Development of a tomato pomace biorefinery based on a CO2-supercritical extraction process for the production of a high value lycopene product, bioenergy and digestate

Tomato peels and seeds (TP) are the most abundant canning industry waste actually used to produce biogas. TP is rich in lycopene (lyc) and represent a more sustainable feedstock than tomato fruits actually employed. It was therefore chosen as feedstock together with supercritical CO2 extraction (SFE-CO2) technology to develop a TP-SFE-CO2 biorefinery, topic scarcely investigated. Two TP were tested and although TP-SFE-CO2 parameters were the same, lyc recoveries depended by peel structure changes occurred during pre -SFE-CO2 drying step. Higher moisture (102.7 g kg-1 wet weight) permitted 97 % lyc recovery and gave a water-in-oil emulsion as extract. Mass balance confirmed that lyc isomerisation did not cause lyc losses. After a significant oil extraction, exhaust TP showed a biodegradability 64% higher than the raw one, attributable to fibre structure disruption. The biorefinery proposed (SFE_CO2+anaerobic digestion) determined positive economic revenue (+787.9 \u20ac t-1 TP) on the contrary of the actual TP management

Isothiocyanates and Glucosinolates from Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop. (“the Singers’ Plant”): Isolation and in Vitro Assays on the Somatosensory and Pain Receptor TRPA1 Channel

Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop. is a wild common plant of the Brassicaceae family. It is known as \u201cthe singers\u2019 plant\u201d for its traditional use in treating aphonia and vocal disability. Despite its wide use in herbal preparations, the molecular mechanism of action of S. officinale extracts is not known. The plant is rich in glucosinolates and isothiocyanates, which are supposed to be its active compounds. Some members of this family, in particular allylisothiocyanate, are strong agonists of the transient receptor potential ankyrine 1 (TRPA1) channel, which is involved in the somatosensory perception of pungency as well as in the nociception pathway of inflammatory pain. This study aims to isolate the glucosinolates and isothiocianates from fresh S. officinale to identify the major components and test their activity in in vitro assays with a cloned TRPA1 channel. Samples of cultivated S. officinale have been extracted and the active compounds isolated by column chromatography, HPLC and PTLC. The main components glucoputranjivin, isopropylisothiocyanate and 2-buthylisothiocianate have been tested on TRPA1. The glucosinolates glucoputranjivin and sinigrin turned out to be inactive, while isopropylisothiocyanate and 2-buthylisothiocyanate are potent agonists of TRPA1, with an EC50 in the range of the high potency natural agonists identified so far for this somatosensory channel

Continuous Flooding or Alternate Wetting and Drying Differently Affect the Accumulation of Health-Promoting Phytochemicals and Minerals in Rice Brown Grain

Climate changes impose adoption of water-saving techniques to improve the sustainability of irrigated rice systems. This study was aimed, by a two-years side-by-side comparison, at verifying the hypothesis whether \u201cAlternate Wetting and Drying\u201d (AWD) affects the concentrations of health-related compounds and minerals in brown grains of three japonica rice (Oryza sativa L.) cvs (\u2018Baldo\u2019, \u2018Gladio\u2019, and \u2018Loto\u2019) usually grown in temperate areas in continuous flooding (CF). Due to the rotational turns in water distribution imposed by local authorities and to the weather behavior, different AWD timing and severity occurred in the two years of the study. AWD induced in both seasons yield losses in \u2018Baldo\u2019 and \u2018Gladio\u2019 but not in \u2018Loto\u2019. In the brown grains of \u2018Loto\u2019, AWD increased the concentrations of total tocols, \u3b3-oryzanol, flavonoids, and the antioxidant activity. AWD affected the concentrations of minerals, particularly increasing copper, cadmium and nickel, and decreasing manganese, arsenic and zinc. In the sensitive cultivars, \u2018Baldo\u2019 and \u2018Gladio\u2019, AWD seems to affect plant yield, rather than for severity of the dry period, for prolonged absence of ponded water that exposes plants to cooler temperatures. The selection of suitable cultivars, like \u2018Loto\u2019, tolerant to AWD-related stresses, could combine environmental, yield-related, and nutritional benefits improving the product quality

Trend of sexually transmitted infections during the Covid-19 age. What was the impact of the pandemic and the social distancing measures?

