Chapter Eat to remember. Gastronomical reconfigurations of hunger and imprisonment in contemporary Chinese literature

During the famine that befell China following the disaster of the Great Leap Forward, hunger was a major affliction for the individuals undergoing reform in the labor camps. Food – in terms of procurement, consumption, or just discursive recollection – was a central issue in the prisoners’ lives and, as a consequence, descriptions of meals and eating practices are a recurring presence in modern Chinese literary texts that revolve around carceral experiences. This contribution investigates three literary works that reconstruct personal experiences of imprisonment by way of eating: Wang Ruowang’s Hunger Trilogy (1980), Zhang Xianliang’s Mimosa (1984), and Yang Xianhui’s Chronicles of Jiabiangou (2003). In these texts, food becomes a privileged perspective through which look at how personal and collective memories are re-appropriated and re-elaborated, as well as to analyze how narratives of the past are consumed and produced

Emerging and Re-emerging Arboviral Diseases as a Global Health Problem

Newly emerging or re-emerging infections continue to pose significant global public health threats. This chapter provides an overview of the combinations of factors that led to the emergence of arthropod-borne viruses as human and veterinary health threats, in order to understand the risk associated and how this can be mitigated. Considering the history of emergence of some arboviruses, these epidemics have occurred globally as a result of climate and socioeconomic changes that have allowed the spread to new geographical areas of viruses previously confined to specific ecological niches such as West Nile and Chikungunya, or viruses considered under control such as Dengue, Japanese encephalitis, and Yellow fever. Moreover, the greatest risk for humans derives from the ability of these viruses to adopt transmission cycles involving highly anthropophilic mosquito species. Finally, many other arboviruses are largely ignored despite their potential to emerge globally. The recent epidemic spread of Zika virus throughout the Americas is the evidence that arboviruses are likely to continually emerge and re-emerge and that improved scientific technologies and knowledge is essential to deal with future vector-borne epidemics. Research priorities should therefore focus on surveillance systems and vector control tools, as well as on the development of antiviral molecules or candidate vaccine

Toxoplasma gondii in women of childbearing age and during pregnancy: seroprevalence study in Central and Southern Italy from 2013 to 2017

Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide health problem. Infection in pregnant women can result in severe fetal morbidity or in subclinical neonatal infection; most subclinical cases develop ocular and neurological sequelae. The purpose of this serological study was to assess the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in two populations of women of childbearing age in Siena (Tuscany, Central Italy) and Bari (Apulia, Southern Italy) between 2013 and 2017 and in a group of pregnant women in Bari in 2016-2017. Serum samples were tested for the presence of specific anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgG antibodies by a commercially available ELISA test. The percentage of seropositive subjects in Bari was significantly higher than in Siena (22.4% vs. 12.4%) and an age-related trend was observed. A low prevalence of T. gondii infection (13.8%) was observed among the pregnant women tested. In addition to showing a significant difference between Central and Southern Italy, this study provides updated data on T. gondii seroprevalence in women during childbearing age and pregnancy. The results confirm a trend toward a decrease, especially in younger people and pregnant women

Epidemiology of herpes simplex virus type 1 and 2 in Italy: a seroprevalence study over 15 years

Introduction: Herpes simplex viruses (HSV) are among the most widespread causative agents of human viral infections. HSV-2 is one of the commonest causes of genital disease, while HSV-1 is associated primarily with orolabial ulceration; however, recent changes in HSV epidemiology showed an increase in genital and neonatal herpes particularly caused by HSV-1. The main purpose of this study was to assess the seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 in a random population in Siena (central Italy) in 2000, 2005 and 2013-2014 and in Bari (southern Italy) in 2005. Moreover, a preliminary study was conducted to investigate the spread of HSV infection in a population of pregnant women and infants in Bari in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Methods: Human serum samples were tested for the presence of specific anti-HSV-1 and anti-HSV-2 IgG antibodies using a commercially available ELISA test. Results and conclusions: For the primary purpose, seroprevalence rates observed in Siena were compared over the years sampled and with the seroprevalence rate found in Bari. Results of seroprevalence in Siena show a decreased trend for both viruses, especially in adolescents and young adults; moreover, HSV-2 seroprevalence rates found in the two cities suggest geographical differences. For the secondary purpose, prevalence rates among pregnant women were compared with the seroprevalence found in women of the general population. No significant difference in prevalence rates were found among pregnant women, while results indicate both viruses are a source of infection in infants

Volume function for the tree farming English oak plantations of the Valdarno (Tuscany, Italy)

In the past centuries a notable reduction of lowland forests in Italy was detected as a result of the spreading of intensive agriculture and deforestation activities. According to the national forest inventory (INFC 2005) the English oak (Quercus robur L.) is mainly a scattered species and is distributed across 146,000 hectares of mixed forests. However this species has often been used in many national programs to recreate new woodlands in the lowlands as well as tree farming plantations. In the '80s, during the restoration program of the Santa Barbara mining area in the Municipality of Cavriglia (Valdarno, Tuscany), about 172 hectares of tree farming plantations were created with English oak. Due to the lack of a specific volume equation for Italian plantations a sampling campaign was carried out. The volume of 299 sample trees was measured using the Heyer formula and a volume equation was studied as a polynomial function of DBH and total height of trees. The final equation demonstrated to be quite robust with a RMSE of 0.0176 m3 corresponding to a relative RMSE of 10%

