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The growing attention toward sustainability report pushed companies, private and public as well, to adopt instruments able to rate sustainability and environmental impact. Many tools can be used to evaluate social communication but the sustainability report is the most complete to explore, measure, understand and communicate the results under this aspect. Through the sustainability report is possible to supply a balanced vision of the sustainability performance of an organization and to understand all the positive and negative effects generated running the activity. To report the activity NPOs as well, has to disclose results and their connection with the surrounding community as social, environmental and economic impact. The voluntary disclosure of Triple Bottom Line information through proper tools, as the sustainability report, The sector vision of the environmental and social report, differently from the sustainability report, does not allow a complete disclosure on social and environmental activity carried on by the companies. Consequently is not fully represented the impact of these activities on the community. Nowadays NPOs use framework, which partially represent the sustainability activities. NPOs as well as for profit organizations have to introduce new reports keen to fill the information necessity of the stakeholders

OBJECTIVE. The objective of this study was to evaluate the routine use of gradient-refocused echo MRI sequences in the detection of cortical cerebral microbleeding suggestive of cerebral amyloid angiopathy in elderly patients (> 70 years old).CONCLUSION. The addition of gradient-refocused echo sequences to routine brain MRI resulted in the identification of cerebral amyloid angiopathy–related microbleeding in 15.5% of elderly patients. In most (86.7%) of these patients with positive findings, cerebral amyloid angiopathy was not suspected clinically, and 46.7% of these patients were undergoing anticoagulant or aspirin therapy, placing them at an increased risk of recurrent intracranial hemorrhage and catastrophic stroke.

Our experience in assessment and management of chemical risk in agriculture consists of three lines: i) definition and modeling of the relationships between different exposure determinants to create the possibility of doing risk assessment without measurements ii) identification, from the Acceptable Operator Exposure Levels (AOEL), of provisional biological exposure indices for pesticides; iii) identification of analytical approaches adequate for the production of the measures needed to support the above mentioned activities starting from the use of multi-residue methods, allowing the determination in one run of several active ingredients and metabolites.

This article aims to discuss the influence that the application of the recent discoveries in genomics will have on the theory and practice of industrial toxicology in developed post-industrial countries. It is stressed that the recent advances in toxicogenomics can be integrated into the existing wealth of knowledge on the toxic properties of industrial chemicals to improve the efficacy of prevention of toxicological risk.The understanding of the biochemical and physiological mechanisms underlying susceptibility or resistance to the toxic effects of industrial xenobiotics, and in particular to carcinogens, allows us to split the epidemiologically derived relationship linking the frequency of disease in the exposed population to the level of workplace contamination into a set of sequential sub-relationships linking: a) the exposure level to that of workplace contamination; b) the internal dose to the exposure level; c) the biological effect (e.g., measured through biochemical markers of early effect) to the internal dose; d) the frequency of disease to that of observation of early biochemical effects. Each of the cited relationships is affected by a degree of uncertainty due to the variability of biological response among the examined individuals, which in turn requires a definition of the statistical limits for the association functions between the variables. As a consequence, the possibility of investigating the individual biochemical and physiological steps in the causal mechanism that links toxic exposure to disease does not necessarily lead to an increase in the information potential of biological monitoring, since the uncertainty due to inter-individual variability is amplified through the sequence of causal relationships to the point that the data from biological monitoring become valueless with regard to the prediction of the frequency or probability of disease. This is particularly true when exposure to 'low doses' is investigated, as is now increasingly frequent in post-industrial developed countries, where workplace contamination is now greatly reduced to levels which may be borderline with those in the general environment. Thus at the low-dose end of the range of contamination and exposure values there is an area where, for statistical reasons consequent to the heterogeneity of examined populations, a quantitative prediction of internal exposure due to environmental contamination, of biological adverse effects due to exposure levels and of frequency of disease due to the extent or frequency of biological effects is no longer reliably possible. This in turn impairs the preventive efficacy of biological monitoring.A closer integration between industrial toxicology and state-of-the-art molecular genetics derived from the recent sequencing of the human genome is the way to overcome the limitations described. In particular, the individual subjects in the examined populations can be classified with regard to some genetically controlled characters relevant to the biotransformation of xenobiotics and to DNA repair and the statistical analysis of data can be performed on more homogeneous subpopulations, in order to decrease inter-individual variability of biochemical and physiological response. This in turn increases the predictive power of the biological markers, both of dose and effect, and improves the efficacy of prevention, e.g., by highlighting oversensitive subpopulations or lifestyles which can increase the risk of occupational and environmental disease.

