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This article deals with the history of the Italian Arditi –elite troops in the Italian Army since 1917– after World War I. Postwar Arditi became a violent political group in the Italian Army often related directly to Fascism. This articles explores a much more complex reality by focusing on the trajectory of antifascist groups (Arditi del popolo), created as a response to Fascism threat. It examines the Arditi’s mentalities during Italian postwar focusing on veteran societies. It also highlights both the connections and the disconnections between those former Arditi who supported Fascism and those converted to antifascism. | El artículo aborda la historia de los arditi en la Italia posterior a la Primera Guerra Mundial: tropas de elite desarrolladas en el ejército italiano desde 1917. Los arditi en la posguerra se convirtieron en un violento grupo político que suele relacionarse en la historiografía de manera unidireccional con el fascismo. El artículo demuestra una realidad mucho más compleja, centrándose en la trayectoria de grupos antifascistas llamados Arditi del popolo, creados en reacción a la amenaza fascista. Se examinan las características de las mentalidades de los arditi durante la posguerra italiana en el marco de las asociaciones de excombatientes, señalando concomitancias y puntos de ruptura entre aquellos ex-arditi que decidieron apoyar el fascismo, y aquellos que se convirtieron al antifascismo.

A escória Fe-Cr baixo carbono, é um dos principais resíduos advindos do processo metalúrgico para obtenção de liga de Fe-Cr. Este resíduo não possui aplicação e encontra-se acumulado em pátios, conforme regulamentação de órgãos ambientais. Este trabalho teve por finalidade caracterizar, sob os aspectos químicos e físicos, a escória Fe-Cr baixo carbono, pertencente à Companhia de Ferro e Ligas da Bahia S/A, FERBASA. Também foram realizados ensaios de concentração gravítica com a finalidade de remover a liga de Fe-Cr ainda residual na escória. As amostras da escória, após as etapas de preparação, foram submetidas aos ensaios de classificação granulométrica, FRX, lupa binocular e MEV-EDS. A análise dos resultados obtidos por lupa binocular indicou a existência, na escória, de grãos de quartzo, fragmento de rocha/minério e de fases metálicas e vítreas. As análises químicas revelaram teores de 30% de CaO, 15% de MgO e 12% de Cr2O3, com partículas metálicas contendo os elementos Fe e Cr associados. As investigações realizadas em mesas concentradoras possibilitaram a obtenção de um concentrado com aproximadamente 25% de Cr, sugerindo a reutilização do mesmo no processo siderúrgico de obtenção da liga de Fe-Cr.

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a prevalent cumulative strain injury associated with occupational risk factors such as vibration, repetitive and forceful wrist movements, and awkward wrist postures. This study aimed to identify Ontario workers at elevated risk for CTS and to explore sex differences in CTS risk among workers., Methods: The Occupational Disease Surveillance System (ODSS) links accepted lost time compensation claims to health administrative databases. CTS cases were identified from physician billing (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) records and defined as at least one record for CTS surgery (fee code N290) between 2002 and 2020. A 3-year washout period and restricted follow-up period of 3 years were applied. A total of 792,769 workers were included in the analytical cohort. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for CTS by occupation and industry, adjusted for age and birth year, stratified by sex., Results: A total of 3,224 CTS cases among females (f) and 2,992 cases among males (m) were identified in the cohort. We observed elevated risks of CTS in many occupations requiring repetitive and forceful manual work: slaughtering and meat cutting, canning, curing and packing (HR f  = 2.28, 95%CI = 1.42-3.68; HR m  = 1.95, 95%CI = 1.33-2.85); welding and flame cutting (HR f  = 1.83, 95%CI = 1.01-3.32; HR m  = 1.65, 95%CI = 1.35-2.01); motor vehicle fabricating and assembling (HR f  = 2.14, 95%CI = 1.74-2.62; HR m  = 2.43, 95%CI = 2.04-2.89); and packaging (HR f  = 2.06, 95%CI = 1.43-2.97; HR m  = 1.82, 95%CI = 1.12-2.98). Elevated risks were observed among males employed as nursing aides and orderlies (HR m  = 1.72, 95%CI = 1.13-2.62), in mining (HR m  = 1.57, 95%CI = 1.01-2.45), and in construction (HR m  = 1.32, 95%CI = 1.19-1.47). Elevated risks were observed among females in mineral, metal, chemical processing (HR f  = 1.58, 95%CI = 1.27-1.97), textile processing (HR f  = 1.89, 95%CI = 1.22-2.94), wood machining (HR f  = 2.84, 95%CI = 1.47-5.45), and females employed as janitors, charworkers and cleaners (HR f  = 1.50, 95%CI = 1.32-1.71). Findings by industry were consistent with occupation results., Conclusion: The risk of CTS varied by occupation, industry, and sex in this large cohort. Workers engaged in highly repetitive and forceful manual work were at elevated CTS risk, highlighting the need to further understand and reduce ergonomic