Traditional farmers’ varieties: a valuable source of genetic variability for biofortification programs

Several studies underlined the superiority from a nutritional point of view of ancient varieties. In the last years the interest for landraces has been growing, for this reason preservation and valorisation of these genetic sources is very important. In particular these varieties are source of precious genetic variability interesting from a scientific point of view to preserve biodiversity but also for biofortification programs aimed to support small rural communities, where the particular maize germplasm has been developed. In this work we characterized from the nutritional point of view 13 ancient Italian varieties and one coming from Spain (Millo Corvo). In this pre-breeding work we demonstrate the nutritional superiority of ancient varieties if compared with modern hybrids. In particular Spinato di Gandino is the best variety for milling properties and for oil, protein, and total phosphorus content; Storo is the best variety for calorific value and for carotenoids and free phosphorus content. Using these varieties in the next future we will start a bio-fortification program aimed to obtain new populations with improved yields and high nutritional value

Performance Assessment of the LIAISON\uae SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Assay On Nasopharyngeal Swabs

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is ongoing worldwide, causing prolonged pressure on molecular diagnostics. Viral antigen (Ag) assays have several advantages, ranging from lower cost to shorter turnaround time to detection. Given the rare occurrence of low-load viremia, antigen assays for SARS-CoV-2 have focused on nasopharyngeal swab and saliva as biological matrices, but their effectiveness must be validated. We assayed here the performances of the novel quantitative Liaison\uae SARS-CoV-2 Ag assay on 119 nasopharyngeal swabs and obtained results were compared with Hologic Panther and Abbott m2000 RT-qPCR. The Ag assay demonstrated a good correlation with viral load, shorter turnaround time, and favorable economics. The best performance was obtained in the acute phase of disease

PEPCE: proyecto de educación popular en contextos de encierro

El PEPCE es un proyecto de extensión y voluntariado universitario perteneciente a la FaHCE iniciado en el año 2008. Su principal objetivo es beneficiar niños, jóvenes y adultos en situación de encierro. Se trabaja con un equipo interdisciplinario, que involucra docentes y alumnos/as de las carreras de Educación Física, Ciencias de la Educación, Psicología, Bellas Artes y Derecho, en diversas instituciones de la Región: Hogar Materno infantil "Arrullos", Hospital Especializado "Ramos Mejía", Unidades Nº 18 y Nº 33 de Gorina; Hospital Neuropsiquiátrico "Alejandro Korn" de Melchor Romero; Casa de abrigo La Plata; Unidad Nº 33 de los Hornos, Unidad Nº 1 de Olmos, Instituto de niños "Rivadavia". Estas instituciones de encierro, presentan una población caracterizada por su vulnerabilidad, con un déficit estructural educativo, con consecuencias en su desempeño intelectual y social. A su vez, tienen la necesidad de ocupar el tiempo libre en actividades creativas y de socialización con la comunidad. Llevando a cabo talleres donde se realizan prácticas recreativas, deportivas y artísticas abordamos dichas problemáticas. Con estos espacios alternativos apostamos a subjetivar a personas allí donde el circuito institucional de encierro ha dejado sus marcas. El arte, el movimiento, el uso del tiempo libre permiten convertirse en puertas de entrada para el rescate de subjetividades neutralizadas por la homogeneización que provoca la institución total.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

