Can volatile organic metabolites be used to simultaneously assess microbial and mite contamination level in cereal grains and coffee beans?

A novel approach based on headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) combined with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-ToFMS) was developed for the simultaneous screening of microbial and mite contamination level in cereals and coffee beans. The proposed approach emerges as a powerful tool for the rapid assessment of the microbial contamination level (ca. 70 min versus ca. 72 to 120 h for bacteria and fungi, respectively, using conventional plate counts), and mite contamination (ca. 70 min versus ca. 24 h). A full-factorial design was performed for optimization of the SPME experimental parameters. The methodology was applied to three types of rice (rough, brown, and white rice), oat, wheat, and green and roasted coffee beans. Simultaneously, microbiological analysis of the samples (total aerobic microorganisms, moulds, and yeasts) was performed by conventional plate counts. A set of 54 volatile markers was selected among all the compounds detected by GC×GC-ToFMS. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied in order to establish a relationship between potential volatile markers and the level of microbial contamination. Methylbenzene, 3-octanone, 2-nonanone, 2-methyl-3-pentanol, 1-octen-3-ol, and 2-hexanone were associated to samples with higher microbial contamination level, especially in rough rice. Moreover, oat exhibited a high GC peak area of 2-hydroxy-6-methylbenzaldehyde, a sexual and alarm pheromone for adult mites, which in the other matrices appeared as a trace component. The number of mites detected in oat grains was correlated to the GC peak area of the pheromone. The HS-SPME/GC×GC-ToFMS methodology can be regarded as the basis for the development of a rapid and versatile method that can be applied in industry to the simultaneous assessment the level of microbiological contamination and for detection of mites in cereals grains and coffee beans

Seasonal variation of indigo precursors in Isatis tinctoria L. and Polygonum tinctorium Ait. as affected by water deficit

In order to identify new crops suitable for indigo production in Italy, seasonal variation in productivity of indigo precursors was studied in woad (Isatis tinctoria L., Family Cruciferae) and in dyer’s knotweed (Polygonum tinctorium Ait., Family Polygonaceae), grown in central Italy under temperate climate. Indigo precursors, indoxyl-3-ketogluconate (isatan B) and indoxyl-β-D-glucoside (indican), were measured in leaves by HPLC analysis under well watered versus rain fed field conditions, and the amount of indigo derived by stoichiometric calculations. Woad showed lower indigo potential than dyer’s knotweed, evaluated as either amount of indigo either per leaf weight or per plant. However, in water stress conditions, woad appeared to be drought tolerant as opposed to dyer’s knotweed revealed very sensitive. In fact, in dyer’s knotweed leaf yield was over 50% reduced in water stress field conditions, characterizing central and southern Italy during July and August, as compared to some 30% in woad. Dyer’s knotweed appears to be more productive, providing water is supplied appropriately, thus making proper irrigation plans necessary to achieve sustainable high yields

Valutazione ambientale della riconversione di ferrovie dismesse in ambito alpino

È evidente anche ai non addetti ai lavori che il mezzo di trasporto ferroviario è caratterizzato da una intrinseca “rigidità” rispetto alla viabilità stradale che presenta invece una oggettiva “flessibilità” trasportistica. Infatti usare la ferrovia per spostare persone e merci comporta la necessità di: realizzare stazioni ferroviarie passeggeri e merci come punti di raccolta della domanda trasportistica; organizzare treni con vagoni più o meno numerosi per caricare passeggeri e merci; utilizzare i binari compatibilmente alla loro oggettiva capacità di accogliere un numero massimo di treni; subire almeno due rotture di carico. Dal punto di vista dell’accettabilità sociale ed economica, quindi, il sistema ferroviario richiede la condivisione da parte dell’utenza (passeggeri e merci) di un modello trasportistico caratterizzato da una rigida organizzazione dello spazio/tempo. Affinché un progetto di riconversione ferroviaria sia sostenibile è necessario applicare una valutazione ambientale di tipo strategico capace di verificare quale sia la soluzione preferibile. Ciò può avvenire utilizzando almeno tre modelli valutativi denominati: Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Coerenza e Performabilità

Clinical presentation and need for treatment of a cohort of subjects accessing to a mental illness prevention service

