EU Survey on issues related to transport and mobility

The main purpose of the survey was to collect data on car use, on use of transport modes for long distance mobility as well as on some other policy relevant issues (e.g. the attitude towards internalisation of road external costs by means of road charging). The survey involved all the 28 European countries. In each country a sample of 1000 individuals (500 in Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta) was asked to fill in a questionnaire divided into four sections : a. general information on the respondent (e.g. age, gender, living area) as well as details on availability of cars and public transport service. b. information on everyday mobility in terms of mode used, frequency of trips, duration, distance, intermodality and opinions on main problems experienced. c. information long distance trips (between 300 km and 1000 km as well as over 1000 km) made in the last 12 months; number of trips by purpose and main mode; connections between rail and air transport. d. opinions on aspects related to the European transport policy and especially on the scope for road charging.JRC.J.1-Economics of Climate Change, Energy and Transpor

Mobility Data across the EU 28 Member States: Results from an Extensive CAWI Survey

AbstractThe EU-wide survey presented here was carried out in 2014 with the objective of gathering in order a number of transport and mobility indicators on transport user preferences at both urban and long-distance level in a uniform way, with emphasis on the potential of emerging transport technologies and the acceptability of various transport policy measures.The CAWI (Computer Aided Web Interview) survey covered all 28 Member States of the European Union with the same questionnaire translated in the local languages. Samples of 1000 individuals in each country reflected the composition of adult population (from 16 years on) in terms of gender, age class, employment status, education level and living region.The survey provided a rich and comparable picture of mobility across the 28 EU countries; many similarities across countries were found together with some differences. In a way, the findings suggest that, despite some national peculiarities, mobility habits and behaviour are relatively homogenous in Europe and are determined especially by socio-economic drivers.The result of the survey confirmed that passenger mobility in EU is heavily centred on personal car, which is the most used transport mode also for long distance trips. Relatively higher modal share in East European countries appears to be driven mainly by the lower car availability rather than higher quality of public transport services.Europeans’ trips are essentially local, even though there is a share of citizens travelling frequently over longer distances. In particular, individuals with highly qualified jobs travel significantly more than others above 1000km not only for business but also for leisure.According to the survey results, the attitude towards electric vehicles is rather positive: one third of EU citizens declared to be willing to consider purchasing a battery or hybrid car in the next future. The picture for car sharing is more blurred: only a minority is interested in this service and, interestingly, half of those interested do not see this service as an actual alternative to car ownership. Opinions in relation to policy issues such as the measures for the internalization of environmental effects of transport are quite differentiated but in general regulatory restrictions seem to be more acceptable than pricing measures

Lifestyles and socio-cultural factors among children aged 6-8 years from five Italian towns: The MAPEC-LIFE study cohort

Background: Lifestyles profoundly determine the quality of an individual’s health and life since his childhood. Many diseases in adulthood are avoidable if health-risk behaviors are identified and improved at an early stage of life. The aim of the present research was to characterize a cohort of children aged 6–8 years selected in order to perform an epidemiological molecular study (the MAPEC_LIFE study), investigate lifestyles of the children that could have effect on their health status, and assess possible association between lifestyles and socio-cultural factors. Methods: A questionnaire composed of 148 questions was administered in two different seasons to parents of children attending 18 primary schools in five Italian cities (Torino, Brescia, Pisa, Perugia and Lecce) to obtain information regarding the criteria for exclusion from the study, demographic, anthropometric and health information on the children, as well as some aspects on their lifestyles and parental characteristics. The results were analyzed in order to assess the frequency of specific conditions among the different seasons and cities and the association between lifestyles and socio-economic factors. Results: The final cohort was composed of 1,164 children (50.9 boys, 95.4% born in Italy). Frequency of some factors appeared different in terms of the survey season (physical activity in the open air, the ways of cooking certain foods) and among the various cities (parents’ level of education and rate of employment, sport, traffic near the home, type of heating, exposure to passive smoking, ways of cooking certain foods). Exposure to passive smoking and cooking fumes, obesity, residence in areas with heavy traffic, frequency of outdoor play and consumption of barbecued and fried foods were higher among children living in families with low educational and/or occupational level while children doing sports and consuming toasted bread were more frequent in families with high socio-economic level. Conclusions: The socio-economic level seems to affect the lifestyles of children enrolled in the study including those that could cause health effects. Many factors are linked to the geographical area and may depend on environmental, cultural and social aspects of the city of residence

Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use in early acute respiratory distress syndrome : Insights from the LUNG SAFE study

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Concerns exist regarding the prevalence and impact of unnecessary oxygen use in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We examined this issue in patients with ARDS enrolled in the Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE (LUNG SAFE) study. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE study, we wished to determine the prevalence and the outcomes associated with hyperoxemia on day 1, sustained hyperoxemia, and excessive oxygen use in patients with early ARDS. Patients who fulfilled criteria of ARDS on day 1 and day 2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were categorized based on the presence of hyperoxemia (PaO2 > 100 mmHg) on day 1, sustained (i.e., present on day 1 and day 2) hyperoxemia, or excessive oxygen use (FIO2 ≥ 0.60 during hyperoxemia). Results: Of 2005 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 131 (6.5%) were hypoxemic (PaO2 < 55 mmHg), 607 (30%) had hyperoxemia on day 1, and 250 (12%) had sustained hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use occurred in 400 (66%) out of 607 patients with hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use decreased from day 1 to day 2 of ARDS, with most hyperoxemic patients on day 2 receiving relatively low FIO2. Multivariate analyses found no independent relationship between day 1 hyperoxemia, sustained hyperoxemia, or excess FIO2 use and adverse clinical outcomes. Mortality was 42% in patients with excess FIO2 use, compared to 39% in a propensity-matched sample of normoxemic (PaO2 55-100 mmHg) patients (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use are both prevalent in early ARDS but are most often non-sustained. No relationship was found between hyperoxemia or excessive oxygen use and patient outcome in this cohort. Trial registration: LUNG-SAFE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073publishersversionPeer reviewe

Il campo di prigionia austro-ungarico all'Asinara (1916)

Prefazione e traduzione

L'impiego di biomarcatori di esposizione, effetto precoce e suscettibiltà per lo studio dei rapporti tra ambiente e salute: dalla ricerca di base alle politiche per la salute .

The use of biomarkers of exposure, early effect and susceptibility for the study of the relationship between environment and human health: from basic research to health policy. We carried out a brief review of studies investigating human effects of environmental exposures which made use of biomarkers of exposure, internal dose and biological effect, with particular regard to air pollution. Among biomarkers of early effect, we have focused the recently developed techniques for investigating gene expression, known as “omics”: genomic (study of genome), transcriptomic (study of transcriptome, including mRNAs), proteomic (study of proteome, the protein output encoded by the genome) and epigenomic (study of structural reversible modifications of DNA), the last one including three mechanisms of activation/ inactivation of genes and their products, i.e. DNA methylation, histone modifications and micro-RNA regulations. Although the studies using these techniques are still far from providing conclusive evidences, they may be useful for validating systems of environmental and biological monitoring, integrating risk assessment procedures and supporting evidence-based decisions of public health policy for reducing the harmful effects of environmental exposures

Travel patterns and the potential use of electric cars – Results from a direct survey in six European countries