Covid-19 pandemic has led to social distancing guidelines andresource allocation with subsequent impairment of sexual healthservices. The impact of such measures and the recommendationsregarding changes of sexual behaviour is a matter of debate

ZnO-based scintillating bolometers: New prospects to study double beta decay of 64^{64}Zn

The first detailed study on the performance of a ZnO-based cryogenic scintillating bolometer as a detector to search for rare processes in zinc isotopes was performed. A 7.2 g ZnO low-temperature detector, containing more than 80\% of zinc in its mass, exhibits good energy resolution of baseline noise 1.0--2.7 keV FWHM at various working temperatures resulting in a low-energy threshold for the experiment, 2.0--6.0 keV. The light yield for $\beta$/$\gamma$ events was measured as 1.5(3) keV/MeV, while it varies for $\alpha$ particles in the range of 0.2--3.0 keV/MeV. The detector demonstrate an effective identification of the $\beta$/$\gamma$ events from $\alpha$ events using time-properties of only heat signals. %(namely, Rise time parameter). The radiopurity of the ZnO crystal was evaluated using the Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, an ultra-low-background High Purity Ge $\gamma$-spectrometer, and bolometric measurements. Only limits were set at the level of $\mathcal{O}$(1--100) mBq/kg on activities of \Nuc{K}{40}, \Nuc{Cs}{137} and daughter nuclides from the U/Th natural decay chains. The total internal $\alpha$-activity was calculated to be 22(2) mBq/kg, with a major contribution caused by 6(1) mBq/kg of \Nuc{Th}{232} and 12(2) mBq/kg of \Nuc{U}{234}. Limits on double beta decay (DBD) processes in \Nuc{Zn}{64} and \Nuc{Zn}{70} isotopes were set on the level of $\mathcal{O}(10^{17}$--$10^{18})$ yr for various decay modes profiting from 271 h of acquired background data in the above-ground lab. This study shows a good potential for ZnO-based scintillating bolometers to search for DBD processes of Zn isotopes, especially in \Nuc{Zn}{64}, with the most prominent spectral features at $\sim$10--20 keV, like the two neutrino double electron capture. A 10 kg-scale experiment can reach the experimental sensitivity at the level of $\mathcal{O}(10^{24})$ yr.Comment: Prepared for submission to JINST; 27 pages, 9 figures, and 7 table

PULEX: Influence of environment radiation background on biochemistry and biology of cultured cells and on their response to genotoxic agents

Some years ago we performed two experiments aimed at studying the influence of the background radiation on living matter by exploiting the low radiation background environment in the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory of the INFN. Their results were consistent with the hypothesis that the “normal” background radiation determines an adaptive response, although they cannot be considered conclusive. PULEX-3 (the third experiment of the series) is aimed at comparing the effects of different background radiation environments on metabolism of cultured mammalian cells, with substantial improvements with respect to the preceding ones. The experiment was designed to minimize variabilities, by maintaining two cultures of Chinese hamster V79 cells in exponential growth for up to ten months in the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory (LNGS), while two other cultures were maintained in parallel in a biological laboratory installed at the LNGS outside the tunnel. Exposure due to γ-rays was reduced by a factor of about 10 in the underground laboratory while the Rn concentration was small in both cases. After ten months the cells grown in the underground laboratory, compared to those grown in the external one, exhibited: i) a significantly lower capacity to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS), and ii) an increased sensitivity to the mutagenic effect of rays. Since the probability that this finding is due to casual induction of radiosensitive mutants is extremely low, it corroborates the hypothesis that cells grown in a “normal” background radiation environment exhibit an adaptive response when challenged with genotoxic agents, which is lost after many generations in a low background radiation environment

Assessment of tryptophan, tryptophan ethylester, and melatonin derivatives in red wine by SPE-HPLC-FL and SPE-HPLC-MS methods

