GloNets: Globally Connected Neural Networks

Deep learning architectures suffer from depth-related performance degradation, limiting the effective depth of neural networks. Approaches like ResNet are able to mitigate this, but they do not completely eliminate the problem. We introduce Globally Connected Neural Networks (GloNet), a novel architecture overcoming depth-related issues, designed to be superimposed on any model, enhancing its depth without increasing complexity or reducing performance. With GloNet, the network's head uniformly receives information from all parts of the network, regardless of their level of abstraction. This enables GloNet to self-regulate information flow during training, reducing the influence of less effective deeper layers, and allowing for stable training irrespective of network depth. This paper details GloNet's design, its theoretical basis, and a comparison with existing similar architectures. Experiments show GloNet's self-regulation ability and resilience to depth-related learning challenges, like performance degradation. Our findings suggest GloNet as a strong alternative to traditional architectures like ResNets

Characterization of the Volatile Profile of Cultivated and Wild-Type Italian Celery (Apium graveolens L.) Varieties by HS-SPME/GC-MS

Celery (Apium graveolens L.) is a vegetable belonging to the Apiaceae family that is widely used for its distinct flavor and contains a variety of bioactive metabolites with healthy properties. Some celery ecotypes cultivated in specific territories of Italy have recently attracted the attention of consumers and scientists because of their peculiar sensorial and nutritional properties. In this work, the volatile profiles of white celery "Sedano Bianco di Sperlonga" Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) ecotype, black celery "Sedano Nero di Torricella Peligna" and wild-type celery were investigated using head-space solid-phase microextraction combined with gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (HS-SPME/GC-MS) and compared to that of the common ribbed celery. Exploratory multivariate statistical analyses were conducted using principal component analysis (PCA) on HS-SPME/GC-MS patterns, separately collected from celery leaves and petioles, to assess similarity/dissimilarity in the flavor composition of the investigated varieties. PCA revealed a clear differentiation of wild-type celery from the cultivated varieties. Among the cultivated varieties, black celery "Sedano Nero di Torricella Peligna" exhibited a significantly different composition in volatile profile in both leaves and petioles compared to the white celery and the prevalent commercial variety. The chemical components of aroma, potentially useful for the classification of celery according to the variety/origin, were identified

Circulating tumor DNA and disease recurrence in early stage breast cancer: From a case-control study to a prospective longitudinal trial

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Geo Satellites’ Manufacturing Markers From Photometric Colors

We present the photometric analysis of 23 GEO satellites, by using more than 1,200 multi-band images acquired in the Johnson-Cousin photometric system (BVRI). The dataset was acquired by three optical telescopes geographically located in different observational sites (in Italy and Mexico). By using an observational strategy based on alternating the V-R-I filter-sequence, we obtained consecutive multi-band images we used to reconstruct satellites’ color-lightcurves. We calculated the color-indexes of GEO satellites by taking into account the average value of color-lightcurves. We investigated the color-indexes in the color-color planes. Moreover, we studied a possible correlation among colors and satellite manufacturing and peculiar features. We obtained that some of the considered parameters seem to significantly affect the color indexes

Phytochemical analysis and biological activities of the ethanolic extract of Daphne sericea Vahl flowering aerial parts collected in Central Italy

In this paper, the first phytochemical analysis of the ethanolic extract of Daphne sericea Vahl flowering aerial parts collected in Italy and its biological activities were reported. Eleven compounds were identified i.e., -linolenic acid (1), tri-linoleoyl-sn-glycerol (2), pheophorbide a ethyl ester (3), pilloin (4), sinensetin (5), yuanhuanin (6), rutamontine (7), syringin (8), p-coumaric acid (9), p-anisic acid (10) and caffeic acid (11). To the best of our knowledge, compounds (1-4, 7-8 and 10) were isolated from D. sericea for the first time during this work, whereas sinensetin (5) represents a newly identified component of the entire Thymelaeaceae family. The extract was found to possess radical scavenging against both DPPH and 2,20-azino-bis(3-thylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS.+) radicals, with at least a 40-fold higher potency against the latter. Moreover, chelating abilities against both ferrous and ferric ions have been highlighted, thus suggesting a possible indirect antioxidant power of the extract. Although the precise bioactive compounds remain to be discovered, the polyphenolic constituents, including phenolic acids, tannins and flavonoids, seem to contribute to the antioxidant power of the phytocomplex. In addition, the extract produced cytotoxic effects in MDA-MB-231 and U87-MG cancer cell lines, especially at the concentration of 625 g/mL and after 48–72 h. Further studies are required to clarify the contribution of the identified compounds in the bioactivities of the extract and to support possible future applications

Maternal and Sex Dependency of Insulin Resistance: Longitudinal PET and Echocardiography Study from the Healthy Fetus to the Adult Minipig

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Whole-transcriptome analysis links trastuzumab sensitivity of breast tumors to both HER2 dependence and immune cell infiltration.

