Occupational risk for Legionella infection among dental healthcare workers: meta-analysis in occupational epidemiology

Objective The occupational risk for Legionella infection among dental healthcare workers (DHCWs) is conjectured because of the risk of routine inhalation of potentially contaminated aerosols produced by the dental instruments. Nevertheless, occupational epidemiology studies are contrasting. This metaanalysis assessed the level of scientific evidence regarding the relative occupational risk for Legionella infection among DHCWs. Methods Literature search was performed without time and language restrictions, using broad data banks (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, GOOGLE Scholar) and generic keywords (‘legionella’ AND ‘dent*’). Analytical cross-sectional studies comparing prevalence of high serum Legionella antibody levels in DHCWs and occupationally unexposed individuals were considered. The relative occupational risk was assessed through prevalence ratio (PR) with 95% CI. Between-study heterogeneity was assessed (Cochran’s Q test) and was used to choose the meta-analytic method. Study quality (modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale) and publication bias (Begg and Mazumdar’s test, Egger and colleagues’ test, trim and fill R0 method) were assessed formally and considered for the sensitivity analysis. Sensitivity analysis to study inclusion, subgroup analyses (dental staff categories; publication year, before vs after 1998, ie, 5 years after the release by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the infection control guidelines in dental healthcare setting) were performed. Results Seven studies were included (2232 DHCWs, 1172 occupationally unexposed individuals). No evidence of publication bias was detected. The pooled PR estimate was statistically non-significant at 95% level (1.7; 95% CI 0.8 to 3.2), study-quality adjustment did not change the PR considerably (PR, 1.5; 95% CI 0.5 to 4.1). PR was statistically significant before 1998 and no longer significant after 1998. Subgroup analysis according to DHCW categories was inconclusive. Conclusions There is no scientific evidence that DHCWs are at high occupational risk. The differences between former and recent studies could be due to different characteristics of municipal water systems and the infection control guideline dissemination

SEPABot: notifiche su Discord di eventi semantici

In questa tesi si vedrà lo sviluppo di un Bot in grado di prelevare dati da un database semantico tramite SEPA (SPARQL Event Processing Architecture), rielaborarli e inviarli a Discord. Lo scopo principale di questo studio è fornire un metodo comodo ed efficiente per il tracciamento del flusso dati all’interno del database. Dopo una breve introduzione sul funzionamento, verranno esaminati gli strumenti utilizzati e le varie componenti del bot. Il Bot offre molteplici possibilità di utilizzo. Saranno illustrati casi d'uso come la gestione di messaggi d'errore e di nuovi login

Probabilistic electric load forecasting through Bayesian Mixture Density Networks

Probabilistic load forecasting (PLF) is a key component in the extended tool-chain required for efficient management of smart energy grids. Neural networks are widely considered to achieve improved prediction performances, supporting highly flexible mappings of complex relationships between the target and the conditioning variables set. However, obtaining comprehensive predictive uncertainties from such black-box models is still a challenging and unsolved problem. In this work, we propose a novel PLF approach, framed on Bayesian Mixture Density Networks. Both aleatoric and epistemic uncertainty sources are encompassed within the model predictions, inferring general conditional densities, depending on the input features, within an end-to-end training framework. To achieve reliable and computationally scalable estimators of the posterior distributions, both Mean Field variational inference and deep ensembles are integrated. Experiments have been performed on household short-term load forecasting tasks, showing the capability of the proposed method to achieve robust performances in different operating conditions.Comment: 56 page

A cross-sectional study on benzene exposure in pediatric age and parental smoking habits at home

After the introduction of the smoke-free legislation, household smoking has become the major source of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure for children. In our previous research, we found a strong association between urinary unmodified benzene (u-UB) levels and passive smoking exposure related to the home smoking policies (HSP). The aim of the study is to further investigate the impacts of several factors on ETS-exposure in childhood by using u-UB as tobacco-related carcinogen biomarker of exposure. Two cross-sectional studies were performed on the same target population of our previous research, in summer and winter season of the years 2017 and 2018, respectively. A questionnaire and a head space–solid phase micro-extraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS) analytical method were used as investigative procedures. The improvement found in smoking habits, when compared to our previous surveys, reduced the levels of u-UB in children. However, significant dierences related to the high number of smokers and smoked cigarettes, in total and at home, still persist. These dierences are more relevant in the winter season. Finally, the only eective way for making homes completely smokefree is to develop public health policies for encouraging people to quit or drastically reduce smoking

Post-Fire Management Impact on Natural Forest Regeneration through Altered Microsite Conditions

