1,121 research outputs found
Ischemic cardiovascular disease in workers occupationally exposed to urban air pollution – A systematic review
Introduction. Cardiovascular disease is the first cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Among several known risk factors, researchers also focus their attention on the chronic exposure to air pollution. There is much evidence that exposure to air pollution, especially to ultrafine particles, can damage the endothelium and can favour cardiovascular diseases in the general population. Occupational exposition could be an additive risk factor for the cardiovascular system. This article presents a scientific review of the linkage between occupational exposure to air pollution and ischemic heart disease. Materials and method. A scientific review was undertaken, followed by PRISMA Statements. Observational studies were selected from several scientific databases, likesuch as Pubmed, Google Scholar, Nioshtic-2 and Reserchgate, searching
for selected key words: police workers, professional drivers, mail carriers, filling station attendants, road cleaners, garage workers, motor vehicles and engine maintenance. All the key words were combined with “Boolean Operators” with the
following words: cardiovascular (or cardiac) disease, cardiovascular function, cardiovascular system, ischemic heart disease, coronary disease, myocardial infarction. During the systematic research, the focus was on retrospective and prospective studies from January 1990 – December 2014.
Results. Both the retrospective and prospective studies showed an increased risk of ischemic heart disease in occupationally occupied people exposed to air pollution. Only one study presented a ly minor risk.
Conclusions. The findings of this systematic review suggest a possible linkage between occupational exposure to urban air pollution, especially to motor exhaust and particulate, and ischemic heart disease
K+ to pi-mu+mu+ and doubly-charged Higgs
The rate for the lepton-number-violating decay K+ to pi- mu+mu+ is calculated
in a model which incorporates doubly-charged Higgs bosons. We find that for
reasonable values of the parameters the decay branching ratio may be as large
as 2E-16. Although this is a discouragingly small number, it is of the same
order of magnitude as the rate mediated by massive Majorana neutrinos.Comment: 8 pages, RevTex, Figure1 is P
Suspected cutaneous leishmaniasis in a sample of Western Sicily residents: what correlation with occupation?
Background: Leishmaniasis is a widespread infectious disease, but there is not much information about its prevalence in high risk occupational categories. Objectives: Te aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of Leishmania
immunological positivity in human skin tissues collected from subjects living in Western Sicily, with suspected cutaneous Leishmania infection, in order to explore the risk possibly related to occupation. Methods: 318 consecutive
subjects (M/F ratio=1.0, mean age=40\ub125.4 years), attending the Dermatology Department of the University of Palermo Hospital from 2013 to 2015, without any previous history of Leishmania infection and performing various
occupations, were included. Parasite isolation and PCR-RT test on skin scrapings were performed to evaluate the immunological status; all data were analyzed by the chi square test, comparing all positive results from the di\ufb00erent
provinces. Results: 81 (50.9%) out of 159 females and 79 (49.7%) out of 159 males were found PCR-RT positive to Leishmania infantum, with a higher risk in the Agrigento district (p<0.001) and in subjects living in rural areas (p=0.0038), regardless of the type of work performed. Te observed animal leishmaniasis prevalence in the same areas shows the endemic status of the disease in Sicily. Conclusions: Although based on a relatively small sample, our study shows that cutaneous leishmaniasis represents a health care problem with a medical and social impact in Western Sicily. An active surveillance system and the establishment of diagnosis and treatment centres could be useful
in controlling this public health problem
Impact of spin-orbit coupling on quantum Hall nematic phases
Anisotropic charge transport is observed in a two-dimensional (2D) hole
system in a perpendicular magnetic field at filling factors nu=7/2, nu=11/2,
and nu=13/2 at low temperature. In stark contrast, the transport at nu=9/2 is
isotropic for all temperatures. Isotropic hole transport at nu=7/2 is restored
for sufficiently low 2D densities or an asymmetric confining potential. The
density and symmetry dependences of the observed anisotropies suggest that
strong spin-orbit coupling in the hole system contributes to the unusual
transport behavior.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Landauer formula without Landauer's assumptions
The Landauer formula for dissipationless conductance lies at the heart of
modern electronic transport, yet it remains without a clear microscopic basis.
We analyze the Landauer formula microscopically, and give a straightforward
quantum kinetic derivation for open systems. Some important experimental
implications follow. These lie beyond the Landauer result as popularly
received.Comment: LaTeX, 7pp, one fi
The X-Gamma Imaging Spectrometer (XGIS) onboard THESEUS
A compact and modular X and gamma-ray imaging spectrometer (XGIS) has been
designed as one of the instruments foreseen on-board the THESEUS mission
proposed in response to the ESA M5 call. The experiment envisages the use of
CsI scintillator bars read out at both ends by single-cell 25 mm 2 Silicon
Drift Detectors. Events absorbed in the Silicon layer (lower energy X rays) and
events absorbed in the scintillator crystal (higher energy X rays and
Gamma-rays) are discriminated using the on-board electronics. A coded mask
provides imaging capabilities at low energies, thus allowing a compact and
sensitive instrument in a wide energy band (~2 keV up to ~20 MeV). The
instrument design, expected performance and the characterization performed on a
series of laboratory prototypes are discussed.Comment: To be published in the Proceedings of the THESEUS Workshop 2017
(http://www.isdc.unige.ch/theseus/workshop2017.html), Journal of the Italian
Astronomical Society (Mem.SAIt), Editors L. Amati, E. Bozzo, M. Della Valle,
D. Gotz, P. O'Brien. Details on the THESEUS mission concept can be found in
the white paper Amati et al. 2017 (arXiv:171004638) and Stratta et al. 2017
(arXiv:1712.08153
Colored noise in the fractional Hall effect: duality relations and exact results
We study noise in the problem of tunneling between fractional quantum Hall
edge states within a four probe geometry. We explore the implications of the
strong-weak coupling duality symmetry existent in this problem for relating the
various density-density auto-correlations and cross-correlations between the
four terminals. We identify correlations that transform as either ``odd'' or
``anti-symmetric'', or ``even'' or ``symmetric'' quantities under duality. We
show that the low frequency noise is colored, and that the deviations from
white noise are exactly related to the differential conductance. We show
explicitly that the relationship between the slope of the low frequency noise
spectrum and the differential conductance follows from an identity that holds
to {\it all} orders in perturbation theory, supporting the results implied by
the duality symmetry. This generalizes the results of quantum supression of the
finite frequency noise spectrum to Luttinger liquids and fractional statistics
quasiparticles.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure
Modulation theory of quantum tunneling into a Calogero-Sutherland fluid
Quantum hydrodynamics of interacting electrons with a parabolic single
particle spectrum is studied using the Calogero-Sutherland model. The effective
action and modulation equations, describing evolution of periodic excitations
in the fluid, are derived. Applications to the problem of a single electron
tunneling into the FQHE edge state are discussed
Electron fractionalization induced dephasing in Luttinger liquids
Using the appropriate fractionalization mechanism, we correctly derive the
temperature (T) and interaction dependence of the electron lifetime in
Luttinger liquids. For strong enough interactions, we report that
, with being the standard Luttinger exponent; This
reinforces that electrons are {\it not} good quasiparticles. We immediately
emphasize that this is of importance for the detection of electronic
interferences in ballistic 1D rings and carbon nanotubes, inducing
``dephasing'' (strong reduction of Aharonov-Bohm oscillations).Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure (Final version for PRB Brief Report
- …