Outreaching activities decrease prognostic accuracy of at-risk mental state defining tools, over-attracting subjects who are not at increased risk of mental illness. The setting was a mental illness primary indicated prevention outpatients service embedded within the Psychiatry Unit of Padua University Hospital, Italy. Help-seeking patients accessing the service between January 2018 and December 2018 were evaluated with validated tools assessing functioning, at-risk mental state, schizotypal personality features, depressive and anxious symptoms, together with medical and family history collection. The primary outcome was the prevalence of drop in functioning at presentation according to the Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS). Secondary outcomes were diagnoses according to DSM-5 criteria and meeting criteria for at-risk mental state. Fifty-nine patients accessed the service, mean age was 18.8 (2.12) years old, 54.2% were females. Virtually all subjects (97.7%) had a drop in functioning. Baseline primary diagnoses were depressive episode in 33%, anxiety disorder in 21%, personality disorder in 17%, adjustment disorder 9%, conduct disorder 7%, schizophrenia spectrum disorder 5%, bipolar disorder 5%, eating disorder in 1.7%, dissociative disorder 1.7%. Overall, 59.1% met at-risk mental state criteria. Lower functioning was associated with anxious symptoms (p=0.031), a family history of mental illness (p=0.045) and of suicide (p=0.042), and schizotypal personality traits (p=0.036). Subjects accessing a prevention service embedded within the mental health department already present a trans-diagnostic drop in functioning, mainly due to a non-psychotic mental disorder, with at-risk mental state in one patient out of two, and schizophrenia or bipolar disorder already present in only 10% of subjects. Prevention service within mental health facility setting appears to properly detect subjects in need of treatment with a drop in functioning, at risk of developing severe mental illness, without any outreaching activity in the general population

Rethinking the construction industry under the circular economy : principles and case studies

Themes related to the conservation of the existing city recently became arelevant issue in national and international public policies. One of the challengesthat European Union and Italian authorities seek to pursue is sustainable-citiesdevelopment on energetic, social and economic levels, discouraging urban sprawl,and promoting reuse of the existing real-estate stock. City reuse instead of itsexpansion onto greenfields has then become in Italy a priority for the constructionindustry. The aim of the paper is to point out the potential radical change of theconstruction industry in Italy and the new perspectives the industry can pursue inthe future. Existing city reuse can be undertaken in two ways: through demolitionand reconstruction or retrofitting the existing real-estate stock. The preferencebetween the two options depends by real-estate market dynamics and by zoningrules made by local authorities. In the majority of Italian cities, retrofit operationsappear to be the true challenge because real-estate market values are not capable ofsupporting radical city transformations through demolition and reconstruction.Marketfigures make clear that the shift towards reuse is already under way, with asignificant growth of the reuse-segment over the span 2008\u20132014. Nevertheless, themajor costs for reuse and the limited budget of Italian families represent relevantissues standing in the way. So the construction industry confronts a new challenge:innovating reuse technology\u2014with reduced costs and increased effectiveness\u2014andfinding new sources of value to support the investment choice. The DutchEnergiesprong case study shows that highly-industrialized retrofit processes and theconversion of the energy bill into afinancial source to support stock refurbishmentrepresent the pillars of a disruptive and effective strategy

Characterization of Recombinant Respiratory Syncytial Viruses with the Region Responsible for Type 2 T-Cell Responses and Pulmonary Eosinophilia Deleted from the Attachment (G) Protein

It is essential that preventative vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) elicit balanced T-cell responses. Immune responses dominated by type 2 T cells against RSV antigens are believed to cause exaggerated respiratory tract disease and may also contribute to unwanted inflammation in the airways that predisposes infants to wheeze through adolescence. Here we report on the construction and characterization of recombinant RSV (rRSV) strains with amino acids 151 to 221 or 178 to 219 of the attachment (G) glycoprotein deleted (rA2cpΔG150-222 or rA2cpΔG177-220, respectively). The central ectodomain was chosen for modification because a peptide spanning amino acids 149 to 200 of G protein has recently been shown to prime several strains of naïve inbred mice for polarized type 2 T-cell responses, and peripheral blood T cells from most human donors recognize epitopes within this region. Quantitative PCR demonstrated that synthesis of nascent rRSV genomes in human lung epithelial cell lines was similar to that for the parent virus (cp-RSV). Plaque assays further indicated that rRSV replication was not sensitive to 37°C, but pinpoint morphology was observed at 39°C. Both rRSV strains replicated in the respiratory tracts of BALB/c mice and elicited serum neutralization and anti-F-protein immunoglobulin G titers that were equivalent to those elicited by cp-RSV and contributed to a 3.9-log(10)-unit reduction in RSV A2 levels 4 days after challenge. Importantly, pulmonary eosinophilia was significantly diminished in BALB/c mice primed with native G protein and challenged with either rA2cpΔG150-222 or rA2cpΔG177-220. These findings are important for the development of attenuated RSV vaccines