Heavy metal load and effects on biochemical properties in urban soils of a medium-sized city, Ancona, Italy

none6noUrban soils are often mixed with extraneous materials and show a high spatial variability that determine great differences from their agricultural or natural counterparts. The soils of 18 localities of a medium-sized city (Ancona, Italy) were analysed for their main physicochemical and biological properties, and for chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), and mercury (Hg) total content, distribution among particle-size fractions, and extractability. Because of the absence of thresholds defining a hot spot for heavy metal pollution in urban soils, we defined a “threshold of attention” (ToA) for each heavy metal aiming to bring out hot spot soils where it is more impellent to intervene to mitigate or avoid potential environmental concerns. In several city locations, the soil displayed sub-alkaline pH, large contents of clay-size particles, and higher TOC, total N, and available P with respect to the surrounding rural areas, joined with high contents of total heavy metals, but low availability. The C biomass, basal respiration, qCO2, and enzyme activities were compared to that detected in the near rural soils, and results suggested that heavy metals content has not substantially compromised the soil ecological services. We conclude that ToA can be considered as a valuable tool to highlight soil hot spots especially for cities with a long material history and, for a proper risk assessment in urban soils, we suggest considering the content of available heavy metals (rather than the total content) and soil functions.openSerrani D.; Ajmone-Marsan F.; Corti G.; Cocco S.; Cardelli V.; Adamo P.Serrani, D.; Ajmone-Marsan, F.; Corti, G.; Cocco, S.; Cardelli, V.; Adamo, P

Fluid dynamic characterization of a polymeric heart valve prototype (Poli-Valve) tested under continuous and pulsatile flow conditions.

PURPOSE: Only mechanical and biological heart valve prostheses are currently commercially available. The former show longer durability but require anticoagulant therapy; the latter display better fluid dynamic behavior but do not have adequate durability. New Polymeric Heart Valves (PHVs) could potentially combine the hemodynamic properties of biological valves with the durability of mechanical valves. This work presents a hydrodynamic evaluation of 2 groups of newly developed supra-annular, trileaflet prosthetic heart valves made from styrenic block copolymers (SBC): Poli-Valves. METHODS: 2 types of Poli-Valves made of SBC and differing in polystyrene fraction content were tested under continuous and pulsatile flow conditions as prescribed by ISO 5840 Standard. A pulse duplicator designed ad hoc allowed the valve prototypes to be tested at different flow rates and frequencies. Pressure and flow were recorded; pressure drops, effective orifice area (EOA), and regurgitant volume were computed to assess the behavior of the valve. RESULTS: Both types of Poli-Valves met the minimum requirements in terms of regurgitation and EOA as specified by the ISO 5840 Standard. Results were compared with 5 mechanical heart valves (MHVs) and 5 tissue heart valves (THVs), currently available on the market. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these results, PHVs based on styrenic block copolymers, as are Poli-Valves, can be considered a promising alternative for heart valve replacement in the near future.This work was funded by the British Heart Foundation, New Horizons grant NH/11/4/29059.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wichtig Publishing via http://dx.doi.org/10.5301/ijao.500045

Role of land set-up systems on soil (Physicochemical) conditions

Land reclamation and drainage networks represent one of the most ancient human modifications of the Italian soilscape, where tailored land set-up systems were developed in agro-and forest-ecosystems in three millennia of man’s activity. Most of once manually maintained land settings are currently scarcely working or even disappeared because of the cost needed for their mainte-nance and the advent of mechanization that have simplified the field organization. The scarce attention to the soil experienced in the last decades, has accelerated soil erosion and flooding events, which entailed high costs in terms of money and human lives, but also caused reduction of soil thickness, water holding capacity, and fertility. In view of a sustainable agriculture, it is mandatory to assess the role of land set-up systems, which for centuries have been key in protecting soil from erosion, but also in increasing soil fertility. Such an effort cannot be made without considering the different pedo-climatic conditions and land uses of the Italian ter-ritory, which is different with respect to the past because of the multiple transformations made to favour the mechanization of agriculture. In this review we discuss the main effect of Italian land settings on the soilscape and on soil physicochemical condi-tions. Since land settings were developed centuries ago, detailed information about their effect on specific soil parameters is scarce in the scientific literature; thus, in some case, we provide information gathered in places where land set-up systems are still present. mm

A bio-inspired microstructure induced by slow injection moulding of cylindrical block copolymers.

