Divide and Conquer Partitioning Techniques for Smart Water Networks

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Implicating factors in the increase in cases of central precocious puberty (CPP) during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experience of a tertiary centre of pediatric endocrinology and review of the literature

Sexual development is a complex mechanism activated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. Over the last one hundred years there has been a decline in the age at puberty onset in industrialised countries. Some Italian studies showed an increase in diagnoses of Central Precocious Puberty (CPP) during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is thus supposed that in this period there was an increased impact of factors that can influence pubertal development. Our retrospective monocentric study aimed to confirm the existence of this phenomenon and analysed possible related factors. We retrospectively evaluated clinical, laboratory, radiological and ultrasound (US) data of 154 girls referred to our Tertiary Centre of Paediatric Endocrinology from January 2019 to April 2021 for different forms of Precocious Puberty. We subdivided the cases into subgroups according to the final diagnosis: CPP, Early Puberty (EP), isolated thelarche and isolated pubarche. The observation period was subdivided into: Period 1, before lockdown (1 January 2019 - 8 March 2020) and Period 2, lockdown and the following months (9 March 2020 - 30 April 2021). Period 2 was further divided into "restrictive lockdown period" (Period 2.1) (March 2020 - 14 June 2020, in which the schools were closed) and "less restrictive lockdown period" (Period 2.2) (15 June 2020 - 30 April 2021). We analysed data regarding the use of electronic devices before and during lockdown in a group of girls with CPP diagnosed in Period 2 and we compared the data with that of a control group. Our data show an increase in the number of new diagnoses of CPP during lockdown and in the following months, compared with the previous period. We also detected a higher use of PCs and smartphones in girls with CPP diagnosed in Period 2, compared with the control group. The percentage of the presence of endometrial rhyme detected during the pelvic ultrasound was higher in girls with CPP in Period 2, compared with the previous period. Based on our data we assume there was an environmental effect on pubertal timing that calls our attention to factors such as food, use of electronic devices and stress. We will need further studies to better understand this data

Prevalence of heavy smokers in the year 2000 in the province of Varese, Italy.

ABSTRACT: Prevalence of heavy smokers in the year 2000 in the Province of Varese, Italy. A. Imperatori, N. Rotolo, V. Conti, D. Di Natale, V. Tropeano, W. Mantovani. Background. Knowing the prevalence of heavy smokers (HS) by gender and age is a pre-requisite for bringing into effect public health measures against smoking-related diseases. Smoking prevalence data is available for the Italian Regions, however it is generally unknown for the Italian Provinces. Methods. In the year 2000 a survey of smoking prevalence was conducted by 47 general practitioners (GPs), by personal interview, in a large sample of the Varese Province population 45-74 years of age (28,034 subjects; 13,528 men, 14,506 women). Each surveyed subject was categorised either as ever HS (current/former smoker of at least 10 pack-years) or as non HS. The information on smoking habit collected by the GPs was anonymously pooled for analysis. Prevalence figures of smoking were tabulated by gender and by 5-year age-strata. Results. In the population 45-74 years of age the percentage of ever HS overall was 22.3% (34.4% of men; 11.0% of women). The prevalence of ever HS in both sexes combined progressively decreased with advancing age, from 23.6% (45-49 year stratum) to 19.5% (70-74 year stratum). Current HS were 24.5% of men and 9.5% of women. Conclusions. The year 2000 survey on smoking habit, showing 22.3% prevalence of ever HS in age range 45-74 years, is the first conducted in the Varese Province using a large population sample. The data on heavy cigarette smoking presented in this paper, stratified by gender and age, may be used to monitor changes in the smoking habit and in the incidence of smoking-related illnesses at the provincial level

Photographic detection of Cadmium(II) and Zinc(II) ions

The binding properties of two 2,8-dithia-5-aza-2,6-pyridinophane-based ligands, bearing respectively coumarin (HNCum) and naphthol-benzoxaazole (HNBO) optically active units as pendant arms, were studied with the aim of transition metal cations selective detection. The novel all-solid-state optodes were obtained by inclusion of fluorophores inside PVC-based polymeric films. The influence of lipophilic sites incorporation and plasticizer nature on pyridinophane-based optodes response was investigated. An enhanced selectivity of the ligands towards Cadmium(II) and Zinc(II) ions was detected. Light Emitting Diode, LED 380 nm, was used as light source, and a digital camera as a signal detector. The results obtained demonstrated the suitability of the developed optodes to perform fast and low cost simultaneous monitoring of Zn2+and Cd2+ ions by means of familiar devices and chemometrics. © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license

6-Phenyl-5a,6,6a,7,12,13a-hexa­hydro-5H-benzo[6,7]indolizino[3,2-a]pyrrolizine

In the title compound, C23H22N2, the central pyrrolidine ring adopts an envelope conformation. The benzene ring of the hexa­hydro­pyrroloisoquinoline ring system makes dihedral angles of 83.43 (6) and 61.99 (10)°, respectively, with the phenyl and pyrrole rings. In the crystal structure, weak C—H⋯π inter­actions are observed

