Analysis of appeals against the ruling of occupational physicians lodged with the Prevention and Occupational Epidemiology Operative Unit, ASP Palermo (Palermo Health Authority), from 2008-2010

Introduction: The responsibility of the Department for Prevention and Safety at the workplace of the Palermo Health Authority (ASP) is to monitor and coordinate the activity of occupational physicians operating in Palermo and its province. One of its obligations is to examine appeals “against the judgment of occupational physicians”, “...and, after carrying out further investigation, confirm, modify or reverse the ruling itself ” (art. 41, par. 6, legislative Decree 81/08). Objectives: The purpose of this study was to analyze the appeals lodged against a “judgment of fitness for work” submitted to the “Health Prevention and Occupational Epidemiology Operative Unit” of the Department of Prevention and Safety at the Workplace of the ASP Palermo, from 2008 to 2010. Methods: The total number of appeals lodged during the three-year period was 211, 174 of which were finalized. Results: The most frequent job category among the appellants was that of blue-collar workers, in various sectors, covering 44.5% of the subjects under study (93 cases). In 64.2% of the processed appeals (131 cases), the judgment of the physician was modified, while in the remaining 36.8% (73 cases) it was confirmed.The work fitness judgment with restrictions was the category against which most appeals were lodged, and the diseases in question mostly concerned the osteoarticular and cardiovascular systems. Conclusion: In a context of continuous change in the labour field and the related risks to the health and safety of workers, the occupational physician must approach the worker in a comprehensive manner,through an assessment of the possible health problems and the working environment in which he/she operates

The first horse herders and the impact of early Bronze Age steppe expansions into Asia

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from AAAS via the DOI in this recordThe file includes the article, supplementary material and additional supplementary materialThe published version of the supplementary materials are at http://science.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2018/05/08/science.aar7711.DC1Part of the additional supplementary materials for this article are in ORE at http://hdl.handle.net/10871/32792The Yamnaya expansions from the western steppe into Europe and Asia during the Early Bronze Age (~3000 BCE) are believed to have brought with them Indo-European languages and possibly horse husbandry. We analyze 74 ancient whole-genome sequences from across Inner Asia and Anatolia and show that the Botai people associated with the earliest horse husbandry derived from a hunter-gatherer population deeply diverged from the Yamnaya. Our results also suggest distinct migrations bringing West Eurasian ancestry into South Asia before and after but not at the time of Yamnaya culture. We find no evidence of steppe ancestry in Bronze Age Anatolia from when Indo-European languages are attested there. Thus, in contrast to Europe, Early Bronze Age Yamnaya-related migrations had limited direct genetic impact in Asia.The study was supported by the Lundbeck Foundation (EW), the Danish National Research Foundation (EW), and KU2016 (EW). Research at the Sanger Institute was supported by the Wellcome Trust (grant 206194). RM was supported by an EMBO Long-Term Fellowship (ALTF 133-2017). JK was supported by the Human Frontiers Science Program (LT000402/2017). Botai fieldwork was supported by University of Exeter, Archeology Exploration Fund and Niobe Thompson, Clearwater Documentary. AB was supported by NIH grant 5T32GM007197-43. GK was funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond and European Research Council. MP was funded by Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), project number 276-70-028, IU was funded by the Higher education commission of Pakistan. Archaeological materials from Sholpan and Grigorievka were obtained with partial financial support of the budget program of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Grant financing of scientific research for 2018-2020” No. AP05133498 “Early Bronze Age of the Upper Irtysh”

Population genomics of post-glacial western Eurasia.

Western Eurasia witnessed several large-scale human migrations during the Holocene <sup>1-5</sup> . Here, to investigate the cross-continental effects of these migrations, we shotgun-sequenced 317 genomes-mainly from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods-from across northern and western Eurasia. These were imputed alongside published data to obtain diploid genotypes from more than 1,600 ancient humans. Our analyses revealed a 'great divide' genomic boundary extending from the Black Sea to the Baltic. Mesolithic hunter-gatherers were highly genetically differentiated east and west of this zone, and the effect of the neolithization was equally disparate. Large-scale ancestry shifts occurred in the west as farming was introduced, including near-total replacement of hunter-gatherers in many areas, whereas no substantial ancestry shifts happened east of the zone during the same period. Similarly, relatedness decreased in the west from the Neolithic transition onwards, whereas, east of the Urals, relatedness remained high until around 4,000 BP, consistent with the persistence of localized groups of hunter-gatherers. The boundary dissolved when Yamnaya-related ancestry spread across western Eurasia around 5,000 BP, resulting in a second major turnover that reached most parts of Europe within a 1,000-year span. The genetic origin and fate of the Yamnaya have remained elusive, but we show that hunter-gatherers from the Middle Don region contributed ancestry to them. Yamnaya groups later admixed with individuals associated with the Globular Amphora culture before expanding into Europe. Similar turnovers occurred in western Siberia, where we report new genomic data from a 'Neolithic steppe' cline spanning the Siberian forest steppe to Lake Baikal. These prehistoric migrations had profound and lasting effects on the genetic diversity of Eurasian populations

