Variations in coralligenous assemblages from local to biogeographic spatial scale.

The present study aims at contributing to the knowledge of the spatial variability of coralligenous reefs through the evaluation of patterns ranging from local to biogeographic scale around the island of Sardinia. The coralligenous reef assemblages of six areas were studied through a hierarchical sampling design: three sites per area were selected, in each site three plots were sampled and in each plot ten photographic samples were collected. The structure of coralligenous reefs across closed biogeographic regions is described, highlighting that nearly pristine assemblages, although characterized by similar high diversity, can be either dominated by animals, such as gorgonians and bryozoans, or macroalgae. The observed variations seem largely related to biogeographic patterns rather than spatial distance, supporting the need to identify specific reference conditions to assess the ecological quality of this habitat depending on the biogeographic area to be monitored.

Extreme events and conservation of subtidal habitats: Effects of a rainfall flood on coralligenous reefs.

The increase of the intensity and frequency of rainfall-dominated flood is considered a main effect of climate change. The present study evaluated the effect of a rainfall flood event on coralligenous reefs. The flooded site was compared to three control sites using a Before/After-Control/Impact (BACI) design. Sites were sampled using the STAR (STAndaRdized coralligenous evaluation procedure) approach and three ecological indices (ESCA, COARSE and ISLA) were calculated. At the disturbed site the number of species per sample, beta diversity, sensitivity levels of assemblages and the values of the three indices were lower after the flooding event, while the same variables did not decrease at the control sites. Algal turf and Dictyotales increased at the disturbed sites after the flood event, while Udoteaceae, erect sponges, bryozoans and Corallium rubrum decreased. This study provides evidence for identifying floods as a further cause of degradation for the coralligenous reef assemblages.

Stress at work: development of the Stress Perception Questionnaire of Rome (SPQR), an ad hoc questionnaire for multidimensional assessment of work related stress.

Stress is an emotional condition, mostly experienced as negative, initially identified and defined by Selye in the mid-thirties of the last Century. Since the first definition, stress concerns the adaptation pro- cess mostly related to environmental changes. An application of stress focuses on the evaluation of its interference on work conditions, and the scientific evidence on work related stress is very ample and rich. We are proposing a new ad hoc questionnaire for the multidimensional assessment of work related stress, called Stress Perception Question- naire of Rome (SPQR) composed of 50 items. The development of this questionnaire is based on a multi-step process: a) Identification of all the relevant topics to work related stress and areas in the scientific evidence and their transformation on specific contents of 60 tentative items; b) Exploratory factor analysis aimed to identify the best items (50) which could guarantee the maximum convergence on single scales (8), and the minimum redundancy between scales; c) Validation of the 8 scales' structure by a confirmatory factor analysis (fully achieved); d) Factor analysis for a second level factor resulting in a single factor identified as the questionnaire total score (Stress Score); d) Reliability analysis of the questionnaire total score and the single scale scores (at optimum level); e) Validation by external criteria of work related stress identified in the presence of personal violence episodes experienced by a group of health workers with different professional profiles and from two different hospitals in Rome. Our results show that the SPQR is a useful and sensitive tool for assessing the presence of emotional stress related problems identifiable in a work environment. The advantage of this questionnaire is that it allows for a multidimensional description of the different components of this problematic area besides its ability to quantify the overall stress level of those who have been administered the SPQR.

Benthic mucilage blooms threaten coralligenous reefs.

Mucilaginous aggregates produced by planktonic or benthic algae are considered ecological threats to marine systems. The study evaluated the effects of the spread of benthic mucilaginous aggregates on the structure of coralligenous assemblages. The assemblage and the quality of a site subjected to a benthic mucilage bloom were compared to those of two reference sites using a Before/After-Control/Impact (BACI) design. Results showed the α and ß-diversity, ESCA and COARSE quality ecological indices and the cover of encrusting algae and bryozoans were lower at the impact site after the mucilage event than at the control sites and at the impact site before the mucilage event. An opposite pattern was observed for the necrosis of gorgonians and the cover of algal turf. This study describes for the first time the impacts of ephemeral mucilage blooms on the whole coralligenous assemblage, identifying a further threat of this habitat and the need of adequate monitoring programs.

ALEX index enables detection of alien macroalgae invasions across habitats within a marine protected area.

A modified version of the ALien Biotic IndEX (ALEX) has been recently proposed to evaluate biological invasions in macroalgal assemblages. ALEX was applied in a Marine Protected Area where a recreational-fishing port is present testing the following hypotheses: ALEX increases with the distance from the port, it changes between the two directions off the port and it changes among three different habitats: Cystoseira beds, algal turf and dead matte of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica. A total of 78 native macroalgal taxa and 4 introduced species were found, the Chlorophyta Caulerpa cylindracea and the Rhodophyta Apoglossum gregarium, Acrothamnion preissii and Womersleyella setacea. All study sites were in high quality status highlighting that the assemblages investigated were at an early stage of NIS invasion. However, ALEX detected different values among conditions and habitats within the MPA, suggesting a local dynamics of NIS spread and different resistance to invasion of the investigated habitats.

