Iodine uptake and distribution in horticultural and fruit tree species.

Iodine is an essential microelement for humans and iodine deficiency disorder (IDD) is one of the most widespread nutrient-deficiency diseases in the world. Iodine biofortification of plants provides an attractive opportunity to increase iodine intake in humans and to prevent and control IDD. This study was conducted to investigate the iodine uptake and accumulation in edible portion of two fruit trees: plum and nectarine, and two horticultural crops: tomato and potato. Two type of iodine treatments (soil and foliar spray application), and, for fresh market tomato, two production systems (open field and greenhouse hydroponic culture) were tested. The distribution of iodine in potato stem and leaves, and in plum tree fruits, leaves, and branches was investigated. Iodine content of potato tubers after postharvest storage and processing (cooking), and iodine content of nectarine fruits after postharvest storage and processing (peeling) were also determined. Differences in iodine accumulation were observed among the four crops, between applications, and between production systems. In open field, the maximum iodine content ranged from 9.5 and 14.3 \u3bcg 100 g 121 for plum and nectarine fruit, to 89.4 and 144.0 \u3bcg 100 g 121 for potato tuber and tomato fruit, respectively. These results showed that nectarine and plum tree accumulated significantly lower amounts of iodine in their edible tissues, in comparison with potato and tomato. The experiments also indicated hydroponic culture as the most efficient system for iodine uptake in tomato, since its fresh fruits accumulated up to 2423 \u3bcg 100 g 121 of iodine. Iodine was stored mainly in the leaves, in all species investigated. Only a small portion of iodine was moved to plum tree branches and fruits, and to potato stems and tubers. No differences in iodine content after fruit peeling was observed. A significant increase in iodine content of potato was observed after baking, whereas a significant decrease was observed after boiling. We concluded that iodine biofortified fresh market tomato salad, both from field and hydroponics cultivation, and baked potatoes can be considered as potential functional foods for IDD prevention

Haemato-oncology and burnout: an Italian survey

This cross-sectional survey aimed to evaluate the prevalence of burnout and estimated psychiatric disorders among haemato-oncology healthcare professionals in Italy. The aspects of work that respondents perceive as stressful and satisfying have also been examined. The assessments were made using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), General Health Questionnaire and a study-specific questionnaire. Logistic regression models were applied to show associations between different sources of work-related stress and burnout. Three hundred and eighty-seven out of 440 (87.95%) returned their questionnaires. The scores on MBI subscales indicate a high level of emotional exhaustion in 32.2% of the physicians and 31.9% of the nurses; a high level of Depersonalisation in 29.8 and 23.6%, respectively; and a low level of personal accomplishment in 12.4 and 15.3% respectively. The estimated prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 36.4% in physicians and 28.8% in nurses. Statistical analysis confirmed age, sex, personal dissatisfaction, physical tiredness and working with demanding patients to be associated with burnout. In conclusion, haemato-oncology healthcare professionals report a level of burnout and estimated psychiatric morbidity comparable to other oncological areas. Knowledge of the mechanisms of burnout and preventing and dealing with them is therefore a fundamental requirement for the improvement of quality in health services and job satisfaction

Environmental, Social and Economic Resilience in Multi-Residential Buildings: Assessing SBToolCZ Rating System

Sustainable Building Tool for the Czech Republic (SBToolCZ) is the Czech national green building rating system that encourages the design of sustainable buildings by incentivising reductions in energy, water, and building materials consumption, as well as improving occupant health and community connections. In addition to reducing the overall environmental impacts, certified green buildings must also be resilient enough to withstand external stressors, most frequently the symptoms of climatic change that may arise throughout the building's lifetime. Therefore, a resilient building should be capable of adapting and remaining functional under the pressure of more frequent and severe challenges. The purpose of this study is to examine where the SBToolCZ certification system has inherent overlaps with the topics of resilience, considering the environmental, social and economic factors relevant to Central European contexts. This is accomplished by comparing the criteria of this certification system with the most accepted principles of resilient design that have emerged from the international resilience rating systems or guidelines. A number of synergistic opportunities, as well as improvements for better integrating resilient design into the SBToolCZ framework and, therefore, into green construction, are discussed to implement existing criteria or propose supplementary ones. A key component of implementing resilience for multi-residential buildings is the SBToolCZ Site category, which is key to addressing the unique regional needs of each project and should be integrated with resilience-enhancement indicators. Finally, climate projections should be used instead of historical climate data at an early design stage to improve the resilience of the building

Major european stressors and potential of available tools for assessment of urban and buildings resilience

Recent data show that there are intensifications of phenomena related to climate change, such as the increasing of heavy rains, more frequent and intense droughts connected with fires, and alterations of the local climatic conditions, including heat islands with consequent impacts on cities, districts, and buildings. Not only are natural hazards stressing Europe but also human-induced events like low-magnitude earthquakes as a direct cause of fracking or mining. This study aimed to investigate the significant stressors and summarize what impact is the most dangerous in each European country. There is a need to secure the operating conditions of urban infrastructures and to preserve a high-quality indoor environment of buildings. The main scope of this paper is to compare selected tools that evaluate the urban and building resilience and to assess their suitability, based on an analysis of natural and human-induced hazards in the European countries. The results represent a contribution to urban and architectural planning practice, and to the consistent implementation of measures to improve the resilience of the built environment by providing guidance as to which assessment tool is most suitable for each country

Selective regulation of recombinantly expressed mGlu7 metabotropic glutamate receptors by G protein-coupled receptor kinases and arrestins

mGlu7 receptors are coupled to Gi/Go-proteins and activate multiple transduction pathways, including inhibition of adenylyl cyclase activity and stimulation of ERK1/2 and JNK pathways. mGlu7 receptors play an important role in cognition and emotion and are involved in stress-related disorders such as anxiety and depression and in susceptibility to convulsive seizures. In spite of these potential clinical implications, little is known on the mechanisms that regulate mGlu7-receptor signaling. Here we show that mGlu7 receptor-dependent signaling pathways were regulated in a complementary manner by different GRK subtypes, with GRK4 affecting the adenylyl cyclase and the JNK pathways, and GRK2 selectively affecting the ERK1/2 pathway. Additionally we found that the two isoforms of non-visual arrestins, i.e. β-arrestin1 and β-arrestin2, exerted opposite effects on mGlu7-receptor signaling, with β-arrestin1 positively modulating ERK1/2 and inhibiting JNK, and β-arrestin2 doing the opposite. This represents a remarkable example of "reciprocal regulation" of receptor signaling by the two isoforms of β-arrestin. Finally we found that β-arrestin1 amplified mGlu7 receptor-dependent ERK1/2 activation in response to L-AP4 (an orthosteric agonist), but not in response to AMN082 (an atypical mGlu7-receptor allosteric agonist). The different effect of β-arrestin1 on L-AP4- and AMN082-stimulated ERK1/2 phosphorylation is in line with the emerging concept of β-arrestin-biased agonists. The present study may open new perspectives in elucidating the physio-pathological roles of the mGlu7 receptor and may provide new insights for the possibility to develop specific (biased) agonists that can selectively activate different signaling pathways

Selective regulation of recombinantly expressed mGlu7 metabotropic glutamate receptors by G protein-coupled receptor kinases and arrestins

mGlu7 receptors are coupled to Gi/Go-proteins and activate multiple transduction pathways, including inhibition of adenylyl cyclase activity and stimulation of ERK1/2 and JNK pathways. mGlu7 receptors play an important role in cognition and emotion and are involved in stress-related disorders such as anxiety and depression and in susceptibility to convulsive seizures. In spite of these potential clinical implications, little is known on the mechanisms that regulate mGlu7-receptor signaling. Here we show that mGlu7 receptor-dependent signaling pathways were regulated in a complementary manner by different GRK subtypes, with GRK4 affecting the adenylyl cyclase and the JNK pathways, and GRK2 selectively affecting the ERK1/2 pathway. Additionally we found that the two isoforms of non-visual arrestins, i.e. β-arrestin1 and β-arrestin2, exerted opposite effects on mGlu7-receptor signaling, with β-arrestin1 positively modulating ERK1/2 and inhibiting JNK, and β-arrestin2 doing the opposite. This represents a remarkable example of "reciprocal regulation" of receptor signaling by the two isoforms of β-arrestin. Finally we found that β-arrestin1 amplified mGlu7 receptor-dependent ERK1/2 activation in response to L-AP4 (an orthosteric agonist), but not in response to AMN082 (an atypical mGlu7-receptor allosteric agonist). The different effect of β-arrestin1 on L-AP4- and AMN082-stimulated ERK1/2 phosphorylation is in line with the emerging concept of β-arrestin-biased agonists. The present study may open new perspectives in elucidating the physio-pathological roles of the mGlu7 receptor and may provide new insights for the possibility to develop specific (biased) agonists that can selectively activate different signaling pathways

