DIETARY PATTERNS AND IMPACT OF A NUTRITION EDUCATION INTERVENTION ON DIETARY BEHAVIORS OF MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM MILAN AND ITS PROVINCE: THE 'PROJECT ALIMENTAZIONE'

Childhood obesity prevalence has been rising worldwide in the last few decades generating concerns about future public health in most developed countries. Latest children and adolescents dietary patterns changes in Southern European countries show that healthy Mediterranean lifestyles are being abandoned, especially by young adolescents. The purpose of the study was two-fold: (1) to investigate the dietary patterns of first and second year middle school students within Milan and its province, (2) to evaluate the impact of the "Project AlimentAzione" nutrition education intervention on dietary behaviors in the intervention group compared to the control group. The \u201cProject AlimentAzione\u201d nutrition education intervention was a large study involving 5 middle schools and 5 to 7 classes in each school, resulting in 29 classes and 644 students. Daily student food and drink frequency was assessed through a 7- Day Food Record (7-DFR). To investigate the dietary patterns at baseline in the whole sample, intake frequencies by day and by meal episode were analyzed. The intervention consisted of three 2-hour workshops at school that addressed the following: (1) Bread and grains; (2) Fruit and vegetables; (3) Balancing energy intake and energy expenditure through a healthy diet. To study the impact of the nutrition education intervention, daily student food and drink frequency was assessed in the intervention group compared to the control group at school at three time points: Baseline (November 2008), Post-Intervention Assessment (March 2009) and Follow-up (November 2009). Foods and drinks intake frequency by day at baseline showed that the intake of Grains, grain products and substitutes, Fruit and vegetables, Fish, Legumes, Wholegrain and Water were lower than the recommended intakes for this age population and that the intake of Meat (especially Red meat and Preserved meat products), Sweets products and substitutes (especially Other packaged snacks) and Other beverages (especially Soft drink) were higher than maximum recommended amounts for this age population. The \u201cProject AlimentAzione\u201d nutrition intervention increased children\u2019s intakes of the categories of Fruit and vegetables, and Grains, grain products and tubers; and the individual items of Fish and Water. At follow-up, the results were less definitive: the individual items of Sandwiches, White meat, and Chocolate. This study investigated the dietary patterns of middle school students highlighting the different importance of meal and snacking patterns in middle school students and addressing future intervention strategies. Furthermore, the evaluation of the impact of the \u201cProject AlimentAzione\u201d nutrition education intervention showed its effectiveness in the promotion of healthier dietary behaviors among middle school students from Milan and its province. Future interventions among this age population can take advantage from these findings in the design and the implementation of this complex preventive strategy

Educación natural

Antes de producirse la reforma que diera a la pedagogía principios y bases cientificos, que hicieran de ella a su vez una ciencia, los sistemas y métodos que se empleaban para la educación consistían en prácticas puramente rutinarias cuyo resultado era amontonar sin orden ni concierto en el espfritu de los alumnos, un cúmulo de conocimientos de los más heterogéneos sin tener en cuenta para nada sus condiciones y caracteristicas, sin tener presente tampoco ni el medio, ni la orientacion que la vida práctica habáa de imprimir a sus actividades.Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociale

High-temperature Hydrogen Permeation in Nickel Alloys

In gas cooled Very High Temperature Reactor concepts, tritium is produced as a tertiary fission product and by activation of graphite core contaminants, such as lithium; of the helium isotope, He-3, that is naturally present in the He gas coolant; and the boron in the B4C burnable poison. Because of its high mobility at the reactor outlet temperatures, tritium poses a risk of permeating through the walls of the intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) or steam generator (SG) systems, potentially contaminating the environment and in particular the hydrogen product when the reactor heat is utilized in connection with a hydrogen generation plant. An experiment to measure tritium permeation in structural materials at temperatures up to 1000 C has been constructed at the Idaho National Laboratory Safety and Tritium Applied Research (STAR) facility within the Next Generation Nuclear Plant program. The design is based on two counter flowing helium loops to represent heat exchanger conditions and was optimized to allow control of the materials surface condition and the investigation of the effects of thermal fatigue. In the ongoing campaign three nickel alloys are being considered because of their high-temperature creep properties, alloy 617, 800H and 230. This paper introduces the general issues related to tritium in the on-going assessment of gas cooled VHTR systems fission product transport and outlines the planned research activities in this area; outlines the features and capabilities of the experimental facility being operated at INL; presents and discusses the initial results of hydrogen permeability measurements in two of the selected alloys and compares them with the available database from previous studies

