The use of a nutrient quality score is effective to assess the overall nutritional value of three brassica microgreens

Microgreens have immense potential for improving dietary patterns, but little information is available regarding their overall nutritional value. We evaluated the nutritional traits of three hydroponically grown Brassica microgreens by using a Nutrient Quality Score. Micro cauliflower, micro broccoli and micro broccoli raab were grown using nutrient solutions with three different NH4:NO3 molar ratios (5:95, 15:85, and 25:75). Protein, dietary fiber, β-carotene, α-tocopherol and mineral elements (Ca, K, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, and Na) were analyzed. We developed the Nutrient Quality Score (NQS 11.1) on the basis of 11 desirable nutrients and 1 nutrient (sodium) to be limited. All Brassica microgreens are an excellent source of Vitamins A and E (more than 20% of the daily reference value-DRV), as well as a good source of calcium and manganese (10-19% of the DRV). Micro cauliflower showed a NQS 11.1 at 47% higher than micro broccoli raab and micro broccoli. Using NH4:NO3 25:75 molar ratio, the average score was 27% higher than other molar ratios. In all cases, the microgreens in the present study showed a higher NQS 11.1 than their mature counterpart (on the basis of data from the United States Department of Agriculture), highlighting that the score of micro cauliflower was about six-fold higher than mature cauliflower. In conclusion, the NQS 11.1 was useful for assessing the overall nutritional quality of the three Brassica microgreens, instead of simply quantifying nutrient content, in order to compare a single nutrient among different genotypes. Furthermore, the results highlight that the micro broccoli raab, micro broccoli and micro cauliflower in this study can be considered nutrient-rich vegetables that are able to improve dietary patterns more effectively than their mature counterparts

Death related to a congenital vascular anomaly of pulmonary hamartoma type: Malpractice or tragic fatality?

In forensic pathology, apparently straightforward cases can often hide rarities that, if not correctly interpreted, can alter the results of the entire investigation, leading to misinterpretations. This occurs when the investigation is conducted to assess medical malpractice. An unexpected death, with no known apparent cause, is often linked to an underlying disease process of unclear etiological origin whose nature can, unfortunately, be properly investigated only post-mortem. This presentation shows a case study, in which it was possible to reconduct the death of a patient to a natural pathology and not to medical treatment. Here, the authors illustrate a case with a hamartoma developed in chronic inflammatory conditions (bronchiectasis) that was difficult to differentiate from lung cancer due to the inability to perform specific instrumental examinations. The hamartoma, usually benign and identifiable by standard instrumental investigations, in this case, led to the patient’s death precisely during the execution of a bronchoscopy. However, in the absence of a certain cause of death, public opinion unanimously attributes a patient’s disease to medical error. Indeed, a routine practice such as bronchoscopy should not cause death and consequently, the doctor must have made a mistake. Fortunately, the autopsy not only demonstrated the origin of the bleeding but also unveiled the reason for this, as rare congenital lung disease. Fate, one might say

Solvent Mediated Assembly of Nanoparticles Confined in Mesoporous Alumina

The controlled self-assembly of thiol stabilized gold nanocrystals in a mediating solvent and confined within mesoporous alumina was probed in situ with small angle x-ray scattering. The evolution of the self-assembly process was controlled reversibly via regulated changes in the amount of solvent condensed from an undersaturated vapor. Analysis indicated that the nanoparticles self-assembled into cylindrical monolayers within the porous template. Nanoparticle nearest-neighbor separation within the monolayer increased and the ordering decreased with the controlled addition of solvent. The process was reversible with the removal of solvent. Isotropic clusters of nanoparticles were also observed to form temporarily during desorption of the liquid solvent and disappeared upon complete removal of liquid. Measurements of the absorption and desorption of the solvent showed strong hysteresis upon thermal cycling. In addition, the capillary filling transition for the solvent in the nanoparticle-doped pores was shifted to larger chemical potential, relative to the liquid/vapor coexistence, by a factor of 4 as compared to the expected value for the same system without nanoparticles.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, appeared in Phys. Rev.

