Association between long-term exposure to air pollution and incidence of peripheral artery disease: Evidence from a longitudinal study.

Introduction: The association between air pollution and cardiovascular diseases is well established. However, fewer studies focused on the relationship between air pollution and peripheral artery disease (PAD), notwithstanding that not only it is a predictor of CVD mortality but also that incidence is globally rising, particularly in low-middle income countries.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to estimate the association between long-term exposure to air pollutants and the incidence of PAD in the Rome Longitudinal Study (RLS) during 2011-2019.

Socioeconomic Inequalities in the External Exposome in European Cohorts: The EXPANSE Project.

Socioeconomic inequalities in the exposome have been found to be complex and highly context-specific, but studies have not been conducted in large population-wide cohorts from multiple countries. This study aims to examine the external exposome, encompassing individual and environmental factors influencing health over the life course, and to perform dimension reduction to derive interpretable characterization of the external exposome for multicountry epidemiological studies. Analyzing data from over 25 million individuals across seven European countries including 12 administrative and traditional cohorts, we utilized domain-specific principal component analysis (PCA) to define the external exposome, focusing on air pollution, the built environment, and air temperature.

A time-stratified, case-crossover study of heat exposure and perinatal mortality from 16 hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa.

Growing evidence suggests that extreme heat events affect both pregnant women and their infants, but few studies are available from sub-Saharan Africa. Using data from 138,015 singleton births in 16 hospitals in Benin, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda, we investigated the association between extreme heat and early perinatal deaths, including antepartum and intrapartum stillbirths, and deaths within 24 h after birth using a time-stratified case-crossover design. We observed an association between an increase from the 75th to the 99th percentile in mean temperature 1 week (lag 0-6 d) before childbirth and perinatal mortality (odds ratio (OR) = 1.

Personalized computational electro-mechanics simulations to optimize cardiac resynchronization therapy.

In this study, we present a computational framework designed to evaluate virtual scenarios of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) and compare their effectiveness based on relevant clinical biomarkers. Our approach involves electro-mechanical numerical simulations personalized, for patients with left bundle branch block, by means of a calibration obtained using data from Electro-Anatomical Mapping System (EAMS) measures acquired by cardiologists during the CRT procedure, as well as ventricular pressures and volumes, both obtained pre-implantation. We validate the calibration by using EAMS data coming from right pacing conditions.

External exposome and all-cause mortality in European cohorts: the EXPANSE project.

Background: Many studies reported associations between long-term exposure to environmental factors and mortality; however, little is known on the combined effects of these factors and health. We aimed to evaluate the association between external exposome and all-cause mortality in large administrative and traditional adult cohorts in Europe.

Methods: Data from six administrative cohorts (Catalonia, Greece, Rome, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands, totaling 27,913,545 subjects) and three traditional adult cohorts (CEANS-Sweden, EPIC-NL-the Netherlands, KORA-Germany, totaling 57,653 participants) were included.

Air pollution changes due to COVID-19 lockdowns and attributable mortality changes in four countries.

COVID-19 lockdowns reduced nitrogen dioxide (NO) and fine particulate matter (PM) emissions in many countries. We aim to quantify the changes in these pollutants and to assess the attributable changes in mortality in Jiangsu, China; California, U.S.

[Long-term exposure to air pollution and natural mortality: variations related to the use of different exposure indicators in the cohorts of BIGEPI project].

Objectives: appropriate assessment of exposure to air pollution is crucial for the estimation of adverse effects on human health, both in the short and long term. Within the BIGEPI project, different indicators of long-term exposure to air pollution, in association with mortality by cause, were tested within the Italian longitudinal metropolitan studies (LMS). This allowed an evaluation of differences in effect estimates using the different exposure indicators.

[Long-term exposure to air pollution and incidence of coronary heart diseases and stroke in the longitudinal metropolitan studies (LMS) network: the BIGEPI project].

Objectives: to assess the potential of using longitudinal metropolitan studies (LMS) to study the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and the incidence of acute coronary events and stroke.

