Midinfrared thermal emission properties of finite arrays of gold dipole nanoantennas

We studied the far-field thermal emission properties of finite arrays of resonant gold dipole nanoantennas at equilibrium temperature. We numerically investigated the transition from the super-Planckian emission of the single resonant antenna to the sub-Planckian emission inherent to infinite periodic arrays. Increasing the number of unit cells of the array, the overall size of the system increases, and the relative emissivity quickly converges to values lower than the unity. Nevertheless, if the separation between nanoantennas in the array is small compared to the wavelength, the near-field interaction makes the emission of each unit cell multipolar. This opens the doors for additional tailoring of the emitted power and directionality of thermal radiation

Environmental comfort and urban spaces

Nowadays, people are used to spend most of their time in urban spaces. Guaranteeing comfortable spaces is then an important goal in the urban planning since the micro-climatic conditions strongly influence the use of public spaces. The ‘Thermal Comfort’ becomes an important component of urban planning. In literature, ‘Thermal Comfort’ is defined as 'the condition of mind which expresses satisfaction with the... environment’[1]. Hence, this design goal has a very high level of complexity due to the interaction between the physiological acclimatization of individuals and the physical parameters characterizing the micro-climatic context. How is it possible to modify urban spaces to make them more comfortable? Can a new methodology of analysis and design based on the comfort definition that will be suitable for different climate contexts be introduced? Should the outdoor environment be designed in order to assure occupants’ comfort and health? The present work is then going to discuss a methodology for outdoor spaces analysis and design that is aimed to achieve comfortable conditions in urban spaces

Soil bacterial community response to differences in agricultural management along with seasonal changes in a Mediterranean region

Land-use change is considered likely to be one of main drivers of biodiversity changes in grassland ecosystems. To gain insight into the impact of land use on the underlying soil bacterial communities, we aimed at determining the effects of agricultural management, along with seasonal variations, on soil bacterial community in a Mediterranean ecosystem where different land-use and plant cover types led to the creation of a soil and vegetation gradient. A set of soils subjected to different anthropogenic impact in a typical Mediterranean landscape, dominated by Quercus suber L., was examined in spring and autumn: a natural cork-oak forest, a pasture, a managed meadow, and two vineyards (ploughed and grass covered). Land uses affected the chemical and structural composition of the most stabilised fractions of soil organic matter and reduced soil C stocks and labile organic matter at both sampling season. A significant effect of land uses on bacterial community structure as well as an interaction effect between land uses and season was revealed by the EP index. Cluster analysis of culture-dependent DGGE patterns showed a different seasonal distribution of soil bacterial populations with subgroups associated to different land uses, in agreement with culture-independent T-RFLP results. Soils subjected to low human inputs (cork-oak forest and pasture) showed a more stable bacterial community than those with high human input (vineyards and managed meadow). Phylogenetic analysis revealed the predominance of Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes phyla with differences in class composition across the site, suggesting that the microbial composition changes in response to land uses. Taken altogether, our data suggest that soil bacterial communities were seasonally distinct and exhibited compositional shifts that tracked with changes in land use and soil management. These findings may contribute to future searches for bacterial bio-indicators of soil health and sustainable productivity. X Maite Sampedro Pellicer, Affiliation: ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) Casaccia Research Center, Technical Unit for Sustainable Development and Innovation of Agro-Industrial System, Rome, Italy X Maria Cristiana Papaleo, Affiliation: Laboratory of Microbial and Molecular Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy X Alessio Mengoni, Affiliation: Laboratory of Microbial and Molecular Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy X Luigi Ledda, Affiliation: Dipartimento di Agraria, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy X Renato Fani, Affiliation: Laboratory of Microbial and Molecular Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy X Anna Benedetti, Affiliation: Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura - Research Centre for the Soil-Plant System, Rome, Italy X Claudia Dalmastr

Antifungal activity and biochemical profiling of exudates from germinating maize Nostrano di Storo local variety

