Zdravstveni radnici koji rukuju antineoplastičnim lijekovima u posebnim jedinicama za njihovu pripremu izlažu se zagađenim površinama i riziku od s njima povezanim mutagenim, teratogenim i onkogenim ...učincima. Da bi se smanjio taj rizik, u posljednjih se 20-ak godina ručna priprema intravenskih lijekova sve više zamjenjuje automatiziranom. Da bismo ocijenili rizik od zagađenja i kakvoću radnog okoliša zdravstvenih radnika koji pripremaju antineoplastične lijekove, oslonili smo se na metodu analize mogućih pogrešaka u postupcima I kritičnosti njihovih posljedica (engl. failure mode effects and criticality analysis, krat. FMECA) radi usporedbe prihvatljive razine rizika (engl. acceptable risk level, krat. ARL), koja je zbroj ocjena prioriteta rizika (eng. risk priority number, krat. RPN) pet utvrđenih načina pogreške s izmjerenom razinom rizika (engl. measured risk level, krat. MRL). Taj nam je model pokazao da antineoplastični lijekovi u prahu i spremnicima koji nisu zaštićeni vanjskim plastičnim omotačem donose povećani rizik, ali nismo utvrdili dosljednu razliku u riziku od zagađenja između ručne i automatizirane pripreme. Ovaj pristup može biti koristan u procjeni i kontroli rizika od profesionalne izloženosti u zdravstvenih radnika rezidualnim citotoksičnim spojevima, bilo da se radi o postojećim ili tek planiranim/novoosmišljenim postupcima pripreme lijekova. Podatci dobiveni redovitim nadzorom (monitoringom) istodobno mogu poslužiti za praćenje kakvoće radnih uvjeta tako što će se usporediti s predviđenim profilom rizika koji je utvrđen ARL-om. Iako je naše istraživanje pokazalo da automatizirana priprema ima prednost nad ručnom u smislu sigurnosti, prostora za njezino poboljšanje ima podosta, naročito u našim četirima bolnicama koje su sudjelovale u istraživanju.
Formaldehid (FA) je štetna kemikalija koja se vrlo često koristi u anatomskim patološkim laboratorijima. Loši utjecaji FA na zdravlje zaposlenika izloženih toj tvari općenito se povezuju s ...dugotrajnom izloženošću, iako je i kratkotrajna izloženost vršnim koncentracijama vrlo zabrinjavajuća. Za praćenje utjecaja obično se koristi mjerenje prosjeka 8 h vrijeme-težina (TWA) kako bi se procijenila izloženost, no za kemijske tvari koje imaju akutno djelovanje izrazito se preporučuje izračun utjecaja 15-minutne kratkotrajne izloženosti. Istraživanje praćenja utjecaja FA na radnom mjestu provedeno je u jednom patološkom laboratoriju pomoću kontinuiranog, trenutnog i izravnog očitanja mjernim intstrumentom u 65 radnih smjena (WS). Ni u jednoj EU granica TWA od 620 g/m3 nije bila viša. Nasuprot tome, u 40 radnih smjena prijeđena je EU granica kratkotrajne izloženosti (STEL) od 740 g/m3 i to više puta tijekom radnog vremena. Ako se ovo uzme u obzir, 8-satno TWA mjerenje daje samo šture podatke o scenariju izloženosti vršnim emisijama i o 15-minutnim procjenama najviše izloženosti, dok bi kontinuirano praćenje više pomoglo upravljanju rizikom. Uz to, preporuka za FA jest korištenje inferencijalne jednadžbe Akcijska vrijednost (AV) za 8 h-TWA iznad 23.1 g/m3.