PEPCE: proyecto de educación popular en contextos de encierro

El PEPCE es un proyecto de extensión y voluntariado universitario perteneciente a la FaHCE iniciado en el año 2008. Su principal objetivo es beneficiar niños, jóvenes y adultos en situación de encierro. Se trabaja con un equipo interdisciplinario, que involucra docentes y alumnos/as de las carreras de Educación Física, Ciencias de la Educación, Psicología, Bellas Artes y Derecho, en diversas instituciones de la Región: Hogar Materno infantil "Arrullos", Hospital Especializado "Ramos Mejía", Unidades Nº 18 y Nº 33 de Gorina; Hospital Neuropsiquiátrico "Alejandro Korn" de Melchor Romero; Casa de abrigo La Plata; Unidad Nº 33 de los Hornos, Unidad Nº 1 de Olmos, Instituto de niños "Rivadavia". Estas instituciones de encierro, presentan una población caracterizada por su vulnerabilidad, con un déficit estructural educativo, con consecuencias en su desempeño intelectual y social. A su vez, tienen la necesidad de ocupar el tiempo libre en actividades creativas y de socialización con la comunidad. Llevando a cabo talleres donde se realizan prácticas recreativas, deportivas y artísticas abordamos dichas problemáticas. Con estos espacios alternativos apostamos a subjetivar a personas allí donde el circuito institucional de encierro ha dejado sus marcas. El arte, el movimiento, el uso del tiempo libre permiten convertirse en puertas de entrada para el rescate de subjetividades neutralizadas por la homogeneización que provoca la institución total.Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Characteristics and patterns of care of endometrial cancer before and during COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has correlated with the disruption of screening activities and diagnostic assessments. Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the most common gynecological malignancies and it is often detected at an early stage, because it frequently produces symptoms. Here, we aim to investigate the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on patterns of presentation and treatment of EC patients. Methods: This is a retrospective study involving 54 centers in Italy. We evaluated patterns of presentation and treatment of EC patients before (period 1: March 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020) and during (period 2: April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021) the COVID-19 outbreak. Results: Medical records of 5,164 EC patients have been retrieved: 2,718 and 2,446 women treated in period 1 and period 2, respectively. Surgery was the mainstay of treatment in both periods (p=0.356). Nodal assessment was omitted in 689 (27.3%) and 484 (21.2%) patients treated in period 1 and 2, respectively (p<0.001). While, the prevalence of patients undergoing sentinel node mapping (with or without backup lymphadenectomy) has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic (46.7% in period 1 vs. 52.8% in period 2; p<0.001). Overall, 1,280 (50.4%) and 1,021 (44.7%) patients had no adjuvant therapy in period 1 and 2, respectively (p<0.001). Adjuvant therapy use has increased during COVID-19 pandemic (p<0.001). Conclusion: Our data suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the characteristics and patterns of care of EC patients. These findings highlight the need to implement healthcare services during the pandemic

Fluoroalkylsilanes with Embedded Functional Groups as Building Blocks for Environmentally Safer Self-Assembled Monolayers

The fabrication of silane-based fluorinated self-assembled monolayers (FSAMs) on indium tin oxide (ITO, a transparent electrode) was carried out making use of the following fluoroalkylsilanes (FAS): 2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,6-undecafluoro-N-[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]hexanamide (1; RF = C5F11) and 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4,4-nonafluoro-N-[3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]butane-1-sulfonamide (2; RF = C4F9), containing an embedded amide and a sulfonamide group, respectively, between the short perfluoroalkyl chain (RF with C < 6) and the syloxanic moiety. The obtained FSAM-modified/ITO systems were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), contact angle (CA), surface energy measurements, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and compared to ITO modified with a 3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8-tridecafluorooctyltriethoxysilane (3; RF = C6F13), with the perfluoroalkyl group linked to the syloxanic moiety through a simple hydrocarbon chain. The results obtained show that the presence of the 12NHCO\u2013 and 12NHSO2\u2013 groups have a different mode of action and, with the former, despite the short perfluoroalkyl chain, the ITO\u20131 system presents a CA (\u398water = 113.5\ub0) and surface energy (\u3b3l = 14.0 mJ m\u20132) typical of amphiphobic materials. These properties can be exploited in a variety of applications, such as self-cleaning, anti-fouling, and anti-fingerprint coatings, and in advanced microelectronic components

Gold nanoparticles-decorated fluoroalkylsilane nano-assemblies for electrocatalytic applications.

Metal/organosilane/oxide sandwich structures were prepared via a two-step self-assembly method.First, indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates were functionalized with the following fluoroalkylsilanes (FAS):RFC(O)N(H)(CH2)3Si(OMe)3(1, RF= C5F11), containing an embedded amide between the perfluoroalkylchain and the syloxanic moiety, and RF(CH2)2Si(OEt)3(2, RF= C6F13). Subsequently, Au nanoparticles(AuNPs) introduction in the obtained systems was carried out by controlled immersion into a solution ofcitrate-stabilized AuNPs. The physico-chemical properties of the target materials were thoroughly inves-tigated by using various complementary techniques. Finally, the application of such systems as catalystsfor methanol electro-oxidation under alkaline conditions was investigated, revealing the synergisticalrole played by FAS and AuNPsin promoting a remarkable electrocatalytic activity