Prevalence and clinical features of celiac disease in a cohort of italian children with autism spectrum disorders

Background: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental conditions whose etiopathogenesis derives from a complex interaction between genetic liability and environmental factors. In this framework, mounting evidence suggests that immune system dysfunction could be a risk factor contributing to the development of ASD in at least a subpopulation of individuals. In particular, some studies suggest an association between celiac disease (CD)—a long‐term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects the small intestine triggered by the ingestion of gluten—and ASD, while others hypothesized a random link. This investigation aimed to evaluate the prevalence of CD in a large sample of school‐aged children with ASD and to characterize their clinical profile. Methods: Medical records of 405 children with ASD aged 5–11 years (mean age: 7.2 years; SD: 1.8 years) consecutively referred to a tertiary‐care university hospital between January 2014 and December 2018 were reviewed; among them, 362 had carried out serological testing for CD. Results: Nine patients with positive CD serology were identified, eight of which satisfied the criteria for CD diagnosis. The estimated CD prevalence in ASD children was 2.18% (95% CI, 0.8–3.7), which was not statistically different (1.58%; p = 0.36) from that of an Italian population, matched for age range, considered as a control group (95% CI, 1.26–1.90). Three out of the eight ASD patients with CD did not have any symptoms suggestive of CD. Conclusions: Our findings did not show a higher prevalence of CD in ASD children than in the control population, but could suggest the utility of routine CD screening, given its frequent atypical clinical presentation in this population

The magnitude of damaging volcanic earthquakes of Mt. Etna: are the commonly used scales adequate?

On October 2002 a seismic swarm occurred on the eastern flank of Mt. Etna. One of the strongest events caused severe damage, up to EMS intensity of VIII that contrasts with its local magnitude of 4.4. The occurrence of significant damage at such small magnitude is repeatedly observed in the Mt. Etna area and is traditionally attributed to the shallow source of volcanic earthquakes. Strong-motion accelerograms and broad-band seismograms recorded during the swarm demonstrate that there is a more cogent cause for the severe damage, i.e. an anomalously strong low-frequency (0.1 < f < 1 Hz) radiation deviating from the conventional Brune (1970) spectral scaling. Therefore, these earthquakes cause unexpectedly large ground displacements and long ( 20 sec) durations of shaking. The integration of digital accelerograms recorded on October 2002 yields a maximum peak ground displacement as large as 1.8 cm at a distances of 18 km, out of the largest damage zone. Based on the sharp local attenuation of ground motion amplitudes observed during the Mt. Etna earthquakes, we infer that displacements near the epicentres can have attained 10 cm. So large displacements are consistent with the maximum observed damage. Moreover, the frequency cutoff below 1.25 Hz in the Wood-Anderson response attenuates the peak-to-peak amplitudes used to assess local magnitudes. This instrumental deamplification at low frequency yields underestimated values of local magnitude that are not representative of the real ground shaking. Since a prompt, correct magnitude (and potential damage) assessment is crucial for efficient Civil Protection actions, a procedure is proposed which, in near-real-time, can be successful in identifying potentially damaging earthquakes of Mt. Etna through the computation of response spectra. The procedure provides a magnitude value that is derived on a statistical basis from the Housner (1952) spectral intensity computed in the low-frequency band. This parameter is a suitable near-real-time indicator of large earthquake-induced building shaking and could also be applied for a preliminary determination of the epicentral macroseismic intensity of volcanic events of Mt. Etna through consolidated relationships established for tectonic earthquakes in Italy

Measuring Organised Crime Presence at the Municipal Level

While indicators assessing the quality of life often comprise measures of crime or fear of crime, these components usually refer to property or violent crimes. More complex crimes, which may significantly impact on the social, economic, and political conditions of local communities, are often overlooked, mostly due to problems in adequately measuring the levels of e.g. organised crime and corruption. Indeed, despite the growing scholarly attention, measurements of organised crime are rare and frequently affected by important methodological limitations. This study addresses this issue by proposing the Mafia Presence Index (MPI), a composite indicator measuring the presence of the mafias in Italy. The MPI aggregates variables measuring different dimensions of mafia presence, namely the presence and activities of mafia groups, mafia violence, and infiltration in politics and the economy. Furthermore, the analysis explores the validity and robustness of the MPI by considering possible alternative variables and by assessing the impact of different calculation strategies. Results show that the MPI is a parsimonious and consistent measure of mafia presence, relying on a core set of five variables directly related to mafia presence. The index is also robust to different calculation methods and is negatively associated with the most popular indexes measuring the quality of life in Italy