Reversed phase and cation exchange liquid chromatography with spectrophotometric and elemental/molecular mass spectrometric detection for S-adenosyl methionine/S-adenosyl homocysteine ratios as methylation index in cell cultures of ovarian cancer.

S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) and S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) are essential compounds in the carbon metabolic cycle that have clinical implications in a broad range of disease conditions. The measurement of the ratio SAM/SAH also called methylation index, has become a way of monitoring the DNA methylation of a cell which is an epigenetic event with important clinical implications in diagnosis; therefore the development of suitable methods to accurately quantify these compounds is mandatory. This work illustrates the comparison of three independent methods for the determination of the methylation index, all of them based on the chromatographic separation of the two species (SAM and SAH) using either ion-pairing reversed phase or cation exchange chromatography. The species detection was conducted using either molecular absorption spectrophotometry (HPLC-UV) or mass spectrometry with electrospray (ESI-MS/MS) as ionization source or inductively coupled plasma (DF-ICP-MS) by monitoring the S-atom contained in both analytes. The analytical performance characteristics of the three methods were critically compared obtaining best features for the combination of reversed phase HPLC with ESI-MS in the MRM mode. In this case, detection limits of about 0.5ngmL(-1) for both targeted analytes permitted the application of the designed strategy to evaluate the effect of cisplatin on the changes of the methylation index among epithelial ovarian cancer cell lines sensitive (A2780) and resistant (A2780CIS) to this drug after exposition to cisplatin.

Production of radioactive phantoms using a standard inkjet printer and the public domain multi-printing code GENIA.

The public domain code GENIA, based on multi-printing method for producing surface sources with appropriate radioactivity, is described. The conventional technique, running on standard inkjet printer with radio-marked ink filling, is improved by repeating elementary printing commands in the same band. Well outlined sources with adjustable radioactivity can be obtained without refilling. The intrinsic limitation of printable radioactivity, depending on the value available at nozzles at printing time, was overcome. In addition the method permits the accurate calibration of the amount of activity released onto the paper.

Imaging performance comparison between a LaBr3: Ce scintillator based and a CdTe semiconductor based photon counting compact gamma camera.

The authors report on the performance of two small field of view, compact gamma cameras working in single photon counting in planar imaging tests at 122 and 140 keV. The first camera is based on a LaBr3: Ce scintillator continuous crystal (49 x 49 x 5 mm3) assembled with a flat panel multianode photomultiplier tube with parallel readout. The second one belongs to the class of semiconductor hybrid pixel detectors, specifically, a CdTe pixel detector (14 x 14 x 1 mm3) with 256 x 256 square pixels and a pitch of 55 microm, read out by a CMOS single photon counting integrated circuit of the Medipix2 series. The scintillation camera was operated with selectable energy window while the CdTe camera was operated with a single low-energy detection threshold of about 20 keV, i.e., without energy discrimination. The detectors were coupled to pinhole or parallel-hole high-resolution collimators. The evaluation of their overall performance in basic imaging tasks is presented through measurements of their detection efficiency, intrinsic spatial resolution, noise, image SNR, and contrast recovery. The scintillation and CdTe cameras showed, respectively, detection efficiencies at 122 keV of 83% and 45%, intrinsic spatial resolutions of 0.9 mm and 75 microm, and total background noises of 40.5 and 1.6 cps. Imaging tests with high-resolution parallel-hole and pinhole collimators are also reported.

Tolerability of aztreonam in patients with IgE-mediated hypersensitivity to beta-lactams.

Cross-reactivity between aztreonam and penicillins is poor, but clinical tolerance of aztreonam has been assessed, by means of tolerance challenge tests, only in a few groups of penicillin-allergic patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the tolerability of aztreonam in a large group of beta-lactam-allergic patients. We studied all patients (greater than 14 years of age), with a clinical history of immediate reactions to any beta-lactam and with positive immediate-type skin tests and/or positive specific IgE to any of the studied beta-lactam; they were studied by means of: skin prick and intradermal tests with penicilloyl polylysine, minor determinant mixture, semisynthetic penicillins, cephalosporins, aztreonam and imipenem; detection of specific IgE to penicillin G, penicillin V, ampicillin, amoxicillin, cefaclor and ceftriaxone. Patients with negative immediate-type skin tests with aztreonam then underwent a graded intramuscular challenge. Forty-five patients (mean age 46.1 +/- 15.2 years), 27 females and 18 males, had positive skin tests and/or specific IgE to at least one of the studied beta-lactams. The most involved drugs were amoxicillin (23 cases), ampicillin (9 cases), penicillin G (8 cases) and other beta-lactams in the remaining cases. The most frequent reactions were anaphylaxis (27 cases) and urticaria (15 cases). All patients had negative intradermal tests with aztreonam and all patients tolerated the intramuscular graded challenge. Our data confirm the lack of cross-reactivity between beta-lactams and aztreonam. Immediate-type skin tests with aztreonam represent a simple and rapid diagnostic tool to establish tolerability in beta-lactam-allergic patients who urgently need this drug.

[Evidence based medicine and mobbing]. / Evidence based medicine e mobbing.

