Evaluation of GnRH- versus estradiol-based protocols for ovulation synchronization in postpartum Bos taurus grazing beef cows submitted to fixed-time artificial insemination.

This study compared the effect of a 7-day estradiol- and a 7-day GnRH-based FTAI protocol versus a presynchronized GnRH-based FTAI protocol (7 & 7 GnRH) on pregnancy per AI (P/AI) in multiparous postpartum Angus cows. Cows were blocked according to presence/absence of a CL, body condition score, and days postpartum and assigned randomly to one of three treatments: I) 7-day EB (n = 368), estradiol benzoate (EB) and intravaginal progesterone-(P4)-releasing device (IVPD) on Day -10, prostaglandin F (PG), equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) and estradiol cypionate (ECP) at IVPD removal on Day -3 with FTAI done on Day -1 (54 ± 2 h after IVPD removal); II) 7-day GnRH (n = 367), GnRH at IVPD insertion on Day -10, PG and eCG at IVPD removal on Day -3 with GnRH and FTAI on Day 0 (66 ± 2 h after IVPD removal); and III) 7 & 7 GnRH (n = 361), PG at IVPD insertion on Day -17, GnRH on Day -10, IVPD removal, PG and eCG on Day -3 with GnRH and FTAI on Day 0 (66 ± 2 h after IVPD removal). Preovulatory follicle diameter, corpus luteum (CL) presence, CL area, and P4 concentration were determined at IVPD removal, as well as estrus expression at FTAI and P/AI between 35 and 40 days after FTAI.

[Wind days in Taranto (Southern Italy): a public health intervention between technical and social contradictions. Lessons learned].

Public health interventions in the context of environmental crisis are necessary and desirable for the protection of public health. This manuscript highlights the critical aspects and potentials of a public health intervention by reconstructing the most relevant stages of the case study called 'Precautionary measures during wind days in Taranto'. Under particular weather conditions, the 'wind days' intervention includes prescriptions to companies and recommendations to the public.

Cardiorespiratory diseases in an industrialized area: a retrospective population-based cohort study.

Background: Atmospheric pollution has been recognized as the greatest environmental threat to human health. The population of the Venafro Valley, southern Italy, is exposed to emissions from a Waste-To-Energy (WTE) and a cement plant and potentially also to another WTE located in the neighboring region of Lazio; also, the vehicular atmospheric pollution situation is critical. In order to assess the environmental health risk of residents in eight municipalities of the Venafro Valley, a retrospective residential cohort study during 2006-2019 was carried out.

[Participation and facilitation in environment and health contexts. The case study of San Donaci (Apu-lia Region, Southern Italy)].

On behalf of the municipal administration of San Donaci (Brindisi Province, Apulia Region, Southern Italy), the Italian National Research Council counducted a participatory epidemiology experience. The activity of participation and discussion between the research group, the public administration, and citizens involved an association with expertise in facilitation. The participation methodology, adapted to the context, was articulated in focus groups and circle time.

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infection: Effect on reproductive performance and milk yield in dairy herds.

The impact of an outbreak of bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) on reproductive performance and milk production was investigated in 28 Spanish dairy herds using an observational study design. Mean calving to conception interval (CCI), mean number of inseminations per conception (AI/P) and mean daily milk yield were recorded from herds affected by outbreaks. Infection was confirmed by evidence of viral transmission to young stock (heifers 9-24 months) and persistently infected animals, after previous BVD-free status.

[The Manfredonia case 40 years after: measurements and modelling of arsenic deposition].

One of the main aim of the participate research carried out in Manfredonia (Apulia Region, Southern Italy) was to evaluate the exposure to the arsenic released during the industrial accident occurred in 1976, by reconstructing the event and the extent of contamination through an analysis of all the collected environmental data, the information issued from the participated research group, and the execution of meteo-dispersive simulation. The emission form the blown-out column consisted of two fractions. The first fraction was a mix of liquid and solid material fallen in the area of the plant, with peaks of deposition exceeded 1,500 mg/kg of arsenic, to which mainly workers are exposed.

Long-term effect of arsenic exposure: Results from an occupational cohort study.

Background: In 1976 in Manfredonia (Italy), arsenic was released into the atmosphere due to an accident in a petrochemical plant. We aimed to analyze the mortality of workers involved in the factory for the site cleaning activities.

Methods: The cohort consisted of 1467 workers grouped into contract, fertilizer, and plastic workers.

[Residential cohort study on mortality and hospitalization in Viggiano and Grumento Nova Municipalities in the framework of HIA in Val d'Agri (Basilicata Region, Southern Italy)].

Objectives: to evaluate the associations among the emissions produced by "Centro olio Val d'Agri" (COVA), with mortality and hospitalization of residents in the Viggiano and Grumento Nova Municipalities, located in Val d'Agri (Basilicata Region, Southern Italy).

Design: residential cohort study.

Settings And Participants: Lagrangians dispersion models to estimate the level of exposure at the address of residence to NOX concentrations as tracers of COVA emissions.

[Recommendations from a health impact assessment in Viggiano and Grumento Nova (Basilicata Region, Southern Italy)].

In Europe, Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a consolidated practice aimed at predicting health impacts supporting the predisposition of plans and projects subjected to authorization procedures. In Italy, further developments are needed to harmonize the practice and consolidate methodologies in order to extend the HIA application in different fields. The recent HIA conducted in Val d'Agri (Basilicata) on the impacts of a first crude oil treatment plant represents an opportunity to illustrate its tools, methods and fields of application.