Plant pathogens are responsible for important damages to valuable crops causing important economic losses. Agrobiodiversity protection is crucial for the valorization of local varieties that could possess higher resistance to biotic and abiotic stress. At the beginning of germination, seeds are susceptible to pathogens attacks, thus they can release endogenous antimicrobial compounds of different natures in the spermosphere, to contrast proliferation of microorganisms. The work aimed at characterizing the maize of local variety Nostrano di Storo seed exudates secreted during the first phases of germination, to identify compounds active in the defense towards pathogens. Storo seed exudates were proven to inhibit F. verticilloides germination. In order to investigate the cause of the described effect, compositional profiling of the exudates was performed through NMR, lipidomic, and proteomic analyses. This study suggests an important role of microbial endophytic communities in the protection of the seed during the early phases of the germination process and their interplay with fatty acids released by the seeds, rather than a specific antifungal compound. The valorization of agronomically acceptable maize lines with pre-harvest enhanced resistances to pathogens contamination could lead, in the near future, to commercially available varieties potentially requiring more limited chemical protective treatments

Evaluation of human gene variant detection in amplicon pools by the GS-FLX parallel Pyrosequencer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A new priority in genome research is large-scale resequencing of genes to understand the molecular basis of hereditary disease and cancer. We assessed the ability of massively parallel pyrosequencing to identify sequence variants in pools. From a large collection of human PCR samples we selected 343 PCR products belonging to 16 disease genes and including a large spectrum of sequence variations previously identified by Sanger sequencing. The sequence variants included SNPs and small deletions and insertions (up to 44 bp), in homozygous or heterozygous state.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The DNA was combined in 4 pools containing from 27 to 164 amplicons and from 8,9 to 50,8 Kb to sequence for a total of 110 Kb. Pyrosequencing generated over 80 million base pairs of data. Blind searching for sequence variations with a specifically designed bioinformatics procedure identified 465 putative sequence variants, including 412 true variants, 53 false positives (in or adjacent to homopolymeric tracts), no false negatives. All known variants in positions covered with at least 30× depth were correctly recognized.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Massively parallel pyrosequencing may be used to simplify and speed the search for DNA variations in PCR products. Our results encourage further studies to evaluate molecular diagnostics applications.</p

Drug Retention Rate and Predictive Factors of Drug Survival for Interleukin-1 Inhibitors in Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Background and Objectives: Few studies have reported the drug retention rate (DRR) of biologic drugs in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), and none of them has specifically investigated the DRR of interleukin (IL)-1 inhibitors on systemic JIA (sJIA). This study aims to describe IL-1 inhibitors DRR and evaluate predictive factors of drug survival based on data from a real-world setting concerning sJIA.Methods: Medical records from sJIA patients treated with anakinra (ANA) and canakinumab (CAN) were retrospectively analyzed from 15 Italian tertiary referral centers.Results: Seventy seven patients were enrolled for a total of 86 treatment courses. The cumulative retention rate of the IL-1 inhibitors at 12-, 24-, 48-, and 60-months of follow-up was 79.9, 59.5, 53.5, and 53.5%, respectively, without any statistically significant differences between ANA and CAN (p = 0.056), and between patients treated in monotherapy compared to the subgroup co-administered with conventional immunosuppressors (p = 0.058). On the contrary, significant differences were found between biologic-naive patients and those previously treated with biologic drugs (p = 0.038) and when distinguishing according to adverse events (AEs) occurrence (p = 0.04). In regression analysis, patients pre-treated with other biologics (HR = 3.357 [CI: 1.341-8.406], p = 0.01) and those experiencing AEs (HR = 2.970 [CI: 1.186-7.435], p = 0.020) were associated with a higher hazard ratio of IL-1 inhibitors withdrawal. The mean treatment delay was significantly higher among patients discontinuing IL-1 inhibitors (p = 0.0002).Conclusions: Our findings suggest an excellent overall DRR for both ANA and CAN that might be further augmented by paying attention to AEs and employing these agents as first-line biologics in an early disease phase

L' impatto del COVID-19 sull'economia. 10 proposte per la ripartenza. Un'analisi fondata sullo studio della provincia di Pisa.

