Mesothelioma Risk Among Maritime Workers According to Job Title: Data From the Italian Mesothelioma Register (ReNaM)

The study describes the 466 cases of malignant mesotheliomas (MM) collected by the National Mesothelioma Register (ReNaM) in Italy in the period 1993-2018 relating to subjects with exclusive asbestos exposure in merchant or military navy. The cases among maritime workers represent 1.8% of the total cases with defined exposure registred in the ReNaM, of which 212 cases (45.4%) among merchant maritime workers and 254 cases (54.5%) among navy. The distribution by site of mesothelioma showed 453 (97.2%) MM cases of the pleura, 11 (2.3%) of the peritoneum and 2 (0.4%) of the tunica vaginalis of the testis. With regard to occupational exposure, it was classified as certain in 318 (68.2%) cases, probable in 69 (14.8%) cases and possible in 79 (16.9%) cases. Among the 23 classified jobs, the highest percentages of certain exposures are among naval engineers, motor mechanics, machine captains and sailors. Machine crew accounted for 49.3% of the cases, deck crew for 27.6%. All cases began exposure on board between 1926 and 1988. Seamen were exposed to asbestos while at sea by virtue of living onboard ships and from continual release of asbestos fibers due to the motion of a vessel. Epidemiological surveillance through the ReNaM has allowed us to verify among cases in the maritime, navy and merchant marine sectors, that in the past, subjects were exposed regardless of the ship's department where have provided service therefore all these cases must be considered as occupational diseases.

Pleural mesothelioma risk in the construction industry: a case-control study in Italy, 2000-2018

OBJECTIVES

Workers in the construction industry have been exposed to asbestos in various occupations. In Italy, a National Mesothelioma Registry has been implemented more than 20 years ago. Using cases selected from this registry and exploiting existing control data sets, we estimated relative risks for pleural mesothelioma (PM) among construction workers.

DESIGN

Case-control study.

SETTING

Cases from the National Mesothelioma Registry (2000-2018), controls from three previous case-control studies.

METHODS

We selected male PM incident cases diagnosed in 2000-2018. Population controls were taken from three studies performed in six Italian regions within two periods (2002-2004 and 2012-2016). Age-adjusted and period-adjusted unconditional logistic regression models were fitted to estimate odds ratios (OR) for occupations in the construction industry. We followed two approaches, one (primary) excluding and the other (secondary) including subjects employed in other non-construction blue collar occupations for >5 years. For both approaches, we performed an overall analysis including all cases and, given the incomplete temporal and geographic overlap of cases and controls, three time or/and space restricted sensitivity analyses.

RESULTS

The whole data set included 15 592 cases and 2210 controls. With the primary approach (4797 cases and 1085 controls), OR was 3.64 (2181 cases) for subjects ever employed in construction. We found elevated risks for blue-collar occupations (1993 cases, OR 4.52), including bricklayers (988 cases, OR 7.05), general construction workers (320 cases, OR 4.66), plumbers and pipe fitters (305 cases, OR 9.13), painters (104 cases, OR 2.17) and several others. Sensitivity analyses yielded very similar findings. Using the secondary approach, we observed similar patterns, but ORs were remarkably lower.

CONCLUSIONS

We found markedly increased PM risks for most occupations in the construction industry. These findings are relevant for compensation of subjects affected with mesothelioma in the construction industry.

Mesothelioma Risk among Construction Workers According to Job Title: Data from the Italian Mesothelioma Register

BACKGROUND

An increased risk of mesothelioma has been reported in various countries for construction workers. The Italian National Mesothelioma Registry, from 1993 to 2018, reported exposure exclusively in the construction sector in 2310 cases. We describe the characteristics of these cases according to job title.

METHODS

We converted into 18 groups the original jobs (N=338) as reported by ISTAT codes ('ATECO 91'). The exposure level was attributed at certain, probable and possible in accordance with the qualitative classification of exposure as reported in the Registry guidelines. Descriptive analysis by jobs highlights the total number of subjects for each single job and certain exposure, in descending order, insulator, plumbing, carpenter, mechanic, bricklayer, electrician, machine operator, plasterer, building contractor, painter and labourer.

