Fujian earth castles. Knowledge and typo-morphological analysis for the protection and design of the study case: Yue Zhuangzhai

[EN] The work of documentation of part of fortified architecture in rammed earth and wood, typical of Fujian region in south-eastern China, represents the start of a research and cooperation project between DiCEM Department at Università degli Studi della Basilicata and Fuzhou University, determined by a MAECI co-funding project named “Youth Exchanges”, for the cultural mobility of Italian and Chinese students1 . Generally, three types of fortified vernacular architecture can be found in Fujian region, China: Tulou, Tubao (soil castle), and Zhuangzhai. Even though they are all residential buildings built in rammed earth, they are different historically, geographically, functionally and typologically.Conte, A.; Wu, X.; Li, J.; Calia, M. (2020). Fujian earth castles. Knowledge and typo-morphological analysis for the protection and design of the study case: Yue Zhuangzhai. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1133-1140. https://doi.org/10.4995/FORTMED2020.2020.11536OCS1133114

Microwave assisted saponification (MAS) followed by on-line liquid chromatography (LC)-gas chromatography (GC) for high-throughput and high-sensitivity determination of mineral oil in different cereal-based foodstuffs

A high throughput, high-sensitivity procedure, involving simultaneous microwave-assisted extraction (MAS) and unsaponifiable extraction, followed by on-line liquid chromatography (LC)-gas chromatography (GC), has been optimised for rapid and efficient extraction and analytical determination of mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH) in cereal-based products of different composition. MAS has the advantage of eliminating fat before LC-GC analysis, allowing an increase in the amount of sample extract injected, and hence in sensitivity. The proposed method gave practically quantitative recoveries and good repeatability. Among the different cereal-based products analysed (dry semolina and egg pasta, bread, biscuits, and cakes), egg pasta packed in direct contact with recycled paperboard had on average the highest total MOSH level (15.9mgkg(-1)), followed by cakes (10.4mgkg(-1)) and bread (7.5mgkg(-1)). About 50% of the pasta and bread samples and 20% of the biscuits and cake samples had detectable MOAH amounts. The highest concentrations were found in an egg pasta in direct contact with recycled paperboard (3.6mgkg(-1)) and in a milk bread (3.6mgkg(-1))

Oxidative potential, cytotoxicity, and intracellular oxidative stress generating capacity of PM10: a case study in South of Italy

Long and short-term exposure to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) has detrimental effects on human health. The effective mechanisms leading to PM toxicity are still not fully understood, even if it is known that physical-chemical properties, strongly influenced by sources and atmospheric processes, are known to play an important role. In this work, PM10 samples were collected, at an urban background site in southern Italy, to determine cytotoxicity (using MTT test on A549 cells), genotoxicity (using the comet assay), and intracellular oxidative stress on A549 cells exposed for 24h to aqueous extracts of PM10 samples. Organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) content of PM10 and acellular determination of oxidative potential with DTT assay was performed with the objective to compare results of acellular and cellular biological assays. Cellular (OSGCV and MTTV) and acellular (OPDTTV) outcomes, normalised in volume, are well correlated (statistical significant results) with carbon content suggesting that combustion sources play an important role in deter-mining cellular oxidative stress and cytotoxicity of PM10. Even if the number of data is limited, genotoxicity results are well correlated (Pearsons > 0.95) with OSGCV and MTTV and a weaker, but statistically significant correlation was observed with OPDTTV. OSGCV is well correlated with the cell mortality observed with MTTV test and a lower, but still statistical significant correlation is observed between MTTV and OPDDTV. A statistically significant correlation was found between OPDTTV and OSGCV results. When the outcomes of cellular and acellular assay are compared normalised in mass (i.e. intrinsic values), the correlations become significantly weaker suggesting that the different sources acting on the site produces particulate matter with different toxicological potential influ-encing differently the biological tests studie

Correlation of Oxidative Potential with Ecotoxicological and Cytotoxicological Potential of PM10 at an Urban Background Site in Italy

: It is known that exposure to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) has detrimental effects on health. However, specific mechanisms of toxicity are still not fully understood depending on several physical and chemical properties of PM. In recent years, there has been a growing evidence that oxidative stress is an important mechanism of PM toxicity leading to the hypothesis to use acellular evaluation of oxidative potential (OP) as a global indicator of potential health effects of PM. However, when OP data are correlated with the outcomes of in vitro (or in vivo) toxicological tests, there are contrasting results. In this work an analysis of PM10 health effect indicators was done, using the acellular DTT assay to retrieve OPDTT, the Microtox® test on Vibrio fischeri bacterium to assess the ecotoxicological potential, and the in vitro MTT assay on the human cell line A549 to estimate the cytotoxicological potential. The objective was to evaluate the correlation among acellular OPDTT and the results from toxicological and ecotoxicological bioassays and how these health-related indicators are correlated with atmospheric PM10 concentrations collected at an urban background site in Southern Italy. Results indicated that both bioassays showed time-dependent and dose-dependent outcomes. Some samples presented significant ecotoxic and cytotoxic response and the correlation with PM10 concentration was limited, suggesting that these health endpoints depend on PM10 chemical composition and not only on exposure concentrations. OPDTT showed a statistically significant correlation with PM10 concentrations. MTT and Microtox outcomes were not correlated suggesting that the two toxicological indicators are sensitive to different physical-chemical properties of PM10. Intrinsic oxidative potential OPDTTM (DTT activity normalised with PM10 mass) was correlated with mortality observed with MTT test (normalized with PM10 mass), however, it was not correlated with Microtox outcome

Quantifying sources of variability in infancy research using the infant-directed-speech preference

