Improving Roadside Design to Forgive Human Errors

AbstractAccidents involving roadsides are typically extremely “unforgiving”. Even though the roadside design can affect only marginally the actual number of accidents occurring on a road, the severity of crashes can be considerably reduced if roadsides are designed to be more “forgiving”.Within the IRDES project a practical and uniform guideline that allows the road designer to improve the forgivingness of the roadside and a practical tool for assessing the effectiveness of applying a given roadside treatment have been produced for the following set of roadside features: barrier terminals; shoulder rumble strips; forgiving support structures for road equipment; shoulder width

Assessment of the Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the nutritional status and lipid profile of employees in a teaching hospital in Rome. A retrospective cohort study

Background: on the 9 March 2020, the Italian government declared a state of lockdown on the entire national territory aimed at reducing the spread of SARS-CoV-2, causing strong repercussions for people's lifestyles. The aim of the study was to analyze the impact of the lockdown on the nutritional status and lipid profile of employees of an Italian teaching hospital. Methods: an observational retrospective cohort study was carried out at the Department of Occupational Medicine of the Umberto I General Hospital of Rome, including all employees who underwent two consecutive occupational medical examinations before and after the first lockdown (9 March 2020-18 May 2020). Employee medical records were used as a data source. Results: 1014 employees were involved in the study (50.6% nurses, 31% physicians, 14.8% technical staff, 3.6% administrative staff). Post lockdown BMI, total cholesterol and LDL values increased statistically significantly compared to pre lockdown ones. Nurses showed a significant association with increased BMI (p < 0.001), while workers with heart disease were inversely associated with total cholesterol (p < 0.001) and LDL (p < 0.001). Conclusion: this study showed that lockdown had a significant impact on employees' lifestyles. Further studies are needed to understand changes in health-related behaviors, such as diet and physical activity, of specific categories of workers over time under lockdown conditions

Evaluating the Impacts of Alcohol-Based Solutions on Silk: Chemical, Mechanical and Wettability Changes before and after Artificial Ageing

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, since 2020, alcohol-based sanitisers have been frequently used in museums and historic sites. Although they provide a safer environment for visitors, the impact of the (components in) sanitisers on the cultural heritage on open display is still uncertain. The current study investigated the effects of ethanol and isopropanol solutions on silk artefacts specifically in relation to possible mechanical changes and to their long-term impact based on artificial ageing. Thus, samples from three modern silk fabrics were treated through spraying and immersion with six solutions, two of which contained benzalkonium chloride (BZK), a surfactant suggested by Italian national guidelines in the formulation of sanitisers for museums. The impact of the treatment was studied from a chemical perspective, i.e., through spectroscopic techniques, and considering changes in the mechanical strength through uniaxial tensile testing. In addition, water wettability was measured. To study whether the contact with the solutions can affect the degradation path of silk, after the treatment, samples were exposed to light ageing and were stored at medium and high RH, i.e., 55% and 80%. Furthermore, treated and untreated silk textiles were placed in the Museum of Palazzo Mocenigo (Venice) to define the behaviour in an actual museum environment. The results show that, even when silk is immersed in the solutions for 180 min, no relevant chemical and physical changes can be observed on silk fibres. Variations noted at the end of the light ageing occurred regardless of the treatments with the solutions, so they are not affected by the contact with sanitisers. Nevertheless, when treating the samples (also through spraying) with solutions containing BZK, the surfactant is adsorbed by the textile. Once adsorbed, BZK significantly increases the water wettability of silk, causing a persistent modification of the property as also observed at the end of the ageing and in situ tests

Clinical characteristics associated with suicide attempts in clinical settings: A comparison of suicidal and non-suicidal depressed inpatients

INTRODUCTION: Both psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses are involved in the psychiatric management of suicidal inpatients. One-to-one observation by qualified nurses and the accommodation of the patient in a room close to the infirmary are usually recommended. Suicidal risk should be reassessed periodically to check response to treatment. AIM: To compare the severity of depressive symptoms in depressed inpatients admitted after an attempted suicide and those admitted for any other reason and to assess the severity of suicide attempts and the management of suicidal risk in clinical settings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We divided the sample into two subgroups: patients with a diagnosis of depression admitted because of a recent suicide attempt and depressed patients with no recent history of attempted suicide. Socio-demographic and clinical data were gathered; assessments included the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale and the Nurses’ Global Assessment of Suicide Risk (NGASR). RESULTS: Forty-six patients were recruited over a 1-year period: 20 were admitted to the hospital following a suicide attempt; the other 26 had not attempted suicide and were admitted for other depression-related reasons. Multivariate analysis revealed a correlation between use of antidepressants and recent attempted suicide. Attempting suicide was not related to the severity of depressive symptoms. In the recent suicide attempt subgroup, NGASR suicide risk levels were lower at discharge than at admission. Patients with a recent history of attempted suicide had a higher number of suicide attempts in their clinical history than patients with no recent history of attempted suicide. CONCLUSION: There were no correlations between psychiatric diagnosis, severity of depressive symptoms, and recent suicide attempt. Antidepressant therapy protected against suicide attempts. History of suicide attempts was one of the best predictors of recent attempted suicide. A more thorough understanding of the complex phenomenon of suicide and the reasons for suicidal behavior is needed

