A campaign aimed at increasing seasonal influenza vaccination coverage among post graduate medical residents in an Italian teaching hospital.

We analysed the impact of several strategies aimed at increasing influenza immunisation rates among Medical Residents (MRs) of an Italian teaching Hospital. During the 2015-16 and 2016-17 influenza seasons we carried out several interventions: ambulatory doubling where vaccination was offered, ambulatory opening hour extension, email invitations, informative materials, forum theatre and vaccination campaign conference. In addition, during the 2016-17 the OSV was carried out: MRs who go to specific wards where they perform influenza immunisation counselling and eventually vaccinate the personnel.

Low back pain and obesity.

Introduction: Low back pain poses a significant problem in clinics and public health. It presents one of the main problems with adults, since 70-80% of adults experience it at least once in their lifetime. Causes of the low back pain are numerous and often unknown.

Clinical observational study of conformal radiotherapy combined with topotecan chemotherapy in patients with platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer.

This retrospective study aimed to observe the cura-tive effect and adverse reactions of three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy combined with topotecan chemotherapy in patients with platinum-resistant recurrent epithelial ovarian carcinoma. The chemoradiotherapy group (N = 22) received 15 mv X-rays with 1.8 to 2.

Urinary metabolite excretion after oral dosage of bis(2-propylheptyl) phthalate (DPHP) to five male volunteers--characterization of suitable biomarkers for human biomonitoring.

Di(2-propylheptyl) phthalate (DPHP), a high molecular weight phthalate, is primarily used as a plasticizer in polyvinyl chloride and vinyl chloride copolymers for technical applications, as a substitute for other phthalates currently being scrutinized because of endocrine disrupting effects. We determined urinary excretion fractions of three specific DPHP metabolites (mono-2-(propyl-6-hydroxy-heptyl)-phthalate (OH-MPHP), mono-2-(propyl-6-oxoheptyl)-phthalate (oxo-MPHP) and mono-2-(propyl-6-carboxy-hexyl)-phthalate (cx-MPHxP)) after oral dosing of five volunteers with 50mg labelled DPHP-d4 and subsequent urine sampling for 48 h. These excretion fractions are used to back calculate external intakes from metabolite measurements in spot urine analysis.

Relevance of both individual risk factors and occupational exposure in cancer survival studies: the example of intestinal type sinonasal adenocarcinoma.

Objectives/hypothesis: Wood dust is a well-established risk factor for intestinal type sinonasal adenocarcinoma. The 5-year overall survival has varied from 20% to 80% according T1-T4 stages; 5-year survival according to histologic subtype has varied from 20% to 50%. To date, no study has evaluated whether environmental, occupational, and personal risk factors have any impact on both overall and cancer-specific survival.

Malignant mesothelioma: a clinical study of 238 cases.

Malignant mesothelioma is a diffuse tumor arising in the pleura, peritoneum, or other serosal surface and is closely associated with asbestos exposure. An estimated 2,500 to 3,000 cases are diagnosed each year in the United States. Although there are individual case reports and small series detailing the clinical aspects of mesothelioma, few studies examine a large series of patients with malignant mesothelioma from the clinical perspective.

Plasma mutant-p53 protein and anti-p53 antibody as a marker: an experience in vinyl chloride workers in Italy.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the presence of mutant-p53 protein (p53Ag) and antibodies to p53 protein (p53Ab) in a population of workers exposed to vinyl chloride (VC).

Method: We have investigated the presence of two cancer markers in the plasma of 151 subjects exposed to varying concentrations of VC (4-2823 ppm). The investigation took place in two sessions: in 1999, the analysis was limited to p53Ab, and in 2000, the analysis was repeated and extended to include also the mutant-p53Ag.

Dermal exposure assessment in occupational medicine.

The importance of dermal exposure has increased during the last few years, mainly because of the reduction of respiratory exposure to toxicants. Pesticides, aromatic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are considered to be the chemicals at highest dermal risk. In the occupational exposure limit lists of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) and of many countries, compounds that can be absorbed through the skin are identified by a skin notation.

Psychological factors and visual fatigue in working with video display terminals.

Objectives: To examine the part played by psychological factors in complaints about visual health reported by banking officers who work at video display terminals (VDTs).

Methods: Out of a population of 385 bank workers, a group of 212 subjects without organic visual disturbances (as determined by ophthalmological examination) who share a work environment and job duties was selected. Three questionnaires were administered to these subjects: (a) the NIOSH job stress questionnaire; (b) a questionnaire investigating subjective discomfort related to environmental and lighting conditions of the workplace; (c) a questionnaire on the existence of oculovisual disturbances.

Occupational risk and toxicology evaluations of industrial water conditioning.

This study addresses the chemical and toxicological questions due to the wide use of chemical treatment programmes for industrial cooling water. First, natural problems encountered in cooling tower systems were presented and grouped into three categories: (i) scaling; (ii) corrosion and (iii) biofouling. Chemical solutions adopted in industrial plants were outlined for each one in order to minimize damage and categorized as shut-down, production loss, heat transfer reduction, upsets, etc.

Health risk in hospitals through airborne allergens for patients presensitised to latex.

Two nurses had to stop practicing because of severe work-related allergic respiratory or systemic symptoms. Both developed similar symptoms within a short time when they attended hospitals as outpatients or visitors or consulted a doctor or dentist, even when they had no direct contact with latex articles. The airborne latex allergen concentration in one room that induced symptoms was 128 ng per m3.

Increased membrane heterogeneity in stimulated human granulocytes.

TMA-DPH fluorescence decay in human PMN before and after stimulation with FMLP was studied using frequency domain fluorometry. Membrane heterogeneity was assessed by the width of the continuous distributions of lifetime values of Lorentzian shape used to describe the fluorescence decay. In non-stimulated granulocytes TMA-DPH fluorescence decay is characterized by two distributions of lifetime values centered at 6.