Effect of two aflatoxin level treatments on contamination of Mozzarella di Bufala cheese

An experiment was carried out using Buffalos to study the transfer of aflatoxins B1 (AFB1) from feeds to Mozzarella cheese. Two groups of four buffalos were assigned to two AFB1 doses: 100 and 150 μg/day. Total daily milk produced by each animal was individually collected at -2, 1, 3, 5 and +2 days, during and after experimental treatment, and separately, daily processed into Mozzarella cheese. The mean M1 and B1 aflatoxin content was significantly affected by the AFB1 doses. The AFM1 increased linearly from the first day of treatment to the last one in both groups, but in that treated with low dose the concentration was 4 time lower

The Campanian Ignimbrite and Codola tephra layers: two temporal/stratigraphic markers for the Early Upper Palaeolithic in southern Italy and eastern Europe

Tephra layers from archaeological sites in southern Italy and eastern Europe stratigraphically associated with cultural levels containing Early Upper Palaeolithic industry were analysed. The results confirm the occurrence of the Campanian Ignimbrite tephra (CI; ca. 40 cal ka BP) at Castelcivita Cave (southern Italy), Temnata Cave (Bulgaria) and in the Kostenki–Borshchevo area of the Russian Plain. This tephra, originated from the largest eruption of the Phlegrean Field caldera, represents the widest volcanic deposit and one of the most important temporal/stratigraphic markers of western Eurasia. At Paglicci Cave and lesser sites in the Apulia region we recognise a chemically and texturally different tephra, which lithologically, chronologically and chemically matches the physical and chemical characteristics of the Plinian eruption of Codola; a poorly known Late Pleistocene explosive event from the Neapolitan volcanoes, likely Somma–Vesuvius. For this latter, we propose a preliminary age estimate of ca. 33 cal ka BP and a correlation to the widespread C-10 marine tephra of the central Mediterranean. The stratigraphic position of both CI and Codola tephra layers at Castelcivita and Paglicci help date the first and the last documented appearance of Early Upper Palaeolithic industries of southern Italy to ca. 41–40 and 33 cal ka BP, respectively, or between two interstadial oscillations of the Monticchio pollen record – to which the CI and Codola tephras are physically correlated – corresponding to the Greenland interstadials 10–9 and 5. In eastern Europe, the stratigraphic and chronometric data seem to indicate an earlier appearance of the Early Upper Palaeolithic industries, which would predate of two millennia at least the overlying CI tephra. The tephrostratigraphic correlation indicates that in both regions the innovations connected with the so-called Early Upper Palaeolithic – encompassing subsistence strategy and stone tool technology – appeared and evolved during one of the most unstable climatic phases of the Last Glacial period. On this basis, the marked environmental unpredictability characterising this time-span is seen as a potential ecological factor involved in the cultural changes observed

Mortality risk assessment using CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc scores in patients hospitalized with Coronavirus disease 2019 infection

Early risk stratification for complications and death related to Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection is needed. Because many patients with COVID-19 who developed acute respiratory distress syndrome have diffuse alveolar inflammatory damage associated with microvessel thrombosis, we aimed to investigate a common clinical tool, the CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc, to aid in the prognostication of outcomes for COVID-19 patients. We analyzed consecutive patients from the multicenter observational CORACLE registry, which contains data of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infection in 4 regions of Italy, according to data-driven tertiles of CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc score. The primary outcomes were inpatient death and a composite of inpatient death or invasive ventilation. Of 1045 patients in the registry, 864 (82.7%) had data available to calculate CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc score and were included in the analysis. Of these, 167 (19.3%) died, 123 (14.2%) received invasive ventilation, and 249 (28.8%) had the composite outcome. Stratification by CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc tertiles (T1: 641; T2: 2 to 3; T3: 654) revealed increases in both death (8.1%, 24.3%, 33.3%, respectively; p <0.001) and the composite end point (18.6%, 31.9%, 43.5%, respectively; p <0.001). The odds ratios for mortality and the composite end point for T2 patients versus T1 CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc score were 3.62 (95% CI:2.29 to 5.73,p <0.001) and 2.04 (95% CI:1.42 to 2.93, p <0.001), respectively. Similarly, the odds ratios for mortality and the composite end point for T3 patients versus T1 were 5.65 (95% CI:3.54 to 9.01, p <0.001) and 3.36 (95% CI:2.30 to 4.90,p <0.001), respectively. In conclusion, among Italian patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infection, the CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc risk score for thromboembolic events enhanced the ability to achieve risk stratification for complications and death

Inpatient Mortality According to Level of Respiratory Support Received for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) Infection: A Prospective Multicenter Study

Objectives: To describe patients according to the maximum degree of respiratory support received and report their inpatient mortality due to coronavirus disease 2019. Design: Analysis of patients in the Coracle registry from February 22, 2020, to April 1, 2020. Setting: Hospitals in the Piedmont, Lombardy, Tuscany, and Lazio regions of Italy. Patients: Nine-hundred forty-eight patients hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Among 948 patients, 122 (12.87%) received invasive ventilation, 637 (67.19%) received supplemental oxygen only, and 189 (19.94%) received no respiratory support. The median (quartile 1\u2013quartile 3) age was 65 years (54\u201376.59 yr), and there was evidence of differential respiratory treatment by decade of life (p = 0.0046); patients greater than 80 years old were generally not intubated. There were 606 men (63.9%) in this study, and they were more likely to receive respiratory support than women (p < 0.0001). The rate of in-hospital death for invasive ventilation recipients was 22.95%, 12.87% for supplemental oxygen recipients, and 7.41% for those who received neither (p = 0.0004). A sensitivity analysis of the 770 patients less than 80 years old revealed a lower, but similar mortality trend (18.02%, 8.10%, 5.23%; p = 0.0008) among the 14.42%, 65.71%, and 19.87% of patients treated with mechanical ventilation, supplemental oxygen only, or neither. Overall, invasive ventilation recipients who died were significantly older than those who survived (median age: 68.5 yr [60\u201381.36 yr] vs 62.5 yr [55.52\u201371 yr]; p = 0.0145). Conclusions: Among patients hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019, 13% received mechanical ventilation, which was associated with a mortality rate of 23%