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Chestnuts are typical seasonal fruits that are perishable and maintain their optimal commercial quality for only a relatively brief period. The most common postharvest method consists of cold or hot water treatment, which was developed in Italy during the 1930s. The goal of this study was to store fresh chestnuts for a maximum period of 90 days at 1±1°C and 90-95% relative humidity (RH) using a modified atmosphere (MA; 80% CO2, 15% N2, 5% O2). The hybrid cultivar ‘Bouche de Betizac’ (C. sativa Mill. A— C. mollissima Blume) and the European chestnut ‘Garrone Nero’ (C. sativa Mill.) were obtained from the Agrifrutta Soc. Coop. SRL (Piedmont, Italy) commercial orchard and stored in pallet bags in a CO2-enriched atmosphere. Two different types of materials, a traditional polyethylene film (120 µm thick) and a bio-based film derived from starch (180 µm thick), were used to maintain the MA. For controls, chestnuts were treated with a cold-water bath and stored under normal atmospheric (NA) conditions. The MA storage was evaluated based on the evolution of the gas inside the storage environment and the water content (%), marketability (%), and starch content (%) of fruits. Both cultivars exhibited a low water content (%) under MA storage conditions. The starch content does not appear to be influenced by the MA. The ‘Bouche de Betizac’ fruits were considered marketable after up to 60 days of storage, whereas the ‘Garrone Nero’ fruits remained marketable for up to 90 days. Thus, the use of a high-CO2-modified atmosphere is a possible alternative to a cold-water bath for storing fresh chestnut fruits.

In this research the importance of several choice attributes of beef for Piedmontese consumers was examined. The survey was conducted on a sample of consumers in sixteen meat stores in Piedmont, Northwest Italy. A choice experiment (Best-Worst scaling methodology) was used to identify consumer preferences and five clusters of purchaser. The responses were also analyzed on the basis of two variables, the frequency of meat consumption and the place of purchase. Piedmontese consumers considered "price" as the most important factor in meat purchasing, but "animal welfare" considerations played some part too.

Bowen’s disease (BD) is a form of intraepidermal squamous cell carcinoma, which is clinically characterized by gradually enlarging, well-demarcated erythematous plaques with irregular borders and surface crusting or scaling, affecting primarily the elderly. BD often presents with lesions difficult to treat with standard therapy as surgery, cryosurgery, or 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) for the risk of significantly poor cosmetic outcome, failure rate, and adverse events, related mainly to the age of the patients. Topical PDT with methyl aminolevulinate (MAL) represents a valid and approved therapy for BD lesions in many cases, especially for lesions located at poor healing sites or for large patches of disease, due to its high efficacy coupled with good tolerability and tissue-sparing attitude. In this study, we sought to investigate the efficacy, safety, and cosmetic outcome of MAL-PDT in a series of patients with BD lesions which were challenging to treat for clinical, surgical, and patient-related reasons, such as size of the lesion, difficult surgical approach for anatomical sites, or age of patients and request of the best cosmetic result. We also performed a long-term follow-up to assess recurrence rates and eventual late-onset adverse events.

Background: T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma (THRLBCL) primarily presenting on the skin is an extremely rare entity with only sporadic cases reported in the literature. Methods: We here report an extraordinary case of primary cutaneous THRLBCL with self-healing and 24 months of follow-up. Results: The lesion was a dermohypodermal/subcutaneous circumscribed ulcerated nodosity. Histological examination with immunohistochemical, molecular analysis and comparative genomic hybridization were performed. A complete staging was negative for secondary involvement. Conclusion: Our case is remarkable because it is the second well-documented primary cutaneous THRLBCL in which we observed a complete self-regression of skin lesions without recurrences or dissemination of the disease. According to the literature, we highlight that the tumoral microenvironment, in our case, could play a relevant role in stopping lymphoma growth. Furthermore, this case supports the observation that THRLBCL primarily presenting on the skin shows an overall good prognosis.

