Mercury Detection in Benthic and Pelagic Fish Collected from Western Sicily (Southern Italy)

In highly polluted water, fish can accumulate mercury up to a concentration of 10 mgKg-1. This has occurred on the eastern coasts of Sicily (Southern Italy), probably due to the intense industrial activity of this area. However, little is known about Hg accumulation in fish of the western Sicilian coasts. In this work, we examined the Hg accumulation of 108 fish samples belonging to 14 species collected from western Sicilian coasts using a direct mercury analyzer. The samples showed a mean mercury concentration of 0.165 ± 0.22 mg kg-1 with a maximum in Lepidopus caudatus (1.72 mgKg-1), exceeding the limits provided by EC Reg. 1881/2006. The lowest Hg levels were found in Sparus aurata samples (0.001 mgKg-1). A significant difference was found between the fish species examined (p < 0.05). The comparison between benthic and pelagic species did not show statistical differences (p < 0.05). Fish food constitutes the main route of Hg uptake for humans. Only four of the 130 samples examined reached a mercury concentration over the European limits. The comparative analysis of Hg pollution for benthic and pelagic species did not confirm a different trend in metal contamination

High hydroxycinnamic acids contents in fennel honey produced in Southern Italy

A total of 122 honey samples (Apis mellifera ssp. Ligustica) collected from Southern Italy were examined for floral identification by melissopalynological examination and for polyphenols detection by an LC-ESI-OrbitrapTM -MS/MS method. The melissopalynological examination confirmed all the samples examined as fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) unifloral variety. The analytical method carried out for polyphenols detection showed satisfactory linearity and recovery values, achieved during the validation of the method. Very high amounts of flavonols (kaempferol and quercetin) and hydroxycinnamic acids (caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid and ferulic acid), were found in all the samples examined. Among the hydroxycinnamic acids group, caffeic acid showed the highest mean contents (865.90 ± 67.07 µg/kg). The results of this work confirmed the high presence of phenolic acids with strong free radical-scavenging activity in fennel products such as honey, suggesting their use to reduce oxidative stress

Atrial fibrillation detection using a novel three-vector cardiac implantable monitor: the atrial fibrillation detect study.

Aims Continuous rhythm monitoring is valuable for adequate atrial fibrillation (AF) management in the clinical setting. Subcutaneous leadless implantable cardiac monitors (ICMs) yield an improved AF detection, overcoming the intrinsic limitations of the currently available external recording systems, thus resulting in a more accurate patient treatment. The study purpose was to assess the detection performance of a novel three-vector ICM device equipped with a dedicated AF algorithm. Methods and results Sixty-six patients (86.4% males; mean age 60.4 ± 9.4 years) at risk to present AF episodes, having undergone the novel ICM implant (BioMonitor, Biotronik SE&Co. KG, Berlin, Germany), were enrolled. External 48-h ECG Holter was performed 4 weeks after the device implantation. The automatic ICM AF classification was compared with the manual Holter arrhythmia recordings. Of the overall study population, 63/66 (95.5%) had analysable Holter data, 39/63 (62%) showed at least one true AF episode. All these patients had at least one AF episode stored in the ICM. On Holter monitoring, 24/63 (38%) patients did not show AF episodes, in 16 of them (16/24, 67%), the ICM confirmed the absence of AF. The AF detection sensitivity and positive predictive value for episodes' analysis were 95.4 and 76.3%, respectively. Conclusion Continuous monitoring using this novel device, equipped with a dedicated detection algorithm, yields an accurate and reliable detection of AF episodes. The ICM is a promising tool for tailoring individual AF patient management. Further long-term prospective studies are necessary to confirm these encouraging results

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements