Biophotons and emergence of quantum coherence : a diffusion entropy analysis

We study the emission of photons from germinating seeds using an experimental technique designed to detect light of extremely small intensity. We analyze the dark count signal without germinating seeds as well as the photon emission during the germination process. The technique of analysis adopted here, called diffusion entropy analysis (DEA) and originally designed to measure the temporal complexity of astrophysical, sociological and physiological processes, rests on Kolmogorov complexity. The updated version of DEA used in this paper is designed to determine if the signal complexity is generated either by non-ergodic crucial events with a non-stationary correlation function or by the infinite memory of a stationary but non-integrable correlation function or by a mixture of both processes. We find that dark count yields the ordinary scaling, thereby showing that no complexity of either kinds may occur without any seeds in the chamber. In the presence of seeds in the chamber anomalous scaling emerges, reminiscent of that found in neuro-physiological processes. However, this is a mixture of both processes and with the progress of germination the non-ergodic component tends to vanish and complexity becomes dominated by the stationary infinite memory. We illustrate some conjectures ranging from stress induced annihilation of crucial events to the emergence of quantum coherence

A founder MLH1 mutation in families from the districts of Modena and Reggio-Emilia in northern Italy with hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer associated with protein elongation and instability.

no abstrac

Collaborative peer validation of a harmonized SPME-GC-MS method for analysis of selected volatile compounds in virgin olive oils [intervalidazione di un metodo armonizzato SPME-GC-MS per l¿analisi di composti volatili selezionati in oli di oliva vergini]

Final version is available in open access in publisher’s site.-- This abstract is based on the published article: Ramón Aparicio-Ruiz, Clemente Ortiz Romero, Enrico Casadei, Diego L. García-González, Maurizio Servili, Roberto Selvaggini, Florence Lacoste, Julien Escobessa, Stefania Vichi, Beatriz Quintanilla-Casas, Pierre-Alain Golay, Paolo Lucci, Erica Moret, Enrico Valli, Alessandra Bendini, Tullia Gallina Toschi. Collaborative peer validation of a harmonized SPME-GC-MS method for analysis of selected volatile compounds in virgin olive oils, Food Control, Volume 135, 2022, 108756, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2021.108756.-- http://hdl.handle.net/10261/258960The evaluation of the sensory attributes in virgin olive oil (VOO) is carried out according to the standard method of panel test [1, 2]. Recently, it has been proposed as SPME-GC-FID method as the most ade- quate instrumental method to determine volatiles compounds in VOO to support the sensory panels test [3]. This method developed in the European funded project OLEUM, in which all the variables have been defined and harmonized, has been tested in three laboratories to perform an inter-laboratory validation of the quantification of the most relevant VOCs that are responsible for VOO sensory attributes. The valida- tion study was carried out for each one of the selected molecules in order to have an individual infor- mation for each analyte. With the same objective, in the present work, five laboratories, all being active partners in the OLEUM project, carried out an inter-lab evaluation of the SPME-GC-MS joint protocol. The validation was carried out by each laboratory following the same analytical conditions and on the same samples, in order to make the results obtained by each laboratory comparable in a harmonized procedure and methodology, as previously done with FID [3]

Involvement of MBD4 inactivation in mismatch repair-deficient tumorigenesis

The DNA glycosylase gene MBD4 safeguards genomic stability at CpG sites and is frequently mutated at coding poly-A tracks in mismatch repair (MMR)-defective colorectal tumors (CRC). Mbd4 biallelic inactivation in mice provided conflicting results as to its role in tumorigenesis. Thus, it is unclear whether MBD4 alterations are only secondary to MMR defects without functional consequences or can contribute to the mutator phenotype. We investigated MBD4 variants in a large series of hereditary/familial and sporadic CRC cases. Whereas MBD4 frameshifts were only detected in tumors, missense variants were found in both normal and tumor DNA. In CRC with double-MBD4/MMR and single-MBD4 variants, transition mutation frequency was increased, indicating that MBD4 defects may affect the mutational landscape independently of MMR defect. Mbd4-deficient mice showed reduced survival when combined with Mlh1−/− genotype. Taken together, these data suggest that MBD4 inactivation may contribute to tumorigenesis, acting as a modifier of MMR-deficient cancer phenotype

Multianalyte analysis of volatile compounds in virgin olive oils using SPME-GC with FID or MS detection: results of an international interlaboratory validation