In recent years the issues of safeguarding biodiversity and protecting and conserving genetic resources in agriculture have become of growing interest to the scientific world as well as stimulating political and public opinion in general. This stimulated the foundation of projects aimed at the safeguarding, conservation and exploitation of indigenous genetic resources. Indeed, wherever possible, in the current socioeconomic context the commercial exploitation of indigenous accessions and cultivars may make their safeguarding more justifiable. For many of these genetic resources, in this case old fruit tree cultivars, the possibility of their commercial exploitation is enhanced by their excellent characteristics. This awareness has stimulated several measures aimed at the exploitation of products belonging to the local germplasm and many programmes aimed at the preservation and commercial diffusion of indigenous cultivars and accessions of fruit trees species, considered of great value. Obviously, the entry of a product into the marketing circuit depends much on its shelf life and storability. Therefore, in recent years several research programs to improve the conditions of the storage of these products and to extend their period of availability on the market have been made. This type of research is very important for fruit cultivars belonging to the local germplasm, and it was considered useful to extend this study to include two plum cultivars belonging to the Sicilian germoplasm, which were already included in a program of safeguarding and conservation of local plant resources. These cultivars have already fairly good distribution on the local market and the recognition of their high value warrants their wider exploitation on national markets.

Erysipeloid is an occupational infection of the skin caused by traumatic penetration of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae. The disease is characterized clinically by an erythematous oedema, with well-defined and raised borders, usually localized to the back of one hand and/or fingers. Vesicular, bullous and erosive lesions may also be present. The lesion may be asymptomatic or accompanied by mild pruritus, pain and fever. In addition to cutaneous infection, E. rhusiopathiae can cause endocarditis, which may be acute or subacute. Endocarditis is rare and has a male predilection. It usually occurs in previously damaged valves, predominantly the aortic valve. Endocarditis does not occur in patients with valvular prostheses and is not associated with intravenous drug misuse. Diagnosis of localized erysipeloid is based on the patient's history (occupation, previous traumatic contact with infected animals or their meat) and clinical picture (typical skin lesions, lack of severe systemic features, slight laboratory abnormalities and rapid remission after treatment with penicillin or cephalosporin).

Background: No studies are available in the literature on the distribution of different melanoma features and risk factors in the Italian geographical areas. Objective: To identify the differences in clinical-pathological features of melanoma, the distribution of risk factors and sun exposure in various Italian macro-areas. Methods: Multicentric-observational study involving 1,472 melanoma cases (713 north, 345 centre, 414 south) from 26 referral centres belonging to the Italian Multidisciplinary Group for Melanoma. Results: Melanoma patients in northern regions are younger, with thinner melanoma, multiple primaries, lower-intermediate phototype and higher counts of naevi with respect to southern patients; detection of a primary was mostly connected with a physician examination, while relatives were more involved in the south. Northern patients reported a more frequent use of sunbeds and occurrence of sunburns before melanoma despite sunscreen use and a lower sun exposure during the central hours of the day. Conclusions: The understanding of differences in risk factors distribution could represent the basis for tailored prevention programmes.

The improvement of the storage solutions and the infrastructure is a significant opportunity to the management of the post - harvest fruit losses and the maintenance of the quality in the supply chain. The environmental issue and the sustainability of the applied processes are the key of the succesful for the innovation of the food system; the sanification of the storage environment could represent a good opportunity to achieve this objective. The focus of this work was to evaluate the efficacy of the ozone (O3) such environmental sanitization system to limit both the quantitative and the qualitative losses of the raspberry fruits. Fruits exposed to the O3 constant concentration of 500 ppb (S1) and to the O3 concentration between 200 and 50 ppb (S2) were compared with fruits maintained in the normal atmosphere (control). The efficacy of the S1 and S2 treatments were evaluated measuring along the storage time the fruits weight losses (%), the total soluble solids content (SSC), the pulp firmness, the acidity content, the skin colour and the most important nutraceutical compounds. The fruits were stored at 1±1°C in a cold room held at 90–95% RH for 3, 6, 9 and 13 days. After each time at low temperature the same berries were held in shelf life for different additional days (respectively +6, +3, +9 and +2) at 20±1°C to simulate retailer conditions. All the qualitative and nutraceutical traits were maintained to the exposure of O3. Fruits stored with the S2 treatment showed the highest sensorial profile.

