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Cardiovascular (CV) diseases account for over 4 million deaths every year in Europe and over 220 000 deaths in Italy, representing the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines have visionary included in the at very high CV risk group patients without previous acute ischemic events, such as those with subclinical atherosclerosis, chronic coronary syndrome or peripheral arterial disease, familial hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus with target organ damage or multiple associated risk factors, and those with high calculated CV risk score, recommending to consider them and to achieve the same LDL-cholesterol targets as for secondary prevention patients. The aim of this position paper is to provide an updated overview of ESC guidelines that focuses on these patient categories to raise awareness within the clinical community regarding CV risk reduction in this specific epidemiological context.

The development of agro-energy chains, in particular vegetable oil production, can represent, in Italy, an opportunity for the achievement of policy's objectives set by the European Union and for the agricultural sector. The aim of this study is to verify the existence of the "vegetable oil chain" at national and regional level, taking into account the Marche Region scenario (centre of Italy), the number of plants and their connection with the agricultural sector. From the methodological point of view, the paper evaluates trough a cost benefit analysis the economic performance of a vegetable oil plant, considering how the policies and the prices of raw materials affect it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper underlines above all how the analysis and interpretation of school-to-work transition and, more generally, of the relationship between young people and labour, need a complex theoretical and methodological framework, involving structural, institutional and individual variables. Secondly, it focuses on the not satisfying condition of young Italians for what regards their participation to the labour market: they often find work opportunities characterized by precarity and/or low professional skills. Thirdly, it suggests how young generations show some innovative behaviours and moods aimed to find good and new opportunities inside ongoing transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Cardiac arrest (CA) is the third cause of death in Europe. This paper highlights the various treatments for the prevention and early management of CA and provides an overview of available evidence on the CA center concept. The experience of Maggiore Hospital of Bologna, Italy over the last 11 years is also outlined along with the treatments applied to patients with CA and their impact on improving outcomes. The new concept of the "Systems Saving Lives" approach is presented as a potential way for implementing Italian healthcare systems involved in the management of CA patients. Finally, the future perspective of implementation of CA centers in Italy is also described encouraging the healthcare professionals involved in the treatment of CA patients to consider a multidisciplinary approach (including a cardiologist, emergency physician, neurologist, physiatrist, radiologist, and intensivist).

Sleep disorders and related diseases are becoming increasingly relevant for the health and wellbeing of the general and working populations. Sleep disorders affect all aspects of health, showing a bi-directionality with health conditions and comorbidity with several diseases. Consequently, sleep disorders may have severe negative consequences both for the individual and the enterprise, as well as for society on the whole, in terms of health, productivity and social costs. When considering the disturbances of the sleep/wake cycle, it is important to distinguish between those connected with endogenous biological factors from those related to socio-environmental conditions, including work, and those associated with mental and physical diseases, that are often associated and interact with each other. Many sleep disorders are still underestimated and under-valued in clinical practice and, to a much greater extent, in workers' health surveillance. The present paper is aimed at drawing the attention of the occupational health physician to some key issues, particularly regarding excessive daytime sleepiness, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and shift and night work, as well as their implications in terms of health and occupational consequences. Information on the main aspects of clinical diagnosis and health surveillance, as well as risk management and prevention at the workplace, are provided.

