LEGU-MED: Developing Biodiversity-Based Agriculture with Legume Cropping Systems in the Mediterranean Basin

Environmental degradation and the decrease of ecosystem service provision are currently of major concern, with current agricultural systems being a major driver. To meet our future environmental and sustainability targets a transformation of the agro-food systems and current agricultural value chain are crucial. One approach to redesign farming systems is the concept of biodiversity-based agriculture (BBA) which relies on sustainable diversification of biological components and their natural interactions in farming systems to maximize fertility, productivity, and resilience to external perturbations. Despite minimizing anthropogenic inputs, BBA is not yet able to meet all beneficial environmental objectives. BBA applied in the Mediterranean basin requires urgent innovation in approaches, methodologies, and models for small-holder traditional farming systems to ensure a stable provision of ecosystem services and better resilience to environmental stresses linked to climate change. Legumes are the backbone of the Mediterranean agro-ecosystems from ancient times, but their unique and wide biodiversity was not sufficiently valorized, especially by North-African countries. Here, we present LEGU-MED, a three-year international project funded by PRIMA initiative 2019. An international consortium was established involving five universities, 5 research institutes, and one private company from 8 countries: Italy, Germany, Spain, Algeria, Tunisia, Turkey, Lebanon, and Croatia. The main objective of this project is to put forward an international and well-integrated plan to valorize the legume agrobiodiversity of the Mediterranean in biodiversity-based farming systems and consequently enhance agro-ecosystem functions and services in the Mediterranean basin. The successful completion of LEGU-MED will have the following impacts on Mediterranean legume-based farming systems: (1) improve water use efficiency, (2) reduce the use of anthropogenic inputs through the maintenance of soil fertility, (3) enhance pollination and improve ecological connectivity with flora and fauna, (4) protect close-by wildland ecosystems, (5) enhance other ecosystem services (e.g., pest, disease, and weed suppression), and (6) provide healthier and safer protein-rich food. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

A machine-learning based bio-psycho-social model for the prediction of non-obstructive and obstructive coronary artery disease

Background: Mechanisms of myocardial ischemia in obstructive and non-obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), and the interplay between clinical, functional, biological and psycho-social features, are still far to be fully elucidated. Objectives: To develop a machine-learning (ML) model for the supervised prediction of obstructive versus non-obstructive CAD. Methods: From the EVA study, we analysed adults hospitalized for IHD undergoing conventional coronary angiography (CCA). Non-obstructive CAD was defined by a stenosis < 50% in one or more vessels. Baseline clinical and psycho-socio-cultural characteristics were used for computing a Rockwood and Mitnitski frailty index, and a gender score according to GENESIS-PRAXY methodology. Serum concentration of inflammatory cytokines was measured with a multiplex flow cytometry assay. Through an XGBoost classifier combined with an explainable artificial intelligence tool (SHAP), we identified the most influential features in discriminating obstructive versus non-obstructive CAD. Results: Among the overall EVA cohort (n = 509), 311 individuals (mean age 67 ± 11 years, 38% females; 67% obstructive CAD) with complete data were analysed. The ML-based model (83% accuracy and 87% precision) showed that while obstructive CAD was associated with higher frailty index, older age and a cytokine signature characterized by IL-1β, IL-12p70 and IL-33, non-obstructive CAD was associated with a higher gender score (i.e., social characteristics traditionally ascribed to women) and with a cytokine signature characterized by IL-18, IL-8, IL-23. Conclusions: Integrating clinical, biological, and psycho-social features, we have optimized a sex- and gender-unbiased model that discriminates obstructive and non-obstructive CAD. Further mechanistic studies will shed light on the biological plausibility of these associations. Clinical trial registration: NCT02737982

The Sex-Specific Detrimental Effect of Diabetes and Gender-Related Factors on Pre-admission Medication Adherence Among Patients Hospitalized for Ischemic Heart Disease: Insights From EVA Study

Background: Sex and gender-related factors have been under-investigated as relevant determinants of health outcomes across non-communicable chronic diseases. Poor medication adherence results in adverse clinical outcomes and sex differences have been reported among patients at high cardiovascular risk, such as diabetics. The effect of diabetes and gender-related factors on medication adherence among women and men at high risk for ischemic heart disease (IHD) has not yet been fully investigated.Aim: To explore the role of sex, gender-related factors, and diabetes in pre-admission medication adherence among patients hospitalized for IHD.Materials and Methods: Data were obtained from the Endocrine Vascular disease Approach (EVA) (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02737982), a prospective cohort of patients admitted for IHD. We selected patients with baseline information regarding the presence of diabetes, cardiovascular risk factors, and gender-related variables (i.e., gender identity, gender role, gender relations, institutionalized gender). Our primary outcome was the proportion of pre-admission medication adherence defined through a self-reported questionnaire. We performed a sex-stratified analysis of clinical and gender-related factors associated with pre-admission medication adherence.Results: Two-hundred eighty patients admitted for IHD (35% women, mean age 70), were included. Around one-fourth of the patients were low-adherent to therapy before hospitalization, regardless of sex. Low-adherent patients were more likely diabetic (40%) and employed (40%). Sex-stratified analysis showed that low-adherent men were more likely to be employed (58 vs. 33%) and not primary earners (73 vs. 54%), with more masculine traits of personality, as compared with medium-high adherent men. Interestingly, women reporting medication low-adherence were similar for clinical and gender-related factors to those with medium-high adherence, except for diabetes (42 vs. 20%, p = 0.004). In a multivariate adjusted model only employed status was associated with poor medication adherence (OR 0.55, 95%CI 0.31–0.97). However, in the sex-stratified analysis, diabetes was independently associated with medication adherence only in women (OR 0.36; 95%CI 0.13–0.96), whereas a higher masculine BSRI was the only factor associated with medication adherence in men (OR 0.59, 95%CI 0.35–0.99).Conclusion: Pre-admission medication adherence is common in patients hospitalized for IHD, regardless of sex. However, patient-related factors such as diabetes, employment, and personality traits are associated with adherence in a sex-specific manner

