Sex Difference and Benzene Exposure: Does It Matter?

Sex-related biological differences might lead to different effects in women and men when they are exposed to risk factors. A scoping review was carried out to understand if sex could be a discriminant in health outcomes due to benzene. Studies on both animals and humans were collected. In vivo surveys, focusing on genotoxicity, hematotoxicity and effects on metabolism suggested a higher involvement of male animals (mice or rats) in adverse health effects. Conversely, the studies on humans, focused on the alteration of blood parameters, myeloid leukemia incidence and biomarker rates, highlighted that, overall, women had significantly higher risk for blood system effects and a metabolization of benzene 23-26% higher than men, considering a similar exposure situation. This opposite trend highlights that the extrapolation of in vivo findings to human risk assessment should be taken with caution. However, it is clear that sex is a physiological parameter to consider in benzene exposure and its health effects. The topic of sex difference linked to benzene in human exposure needs further research, with more numerous samples, to obtain a higher strength of data and more indicative findings. Sex factor, and gender, could have significant impacts on occupational exposures and their health effects, even if there are still uncertainties and gaps that need to be filled

Prevalence of interstitial pneumonia suggestive of COVID-19 at 18F-FDG PET/CT in oncological asymptomatic patients in a high prevalence country during pandemic period: a national multi-centric retrospective study

Purpose: To assess the presence and pattern of incidental interstitial lung alterations suspicious of COVID-19 on fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) ([18F]FDG PET/CT) in asymptomatic oncological patients during the period of active COVID-19 in a country with high prevalence of the virus. Methods: This is a multi-center retrospective observational study involving 59 Italian centers. We retrospectively reviewed the prevalence of interstitial pneumonia detected during the COVID period (between March 16 and 27, 2020) and compared to a pre-COVID period (January\u2013February 2020) and a control time (in 2019). The diagnosis of interstitial pneumonia was done considering lung alterations of CT of PET. Results: Overall, [18F]FDG PET/CT was performed on 4008 patients in the COVID period, 19,267 in the pre-COVID period, and 5513 in the control period. The rate of interstitial pneumonia suspicious for COVID-19 was significantly higher during the COVID period (7.1%) compared with that found in the pre-COVID (5.35%) and control periods (5.15%) (p < 0.001). Instead, no significant difference among pre-COVID and control periods was present. The prevalence of interstitial pneumonia detected at PET/CT was directly associated with geographic virus diffusion, with the higher rate in Northern Italy. Among 284 interstitial pneumonia detected during COVID period, 169 (59%) were FDG-avid (average SUVmax of 4.1). Conclusions: A significant increase of interstitial pneumonia incidentally detected with [18F]FDG PET/CT has been demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. A majority of interstitial pneumonia were FDG-avid. Our results underlined the importance of paying attention to incidental CT findings of pneumonia detected at PET/CT, and these reports might help to recognize early COVID-19 cases guiding the subsequent management

KM3NeT broadcast optical data transport system

The optical data transport system of the KM3NeT neutrino telescope at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea will provide more than 6000 optical modules in the detector arrays with a point-to-point optical connection to the control stations onshore. The ARCA and ORCA detectors of KM3NeT are being installed at a depth of about 3500 m and 2500 m, respectively and their distance to the control stations is about 100 kilometers and 40 kilometers. In particular, the two detectors are optimised for the detection of cosmic neutrinos with energies above about 1 TeV (ARCA) and for the detection of atmospheric neutrinos with energies in the range 1 GeV-1 TeV (ORCA). The expected maximum data rate is 200 Mbps per optical module. The implemented optical data transport system matches the layouts of the networks of electro-optical cables and junction boxes in the deep sea. For efficient use of the fibres in the system the technology of Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing is applied. The performance of the optical system in terms of measured bit error rates, optical budget are presented. The next steps in the implementation of the system are also discussed

Implementation and first results of the KM3NeT real-time core-collapse supernova neutrino search