Psychological scientists have become increasingly concerned with issues related to methodology and replicability, and infancy researchers in particular face specific challenges related to replicability: For example, high-powered studies are difficult to conduct, testing conditions vary across labs, and different labs have access to different infant populations. Addressing these concerns, we report on a large-scale, multisite study aimed at (a) assessing the overall replicability of a single theoretically important phenomenon and (b) examining methodological, cultural, and developmental moderators. We focus on infants’ preference for infant-directed speech (IDS) over adult-directed speech (ADS). Stimuli of mothers speaking to their infants and to an adult in North American English were created using seminaturalistic laboratory-based audio recordings. Infants’ relative preference for IDS and ADS was assessed across 67 laboratories in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia using the three common methods for measuring infants’ discrimination (head-turn preference, central fixation, and eye tracking). The overall meta-analytic effect size (Cohen’s d) was 0.35, 95% confidence interval = [0.29, 0.42], which was reliably above zero but smaller than the meta-analytic mean computed from previous literature (0.67). The IDS preference was significantly stronger in older children, in those children for whom the stimuli matched their native language and dialect, and in data from labs using the head-turn preference procedure. Together, these findings replicate the IDS preference but suggest that its magnitude is modulated by development, native-language experience, and testing procedure. (This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 798658.

Disease-Modifying Therapies and Coronavirus Disease 2019 Severity in Multiple Sclerosis

Objective: This study was undertaken to assess the impact of immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory therapies on the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Methods: We retrospectively collected data of PwMS with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. All the patients had complete follow-up to death or recovery. Severe COVID-19 was defined by a 3-level variable: mild disease not requiring hospitalization versus pneumonia or hospitalization versus intensive care unit (ICU) admission or death. We evaluated baseline characteristics and MS therapies associated with severe COVID-19 by multivariate and propensity score (PS)-weighted ordinal logistic models. Sensitivity analyses were run to confirm the results. Results: Of 844 PwMS with suspected (n = 565) or confirmed (n = 279) COVID-19, 13 (1.54%) died; 11 of them were in a progressive MS phase, and 8 were without any therapy. Thirty-eight (4.5%) were admitted to an ICU; 99 (11.7%) had radiologically documented pneumonia; 96 (11.4%) were hospitalized. After adjusting for region, age, sex, progressive MS course, Expanded Disability Status Scale, disease duration, body mass index, comorbidities, and recent methylprednisolone use, therapy with an anti-CD20 agent (ocrelizumab or rituximab) was significantly associated (odds ratio [OR] = 2.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.18-4.74, p = 0.015) with increased risk of severe COVID-19. Recent use (<1 month) of methylprednisolone was also associated with a worse outcome (OR = 5.24, 95% CI = 2.20-12.53, p = 0.001). Results were confirmed by the PS-weighted analysis and by all the sensitivity analyses. Interpretation: This study showed an acceptable level of safety of therapies with a broad array of mechanisms of action. However, some specific elements of risk emerged. These will need to be considered while the COVID-19 pandemic persists

COVID-19 Severity in Multiple Sclerosis: Putting Data Into Context

Background and objectives: It is unclear how multiple sclerosis (MS) affects the severity of COVID-19. The aim of this study is to compare COVID-19-related outcomes collected in an Italian cohort of patients with MS with the outcomes expected in the age- and sex-matched Italian population. Methods: Hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and death after COVID-19 diagnosis of 1,362 patients with MS were compared with the age- and sex-matched Italian population in a retrospective observational case-cohort study with population-based control. The observed vs the expected events were compared in the whole MS cohort and in different subgroups (higher risk: Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS] score > 3 or at least 1 comorbidity, lower risk: EDSS score ≤ 3 and no comorbidities) by the χ2 test, and the risk excess was quantified by risk ratios (RRs). Results: The risk of severe events was about twice the risk in the age- and sex-matched Italian population: RR = 2.12 for hospitalization (p < 0.001), RR = 2.19 for ICU admission (p < 0.001), and RR = 2.43 for death (p < 0.001). The excess of risk was confined to the higher-risk group (n = 553). In lower-risk patients (n = 809), the rate of events was close to that of the Italian age- and sex-matched population (RR = 1.12 for hospitalization, RR = 1.52 for ICU admission, and RR = 1.19 for death). In the lower-risk group, an increased hospitalization risk was detected in patients on anti-CD20 (RR = 3.03, p = 0.005), whereas a decrease was detected in patients on interferon (0 observed vs 4 expected events, p = 0.04). Discussion: Overall, the MS cohort had a risk of severe events that is twice the risk than the age- and sex-matched Italian population. This excess of risk is mainly explained by the EDSS score and comorbidities, whereas a residual increase of hospitalization risk was observed in patients on anti-CD20 therapies and a decrease in people on interferon

DMTs and Covid-19 severity in MS: a pooled analysis from Italy and France

We evaluated the effect of DMTs on Covid-19 severity in patients with MS, with a pooled-analysis of two large cohorts from Italy and France. The association of baseline characteristics and DMTs with Covid-19 severity was assessed by multivariate ordinal-logistic models and pooled by a fixed-effect meta-analysis. 1066 patients with MS from Italy and 721 from France were included. In the multivariate model, anti-CD20 therapies were significantly associated (OR = 2.05, 95%CI = 1.39–3.02, p < 0.001) with Covid-19 severity, whereas interferon indicated a decreased risk (OR = 0.42, 95%CI = 0.18–0.99, p = 0.047). This pooled-analysis confirms an increased risk of severe Covid-19 in patients on anti-CD20 therapies and supports the protective role of interferon