True Cost Accounting of a healthy and sustainable diet in Italy

It is widely upheld that global food systems are unsustainable. Sustainable diets are gaining prominence as key components to entangle global food system challenges, as well as to transition towards the pathway of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hence, sustainable and healthy diets are at the core of much research with the aim to bring together nutritional adequacy, cultural acceptability, environmental sustainability, economic affordability, and shape future consumption patterns. This article contributes to advancing knowledge on sustainable diets by proposing a True Cost Accounting method to assess the cost and impact of the adoption of a more sustainable and healthier diet, using Italy as an illustration. The research analyses the complexity of a diet from an environmental, health, and socioeconomic point of view and defines a new assessment framework that can be replicated and adapted to other contexts. Results show that in Italy, the adoption of a sustainable and healthy diet has a 47% lower carbon footprint and 25% lower water footprint than the current diet, while impacting 13% less on the average income and food monthly expenditure. Also, the desirable diet has a 21% lower impact on the sanitary costs related to cardiovascular disease. This study corroborates that the consumption of the desirable diet would provide a total cost saving of 741 EUR per year per capita, if we consider its impact on the environment, health, and socio-economic costs

Application of nnU-Net for Automatic Segmentation of Lung Lesions on CT Images and Its Implication for Radiomic Models.

Radiomics investigates the predictive role of quantitative parameters calculated from radiological images. In oncology, tumour segmentation constitutes a crucial step of the radiomic workflow. Manual segmentation is time-consuming and prone to inter-observer variability. In this study, a state-of-the-art deep-learning network for automatic segmentation (nnU-Net) was applied to computed tomography images of lung tumour patients, and its impact on the performance of survival radiomic models was assessed. In total, 899 patients were included, from two proprietary and one public datasets. Different network architectures (2D, 3D) were trained and tested on different combinations of the datasets. Automatic segmentations were compared to reference manual segmentations performed by physicians using the DICE similarity coefficient. Subsequently, the accuracy of radiomic models for survival classification based on either manual or automatic segmentations were compared, considering both hand-crafted and deep-learning features. The best agreement between automatic and manual contours (DICE = 0.78 ± 0.12) was achieved averaging 2D and 3D predictions and applying customised post-processing. The accuracy of the survival classifier (ranging between 0.65 and 0.78) was not statistically different when using manual versus automatic contours, both with hand-crafted and deep features. These results support the promising role nnU-Net can play in automatic segmentation, accelerating the radiomic workflow without impairing the models' accuracy. Further investigations on different clinical endpoints and populations are encouraged to confirm and generalise these findings

Multidifferential study of identified charged hadron distributions in ZZ-tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at s=\sqrt{s}=13 TeV

Jet fragmentation functions are measured for the first time in proton-proton collisions for charged pions, kaons, and protons within jets recoiling against a $Z$ boson. The charged-hadron distributions are studied longitudinally and transversely to the jet direction for jets with transverse momentum 20 $< p_{\textrm{T}} < 100$ GeV and in the pseudorapidity range $2.5 < \eta < 4$. The data sample was collected with the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.64 fb$^{-1}$. Triple differential distributions as a function of the hadron longitudinal momentum fraction, hadron transverse momentum, and jet transverse momentum are also measured for the first time. This helps constrain transverse-momentum-dependent fragmentation functions. Differences in the shapes and magnitudes of the measured distributions for the different hadron species provide insights into the hadronization process for jets predominantly initiated by light quarks.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-013.html (LHCb public pages

Study of the B−→Λc+Λˉc−K−B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-} decay

The decay $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment. In the $\Lambda_{c}^+ K^{-}$ system, the $\Xi_{c}(2930)^{0}$ state observed at the BaBar and Belle experiments is resolved into two narrower states, $\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}$ and $\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}$, whose masses and widths are measured to be $$m(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = 2924.5 \pm 0.4 \pm 1.1 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ m(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = 2938.5 \pm 0.9 \pm 2.3 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = \phantom{000}4.8 \pm 0.9 \pm 1.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},\\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = \phantom{00}11.0 \pm 1.9 \pm 7.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},$$ where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The results are consistent with a previous LHCb measurement using a prompt $\Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ sample. Evidence of a new $\Xi_{c}(2880)^{0}$ state is found with a local significance of $3.8\,\sigma$, whose mass and width are measured to be $2881.8 \pm 3.1 \pm 8.5\,\mathrm{MeV}$ and $12.4 \pm 5.3 \pm 5.8 \,\mathrm{MeV}$, respectively. In addition, evidence of a new decay mode $\Xi_{c}(2790)^{0} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ is found with a significance of $3.7\,\sigma$. The relative branching fraction of $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ with respect to the $B^{-} \to D^{+} D^{-} K^{-}$ decay is measured to be $2.36 \pm 0.11 \pm 0.22 \pm 0.25$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from the branching fractions of charm hadron decays.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-028.html (LHCb public pages