Design: closed cohort.

Setting And Participants: subjects aged >=30 years, who took part in the 2011 census, residents in 5 cities (Turin, Bologna, Rome, Brindisi and Taranto).

[BIGEPI project: environmental and health data].

Objectives: the BIGEPI project, co-funded by INAIL, has used big data to identify the health risks associated with short and long-term exposure to air pollution, extreme temperatures and occupational exposures.

Design: the project consists of 5 specific work packages (WP) aimed at assessing: 1. the acute effects of environmental exposures over the national territory; 2.

Disentangling associations between multiple environmental exposures and all-cause mortality: an analysis of European administrative and traditional cohorts.

Background: We evaluated the independent and joint effects of air pollution, land/built environment characteristics, and ambient temperature on all-cause mortality as part of the EXPANSE project.

Methods: We collected data from six administrative cohorts covering Catalonia, Greece, the Netherlands, Rome, Sweden, and Switzerland and three traditional cohorts in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany. Participants were linked to spatial exposure estimates derived from hybrid land use regression models and satellite data for: air pollution [fine particulate matter (PM), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), black carbon (BC), warm season ozone (O)], land/built environment [normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), distance to water, impervious surfaces], and ambient temperature (the mean and standard deviation of warm and cool season temperature).

Ambient air pollution and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in Rome.

Background: Ambient air pollution has been associated with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), but few studies rely on assessment of fine-scale variation in air quality, specific subtypes and multi-pollutant exposures.

Aim: To study the impact of long-term exposure to individual and mixture of air pollutants on all and specific subtypes of HDP.

Methods: We obtained data from 130,470 liveborn singleton pregnacies in Rome during 2014-2019.

Short-Term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter and Nitrogen Dioxide and Mortality in 4 Countries.

Importance: The association between short-term exposure to air pollution and mortality has been widely documented worldwide; however, few studies have applied causal modeling approaches to account for unmeasured confounders that vary across time and space.

Objective: To estimate the association between short-term changes in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations and changes in daily all-cause mortality rates using a causal modeling approach.

Dawn of the Delphinidans: New Remains of from the Lower Miocene of Italy Shed Light on the Early Radiation of the Most Diverse Extant Cetacean Clade.

Nowadays, the infraorder Delphinida (oceanic dolphins and kin) represents the most diverse extant clade of Cetacea, with delphinids alone accounting for more than 40% of the total number of living cetacean species. As for other cetacean groups, the Early Miocene represents a key interval for the evolutionary history of Delphinida, as it was during this time span that the delphinidans became broadly distributed worldwide, first and foremost with the widespread genus and closely related forms. Here, we report on a new odontocete find from Burdigalian (20.

Two- and three-dimensional indicators of green and grey space exposure and psychiatric conditions and medicine use: A longitudinal study in a large population-based Italian cohort.

Background: Evidence available on the associations between urban greenness and mental health is mainly based on cross-sectional studies and has relied on 2D indicators of greenness. This longitudinal study aimed at investigating the association between 2D and 3D indicators of green and grey spaces and incident mental health-related outcomes in a large population-based cohort.

Methods: Our study used data from 593,894 Italian adults (≥30 years) from the Rome Longitudinal Study.

Long-term exposure to air pollution and incidence of mental disorders. A large longitudinal cohort study of adults within an urban area.

Background: Recent epidemiological evidence suggests associations between air pollution exposure and major depressive disorders, but the literature is inconsistent for other mental illnesses. We investigated the associations of several air pollutants and road traffic noise with the incidence of different categories of mental disorders in a large population-based cohort.

Methods: We enrolled 1,739,277 individuals 30 + years from the 2011 census in Rome, Italy, and followed them up until 2019.

Mixtures of long-term exposure to ambient air pollution, built environment and temperature and stroke incidence across Europe.

