Perception of occupational risk by rural workers in an area of central Italy.

The aim of this study is to analyze the subjective perception of risks for rural workers in Abruzzo, an area of central Italy. A group of 273 workers were asked to fill in a questionnaire which included, apart from general information, questions relative to six different types of risks normally found in the field of agriculture. The types of risks considered were: falling from a height, manually moving loads, overturning/accident whilst driving an agricultural tractor, noise and vibration, use of pesticides, the risk of being cut/injured. The workers were requested to assess, on a scale of 1 to 3, both the probability of an accident taking place and the consequent damage which could result from each of the risks considered. The assessment of the risks provided by the workers was related to the objective assessment of the risks carried out by the study group, also on the basis of objective data provided by INAIL (Italian insurance company) indexes, to highlight the eventual under/over estimations of risk. Furthermore, the possible correlation was evaluated between having received specific training regarding work safety and the workers perception of the risk. The results showed that approximately 11 percent of the workers do not consider their job as being dangerous; the risk perceived by the workers is higher for accidents that cause an immediate injury compared to those which cause professional illnesses, except the risk deriving from noise/vibrations. A direct correlation was found between the job as being dangerous and having attended courses on accident prevention.

[Innovation in the ergonomic procedures for evaluating risk in building activities of the Abruzzo region (Italy)]. / Innovazione nelle procedure ergonomiche per la valutazione del rischio nel settore edile in Abruzzo.

After the earthquake of L'Aquila, INAIL further stimulated the local Universities to train specialists in the prevention of occupational risks on construction sites. Since 2005 the University of Chieti-Pescara evaluated occupational stress (through the Karasek's JCQ) as well as perception of occupational risk of the building workers. Moreover, procedures (including planning) in the field of building technology were analyzed. The perception of job strain of the workers in building activities were high because of elevated job demand and low decision latitude. The risk perception was higher regarding dangers producing immediate injury. There was no direct relationship between considering the job dangerous and having attended training courses, while the relationship between risk perception and past injury events was marked. At present, we are also evaluating, by instrumental methods, the biomechanical overload of workers, due to the main repetitive and forceful manual activities.

Antitumor Trans Platinum Adducts of GMP and AMP.

Recently it has been shown that several analogues of the clinically ineffective trans-DDP exhibit antitumor activity comparable to that of cis-DDP. The present paper describes the binding of antitumor trans-[PtCl(2)(E-iminoether)(2)] (trans-EE) to guanosinemonophosphate (GMP) and adenosinemonophosphate (AMP). We have used HPLC and (1)H and (15)N NMR to characterize the different adducts. In the case of a 1:1 mixture of trans-EE and GMP, at an early stage of the reaction, a monofunctional adduct is formed which, subsequently, is partly converted into a monosolvated monofunctional species. After about 70 hours an equilibrium is established between chloro and solvato monofunctional adducts at a ratio of 30/70. In the presence of excess GMP (4:1) the initially formed monofunctional adducts react further to give two bifunctional adducts, one with the iminoether ligands in their original E configurations and the other with the iminoether ligands having one E and the other, Z configurations. The coordination geometry obtained by energy minimization calculations is in qualitative agreement with 2D NMR data.

In vitro and in vivo antitumour activity and cellular pharmacological properties of new platinum-iminoether complexes with different configuration at the iminoether ligands.

