Connecting existing cemeteries saving good soils (for livings)

Background: Urban sprawl consumes and degrades productive soils worldwide. Fast and safe decomposition of corpses requires high-quality functional soils, and land use which competes with both agriculture and buildings. On one hand, cremation does not require much land, but it has a high energy footprint, produces atmospheric pollution, and is unacceptable to some religious communities. On the other hand, as exhumations are not practiced, "green burials" require more surface area than current burial practices, so a new paradigm for managing land use is required. Conclusions: In this paper, we propose a concept for 'green belt communalities' (i.e., ecological corridors with multiple, yet flexible, uses and services for future generations). With the expansion of urban centers, ecological corridors gradually disappear. Cemeteries for burial plots preclude alternative uses of the land for a long time. By combining these two aspects (need for connectivity and land take imposed by cemeteries), two positive results can be achieved: protecting memories of the past and connecting ecosystems with multiple-use corridors. This new paradigm works best in flat or hilly terrain where there are already several urban agglomerations that contain traditional cemeteries. Stakeholders who might consider this concept are local administrators, planners, and the communities of individuals who share specific beliefs on burial systems

UV irradiated graphene-based nanocomposites: Change in the mechanical properties by local harmoniX atomic force microscopy detection

Epoxy based coatings are susceptible to ultra violet (UV) damage and their durability can be significantly reduced in outdoor environments. This paper highlights a relevant property of graphene-based nanoparticles: Graphene Nanoplatelets (GNPs) incorporated in an epoxy-based free-standing film determine a strong decrease of the mechanical damages caused by UV irradiation. The effects of UV light on the morphology and mechanical properties of the solidified nanocharged epoxy films are investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), in the acquisition mode "HarmoniX." Nanometric-resolved maps of the mechanical properties of the multi-phase material evidence that the incorporation of low percentages, between 0.1% and 1.0% by weight, of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) in the polymeric film causes a relevant enhancement in the mechanical stability of the irradiated films. The beneficial effect progressively increases with increasing GNP percentage. The paper also highlights the potentiality of AFM microscopy, in the acquisition mode "HarmoniX" for studying multiphase polymeric systems

Fluorescence lidar imaging of historical monuments

What is believed to be the first fluorescence imaging of the facades of a historical building, which was accomplished with a scanning fluorescence lidar system, is reported. The mobile system was placed at a distance of similar to 60 m from the medieval Lund Cathedral (Sweden), and a 355-nm pulsed laser beam was swept over the stone facades row by row while spectrally resolved fluorescence signals of each measurement point were recorded. By multispectral image processing, either by formation of simple spectral-band ratios or by use of multivariate techniques, areas with different spectral signatures were classified. In particular, biological growth was observed and different stone types were distinguished. The technique can yield data for use in facade status assessment and restoration planning. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America

on prefermentative maceration techniques statistical analysis of sensory descriptors in sangiovese wine

SummaryThe analysis of wine sensory descriptors is a fundamental step in the improvement of wine making, because the procedures are judged just before bottled wine is ready for consumption. Despite several contributions in the literature, traditional analysis of variance methods are not adequate to analyse sensory descriptors, because they are defined on ordinal scales. In this paper, we exploit cumulative link mixed models in a three-way full factorial design to assess the effect of prefermentative maceration, temperature and saignée on wine sensory descriptors. Using cumulative link mixed models, the bias introduced by assessors' judgement and the ordinal scale of sensory descriptors are taken into account. The results were the following: the application of prefermentative maceration techniques did not lead to an improvement in the sensory profile of wines after a year from bottling; wines treated with saignée showed greater intensity in olfactive descriptors; and higher fermentation temperatures resulted in wines that were generally more concentrated

Early Light Chains Removal and Albumin Levels with a Double Filter-Based Extracorporeal Treatment for Acute Myeloma Kidney