Review of methods for the combined assessment of seismic resilience and energy efficiency towards sustainable retrofitting of existing European buildings

Sustainable retrofitting of existing buildings is a prerequisite for achieving climatic and energy objectives in the EU. Thus, practical tools supporting the evaluation and decision-making process when planning retrofit interventions are required. In specific areas, in addition to energy efficiency, the improvement in building resilience to natural hazards is requested; in several European regions, seismicity poses a significant hazard. This study aims to analyse the state-of-the-art of the integrated methods for the implementation of structural and energy retrofitting. The work consists of reviewing available tools, international sustainability protocols, and methods specifically developed for combined energy and seismic assessment. In the first group of methods, assessment is independently referred to specific criteria for energy performance and seismic safety, quantified according to available codes. Besides, in a second group, integrated evaluation is achieved considering ‘equivalent’ initial or life-cycle costs associated with energy consumption and seismic vulnerability. The collected methods were evaluated for qualitative requirements for optimal integration, such as multidisciplinary, life-cycle approaches, and other indicators. Finally, a critical evaluation is provided, highlighting what can be used for future developments toward a sustainable and resilient retrofitting of existing European buildings

Multi-Objective Blended Ensemble for Highly Imbalanced Sequence Aware Tweet Engagement Prediction

In this paper we provide a description of the methods we used as team BanaNeverAlone for the ACM RecSys Challenge 2020, organized by Twitter. The challenge addresses the problem of user engagement prediction: the goal is to predict the probability of a user engagement (Like, Reply, Retweet or Retweet with comment), based on a series of past interactions on the Twitter platform. Our proposed solution relies on several features that we extracted from the original dataset, as well as on consolidated models, such as gradient boosting for decision trees and neural networks. The ensemble model, built using blending, and a multi-objective optimization allowed our team to rank in position 4

Weekly alternate intensive regimen FIrB/FOx in metastatic colorectal cancer patients: an update from clinical practice

Background: Several trials evaluated the role of intensive regimens, made of triplet chemotherapies plus bevacizumab, as first-line treatment for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). We previously reported, in a Phase II prospective study, the efficacy and the tolerability of FIrB/FOx regimen, reporting interesting results in terms of received dose intensities (rDIs) and safety. Methods: We reported a retrospective update of 85 patients treated with FIrB/FOx, an intensive regimen of 5-fluorouracil, bevacizumab, and weekly alternate irinotecan and oxaliplatin, to confirm its feasibility in \u201creal life\u201d. Subgroup analyses were performed, particularly among patients treated with standard and modified FIrB/FOx (based on age, performance status, and/or comorbidities). Results: Overall, 3-month objective response rate (ORR) and 6-month ORR were 75.9% and 55.3%, respectively. Median progression-free survival (PFS) and median overall survival (OS) were 14.4 and 34.9 months, respectively. Among the patients treated with standard and modified regimens, 3-month ORR, PFS, and OS were 75.8% and 76% (P=1.0000), 14.4 and 14.4 months (P=0.8589), and 37.8 and 26.6 months (P=0.7746), respectively. Among the K/NRAS wild-type and K/NRAS mutant patients, 3-month ORR, PFS, and OS were 95.2% and 74.5% (P=0.0526), 15.3 and 14.4 months (P=0.8753), and 37.8 and 51.4 months (P=0.8527), respectively. The rDIs were 6580% of full doses both in the standard and in the modified regimens subgroups. Cumulative G3/4 toxicities were neutropenia (14.1%), diarrhea (17.6%), asthenia (9.4%), vomiting (5.6%), and hypertension (16.5%). Conclusion: This update shows that intensive regimens such as FIrB/FOx are also feasible options for first-line treatment of mCRC patients in the \u201creal-life\u201d setting