[Protection of working woman's health]. / Tutela della salute della donna lavoratrice.

INTRODUCTION: In the past the role of women was mainly that of wife and mother, over the centuries, this role has changed: women assert themselves in every social field and workplace. OBJECTIVES: Analyze the history of women's work, from prehistory to the present day highlighting the evolution of women's role over the centuries. Identify which may be the different occupational stressors, in particular the organizational and psycho-social ones, to which is submitted a working woman. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors have analyzed the most relevant data from literature, in particular on the issue of mental health. RESULTS: Provide the main forms of prevention that have to be implemented. DISCUSSION: The main challenge for women today, is to balance work outside the home and housework. This added to job stressors, may interfere with the psychological and physical wellbeing of the worker.

[Urban pollution]. / Inquinamento urbano: lavoratori esposti e popolazione in generale. Dall'evidenza dei dati all'urgenza delle politiche.

Workers exposed and common people. Workers' health is influenced by genes. It is easy to feel as if a lot of our health is beyond our control. After all, we can't just change our genes or re-sequence our DNA. However, new research is revealing that we might be able to control the expression of our genes. So even if you have a gene that predisposes you to a certain disease there are things you can do to either silence or amplify the expression of that gene. Traka et al found that workers who have a specific gene that predisposes them to prostate cancer were able to suppress the expression of this gene substantially by eating the equivalent of just one portion of broccoli per week.

[Meta-analysis: cardiovascular effects in workers occupationally exposed to urban pollution]. / Metanalisi: effetti sull'apparato cardiovascolare in lavoratori esposti a inquinamento urbano.

BACKGROUND: Many studies showed a connection between exposition to high levels of urban pollution (especially to particulate and traffic noise) and the onset of even deadly cardiovascular diseases. DESIGN: Meta-analysis of case-control design. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to estimate the association between cardiovascular effects and occupational exposition to atmospheric pollution in urban environment. DATA SOURCES: Biomedcentral, MEDLINE/ PubMed, MEDLINE/ National Library of Medicine (NLM), MEDLINE Plus, Nioshtic-2, Scopus, TOXNET/Toxline, unpublished studies known by the authors and acts of national and international conferences between 1988 and May 2010 included. There has not been any kind of language or typological restriction. CRITERIA OF ELEGIBILITY: The research on cardiovascular effects includes control cases of workers exposed to urban pollution, compared with non-exposed subjects. PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS: The selected studies present outdoor workers exposed to urban pollution (drivers and petrol pump attendants) and a control group of indoor workers (managers, university students and other selected subjects). STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS METHODS: The evidences (independently token from two different authors) have been grouped in two classes, the first one formed by continuous variables (systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides) and the second one by discontinuous variables (electrocardiographic abnormalities prevalence, hypertension prevalence, hypercholesterolemia prevalence). The studies related to both classes and presenting more than one variable for each class have been included and used, in order to elaborate the results. We calculated heterogeneity in each variable (ES calculation for continuous variables and OR calculation for discontinuous variables). RESULTS: On 378 publications, we have selected and included 16 articles. The variables show statistically irrelevant differences between exposed group and control group, except regarding the triglycerides. LIMITATIONS: The controlled studies are limited and characterized by a non-homogeneous evaluation of both expositional times of workers to urban pollution and of professional expositional values. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF KEY FINDINGS: Considering the heterogeneity and the lack of studies, it is impossible at the moment to document effects on the cardiovascular system in workers exposed to urban pollution. The results of this meta-analysis only suggest the association of urban pollution with alteration of triglycerides blood levels (referring to just three studies). As reported in scientific literature on this subject, it is necessary to conduct a future professional investigation on this subject with more qualified and homogeneous studies.

Follicle-stimulating hormone levels in male workers exposed to urban chemical, physical, and psychosocial stressors.

The aim of this study is to evaluate whether occupational exposure to urban stressors could cause alterations in the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels in traffic policemen compared to a control group. After excluding the subjects with main confounding factors, traffic policemen and male controls were matched by age, working life, body mass index (BMI), drinking habit, cigarette smoking history, and daily consumption of Italian coffee, 166 traffic policemen and 166 controls were included into the study. FSH levels were significantly higher in traffic policemen compared to male controls (P < 0.05). The distribution of FSH values in traffic policemen and controls was significant (P < 0.05). Our results suggest that occupational exposure to low doses of chemical and psychosocial stressors may alter plasma levels of FSH in traffic policemen more than in the control group. If the results obtained are confirmed by further research, the plasma levels of FSH may be used as early biological markers, valuable for the group, used in occupational set even before the appearance of disorders of male fertility.

A new model to estimate the appropriate staff for a clinical engineering department.

This study points out that the Clinical Engineering Department (CED) can provide expertise for the improvement of healthcare services if the size of the CED is appropriately determined; that is when the number of engineers, technicians and administrative staff is suitable for the activities that they are intended to carry out and for the amount of equipment they must manage. The paper presents a simple and flexible model where the staff is estimated according to the activities that need to be carried out by the CED and according to the amount of biomedical equipment being managed. Several examples of application and comparisons with the results provided by other models are reported and discussed.