From Sensing to Action: Quick and Reliable Access to Information in Cities Vulnerable to Heavy Rain

Cities need to constantly monitor weather to anticipate heavy storm events and reduce the impact of floods. Information describing precipitation and ground conditions at high spatio-temporal resolution is essential for taking timely action and preventing damages. Traditionally, rain gauges and weather radars are used to monitor rain events, but these sources provide low spatial resolutions and are subject to inaccuracy. Therefore, information needs to be complemented with data from other sources: from citizens' phone calls to the authorities, to relevant online media posts, which have the potential of providing timely and valuable information on weather conditions in the city. This information is often scattered through different, static, and not-publicly available databases. This makes it impossible to use it in an aggregate, standard way, and therefore hampers efficiency of emergency response. In this paper, we describe information sources relating to a heavy rain event in Rotterdam on October 12-14, 2013. Rotterdam weather monitoring infrastructure is composed of a number of rain gauges installed at different locations in the city, as well as a weather radar network. This sensing network is currently scarcely integrated and logged data are not easily accessible during an emergency. Therefore, we propose a reliable, efficient, and low-cost ICT infrastructure that takes information from all relevant sources, including sensors as well as social and user contributed information and integrates them into a unique, cloud-based interface. The proposed infrastructure will improve efficiency in emergency responses to extreme weather events and, ultimately, guarantee more safety to the urban population

Micro-fragmented adipose tissue transplantation (Matt) for the treatment of acetabular delamination. a two years follow up comparison study with microfractures

Background: Delamination of acetabular articular cartilage is a common progressive abnormality in hips with femoroacetabular impingement. The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of two different procedures for the arthroscopic treatment of acetabular delamination: microfractures (MFx) and micro-fragmented autologous adipose tissue transplantation (MATT) technique. Methods: We carried out a controlled retrospective study of 35 patients affected by an acetabular cartilage delamination in femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). In all the selected cases the size of the defect ranged from 1 to 2 cm2, with a mean size of 1.9 cm² in MFx group and 1.6 cm² in MATT group (p=0.1). Of these, 18 patients were treated with MFx while 17 patients were treated with MATT. The two groups were similar in terms of clinical, functional and radiological aspects. All the patients were assessed before and after the procedure, for pain and function, with the modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS). The mean preoperative mHHS was 50±5 for MFx group and 53±6 for MATT group (p = 0.245). All the patients were followed-up for two years. Results: The final mHHS was 76±12 in MFx group and 97.1±3 in MATT group (p&lt;0.001). In both groups neither a conversion to total hip arthroplasty nor a revision hip arthroscopy was observed. Conclusions: The results of this study provide proof that MATT technique improves clinical outcomes with a mHH scoring significantly higher than MFx group. (www.actabiomedica.it)

CRISPR/Cas9 genome-wide screening identifies KEAP1 as a sorafenib, lenvatinib, and regorafenib sensitivity gene in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Sorafenib is the first-line drug used for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, acquired sorafenib resistance in cancer patients limits its efficacy. Here, we performed the first genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9-based screening on sorafenib-treated HCC cells to identify essential genes for non-mutational mechanisms related to acquired sorafenib resistance and/or sensitivity in HCC cells. KEAP1 was identified as the top candidate gene by Model-based Analysis of Genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 Knockout (MAGeCK). KEAP1 disrupted HCC cells were less sensitive than wild-type cells in short- and long-term sorafenib treatments. Compared to wild-type cells, KEAP1-disrupted cells showed lower basal and sorafenib-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and were more resistant to oxidative stress-induced cell death. The absence of KEAP1 led to increased activity of Nrf2, a key transcription factor controlling antioxidant responses, as further evidenced by increased expression of Nrf2-controlled genes including NQO1, GPX2 and TXNRD1, which were positively associated with chemoresistance. In addition, KEAP1 disruption counteracted the reduction of cell viability and the elevation of ROS caused by lenvatinib, a drug that recently showed clinical efficacy as a first-line treatment for unresectable HCC. Finally, Keap1 disruption also increased the resistance of cells to regorafenib, a recently approved drug to treat HCC as a second line therapy. Taken together, our data indicate that deregulation of the KEAP1/Nrf2 pathway following KEAP1 inactivation contributes to sorafenib, lenvatinib, and regorafenib resistance in human HCC cells through up-regulation of Nrf2 downstream genes and decreased ROS levels