In order to widen our knowledge on antitumour trans-[PtCl2(iminoether)2] complexes, we have synthesised two new derivatives, trans-[PtCl2¿E-HN = C(OEt)Me¿2] (1) and trans-[PtCl2¿Z-HN = C(OEt)Me¿2] (2), which differ in the configuration of the iminoether ligands. Isomer 1 showed an in vitro cytotoxicity similar to that of cisplatin in a panel of human tumour cell lines (mean IC50 = 8 and 7.7 microM, respectively), whereas isomer 2 showed a lower activity (IC50 = 14.3 microM). Both 1 and 2 isomers overcame cisplatin resistance of ovarian cancer cell line A2780/Cp8. In agreement with the n-octanol/saline partition ratios, intracellular platinum content (and DNA platination) after a 2-h exposure to equimolar drug concentrations was in the order 1 > 2 >> cisplatin, thus indicating that substitution of imminoethers for ammines determines a major lipophilicity and cellular uptake of the platinum drug. Both 1 and 2 showed a major toxic effect towards an excision repair-defective Drosophila strain, thus indicating cellular DNA as cytotoxic target. Finally, both 1 and 2 were active in vivo against the murine P388 system, but, contrary to the in vitro activity, isomer 2 was slightly more active than 1. On the whole, the results confirm the antitumour activity of trans-[PtCl2(iminoether)2] complexes, and indicate that the configuration of the iminoether ligands may affect the pharmacological properties of this class of complexes.

DNA interactions of a novel platinum drug, cis-[PtCl(NH3)2(N7-acyclovir)]+.

We synthesized a novel platinum drug, cis-[PtCl(NH3)2(N7-ACV)]+, in which ACV is the antiviral drug acyclovir [a deoxyriboguanosine analogue, 9-(2-hydroxyethoxymethyl)guanine]. This new compound exhibits antiviral efficacy in vitro and exhibits an antitumor activity profile different from that of cisplatin [Metal-Based Drugs 2:249-256 (1995)]. To contribute to understanding the mechanisms underlying biological activity of this new compound, we studied modifications of natural and synthetic DNAs in cell-free media by cis-[PtCl(NH3)2(N7-ACV)]+ by various biochemical and biophysical methods. The results indicated that the major DNA adduct of cis-[PtCl(NH3)2(N7-ACV)]+ was a stable monofunctional adduct at guanine residues. In contrast to DNA adducts of other monodentate and clinically ineffective platinum(II) compounds, the adducts of cis-[PtCl(NH3)2(N7-ACV)]+ terminated in vitro DNA and RNA synthesis. In addition, although DNA adducts of cis-[PtCl(NH3)2(N7-ACV)]+ and cisplatin were different, some properties of DNA modified by either compound were qualitatively similar. Such similarities were not noticed if DNA modifications by other ineffective monofunctional platinum(II) complexes were investigated. Thus, the DNA binding mode of monofunctional cis-[PtCl(NH3)2(N7-ACV)]+ was different from that of other monofunctional but ineffective platinum(II) complexes. It has been suggested that the unique capability of cis-[PtCl(NH3)2(N7-ACV)]+ to modify DNA may be relevant to a distinct antitumor efficiency of this novel drug in comparison with cisplatin. It also has been suggested that at least some aspects of DNA interactions of cis-[PtCl(NH3)2(ACV)]+ revealed in the current study could be exploited in the search for and development of new antiviral platinum complexes containing, as a part of the coordination sphere, antiviral nucleosides.

Blood volume modeling and refilling rate estimation in hemodialysis by continuous hemoglobin monitoring.

Eleven bicarbonate hemodialyses (HD) of 6 patients under constant ultrafiltration were continuously monitored with an optical Hb-meter, considered to be a marker of blood volume (BV) changes. A theoretical model was fed experimental data for prediction of blood volume and estimation of vascular parameters, and a time course of rate of refilling was extrapolated. The adequacy of the model was very good for the time course of BV prediction (r2 = 0.85-0.95, n = 11) and for plasma protein concentration (r2 = 0.83-0.86, n = 2). Parameters estimated included (mean-DS): filtration coefficient (Cf) = 0.22 (0.16) dl/min*mmHg, transcapillary hydrostatic pressure (DP) = 17.80 (3.44) mmHg and protein concentration of the refilling fluid (Cref) = 0.45 (0.30) g/dl. In conclusion our study has shown that the model chosen fits the observed BV profile well in all cases, thus the Hb data series can be used for BV dynamic modeling and for estimation of vascular parameters.