The phenomenon of the physical, moral or psychical violence in the working environment, variously indicated as "mobbing", "workplace bullying" or "workplace harassment", is to date object of numerous studies, mostly of epidemiological type, which are yet to clear, in a sufficient way, the aspects of that phenomenon, the possible causes, risk factors, constituent characteristics and consequences. Our search, a systematic review of the existing studies in literature and a meta-analysis of the jobs chosen to such scope, has shown that only a small percentage of the researches conducted on the topic is represented from studies that collected original information on the subject. The results of the meta-analysis show that in the category of the mobbed workers the psychosomatic disturbs, stress, and anxiety are greater than in the group of controls and that the perception of the surrounding environment is more negative in the victims of mobbing compared with the not mobbed workers. The value of such results is reduced by the characteristics and the heterogeneity of the studies.

[Attention, repetitive works, fatigue and stress]. / Attenzione, lavori ripetitivi, fatica e stress.

Repetitive work in occupational settings often requires a combination of mental and physical demands, but few studies were conducted concerning the relationship between attention and repetitive work. In attentive and cognitive tasks, it is common to observe effort and fatigue without the presence of those neuromuscular modifications that would justify the use of these terms. Therefore, we can talk about mental fatigue in those cases in which it is observed the exhaustion of the necessary resources for the execution of a job that doesn't demand the employment of neuromuscular apparatus. Scientific literature about this argument consists of experimental studies which aim to estimate at what extent attentive demands exspecially cognitive demands can interact with physical ones which are peculiarities of repetitive tasks. Work characterized by the maintenance of high levels of performance for a long time, produce cognitive effort with high level of vigilance, selective attention, decisional ability, automated control mechanisms, such as "eye-hand", and may contribute to the fatigue. Indeed, fatigue plays a important role in a working context since, it may interfere with the work itself by reducing the worker's efficiency and performance and if excessive and extended, it may alter the subject's psycho-physical condition and induce different pathologies. Repetitive work can contribute to the increasing of muscular fatigue by inducing mental fatigue: for example tasks which require high vigilance but low neuromuscular work, may induce a sense of effort and fatigue and cognitive factors and mental stress may cause muscular fatigue. Several intrinsic job factors, including repetitive works, may act as stressors and they can cause mental and physical symptoms such as anxiety, depression and somatic diseases. The European Community has often emphasized the pathogenic value of stress and fatigue with their high social and individual costs. For this purpose, it is opportune to consider the norm UNI EN ISO 10075, which points out the necessity to consider the human component, in term of mental load which implies not only the cognitive component but also the whole psychical sphere of the subject. Training intended like a sort of learning of specific modalities, supplies workers with the necessary instruments for a correct and more aware management of the peculiarities of working activity, contributing to the reduction of fatigue and stress deriving from the job.

[Scientific evidence in occupational medicine: meta-analysis of the data regarding the effects of working with video terminals on the psycho-physical well-being]. / L'evidenza scientifica in medicina del lavoro: meta-analisi dei dati degli effetti sul benessere psico-fisico del lavoro con videoterminale.

Psycho-physical well-being of video display terminal (VDT) workers is often neglected. The aim of this study is to evaluate, through the comparison of controlled studies published in scientific literature, the psycho-physical well-being of VDT workers and, in particular way, the phenomena of strain and mental fatigue with their neuro-physiological, behavioural and subjective components. Seven-hundreds articles have been found from which we have selected twenty-one articles on the basis of the following inclusion criteria: controlled studies and evaluation of variables about mental fatigue; finally, only fifteen articles were utilized in the analysis due to the variability of data needed in the computation of effect size. For continuous variables we have performed two different types of elaboration methods; in case of variables showing no significant heterogeneity among studies, we have used the Weighted Mean Difference method, according to the Fixed Effect Model, while for variables showing significant heterogeneity among studies, we have used the Standardized Mean Difference method according to the Random Effects Model. Categorical variables have been analyzed trough the calculation of Odds Ratio according to the Fixed Effect Model or to the Random Effects Model respectively in case of heterogeneity's absence or presence among studies. Variables obtained by the studies were classified in four groups: biological assessment, strain assessment, subjective well-being assessment, and psycho-somatic symptoms. Statistically significant outcomes have been found for urinary adrenalin, sleep disturbances and for all the evaluated categorical parameters except headache. These outcomes allow for the following observations: 1) psycho-physical well-being of VDT workers, and especially mental fatigue, remain an object of uncertain identification and they are often neglected by Occupational Health doctors even though their evaluation is required by the Italian legislation (D.Lgs 626/94); 2) even though there is a huge interest on the argument, the amount of controlled studies on VDT workers is still insufficient. Furthermore, studies are often weak in power heterogeneous and discordant on potential problematic issues and consequently there is a difficulty in both the reproduction and overlapping of the studies; 3) Occupational Health doctor should be more careful toward this specific argument and, in his clinical practice, he should use only evidence-based parameters with high level of reproduction suggested by studied which can be considered homogeneous and overlapping for case studies and control groups. This meta-analysis suggests which evaluations to use as statistically significant parameters for the health protection of VDT workers.