Introduction: This paper presents an innovative device for measuring artificial optic radiations (AOR). AOR are required to be measured in accordance with both Italian and European regulations. The traditional measurement methods do not provide a quantitative measurement of the energy affecting the retina and in particular the fovea. Hence, they are not suitable to assess the real risk to the eye. Furthermore traditional methods are not even able to measure the exposure time (in relation to the position of the head with respect to the source)., Materials and Methods: The device permits the acquisition of essential information about AOR source direction and position so as to obtain an evaluation of the relative impact on worker's everyday activity. The device acts as both a wearable personal dosimeter and an instantaneous radiance detector. The main components are: a colour light sensor mounted at the centre of a pair of safety goggles (placed on the same line of the worker's sight) used to determine AOR intensity; an inertial/position sensor used for measuring head position/movement, and lastly a video camera to localize emission sources and generate the background in augmented reality visualization. The device is connected by means of a thin, flexible cable to a datalogger and/or netbook? for recording data., Results: the experiments were carried out in order to evaluate AOR sources during work activity; the results obtained and duly processed are presented in the paper., Conclusion: the aims are to achieve work place safety zoning so as to distinguish unsafe from safe areas, and not only specific dangerous areas, via analysis and integration of the overlapping pieces of information obtained with the proposed device.

Objective: Aim of the paper is to examine the characteristics and the trend of mortality in immigrants in Tuscany in the last decade, and to compare it with that observed in Italians resident in the same region., Design: it is a descriptive study using the data 1997- 2008 of the Regional Mortality Registry of Tuscany., Setting and Participants: Immigrants have been defined those who are resident in Tuscany with non Italian citizenship.They have been classified in immigrants from countries at high migration rates (PFPM) and immigrants from developed countries (PSA)., Main Outcome Measures: Proportional mortality for the period 1997-2008 and trends of standardized (standard: European population) mortality truncated rates (20-64 years) per 100 000 in the period 2002-2008 by citizenship (PFPM, PSA and Italians), gender, age-class and causes of death., Results: In the period 1997-2008, in Tuscany, 4 755 deaths have been registered in immigrants: 3 055 residents (1 782 from PFPM and 1 273 from PSA) and 1 700 not residents. Trends for all and the main causes of death show an increasing gap in mortality between immigrants from PFPM and Italians, with higher rates for Italians.On the contrary infant mortality is higher in children from PFPM and the gap is increasing in the last years. Also the mortality for accidents (1° and 3° cause of death respectively in male and female PFPM) and the mortality for infectious diseases are higher in PFPM immigrants., Conclusion: Mortality study on immigrants in Tuscany highlighted specific health problems of this population deriving from living conditions in the home country as well in the host country. It will be necessary to continue to monitor the mortality trend and characteristics of this population because it represents a good indirect tool to evaluate his socioeconomic integration (considering also his use of our health system), and because this population is still expected to raise in the next decades.

Objective: the study describes the burden of the Italian epidemiological research compared to that of the other 26 countries belonging to the European Union and to that of the United States, in the period 2007-2009. This is accomplished for both scientific published papers and grants obtained., Design and Setting: the searching in Medline database (February 2010) was done through complex search strings based on keywords corresponding to the various epidemiological research fields; grants were identified through 7th Framework Program (FP7), among those funded within February 2010., Main Outcome Measures: proportions of epidemiological papers published by researchers of the different countries and total number and amount of granted research projects for each European country., Results: in the period 2007-2009 epidemiological papers by Italian researchers account for about one-eighth of the total European production. This makes of Italy the second country in production, after the United Kingdom. Moreover, Italy is involved in 51.3%of the 374 studies granted through FP7: at least one Italian research body participates in 154 projects and Italian researches co-ordinate 38 projects., Conclusion: in Italy biomedical and epidemiological research is in a developing phase despite the difficulties due to the decrease in the amount of funds available.Moreover, Italian research is carried out mainly by public bodies and by Universities, even if a deeper involvement of local health authorities and regional agencies is desirable.

Objective: the present introductory paper illustrates the general framework of the Project EpiAir <>, of the Italian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Italian Ministry of Health. The project was designed to provide methods and criteria for epidemiological surveillance of the health effects of air pollution in large Italian cities., Method: we considered the relevant information available on the health effects of air pollution in Europe and in Italy, and the aspects critical to running a surveillance program., Results: the project made available a system of data and information to evaluate the health effects of air pollution. Health outcomes of interest are daily mortality (non accidental causes, cardiovascular, and respiratory causes) and cardiorespiratory hospital admissions. The project collected standardized data for the years 2001-2005 in ten Italian cities (Turin, Milan, Mestre, Bologna, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Taranto, Palermo, Cagliari). A network of public institutions in the field of environmental control and public health participated in the project. The surveillance system was set up for the period 2001- 2005 in order to evaluate future trends in the environmental and health circumstances (2006-2010) using reliable and standardized methods., Conclusion: we set up a long-term surveillance program of the health effects of air pollution.

