-antennas providing both optical enhancement and monolayer deformation. For single photon emitters formed on such nano-antennas, we find very low (femto-Joule) saturation pulse energies and up to 104 times brighter photoluminescence than in WSe2 placed on low-refractive-index SiO2 pillars. We show that the key to these observations is the increase on average by a factor of 5 of the quantum efficiency of the emitters coupled to the nano-antennas. This further allows us to gain new insights into their photoluminescence dynamics, revealing the roles of the dark exciton reservoir and Auger processes. We also find that the coherence time of such emitters is limited by intrinsic dephasing processes. Our work establishes dielectric nano-antennas as a platform for high-efficiency quantum light generation in monolayer semiconductors
Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis
Authors examine prophylaxis in fighting diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis over last fifty years and the results recently obtained in this field. They foresee improving sanitary conditions in the future of our country
L'epatite virale nel Comune di Genova
none4Gasparini R; Coppola R; Marensi L; Crovari PGasparini, Roberto; Coppola, R; Marensi, L; Crovari, Pietr
Le certificazioni di idoneit\ue0 alla pratica sportiva e motoria
Si analizzano gli aspetti legislativi relativi alle certificazioni sportive che \ue8 questione particolarmente complessa e delicata, alla luce non solo di implicazioni medico-legali, ma soprattutto della nuova prospettiva, che prevede una estensione della pratica motoria alla popolazione, intesa come un vero e proprio intervento di prevenzione. Dopo aver analizzato le tipologie di attivit\ue0 sportiva ascrivibili all'attivit\ue0 agonistica e non agonistica, si analizzano le possibili strategie per favorire l\u2019estensione di un approccio sicuro allo svolgimento di attivit\ue0 motoria