While results thus far demonstrate the clinical benefit of trastuzumab, some patients do not respond to this therapy. To identify a molecular predictor of trastuzumab benefit, we conducted whole-transcriptome analysis of primary HER2+ breast carcinomas obtained from patients treated with trastuzumab-containing therapies and correlated the molecular portrait with treatment benefit. The estimated association between gene expression and relapse-free survival allowed development of a trastuzumab risk model (TRAR), with ERBB2 and ESR1 expression as core elements, able to identify patients with high and low risk of relapse. Application of the TRAR model to 24 HER2+ core biopsies from patients treated with neo-adjuvant trastuzumab indicated that it is predictive of trastuzumab response. Examination of TRAR in available whole-transcriptome datasets indicated that this model stratifies patients according to response to trastuzumab-based neo-adjuvant treatment but not to chemotherapy alone. Pathway analysis revealed that TRAR-low tumors expressed genes of the immune response, with higher numbers of CD8-positive cells detected immunohistochemically compared to TRAR-high tumors. The TRAR model identifies tumors that benefit from trastuzumab-based treatment as those most enriched in CD8-positive immune infiltrating cells and with high ERBB2 and low ESR1 mRNA levels, indicating the requirement for both features in achieving trastuzumab response

Shedding light on typical species : implications for habitat monitoring

Habitat monitoring in Europe is regulated by Article 17 of the Habitats Directive, which suggests the use of typical species to assess habitat conservation status. Yet, the Directive uses the term “typical” species but does not provide a definition, either for its use in reporting or for its use in impact assessments. To address the issue, an online workshop was organized by the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (SISV) to shed light on the diversity of perspectives regarding the different concepts of typical species, and to discuss the possible implications for habitat monitoring. To this aim, we inquired 73 people with a very different degree of expertise in the field of vegetation science by means of a tailored survey composed of six questions. We analysed the data using Pearson's Chi-squared test to verify that the answers diverged from a random distribution and checked the effect of the degree of experience of the surveyees on the results. We found that most of the surveyees agreed on the use of the phytosociological method for habitat monitoring and of the diagnostic and characteristic species to evaluate the structural and functional conservation status of habitats. With this contribution, we shed light on the meaning of “typical” species in the context of habitat monitoring

An overview of the Italian forest biodiversity and its conservation level, based on the first outcomes of the 4th Habitat Report ex-Art. 17

In 2019 the 4th Report ex-Art. 17 on the conservation status (CS) of Annex I Habitats of the 92/43/EEC Directive was expected by every EU/28 country, with reference to the period 2013-18. In Italy, the process was in charge to the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), on behalf of the Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Protection (MATTM), with the scientific support of the Italian Botanical Society (SBI). A large group of thematic and territorial experts elaborated the available data concerning the 124 types of terrestrial and inland water Habitats present in Italy, 39 of which are represented by Forest Habitats (Group 9),. The main aim of the work was the evaluation of the overall CS of each Habitat by Biogeographic Region (Mediterranean, Continental and Alpine), for a total amount of 294 assessments. A high proportion of these (92, corresponding to 31% of the total) referred to Forest Habitats, including 20 marginal types for which the CS was not requested. The analysis was carried out at different scales: a) administrative territory, through the data contained in the ISPRA database, whose compilation was in charge to the Regions and Autonomous Provinces; b) Natura 2000 site, with the latest updates available (Standard Data Forms updated to 2018); c) national scale, implementing the distribution maps for each Habitat based on the European grid ETRS89-LAEA5210 (10x10 km2 mesh); d) Biogeographic Region, scale of the final assessment. Cartographic outcomes, associated databases and additional data used for the assessments will be available online on the ISPRA Portal as soon as the validation process by the European Commission will be completed. A dedicated archive named "HAB_IT" has been created in the national database "VegItaly" (1), managed by the Italian Society of Vegetation Science, where the phytosociological relevés representative of the various Annex I Habitats in Italy will be archived and freely accessible. An overview of the results regarding the Forest habitats is here provided, including a comparison with the outcomes of the former reporting cycle, the 3rd Report ex-Art. 17 (2). In several cases (e.g. 9120, 91L0), the distribution maps have been remarkably improved due to better knowledge and more fitful interpretation. The conservation status resulted as Favourable (FV) for 6,7%, Inadequate (U1) for 58,7% and Bad (U1) for 32,0% of the 72 assessed forest Habitat types. In no case there was an improvement of the conservation status, while in 6 cases a worsening of the conditions resulted from the data analysis, pointing out the Habitats types with a higher need of action. Similarly to other projects carried out as a team by the network of Annex I Habitat experts of the Italian Botanical Society and the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (e.g. 3, 4), this is another step in the direction of supporting the implementation of the 92/43/EEC "Habitat" Directive in Italy and Europe. On this ground, the high biodiversity of the Italian forest Habitats could be emphasized, however results pointed out that some rare or endemic types (e.g. Alnus cordata or Betula aetnensis-dominated forests) are still scarcely acknowledged by the most prominent EU conservation tools such as the Annex I to the "Habitat" Directive. 1) F. Landucci et al. (2012) Plant Biosyst., 146(4), 756-763 2) P. Genovesi et al. (2014) ISPRA, Serie Rapporti, 194/2014 3) E. Biondi et al. (2009) Società Botanica Italiana, MATTM, D.P.N., http://vnr.unipg.it/habitat/ 4) D. Gigante et al. (2016) Plant Sociology, 53(2), 77-8