In Italy during the last three decades important changes in employment have occurred. During the '70s, thanks to a variety of factors, the hygiene conditions of work have undergone a process of slow, but gradual improvement, which has not been arrested during the following decades. New legislation, partly deriving from European directives, has been introduced, and processes of outsourcing have moved the most burdensome and pollutants industrial productions to developing countries. Nevertheless, the estimates of the number of exposed (or even potentially so) workers, to carcinogens remain quite high. Currently, in absence of the planned National Information System on Prevention, it is impossible to estimate in how many and which workplaces primary prevention plans and facilities have been already installed. This paper aims to describe the situation related to most occupationally diffused carcinogenic agents: asbestos, wood and crystalline silica dusts, each one for its specificity. It also describes the innovations introduced by the most recent legislation, in particular with regard to the asbestos risk control. Finally, it stresses the need for a reform of the insurance premiums in order to introduce a mechanism for rewarding those employers who implement primary prevention facilities and penalizing those who don't. The economic advantages should gradually cover the cost of risk control technology.

This article describes a proposal for a nursing curriculum in general, clinical and paediatric nursing sciences (this scientific area is named MED/45 in Italian legislation) at the first cycle of higher education for general nurses in Italy (level 6 according to the European Qualifications Framework). Future change in university syllabus, need to revise nursing curriculum starting from specific competences acquisition, lack of professional national nursing standards, and uncertain evolution of a scientific academic sector for nurses in Italy, led to this work. It consists in evaluation and revision of what has been implemented in a nursing pre-registration degree at University of Insubria. Key principles orienting nursing sciences educational activities revision of this degree course has been the following: centrality of the person in the curing process, choice of a conceptual nursing model to guide personalisation of care, development of therapeutic relationship skills, and adherence to professional principles and values. Aims, educational objectives, and educational activities planned to teach nursing discipline in the three year course, are presented in this paper. Nursing discipline has been articulated into four knowledge areas: general nursing, nursing methodology, clinical nursing (general and applied), advanced nursing practice. Evaluation of this curriculum, implemented since 2000 and modified in 2008, helped the students to acquire a clear professional identity. Further comments are added in the conclusion on matching educational objectives to didactic units, identification of four knowledge areas for nursing sciences, and choice to deal with advanced nursing practice during the third year of the degree course.

The management of patients with syncope is recognized as one of the main issues of contemporary clinical medicine. The present paper discusses the most innovative aspects of the recent, specific European Society of Cardiology Guidelines and addresses the scenarios following the dissemination process undertaken in Italy by Scientific Associations.

Travel for business or tourism has become increasingly common in the age we live in. The great volume of national and international traffic and the speed of transportation are inevitably linked to a possible increased risk of acquiring certain illnesses such as Legionellosis, which, in fact, has shown a consistently increased incidence in recent years. In this paper, a brief introduction regarding the etiology and clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the disease, is followed by recent national and international data regarding its diffusion and guidelines for its prevention and control.