13 Páginas.-- 6 tablasThe organoleptic assessment (Panel test) is the only procedure within the official methods for determining the quality of virgin olive oils that involves an expert panel. There is an urgent need for analytical methodology that can reliably measure volatile compounds in virgin olive oils that is capable of supporting and anticipating the official Panel test. For this reason, a new method based on solid-phase microextraction–gas chromatography with the choice of two possible detectors (FID or MS) was subjected to a large international interlaboratory validation study. The study involved a two-stage process: first, a pretrial phase in which 7 participants were exposed to the method for the first time to identify any initial problems with the methodology; then, a formal validation stage (trial proper), which involved 20 laboratories from Europe, USA, Japan and China. The performance of the different detectors was investigated. While both methods have advantages, the method using FID provided better results for 11 compounds, in terms of reproducibility, compared to MS. This information will allow to implement the method with accurate information of the method performance depending on the detector used. Practical applications: This study provides information from an interlaboratory validation of a method for measuring volatile compounds in virgin olive oils conducted with laboratories (from industry and academia) working in the olive oil sector. The information on the expected analytical errors in the determination of each volatile compound is necessary to apply this method for supporting the official Panel test (sensory analysis). The SPME-GC-MS/FID methods proposed in this work can be used for the internal quality control of a company/distributor/quality control laboratory and could also be used in cases of difficult/contradictory organoleptic assessment, or to confirm results from sensory panels in cases of disputes/disagreement (Reg. EU 2022/2105).Horizon 2020 European Research European Commission within the Horizon 2020 Programme (2014–2020). Grant Number: 635690Peer reviewe

Prescription appropriateness of anti-diabetes drugs in elderly patients hospitalized in a clinical setting: evidence from the REPOSI Register

Diabetes is an increasing global health burden with the highest prevalence (24.0%) observed in elderly people. Older diabetic adults have a greater risk of hospitalization and several geriatric syndromes than older nondiabetic adults. For these conditions, special care is required in prescribing therapies including anti- diabetes drugs. Aim of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness and the adherence to safety recommendations in the prescriptions of glucose-lowering drugs in hospitalized elderly patients with diabetes. Data for this cross-sectional study were obtained from the REgistro POliterapie-Società Italiana Medicina Interna (REPOSI) that collected clinical information on patients aged ≥ 65 years acutely admitted to Italian internal medicine and geriatric non-intensive care units (ICU) from 2010 up to 2019. Prescription appropriateness was assessed according to the 2019 AGS Beers Criteria and anti-diabetes drug data sheets.Among 5349 patients, 1624 (30.3%) had diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. At admission, 37.7% of diabetic patients received treatment with metformin, 37.3% insulin therapy, 16.4% sulfonylureas, and 11.4% glinides. Surprisingly, only 3.1% of diabetic patients were treated with new classes of anti- diabetes drugs. According to prescription criteria, at admission 15.4% of patients treated with metformin and 2.6% with sulfonylureas received inappropriately these treatments. At discharge, the inappropriateness of metformin therapy decreased (10.2%, P < 0.0001). According to Beers criteria, the inappropriate prescriptions of sulfonylureas raised to 29% both at admission and at discharge. This study shows a poor adherence to current guidelines on diabetes management in hospitalized elderly people with a high prevalence of inappropriate use of sulfonylureas according to the Beers criteria

Analysis of disaccharidase activity of the amniotic fluid for the early prenatal diagnosis of abnormalities of patency and motility of the fetal intestine.

Sono state dosate sette attivit\ue0 disaccaridasiche (maItasi, saccarasi, trealasi, palatinasi , turanasi , lattasi e cellobiasi) in 124 campionii di liquido amniotico, ottenuti mediante amniocentesi transaddominali eseguite da 116 gravide tra la 14 e la 39 settimana gestazionale. Le attivit\ue0 enzimatiche presentano i valori pi\uf9 elevati fra la 16 e la 18 settimana gestazionale, e decrescono fra la 19 e la 23 settimana gestazionale; tutte le attivit\ue0 di saccaridasiche, sono risultate strettamente correlate fra loro. Un feto con onfalocele ed atresia intestinale e tre feti con anencefalia hanno presentato attivit\ue0 enzimatiche inferiori a - 2 Deviazioni Standard dalla media o inferiori al pi\uf9 basso dei valori normali riscontrato nei controlli di pari et\ue0 gestazionate. Gli Autori confermano l'utilit\ue0 del dosaggio delle disaccaridasi nel liquido amniotico per la diagnosi prenatale delle alterazioni della perviet\ue0 emotilit\ue0 intestinale; sottolineano che la massima attendibilit\ue0 del test \ue8 compresa tra la 15 e la 19 settimana gestazionale, e ritengono necessari ulteriori studi nei campioni di li quido amniotico prelevati fra la 19 e la 23 settimana gestazionale, allo scopo di definire con esattezza i l periodo di gravidanza in cui i risultat di tale test sono attendibili. Per ultimo propongono che la determinazione sia limitata a sole quattro attivit\ue0 disaccaridasiche (maltasi, trealas, turanasi e lattasi)