Renal impairment in Multiple Myeloma (MM) represents one of the most important factors that influences patient survival. In fact, before the introduction of modern chemotherapy, less than 25% of patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) and MM who required dialysis recovered sufficient renal function to become independent from dialysis, with a median overall survival of less than 1 year. There are many other factors involved in determining patient survival. In this study we aimed to investigate the role of double filter-based extracorporeal treatment for removal of serum free light chains (sFLC) in acute myeloma kidney (AKI for MM) and to evaluate patient overall survival. All patients received Bortezomib-based chemotherapy and extracorporeal treatment for sFLC removal. For each session 2 dialyzers of the same kind were used. The dialytic dose was not related to the degree of renal function but to the removal of sFLC. The factors that have been found to be significantly associated with lower mortality were reduction of sFLC at day 12 and day 30, >50% reduction of sFLC at day 30, number of sessions and independence from dialysis. Among baseline characteristics, albumin level was statistically associated with the patients’ outcome. Our analysis highlights the importance of the early treatment for removal of sFLC in AKI for MM. These results indicate that the early removal of sFLC can improve patient’s outcome

Role of serum-free light chain assay for defining response and progression in immunoglobulin secretory multiple myeloma

The International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) guidelines recommend using electrophoresis and immunofixation to define response and progressive disease (PD) in immunoglobulin (Ig) secretory multiple myeloma (Ig-MM), whereas the role of serum-free light chain (sFLC) is controversial. We retrospectively analyzed the value of adding sFLC assays in the definition of response and PD according to IMWG criteria in 339 Ig-MM patients treated with a first-line novel agent-based therapy (median follow-up 54 months). sFLC PD was defined according to conventional criteria plus increased sFLC levels, or sFLC escape (sFLCe); progression/sFLCe-free survival (ePFS) was the time from the start of treatment to the date of first PD or sFLCe, or death; overall survival after PD/sFLCe (OS after Pe) was the time from first PD or sFLCe to the date of death. 148 (44%) patients achieved a complete response and 198 (60%) a normal sFLC ratio (sFLCR). sFLCR normalization was an independent prognostic factor for extended PFS (HR = 0.46, p = 0.001) and OS (HR = 0.47, p = 0.006) by multivariable analysis. 175 (52%) patients experienced PD according to the IMWG criteria, whereas 180 (53%) experienced PD or sFLCe. Overall, a sFLCe was observed in 31 (9%) patients. Median PFS and ePFS were both equal to 36 (95% CI = 32–42, and 32–40, respectively) months. sFLC PD adversely affected the OS after Pe compared to PD with increasing monoclonal Ig only (HR = 0.52, p = 0.012). Our results support the inclusion of the sFLC assay for defining response and PD in Ig-MM

Identification of a Maturation Plasma Cell Index through a Highly Sensitive Droplet Digital PCR Assay Gene Expression Signature Validation in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma Patients

DNA microarrays and RNA-based sequencing approaches are considered important discovery tools in clinical medicine. However, cross-platform reproducibility studies undertaken so far have highlighted that microarrays are not able to accurately measure gene expression, particularly when they are expressed at low levels. Here, we consider the employment of a digital PCR assay (ddPCR) to validate a gene signature previously identified by gene expression profile. This signature included ten Hedgehog (HH) pathways' genes able to stratify multiple myeloma (MM) patients according to their self-renewal status. Results show that the designed assay is able to validate gene expression data, both in a retrospective as well as in a prospective cohort. In addition, the plasma cells' differentiation status determined by ddPCR was further confirmed by other techniques, such as flow cytometry, allowing the identification of patients with immature plasma cells' phenotype (i.e., expressing CD19+/CD81+ markers) upregulating HH genes, as compared to others, whose plasma cells lose the expression of these markers and were more differentiated. To our knowledge, this is the first technical report of gene expression data validation by ddPCR instead of classical qPCR. This approach permitted the identification of a Maturation Index through the integration of molecular and phenotypic data, able to possibly define upfront the differentiation status of MM patients that would be clinically relevant in the future