RESULTS

The cases grow for plumbing in the incidence periods 1993-2018, while, as expected, it decreases for insulator. Within each period considered the most numerous cases are always among bricklayers and labourers, these data confirm the prevalence of non-specialised "interchangeable" jobs in Italian construction sector in the past.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the 1992 ban, the construction sector still presents an occupational health prevention challenge, circumstances of exposure to asbestos may still occur due to incomplete compliance with prevention and protection measures.

Superfluid stiffness of a KTaO3-based two-dimensional electron gas

After almost twenty years of intense work on the celebrated LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃system, the recent discovery of a superconducting two-dimensional electron gas (2-DEG) in (111)-oriented KTaO₃-based heterostructures injects new momentum to the field of oxides interface. However, while both interfaces share common properties, experiments also suggest important differences between the two systems. Here, we report gate tunable superconductivity in 2-DEGs generated at the surface of a (111)-oriented KTaO₃ crystal by the simple sputtering of a thin Al layer. We extract the superfluid stiffness of the 2-DEGs and show that its temperature dependence is consistent with a node-less superconducting order parameter having a gap value larger than expected within a simple BCS weak-coupling limit model. The superconducting transition follows the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless scenario, which was not reported on SrTiO₃-based interfaces. Our finding offers innovative perspectives for fundamental science but also for device applications in a variety of fields such as spin-orbitronics and topological electronics.

The impact of COVID-19 on new mesothelioma diagnoses in Italy

Background

The aim of this work was to evaluate the impact of the restrictions put in place to control the COVID‐19 pandemic on new diagnoses of malignant mesothelioma (MM) in Italy.

Methods

Twelve of the 21 Italian malignant mesothelioma CORs (regional operating centres) participated. The study included all cases of MM with microscopic confirmation; cases without microscopic confirmation and death certificate only (DCO) were excluded. For each case, information on sex, date of birth, tumor site, morphology, and date of diagnosis was retrieved. We compared the number of incident cases in 2020 with 2019, looking at the overall picture and for four periods: pre‐pandemic (January–February), first wave (March–May), low incidence (June–September), and second wave (October–December).

Results

A total of 604 cases were registered: 307 in 2019 and 297 in 2020. In the 2020 pre‐pandemic period, the incidence was higher than in the same months in 2019 (+45%); there was no significant change during the first wave (+1%) or in the low‐incidence period (−3%), while a decrease was observed during the second wave (−32%). However, the data were not homogeneous across the country: the increase in the pre‐pandemic period concerned mostly the regions of northern (+61.5%) and central Italy (+43.5%); during the first wave, MM diagnoses increased in the northern (+38.5%) and central (+11.4%) regions but decreased in the southern regions (−52.9%). All these differences are compatible with random fluctuations.

Conclusion

The COVID‐19 pandemic had little or no impact on new MM diagnoses, and variations were not homogeneous throughout the country.

Asbestos Exposure and Malignant Mesothelioma in Construction Workers-Epidemiological Remarks by the Italian National Mesothelioma Registry (ReNaM)

Notwithstanding the ban in 1992, asbestos exposure for workers in the construction sector in Italy remains a concern. The purpose of this study is to describe the characteristics of malignant mesothelioma (MM) cases recorded by the Italian registry (ReNaM) among construction workers. Incident mesothelioma cases with a definite asbestos exposure have been analyzed. Characteristics of cases and territorial clusters of crude rates of MM in construction workers have been described, as well as the relation between asbestos use before the ban and the historical trend of workforce in the construction sector in Italy. ReNaM has collected 31,572 incident MM cases in the period from 1993 to 2018 and asbestos exposure has been assessed for 24,864 (78.2%) cases. An occupational exposure has been reported for 17,191 MM cases (69.1% of subjects with a definite asbestos exposure). Among them, 3574 had worked in the construction sector, with an increasing trend from 15.8% in the 1993–98 period to 23.9% in 2014–2018 and a ubiquitous territorial distribution. The large use of asbestos in construction sector before the ban makes probability of exposure for workers a real concern still today, particularly for those working in maintenance and removal of old buildings. There is a clear need to assess, inform, and prevent asbestos exposure in this sector.