Genetic diversity of bovine viral diarrhea viruses from the Galicia region of Spain.

This study examined the frequency and diversity of bovine viral diarrhoea viruses (BVDVs) infecting cattle in Galicia (northwestern Spain). A total of 86 BVDV strains were typed in samples of serum from 79 persistently infected animals and 3 viraemic animals and of abomasal fluid from 4 fetuses. Samples came from 73 farms participating in a voluntary BVDV control programme.

[Ecological study on the mortality of residents in Manfredonia (Apulia Region, Southern Italy) from 1970 to 2013].

OBIETTIVI: valutare lo stato di salute della popolazione residente nel comune di Manfredonia dal 1970 al 2013. DISEGNO: analisi descrittiva dell'andamento temporale della mortalità generale, per gruppi di cause, dal 1970 al 2013. SETTING E PARTECIPANTI: i dati di mortalità e le popolazioni residenti sono di fonte Istat.

Investigating mortality heterogeneity among neighbourhoods of a highly industrialised Italian city: a meta-regression approach.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of various predictors to explain spatial mortality heterogeneity in Taranto.

Methods: Direct age-adjusted death rates (ADR) at a neighbourhood level for the period 1998-2010 were examined. SO2, PM10, distance from pollution sources, and socioeconomic status (SES) were tested as predictors within a meta-regression framework.

[EpiChange. Epidemiological study on the health status of residents in Manfredonia (Italy). Phase 2. Scenarios and implications].

This is the second paper on the Project Manfredonia Environment and Health launched on February 2015 and based on a participatory approach. After a serious industrial accident on 1976 with release of several tons of arsenic, the management of environmental issues produced distrust and suspicion towards institutions and these feelings are still alive in the civil society. The Project is therefore based on a strong public engagement on each phase of the epidemiological investigation.

Secondary Particulate Matter Originating from an Industrial Source and Its Impact on Population Health.

Epidemiological studies have reported adverse associations between long-term exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM2.5) and several health outcomes. One issue in this field is exposure assessment and, in particular, the role of secondary PM2.

[A Parliament debate regarding a scientific study].

Publishing studies on the relationship between health and pollution provokes reactions and interest in the public opinion involved, the highest national institutions included. This commentary, aroused by a parliamentary debate, which also concerned one of our recent scientific papers published on Environmental Research about the association between congenital anomalies and maternal exposure to atmospheric pollutants in Brindisi (Apulia Region, Southern Italy), aims at contributing to reply the following questions: the type and quality of the data used in the estimates of exposure must be certified by institutional bodies? Adverse health effects in people exposed to pollutants at levels below the law limits can be excluded? Finally, we draw some remarks on measures to protect public health and on the relationship between the work of the researchers of public institutes and administrations.

Congenital anomalies among live births in a high environmental risk area--a case-control study in Brindisi (southern Italy).

Maternal exposure to ambient pollution has been increasingly linked to the risk of congenital anomalies (CAs) in the fetus and newborns. Recently, a descriptive study in the high environmental risk city of Brindisi (Italy) revealed an increased prevalence of total CAs, especially congenital heart disease (CHD) and ventricular septal defects (VSDs), both at the local level and in comparison with the pool of EUROCAT registries. This paper concerns a population-based case control study to investigate the association between maternal exposure to air pollutants - sulfur dioxide (SO2) and total suspended particulate (TSP) matter - and the risk of CA.

Acute effects of urban and industrial pollution in a government-designated "Environmental risk area": the case of Brindisi, Italy.

Exposure to air pollutants has been associated with increased hospital admissions (HAs) for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. This work describes a short-term epidemiological study in Brindisi, a highly industrialized town in Southern Italy. The effects of daily exposure to PM10 and NO2 on daily HAs for cardiac, respiratory, and cerebrovascular diseases were investigated by means of a case-crossover design in the period 2001-2007.

Spatial variability of air pollutants in the city of Taranto, Italy and its potential impact on exposure assessment.

Epidemiological studies typically use monitored air pollution data from a single station or as averaged data from several stations to estimate population exposure. In industrialized urban areas, this approach may present critical issues due to the spatial complexities of air pollutants which are emitted by different sources. This study focused on the city of Taranto, which is one of the most highly industrialized cities in southern Italy.

Sixteen-year air quality data analysis of a high environmental risk area in Southern Italy.

The Brindisi area is characterized by the presence of industries with high environmental impact, located along its eastern border. Epidemiological studies have revealed several critical situations: two short-term (2003-2005) epidemiological studies have shown that PM(10) and NO(2) are adversely associated with daily hospital admissions: one of the two pointed to the associations with wind blowing from the southern, eastern and western sectors. This study aims to expand the time span of available air quality data in order to provide a more complete and extensive epidemiological study.

[Acute effects of air pollution in Brindisi (Italy): a case-crossover analysis].

Objective: To evaluate the association between daily air pollutant concentration and daily data regarding mortality and hospital admissions among residents of Brindisi (Southern Italy) in the years 2003-2006.

Design: The association between the time series of daily mortality (2003-2005) and hospital admissions (2003-2006) and the time series of daily pollutant concentration were analyzed using a case-crossover method and a conditional logistic regression. Bi-directional control periods were selected using a time-stratified approach.