Mixed Land Use as an Intrinsic Feature of Sprawl: A Short-Term Analysis of Settlement Growth and Population Distribution Using European Urban Atlas

This study investigates the land-use/population mix over time as the base to derive an indicator of urban sprawl. Land-use individual patches (provided by Urban Atlas, hereafter UA, with a detailed spatial geometry at 1:10,000 scale) were associated with the total (resident) population based on official statistics (census enumeration districts and other public data sources), providing a comprehensive mapping of the spatial distribution of population density by land-use class in a representative case study for the Mediterranean region (metropolitan Athens, Greece). Data analysis adopted a mix of statistical techniques, such as descriptive statistics, non-parametric curve interpolation (smoothing splines), and exploratory multivariate statistics, namely hierarchical clustering, non-metric multi-dimensional scaling and confirmative factor analysis. The results of this study indicate a non-linear gradient of density decline from downtown (dominated by compact settlements) to peripheral locations (dominated by natural land). Population density in agricultural land was locally high and increasing over time; this result suggests how mixed land use may be the base of intense sprawl in large metropolitan regions. The methodology implemented in this study can be generalized over the whole sample of European cities included in Urban Atlas, providing a semi-automatic assessment of exurban development and population re-distribution over larger metropolitan regions

Are Markers of Systemic Inflammatory Response Useful in the Management of Patients With Neuroendocrine Neoplasms?

Given the increasing incidence of neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) over the past few decades, a more comprehensive knowledge of their pathophysiological bases and the identification of innovative NEN biomarkers represents an urgent unmet need. There is still little advance in the early diagnosis and management of these tumors, due to the lack of sensible and specific markers with prognostic value and ability to early detect the response to treatment. Chronic systemic inflammation is a predisposing factor for multiple cancer hallmarks, as cancer proliferation, progression and immune-evading. Therefore, the relevance of inflammatory biomarkers has been identified as critical in several types of tumours, including NENs. A bidirectional relationship between chronic inflammation and development of NENs has been reported. Neuroendocrine cells can be over-stimulated by chronic inflammation, leading to hyperplasia and neoplastic transformation. As the modulation of inflammatory response represents a therapeutic target, inflammatory markers could represent a promising new key tool to be applied in the diagnosis, the prediction of response to treatment and also as prognostic biomarkers in NENs field. The present review provides an overview of the pre-clinical and clinical data relating the potentially usefulness of circulating inflammatory markers: neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), cytokines and tissue inflammatory markers (PD-1/PD-L1), in the management of NENs. (1) NLR and PLR have both demonstrated to be promising and simple to acquire biomarkers in patients with advanced cancer, including NEN. To date, in the context of NENs, the prognostic role of NLR and PLR has been confirmed in 15 and 4 studies, respectively. However, the threshold value, both for NLR and PLR, still remains not defined. (2) Cytokines seem to play a central role in NENs tumorigenesis. In particular, IL-8 levels seems to be a good predictive marker of response to anti-angiogenic treatments. (3) PD-1 and PD-L1 expression on tumour cells and on TILs, have demonstrated to be promising predictive and prognostic biomarkers in NENs. Unfortunately, these two markers have not been validated so far and further studies are needed to establish their indications and utility

An assessment of attitudes towards plastics and bioplastics in Europe

Over the last 50 years, conventional fossil-based plastics have become an integral part of our everyday lives. Apart from their low production costs, this is due to a number of their unique properties, including durability, strength, lightness, electrical and thermal insulation, resistance to chemicals and corrosion. The production of plastics has increased from 1.5 million metric tons in 1950 to 359 million metric tons in 2018. Of this total, 61.8 million metric tons were produced in Europe. There are various problems associated with plastic use and disposal that pose a serious threat to both the physical environment and human health. Since public behaviour plays a key role when it comes to the use of plastic, this paper reports on a study that focused on an assessment of attitudes towards plastics and bioplastics in Europe. The results showed that packaging is the most frequent modality of plastic used among participants. In addition, majority of participants are aware that plastic waste can affect environment and human health and therefore segregate and properly dispose plastics. Also, even though most respondents were aware of the environmental problems related to plastic use and showed a positive inclination towards using bioplastic materials, their limited availability and lack of relevant information about bioplastics pose a problem for wider use. Departing from the assumption that the public attitude is a determining factor in the consumption of plastics as a whole and bioplastics in particular, this paper also sheds some light on the current situation, identifying some trends and information gaps which should be addressed in order to encourage a more rational use of plastics in Europe

Assessing the levels of awareness among european citizens about the direct and indirect impacts of plastics on human health

There is an urgent need to assess European citizens' perspective regarding their plastic consumption and to evaluate their awareness of the direct and indirect effect of plastics on human health in order to influence current behavior trends. In this study, the evaluation has been cross-related with scientific facts, with the final aim of detecting the most recommendable paths in increasing human awareness, reducing plastic consumption, and consequently impacting human health. A statistical analysis of quantitative data, gathered from 1000 European citizens via an online survey in the period from May to June 2020, showed that a general awareness about the direct impact of plastic consumption and contamination (waste) on human health is high in Europe. However, only a few participants (from a higher educational group) were aware of the indirect negative effects that oil extraction and industrial production of plastic can have on human health. This finding calls for improved availability of this information to general public. Despite the participants' positive attitude toward active plastic reduction (61%), plastic consumption on a daily basis is still very high (86%). The most common current actions toward plastic reduction are plastic bag usage, reusage, or replacement with sustainable alternatives (e.g., textile bags) and selecting products with less plastic packaging. The participants showed important criticism toward the information available to the general public about plastics and health. This awareness is important since significant relation has been found between the available information and the participants' decisions on the actions they might undertake to reduce plastic consumption. The study clearly showed the willingness of the participants to take action, but they also requested to be strongly supported with joint efforts from government, policies, and marketing, defining it as the most successful way toward implementing these changes

In vitro digestibility of O/W emulsions co-ingested with complex meals: Influence of the food matrix

Oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions are promising delivery systems of lipophilic bioactive compounds into meals composed mainly of water. The colloidal stability of β-carotene-loaded O/W emulsion incorporated into whole milk, oatmeal and whole milk-oatmeal meals. Their subsequent gastric emptying rate, lipid digestibility and β-carotene retention during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion were evaluated using a semi-dynamic gastric model followed by a static small intestinal model. The dispersed particles within the meals, lipid droplets, casein micelles as well as protein and β-glucan aggregates, were responsible for the bigger average particle sizes of both O/W-oatmeal and O/W-whole milk-oatmeal (13.07 ± 1.81 and 7.60 ± 1.21 μm, respectively) compared to the O/W emulsions and O/W-whole milk (0.56 ± 0.03 and 0.44 ± 0.04 μm, respectively). Semi-dynamic in vitro gastric digestion of O/W-whole milk showed lipid droplets embedded into an insoluble protein network emptied earlier than the O/W emulsion. Conversely, O/W-oatmeal and O/W-whole milk-oatmeal had delayed lipid emptying, probably because of the gelation of the β-glucan from oats. During the in vitro small intestinal digestion, the rate of the FFA release was linked to the gastric emptying rate. Indeed, both O/W emulsion and O/W-whole milk presented an exponential increase in the FFA release, whereas the O/W-oatmeal and O/W-whole milk-oatmeal followed a stepwise trend. The β-carotene retention during in vitro gastrointestinal digestion depended on the lipid amount at each digestion time moment. Hence, this work provides valuable insight into the behaviour of O/W emulsions incorporated into meals and during their subsequent in vitro gastrointestinal digestion