Several clinical trials show that cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with moderate-severe heart failure increases survival, improves quality of life and reduces hospital admissions. The high cost of this new technology, incurred by health organizations at the moment of the implant, requires to assess whether its use is economically rational for the Italian Health Service. The paper summarizes evidences of the impact of CRT on the use of hospital resources and on quality of life, and presents a model to calculate incremental costs per quality adjusted life years (QALYs) gained in patients with moderate-severe heart failure treated with optimal medical therapy. The model is based on efficacy data drawn from clinical trials and on other information concerning the Italian context collected and validated by a team of experts from Assobiomedica and the Italian Federation of Cardiology. The model estimates that the incremental cost per QALY gained attributable to CRT is Euro 63,225 if all effects (years of life gained, increased quality of life and reduction of hospital costs) are censored at the end of the first year after the implant and Euro 21,720 if all effects are censored at the end of the third year. Cost-effectiveness of CRT is thus strongly dependent upon the duration of its effects: longer benefits of the therapy compensate initial costs and thus make the technology more cost-effective. In order to get better estimates of the economic profile of CRT it is required to collect more precise data from routine practice on survival, quality of life and hospital resources. The model presented can be easily adapted to take into account new evidence and to calculate cost per QALY gained in regional and local contexts.

Target of this paper is to draw the relationship between environmental factors and some impacts due to human activity, in order to outline environmental quality restoring strategies for water bodies, which include among result indicators also biological parameters expected for Italian regulation and European directives. Morphologic equilibrium and correct knowledge of processes regulating fluvial dynamic, as basic factor of ecosystem functionality condition, are highlighted. Statistic evaluation processes of water quality data and implementation and validation of mathematical models are described.

An accurate Leishmania classification was defined since 1980s by the use of isoenzyme analysis. To date, this procedure still represents the reference identification technique, despite the increasing use of molecular approaches. Studies and surveillance methods on leishmaniases are strongly conditioned by the knowledge and mapping of all the parameters characterizing each nosogeographical entity. On this respect, the identification of parasites from all the actors of the natural life cycle plays a key role. With the increasing population movements and climate changes, novel risk factors could be identified associated to Leishmania geographical distribution and spreading: a) the introduction into Italy of new populations of L. infantum from other countries; b) the introduction of new Leishmania species that may find a suitable milieau to support their life cycle in our country. The objective of this report is to present the surveillance activity on imported leishmaniases by the Leishmania Identification Reference Centre, ISS. Two different methodologies were routinely applied: a) isoenzyme electrophoretic analysis, which requires parasite culture, and b) a number of molecular techniques, used for both diagnosis and parasite identification, differently applied according to the geographical origin of the suspected leishmaniasis case. When possible, both types of methodologies were applied. From 1986 to June 2002, 38 imported cases of leishmaniases were identified: 9 visceral (VL) and 29 cutaneous (CL) cases, of which 22 from the Old and 7 from the New World. Pathology, Leishmania species/zymodeme and geographical origin features are reported in the paper. Seven out of 9 VL patients were HIV positive, of whom 5 detected in the period 1993-1995. This high importation rate can be associated to the general increase in Mediterranean Leishmania/HIV coinfections in that period. Following HAART treatment, VL imported cases became occasional; no introduction of new L. infantum populations has been detected. On the other hand, our findings show an increase of CL imported cases from different areas of the Old and New Worlds. This phenomenon, however, is so far limited to new Leishmania species that could hardly be introduced in our country, because of their strict biological requirements (i.e. vectors and/or natural reservoir hosts). Since June 2002, 10 further suspected imported cases were recorded. For these patients--whose Leishmania identification is still in course--the origin/visited geographical areas were only slight different from the previous. However, the characteristics of the patients are changing: there are more immigrants that occasionally visited their place of origin, and Italian military staff.