Growth of ZnO tetrapods for gas sensor application

Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have been obtained by vapour phase growth. Tetrapods have been grown on a large scale, in a reproducible way and separated from the other possible ZnO nano-morphologies, by the optimization of growth parameters. The deposition of these nanostructures on an alumina substrate with contacts and heater, allowed us to realize a low-cost oriented gas sensor. The obtained ZnO tetrapods-based gas sensor prototypes have been tested with different gases

Prevalence of heavy smokers in the year 2000 in the Province of Varese, Italy

Background. Knowing the prevalence of heavy smokers (HS) by gender and age is a pre-requisite for bringing into effect public health measures against smoking-related diseases. Smoking prevalence data is available for the Italian Regions, however it is generally unknown for the Italian Provinces. Methods. In the year 2000 a survey of smoking prevalence was conducted by 47 general practitioners (GPs), by personal interview, in a large sample of the Varese Province population 45-74 years of age (28,034 subjects; 13,528 men, 14,506 women). Each surveyed subject was categorised either as ever HS (current/former smoker of at least 10 pack-years) or as non HS. The information on smoking habit collected by the GPs was anonymously pooled for analysis. Prevalence figures of smoking were tabulated by gender and by 5-year age-strata. Results. In the population 45-74 years of age the percentage of ever HS overall was 22.3% (34.4% of men; 11.0% of women). The prevalence of ever HS in both sexes combined progressively decreased with advancing age, from 23.6% (45-49 year stratum) to 19.5% (70-74 year stratum). Current HS were 24.5% of men and 9.5% of women. Conclusions. The year 2000 survey on smoking habit, showing 22.3% prevalence of ever HS in age range 45-74 years, is the first conducted in the Varese Province using a large population sample. The data on heavy cigarette smoking presented in this paper, stratified by gender and age, may be used to monitor changes in the smoking habit and in the incidence of smoking-related illnesses at the provincial level

Potentiometric Sensing of Nonsteroidal Painkillers by Acyclic Squaramide Ionophores

We report here a small library of a new type of acyclic squaramide receptors (L1-L5) as selective ionophores for the detection of ketoprofen and naproxen anions (KF- and NS-, respectively) in aqueous media. 1H NMR binding studies show a high affinity of these squaramide receptors toward KF- and NS-, suggesting the formation of H-bonds between the two guests and the receptors through indole and −NH groups. Compounds L1-L5 have been tested as ionophores for the detection of KF- and NS- inside solvent PVC-based polymeric membranes. The optimal membrane compositions were established through the careful variation of the ligand/tridodecylmethylammonium chloride (TDMACl) anion-exchanger ratio. All of the tested acyclic squaramide receptors L1-L5 have high affinity toward KF- and NS- and anti-Hofmeister selectivity, with L4 and L5 showing the highest sensitivity and selectivity to NS-. The utility of the developed sensors for a high precision detection of KF- in pharmaceutical compositions with low relative errors of analysis (RSD, 0.99-1.4%) and recoveries, R%, in the range 95.1-111.8% has been demonstrated. Additionally, the chemometric approach has been involved to effectively discriminate between the structurally very similar KF- and NS-, and the possibility of detecting these analytes at concentrations as low as 0.07 μM with R2 of 0.947 and at 0.15 μM with R2 of 0.919 for NS- and KF-, respectively, was shown

Vertebrae reveal industrial-era increases in Atlantic bluefin tuna catch-at-size and juvenile growth

Climate change and size-selective overexploitation can alter fish size and growth, yet our understanding of how and to what extent is limited due to a lack of long-term biological data from wild populations. This precludes our ability to effectively forecast population dynamics and support sustainable fisheries management. Using modern, archived, and archaeological vertebrae dimensions and growth rings of one of the most intensely exploited populations, the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus, BFT), we estimated catch-at-size and early-life growth patterns from the 3 (rd) century bce to the 21 (st) century ce to understand responses to changes in its environment. We provide novel evidence that BFT juvenile growth increased between the 16 (th)-18 (th), 20 (th), and 21 (st) centuries, and is correlated with a warming climate and likely a decrease in stock biomass. We found it equally plausible that fisheries-induced evolution has acted to increase juvenile BFT growth, driving earlier maturation as a result of size-selective exploitation. Coincidently, we found limited evidence to suggest a long history of large ( >200 cm FL) BFT capture. Instead, we found that the catch-at-size of archaeological BFT was relatively small in comparison with more intensive, 20 (th) and 21 (st) century tuna trap fisheries which operated further from shore. This complex issue would benefit from studies using fine-scale biochronological analyses of otoliths and adaptation genomics, throughout the last century especially, to determine evolutionary responses to exploitation, and further disentangle the influence of temperature and biomass on fish growth