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M>70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0<e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM

Virgo Commissioning Progress

none130sìmixedF. Acernese ; P. Amico; M. Alshourbagy; F. Antonucci; S. Aoudia ; P. Astone; S. Avino ; D. Babusci ; G. Ballardin ; F. Barone ; L. Barsotti; M. Barsuglia ; F.Beauville ; S. Bigotta; M.A.Bizouard ; C.Boccara ; F.Bondu ; L.Bosi; C. Bradaschia; S. Birindelli; S. Braccini; A. Brillet ; V. Brisson ; D.Buskulic ; E.Calloni ; E.Campagna ; F. Carbognani ; F.Cavalier ; R.Cavalieri ; G.Cella; E.Cesarini ; E.Chassande-Mottin ; N. Christensen ; A.-C.Clapson ; F.Cleva ; C. Corda; A. Corsi; F.Cottone; J.-P.Coulon ; E.Cuoco ; A. Dari; V.Dattilo ; M.Davier ; M. del Prete ; R.De Rosa ; L.Di Fiore ; A.Di Virgilio; B.Dujardin ; A.Eleuteri ; I.Ferrante; F.Fidecaro; I.Fiori; R.Flaminio; ; J.-D.Fournier ; S.Frasca; F.Frasconi; L.Gammaitoni; F. Garufi ; E. Genin; A.Gennai; A.Giazotto; G.Giordano ; L. Giordano ; R. Gouaty ; D. Grosjean ; G.Guidi ; S.Hebri ; H.Heitmann ; P.Hello ; S. Karkar ; S.Kreckelbergh ; P.La Penna ; M. Laval ; N. Leroy ; N.Letendre ; B. Lopez ; M. Lorenzini ; V.Loriette ; G.Losurdo ; J.-M.Mackowski ; E.Majorana ; C.N.Man ; M. Mantovani; F. Marchesoni; F.Marion ; J. Marque ; F.Martelli ; A.Masserot ; M.Mazzoni ; F. Menzinger ; L.Milano ; C. Moins ; J.Moreau ; N.Morgado ; B.Mours ; F. Nocera ; C.Palomba; F.Paoletti;; S. Pardi ; A. Pasqualetti ; R.Passaquieti; D.Passuello; F. Piergiovanni ; L.Pinard ; R.Poggiani; M.Punturo; P.Puppo; K.Qipiani ; P.Rapagnani; V.Reita ; A.Remillieux ; F. Ricci; I.Ricciardi ; P. Ruggi ; G.Russo ; S.Solimeno ; A. Spallicci ; M. Tarallo; M. Tonelli; A. Toncelli; E.Tournefier ; F.Travasso; C. Tremola; G. Vajente; D. Verkindt ; F. Vetrano ; A.Viceré ; J.-Y.Vinet ; H. Vocca; M. YvertAcernese, F.; Amico, P.; Alshourbagy, M.; Antonucci, F.; Aoudia, S.; Astone, P.; Avino, S.; Babusci, D.; Ballardin, G.; Barone, F.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Beauville, F.; Bigotta, S.; Bizouard, M. A.; Boccara, C.; Bondu, F.; Bosi, L.; Bradaschia, C.; Birindelli, S.; Braccini, S.; Brillet, A.; Brisson, V.; Buskulic, D.; Calloni, E.; Campagna, E.; Carbognani, F.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Christensen, N.; Clapson, A. -C.; Cleva, F.; Corda, C.; Corsi, A.; Cottone, F.; Coulon, J. -P.; Cuoco, E.; Dari, A.; Dattilo, V.; Davier, M.; del Prete, M.; De Rosa, R.; Di Fiore, L.; Di Virgilio, A.; Dujardin, B.; Eleuteri, A.; Ferrante, I.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Flaminio, R.; Fournier, J. -D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Gammaitoni, L.; Garufi, F.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; Giazotto, A.; Giordano, G.; Giordano, L.; Gouaty, R.; Grosjean, D.; Guidi, G.; Hebri, S.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Karkar, S.; Kreckelbergh, S.; La Penna, P.; Laval, M.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Lopez, B.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Losurdo, G.; Mackowski, J. -M.; Majorana, E.; Man, C. N.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Marque, J.; Martelli, F.; Masserot, A.; Mazzoni, M.; Menzinger, F.; Milano, L.; Moins, C.; Moreau, J.; Morgado, N.; Mours, B.; Nocera, F.; Palomba, C.; Paoletti, F.; Pardi, S.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pinard, L.; Poggiani, R.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Qipiani, K.; Rapagnani, P.; Reita, V.; Remillieux, A.; Ricci, F.; Ricciardi, I.; Ruggi, P.; Russo, G.; Solimeno, S.; Spallicci, A.; Tarallo, M.; Tonelli, M.; Toncelli, A.; Tournefier, E.; Travasso, F.; Tremola, C.; Vajente, G.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Viceré, A.; Vinet, J. -Y.; Vocca, H.; Yvert, M

Measurement of the optical parameters of the Virgo interferometer

The Virgo interferometer, aimed at detecting gravitational waves, is now in a commissioning phase. Measurements of its optical properties are needed for the understanding of the instrument. We present the techniques developed for the measurement of the optical parameters of Virgo. These parameters are compared with the Virgo specifications. (C) 2007 Optical Society of America