It is well known that block copolymers with cylindrical morphology show alignment with shear, resulting in anisotropic mechanical properties. Here we show that well-ordered bi-directional orientation can be achieved in such materials by slow injection moulding. This results in a microstructure, and anisotropic mechanical properties, similar to many natural tissues, making this method attractive for engineering prosthetic fibrous tissues. An application of particular interest to us is prosthetic polymeric heart valve leaflets, mimicking the shape, microstructure and hence performance of the native valve. Anisotropic layers have been observed for cylinder-forming block copolymers centrally injected into thin circular discs. The skin layers exhibit orientation parallel to the flow direction, whilst the core layer shows perpendicularly oriented domains; the balance of skin to core layers can be controlled by processing parameters such as temperature and injection rate. Heart valve leaflets with a similar layered structure have been prepared by injection moulding. Numerical modelling demonstrates that such complex orientation can be explained and predicted by the balance of shear and extensional flow.This is the author-accepted manuscript. It will be under embargo for 12 months after publication. The final version of this article is published by RSC in Soft Matter and can be found here: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2014/SM/C4SM00884G#!divAbstract

Assessing the feasibility of augmenting fall detection systems by relying on UWB-based position tracking and a home robot

Falls in the home environment are a primary cause of injury in older adults. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year, one in four adults 65 years of age and older reports experiencing a fall. A variety of different technologies have been proposed to detect fall events. However, the need to detect all fall instances (i.e., to avoid false negatives) has led to the development of systems marked by high sensitivity and hence a significant number of false alarms. The occurrence of false alarms causes frequent and unnecessary calls to emergency response centers, which are critical resources that should be utilized only when necessary. Besides, false alarms decrease the level of confidence of end-users in the fall detection system with a negative impact on their compliance with using the system (e.g., wearing the sensor enabling the detection of fall events). Herein, we present a novel approach aimed to augment traditional fall detection systems that rely on wearable sensors and fall detection algorithms. The proposed approach utilizes a UWB-based tracking system and a home robot. When the fall detection system generates an alarm, the alarm is relayed to a base station that utilizes a UWB-based tracking system to identify where the older adult and the robot are so as to enable navigating the environment using the robot and reaching the older adult to check if he/she experienced a fall. This approach prevents unnecessary calls to emergency response centers while enabling a tele-presence using the robot when appropriate. In this paper, we report the results of a novel fall detection algorithm, the characteristics of the alarm notification system, and the accuracy of the UWB-based tracking system that we implemented. The fall detection algorithm displayed a sensitivity of 99.0% and a specificity of 97.8%. The alarm notification system relayed all simulated alarm notification instances with a maximum delay of 106 ms. The UWB-based tracking system was found to be suitable to locate radio tags both in line-of-sight and in no-line-of-sight conditions. This result was obtained by using a machine learning-based algorithm that we developed to detect and compensate for the multipath effect in no-line-of-sight conditions. When using this algorithm, the error affecting the estimated position of the radio tags was smaller than 0.2 m, which is satisfactory for the application at hand

A Newly Developed Tri-Leaflet Polymeric Heart Valve Prosthesis.