Formaldehid je kemijski spoj koji se obično koristi u laboratorijima za anatomsku patologiju kao konzervans za čuvanje tkiva, a često ga se povezuje s rakom. Osoblje u takvim laboratorijima ...najizloženije je formaldehidu i s njim povezanom raku, a i nekancerogenom riziku. Stoga se preporuča procjena rizika, kancerogenih i nekancerogenih, a također i procjena izloženosti na radu. Ova studija pratila je formaldehid u jednom talijanskom laboratoriju za patologiju kako bi se procijenila izloženost na radu prema UNI EN 689:219 i utvrdio kvocijent opasnosti (HQ) kao i doživotnog rizika od raka (LCHR) te kancerogeni i nekancerogeni rizici. Izloženost patologa i tehničara bila je niža od Europske obvezne granice za izloženost na radu (0.62 mg/m3) i obje skupine bile su ispod te granice. No, ipak, što se tiče procjene rizika, oba parametra HQ i LCHR bila su viša (1.3 i 1.6 HQ, i 3.2x10-5 i 3.9x10-5 za patologe te tehničare, tj. viša od drugih zamijećenih u sličnim situacijama. Studija prikazuje kako procjena izloženosti formaldehidu može pomoći u očuvanju zdravlja radnika utvrđivanjem odstupanja od preporučenih graničnih vrijednosti i posljedično visokih rizika za zdravlje, posebno u zdravstvu.
Oil constitutes more than one third of total energy available in the European Union (EU), which continues to depend heavily on fossil fuels. Russian exports have known a remarkable growth in the last ...two decades, making this country crucial – as the war in Ukraine has recently shown – in deciding the energy future of the EU. In this regard, we provide a comprehensive and dynamic measure of oil dependency, constructing the Multi-dimensional Oil Dependency Index (MODI) for EU-28 countries (including the United Kingdom) during the period 1999–2019. This composite index considers four different key dimensions of oil dependency, i.e. energetic, economic, international and geopolitical dependencies, exploiting the multivariate technique of the Principal Component Analysis. The subsequent determination of rankings and their variation over time can be useful for policymakers to identify key areas where to intervene and reduce dependency, as well as to set benchmarks for policy actions. Our analysis reveals some interesting findings: first, the EU has still much to do to decouple oil consumption from GDP growth and achieve the environmental targets set by the European Green Deal; second, EU countries present very different degrees of oil dependency and, in several aspects, trends are not aligned; third, international and geopolitical dependency on oil constitute a worrisome problem for EU's energy security.
•A comprehensive index of oil dependency for EU countries (1999–2019) is provided.•Relative positions of EU states in terms of oil dependency are assessed over time.•Decoupling of oil from GDP growth is not the result of a decline in oil consumption.•EU countries present very different degrees of oil dependency.•Oil dependency constitutes a worrisome problem for EU's energy security.
The aim of this work is to investigate the different implications in terms of political stability that a high oil dependency has in both oil-exporting and oil-importing countries. We employ network ...analysis to understand which countries are most connected in the global crude oil trade, and central in the intermediation of the flows. Then, we use this information to estimate the effects of oil dependency on political stability on a panel of 155 countries over the period 1995–2019, by means of a simultaneous-quantile regression model. Our findings corroborate the resource curse hypothesis in relation to oil-exporting countries, especially linking this outcome to the emergence of rent-seeking behaviours. Interestingly, we find that a different type of resource curse hypothesis – related to the indirect endowment of oil resources – also affects intermediary countries. As for oil importers, we find that countries that are heavily dependent on oil as the main energy source are largely exposed to geopolitical turmoil and risk to import political instability together with oil.
•We use network analysis to study relationships in the oil trade network.•We use quantile regression to study oil dependency and political stability.•Oil-importing and oil-exporting countries present different types of oil dependency.•Oil-exporting countries that are central in the oil export network are more unstable.•Oil-importing countries that are energy dependent on oil risk to import instability.
Milk extracellular vesicles (mEVs) seem to be one of the main maternal messages delivery systems. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are micro/nano-sized membrane-bound structures enclosing signaling ...molecules and thus acting as signal mediators between distant cells and/or tissues, exerting biological effects such as immune modulation and pro-regenerative activity. Milk is also a unique, scalable, and reliable source of EVs. Our aim was to characterize the RNA content of cow, donkey, and goat mEVs through transcriptomic analysis of mRNA and small RNA libraries. Over 10,000 transcripts and 2000 small RNAs were expressed in mEVs of each species. Among the most represented transcripts, 110 mRNAs were common between the species with cow acting as the most divergent. The most represented small RNA class was miRNA in all the species, with 10 shared miRNAs having high impact on the immune regulatory function. Functional analysis for the most abundant mRNAs shows epigenetic functions such as histone modification, telomere maintenance, and chromatin remodeling for cow; lipid catabolism, oxidative stress, and vitamin metabolism for donkey; and terms related to chemokine receptor interaction, leukocytes migration, and transcriptional regulation in response to stress for goat. For miRNA targets, shared terms emerged as the main functions for all the species: immunity modulation, protein synthesis, cellular cycle regulation, transmembrane exchanges, and ion channels. Moreover, donkey and goat showed additional terms related to epigenetic modification and DNA maintenance. Our results showed a potential mEVs immune regulatory purpose through their RNA cargo, although in vivo validation studies are necessary.
