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Italy has been a large user of asbestos and asbestos containing materials until the 1992 ban. We present a pooled cohort study on long-term mortality in exposed workers.Pool of 43 Italian asbestos cohorts (asbestos cement, rolling stock, shipbuilding, glasswork, harbors, insulation and other industries). SMRs were computed by industrial sector for the 1970-2010 period, for the major causes, using reference rates by age, sex, region and calendar period.The study included 51 801 subjects (5741 women): 55.9% alive, 42.6% died (cause known for 95%) and 1.5% lost to follow-up. Asbestos exposure was estimated at the plant and period levels. Asbestos related mortality was significantly increased. All industrial sectors showed increased mortality from pleural malignancies, and most also from peritoneal and lung cancer and asbestosis, with exposure related trend. Increased mortality was also observed for ovarian cancer and for bladder cancer.The study confirmed the increased risk for cancer of the lung, ovary, pleura and peritoneum but not of the larynx and the digestive tract. A large increase in mortality from asbestosis was observed.

Background Despite the available information on cancer risk, asbestos is used in large areas in the world, mostly in the production of asbestos cement. Moreover, questions are raised regarding the shape of the dose response relation, the relation with time since exposure and the association with neoplasms in various organs. We conducted a study on the relationship between cumulative asbestos exposure and mortality from asbestos related diseases in a large Italian pool of 21 cohorts of asbestos-cement workers with protracted exposure to both chrysotile and amphibole asbestos. Methods The cohort included 13,076 workers, 81.9% men and 18.1% women, working in 21 Italian asbestos-cement factories, with over 40 years of observation. Exposure was estimated by plant and period, and weighted for the type of asbestos used. Data were analysed with consideration of cause of death, cumulative exposure and time since first exposure (TSFE), and by gender. SMRs were computed using reference rates by region, gender and calendar time. Poisson regression models including cubic splines were used to analyse the effect of cumulative exposure to asbestos and TSFE on mortality for asbestos-related diseases. 95% Confidence Intervals (CI) were computed according to the Poisson distribution. Results Mortality was significantly increased for ‘All Causes’ and ‘All Malignant Neoplasm (MN)’, in both genders. Considering asbestos related diseases (ARDs), statistically significant excesses were observed for MN of peritoneum (SMR: men 14.19; women 15.14), pleura (SMR: 22.35 and 48.10), lung (SMR: 1.67 and 1.67), ovary (in the highest exposure class SMR 2.45), and asbestosis (SMR: 507 and 1023). Mortality for ARDs, in particular pleural and peritoneal malignancies, lung cancer, ovarian cancer and asbestosis increased monotonically with cumulative exposure. Pleural MN mortality increased progressively in the first 40 years of TSFE, then reached a plateau, while peritoneal MN showed a continuous increase. The trend of lung cancer SMRs also showed a flattening after 40 years of TSFE. Attributable proportions for pleural, peritoneal, and lung MN were respectively 96, 93 and 40%. Conclusions Mortality for ARDs was associated with cumulative exposure to asbestos. Risk of death from pleural MN did not increase indefinitely with TSFE but eventually reached a plateau, consistently with reports from other recent studies. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12940-019-0510-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The crystal-Stellate interaction was initially revealed as an interaction system between heterochromatin and euchromatin, afterword it was identified as the first natural case of a piRNA-mediated regulation. piRNAs and the piRNA pathways, occurring in gonads, protect the genome from the potentially deleterious effects of the activation of the transposable elements (TE) maintaining the genome stability. The deregulation of the piRNA-pathway results in the formation of Stellate-made crystals in spermatocytes representing a simple way to identify genes involved in the piRNA pathway1. During the years, searching for crystals, we identified unsuspected components of the pathway, such as HSP902 and dFMR13. It is becoming increasingly clear that all the modifiers of the crystal-Stellate interaction are piRNA-related genes, the opposite is not true. We have started to look at the different behaviour of the piRNA genes in relation to the crystal-Stellate regulation to acquire more information about the molecular basis of this interaction. We are following two different strategies to reach this purpose: the first is a specific deep genomic analysis of the crystal and Stellate loci; the second is to study specific piRNA genes that do not affect the crystal-Stellate regulation.

Animal facilities are environments in which workers are potentially exposed to biological, chemical, and physical agents, therefore they can develop allergic diseases of different severity. The allergy risk arises from exposure to allergens of animal origin (such as mice and rats) whose main sources are hair, dander, urine and saliva. In 1998, the LAA (Laboratory Animal Allergy) has been officially recognized as occupational risk in the USA and has been studied for years in other countries, where institutional recommendations have been issued in this regard. In Italy, this allergic condition has received little attention, especially in terms of legislation and regulations. About a third of those working with laboratory animals may experience allergic symptoms within the first three working years and of these, a percentage higher than 10% can develop occupational asthma and rhinitis. The study proposes an analytical and descriptive flow chart that could be a reference tool for those dealing with such occupational hazard in order to harmonize the methodological approach. In this context, the first step is to find a commonly shared definition of LAA-positive workers - i.e. those serological IgE-positives with clinical symptoms in order to harmonize the terminology and overcome the methodological discrepancy found in the literature. The following step is an innovative research approach based on both sequencing of new allergens and evaluating their presence in several environmental and biological matrices through molecular methodologies.

International audience; ife Cycle Approaches to Sustainable Regional Development explains the ways life cycle methodologies and tools can be used to strengthen regional socio-economic planning and development in a more sustainable manner. The book advocates the adoption of systematic and long-term criteria for development decision-making, taking into account the full life cycle of materials and projects. It describes life cycle practices from both a scientific and a practitioner point of view, highlighting examples and case studies at regional level. The applications are relevant to key economic sectors, as well as for internal planning and administrative procedures. It concludes with a synthesis chapter that distills the key messages from the authors into practical guidance points on how best to use such approaches to enhance sustainability in regional development. The book is essential reading for regional and urban planners who are integrating life cycle thinking into their policy regimes, as well as for researchers working to further evolve life cycle methodologies.

Introduction Workplaces with presence of animals used for different aims need to apply specific procedures and methods to ensure the welfare of both animals and humans. Animal Health Care Workers (AHCWs) and all personnel staff have to be adequately trained on both the management of animals and occupational safety and health. The EU regulation focused on the necessity to improve the training of all workers employed in animal care as well as of workers in general regarding occupational risks; the control of indoor environmental parameters (physical, chemical and biological) is crucial for animal wellbeing as well as to meet occupational health requirements. In Italy the act 26/14 regulates the protection of animals used for scientific purposes while the act 81/08 deals with occupational health and safety, both implementing EU directives and including duties on workers' information and training. Methods We reviewed scientific literature and examined institutional web-sites regarding animal care, regulation, risk prevention and occupational health. Results It can be argued that risk management should consider protection of human, animal and environmental health, the professional competence of all workers and the issuing of guidelines regarding education and required competence. Moreover it is suggested to encourage the standardization of molecular/innovative methodologies to be applied on biological and environmental matrices. Discussion The field of occupational health and safety is strictly linked to animal wellness and health. Animal care in different settings requires competence, experience, education, training, responsibility. It is necessary to apply collective, individual and behavioral preventive and protective measures to improve the health and safety for animals and workers. For instance, allergies and infectious diseases are carried by biological agents transmitted from animals to humans and from indoor to outdoor environment and vice versa.

In Jawed vertebrates the T-cell immune response is mediated by the T-cell receptor ab or gd heterodimers, encoded by complex multigene families. The genetic information for these receptors is carried by a germline pool of variable (V), joining (J), diversity (D), and constant (C) genes that undergo somatic DNA recombination to generate receptors with diverse binding specificity. It has been suggested that the gamma/delta T cells represent a bridge between the innate and the adaptive immune systems. They show in fact unique features if compared with the more abundant alpha/beta T cells, e.g. a preferential distribution in epithelial and mucosal sites, and, in addition to the MHCrestricted one, an Ig-like antigen recognition mechanism. Diversity in receptor structure and mechanism of diversification is now being discovered in a lineage- and taxon-dependent manner, supporting the idea that metazoan immunity is an evolutionarily plastic system. Camelidae occupy a peculiar immunological niche within mammalians, since, in addition to conventional antibodies, the serum of these animals contains a significant amount of antibodies composed solely of paired Hchains (HCAbs). This feature, together with the phylogenetic placement of Camelidae among Cetartiodactyls, makes the study of the dromedary cellular immunity very intriguing. We investigated T cell-mediated immunity in Camelidae, focusing on the TR delta (TRD) and TR gamma (TRG) repertoire in dromedary spleen. By a combination of 5’RACE and RT-PCR experiments, we first identified three TRDV subgroups and five joining (TRDJ) genes, and then two TRGV subgroups and two TRGJ genes. We provide evidence that the high diversity in sequence and length of the third complementarity determining region (CDR3) is a major component of TR delta and gamma chain variability. Moreover, comparison with the corresponding germline genes allowed us to show, for the first time in a mammalian organism, that productively rearranged TRDV and TRGV genes can undergo somatic mutation: the mutation rate per base pair is 0.013 (TRDV4 region) and 0.008 (TRGV1 and TRGV2 regions). A computational approach has been applied to determine the protein structure of the variable region of γδ heterodimers. The complex TRGV1-TRDV4 and TRGV2-TRDV4 were modeled on the human counterpart γδ TCR (PDB code: 3OMZ). From these structures it appears that solvent accessible surface area is higher in TRVG1 than in TRVG2 and this is due to different steric hindrance of the side chains mainly localized in the CDR region. It is possible that amino acid variations in gamma/delta T cells, which respond to antigens independently of antigen processing and MHC presentation, may be more easily tolerated and maintained during evolution. This insight could be significant for understanding the evolution of the mechanisms generating diversity in the vertebrate immune system.

La tutela della salute e sicurezza della popolazione andrebbe inquadrata in un contesto più ampio, non più incentrato sul luogo in cui si svolge l'attività lavorativa ma sull'individuo. In questo studio il lavoratore viene considerato come il veicolo per valutare i rischi presenti in ambito sia lavorativo che extralavorativo e per estendere le forme di tutela previste nei luoghi di lavoro anche agli ambienti di vita. Lo scopo è quello di migliorarne il livello di cultura della prevenzione, acquisendo la consapevolezza dei rischi presenti anche all'interno della propria abitazione.

Due to the large scale use of asbestos (more than 3.5 million tons produced or imported until its definitive banning in 1992), a specific national surveillance system of mesothelioma incident cases is active in Italy, with direct and individual anamnestic etiological investigation. In the period between 1993 and 2004, a case-list of 8,868 pleural MM was recorded by the Italian National Register (ReNaM) and the modalities of exposure to asbestos fibres have been investigated for 6,603 of them. Standardized incidence rates are 3.49 (per 100,000 inhabitants) for men and 1.25 for women, with a wide regional variability. Occupational asbestos exposure was in 69.3% of interviewed subjects (N = 4,577 cases), while 4.4% was due to cohabitation with someone (generally, the husband) occupationally exposed, 4.7% by environmental exposure from living near a contamination source and 1.6% during a leisure activity. In the male group, 81.5% of interviewed subjects exhibit an occupational exposure. In the exposed workers, the median year of first exposure was 1957, and mean latency was 43.7 years. The analysis of exposures by industrial sector focuses on a decreasing trend for those traditionally signaled as "at risk" (asbestos-cement industry, shipbuilding and repair and railway carriages maintenance) and an increasing trend for the building construction sector. The systematic mesothelioma surveillance system is relevant for the prevention of the disease and for supporting an efficient compensation system. The existing experience on all-too-predictable asbestos effects should be transferred to developing countries where asbestos use is spreading.

Il lavoro indaga sui fattori che condizione il processo di creazione di impresa e sulle caratteristiche dei gruppi di aspiranti imprenditori che riescono a trasformare idee in imprese. In particolare la ricerca ha analizzato la storie di 190 gruppi di aspiranti impreditori finanziati dal progetto Spinner nella Regione Emilia Romagna

The Na/Cl-dependent BGT1 transporter has osmoprotective functions by importing the small osmolyte betaine into the cytosol of renal medullary epithelial cells. We have demonstrated previously that the surface localization of the transporter in Madin-Darby canine kidney cells depends on its association with the LIN7 PDZ protein through a PDZ target sequence in the last 5 residues of the transporter (-KETHL). Here we describe a protein kinase C (PKC)-mediated mechanism regulating the association between BGT1 and LIN7. Reduced transport activity paralleled by the intracellular relocalization of the transporter was observed in response to the PKC activation induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) treatment. This activation caused clathrin-dependent internalization of the transporter and its targeting to a recycling compartment that contains the truncated transporter lacking the LIN7 binding motif (BGTDelta5) but not the LIN7 partner of BGT1. The decreased association between BGT1 and LIN7 was demonstrated further by coimmunoprecipitation studies and in vitro binding to recombinant LIN7 fusion protein. The TPA treatment induced phosphorylation of surface BGT1 on serine and threonine residues. However, a greater increase in phosphothreonines than phosphoserines was measured in the wild type transporter, whereas the opposite was true in the BGTSer mutant in which a serine replaced the threonine 612 in the LIN7 association motif (-KESHL). No similar increase in relative phosphoserines or phosphothreonines was found in the BGTDelta5 transporter. Moreover, phosphorylation of threonine 612 in a BGT COOH-terminal peptide impaired its association with recombinant LIN7. Taken together, these data demonstrate that the post-translational regulation of BGT1 surface density is a result of transporter phosphorylation and that threonine 612 is an essential residue in this PKC-mediated regulation.

International audience