Suchergebnisse

Faced with ecological crises, scientists are not neutral, on one side they contribute with their research to support a model of development that is partly responsible for these crises, on the other side they often disagree in discussing on limits and negative implications of such a model. This paper presents the biographies of four scientists who, besides revealing the conflicts of interest between scientific research, economics and politics, allow us to broaden our gaze on the relevance of the gender dimension that involves both research questions and methodolgies. ; Di fronte alle crisi ecologiche gli scienziati e le scienziate non sono neutrali, da una parte contribuiscono con le loro ricerche a sostenere un modello di sviluppo che di queste crisi è in parte responsabile, dall'altra si dividono al proprio interno nel discuterne limiti e implicazioni negative. In questo intervento vengono presentate le biografie di quattro scienziate che, oltre a svelare i conflitti di interesse tra ricerca scientifica, economia e politica, consentono di allargare lo sguardo sulla rilevanza della dimensione di genere che investe sia il piano delle domande di ricerca che quello delle metodologie di indagine.

AbstractVolatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a class of ubiquitous substances that are present in outdoor and indoor air. They are emitted by a wide range of sources and can penetrate and accumulate specifically in indoor environments. Concern is growing among the scientific community regarding the potential health impacts of exposure to a high concentration of VOCs in indoor spaces. Due to their still-developing respiratory and immune systems, children may be the most fragile subjects in this regard, and therefore, the study of indoor air quality in schools is of the utmost importance. In this work, the concentrations of total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) and of 20 specific compounds belonging to this class were determined in a school in Squinzano, a town in the province of Lecce (Apulia region, southern Italy). Sampling was carried out in indoor (classrooms and bathrooms) and outdoor (terrace) areas using passive diffusive samplers for VOCs and photoionization detectors for TVOCs. Average concentrations of both TVOC (303 ± 47 µg m−3) and individual VOCs (< 0.5 µg m−3) were below levels of concern; however, specific indoor sources such as cleaning activities and student occupancy were responsible for peaks in TVOC concentrations above harmless levels for children and school staff. The data were then compared to the ones obtained in a similar study conducted in a school in Galatina, another town of the Apulia region, highlighting the impact of the surrounding outdoor environment on the indoor profile of VOCs.

Background: the objective of this study was to determine the epidemiology of hospitalized pediatric sepsis in Brazil (19922006) and to compare mortality caused by sepsis to that caused by other major childhood diseases.Methods and Findings: We performed a retrospective descriptive study of hospital admissions using a government database of all hospital affiliated with the Brazilian health system. We studied all hospitalizations in children from 28 days through 19 years with diagnosis of bacterial sepsis defined by the criteria of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), (Appendix S1). Based on the data studied from 1992 through 2006, the pediatric hospital mortality rate was 1.23% and there were 556,073 pediatric admissions with bacterial sepsis with a mean mortality rate of 19.9%. There was a case reduction of 67% over. 1992-2006 (p<0.001); however, the mortality rate remained unchanged (from 1992-1996, 20.5%; and from 20022006, 19.7%). Sepsis-hospital mortality rate was substantially higher than pneumonia (0.5%), HIV (3.3%), diarrhea (0.3%), undernutrition (2.3%), malaria (0.2%) and measles (0.7%). the human development index (HDI) and mortality rates (MR) by region were: North region 0.76 and 21.7%; Northeast region 0.72 and 27.1%; Central-West 0.81 and 23.5%; South region 0.83 and 12.2% and Southeast region 0.82 and 14.8%, respectively.Conclusions: We concluded that sepsis remains an important health problem in children in Brazil. the institution of universal primary care programs has been associated with substantially reduced sepsis incidence and therefore deaths; however, hospital mortality rates in children with sepsis remain unchanged. Implementation of additional health initiatives to reduce sepsis mortality in hospitalized patients could have great impact on childhood mortality rates in Brazil. ; Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Pediat, Escola Paulista Med, São Paulo, Brazil ; Univ British Columbia, Dept Pediat, Div Crit Care, Child & Family Res Inst, Vancouver, BC V6T 1W5, Canada ; Hosp Emilio Ribas, São Paulo, Brazil ; Univ Pittsburgh, Sch Med, Dept Anesthesiol & Crit Care Med, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 USA ; Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Pediat, Escola Paulista Med, São Paulo, Brazil ; Web of Science

AbstractPulmonary congestion is an intermediate biomarker and long-term predictor of acute decompensated heart failure.To evaluate the effects of air pollution on pulmonary congestion assessed by lung ultrasound.In a single-center, prospective, observational study design, we enrolled 1292 consecutive patients with chronic coronary syndromes referred for clinically indicated ABCDE-SE, with dipyridamole (n = 1207), dobutamine (n = 84), or treadmill exercise (n = 1). Pulmonary congestion was evaluated with lung ultrasound and a 4-site simplified scan. Same day values of 4 pollutants were obtained on the morning of testing (average of 6 h) from publicly available data sets of the regional authority of environmental protection. Assessment of air pollution included fine (< 2.5 µm diameter) and coarse (< 10 µm) particulate matter (PM), ozone and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).NO2 concentration was weakly correlated with rest (r = .089; p = 0.001) and peak stress B-lines (r = .099; p < 0.001). A multivariable logistic regression analysis, NO2 values above the median (23.1 µg/m3) independently predicted stress B-lines with odds ratio = 1.480 (95% CI 1.118–1.958) together with age, hypertension, diabetes, and reduced (< 50%) ejection fraction. PM2.5 values were higher in 249 patients with compared to those without B-lines (median and IQR, 22.0 [9.1–23.5] vs 17.6 [8.6–22.2] µg/m3, p < 0.001). No other pollutant correlated with other (A-C-D-E) SE steps.Higher concentration of NO2 is associated with more pulmonary congestion mirrored by B-lines at lung ultrasound. Local inflammation mediated by NO2 well within legally allowed limits may increase the permeability of the alveolar-capillary barrier and therefore pulmonary congestion in susceptible subjects.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT030.49995.