Measurement of the ratios of branching fractions R(D∗)\mathcal{R}(D^{*}) and R(D0)\mathcal{R}(D^{0})

The ratios of branching fractions $\mathcal{R}(D^{*})\equiv\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu})$ and $\mathcal{R}(D^{0})\equiv\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu})$ are measured, assuming isospin symmetry, using a sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to 3.0 fb${ }^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity recorded by the LHCb experiment during 2011 and 2012. The tau lepton is identified in the decay mode $\tau^{-}\to\mu^{-}\nu_{\tau}\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$. The measured values are $\mathcal{R}(D^{*})=0.281\pm0.018\pm0.024$ and $\mathcal{R}(D^{0})=0.441\pm0.060\pm0.066$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The correlation between these measurements is $\rho=-0.43$. Results are consistent with the current average of these quantities and are at a combined 1.9 standard deviations from the predictions based on lepton flavor universality in the Standard Model.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-039.html (LHCb public pages

Imaging diagnostico integrato ed indirizzo alla terapia dei linfomi

Introduzione: I linfomi primitivi gastrointestinali rappresentano il 20% dei linfomi extranodali e costituiscono un gruppo eterogeneo di patologie, presentando differenze nella patogenesi, nella clinica, nel trattamento e nella prognosi. Per caratterizzare istologicamente i diversi istotipi di linfomi si utilizza la classificazione WHO del 2008. Per la stadiazione clinica si fa riferimento ai criteri descritti da Dawson e alla classificazione di Parigi, la quale fornisce il punto di partenza per le decisioni terapeutiche. Le principali tecniche di imaging utilizzate per la stadiazione ed il follow-up sono rappresentate dall’eco-endoscopia, dalla TC con mezzo di contrasto, dalla RM e dalla PET con fluorodesossiglucosio (18F-FDG). La TC è molto utile anche nella valutazione delle complicanze: occlusione, perforazione e fistolizzazione possono infatti verificarsi come conseguenza della progressione della malattia oppure come complicanze del trattamento sistemico. Linfomi Gastrici: Costituiscono il 5% dei tumori dello stomaco e sono i più frequenti linfomi extranodali. In particolare, il sottotipo MALT ne rappresenta il 50% dei casi. L’EGDS con biopsie rappresenta il gold standard diagnostico. Il primo esame da eseguire è rappresentato dall’ecoendoscopia che offre una descrizione dettagliata soprattutto dell’infiltrazione della parete. L’esame TC è indicato per la stadiazione loco-regionale e a distanza e per la valutazione delle complicanze. La 18F-FDG PET è ritenuta utile solo nelle forme aggressive di linfoma diffuso a grandi cellule B. Linfomi del piccolo intestino: Rappresentano il 20% delle neoplasie maligne del piccolo intestino ed il 20-30% di tutti i linfomi gastrointestinali. La sede più frequentemente coinvolta è l’ileo. Il linfoma diffuso a grandi cellule rappresenta l’istotipo più frequente, seguito dal linfoma a cellule T associato a enteropatia. La diagnosi è istologica e deriva dalla biopsia endoscopica (per i linfomi del duodeno) o dall’intervento chirurgico. Ecografia dell’addome e TC sono le indagini che consentono di valutare l’estensione locale e a distanza della malattia all’esordio. La TC è la metodica di scelta anche nel follow-up dopo trattamento. L’entero-TC, metodica di scelta nello studio della patologia infiammatoria cronica del piccolo intestino, può essere utilizzata con successo per la diagnosi della patologia tumorale del tenue e in particolare dei linfomi. Recentemente, grazie allo sviluppo di protocolli specifici per il piccolo intestino, l’entero-RM offre alcuni vantaggi rispetto alla TC. La PET è indicata nella diagnosi e stadiazione dei linfomi di alto grado. Linfomi dell’intestino crasso: Rappresentano lo 0,4% delle neoplasie del colon ed il 5% -20% di tutti i linfomi gastrointestinali. La sede più coinvolta è rappresentata dal cieco. I sottotipi più frequenti sono il linfoma diffuso a grandi cellule ed il MALT. L’iter diagnostico è sovrapponibile a quello dei linfomi del piccolo intestino, ad eccezione del linfoma rettale che ha come gold standard per la stadiazione locale l’esame RM

Mapping shallow lakes in a large South American floodplain: A frequency approach on multitemporal Landsat TM/ETM data