Conservation genomics of Esox flaviae (Italian pike)

The recent discovery of a novel pike species naturally distributed in the Alpine region, Esox flaviae (“Italian pike”), has fuelled debate on the conservation status of this prized game fish and apex predator. For decades, allochtonous Northern pike (E. lucius, here “European pike”) have been widely used in stocking practices to sustain angling activities. Although the two species differ phenotypically, hybrids are often indistinguishable, and patterns of introgression are becoming increasingly complex to unravel with traditional genetic markers, namely microsatellites. We aim to bypass this obstacle by using Whole Genome Sequence data (WGS) to study population structure and genomic adaptation in the Italian pike, and, ultimately, develop a genotyping tool to aid its conservation. Samples were previously categorized as either Italian (n = 16), European (n = 6) or hybrid (n = 6) based on microsatellites. In this study, the European pike genome was used as reference to align reads, yielding 7.3 million quality-filtered SNPs. Our SNP dataset allowed for successful clustering of individuals at species and subpopulation levels using Principal Component Analysis, as well as a more thorough analysis of hybridization as opposed to microsatellites, using FastSTRUCTURE. Genome- wide selection scans (GWSS) were carried out, which involved calculation of per-locus statistics such as FST, π and α (the rate of adaptive molecular evolution as described by the McDonald-Kreitman test). Several chromosomic regions were identified as candidates for selection. Ongoing analyses will shed further light on the patterns of adaptive variation and the functional consequences of introgressive hybridization

Il parent training modifica le credenze dei genitori? Effetti sull’autoefficacia e sulla percezione di controllo nelle interazioni con bambini ADHD

La ricerca analizza l’impatto del profilo ADHD (bambini in età scolare) sulla famiglia e i cam- biamenti nelle credenze genitoriali e nelle interazioni problematiche in seguito a un parent training. Le variabili genitoriali sono: stress, rabbia, controllo percepito sugli esiti delle interazioni, autoef- ficacia, pratiche positive (calorosità, coinvolgimento) e negative (incoerenza, punizione). Nel post- training si riducono nei bambini il numero e la gravità dei comportamenti problema; nei genitori si osserva un decremento nell’uso della punizione, nei livelli di stress, maggiore senso di autoeffica- cia e percezione di controllo. Si discute l’utilità di includere le credenze nella valutazione dell’ADHD e dell’efficacia del parent training

Effetti dei parent training sul profilo ADHD e sul benessere familiare

Negli ultimi anni la diffusione dei parent training nell’ADHD è stata accompagnata dallo sforzo di validazione dei modelli d’intervento, con l’obiettivo di verificarne l’efficacia clinica e sul sistema familiare. La ricerca analizza l’impatto emozionale del profilo ADHD (bambini in età scolare) e il cambiamento nelle credenze genitoriali e nelle interazioni problematiche genitore-figlio in seguito alla partecipazione ad un gruppo educativo. Le variabili del parenting esaminate sono: stress, rabbia, controllo percepito nella disciplina, soddisfazione ed efficacia educativa, pratiche positive (calorosità, coinvolgimento) e negative (incoerenza, punizione). A conclusione del programma, si riducono nei bambini il numero e la gravità dei sintomi e dei comportamenti problema; nei genitori si osserva un decremento nell’uso della punizione, nei livelli di stress, maggiore autoefficacia e percezione di controllo delle interazioni. Ciò conferma che i parent training, oltre a insegnare strategie educative efficaci, favoriscono un cambiamento cognitivo-emozionale che richiede un ampio assessment delle variabili in gioco