hazards among identified groups. Future studies should also explore CTS risk by sex, with a focus on female workers., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was approved by the University of Toronto Health Sciences Research Ethics Board, Toronto, Canada (#39013). Our study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objectives: Emergency medical services workers, such as paramedics, provide important emergency care and may be exposed to potential carcinogens while working. Few studies have examined the risk of cancer among paramedics demonstrating an important knowledge gap in existing literature. This study aimed to investigate cancer risks among paramedics in a large cohort of Ontario workers., Methods: Paramedics were identified in the Occupational Disease Surveillance System (ODSS) from 1996 to 2019. The ODSS was established by linking lost-time worker's compensation claims to administrative health data, including the Ontario Cancer Registry to identify incident cases of cancer. Cox-proportional hazard models were used to calculate age and sex-adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals to estimate the risk of cancer among paramedics compared to all other workers in the ODSS., Results: A total of 7240 paramedics were identified, with just over half of the paramedics identifying as male similar to the overall ODSS cohort. Paramedics had a statistically significant elevated risk of any cancer (HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.06-1.34), and elevated risks for melanoma (HR 2.18, 95% CI 1.46-3.26) and prostate cancer (HR 1.73, 95% CI 1.34-2.22). Paramedics had a statistically significant reduced risk for lung cancer (HR 0.48, 95% CI 0.28-0.83). Findings were similar to cancer risks identified in firefighters and police in the same cohort., Conclusions: This study contributes valuable findings to understanding cancer risks among paramedics and further supports the existing evidence on the increased risk of cancer among emergency medical services workers. We have observed some similar results for firefighters and police, which may be explained by similar exposures, including vehicle exhaust, shiftwork, and intermittent solar radiation. This can lead to a better understanding of carcinogens and other exposures among paramedics and inform cancer prevention strategies.

Background: The craniofacial malformations occur less frequently, with a prevalence rate of approximately 0.1%. Our aim is to investigate the effectiveness of prenatal ultrasound in the detection of the craniofacial abnormalities., Methods: In our study, we have processed the prenatal sonographic and postnatal clinical and fetopathological data of 242 anatomical deviations of 218 fetuses with craniofacial malformations over a 12-year period. The patients were divided into three groups: Group I, Totally Recognized; Group II, Partially Recognized; Group III, Not Recognized. To characterize the diagnostics of disorders we developed the Uncertainty Factor F (U) = P (Partially Recognized)/[P (Partially Recognized) + T (Totally Recognized)] and Difficulty factor F (D) = N (Not Recognized)/[P (Partially Recognized) + T (Totally Recognized)]., Results: Prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of fetuses with facial and neck malformations completely coincided in 71/218 cases (32.6%) with postnatal/fetopathological findings. In 31/218 cases (14.2%) the detection was only partial, while in 116/218 cases no craniofacial malformations were diagnosed prenatally (53.2%). The Difficulty Factor was high or very high in almost each disorder group, with a cumulative score of 1.28. The Uncertainty Factor cumulative score was 0.32., Conclusions: The effectiveness of the detection of the facial and neck malformations was low (29.75%). The Uncertainty Factor F (U) and Difficulty Factor F (D) parameters, which characterized the difficulties of the prenatal ultrasound examination well., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: Both authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://qims.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/qims-22-1074/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2023 Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Background: Examine the effectiveness of prenatal ultrasound diagnostics in the detection of cardiovascular malformations, and their association with polyhydramnios and oligohydramnios., Methods: We examined the fetal ultrasonography and postnatal clinical/fetopathological data of 372 newborns/fetuses over a 7-year period in a tertiary centre. Fetal echocardiography was performed in cases of suspected US findings between 18-32 weeks. During the ultrasound the amniotic fluid amount was measured and the amniotic fluid index (AFI) or largest amniotic fluid pocket was determined., Results: Prenatal ultrasonographic results and postnatal/fetopathological diagnosis were fully congruent in 236/372 cases (63.4%), and in 66/372 cases of cardiovascular anomalies (17.7%) the discovery was partial, while in 70/372 cases no fetal cardiovascular anomalies were diagnosed during pregnancy (18.8%) (false negative). Cardiovascular malformations were isolated in 255 cases, in 172 of which (67.5%) the results of prenatal ultrasonography and postnatal diagnostics were fully congruent. In 43 cases (16.9%) the prenatal discovery was partial, and in 40 cases (15.7%) there was no prenatal recognition of the malformation. Cardiovascular abnormalities were found as a part of multiple malformations in 76 cases. In 41 fetuses the cardiovascular malformation was associated with chromosomal abnormalities. Cardiovascular malformations were significantly associated with polyhydramnios. Although in some of the cardiovascular malformations the association rate with polyhydramnios was high (AVSD, double outlet right ventricle, tetralogy of Fallot), we found a moderate association rate (19.7%). The association with oligohydramnios was 8.57%., Conclusions: Echocardiography plays an important role in the prenatal diagnostics. In cases of polyhydramnios and oligohydramnios, fetal echocardiography should be performed., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/qims-20-823). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2021 Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Our objective is to examine the effectiveness of prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of craniospinal malformations compared to postnatal neonatological and pathological findings., Methods: Over a 7-year period, we preformed approximately 82.500 prenatal ultrasounds of 26.827 pregnancies. We detected 290 fetuses with 351 craniospinal malformations., Results: Craniospinal abnormalities were found as a part of multiplex malformations in 84/290 cases: in 47/84 cases (55.95%) there was complete concurrence between prenatal and postnatal results. In 15/290 fetuses the craniospinal malformation was associated with chromosomal abnormalities. In 9/15 (60%) of these fetuses, malformations were fully diagnosed with ultrasound. Isolated craniospinal malformations occurred in 191/290 cases, in 162/191 (84.82%) the results of prenatal ultrasonography and postnatal or post abortion examinations showed complete concurrence. In addition to the 290 fetuses with craniospinal malformations, there were an additional 17 who were thought by ultrasound to have a craniospinal malformation, which could not be documented after birth (false positives)., Conclusions: Prenatal ultrasound accurately diagnosed 218/290 (75,17%) craniospinal abnormalities, and partially defined the abnormalities in 9.66%, failed to detect abnormalities in 15.17%, with an approximate 0.06% false detection rate.

Background: Showing a prevalence rate of 0.5-0.8%, urogenital malformations discovered in newborns is regarded relatively common. The aim of this study is to examine the efficacy of ultrasound diagnostics in detecting developmental disorders in the urogenital system., Methods: We have processed the prenatal sonographic and postnatal clinical details of 175 urogenital abnormalities in 140 newborns delivered with urogenital malformation according to EUROCAT recommendations over a 5-year period between 2006 and 2010. The patients were divided into three groups; Group 1: prenatal sonography and postnatal examinations yielded fully identical results. Group 2: postnatally detected urogenital changes were partially discovered in prenatal investigations. Group 3: prenatal sonography failed to detect the urogenital malformation identified in postnatal examinations. Urogenital changes representing part of certain multiple disorders associated with chromosomal aberration were investigated separately., Results: Prenatal sonographic diagnosis and postnatal results completely coincided in 45%, i.e. 63/140 of cases in newborns delivered with urogenital developmental disorders. In 34/140 cases (24%), discovery was partial, while in 43/140 patients (31%), no urogenital malformation was detected prenatally. No associated malformations were observed in 108 cases, in 57 of which (53%), the results of prenatal ultrasonography and postnatal examinations showed complete coincidence. Prenatally, urogenital changes were found in 11 patients (10%), whereas no urogenital disorders were diagnosed in 40 cases (37%) by investigations prior to birth. Urogenital disorders were found to represent part of multiple malformations in a total of 28 cases as follows: prenatal diagnosis of urogenital malformation and the findings of postnatal examinations completely coincided in three patients (11%), partial coincidence was found in 22 newborns (79%) and in another three patients (11%), the disorder was not detected prenatally. In four newborns, chromosomal aberration was associated with the urogenital disorder; 45,X karyotype was detected in two patients, trisomy 9 and trisomy 18 were found in one case each., Conclusion: In approximately half of the cases, postnatally diagnosed abnormalities coincided with the prenatally discovered fetal urogenital developmental disorders. The results have confirmed that ultrasonography plays an important role in diagnosing urogenital malformations but it fails to detect all of the urogenital developmental abnormalities.