Infantile digital fibromatosis (IDF) is a rare tumour of infancy with a typical clinical presentation and characteristic histopathological findings. Despite an alarming appearance, IDF does not cause deep infiltration or metastasis. The traditional approach of surgical resection was recently challenged by increasing evidence of self regression in months or years. We describe the clinical history of five patients with IDF that were followed in our departments for 5 years.

This study evaluates the effects of different MAP methods (active and passive) on the postharvest life of raspberry fruits using different plastic packaging films. In particular the comparison between biodegradable and conventional plastic films represent an important objective since not many studies are available on the effect of biodegradable films used for food packaging. Raspberry fruits were packaged using three different plastic films and were stored with different gas conditions for 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. The gas concentration values of the boxes were monitored daily with a PBI Dansensor gas analyzer and expressed as percentages. Weight losses, skin color and qualitative and nutraceutical characteristics were monitored during the storage period to identify the best film-atmosphere combination for raspberry shelf life. Fruit volatile components were investigated. The results show that the evolution of the O2 and CO2 concentrations in the packed box was more influenced by the film characteristics rather than by the initial gas concentrations. The best maintenance of qualitative characteristics and the lowest weight decrease over 96 hours was obtained by storing fruits under a biodegradable film.

Extranodal natural killer/T-cell (ENK/T) lymphoma is a rare neoplasm, subcategorized into ENK/T-nasal (ENK/T-N) and ENK/T-nasal type (ENK/T-NT) lymphomas. ENK/T-NT lymphoma with initial presentation in the skin is known as primary cutaneous ENK/T-NT (PC-ENK/T-NT) lymphoma. The aim of this study was to investigate pathogenesis, genomic alterations, and prognosis of cutaneous ENK/T lymphomas to provide further insights into clinicopathologic features and genetic mechanism of lymphomagenesis. A retrospective case study of 5 white patients affected by ENK/T lymphoma (4 PC-ENK/T-NT and 1 ENK/T-N with cutaneous involvement) was performed. Most of the cases presented with multiple nodules and ulcerations localized on the extremities. A considerable percentage had disease in advanced stage with a 12-month survival rate of 40%. Genomic alterations were detected by array-based comparative genomic hybridization that showed gains of 1q, 7q and loss of 17p in the cases of PC-ENK/T-NT lymphomas and gain of 7q and loss of 9p, 12p, 12q in the case of ENK/T-N lymphoma. In conclusion, ENK/T lymphoma is a very aggressive entity, and, in our cases, the exclusively cutaneous presentation was not associated with a better prognosis. The results of our array comparative genomic hybridization analysis could be useful to better define the different ENK/T lymphoma subgroups with cutaneous involvement.

We report a case of erysipeloid in a 73-year-old woman. The disease was characterized clinically by erythematous and erosive lesions on three fingers of the left hand. Diagnosis was made based on the patient's occupation (housewife), history of previous traumatic contact with a scorpion fish, typical inflammatory lesions located on one hand, lack of severe systemic features, mild laboratory abnormalities and rapid remission after specific treatment.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are considered to be severity variants of the same disease, which is almost always associated with drug intake. In contrast, erythema multiforme (EM) is a disorder regarded as only rarely caused by drugs. Keratinocyte apoptosis has been shown to play an important part in the pathogenesis of SJS and TEN, whilst its role in EM remains controversial. To determine the expression of apoptosis-associated molecules Fas, Fas ligand (FasL), Bcl-2 and Bax in the above disorders, an immunohistochemical analysis was performed. We studied both lesional skin from thirty patients having drug-induced EM and 5 cases classified within the SJS/TEN spectrum and normal skin samples. We found a keratinocyte overexpression of Fas antigen, an important molecule mediating apoptosis, not only in SJS and TEN but also in EM. Another noteworthy finding was the strong expression of Bcl-2, a protein known as blocking apoptosis, along the basal layer and in the dermal infiltrate both in SJS/TEN and in EM. Taken together, these findings suggest that Fas-dependent keratinocyte apoptosis may play a part in the pathogenesis of both SJS/TEN and EM. Fas-mediated cell death may be partially suppressed by the Bcl-2 protein. Copyright © by Biolife, s.a.s.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an infection caused by protozoa from the genus Leishmania. The disease is transmitted by sandflies. Reservoirs are dogs, mice, wild rodents and, more rarely, humans. CL is clinically characterized by a single, polymorphous lesion, usually localized on the face or limbs. Nowadays, CL is more frequently seen among travellers returning from tropical and subtropical countries (1). Cutaneous lymphoid hyperplasia (CLH), also known as pseudolymphoma, is a reactive proliferation, probably secondary to persistent antigenic stimulation. We present here a case of CLH associated with L. panamensis infection.