The diffusion of acupuncture in Europe begun in the 50ies, following 2 main trends: traditional (or energetic) acupuncture and reflexotherapeutic acupuncture. In 1973, in Turin, Italy, the Italian Society of Reflexotherapy, Acupuncture and Auricolotherapy (SIRAA) was founded. This Society over the years tried to integrate the 2 different trends, whose main characteristics are analysed in this paper. The first aim of SIRAA, since its foundation, has been to study acupuncture and auricolotherapy by means of research and by scientific trials, in order to promote the understanding of its mechanisms of action and to clearly show all its therapeutic applications. The development of acupuncture in Italy, the activities of SIRAA from the origins up to now and the future aims of this Association are described. Among the aims, particularly important is to propose scientific research models compatible with evidence based medicine, but also able to warrant the adequacy of the acupunctural method. In conclusion, it is pointed out the necessity to address the future research on acupuncture not only towards the study of the mechanisms of action and the evaluation of therapeutic results, but also towards some new branches now considered with increasing attention, such as preventive medicine, rehabilitation and palliative cares.

Over recent years the possibility that adverse effects on health could result from exposure to electromagnetic fields has become one of considerable scientific, political and economic importance. In response to this, there has been intense activity, both at the international and national level, on the evaluation of biological effects literature and assessment of health hazards of human exposure to non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation. The health authorities of an increasing number of countries, including Italy, become involved in the development of recommendations, regulations or technical advice to limit the exposure of the workers and the general public and they are looking to the international organizations, particularly to the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), for some guidance in this respect. In this paper an attempt will be made to present a comparative analysis of the existing or recently proposed standards.

This paper presents a computerised system for the monitoring of integrated cervical screening, i.e. the integration of spontaneous Pap smear practice into organised screening. The general characteristics of the system are described, including background and rationale (integrated cervical screening in European countries, impact of integration on monitoring, decentralised organization of screening and levels of monitoring), general methods (definitions, sections, software description, and setting of application), and indicators of participation (distribution by time interval since previous Pap smear, distribution by screening sector--organised screening centres vs public and private clinical settings--, distribution by time interval between the last two Pap smears, and movement of women between the two screening sectors). Also, the paper reports the results of the application of these indicators in the general database of the Pathology Department of Imola Health District in northern Italy.

The security of electronic medical information is very important for health care organisations, which have to ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information provided. This paper will briefly outline the legal measures adopted by the European Community, Italy and the United States to regulate the use and disclosure of medical records. It will then go on to highlight how information technology can help to address these issues with special reference to the management of organisation policies. To this end, we will present a modelling example for the security policy of a radiological department.

The present paper focuses on the Italian registries: their actual achievements, future developments and the possible critical states. The present setting is analysed in perspective with the international and European framework of cancer registries. Given the recent development of new cancer registries in Italy, and their participation to traditional and new international publication of their data, there is an increasing delay in publication time, both in Italy and abroad International and national institutions played an important role in helping and supporting registries' development, but delays in publications and some uncertainty in coordinating incidence and survival analyses in a unique framework is posing an unavoidable challenge.

The data related to abuse and seizures of the main classes of controlled drugs in Europe and Italy are presented. The system of keeping up-to-date the tables of controlled drugs in Italy is briefly discussed. In the end, a list of the main new drugs in the clandestine market of synthetic drugs in Italy is presented, by taking into account the street names, doses and pharmacological effects. The paper ends with a brief description of the new trend of purchasing controlled drugs on internet sites.

Moving from the most recent progresses in some address international acts on bioethics of the research, the Convention of human rights and biomedicine and La declaration universelle sur le génome humain e les droits de l'homme, this paper describes the legislative acts which regard many aspects of theoretical and practical scientific research, both in the Italian national and supra-national fields. This legislation concerns mainly the following topics: rights of the human subjects of research, informed consent, privacy on the personal data, activity on organ transplantation, research in genetics, activity in the field of treatment of human gametes and embrios. The author here quotes these legislative acts referring briefly to national and international laws.

This paper is an up-to-date review of the scientific evidence on mechanisms of pollutant generation and health effects for a number of urban air pollutants. The review focuses on main sources and health effect of ozone and photochemical smog, benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and particulate matter. These agents are "priority pollutants", generated by vehicle traffic, and their regulation is currently being examined by the European Council and the European Commission. The aim is to reach, by the year 2010, values lower than 180 micrograms/m3 for ozone as maximum hourly concentration, 2.5 micrograms/m3 for benzene as an annual average, 93 micrograms/m3 for nitrogen dioxide as 98 degrees percentile of hourly concentrations, 50 micrograms/m3 for particulate as a daily average. The goal can be achieved only by means of immediate interventions on emissions.

Legislation for the control of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) in Europe dates back several centuries, with laws specifying criteria for STD notification, diagnosis, and therapy, as well as guaranteeing treatment and medical visits at no cost. However, there still exist gross differences among European countries in terms of the geographical distribution of facilities and resources and in patients' access to services. This paper describes the STD legislation of the past 10 years for 14 European countries and compares this legislation with that in Italy.

The generally accepted classification of hemorrhoids presents some rather wide gaps which may either be due to expressions of intrinsic limits or recent moves of the Colonproctology field. The authors of this paper would like to present their proposal for a new classification that considers the results of the National Multicentric Study that was performed in collaboration with nineteen centres and a total of 1,494 patients. In addition, a comparative study was conducted on the two forms of classification. Nineteen patients (1.28%) were considered unclassifiable with the new classification system while 49 were (3.29%) with the presently used one. These results were found significant with the MacNemar Chi-Square test. The description of type 2 and 3 in the new classification system was found useful in 69% of 2nd degree, 77% of 3rd degree and 28% of 4th degree using the present system. Acute events (type 5,6 and 7) proposed with the new classification were found in the present system with several different rates. We have also included the data taken from a national and international survey we conducted on the usefulness of the new classification that provoked intense debate within two of the most important national institutes. The result was the elaboration of a design on the new classification.

Outcome research measures the clinical, economic and humanistic outcomes of pharmacological therapies on patients suffering from different diseases. Outcome research can be applied either to phase II and III clinical trials to assess new drugs for registration or to already marketed drugs to assess their real value when used in clinical practice in a large population of patients. Oncology can be a major field of application because there is a large amount of new treatments put on the market, often without demonstration of significant improvement in survival or Quality of Life but with higher prices than the old molecules. Patients and disease specific outcomes have been identified for cancer by a Working Group set up by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, with the former being defined as more critical to establish the value of new treatments. Survival, drug toxicity and impact on Quality of Life are the most important patient's outcomes to consider before recommending anti-cancer therapies for use in clinical practice. The present paper will describe the outcomes in oncology and will deal with the transferability to clinical practice of the results of clinical trials.

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) varies in the dialytic population according to the geographic area (5-85%); the European average is 19%, with marked differences between dialysis units. The means of virus transmission is still not clear and represents one of the major management problems faced by dialysis units. US authors and European study groups have recently demonstrated a high level od HCV infection in patients with essential mixed cryoglobulinemia (EMC), suggesting that the virus plays an etiological role. The authors examined the correlation between mixed cryoglobulinemia and HCV and the possible etiological role of the virus in the pool of patients undergoing dialysis at the Centre. In September 1994 28/63 (44.4%) patients were found to be Ab anti-HCV positive (second and third generation ELISA); circulating cryoglobulins identified as Type II following immunofixation were found in 2/28 patients (7%) using centrifugation and cold incubation techniques. In the absence of the pathologies classically associated with cryoglobulinemia, the patients were diagnoses as suffering EMC. The HCV/EMC correlation in the dialysed population has been analysed in a limited number of studies, with discrepant results (0-47%). This paper highlights the association between HCV and EMC in 7% of chronic dialysed patients and given that the finding of anti-HCV Ab in serum solely documents previous exposure to the virus, we can only indirectly attribute an etiological role to HCV. The search for viral RNA in the serum, cryocrit and surnatant of patients found affected by EMC may provide additional etiopathogenetic information.