Gap suppression at a Lifshitz transition in a multi-condensate superconductor

In multi-orbital materials, superconductivity can exhibit several coupled condensates. In this context, quantum confinement in two-dimensional superconducting oxide interfaces offers new degrees of freedom to engineer the band structure and selectively control the occupancy of 3d orbitals by electrostatic doping. Here, we use resonant microwave transport to extract the superfluid stiffness of the (110)-oriented LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃ interface in the entire phase diagram. We provide evidence of a transition from single-condensate to two-condensate superconductivity driven by continuous and reversible electrostatic doping, which we relate to the Lifshitz transition between 3d bands based on numerical simulations of the quantum well. We find that the superconducting gap is suppressed while the second band is populated, challenging Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory. We ascribe this behaviour to the existence of superconducting order parameters with opposite signs in the two condensates due to repulsive coupling. Our findings offer an innovative perspective on the possibility to tune and control multiple-orbital physics in superconducting interfaces.

Scaling of the Fano Effect of the In-Plane Fe-As Phonon and the Superconducting Critical Temperature in Ba_{1-x}K_{x}Fe_{2}As_{2}

By means of infrared spectroscopy, we determine the temperature-doping phase diagram of the Fano effect for the in-plane Fe-As stretching mode in Ba_{1-x}K_{x}Fe_{2}As_{2}. The Fano parameter 1/q^{2}, which is a measure of the phonon coupling to the electronic particle-hole continuum, shows a remarkable sensitivity to the magnetic and structural orderings at low temperatures. Most strikingly, at elevated temperatures in the paramagnetic tetragonal state we observe a linear correlation between 1/q^{2} and the superconducting critical temperature T_{c}. Based on theoretical calculations and symmetry considerations, we identify the relevant interband transitions that are coupled to the Fe-As mode. In particular, we show that a sizable xy orbital component at the Fermi level is fundamental for the Fano effect and, thus, possibly also for the superconducting pairing.

Competition between electron pairing and phase coherence in superconducting interfaces

In LaAlO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures, a gate tunable superconducting electron gas is confined in a quantum well at the interface between two insulating oxides. Remarkably, the gas coexists with both magnetism and strong Rashba spin-orbit coupling. However, both the origin of superconductivity and the nature of the transition to the normal state over the whole doping range remain elusive. Here we use resonant microwave transport to extract the superfluid stiffness and the superconducting gap energy of the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface as a function of carrier density. We show that the superconducting phase diagram of this system is controlled by the competition between electron pairing and phase coherence. The analysis of the superfluid density reveals that only a very small fraction of the electrons condenses into the superconducting state. We propose that this corresponds to the weak filling of high-energy dxz/dyz bands in the quantum well, more apt to host superconductivity.

Real-Time Observation of Phonon-Mediated σ-π Interband Scattering in MgB_{2}

In systems having an anisotropic electronic structure, such as the layered materials graphite, graphene, and cuprates, impulsive light excitation can coherently stimulate specific bosonic modes, with exotic consequences for the emergent electronic properties. Here we show that the population of E_{2g} phonons in the multiband superconductor MgB_{2} can be selectively enhanced by femtosecond laser pulses, leading to a transient control of the number of carriers in the σ-electronic subsystem. The nonequilibrium evolution of the material optical constants is followed in the spectral region sensitive to both the a- and c-axis plasma frequencies and modeled theoretically, revealing the details of the σ-π interband scattering mechanism in MgB_{2}.

Nonrelativistic Dynamics of the Amplitude (Higgs) Mode in Superconductors

Despite the formal analogy with the Higgs particle, the amplitude fluctuations of the order parameter in weakly coupled superconductors do not identify a real mode with a Lorentz-invariant dynamics. Indeed, its resonance occurs at 2Δ_{0}, which coincides with the threshold 2E_{gap} for quasiparticle excitations that spoil any relativistic dynamics. Here we investigate the fate of the Higgs mode in the unconventional case where 2E_{gap} becomes larger than 2Δ_{0}, as due to strong coupling or strong disorder. We show that also in this situation, the amplitude fluctuations never identify a real mode at 2Δ_{0}, since such a "bosonic" limit is always reached via strong mixing with the phase fluctuations, which dominate the low-energy part of the spectrum. Our results have direct implications for the interpretation of the subgap optical absorption in disordered superconductors.