Gender Differences in Er Psychiatric Consultations Among Suicide Attempters

Purpose: Suicide attempts are extremely prevalent and associated with many risk factors that vary with age and gender, occur in combination, and may change over time. The aim of the present study was to describe gender differences among psychiatric ER users at the AOU Maggiore della Carità Hospital in Novara for attempted suicide with regard to intentions and methods of attempting. Methods: Determinants of ER psychiatric consultations were studied prospectively during the period 2008- 2014 at the 'Maggiore” Hospital in Novara. Comparison of qualitative data was performed by means of the χ2 test. Statistical significance was set at p≤0.05. Results: We have already gathered data from more than 2000 ER psychiatric consultations. Preliminary results suggest that suicide attempts are more common in females than in males, although through the years there seems to be a trend towards increase of attempts even in males. Surprisingly, suicide attempts are found to be more common in employed subjects than in unemployed ones. Reasons for self-harming are associated with relational problems rather than psychiatric symptoms. Drugs poisoning seems to be the preferred suicide method. Conclusions: The results described above should be considered as preliminary, as data collection and statistical analyses are still ongoing. Anyway, the possible correlation between employment and suicide attempt, and the growing frequency of attempts in males seem to be particularly interesting. Implications will be discussed

Novel genotyping approaches to easily detect genomic admixture between the major Afrotropical malaria vector species, Anopheles coluzzii and An. gambiae

The two most efficient and most recently radiated Afrotropical vectors of human malaria - Anopheles coluzzii and An.gambiae - are identified by single-locus diagnostic PCR assays based on species-specific markers in a 4Mb region on chromosome-X centromere. Inherently, these diagnostic assays cannot detect interspecific autosomal admixture shown to be extensive at the westernmost and easternmost extremes of the species range. The main aim of this study was to develop novel, easy-to-implement tools for genotyping An.coluzzii and An.gambiae-specific ancestral informative markers (AIMs) identified from the Anopheles gambiae 1000 genomes (Ag1000G) project. First, we took advantage of this large set of data in order to develop a multilocus approach to genotype 26 AIMs on all chromosome arms valid across the species range. Second, we tested the multilocus assay on samples from Guinea Bissau, The Gambia and Senegal, three countries spanning the westernmost hybridization zone, where conventional species diagnostic is problematic due to the putative presence of a novel "hybrid form". The multilocus assay was able to capture patterns of admixture reflecting those revealed by the whole set of AIMs and provided new original data on interspecific admixture in the region. Third, we developed an easy-to-use, cost-effective PCR approach for genotyping two AIMs on chromosome-3 among those included in the multilocus approach, opening the possibility for advanced identification of species and of admixed specimens during routine large scale entomological surveys, particularly, but not exclusively, at the extremes of the range, where WGS data highlighted unexpected autosomal admixture

A clinical trial of oral hyposensitization in systemic allergy to nickel.

Nickel allergy is the most common contact allergy. Some nickel-sensitive patients present systemic (cutaneous and/or digestive) symptoms related to the ingestion of high nickel-content foods, which significantly improve after a specific low nickel-content diet. The etiopathogenetic role of nickel in the genesis of systemic disorders is, furthermore, demonstrated by the relapse of previous contact lesions, appearance of widespread eczema and generalized urticaria-like lesions after oral nickel challenge test. The aim of this study is to investigate the safety and efficacy of a specific oral hyposensitization to nickel in patients with both local contact disorders and systemic symptoms after the ingestion of nickel-containing foods. Inclusion criteria for the recruitment of these patients were (other than a positive patch test) a benefit higher than 80% from a low nickel-content diet and a positive oral challenge with nickel. Based on the previous experiences, our group adopted a therapeutic protocol by using increasing oral doses of nickel sulfate associated to an elimination diet. Results have been excellent: this treatment has been effective in inducing clinical tolerance to nickel-containing foods, with a low incidence of side effects (gastric pyrosis, itching erythema)

Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in Subjects with Obesity: What is the Best Approach?

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