Abstract
Metabolic disorders, including hepatic lipidosis and ketosis, severely affect animal health status and welfare with a large economic burden in dairy herds. The gold standard for diagnosing ...hepatic lipidosis is the liver biopsy, which is impractical and invasive for the screening at farm level. Ultrasound (US) imaging is a promising technique for identifying liver dysfunction, but standardized specifications in physiological conditions are needed. Herein, we described the features of four US measurements, namely the liver predicted triacylglycerol (pTAG) content, liver depth (LD), and portal vein area (PVA) and depth (PVD) and we investigated their associations with a set of hematochemical (HC) indicators in 342 clinically healthy Holstein Friesian dairy cows. Liver pTAG content was negatively associated with hematocrit and positively with globulin, whereas PVA was negatively associated with thiol group levels, and LD positively with ceruloplasmin. We found significant interactions between some HC parameters and parity: in particular, creatinine, thiol groups and globulin for PVA, and aspartate aminotransferase, paraoxonase and ceruloplasmin for PVD. This study offers new insights on variations in liver function occurring after calving and pave the way for the potential use of minimally invasive techniques for prompt detection of metabolic disorders in dairy herds.
While socioeconomic and institutional factors are crucial in explaining the onset and evolution of conflicts, recent research suggests that climate change is a further indirect driver acting as a ...“threat multiplier”. This paper focuses on the concept of vulnerability to both climate change and conflicts to explain why some locations are more likely to engage in armed conflicts than others in the presence of a similar level of exposure to climatic changes. In particular, by means of a Spatial Autoregressive Model, we identify a set of local-specific vulnerability factors that increase conflict risk in East Africa. We employ a georeferenced database with a resolution of 25 × 25 km, covering the period 1997–2016. Results from our analysis provide some interesting insights: first, climate change does not increase conflict risk per se, but only in the presence of pre-existing vulnerabilities. Second, resource access and socioeconomic factors play a key role in driving the climate-conflict nexus especially in urban areas. In particular, vulnerability is increased whenever power is not distributed in such a way as to ensure an equitable distribution of resources. Overall, our findings suggest that, by addressing vulnerability factors that prevent adaptive capacity and an equitable distribution of resources, societies may benefit in terms of both diminished conflict risk and alleviation of climate change impacts.
•The climate-conflict nexus is mediated by access to resources at the local level.•Climate change only increases conflict risk in case of pre-existing vulnerabilities.•Climate change acts as a threat multiplier for vulnerable communities.•Synergies for ensuring adaptive capacity to climate change and peace exist.
Advancements in clinical management, pharmacological therapy and interventional procedures have strongly improved the survival rate for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Nevertheless, the patients ...affected by CVDs are more often elderly and present several comorbidities such as atrial fibrillation, valvular heart disease, heart failure, and chronic coronary syndrome. Standard treatments are frequently not available for "frail patients", in particular due to high surgical risk or drug interaction. In the past decades, novel less-invasive procedures such as transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), MitraClip or left atrial appendage occlusion have been proposed to treat CVD patients who are not candidates for standard procedures. These procedures have been confirmed to be effective and safe compared to conventional surgery, and symptomatic thromboembolic stroke represents a rare complication. However, while the peri-procedural risk of symptomatic stroke is low, several studies highlight the presence of a high number of silent ischemic brain lesions occurring mainly in areas with a low clinical impact. The silent brain damage could cause neuropsychological deficits or worse, a preexisting dementia, suggesting the need to systematically evaluate the impact of these procedures on neurological function.
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