Estimates of cancer burden in Liguria

Aims and background

The regional health care system of Liguria caters for a resident population which is among the oldest in Europe. One population-based cancer registry is present in the region, providing incidence and survival data for the Genoa province (covering 55% of the regional population). This paper will estimate the incidence, prevalence and mortality in the Liguria region for cancers of the lung, breast, prostate, colon-rectum, stomach and uterine cervix and melanoma of the skin in 1970—2015.

Methods

The estimated figures were obtained by applying the MIAMOD method. Starting from mortality and survival data, incidence and prevalence were derived using a statistical back-calculation approach. Survival was modeled on the basis of published data from the Italian cancer registries. The MIAMOD method was applied also to estimate the colorectal cancer incidence, mortality and prevalence rates in the Ligurian provinces in the period 1988—2015.

Results

In 2012 about 1,500 new cases of breast cancer were expected in Ligurian women. The estimates for the other cancer sites were considerably lower, ranging from 839 (colon-rectum) to 54 (cervix). In men about 1,400 new cases were estimated for prostate cancer, while the incidence for the other sites ranged from 1,118 (colon-rectum) to 208 (skin melanoma). The breast cancer prevalence rate was more than 10 times the incidence rate in women, and the lung cancer prevalence rate was more than double the incidence rate in both sexes. Mortality rates were highest for lung cancer in men and breast cancer in women; the lowest rates were estimated for melanoma and cancer of the uterine cervix.

Conclusion

In Liguria a large portion of the health expenditure has been devoted to diagnostic and therapeutic resources. This may have contributed to the reduction of mortality rates and to the improvement of cancer survival. This phenomenon, added to population aging, will inflate the cancer prevalence. One of the major challenges for the Liguria region is to face the increasing demand for oncology services.

Unconventional Hall effect in pnictides from interband interactions

We calculate the Hall transport in a multiband system with a dominant interband interaction between carriers having electron and hole character. We show that this situation gives rise to an unconventional scenario, beyond the Boltzmann theory, where the quasiparticle currents dressed by vertex corrections acquire the character of the majority carriers. This leads to a larger (positive or negative) Hall coefficient than what may be expected on the basis of the carrier balance, with a marked temperature dependence. Our results explain the puzzling measurements in pnictides and provide a more general framework for transport properties in multiband materials.

Superfluid density and phase relaxation in superconductors with strong disorder

We consider the attractive Hubbard model with on-site disorder as a prototype of a disordered superconductor. We solve the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations on two-dimensional finite clusters at zero temperature and evaluate the electromagnetic response to a vector potential. We find that the standard decoupling between transverse and longitudinal response does not apply in the presence of disorder. Moreover, the superfluid density is strongly reduced by the relaxation of the phase of the order parameter already at mean-field level when disorder is large. We also find that the anharmonicity of the phase fluctuations is strongly enhanced by disorder. Beyond mean field, this provides an enhancement of quantum fluctuations inducing a zero-temperature transition to a nonsuperconducting phase of disordered preformed pairs. Finally, the connection of our findings with the glassy physics for extreme dirty superconductors is discussed.

Role of the vortex-core energy on the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in thin films of NbN

We analyze the occurrence of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition in thin films of NbN at various film thickness, by probing the effect of vortex fluctuations on the temperature dependence of the superfluid density below T(BKT) and of the resistivity above T(BKT). By direct comparison between the experimental data and the theory, we show the crucial role played by the vortex-core energy in determining the characteristic signatures of the BKT physics, and we estimate its dependence on the disorder level. Our work provides a paradigmatic example of BKT physics in a quasi-two-dimensional superconductor.

Skyrmions in a doped antiferromagnet

Magnetization and magnetoresistance have been measured in insulating antiferromagnetic La2Cu0.97Li0.03O4 over a wide range of temperatures, magnetic fields, and field orientations. The magnetoresistance step associated with a weak ferromagnetic transition exhibits a striking nonmonotonic temperature dependence, consistent with the presence of Skyrmions.

