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The BES TEST™ (Bone Elastic Structure Test), is a recently developed software medical device that detects pathological changes of bone trabecular architecture by measuring its elastic characteristics, known to be directly related to its resistance. The results are expressed by the Bone Structure Index (BSI) or by its T-score, that is the number of standard deviations from the healthy population average. Purpose: Evaluate the precision of BES TEST™ under reproducibility conditions, defined as repeated measurements on the same or similar objects which include different locations, operators, and measuring systems. Methods: A total of 51 replicate measurements were performed by four different operators on five different phantoms. Each phantom was 3D printed using Stereolithography (SLA) and Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and has a unique internal structure that mimics trabecular bone. ISO 5725 guidelines were followed for the interpretation of results. Results: The 3D-printed phantoms performed like real bones when analyzed with BES TEST™. The reproducibility 95% Confidence Interval expressed in BSI is CIR=±11.1, which corresponds in T-score to CIR,Tscore=±0.49. The Least Significant Change in BSI is LSCR=±7.9, which corresponds to LSCR,Tscore=±0.35. Conclusion: The reproducibility of BES TEST™ within the admissible range is not inferior to that of gold standard tests for osteoporosis. 3D printing proved a valuable tool to perform reliable replicate measurements without having patients undergo unnecessary tests.

Introduction: This study assesses the risk of infection and clinical outcomes in a large consecutive population of cancer and non-cancer patients tested for SARS-CoV-2 status.Methods: Study patients underwent SARS-CoV-2 molecular-testing between 22 February 2020 and 31 July 2020, and were found infected (CoV2+ve) or uninfected. History of malignancy was obtained from regional population-based cancer registries. Cancer-patients were distinguished by time between cancer diagnosis and SARS-CoV-2 testing (<12/⩾12 months). Comorbidities, hospitalization, and death at 15 September 2020 were retrieved from regional population-based databases. The impact of cancer history on SARS-CoV-2 infection and clinical outcomes was calculated by fitting a multivariable logistic regression model, adjusting for sex, age, and comorbidities.Results: Among 552,362 individuals tested for SARS-CoV-2, 55,206 (10.0%) were cancer-patients and 22,564 (4.1%) tested CoV2+ve. Irrespective of time since cancer diagnosis, SARS-CoV-2 infection was significantly lower among cancer patients (1,787; 3.2%) than non-cancer individuals (20,777; 4.2% - Odds Ratio (OR)=0.60; 0.57-0.63). CoV2+vecancer-patients were older than non-cancer individuals (median age: 77 versus 57 years; p<0.0001), were more frequently men and with comorbidities. Hospitalizations (39.9% versus 22.5%; OR=1.61; 1.44-1.80) and deaths (24.3% versus 9.7%; OR=1.51; 1.32-1.72) were more frequent in cancer-patients. CoV2+vecancer-patients were at higher risk of death (lung OR=2.90; 1.58-5.24, blood OR=2.73; 1.88-3.93, breast OR=1.77; 1.32-2.35).Conclusions: The risks of hospitalization and death are significantly higher in CoV2+veindividuals with past or present cancer (particularly malignancies of the lung, hematologic or breast) than in those with no history of cancer.

Amylin receptors (AMYRs), heterodimers of the calcitonin receptor (CTR) and one of three receptor activity-modifying proteins, are promising obesity targets. A hallmark of AMYR activation by Amy is the formation of a ‘bypass’ secondary structural motif (residues S19–P25). This study explored potential tuning of peptide selectivity through modification to residues 19–22, resulting in a selective AMYR agonist, San385, as well as nonselective dual amylin and calcitonin receptor agonists (DACRAs), with San45 being an exemplar. We determined the structure and dynamics of San385-bound AMY3R, and San45 bound to AMY3R or CTR. San45, via its conjugated lipid at position 21, was anchored at the edge of the receptor bundle, enabling a stable, alternative binding mode when bound to the CTR, in addition to the bypass mode of binding to AMY3R. Targeted lipid modification may provide a single intervention strategy for design of long-acting, nonselective, Amy-based DACRAs with potential anti-obesity effects.

This paper presents the methods deployed by the Horizon 2O2O SCIPPER project to characterize emission performance of vessels, mainly under the perspective of checking compliance to new emissions regulations. Various on-board and remote measurement techniques have been demonstrated within five experimental campaigns conducted at Europe's main sea areas and ports. Almost a thousand of ship plumes has been measured and crossed checked with various instrumentation, revealing the emission profile of ships during actual operation Accuracy of each measurement technique was also tested. Emission measurements are further exploited to assess the impact of shipping on air quality of coastal areas, by identifying the transformations of pollutants performed in the atmosphere as plume evolves and quantifying onshore pollutants concentrations attributed to shipping activity.

Agriculture provides people with food, but poses environmental challenges. Viacomprehensive observations on an agricultural land at Qvidja in Southern Finland, we were able to show that soil-emitted compounds (mainly ammonia and amines), together with available sulfuric acid, form new aerosol particles which then grow to climate-relevant sizes by the condensation of extremely low volatile organic compounds originating from a side production of photosynthesis (compounds emitted by ground and surrounding vegetation). We found that intensive local clustering events, with particle formation rates at 3 nm about 5–10 times higher than typical rates in boreal forest environments, occur on around 30% of all days. The requirements for these clustering events to occur were found to be clear sky, a low wind speed to accumulate the emissions from local agricultural land, particularly ammonia, the presence of low volatile organic compounds, and sufficient gaseous sulfuric acid. The local clustering will then contribute to regional new particle formation. Since the agricultural land is much more effective per surface area than the boreal forest in producing aerosol particles, these findings provide insight into the participation of agricultural lands in climatic cooling, counteracting the climatic warming effects of farming.