The potential of polymeric heart valves (PHV) prostheses is to combine the hemodynamic performances of biological valves with the durability of mechanical valves. The aim of this work is to design and develop a new tri-leaflet prosthetic heart valve (HV) made from styrenic block copolymers. A computational finite element model was implemented to optimize the thickness of the leaflets, to improve PHV mechanical and hydrodynamic performances. Based on the model outcomes, 8 prototypes of the designed valve were produced and tested in vitro under continuous and pulsatile flow conditions, as prescribed by ISO 5840 Standard. A specially designed pulse duplicator allowed testing the PHVs at different flow rates and frequency conditions. All the PHVs met the requirements specified in ISO 5840 Standard in terms of both regurgitation and effective orifice area (EOA), demonstrating their potential as HV prostheses.This work was funded by the British Heart Foundation (New Horizons NH/11/4/29059).This is the final published version. It first appeared at http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0219519415400096?src=recsys

Quantifying the Shift Toward Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in Low-Risk Patients: A Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement has expanded to include patients at intermediate- and low-risk cohorts. We sought to determine disease prevalence and treatment distribution including transcatheter aortic valve replacement eligibility in low-risk patients across 37 advanced economies. METHODS AND RESULTS: Four systematic searches were conducted across MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane database for studies evaluating disease prevalence, severity, decision making, and survival in patients with aortic stenosis. Estimates of disease prevalence and treatment eligibility were calculated using stochastic simulation and population data for the 37 countries comprising the International Monetary Fund's advanced economies index. Fifty-six studies comprising 42 965 patients were included across 5 domains: prevalence, severity, symptom status, treatment modality, and outcome. The pooled prevalence in the general population aged 60 to 74 years and >75 years was 2.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4%-4.1%) and 13.1% (95% CI, 8.2%-17.9%), respectively-corresponding to an estimated 16.1 million (95% CI, 12.2-20.3) people in 37 advanced economies. Of these, an estimated 3.2 million (95% CI, 2.2-4.4) patients have severe aortic stenosis with 1.9 million (95% CI, 1.3-2.6) eligible for surgical aortic valve replacement. There are ≈485 230 (95% CI, 284 550-66 7350) high-risk/inoperable patients, 152 690 (95% CI, 73 410-263 000) intermediate-risk patients, and 378 890 (95% CI, 205 130-610 210) low-risk patients eligible for transcatheter aortic valve replacement. CONCLUSIONS: With a prevalence of 4.5%, an estimated 16.1 million people aged ≥60 years across 37 advanced economies have aortic stenosis. Of these, there are ≈1.9 million patients eligible for surgical aortic valve replacement and 1.0 million patients eligible for transcatheter aortic valve replacement.British Heart Foundation Translational Award TG/15/4/31891 (Drs De Sciscio, Brubert, and Moggridge) and British Heart Foundation Special Project Grant SP/15/5/31548 (Drs Serrani, Stasiak, and Moggridge)

Testing and comparing two self-care-related instruments among older Chinese adults

Objectives The study aimed to test and compare the reliability and validity, including sensitivity and specificity of the two self-care-related instruments, the Self-care Ability Scale for the Elderly (SASE), and the Appraisal of Self-care Agency Scale-Revised (ASAS-R), among older adults in the Chinese context. Methods A cross-sectional design was used to conduct this study. The sample consisted of 1152 older adults. Data were collected by a questionnaire including the Chinese version of SASE (SASE-CHI), the Chinese version of ASAS-R (ASAS-R-CHI) and the Exercise of Self-Care Agency scale (ESCA). Homogeneity and stability, content, construct and concurrent validity, and sensitivity and specificity were assessed. Results The Cronbach's alpha (α) of SASE-CHI was 0.89, the item-to-total correlations ranged from r = 0.15 to r = 0.81, and the test-retest correlation coefficient (intra-class correlation coefficient, ICC) was 0.99 (95% CI, 0.99±1.00; P<0.001). The Cronbach's α of ASAS-R-CHI was 0.78, the item-to-total correlations ranged from r = 0.20 to r = 0.65, and the test-retest ICC was 0.95 (95% CI, 0.92±0.96; P<0.001). The content validity index (CVI) of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI was 0.96 and 0.97, respectively. The findings of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (EFA and CFA) confirmed a good construct validity of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI. The Pearson's rank correlation coefficients, as a measure of concurrent validity, between total score of SASE-CHI and ESCA and ASAS-R-CHI and ESCA were assessed to 0.65 (P<0.001) and 0.62 (P<0.001), respectively. Regarding ESCA as the criterion, the area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve for the cut-point of SASE-CHI and ASAS-R-CHI were 0.93 (95% CI, 0.91±0.94) and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.80±0.86), respectively. Conclusion There is no significant difference between the two instruments. Each has its own characteristics, but SASE-CHI is more suitable for older adults. The key point is that the users can choose the most appropriate scale according to the specific situation.publishedVersionNivå