High severity stand-replacing wildfires can deeply affect forest ecosystems whose composition includes plant species lacking fire-related traits and specific adaptations. Land managers and policymakers need to be aware of the importance of properly managing these ecosystems, adopting post-disturbance interventions designed to reach management goals, and restoring the required ecosystem services. Recent research frequently found that post-fire salvage logging negatively affects natural regeneration dynamics, thereby altering successional pathways due to a detrimental interaction with the preceding disturbance. In this study, we compared the effects of salvage logging and other post-disturbance interventions (adopting different deadwood management strategies) to test their impact on microclimatic conditions, which potentially affect tree regeneration establishment and survival. After one of the largest and most severe wildfires in the Western Alps that affected stand-replacing behavior (100% tree mortality), a mountain forest dominated by Pinus sylvestris L., three post-fire interventions were adopted (SL-Salvage Logging, logging of all snags; CR-Cut and Release, cutting snags and releasing all deadwood on the ground; NI-No Intervention, all snags left standing). The differences among interventions concerning microclimatic conditions (albedo, surface roughness, solar radiation, soil moisture, soil temperature) were analyzed at different spatial scales (site, microsite). The management interventions influenced the presence and density of safe sites for regeneration. Salvage logging contributed to the harsh post-fire microsite environment by increasing soil temperature and reducing soil moisture. The presence of deadwood, instead, played a facilitative role in ameliorating microclimatic conditions for seedlings. The CR intervention had the highest soil moisture and the lowest soil temperature, which could be crucial for seedling survival in the first post-fire years. Due to its negative impact on microclimatic conditions affecting the availability of preferential microsites for regeneration recruitment, salvage logging should not be considered as the only intervention to be applied in post-fire environments. In the absence of threats or hazards requiring specific management actions (e.g., public safety, physical hazards for facilities), in the investigated ecosystems, no intervention, leaving all deadwood on site, could result in better microclimatic conditions for seedling establishment. A preferred strategy to speed-up natural processes and further increase safe sites for regeneration could be felling standing dead trees whilst releasing deadwood (at least partially) on the ground

Management of Femoral Neck Stress Fracture in an Athlete Using Clodronic Acid: a Clinical Case Report

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Electronic cigarette: a threat or an opportunity for public health? State of the art and future perspectives

The e-cigarette, also known as e-cig, represents an emerging issue of great concern for public health. The aim of the present report was to explore the scientific literature about the use of electronic cigarette (e-cig), with a particular reference to the features of “toxicological safety”, “effectiveness in overcoming the addiction to smoking the traditional cigarette” and “necessary research agenda”. The efficacy of e-cig for smoking cessation is uncertain: some authors found that it can be a valid support, but long-term cessation rate has not be assessed. Other studies evidenced that e-cig is often used not for quitting smoking but to avoid smoking ban for traditional cigarettes and, even, some researches evidenced that it appears to contribute to nicotine addiction. E-cig smoking seems to be less dangerous of conventional cigarettes, but its use is not risk-free. Besides, cases of accidental or intentional poisoning with liquid solutions of e-cig have been reported. Also, the smoke of e-cig decreases indoor air quality, releasing particulate matter and other toxics that can persist on surfaces for days and generating passive exposure. These phenomena are similar to environmental tobacco smoke produced by conventional smoking, that is the sum of second- and third-hand smoke. We propose to call them “environmental electronic smoke”, “electronic-second- hand smoke” and “electronicthird-hand smoke”, respectively. Uncertainties relating to e-cig features determined the sequence, in the short term, of warnings and regulations approved and then replaced. In conclusion, although in recent years many researches were performed, evidences is limited and there is a need to study in deep all these issues

Swimming at the time of covid-19. A cross-sectional study among young italian competitive athletes

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, several restriction measures were imposed to control the virus transmission, with important repercussions on different sectors, including sport. This study aimed to explore the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Italian competitive swimmers by analyzing how the disease and the restriction measures affected their training. In total, 396 competitive swimmers (mean age 16.0 ± 3.2 years) participated. A questionnaire was used to collect their general information, to assess whether they had had COVID-19 and the number of training days lost due to the disease or to the closure of swimming facilities, and the possible alternative training adopted. Twenty-four (6.1%) participants had had COVID-19 and lost, on average, 32 training days. The closure of facilities caused an interruption in swimming training for about 18% of the participants. The majority of these continued their training, mainly through home-based exercise, but reduced their weekly training time (-8 median hours/week). A positive association was found between regularly adopted weekly training volume and that assumed during pandemic closure (OR 9.433, CI95% 1.644-54.137, p = 0.012), suggesting that the previous level of engagement in sport can represent a predictor of exercise maintenance in challenging situations such as a pandemic. Further studies are needed to identify personal, environmental, and social resources that can help individuals to counteract the negative effects of restriction measures