Geological Field Trips

This field trip guide organized in the framework of the Goldschmidt Conference 2013, held in Florence from August 25 to 30, 2013, is here presented. The two-days field trip, shows some of the many geological, naturalistic and cultural features in the Fiorano area (Modena), in which history, geology and passion for Ferrari come together in a perfect marriage. The first excursion day is dedicated to visit the Natural Reserve of Salse di Nirano, where the mud volcanoes, produced by the cold mud, salt water and hydrocarbons - mainly methane- can be observed. The second day is devoted to visit the Ferrari Museum and goes on at the Spezzano Castle, hosting the Ceramics Museum. Clays are, in fact, abundant in the hilly margin, where they form badlands, characteristic narrow crests washed out by running waters. In the Castle there is also a Balsamic Vinegar producing Consortium, it’s a peculiar and typical product of Modena province. The itinerary ends with the tour to Enzo Ferrari’s Birthplace at Modena

Common genetic variation in adiponectin, leptin, and leptin receptor and association with breast cancer subtypes

Adipocytokines are produced by visceral fat, and levels may be associated with breast cancer risk. We investigated whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in adipocytokine genes adiponectin (ADIPOQ), leptin (LEP), and the leptin receptor (LEPR) were associated with basal-like or luminal A breast cancer subtypes. 104 candidate and tag SNPs were genotyped in 1776 of 2022 controls and 1972 (200 basal-like, 679 luminal A) of 2311 cases from the Carolina Breast Cancer Study (CBCS), a population-based case–control study of whites and African Americans. Breast cancer molecular subtypes were determined by immunohistochemistry. Genotype odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression. Haplotype ORs and 95% CIs were estimated using Hapstat. Interactions with waist-hip ratio were evaluated using a multiplicative interaction term. Ancestry was estimated from 144 ancestry informative markers (AIMs), and included in models to control for population stratification. Candidate SNPs LEPR K109R (rs1137100) and LEPR Q223R (rs1137101) were positively associated with luminal A breast cancer, whereas ADIPOQ +45 T/G (rs2241766), ADIPOQ +276 G/T (rs1501299), and LEPR K656N (rs8129183) were not associated with either subtype. Few patterns were observed among tag SNPs, with the exception of 3 LEPR SNPs (rs17412175, rs9436746, and rs9436748) that were in moderate LD and inversely associated with basal-like breast cancer. However, no SNP associations were statistically significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons. Haplotypes in LEP and LEPR were associated with both basal-like and luminal A subtypes. There was no evidence of interaction with waist-hip ratio. Data suggest associations between LEPR candidate SNPs and luminal A breast cancer in the CBCS and LEPR intron 2 tag SNPs and basal-like breast cancer. Replication in additional studies where breast cancer subtypes have been defined is necessary to confirm these potential associations

Cognitive and psychiatric symptom trajectories 2–3 years after hospital admission for COVID-19: a longitudinal, prospective cohort study in the UK

Background: COVID-19 is known to be associated with increased risks of cognitive and psychiatric outcomes after the acute phase of disease. We aimed to assess whether these symptoms can emerge or persist more than 1 year after hospitalisation for COVID-19, to identify which early aspects of COVID-19 illness predict longer-term symptoms, and to establish how these symptoms relate to occupational functioning. Methods: The Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study (PHOSP-COVID) is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of adults (aged ≥18 years) who were hospitalised with a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 at participating National Health Service hospitals across the UK. In the C-Fog study, a subset of PHOSP-COVID participants who consented to be recontacted for other research were invited to complete a computerised cognitive assessment and clinical scales between 2 years and 3 years after hospital admission. Participants completed eight cognitive tasks, covering eight cognitive domains, from the Cognitron battery, in addition to the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire for depression, the Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale, the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Fatigue Scale, and the 20-item Cognitive Change Index (CCI-20) questionnaire to assess subjective cognitive decline. We evaluated how the absolute risks of symptoms evolved between follow-ups at 6 months, 12 months, and 2–3 years, and whether symptoms at 2–3 years were predicted by earlier aspects of COVID-19 illness. Participants completed an occupation change questionnaire to establish whether their occupation or working status had changed and, if so, why. We assessed which symptoms at 2–3 years were associated with occupation change. People with lived experience were involved in the study. Findings: 2469 PHOSP-COVID participants were invited to participate in the C-Fog study, and 475 participants (191 [40·2%] females and 284 [59·8%] males; mean age 58·26 [SD 11·13] years) who were discharged from one of 83 hospitals provided data at the 2–3-year follow-up. Participants had worse cognitive scores than would be expected on the basis of their sociodemographic characteristics across all cognitive domains tested (average score 0·71 SD below the mean [IQR 0·16–1·04]; p<0·0001). Most participants reported at least mild depression (263 [74·5%] of 353), anxiety (189 [53·5%] of 353), fatigue (220 [62·3%] of 353), or subjective cognitive decline (184 [52·1%] of 353), and more than a fifth reported severe depression (79 [22·4%] of 353), fatigue (87 [24·6%] of 353), or subjective cognitive decline (88 [24·9%] of 353). Depression, anxiety, and fatigue were worse at 2–3 years than at 6 months or 12 months, with evidence of both worsening of existing symptoms and emergence of new symptoms. Symptoms at 2–3 years were not predicted by the severity of acute COVID-19 illness, but were strongly predicted by the degree of recovery at 6 months (explaining 35·0–48·8% of the variance in anxiety, depression, fatigue, and subjective cognitive decline); by a biocognitive profile linking acutely raised D-dimer relative to C-reactive protein with subjective cognitive deficits at 6 months (explaining 7·0–17·2% of the variance in anxiety, depression, fatigue, and subjective cognitive decline); and by anxiety, depression, fatigue, and subjective cognitive deficit at 6 months. Objective cognitive deficits at 2–3 years were not predicted by any of the factors tested, except for cognitive deficits at 6 months, explaining 10·6% of their variance. 95 of 353 participants (26·9% [95% CI 22·6–31·8]) reported occupational change, with poor health being the most common reason for this change. Occupation change was strongly and specifically associated with objective cognitive deficits (odds ratio [OR] 1·51 [95% CI 1·04–2·22] for every SD decrease in overall cognitive score) and subjective cognitive decline (OR 1·54 [1·21–1·98] for every point increase in CCI-20). Interpretation: Psychiatric and cognitive symptoms appear to increase over the first 2–3 years post-hospitalisation due to both worsening of symptoms already present at 6 months and emergence of new symptoms. New symptoms occur mostly in people with other symptoms already present at 6 months. Early identification and management of symptoms might therefore be an effective strategy to prevent later onset of a complex syndrome. Occupation change is common and associated mainly with objective and subjective cognitive deficits. Interventions to promote cognitive recovery or to prevent cognitive decline are therefore needed to limit the functional and economic impacts of COVID-19. Funding: National Institute for Health and Care Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, Wolfson Foundation, MQ Mental Health Research, MRC-UK Research and Innovation, and National Institute for Health and Care Research.</p