Several measures were adopted by European countries in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident. In this paper these measures are reviewed and the European Communities initiatives for food marketing and exports are analyzed, together with the reference levels for radioactive concentration in the main food matrices chosen in different European countries in the very few days after the accident. A particular attention has been devoted to the emergency management in Italy, outlining exhaustively the laws enforced at the time of the accident and explaining how the reference levels for food contamination were chosen. Finally, a tentative balance about emergency management in Italy is struck and some questions are raised about the commitments undertaken or to be undertaken by international institutions.

"In this paper we examine some biometric aspects of women's fertility cycle and we statistically test a hypothesis concerning the effects of hormone interactions on cycle temporal dynamics. The data base has been provided by the Catholic Marriage Advisory Council Centre...and concerns 31,290 cycles (belonging to 1,781 women), classified according to their length, the length of pre and post ovular phases and woman's age. The distributional model of cycle and phase lengths has been estimated by a kernel procedure and interesting statistical cause-effect relationships have been highlighted showing a sort of hormonal balancing action on the physiological process." (SUMMARY IN ENG), (excerpt)

This paper condenses legal thought elaborated during the late Middle Ages by law doctors regarding rules to be observed during the plague. What they thought about this problem was scattered through wide commentaries on Roman and Canon law. Those hints were gathered by three Italian jurists working at the beginning of the XVI century, at the time of a strong, new epidemic wave (1522-1523). Italy showed again its primacy in the growth of the peculiar Continental common law. In the first part of this work we present the legal rules dealing with prevention, i.e. what lawyers could learn concerning good government of a city from old texts. This is interesting because this teaching gave a model referred to public powers all over Europe. In this way old teachings were transferred to modern governors, who had the opportunity to select the alternatives offered by ancient wisdom and its recent interpretations. The three 'tractatus' we refer to were written at the same time independently of each other. However, we shall see that they have many common conclusions, because they derive from the same cultural environment. The three authors worked in Bologna, Avignon and Pisa, but with the same legal sources which were at that time the same all over Continental Europe. From these works it is possible to understand how wise the different provisions issued by the local government were. In the second and final part of this work regulations during the plague for private business will be illustrated.

"Status of women is generally recognised as a key variable in the analysis of demographic and social behaviour. Women's status is a multidimensional concept that arises from the complex interactions of different factors. In this paper, the links between women's individual characteristics and roles that women played are analysed by the means of a sequence of multivariate techniques. Data are taken from the Italian Multipurpose Survey and the roles of worker, wife and mother are considered." (SUMMARY IN ENG), (excerpt)

"In the paper the hypothesis of differences in household incomes depending on the sex of the householder is investigated. The data come from the 1991 Bank of Italy Survey on Household Income....A multiple regression model has been formulated in order to appreciate the contribution of the householder's sex to the family and per-capita income differentials." (SUMMARY IN ENG), (excerpt)