Caesium fluoride was shown to afford advantages over caesium iodide as a mass-calibration compound for fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry.

Within the context of continuing interest in occupational hygiene of hospitals as workplaces, the authors report the results of a preliminary study on surface contamination by certain antineoplastic drugs (ANDs), recently performed in eight cancer departments of two large general hospitals in Milan, Italy. Since reliable quantitative information on the exposure levels to individual drugs is mandatory to establish a strong interpretative framework for correctly assessing the health risks associated with manipulation of ANDs and rationally advise intervention priorities for exposure abatement, two automated analytical methods were set up using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography for the measurement of contamination by 1) methotrexate (MTX) and 2) the three most important nucleoside analogue antineoplastic drugs (5-fluorouracil 5FU, Cytarabin CYA, Gemcytabin GCA) on surfaces such as those of preparation hoods and work-benches in the pharmacies of cancer wards. The methods are characterized by short analysis time (7 min) under isocratic conditions, by the use of a mobile phase with a minimal content of organic solvent and by high sensitivity, adequate to detect surface contamination in the 5-10 micrograms/m2 range. To exemplify the performance of the analytical methods in the assessment of contamination levels from the target analyte ANDs, data are reported on the contamination levels measured on various surfaces (such as on handles, floor surfaces and window panes, even far from the preparation hood). Analyte concentrations corresponding to 0.8-1.5 micrograms of 5FU were measured on telephones, 0.85-28 micrograms/m2 of CYA were measured on tables, 1.2-1150 micrograms/m2 of GCA on furniture and floors. Spillage fractions between 1-5% of the used ANDs (daily use 5FU 7-13 g; CYA 0.1-7.1 g; GCA 0.2-5 g) were measured on the disposable polythene-backed paper cover sheet of the preparation hood.

Four patients with active Wegener's granulomatosis had Horner's syndrome, which was the only neurological involvement in one. Two others had multiple mononeuropathy and one a multiple cranial neuropathy. Horner's syndrome occurred in the active stage and improved with treatment of Wegener's granulomatosis.

Alcohol is still the most abused drug today and may affect the peripheral, central, and autonomic nervous system in many ways. There are several pathophysiologic mechanisms that include direct effects through intoxication, withdrawal effects, secondary effects from nutritional problems and systemic diseases, and, of course, syndromes of unknown etiology. The alcoholic is also susceptible to trauma to both the central and peripheral nervous system. In many of the clinical entities, multiple factors play a role.

The chemical behavior of Fe(III) and M(III) tetraarylporphorin (TAP) complexes with N-alkylimidazoles and other suitable ligands was studied by direct reaction in the fast-atom bombardment matrix and in the gas phase. The coordination reaction occurs at the metal center and yields molecular adducts of porphyry/ligand (PL) and PL, stoichiometry. Coordinative competition between free and covalently linked ligands can be used to probe the conformation of "tailed" Mn(III)-TAP.

Fast-atom bombardment mass spectrometry has been used to investigate the chemical behavior of Fe(III) and Mn(III) tetraarylporphyrins (TAP) in both the condensed and gas phases and to clarify the mechanisms responsible for the production of positive and negative ions. The differences in the behavior of Fe(III) and Mn(III) complexes in the positive ion mode could be correlated with those in their electronic structures and knowledge of the mechanism for the generation of negatively charged species was applied to characterize the counterion coordinated to the Mn(III)-TAP. Thus, the unprecedented, complete characterization of even complex Mn(III)-TAP was made possible.

Both etiology and pathogenesis of Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RTS) are still questionable, even though a genetic factor seems to be certain. A typical face, psychomotor delay, and thumb and halluces abnormalities (big, prevalently short, and often "spoon-like" toes) are the main characteristic patterns of RTS. Eight subjects (4 male and 3 female children aged 26 days-7 years, and a 31-year-old woman, mother of 1 of the affected children) with different signs of RTS were studied over the last 3 years. The results are here reported, with a special emphasis on malformations detected with conventional radiography (Rx), Computerized Tomography (CT), and ultrasound (US). Evaluated parameters were thumbs and halluces (Rx), bone age and skeleton (Rx), cranium (Rx) and encephalon (US, CT), cryptorchidism (US, CT), and urological (Rx, US) and cardiovascular (US) systems. A typical face and psychomotor delay were found in all cases, while thumb and halluces abnormalities were observed only in 6 cases. Among several clinical signs of RTS, we found: severe (less than 3rd centile) bone maturation delay in 4 cases; skull volume reduction (less than 50th centile) in 3 subjects and microcrania in 4; skeletal abnormalities in 7 cases (5 of them positive for bilateral coxofemoral abnormalities); urinary tract (4 cases) and cardiovascular (3 cases) malformations; and cryptorchidism in 3 of 4 males. A case was diagnosed during neonatal period (within the first month of life); it was a rare case associated with a variant form of Dandy-Walker anomaly; semiologic similarities were observed between mother and daughter patients. X-rays, US and CT rarely play an important role in the diagnosis of RTS, considering the several clinical signs, mainly the face, affecting the patients. However, diagnostic imaging techniques help diagnose hidden malformations and confirm and integrate clinical signs.

Attenuation of cerebral evoked responses after stimulation of the median nerve in the hemiplegic limbs suggested that an apparently pure motor hemiplegia in some patients may not have pure involvement of the corticospinal system. Frontoparietal metastasis, infarction in basis pontis and medullary pyramid, and occlusion of internal carotid artery in the neck resulted in pure motor hemiplegia in some individuals.

We retrospectively evaluated the clinical features and therapeutic outcomes in 13 consecutive patients with the diagnosis of fusiform aneurysm of the vertebrobasilar system. Four patients (31%) presented with compressive symptoms and 10 (77%) with ischemic symptoms; one patient presented with both types of symptoms. No patient presented with rupture of the fusiform aneurysm. Based on the attending physician's choice, treatment included antiplatelet therapy in five patients, anticoagulation in seven, and no medication in one. Five patients died, four treated with antiplatelet agents and one not treated with any medication. The cause of death was progressive brainstem ischemia in three, sepsis in one, and gastrointestinal bleeding in one patient. All seven patients who received anticoagulants were alive, with no recurrence of symptoms or hemorrhagic complications after a mean follow-up period of 18 months. Based on previous and current series, we conclude that rupture of fusiform aneurysms is rare. Our results suggest a more favorable outcome in the management of these aneurysms with anticoagulation therapy to prevent progressive thrombosis and embolization.

Changes in the electromyograms and motor nerve conduction velocities in 12 patients with diabetic amyotrophy suggested mild distal and moderate proximal neuropathy in the lower limbs. Histological and histochemical findings in the vastus medialis muscles were consistent with denervation. Electron microscopical examination of the vastus medialis muscles in 6 patients revealed myofibrillar degeneration. One patient had abnormal mitochondria and tubular aggregates. The basement membranes of the intramuscular capillaries were thickened in all but 1 patient. Histochemical staining of the myoneural junctions showed changes consistent with degeneration and regeneration. We conclude that diabetic amyotrophy is a distinct clinical entity and is secondary to metabolic derangement rather than diabetic microangiopathy.

• A 55-year-old man had multiple brain abscesses related toStrongyloides stercoralissuperinfection. To our knowledge, the association of this nematode with brain abscesses has not been reported previously.