Introduction: The complex interplay of multiple environmental factors and cardiovascular has scarcely been studied. Within the EXPANSE project, we evaluated the association between long-term exposure to multiple environmental indices and stroke incidence across Europe.

Methods: Participants from three traditional adult cohorts (Germany, Netherlands and Sweden) and four administrative cohorts (Catalonia [region Spain], Rome [city-wide], Greece and Sweden [nationwide]) were followed until incident stroke, death, migration, loss of follow-up or study end.

[Air pollution and incidence of psychiatric disorders in the Rome longitudinal study.].

The literature on the impact of long-term exposure to air pollution on the incidence of psychiatric disorders is steadily increasing reflecting a growing interest. In the 2011 Rome longitudinal study, strong associations between long-term exposure to air pollution and the incidence of some psychiatric conditions and medication prescriptions were observed. More studies investigating this relationship in large populations are needed to provide consistent scientific evidence even on the etiology of mental disorders, which are a public health priority.

Air pollution, SARS-CoV-2 incidence and COVID-19 mortality in Rome: a longitudinal study.

https://bit.ly/3zZjjSC

Computational electrophysiology of the coronary sinus branches based on electro-anatomical mapping for the prediction of the latest activated region.

This work dealt with the assessment of a computational tool to estimate the electrical activation in the left ventricle focusing on the latest electrically activated segment (LEAS) in patients with left bundle branch block and possible myocardial fibrosis. We considered the Eikonal-diffusion equation and to recover the electrical activation maps in the myocardium. The model was calibrated by using activation times acquired in the coronary sinus (CS) branches or in the CS solely with an electroanatomic mapping system (EAMS) during cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).

[Geocoding one million of addresses using API: a semiautomatic multistep procedure].

Objectives: to geocode all residence addresses from Lazio Health Information System in order to obtain a geographical regional database.

Design: a semiautomatic and multistep geocoding procedure using several tools and software.

Setting And Participants: all residence addresses of resident population of Lazio Region (Central Italy) in 2020.

A Methodological Approach to Use Contextual Factors for Epidemiological Studies on Chronic Exposure to Air Pollution and COVID-19 in Italy.

The large availability of both air pollution and COVID-19 data, and the simplicity to make geographical correlations between them, led to a proliferation of ecological studies relating the levels of pollution in administrative areas to COVID-19 incidence, mortality or lethality rates. However, the major drawback of these studies is the ecological fallacy that can lead to spurious associations. In this frame, an increasing concern has been addressed to clarify the possible role of contextual variables such as municipalities' characteristics (including urban, rural, semi-rural settings), those of the resident communities, the network of social relations, the mobility of people, and the responsiveness of the National Health Service (NHS), to better clarify the dynamics of the phenomenon.

A technique for non-intrusive greedy piecewise-rational model reduction of frequency response problems over wide frequency bands.

In the field of model order reduction for frequency response problems, the minimal rational interpolation (MRI) method has been shown to be quite effective. However, in some cases, numerical instabilities may arise when applying MRI to build a surrogate model over a large frequency range, spanning several orders of magnitude. We propose a strategy to overcome these instabilities, replacing an unstable global MRI surrogate with a union of stable local rational models.

A multi-step machine learning approach to assess the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on NO attributable deaths in Milan and Rome, Italy.

Background: Air pollution is one of the main concerns for the health of European citizens, and cities are currently striving to accomplish EU air pollution regulation. The 2020 COVID-19 lockdown measures can be seen as an unintended but effective experiment to assess the impact of traffic restriction policies on air pollution. Our objective was to estimate the impact of the lockdown measures on NO concentrations and health in the two largest Italian cities.

Existence of dynamical low rank approximations for random semi-linear evolutionary equations on the maximal interval.

An existence result is presented for the dynamical low rank (DLR) approximation for random semi-linear evolutionary equations. The DLR solution approximates the true solution at each time instant by a linear combination of products of deterministic and stochastic basis functions, both of which evolve over time. A key to our proof is to find a suitable equivalent formulation of the original problem.