A significant penetration of electrical drive vehicles (EDVs) in the fleet is possible only if their use is compatible with mobility patterns of individuals. Building on the analysis of car mobility patterns by means of web-based car trips diaries filled in by a sample of individuals in 6 European countries, this paper provides insights on how EDVs could fit mobility habits. Critical aspects related to driving behaviour which should be considered to allow the penetration of electric cars in the market are identified. Among others results, we show that average daily driven distance in 6 countries ranges from an average of 40 km (UK) to an average of 80 km (Poland) and the parking time after the last trip of a day amounts to more than 16 hours per day. These findings show that the current drive and parking behaviours are in line with the range limitation of current EDVs and the potential need for a full slow recharge of an average EDV battery. Our results are a starting point for the estimation on energy demand profiles to assess how electrical energy supply can meet demand under the assumptions of a wide market share of EDVs.JRC.F.6-Energy Technology Policy Outloo

Polychlorinated biphenyls, glycaemia and diabetes in a population living in a highly polychlorinated biphenyls-polluted area in northern Italy: a cross-sectional and cohort study

<em>Background</em>. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been found to be associated with diabetes in some, but not all, studies performed so far. The aim of this study was to assess the association between PCB serum levels and glycaemia and diabetes in people living in Brescia, a highly industrialised PCB-polluted town in Northern Italy. <em>Design and Methods</em>. 527 subjects were enrolled in a cross-sectional population-based study: they were interviewed face-to-face in 2003 and also provided a blood sample under fasting conditions. The concentration of 24 PCB congeners was determined using gas-chromatography (GC/MS). Subsequently, all subjects were included in a follow-up (cohort) study. According to the Local Health Authority health-care database, subjects were considered to be diabetic if they had diabetes at interview time (prevalent cases) or during a 7-year follow-up (incident cases). <em>Results</em>. A total of 53 subjects (10.0%) were diabetics: 28 had dia- betes at enrolment and other 25 developed the disease subsequently. Diabetes frequency increased according to the serum concentrations of total PCBs and single PCB congeners, but no association was found when estimates were adjusted for education, body mass index, age and gender by logistic regression analysis. Accordingly, glycaemia increased with PCB serum levels, but no association was observed when multiple regression analysis, including confounding factors, was performed. Conclusions. This study does not support the hypothesis that PCB environmental exposure is strictly associated with diabetes or glycaemia

Chest ultrasound for the diagnosis of acute respiratory diseases in frail multimorbid hospitalized elderly

Objectives– To compare the diagnostic accuracy of bedside chest ultrasound vs chest X-ray in a cohort of frail multimorbid elderly acutely hospitalized with respiratory symptoms. Methods– 97 frail (Rockwood score≥4) multimorbid (≥3 chronic comorbidities) elderly (age≥65, median 84, IQR 78-89) admitted to an acute-care geriatric ward with sudden-onset respiratory complaints (cough, dyspnea, hemoptysis, pleuritic pain) were consecutively evaluated with a standard chest X-ray, carried out in a radiology unit, and a bedside chest ultrasound, performed by clinicians of the admitting ward. Chest contrast-enhanced CT was performed only if other tests’ results were inconclusive. Ultrasound and X-ray results were blindly categorized as positive or negative by an expert clinician. Diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity and sensibility of chest ultrasound and X-ray for the main diagnoses (i.e. heart failure, pneumonia, pleural effusion) were calculated. Results- Overall diagnostic accuracy for pneumonia (46 patients) was higher for ultrasound (92%vs72%), that proved more sensitive than X-ray (92%vs53%) and similarly specific (98%vs94%). Similar results were also obtained for pleural effusion (21 patients, accuracy 94% ultrasound vs 67% X-ray, sensitivity 97%vs59%, specificity 96%vs96%), but not for heart failure, where diagnostic performance was equal (accuracy 84%vs83%, sensitivity 69%vs67%, specificity 97%vs97%). Chest CT was necessary for diagnosis only in 17% of cases, while in 44 cases out of 97 (45%) ultrasound allowed to establish diagnosis despite negative X-ray, thus preventing a CT prescription. Conclusions- Bedside chest ultrasound can be an accurate and effective part of diagnostic workup for frail multimorbid elderly with respiratory symptoms, improving appropriateness in chest CT prescriptions