We propose a methodology to identify and map shallow lakes (SL) in the Paraná River floodplain, the largest freshwater wetland ecosystem in temperate South America. The presence and number of SL offer various ecosystem services and habitats for wildlife biodiversity. Our approach involved a frequency analysis over a 1987?2010 time series of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), derived from Landsat 5 and 7 TM/ETM data. Through descriptive statistics of samples of pixels and field work in different types of SL, we established an NDVI threshold of 0.34 below which we assumed the presence of water in each pixel. The standard deviation of the estimated SL area decreases with the number of images in the analysis, being less than 10% when at least 30 images are used. The mean SL area for the whole period was 112,691 ha (10.9% of the study area). The influence of the hydrological conditions on the resulting SL map was evaluated by analyzing twelve sets of images, which were selected to span the whole period and different time frames according to multiannual dry and wet periods and to relative water level within each period. The Kappa index was then calculated between pairs of resulting SL maps. We compared our maps with the available national and international cartographic documents and with other published maps that used one or a few Landsat images. Landsat images time series provide an accurate spatial and temporal resolution for SL identification in floodplains, particularly in temperate zones with a good provision of cloud free images. The method evaluated in this paper considers the dynamics of SL and reduces the uncertainties of the fuzzy boundaries. Thus, it provides a robust database of SL and its temporal behavior to establish future monitoring programs based on the recent launch of Landsat 8 satellite.Fil: Borro, María Marta. Universidad Nacional de San Martin. Instituto de Investigación e Ingenieria Ambiental. Laboratorio de Ecologia, Teledeteccion y Ecoinformática; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Morandeira, Natalia Soledad. Universidad Nacional de San Martin. Instituto de Investigación e Ingenieria Ambiental. Laboratorio de Ecologia, Teledeteccion y Ecoinformática; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Salvia, Maria Mercedes. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Minotti, Priscilla Gail. Universidad Nacional de San Martin. Instituto de Investigación e Ingenieria Ambiental. Laboratorio de Ecologia, Teledeteccion y Ecoinformática; ArgentinaFil: Perna, Pablo Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; ArgentinaFil: Kandus, Patricia. Universidad Nacional de San Martin. Instituto de Investigación e Ingenieria Ambiental. Laboratorio de Ecologia, Teledeteccion y Ecoinformática; Argentin

Integrating Biological and Radiological Data in a Structured Repository: a Data Model Applied to the COSMOS Case Study

Integrating the information coming from biological samples with digital data, such as medical images, has gained prominence with the advent of precision medicine. Research in this field faces an ever-increasing amount of data to manage and, as a consequence, the need to structure these data in a functional and standardized fashion to promote and facilitate cooperation among institutions. Inspired by the Minimum Information About BIobank data Sharing (MIABIS), we propose an extended data model which aims to standardize data collections where both biological and digital samples are involved. In the proposed model, strong emphasis is given to the cause-effect relationships among factors as these are frequently encountered in clinical workflows. To test the data model in a realistic context, we consider the Continuous Observation of SMOking Subjects (COSMOS) dataset as case study, consisting of 10 consecutive years of lung cancer screening and follow-up on more than 5000 subjects. The structure of the COSMOS database, implemented to facilitate the process of data retrieval, is therefore presented along with a description of data that we hope to share in a public repository for lung cancer screening research

Independent prognostic impact of CD15 on complete remission achievement in patients with acute myeloid leukemia

The prognostic role of CD15 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been tested in different studies with conflicting results. To address this issue, we retrospectively evaluated a cohort of 460 AML patients of all ages with the exclusion of acute promyelocytic leukemia (M/F 243/217, median age 50.6 years [range 0.9-81.2]) intensively treated at our institute between January 1999 and December 2010. CD15 positivity was found in 171 of 406 evaluable patients (42.1%). Complete remission (CR) was achieved by 334 patients (72.6%), while 82 (17.8%) were resistant and 44 (9.6%) died during induction: the median CR duration was 15.5 months (range 0.6-176.0), with 2-year disease-free survival rate of 45.1% (95% confidence interval 39.6-50.6). The median overall survival was 14.4 months (range 0.3-177.0), with 2-year overall survival rate of 42.2% (95% confidence interval 37.5-46.9). At univariate analysis for CR achievement, age  8 g/dL (P = .020), and white blood cell < 50 × 10(9) /L (P = .034) had a favorable impact. At a multivariate logistic regression model, CD15 positivity (P = .002), age < 60 years (P = .008), white blood cell < 50 × 10(9) /L (P = .017), and low-risk/no high-risk karyotype (P = .026/P = .025) retained an independent prognostic role on CR achievement. The baseline assessment of CD15 positivity appears to have a role in the risk evaluation for CR achievement in AML patients undergoing intensive chemotherapy and should be assessed in prospective studies together with other clinical and biologic features already reported