Il presente lavoro, ultimato a inizio luglio 2020, e' il frutto della collaborazione di un gruppo di docenti e ricercatori che operano nei Dipartimenti di Economia e Management, Giurisprudenza e Scienze Politiche dell’Universita' di Pisa. Nato sulla base di una richiesta della Prefettura di Pisa all’Ateneo pisano in piena emergenza sanitaria, esso si propone lo scopo di fornire un’analisi degli effetti che l’emergenza COVID-19 ha avuto sul tessuto economico e sociale della provincia di Pisa e, alla luce dei risultati ottenuti, effettuare alcune “proposte per la ripartenza” per i prossimi mesi. Il convincimento degli autori che questo contributo di analisi e proposte, ancorche' riguardante la realta' territoriale della provincia di Pisa, possa avere una qualche utilita' anche per altre realta' provinciali e regionali, nonche' per quella nazionale. La ragione di tale convinzione e' duplice. Da un lato, l’approccio utilizzato, basato sulla multidisciplinarieta' e sul coinvolgimento delle realtà socio-economiche e istituzionali del territorio, rappresenta un metodo essenziale e generale per la piena comprensione di una realta' nuova e assai complessa quale quella derivante dall’emergenza COVID-19. Gli autori, provenienti da settori scientifici diversi quali l’ambito aziendale, economico, statistico, giuridico e sociolopsicologico, sono stati i primi a rendersi conto di quanto tale metodo di “messa a sistema” delle informazioni e degli attori economici e istituzionali della provincia fosse cruciale, ancorche' inusuale rispetto al carattere tipicamente specialistico delle ricerche in ambito accademico. Dall’altro lato, le proposte contenute nel lavoro, e che sono riportate in modo sintetico val termine di questa introduzione, sono il frutto dell’analisi quantitativa e qualitativa contenuta nei primi capitoli e rappresentano un esempio di come le scienze sociali possano fornire una base informativa essenziale per processi decisionali basati sui fatti (quelli che in ambito scientifico vengono definiti “evidenze empiriche”). In altre parole, le proposte hanno valenza generale, in quanto mettono in evidenza problemi e ipotizzano soluzioni che sono comuni a tutto il territorio nazionale. Il lavoro, organizzato come segue. Il primo capitolo presenta un’analisi strutturalee dinamica dell’economia della provincia di Pisa nel periodo precedente alla crisi sanitaria. Il secondo capitolo contiene una lettura dell’impatto economico, sociale e sanitario dell’emergenza COVID-19 e delle misure di contrasto messe in campo dal governo nei mesi iniziali della crisi (marzo-giugno 2020). Il terzo capitolo contiene un approfondimento dell’analisi economico-aziendale svolta. L’impatto del COVID-19 sull’economia alcuni settori emersi come rilevanti per l’economia provinciale. Il quarto capitolo svolge riflessioni e proposte in ambito giuridico, il quinto capitolo chiude il lavoro presentando alcune proposte di policy. Gli autori desiderano ringraziare il Prefetto di Pisa, per l’attivita' di supporto istituzionale, il Rettore dell’Universita' di Pisa, e tutti gli attori istituzionali e socio-economici che hanno collaborato direttamente – mediante incontri e interviste ‒ o indirettamente – attraverso la messa a disposizione dei dati e informazioni ‒ alla stesura del lavoro

Farmed fish welfare during slaughter in Italy: survey on stunning and killing methods and indicators of unconsciousness

Information on slaughter procedures for farmed fish in aquaculture is limited, both in Europe and in Italy, due to a general lack of field data. The aim of this study was to gather information on the procedures used to slaughter fish in Italy and to discuss them considering the WOAH and EFSA recommendations on fish welfare. Using a questionnaire survey, data were collected by official veterinarians in 64 slaughtering facilities where 20 different species of fish were slaughtered. The main species slaughtered were rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss; 29/64), followed by European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax; 21/64), sea bream (Sparus aurata; 21/64), Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus; 14/64), European eel (Anguilla anguilla; 11/64), sturgeon (Acipenser spp; 11/64), common carp (Cyprinus carpio; 6/64), and brown trout (Salmo trutta fario L.; 5/64). The most applied stunning/killing methods were “asphyxia in ice/thermal shock” and “electric in water bath,” followed by “percussion,” “asphyxia in air,” and “electric dry system.” After the application of the method, the assessment of the fish level of unconsciousness was practiced in 72% of the facilities using more than one indicator, with “breathing” and “coordinated movements” the most practiced. The collected data showed a discrepancy between the available recommendations about the welfare of fish at slaughter and what is practiced in many production sites, but for many species precise recommendations are still not available