Gene regulation in parthenocarpic tomato fruit

Parthenocarpy is potentially a desirable trait for many commercially grown fruits if undesirable changes to structure, flavour, or nutrition can be avoided. Parthenocarpic transgenic tomato plants (cv MicroTom) were obtained by the regulation of genes for auxin synthesis (iaaM) or responsiveness (rolB) driven by DefH9 or the INNER NO OUTER (INO) promoter from Arabidopsis thaliana. Fruits at a breaker stage were analysed at a transcriptomic and metabolomic level using microarrays, real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and a Pegasus III TOF (time of flight) mass spectrometer. Although differences were observed in the shape of fully ripe fruits, no clear correlation could be made between the number of seeds, transgene, and fruit size. Expression of auxin synthesis or responsiveness genes by both of these promoters produced seedless parthenocarpic fruits. Eighty-three percent of the genes measured showed no significant differences in expression due to parthenocarpy. The remaining 17% with significant variation (P <0.05) (1748 genes) were studied by assigning a predicted function (when known) based on BLAST to the TAIR database. Among them several genes belong to cell wall, hormone metabolism and response (auxin in particular), and metabolism of sugars and lipids. Up-regulation of lipid transfer proteins and differential expression of several indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)- and ethylene-associated genes were observed in transgenic parthenocarpic fruits. Despite differences in several fatty acids, amino acids, and other metabolites, the fundamental metabolic profile remains unchanged. This work showed that parthenocarpy with ovule-specific alteration of auxin synthesis or response driven by the INO promoter could be effectively applied where such changes are commercially desirable

Identification and genetic characterization of a gibberellin 2-oxidase gene that controls tree stature and reproductive growth in plum

Several dwarf plum genotypes (Prunus salicina L.), due to deficiency of unknown gibberellin (GA) signalling, were identified. A cDNA encoding GA 2-oxidase (PslGA2ox), the major gibberellin catabolic enzyme in plants, was cloned and used to screen the GA-deficient hybrids. This resulted in the identification of a dwarf plum hybrid, designated as DGO24, that exhibits a markedly elevated PslGA2ox signal. Grafting ‘Early Golden’ (EG), a commercial plum cultivar, on DGO24 (EG/D) enhanced PslGA2ox accumulation in the scion part and generated trees of compact stature. Assessment of active GAs in such trees revealed that DGO24 and EG/D accumulated relatively much lower quantities of main bioactive GAs (GA1 and GA4) than control trees (EG/M). Moreover, the physiological function of PslGA2ox was studied by determining the molecular and developmental consequences due to ectopic expression in Arabidopsis. Among several lines, two groups of homozygous transgenics that exhibited contrasting phenotypes were identified. Group-1 displayed a dwarf growth pattern typical of mutants with a GA deficiency including smaller leaves, shorter stems, and delay in the development of reproductive events. In contrast, Group-2 exhibited a ‘GA overdose’ phenotype as all the plants showed elongated growth, a typical response to GA application, even under limited GA conditions, potentially due to co-suppression of closely related Arabidopsis homologous. The studies reveal the possibility of utilizing PslGA2ox as a marker for developing size-controlling rootstocks in Prunus