Prospect for Charge Current Neutrino Interactions Measurements at the CERN-PS

Tensions in several phenomenological models grew with experimental results on neutrino/antineutrino oscillations at Short-Baseline (SBL) and with the recent, carefully recomputed, antineutrino fluxes from nuclear reactors. At a refurbished SBL CERN-PS facility an experiment aimed to address the open issues has been proposed [1], based on the technology of imaging in ultra-pure cryogenic Liquid Argon (LAr). Motivated by this scenario a detailed study of the physics case was performed. We tackled specific physics models and we optimized the neutrino beam through a full simulation. Experimental aspects not fully covered by the LAr detection, i.e. the measurements of the lepton charge on event-by-event basis and their energy over a wide range, were also investigated. Indeed the muon leptons from Charged Current (CC) (anti-)neutrino interactions play an important role in disentangling different phenomenological scenarios provided their charge state is determined. Also, the study of muon appearance/disappearance can benefit of the large statistics of CC muon events from the primary neutrino beam. Results of our study are reported in detail in this proposal. We aim to design, construct and install two Spectrometers at "NEAR" and "FAR" sites of the SBL CERN-PS, compatible with the already proposed LAr detectors. Profiting of the large mass of the two Spectrometers their stand-alone performances have also been exploited.Comment: 70 pages, 38 figures. Proposal submitted to SPS-C, CER

The role of nanostructure in the wetting behavior of mixed-monolayer-protected metal nanoparticles

Self-assembled monolayer-protected nanoparticles are promising candidates for applications, such as sensing and drug delivery, in which the molecular ligands' interactions with the surrounding environment play a crucial role. We recently showed that, when gold nanoparticles are coated with a binary mixture of immiscible ligands, ordered ribbon-like domains of alternating composition spontaneously form and that their width is comparable with the size of a single solvent molecule. It is usually assumed that nanoparticles' solubility depends solely on the core size and on the molecular composition of the ligand shell. Here, we show that this is not always the case. We find that the ligand shell morphology affects the solubility of these nanoparticles almost as much as the molecular composition. A possible explanation is offered through a molecular dynamics analysis of the surface energy of monolayers differing only in their domain structure. We find that the surface free energy of such model systems can vary significantly as a function of ordering, even at fixed composition. This combined experimental and theoretical study provides a unique insight into wetting phenomena at the nano- and subnanometer scale

Urological melanoma: A comprehensive review of a rare subclass of mucosal melanoma with emphasis on differential diagnosis and therapeutic approaches

Melanoma is reported as the 19th most common cancer worldwide, with estimated age-standardized incidence rates of 2.8–3.1 per 100,000. Although the origin is most frequently cutaneous, mucosal melanoma has been described several times in literature, and despite its rarity (only 1% of all melanomas), increasing attention is being paid to this disease form. Within this subgroup, melanomas of the uropoetic apparatus are a rarity among rarities. Indeed, less than 50 cases of primary melanoma originating from the urinary bladder have been described, and even less originating from the kidney, renal pelvis and urethra. In this work, we present a detailed review of the literature related to this proaches. subclass of mucosal melanoma, delve into the biological landscape of this neoplasm and discuss current approaches, future perspectives and potential therapeutic approaches. Keywords: melanoma; mucosal melanoma; urology

Measurement of the atmospheric muon depth intensity relation with the NEMO Phase-2 tower

The results of the analysis of the data collected with the NEMO Phase-2 tower, deployed at 3500 m depth about 80 km off-shore Capo Passero (Italy), are presented. Cherenkov photons detected with the photomultipliers tubes were used to reconstruct the tracks of atmospheric muons. Their zenith-angle distribution was measured and the results compared with Monte Carlo simulations. An evaluation of the systematic effects due to uncertainties on environmental and detector parameters is also included. The associated depth intensity relation was evaluated and compared with previous measurements and theoretical predictions. With the present analysis, the muon depth intensity relation has been measured up to 13 km of water equivalent.Comment: submitted to Astroparticle Physic

Determination of the muon charge sign with the dipolar spectrometers of the OPERA experiment

The OPERA long-baseline neutrino-oscillation experiment has observed the direct appearance of $\nu_\tau$ in the CNGS $\nu_\mu$ beam. Two large muon magnetic spectrometers are used to identify muons produced in the $\tau$ leptonic decay and in $\nu_\mu^{CC}$ interactions by measuring their charge and momentum. Besides the kinematic analysis of the $\tau$ decays, background resulting from the decay of charmed particles produced in $\nu_\mu^{CC}$ interactions is reduced by efficiently identifying the muon track. A new method for the charge sign determination has been applied, via a weighted angular matching of the straight track-segments reconstructed in the different parts of the dipole magnets. Results obtained for Monte Carlo and real data are presented. Comparison with a method where no matching is used shows a significant reduction of up to 40\% of the fraction of wrongly determined charges.Comment: 10 pages. Improvements in the tex