Phase fluctuations in a strongly disordered s-wave NbN superconductor close to the metal-insulator transition

We explore the role of phase fluctuations in a three-dimensional s-wave superconductor, NbN, as we approach the critical disorder for destruction of the superconducting state. Close to critical disorder, we observe a finite gap in the electronic spectrum which persists at temperatures well above T(c). The superfluid density is strongly suppressed at low temperatures and evolves towards a linear-T variation at higher temperatures. These observations provide strong evidence that phase fluctuations play a central role in the formation of a pseudogap state in a disordered s-wave superconductor.

Gate tunable infrared phonon anomalies in bilayer graphene

We observe a giant increase of the infrared intensity and a softening of the in-plane antisymmetric phonon mode E(u) ( approximately 0.2 eV) in bilayer graphene as a function of the gate-induced doping. The phonon peak has a pronounced Fano-like asymmetry. We suggest that the intensity growth and the softening originate from the coupling of the phonon mode to the narrow electronic transition between parallel bands of the same character, while the asymmetry is due to the interaction with the continuum of transitions between the lowest hole and electron bands. The growth of the peak can be interpreted as a "charged-phonon" effect observed previously in organic chain conductors and doped fullerenes, which can be tuned in graphene with the gate voltage.

Fermi-surface shrinking and interband coupling in iron-based pnictides

Recent measurements of the Fermi surface with de Haas-van Alphen oscillations in LaFePO showed a shrinking of the Fermi pockets with respect to first-principle calculations, suggesting an energy shift of the hole and electrons bands with respect to local-density approximations. We show that this shift is a natural consequence of the strong particle-hole asymmetry of electronic bands in pnictides, and that it provides an indirect experimental evidence of a dominant interband scattering in these systems.

Sine-Gordon description of Beresinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless vortices in superconductors immersed in an external magnetic field

The Beresinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) physics of vortices in two-dimensional superconductors at finite magnetic field is investigated by means of a field-theoretical approach based on the sine-Gordon model. This description leads to a straightforward definition of the field-induced magnetization and shows that the persistence of nonlinear effects at low fields above the transition is a typical signature of the fast divergence of the correlation length within the BKT theory.

Kosterlitz-Thouless behavior in layered superconductors: the role of the vortex core energy

In layered superconductors (SC) with small interlayer Josephson coupling vortex-antivortex phase fluctuations characteristic of quasi two-dimensional (2D) Kosterlitz-Thouless behavior are expected to be observable at some energy scale T(d). While in the 2D case T(d) is uniquely identified by the KT temperature T(KT) where the universal value of the superfluid density is reached, we show that in a generic anisotropic 3D system T(d) is controlled by the vortex-core energy, and can be significantly larger than the 2D scale T(KT). These results are discussed in relation to recent experiments in cuprates, which represent a typical experimental realization of layered anisotropic SC.

Incidence of pleural mesothelioma in Liguria Region, Italy (1996–2002)

In this study, incidence of pleural malignant mesothelioma (PMM) in the Liguria Region (Italy) (approximately 1.6 million inhabitants), in the presence of asbestos exposure was investigated. New PMM cases recorded by the Mesothelioma Registry of Liguria, from 1996 to 2002 and interviews reported on a standardised questionnaire were analysed according to demographical and etiological characteristics. Nine hundred and forty five PMM cases were recorded (757 males and 188 females); the age standardised (European population) incidence rates per 100,000 were 8.51 and 1.43, respectively. The rates among the four provinces ranged between 1.18 and 13.7 for males and 0.68 and 1.44 for females. The questionnaire was evaluated for 786 PMM cases (or next-of-kin). Higher incidence rates were reported in the provinces with larger industrial and harbour areas, including shipyards (construction and repair), dockyards, building activities, chemical and heavy industrial activities. Asbestos exposure was unlikely or unknown for 57.5% females and 15% males. A major role of environmental asbestos exposure in the etiology of PMM is hypothesised for females and for a minor proportion of males.

Dynamics of topological defects in a spiral: a scenario for the spin-glass phase of cuprates

We propose that the dissipative dynamics of topological defects in a spiral state is responsible for the transport properties in the spin-glass phase of cuprates. Using the collective-coordinate method, we show that topological defects are coupled to a bath of magnetic excitations. By integrating out the bath degrees of freedom, we find that the dynamical properties of the topological defects are dissipative. The calculated damping matrix is related to the in-plane resistivity, which exhibits an anisotropy and linear temperature dependence in agreement with experimental data.