Melatonin (MEL) is an indoleamine produced mainly by the pineal gland in vertebrates. It plays a significant role in the regulation of circadian rhythms, mitigation of sleeping disorders, and jet lag. This compound is synthetized from tryptophan (TRP) and it has been found in seeds, fruits, and fermented beverages, including wine. Wine is also a source of other tryptophan derivatives, the tryptophan ethylester (TEE) and MEL isomers (MISs), for which the biological properties need to be elucidated. An analytical method for the simultaneous quantification of TRP, TEE, and MEL was developed by a Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) of a preconcentration of wine followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis either with fluorescence or mass spectrometer detectors. The analytical method showed a relative standard deviation (RSD) lower than 8%, except for TRP (RSD 10.5% in wine). The recovery was higher than 76%. The versatility of SPE preconcentrations allowed for the adequate preconcentration of wine sample as well as detection of low concentrations, an important aspect especially for MEL (detection limit 0.0023 \ub5g/L). The proposed method proved to be suitable for assessing the investigated compounds in some red wine samples, where 74.4-256.2 \ub5g/L and 0.038-0.063 \ub5g/L of TEE and MEL were detected, respectively. Five MISs were also found in wine samples in concentrations up to 1.97 \ub5g/L

Effect of implementing digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) instead of mammography on population screening outcomes including interval cancer rates: Results of the Trento DBT pilot evaluation

The Trento screening program transitioned to digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) screening based on evidence that DBT improves breast cancer (BC) detection compared to mammography; an evaluation of the transition to DBT is reported in this pilot study. Prospective implementation of DBT screening included women aged ≥50 years who attended the Trento program for biennial screening. DBT screening included DBT acquisitions with synthesized 2D-images. A historical cohort of women who attended the program (January 2013–October 2014) and received digital mammography (DM) provided a comparison group. Independent double-reading (with a third arbitrating read for discordance) was used for DBT and DM screening. Screening outcomes included cancer detection rate (CDR/1000 screens), percentage of screens recalled to assessment (recall%), interval cancer rate (ICR/1000 screens) at 2-year follow-up, and screening sensitivity. Rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) examined outcomes for DBT versus DM screening

Obstetric near-miss cases among women admitted to intensive care units in Italy

Objective. Maternal near-miss defines a narrow category of morbidity encompassing potentially life-threatening episodes. The purpose of this study was to detect near-miss instances among women admitted to intensive care units or coronary units, analyze associated causes, and compute absolute and specific maternal morbidity rates in six Italian regions. Design. Observational retrospective study. Setting. Six Italian regions representing 49% of all resident Italian women aged 15-49 years. Population. The study population included all pregnant women aged 15-49 years admitted to intensive care units or coronary care units in the participating regions. Cases were defined as women aged 15-49 years resident in the participating regions, with one or more hospitalizations in intensive care for pregnancy or any pregnancy outcome between 2004 and 2005. Methods. Cases were identified through the Hospital Discharge Database. Enrolled cases were diagnosed according to the 9th International Classification of Diseases. Main outcome measure. Maternal near-miss rate (number of women experiencing an admission to intensive care units/all women with live or stillborn babies). Results. A total of 1259 near-miss cases were identified and the total maternal near-miss rate was 2.0/1000 deliveries. Seventy percent of the women were admitted to intensive care units or coronary units after a cesarean section. The leading associated risk factors were obstetric hemorrhage/disseminated intravascular coagulation (40%) and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (29%). Conclusions. Monitoring of near-miss morbidity in conjunction with mortality surveillance could help to identify effective preventive measures for potentially life-threatening episodes

The Borexino detector at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso

Borexino, a large volume detector for low energy neutrino spectroscopy, is currently running underground at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. The main goal of the experiment is the real-time measurement of sub MeV solar neutrinos, and particularly of the mono energetic (862 keV) Be7 electron capture neutrinos, via neutrino-electron scattering in an ultra-pure liquid scintillator. This paper is mostly devoted to the description of the detector structure, the photomultipliers, the electronics, and the trigger and calibration systems. The real performance of the detector, which always meets, and sometimes exceeds, design expectations, is also shown. Some important aspects of the Borexino project, i.e. the fluid handling plants, the purification techniques and the filling procedures, are not covered in this paper and are, or will be, published elsewhere (see Introduction and Bibliography).Comment: 37 pages, 43 figures, to be submitted to NI