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Due to its relatively low cost and good chemical stability, nonylphenol polyethoxylated with an ethoxylation degree of 9.5 (NPE95) is produced on a large scale and widely used in the industry as an emulsifier, detergent, and solubilizer. Despite its extensive applicability, there is a gap in the literature regarding its corrosion inhibition properties. This study evaluated the surfactant NPE95 as a corrosion inhibitor for SAE1020 steel in 3% NaCl aqueous solution at concentrations of 5 ppm, 10 ppm, and 25 ppm. Measurements of mass loss and visual and microscopic verification of the corrosion products on the metal surface were performed using photographic records obtained with an Olympus® SZ61 optical stereoscope and an Olympus® BX51M microscope. In addition to these techniques, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was conducted using an AUTOLAB PGSTAT 204 potentiostat/galvanostat to better confirm the surfactant's inhibitory potential. The impedance results with the inhibitor in the corrosive medium show two capacitive arcs. The first capacitive arc is attributed to the adsorbed film on carbon steel, while the second, at low frequencies, indicates a charge transfer process at the metal/electrolyte interface, or corrosion process. The ΔGads values obtained from the Langmuir and El-Awady models were –21.987 kJ.mol-1 and –10.061 kJ.mol-1, respectively, indicating spontaneous physisorption processes. Data on total mass loss showed that the lowest mass loss occurred in the sample exposed to the highest surfactant concentration (25 ppm), demonstrating a reduction of approximately 17% in the corrosion rate in the saline medium.

Summary: Cirrhosis is a major health concern worldwide with a complex pathophysiology affecting various biological systems, including all aspects of haemostasis. Bleeding risk is mainly driven by portal hypertension, but in end-stage liver disease it is further increased by alterations in haemostatic components, including platelet function, coagulation, and fibrinolysis. Concurrently, patients with cirrhosis are prone to venous thromboembolic events (VTE) because of the altered haemostatic balance, in particular an increase in thrombin generation. In patients with cirrhosis, vitamin K antagonists (VKA) and low molecular weight heparins (LMWH) are currently the standard of care for VTE prevention, with VKA also being standard of care for stroke prevention in those with atrial fibrillation. However, direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) could have specific advantages in this patient population. Clinical experience suggests that DOAC are a safe and possibly more effective alternative to traditional anticoagulants for the treatment of VTE in patients with compensated cirrhosis. In addition, emerging data suggest that primary prophylactic treatment with anticoagulants may improve clinical outcomes in patients with cirrhosis by reducing the risk of hepatic decompensation. The selection of the most appropriate DOAC remains to be clarified. This review focuses on the rationale for the use of DOAC in patients with cirrhosis, the specific effects of the different DOAC (as assessed by in vitro and in vivo pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies), as well as clinical outcomes in patients with cirrhosis on DOAC.

Abstract Neurodevelopmental disorders are constantly increasing on a global scale. Some elements like heavy metals are known to be neurotoxic. In this cross-sectional study we assessed the neurobehavioral effect of the exposure to trace elements including lead, mercury, cadmium, manganese, arsenic and selenium and their interactions among 299 schoolchildren residing in the heavily polluted Taranto area in Italy. Whole blood, urine and hair were collected for metal analyses, while the Child Behavior Checklist and the Social Responsiveness Scale, administered to the main teacher and the mothers were considered to identify behavioral problems in children. Blood lead mainly influenced social problems, aggressive behavior, externalizing and total problems. Urinary arsenic showed an impact on anxiety and depression, somatic problems, attention problems and rule breaking behavior. A significant interaction between lead and arsenic was observed, with a synergistic effect of the two metals increasing the risk of attention problems, aggressive behavior, externalizing problems and total problems. Overall, we were able to test that higher blood lead, urinary arsenic concentrations and their interaction increase the risk of neurobehavioral problems. This is in line with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s priority list of hazardous substances where arsenic and lead are ranked as first and second respectively.

