Climate warming and the decline of Taxus airborne pollen in urban pollen rain (Emilia Romagna, northern Italy).

Woody plant performance in a changing global environment has always been at the centre of palaeoenvironmental and long-term climate reconstructions carried out by means of pollen analysis. In Mediterranean regions, Taxus constitutes the highest percentage in past pollen diagrams from cold or cool periods, and therefore it is generally considered a good index to infer climate features from past records. However, a comparison of these inferences with the true current trends in pollen production has not been attemped until now. This study reports the decline of airborne pollen of Taxus observed in Emilia Romagna, a region of northern Italy, during the period 1990-2007. Phenological observations on four male specimens and microscopic examination of fresh pollen were made in order to check Taxus flowering time and pollen morphology. Airborne pollen was monitored through continuous sampling with a Hirst volumetric sampler. In the 18-year long period of investigation, Taxus pollen production has decreased, while total woody pollen abundance in air has increased. The trend of the Taxus pollen season shows a delay at the beginning, a shortening of the pollen period, and an advance of the end of the pollen season. This was interpreted as a response to climate warming. In particular, Taxus follows the behaviour of winter-flowering plants, and therefore earlier pollination is favoured at low autumn temperatures, while late pollination occurs more often, most likely after warm autumn temperatures.

Is androstadienone a putative human pheromone?

On the basis of different evidences, androstadienone, a steroid compound produced in the armpit, has been proposed as a human pheromone, although its physiological levels appear too low to induce a response under experimental conditions. For this reason, the majority of researchers in this area puts into question the "legitimacy" of androstadienone, and prefers to consider the axillary extracts in its entirety, like a sort of "medicinal tea", the components of which still remain to be identified, but that taken together may induce a response, or function as a carrier of other active substances. Another option is that androstadienone acts with varying degrees of potency and, at lower concentrations, according to the context and to specific behavioral situations. The aim of this paper is to review all relevant data regarding androstadienone, in order to ascertain whether it may be considered a physiological pheromone and, as such, a possible target of future modulators of some human behaviors.

[The experience of managing the risk due to the manual lifting of patients in the hospital reality of Local Health Screening Unit Enterprise 18, the Veneto region]. / L'esperienza gestionale del rischio da movimentazione manuale di pazienti nelle realtà ospedaliere dell'Azienda ULSS 18 Regione Veneto.

The possibility of accidents and diseases connected with manual handling of patients can be considered as one of the major risks in hospital environments for nursing, non-nursing and technical staff. Health surveillance of exposed workers has revealed numerous cases of back disorders with consequent temporary or permanent limitations of working activity. This involves not only heavy costs for the hospital but also a reduction in the quality of the assistance due to the difficulty in replacing or increasing staff. For these reasons the hospitals of the Local Health and Social Services Unit 18 of the Regione Veneto drew up a plan of interventions in order to address this problem and reduce exposure to manual handling of patients. Details of the costs borne by the hospital due to this risk factor are reported; after the implementation of the improvement plan (health surveillance, introduction of aids, training of staff) it is shown how a reduction in costs was achieved, thus demonstrating the efficacy of the measures taken (reduction of 39.2% in days of staff absence due to back disorders).

A study of airborne Ulmaceae pollen in Modena (northern Italy).

We examined Ulmaceae airborne pollen at the Modena-Geophysical Observatory monitoring station in 1993. The pollen trap was placed 15 m above the ground. 365 daily slides were fully analyzed to obtain daily and bi-hourly pollen concentrations. Morphological analysis on native and introduced Ulmaceae pollen was also conducted between February 3rd and May 17th. Five pollen types were identified: Celtis cf. australis, Ulmus glabra, Ulmus cf. laevis, Ulmus cf. minor, and Ulmus minor/laevis. Pollen concentrations and percentages showed that the Elm family contributed little pollen to the air (about 1% of the total pollen recorded), Ulmus and Celtis being 0.9% and 0.04%, respectively. The maximum levels were 30 p/m3/24 hr and 118 p/m3/ 2 hr (Ulmus) and 4 p/m3/24 hr and 13 p/m3/2 hr (Celtis). The highest levels of Ulmus were during the morning and afternoon, while the afternoon was highest for Celtis. In general, Ulmaceae trees appear worth planting in urban areas, but Celtis pollen should also be monitored at human height.

Peripheral neuropathy in styrene-exposed workers.

BACKGROUND: The toxicity of styrene on the peripheral nervous system is still debated. CASES: The paper presents two cases of peripheral sensorimotor neuropathy in styrene-exposed workers. Exposure, evaluated by biological monitoring, ranged between 100 and 150% of the current limits proposed by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH). The subjects complained of leg weakness and numbness, cramps, and paresthesia. Electrophysiology revealed a moderate peripheral sensorimotor neuropathy of a demyelinating type. Color-vision testing showed a subclinical deficit. Common inherited and acquired causes of peripheral neuropathy and dyschromatopsia other than styrene were ruled out by personal history, medical examination, laboratory data, and chest X-ray. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that long-term occupational exposure to environmental levels of styrene that are equal, or slightly above, the ACGIH limits can induce a clinical form of peripheral neuropathy and a subclinical impairment of color vision. As a consequence, a careful reappraisal of the real preventive meaning of the current ACGIH occupational limit for styrene, at least on an individual basis, is needed.