[Symptoms and musculo-skeletal changes among personnel of the State Police exposed to mechanical risk]. / Sintomi ed alterazioni muscolo-scheletriche in personale della Polizia di Stato esposto a rischio biomeccanico.

The aim of this present study was to inquire about spine morfo-functional alterations among policemen with jobs regarded as potentially hazardous, in order to identify preclinical alterations of column and to plan adequate preventive measures. A physiopathologic and working anamnesis was carried out by means of questionnaire about personal data, jobs, reported rachidian symptomatology and presence of orthopedic diseases, given to policemen on duty in Bari. Every chosen worker was subject to orthopedic and neurological examination, radiography of column, Formetric tridimensional examination, telethermography of spine. We stratified the sample on the basis of age and job. Under the jobs we individuated 4 biomechanical hazardous activities, performed separately or together: driving motorcycle, driving car, flying helicopter, video terminal use. The whole sample, formed by 211 subjects, all male, had the average age of 39 years (Standard Deviation: +/- 4). About the reported rachidian symptomatology, only 41 (17, 98%) subjects were asymptomatical, contrary to clinical results, that were normal in almost the entire sample, with the exception of 3 workers (1, 31%), who had neurological clinical alterations. Structural alterations were checked by radiography among 64, 9% of subjects. The Formetric examination found alterations in different tract of rachis, also coexiting between each other. The telethermographic changes affected 63,99% of the sample and involved especially the lumbar tract (38,86%), dorsal region (18%) and cervical zone (7,1%). The relative frequency of dorsal tract increased with growing of age. The morfo-functional changes of the sample seem to depend rather on the performed job, than on degenerative process of age, partly because the average age of the sample is not much elevated and because the enlistment in Italian Police Force is subordinated to verification of optimum conditions, also characterized by absence of anomaly of column. The absence of clinical alteration, in contrast to reported rachidian symptomatology by 82,02% of subjects and with discovered objectivity, demands more clinical attention in presence of symptomatology and proposes supplementary non-invasive techiniques of investigation, as the telethermography and the formetric tridimensional examination.

[Effects of noise on cortical mechanisms involved in the development of linguistic sounds]. / Effetti del rumore sui meccanismi corticali di elaborazione dei suoni linguistici.

So far studies about noise effects on speech perception have been focused on the development of hearing loss and other related pathologies. However, behavioral findings indicate that speech perception and intelligibility are disrupted in presence of noise in certain clinical groups in a way that is unpredictable on the basis of the audiogram performed in silence. This observation suggests that even soft noise can modify the cerebral mechanisms underlying speech information processing. Confirming the behavioral results, electric and magnetic brain measurements showed that noise presented to healthy subjects decreases the amplitude and increases the latency of brain responses to speech sounds. Recently, further experimental data allowed us to have a deeper knowledge of the neural mechanisms interventing in difficult listening conditions. In particolar, speech sounds presented in noisy background evoke bioelectric responses in neural populations located in the right cerebral hemisphere, that otherwise would not be activated. These findings can in future contribute to unveal new aspects of the noise pathology and its assessment in an early pre-clinical stage.

[Changes in the radiologic and spirometric profile in subjects with pulmonary silicosis]. / Evoluzione del quadro radiologico e spirometrico in soggetti affetti da silicosi polmonare.

All admissions with diagnosis of silicosis from 1980 to 2000, in the Occupational Medicine Division of Fondazione S. Maugeri, Cassano Murge (Bari), were examined. From 586 gathered medical records we selected 106 subjects with double admissions and detected their X-rays of chest, FVC and FEV1. The stationary results of their chest X-rays and the light declines of their respiratory functions confirm the slow evolution in time of this pathology.

[Strain-gauge plethysmography in angiopathies caused by vibrant tools]. / Pletismografia strain-gauge nelle angiopatie da strumenti vibranti.

The authors compare the results obtained from the strain gauge plethysmography on 79 patients affected by vibrating machines angiopathology with a group of 20 others non exposed to vibrations. The results, analyzed according to the microcirculation vision, lead the authors to suppose that the damage caused by vibrating instruments is revealed at the capillary bed trophic exchange level.

[The evaluation of the thermal threshold in those exposed to vibrations]. / Valutazione della soglia termica in esposti a vibrazioni.

The results of a study carried out on 90 subjects exposed to vibratory trauma of the hand-arm compared to a non-risk control group of 54 subjects are reported. All subjects underwent a medical and neurological examination and Doppler ultrasound of the upper limbs, plethysmography of the hands, electromyography of the bilateral median nerve area and T.T.T. (Thermal Threshold Tester) evaluation of the thermal threshold, were performed. Workers exposed to risks show a higher threshold for hot/cold sensitivity compared to those not exposed. This increase is earlier compared to the onset of vascular and neurophysiological changes detected by plethysmography, Doppler ultrasound and electromyography. Thermal threshold evaluation by T.T.T. would seem to be a useful test for monitoring workers exposed to vibrations.