Abstract 2713 Primary cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) are usually characterized by a T-helper CD4+ immunophenotype and show an indolent clinical course; on the contrary, cases harbouring a CD8+ cytotoxic immunophenotype exhibiting epidermotropism (AECTCL) or pleomorphic morphology (PTL-NOS), as well as cases with gamma-delta + (CGDL) immunophenotype, display a very different course. Clinically, these tumours are very aggressive, with poor outcome in adults. Chemotherapy, preferably based on intensive CHOP-like regimens, represents the mainstay of treatment, when possible followed by stem cell transplantation. Histologically, tumour cells constitute a population of pleomorphic medium-large size elements. In these rare CTCL subtypes few reports have been published dealing with oncogenomic investigations. With this study, by array-based comparative genomic hybridization (a-CGH) and gene expression profiling (a-GEP), we aimed to explore genomic alterations possibly involved in tumorigenesis of aggressive CTCL referred to our department. We focused on 9 cases of CD8+ AECTCL, 3 cases of CD8+ PTL-NOS and 4 cases of CGDL, who were extensively investigated by a-CGH; a-GEP was applied in 5 cases of AECTCL to further expose genomic profile of neoplastic cells. Among AECTCL patients, immunophenotype was always typical and EBV was demonstrated only in one case. Results were assessed by statistical analysis to reveal more significant common chromosomal aberrations. By a-CGH investigations, we found the presence of extensive gains and losses of both large and small chromosomal regions; copy number gains were more frequent than losses. In CD8+ cases, we observed gains of 3p21.33-p21.2 in 10 out of 12 cases, 6p21.2-p21.1 in 8/12, 7q11.23 in 9/12, 7q21.2-q22.1 in 10/12, 7q36.1-q36.3 in 7/12, 8q24.3 in 8/12, 11pter in 11/12, 11q12.3-q13.2 in 10/12, 16p13.3 in 10/12, 17q in 10/12, trisomy 19 (as a mosaic aberration) in 12/12, and trisomy 22 in 8/12; losses involved 4q12-q22.2 in 8/12, 9p21.3 in 10/12 (homozygous in 7) and 14q11.2 in 9/12. In CGDL, recurrent copy number alterations (observed in 50% to 75% of cases) were gains of 2q13-qter, 17q21.3, 19 (trisomy, as mosaic) and 22q11.21, along with losses of 4q12-q22, 6q23.3 and 9p21.3. Summarizing, most of our genomic results have been previously described in other cutaneous lymphomas: gains of 3p21 in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL), of 7q21 in mycosis fungoides (MF), of 8q24 in PTL-NOS and in Sézary syndrome (SS), of 11q22-q13 in DLBCL, of 16p in DLBCL and in angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AITL), of 19p in AITL and natural killer lymphomas, trisomy 22 in AITL, PTL-NOS and SS, gain of 17q in SS and in ALCL, MF and PTL-NOS. However, we underline the loss of p21.3, determining CDKN2A deletion, as a common alteration in these three CTCL entities. We also found other common anomalies in AECTCL and PTL-NOS, with particular interest with regard to gain of 17q, 19p13 and 19q13.11-q32, which associate with the JAK/STAT signaling pathway activation. Other alterations in AECTCL cases involve c-MYC (8q24), CCND1/CDK4–6 (11q13) and IL21R (16p13.3). Worth mentioning, GEP analysis in AECTCL confirmed altered expression of CDKN2A, JAK3 and STAT6 genes. Although most genetic aberrations detected in our study have already been described in other lymphoproliferative disorders, we conclude that the combination of aberrations appears characteristic in these aggressive disorders. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.