Elevated soluble receptor for advanced glycation end product levels in patients with acute coronary syndrome and positive cardiac troponin I

Objectives High levels of soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) have been shown to have an atheroprotective role; however, no data are available on this molecule in acute coronary syndromes (ACS). We evaluated sRAGE levels in patients with non-ST segment elevation ACS (NSTE-ACS) or with chronic stable angina. Methods We studied 265 patients, 190 of whom had NSTE-ACS and 75 had chronic stable angina. Results Plasma sRAGE values were comparable in the two groups (P= 0.19). However, in the patients with NSTEACS,sRAGE levels were significantly higher in patients with cardiac troponin-I (cTnI) of more than or equal to 0.04 lg/l compared with those with cTnI of less than 0.04 lg/l [758 pg/ml (493-1536 pg/ml) vs. 454 pg/ml (167-899 pg/ml); P = 0.0037]. A significant correlation(r= 0.323, P = 0.0045) was found between sRAGE and cTnI levels in patients with NSTE-ACS.Conclusion Plasma sRAGE levels are elevated in patients with NSTE-ACS with positive cTnI, suggesting that they could be related to myocardial cell damage

SARS-CoV-2 epidemiological trend before vaccination era: a seroprevalence study in Apulia, Southern Italy, in 2020

AimThe present study aimed at assessing the prevalence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in the general population in the province of Bari (Apulia region, Southern Italy) during the year 2020.Subject and methodsIn this study, 1325 serum samples collected from January to December 2020 were tested for the presence of IgM and IgG antibodies against whole-virus SARS-CoV-2 antigen by commercial ELISA. Positive samples were further tested by in-house ELISA for the detection of anti-receptor binding domain (RBD) IgM and IgG antibodies and by micro-neutralization (MN) assay for the detection of neutralizing antibody.ResultsOne hundred (7.55%) samples had the presence of at least one antibody class against SARS-CoV-2 by commercial ELISA, of which 88 (6.6%) showed IgG and 19 (1.4%) showed IgM antibodies. The proportion of samples with IgG antibodies increased from 1.9% in January-February to 9.6% in November-December, while no significant increase was observed for IgM. When tested by in-house ELISA and MN assay, 17.0% and 31.6% were found positive to RBD IgG and RBD IgM, respectively, while 12.0% showed neutralizing antibody.ConclusionThe proportion of samples with SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies increased during 2020, especially in the second half of the year, consistent with data reported by the routine epidemiological surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 cases. Despite the high number of reported cases, the seroprevalence values are relatively low, and only a small proportion of samples had neutralizing antibodies

In vitro virucidal activity of mouthwashes on SARS-CoV-2

Objectives: The objective of the study was to evaluate the in vitro virucidal activity of commercial mouthwashes against SARS-CoV-2 and variants of concern. Materials andMethods: Antiviral activity was assessed at different time intervals, based on common use of these products by titrating residual viral infectivity on Vero E6 cells.Results: All the mouthwashes were effective to reduce the infectious titers of SARS-CoV-2 and its tested variants. Mouthwashes Listerine (R) Cool Mint milder taste and Listerine (R) Cavity Protection milder taste reduced the infectious viral titer by up to 3.9 log10 after 30 s, while mouthwash Cetilsan (R) Sugar Free was able to reduce the viral titer by 2.2-2.9 log10 at all tested time intervals. Mouthwash Curasept (R) ADS DNA Intensive treatment was less effective to decrease viral infectivity (0.7-2.2 log10 TCID50/ml at all tested time intervals). Interestingly, the Gamma variant appeared more resistant to treatment in vitro with the different mouthwashes.Conclusions: In this study, we were able to assess the ability of different mouthwashes to in vitro decrease the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, and we observed that Gamma variant of concern was more resistant to treatment with mouthwashes. © 2022 The Author

Immunogenicity of Calvenza-03 EIV/EHV® Vaccine in Horses: Comparative In Vivo Study

Equine influenza (EI) is a highly contagious acute respiratory disease of equines that is caused mainly by the H3N8 subtype of influenza A virus. Vaccinating horses against EI is the most effective strategy to prevent the infection. The current study aimed to compare the kinetics of EI-specific humoral- and cell-mediated immunity (CMI) in horses receiving either identical or mixed vaccinations. Two groups of horses were previously (six months prior) vaccinated with either Calvenza 03 EIV EHV® (G1) or Fluvac Innovator® (G2) vaccine. Subsequently, both groups received a booster single dose of Calvenza 03 EIV EHV®. Immune responses were assessed after 10 weeks using single radial hemolysis (SRH), virus neutralization (VN), and EliSpot assays. Our results revealed that Calvenza-03 EIV/EHV®-immunized horses had significantly higher protective EI-specific SRH antibodies and VN antibodies. Booster immunization with Calvenza-03 EIV/EHV® vaccine significantly stimulated cell-mediated immune response as evidenced by significant increase in interferon-γ-secreting peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In conclusion, Calvenza-03 EIV/EHV® vaccine can be safely and effectively used for booster immunization to elicit optimal long persisting humoral and CMI responses even if the horses were previously immunized with a heterogeneous vaccine