This study estimates the incidence and prevalence of larynx and lung cancers using a mathematical model based on available data on specific mortality and survival. In Italy, larynx and lung cancers account for more than 95% of respiratory cancers. In this paper, estimates of age/sex-specific and age-standardized incidence rates and prevalence are presented for the years 1970 and 1987. Age and birth-cohort effects on incidence are also presented by sex and broad geographical area. The procedure was firstly validated using data from four cancer registries: Varese (Northern Italy), Parma (North-Central Italy), Florence (Central Italy), and Ragusa (Southern Italy). Estimates were then carried out at the national level and for each major geographical area (i.e. North, Center and South). Larynx cancer age-standardized incidence rates increased for men by about 25% from 1970 to 1987. Age-specific rates increased for ages greater than 44 years, but decreased for younger ages. Cohort effects are low for older cohorts; they steeply increase and plateau for the 1900-1905 cohorts, and then peak for the 1930 cohort. The risk for cohorts born after 1930 systematically decreases. We estimated that the 1930 birth cohort has a risk five times higher than the 1890 cohort. For women, the incidence rates increased by about 30% from 1970 to 1987, for all age classes. Cohort effects steadily increase from the 1886 birth cohort to the 1960 cohort. The estimated prevalence between ages 30 and 84 increased from about 24,400 cases in 1970 (23,000 males and 1,400 females) to about 51,400 cases in 1987 (48,600 males and 2,800 females). For men, 42% of the increase can be attributed to an increase in the incidence of the disease; 45% can be attributed to population aging, and only 13% to an increase in the survival probability. Corresponding figures for women are 42%, 48%, and 10%. For lung cancer, we estimated 32,000 incident cases for 1987 (28,000 men and 4,000 women), two times the corresponding figures for 1970 (14,000 men and 2,000 women). Looking at age-adjusted rates, the overall risk of lung cancer increased by about 60% for men and 52% for women during a period of 17 years. Age-specific incidence rates increased proportionally with age for ages greater than 50 years. By contrast, there was a slight but systematic risk reduction in younger age classes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The authors briefly reviewed the literature concerning the risk factors for primary pleural tumors in humans. The results from the most relevant studies emphasize the fact that the large majority of mesotheliomas are associated with exposure to asbestos or asbestiform fibers. Exposure to asbestos is mainly through industrial use, and mesotheliomas result from occupational, para-occupational, or environmental exposure. Fibers of crocidolite, amosite, and chrysotile appear to be, in descending order, more carcinogenic for pleural tissues. The authors summarize the available data on consumption of asbestos and asbestos-based products in Italy. The chrysotile-asbestos mine in Balangero (Piedmont) stimulated the industrial production of asbestos-cement; asbestos has been largely sprayed among shipyards and user for insulating railroad coaches and carriages. Italy had the greatest consumption of crocidolite in Europe, which was not banned until 1986. The authors discuss the major findings derived from descriptive epidemiological data presented in previous papers dealing with this issue. In addition, standardized mortality rates of primary pleural tumors for European countries are shown. A clearly increasing trend for mortality is observed in Italy, which has also the provinces with the highest mortality rates in Europe. Among Italian provinces, the mortality rates are consistent with the number of asbestosis cases receiving workman's compensation. The authors present the results of both cohort and case-control analytical studies performed in Italy, and provide suggestions for further research.

"The author examines the history of the wealthy Italian colony of Nicaragua, compared with the other ethnic groups which had migrated there from Europe, and Northern and Southern America. The paper highlights the peculiar aspects of this settlement, the characteristics of the integration and what still remains of the Italian identity. The main sources for this research in Nicaragua come both from local documents and publications and the interviews [of] relatives of Italian immigrants...." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE), (excerpt)

"The paper is concerned with the problem of discriminating two ancient populations with respect to the presence of the 'Istituto delle Partecipanze', a sort of collective property of the land, beginning in 1253 in some areas of the Emilia region. A time series analysis on the marriages registered in the last four centuries has been performed and different classes of the ARIMA models have been fitted to the data. The results give evidence to the heterogeneous development that characterizes the two populations in some aspects of the their bio-demographic history." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE), (excerpt)

"The questions asked in many population censuses on place-of-residence at one or several fixed past dates allow the number of migrants during a specific period of time to be calculated. However, the questions asked in the censuses are retrospective, so that the migrants who died or emigrated abroad during the period considered are not included. There is no way of estimating the number of migrants who emigrated abroad; on the other hand, a simple method is available to estimate the number of migrants who died. In this paper this method of estimation is applied to data from the Italian censuses of 1971 and 1981." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE), (excerpt)

This paper considers the descriptive capacity of Italian census data on spatial mobility. A systematic comparison is carried out between the Italian census and traditional sources--particularly the population register. The discussion concerns the items collected and published as well as the measurements obtained, their meaning, and their comparability. Many examples are presented, especially on migration flows during the 1976-1981 period, as recorded by the 1981 Italian population census, applied to the whole country as well as the regions, with particular reference to the Veneto region.