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the funding agencies: Agence Nationale de la Recherche (contract ANR-15-CE31-0020), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Commission Europeenne (FEDER fund and Marie Curie Program), Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), LabEx UnivEarthS (ANR-10-LABX-0023 and ANR-18-IDEX-0001), Paris ile-de-France Region, France; Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (SRNSFG, FR-18-1268), Georgia; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Germany; The General Secretariat of Research and Technology (GSRT), Greece; Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Ministero dell'Universita e della Ricerca (MIUR), PRIN 2017 program (Grant NAT-NET 2017W4HA7S) Italy; Ministry of Higher Education Scientific Research and Professional Training, ICTP through Grant AF-13, Morocco; Nederlandse organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO), the Netherlands; The National Science Centre, Poland (2015/18/E/ST2/00758); National Authority for Scientific Research (ANCS), Romania; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion, Investigacion y Universidades (MCIU): Programa Estatal de Generacion de Conocimiento (refs. PGC2018-096663-B-C41, -A-C42, -B-C43, -B-C44) (MCIU/FEDER), Generalitat Valenciana: Prometeo (PROMETEO/2020/019), Grisolia (ref. GRISOLIA/2018/119) and GenT (refs. CIDEGENT/2018/034, /2019/043, /2020/049) programs, Junta de Andalucia (ref. A-FQM-053-UGR18), La Caixa Foundation (ref. LCF/BQ/IN17/11620019), EU: MSC program (ref. 101025085), Spain.The KM3NeT research infrastructure is unconstruction in the Mediterranean Sea. KM3NeT will study atmospheric and astrophysical neutrinos with two multipurpose neutrino detectors, ARCA and ORCA, primarily aimed at GeV–PeV neutrinos. Thanks to the multiphotomultiplier tube design of the digital optical modules, KM3NeT is capable of detecting the neutrino burst from a Galactic or near-Galactic core-collapse supernova. This potential is already exploitable with the first detection units deployed in the sea. This paper describes the real-time implementation of the supernova neutrino search, operating on the two KM3NeT detectors since the first months of 2019. A quasi-online astronomy analysis is introduced to study the time profile of the detected neutrinos for especially significant events. Themechanism of generation and distribution of alerts, aswell as the integration into theSNEWSandSNEWS 2.0 global alert systems, are described. The approach for the follow-up of external alerts with a search for a neutrino excess in the archival data is defined. Finally, an overviewof the current detector capabilities and a report after the first two years of operation are given.French National Research Agency (ANR)European Commission ANR-15-CE31-0020Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)Commission EuropeenneInstitut Universitaire de France (IUF)LabEx UnivEarthS ANR-10-LABX-0023 ANR-18-IDEX-0001Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (SRNSFG), Georgia FR-18-1268German Research Foundation (DFG)Greek Ministry of Development-GSRTIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR)PRIN 2017 program, Italy NAT-NET 2017W4HA7SMinistry of Higher Education Scientific Research and Professional Training, ICTP, Morocco AF-13Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) Netherlands GovernmentNational Science Centre, Poland 2015/18/E/ST2/00758National Authority for Scientific Research (ANCS), RomaniaMinisterio de Ciencia, Innovacion, Investigacion y Universidades (MCIU): Programa Estatal de Generacion de Conocimiento PGC2018-096663-B-C41 PGC2018-096663-A-C42 PGC2018-096663-B-C43 PGC2018-096663-B-C44Generalitat Valenciana PROMETEO/2020/019Grisolia program GRISOLIA/2018/119 CIDEGENT/2018/034Junta de Andalucia A-FQM-053-UGR18La Caixa Foundation LCF/BQ/IN17/11620019EU: MSC program 101025085Paris Ile-de-France Region, FranceGenT program CIDEGENT/2018/034 CIDEGENT/2019/043 CIDEGENT/2020/04

Probing invisible neutrino decay with KM3NeT-ORCA

In the era of precision measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters, upcoming neutrino experiments will also be sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. KM3NeT/ORCA is a neutrino detector optimised for measuring atmospheric neutrinos from a few GeV to around 100 GeV. In this paper, the sensitivity of the KM3NeT/ORCA detector to neutrino decay has been explored. A three-flavour neutrino oscillation scenario, where the third neutrino mass state $\nu_3$ decays into an invisible state, e.g. a sterile neutrino, is considered. We find that KM3NeT/ORCA would be sensitive to invisible neutrino decays with $1/\alpha_3=\tau_3/m_3 < 180$~$\mathrm{ps/eV}$ at $90\%$ confidence level, assuming true normal ordering. Finally, the impact of neutrino decay on the precision of KM3NeT/ORCA measurements for $\theta_{23}$, $\Delta m^2_{31}$ and mass ordering have been studied. No significant effect of neutrino decay on the sensitivity to these measurements has been found.Comment: 27 pages, 14 figures, bibliography updated, typos correcte

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Bisphenol A and Metabolic Diseases: Challenges for Occupational Medicine

The prevalence of metabolic diseases has markedly increased worldwide during the last few decades. Lifestyle factors (physical activity, energy-dense diets), together with a genetic predisposition, are well known factors in the pathophysiology of health problems. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical compound used for polycarbonate plastics, food containers, epoxy resins coating metallic cans for food and beverage conservation. The ability of BPA to act as an endocrine disruptor—xenoestrogen in particular—is largely documented in literature, with numerous publications of in vivo and in vitro studies as well as epidemiological data on humans. Recently, different researchers studied the involvement of BPA in the development of insulin resistance; evidences in this way showed a potential role in etiology of metabolic disease, both for children and for adults. We review the epidemiological literature in the relation between BPA exposure and the risk of metabolic diseases in adults, with a focus on occupational exposure. Considering published data and the role of occupational physicians in promoting Workers’ Health, specific situations of exposure to BPA in workplace are described, and proposals for action to be taken are suggested. The comparison of the studies showed that exposure levels were higher in workers than in the general population, even if, sometimes, the measurement units used did not permit rapid comprehension. Nevertheless, occupational medicine focus on reproductive effects and not metabolic ones