Behaviour of synthetic musk fragrances in freshwaters: occurrence, relations with environmental parameters, and preliminary risk assessment.

The aims of this study were to investigate the presence, possible sources, and potential ecological risks of synthetic musk fragrances in freshwaters and sediments of the main tributaries of a deep subalpine lake in Northern Italy. The total musk concentrations ranged from few ng L up to values > 500 ng L, depending on river characteristics: water flow and the presence of wastewater effluents proved to be the main factors affecting fragrance concentrations. The water flow may indeed dilute fragrance input mainly deriving from treated wastewaters.

Integrated Exposure and Algal Ecotoxicological Assessments of Effluents from Secondary and Advanced-Tertiary Wastewater-Treatment Plants.

The great concern over the environmental impact of wastewaters has led to the designing of advanced treatment processes to upgrade conventional treatment plants and achieve a significant reduction of contaminants in receiving waters. In the present study we combined chemical and ecotoxicological analyses, aiming to evaluate the reduction of toxicity effects associated with the removal of micropollutants and to define the contribution of the detected compounds to the overall toxicity of the mixtures in a series of wastewater effluents collected from a secondary treatment (OUT 2) and from a tertiary activated carbon treatment (OUT 3) plant. The target compounds were selected after a screening procedure among pharmaceuticals, musk fragrances, and trace metals.

Twenty-year sediment contamination trends in some tributaries of Lake Maggiore (Northern Italy): relation with anthropogenic factors.

Lake tributaries collect contaminants from the watershed, which may accumulate in lake sediments over time and may be removed through the outlets. DDx, PCB, PAH, PBDE, and trace element (Hg, As, Cd, Ni, Cu, Pb) contamination was analyzed over 2001-2018 period in sediments of the 5 main tributaries and of the outlet of Lake Maggiore (Northern Italy). Sediment cores were collected in two points of the lake, covering 1995-2017 period.

Polycyclic musk fragrance (PMF) removal, adsorption and biodegradation in a conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment plant in Northern Italy.

The first Italian annual monitoring study was carried out in Northern Italy to analyse the fate and removal of polycyclic musk fragrances (PMFs) in a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) with conventional activated sludge (CAS) system. Water was sampled in four different stations along wastewater treatments to better understand the behaviour of PMFs along different steps of the plant. Galaxolide (HHCB) and galaxolidone (HHCB-lactone) were found in concentrations at μg L level, 1 order of magnitude greater than tonalide (AHTN), whilst phantolide (AHDI) was never detected and celestolide (ADBI) was measured only at trace levels.

Polycyclic musk fragrances (PMFs) in wastewater and activated sludge: analytical protocol and application to a real case study.

Two different analytical methods for the determination of polycyclic musk fragrances (PMFs) in wastewater and in activated sludge were developed. PMFs in filtered water samples were determined by gas chromatography coupled with a triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer in selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode. Activated sludge samples were extracted using an ultrasonic bath and analysed using a GC-Ion trap.

The interactions of fullerene C and Benzo(α)pyrene influence their bioavailability and toxicity to zebrafish embryos.

This study aimed to assess the toxicological consequences related to the interaction of fullerene nanoparticles (C) and Benzo(α)pyrene (B(α)P) on zebrafish embryos, which were exposed to C and B(α)P alone and to C doped with B(α)P. The uptake of pollutants into their tissues and intra-cellular localization were investigated by immunofluorescence and electron microscopy. A set of biomarkers of genotoxicity and oxidative stress, as well as functional proteomics analysis were applied to assess the toxic effects due to C interaction with B(α)P.

When peers count: The effects on integrated type II diabetes care of communication within general practitioner-only subgroups in interprofessional primary care teams.

Background: Primary care teams (hereafter referred to as primary care units [PCUs]) composed of general practitioners (GPs), nurses, and specialist doctors have recently been established in the Italian context, with the main aim of improving integrated care for chronic diseases.

Purposes: The aim of the study was to assess whether the increased professional diversity of PCUs has resulted in an improvement in the integrated care of type II diabetes and to identify a potential mechanism mediating this effect.

Methodology/approach: We analyzed 213 PCUs, comparing their performance in integrated type II diabetes care at two time points.

Effects of Carbon Nanotube Environmental Dispersion on an Aquatic Invertebrate, Hirudo medicinalis.

The recent widespread applications of nanomaterials, because of their properties, opens new scenarios that affect their dispersal in the environment. In particular multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), despite their qualities, seem to be harmful for animals and humans. To evaluate possible toxic effects caused by carbon nanotube environmental dispersion, with regard to aquatic compartment, we proposed as experimental model a freshwater invertebrate: Hirudo medicinalis.

A framework to assess welfare mix and service provision models in health care and social welfare: case studies of two prominent Italian regions.

Background: The mechanisms through which the relationships among public institutions, private providers and families affect care and service provision systems are puzzling. How can we understand the mechanisms in these contexts? Which elements should we explore to capture the complexity of care provision? The aim of our study is to provide a framework that can help read and reframe these puzzling care provision mechanisms in a welfare mix context.

Methods: First, we develop a theoretical framework for understanding how service provision occurs in care systems that are characterised by a variety of relationships between multiple actors, using an evidence-based approach that looks at both public and private expenditures and the number of users relative to the level of needs coverage and compared with declared values and political rhetoric.

Social networks of professionals in health care organizations: a review.

In this article, we provide an overview of social network research in health care, with a focus on social interactions between professionals in organizations. We begin by introducing key concepts defining the social network approach, including network density, centrality, and brokerage. We then review past and current research on the antecedents of health care professionals' social networks-including demographic attributes, professional groups, and organizational arrangements-and their consequences-including satisfaction at work, leadership, behaviors, knowledge transfer, diffusion of innovation, and performance.

Social network analysis: foundations and frontiers on advantage.

We provide an overview of social network analysis focusing on network advantage as a lens that touches on much of the area. For reasons of good data and abundant research, we draw heavily on studies of people in organizations. Advantage is traced to network structure as a proxy for the distribution of variably sticky information in a population.

The growth and composition of primary and community-based care services. Metrics and evidence from the Italian National Health Service.

Background: Over the past few decades, in OECD countries there has been a general growing trend in the prevalence of out-of-hospital healthcare services, but there is a general lack of data on the use of these services.

Methods: We defined a list of 303 indicators related to primary and community healthcare services in collaboration with 13 Italian Local Health Authorities (LHAs). Then, for each LHA, we collected and analyzed these indicators for two different years (2003 and 2007).

Are public health authorities able to "steer" rather than "row"? An empirical analysis in the Italian National Health Service.

The nature of the local health authorities (LHAs) in the Italian National Health Service has been deeply reformed during the 1990s by new public management (NPM) reforms that introduced decentralization, quasi-market and managerialism. These reforms implied that the main role of LHA is to govern the production of health services in their area (steer) rather than to only directly produce services (row). After more than 15 years from these reforms of Italian healthcare, we describe how much the steering versus rowing dichotomy made an impact on LHA activity, through an analysis of the management control systems they set up for themselves and the subsequent qualitative analysis of the opinions that a diverse group of managers expressed during 8 days of group discussion.