Due to the continuous increasing importance of renewable energy sources as an alternative to fossil fuels, to contrast air pollution and global warming, the prediction of Global Horizontal Irradiation (GHI), one of the main parameters determining solar energy production of photovoltaic systems, represents an attractive topic nowadays. Solar irradiance is determined by deterministic factors (i.e. the position of the sun) and stochastic factors (i.e. the presence of clouds). Since the stochastic element is difficult to model, this problem can benefit from machine learning techniques, like artificial neural networks. This work proposes a methodology to forecast GHI in short- (i.e. from 15 min to 60 min) and mid-term (i.e. from 60 to 120 min) time horizons. For this purpose, we designed, optimised and compared four neural network architectures for time-series forecasting, respectively based on: i) Non-Linear Autoregressive, ii) Feed-Forward, iii) Long Short-Term Memory and iv) Echo State Network. The original data-set, consisting of GHI values sampled every 15min, has been pre-processed by applying different filtering techniques. Our results analysis compares the performance of the proposed neural networks identifying the best in terms of error rate and forecast horizon. This analysis highlights that the clear-sky index results the preferred filtering technique by giving greatly improvements in data-set pre-processing, and Echo State Network gives best accuracy results.

Abstract Combined oral contraceptives and factor V Leiden mutation are multiplicative risk factors for venous thromboembolism. However, it remains unknown whether this multiplicative effect is reflected in thrombin generation assays. We report here the evolution of the thrombin generation profile while taking combined oral contraceptives and after their discontinuation in a woman with heterozygous factor V Leiden mutation. The proband exhibited a distinctly prothrombotic thrombin generation profile including markedly decreased thrombomodulin (TM) sensitivity, compared to the control population. This profile possibly reflected a high thrombotic risk. After discontinuation of combined oral contraceptives, thrombin generation and TM sensitivity improved greatly, leaving only a slightly prothrombotic profile. Therefore, the multiplied thrombotic risk occurring with simultaneous combined oral contraceptives and factor V Leiden mutation is reflected by a thrombin generation assay performed without and with TM. This could be a promising tool to identify women taking combined oral contraceptives at high risk for venous thromboembolism. Further studies are needed to verify this hypothesis.

In order to maximize ecosystem services (ES), a proper planning of urban green areas is needed. In this study, the urban greenery of two Italian cities (Milan and Bologna) exposed to high levels of atmospheric pollutants was examined. Vegetation maps were developed through a supervised classification algorithm, trained over remote sensing images, integrated by local trees inventory, and used as input for the AIRTREE multi-layer canopy model. In both cities, a large presence of deciduous broadleaves was found, which showed a higher capacity to sequestrate CO2 (3,953,280 g m2 y−1), O3 (5677.76 g m2 y−1), and NO2 (2358.30 g m2 y−1) when compared to evergreen needle leaves that, on the other hand, showed higher performances in particulate matter removal (14,711.29 g m2 y−1 and 1964.91 g m2 y−1 for PM10 and PM2,5, respectively). We identified tree species with the highest carbon uptake capacity with values up to 1025.47 g CO2 m2 y−1 for Celtis australis, Platanus x acerifolia, Ulmus pumila, and Quercus rubra. In light of forthcoming and unprecedent policy measures to plant millions of trees in the urban areas, our study highlights the importance of developing an integrated approach that combines modelling and satellite data to link air quality and the functionality of green plants as key elements in improving the delivery of ES in cities.

The digitalization of processes is a priority objective on the agenda of the Italian National Government. The forestry system could benefit from its introduction, both for the purposes of administration, management, monitoring and governance of the national forest heritage. The authors, through questionnaires and interviews, defined the degree of digitalization of the forestry sector. While the computerisation phase has been completed, at the beginning of 2021, forest digitalization is still in the early stages, except for some realities that represent excellence.

Abstract Background Metal exposure is a public health hazard due to neurocognitive effects starting in early life. Poor socio-economic status, adverse home and family environment can enhance the neurodevelopmental toxicity due to chemical exposure. Disadvantaged socio-economic conditions are generally higher in environmentally impacted areas although the combined effect of these two factors has not been sufficiently studied. Methods The effect of co-exposure to neurotoxic metals including arsenic, cadmium, manganese, mercury, lead, selenium, and to socio-economic stressors was assessed in a group of 299 children aged 6–12 years, residing at incremental distance from industrial emissions in Taranto, Italy. Exposure was assessed with biological monitoring and the distance between the home address and the exposure point source. Children’s cognitive functions were examined using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) and the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). Linear mixed models were chosen to assess the association between metal exposure, socio-economic status and neurocognitive outcomes. Results Urinary arsenic, cadmium and hair manganese resulted inversely related to the distance from the industrial emission source (β − 0.04; 95% CI -0.06, − 0.01; β − 0.02; 95% CI -0.05, − 0.001; β − 0.02 95% CI -0.05, − 0.003) while the WISC intellectual quotient and its sub-scores (except processing speed index) showed a positive association with distance. Blood lead and urinary cadmium were negatively associated with the IQ total score and all sub-scores, although not reaching the significance level. Hair manganese and blood lead was positively associated with the CANTAB between errors of spatial working memory (β 2.2; 95% CI 0.3, 3.9) and the reaction time of stop signal task (β 0.05; 95% CI 0.02, 0.1) respectively. All the other CANTAB neurocognitive tests did not show to be significantly influenced by metal exposure. The highest socio-economic status showed about five points intellectual quotient more than the lowest level on average (β 4.8; 95% CI 0.3, 9.6); the interaction term between blood lead and the socio-economic status showed a significant negative impact of lead on working memory at the lowest socio-economic status level (β − 4.0; 95% CI -6.9, − 1.1). Conclusions Metal exposure and the distance from industrial emission was associated with negative cognitive impacts in these children. Lead exposure had neurocognitive effect even at very low levels of blood lead concentration when socio-economic status is low, and this should further address the importance and prioritize preventive and regulatory interventions.

Continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMSs) allow measuring the blood glycaemic value of a diabetic patient at a high sampling rate, producing a considerable amount of data. These data can be effectively used by machine learning techniques to infer future values of the glycaemic concentration, allowing the early prevention of dangerous hyperglycaemic or hypoglycaemic states and better optimization of the diabetic treatment. Most of the approaches in the literature learn a prediction model from the past samples of the same patient, which needs extensive calibrations and limits the usability of the system. In this paper, we investigate the prediction models trained on glucose signals of a large and heterogeneous cohort of patients and then applied to infer future glucose-level values on a completely new patient. To achieve this purpose, we designed and compared two different types of solutions that were proved successful in many time-series prediction problems based respectively, on non-linear autoregressive (NAR) neural network and on long short-term memory (LSTM) networks. These solutions were experimentally compared with three literature approaches, respectively, based on feed-forward neural networks (FNNs), autoregressive (AR) models, and recurrent neural networks (RNN). While the NAR obtained good prediction accuracy only for short-term predictions (i.e., with prediction horizon within 30 min), the LSTM obtained extremely good performance both for short- and long-term glucose-level inference (60 min and more), overcoming all the other methods in terms of correlation between the measured and the predicted glucose signal and in terms of clinical outcome.

Background & Aims: Different liver dysfunction biomarkers are used to assess the bleeding risk of patients with cirrhosis, either as such or included in bleeding risk assessment scores. Since the current model of coagulation in patients with cirrhosis describes a procoagulant tendency with increasing severity according to Child-Pugh stage, we decided to investigate the relation between liver dysfunction biomarkers and thrombin generation. Our aim was to verify their adequacy for bleeding risk assessment. Methods: We performed a prospective single-centre study including 260 patients with liver cirrhosis. Thrombin generation was measured using ST Genesia® Thrombin Generation System without and with thrombomodulin in order to assess the role of proteins C and S. Relations between thrombin generation and Child-Pugh/model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) scores, prothrombin time (PT)/international normalised ratio (INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), factor V activity, albumin, and total bilirubin were assessed. Results: Thrombomodulin-mediated inhibition of thrombin generation was significantly decreased in patients with liver cirrhosis compared with healthy donors (p

Valuable broadleaved tree species can play an important role in mixed-forest management; in these forests, silviculture may play an important role in getting high value timber. This paper illustrates a tree-oriented silviculture approach with an application in a Turkey oak coppice stand in Central Italy. This silvicultural approach has been developed in the last decades in France, Germany, Switzerland. The rationale behind the tree-oriented approach is to select a number of target sporadic tree species with valuable timber and to support their growth through repeated thinning from above. We tested the effectiveness of this silviculture approach as an alternative to customary coppice management in Italy, which is traditionally focused on the dominant tree species and does not consider valuable broadleaved tree species. The two silviculture approaches (tree-oriented and customary coppicing) were compared through a financial evaluation of the economic convenience of the two alternatives in a Turkey oak coppice stand in Central Italy

Este estudio investigó la influencia de NaCl sobre el punto de niebla de los tensioactivos polietoxilados de la familia de polietoxilatos de alcohol laurílico y polietoxilatos de nonilfenol. Se representaron gráficamente las curvas de equilibrio líquido-líquido de los sistemas acuosos con tensioactivos anteriormente mencionados con presencia de NaCl, surgiendo los parámetros termodinámicos basados en el modelo de Flory-Huggins. El uso del método visual determinó el punto de niebla. Se prepararon soluciones con concentraciones de surfactante entre 0,5 y 20% (por peso) y NaCl entre 4,9 y 12,1% (por peso). La sal tenía un efecto salino, disminuyendo la solubilidad surfactante en agua. Además, el punto de niebla disminuyó al aumentar la concentración de NaCl. El modelo de Flory-Huggins describió satisfactoriamente los datos experimentales para todas las soluciones de misturas acuosas + NaCl estudiadas.

Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) is a DNA repair disease characterized by nucleotide excision repair (NER) malfunction, leading to photosensitivity and increased incidence of skin malignancies. The role of XP-A in NER pathways has been well studied while discrepancies associated with ROS levels and the role of radical species between normal and deficient XPA cell lines have been observed. Using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry we have determined the four 5’,8-cyclopurines (cPu) lesions (i.e., 5′R-cdG, 5′S-cdG, 5′R-cdA and 5′S-cdA), 8-oxo-dA and 8-oxo-dG in wt (EUE-pBD650) and XPA-deficient (EUE-siXPA) human embryonic epithelial cell lines, under different oxygen tension (hyperoxic 21%, physioxic 5% and hypoxic 1%). The levels of Fe and Cu were also measured. The main findings of our study were: (i) the total amount of cPu (1.82−2.52 lesions/106 nucleotides) is the same order of magnitude as 8-oxo-Pu (3.10−4.11 lesions/106 nucleotides) in both cell types, (ii) the four cPu levels are similar in hyperoxic and physioxic conditions for both wt and deficient cell lines, whereas 8-oxo-Pu increases in all cases, (iii) both wt and deficient cell lines accumulated high levels of cPu under hypoxic compared to physioxic conditions, whereas the 8-oxo-Pu levels show an opposite trend, (iv) the diastereoisomeric ratios 5′R/5′S are independent of oxygen concentration being 0.29 for cdG and 2.69 for cdA for EUE-pBD650 (wt) and 0.32 for cdG and 2.94 for cdA for EUE-siXPA (deficient), (v) in deficient cell lines Fe levels were significantly higher. The data show for the first time the connection of oxygen concentration in cells with different DNA repair ability and the levels of different DNA lesions highlighting the significance of cPu. Membrane lipidomic data at 21% O2 indicated differences in the fatty acid contents between wild type and deficient cells, envisaging functional effects on membranes associated with the different repair capabilities, to be further investigated.

The Italian program for human biomonitoring (HBM) of chemical elements, PROgram for Biomonitoring of the Exposure (PROBE), started in 2008 with the aim to provide the knowledge about risk assessment of the Italian population following the environmental exposure to metals. The project is implemented through a HBM campaign for the production of data on 19 metals in the blood and serum of subjects living in different Italian Regions. The metals studied are: antimony, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, iridium, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, palladium, platinum, rhodium, thallium, tin, tungsten, uranium and vanadium. The first phase of the project has included the development and validation of laboratory protocols for the collection of fluids and quantification of metals. The second phase provides the HBM data expressed as the reference values (RVs) for the Italian population, i.e., as the level of metals in the general population not occupationally exposed. In this paper, the experimental protocols used for the maintenance of high standards of analysis and the RVs for metals in serum of inhabitants of two Italian Regions (Calabria and Umbria) are described.

Iridium tissue distribution and excretion in female Wistar rats following oral exposure to iridium (III) chloride hydrate in drinking water (from 1 to 1000 ng/ml) in a sub-chronic oral study were determined. Samples of urine, feces, blood and organs (kidneys, liver, lung, spleen and brain) were collected at the end of exposure. The most prominent fractions of iridium were retained in kidney and spleen; smaller amounts were found in lungs, liver and brain. Iridium brain levels were lower than those observed in other tissues but this finding can support the hypothesis of iridium capability to cross the blood brain barrier. The iridium kidney levels rose significantly with the administered dose. At the highest dose, important amounts of the metal were found in serum, urine and feces. Iridium was predominantly excreted via feces with a significant linear correlation with the ingested dose, which is likely due to low intestinal absorption of the metal. However, at the higher doses iridium was also eliminated through urine. These findings may be useful to help in the understanding of the adverse health effects, particularly on the immune system, of iridium dispersed in the environment as well as in identifying appropriate biological indices of iridium exposure.

Centaurin-α₂ is a GTPase-activating protein for ARF (ARFGAP) showing a diffuse cytoplasmic localization capable to translocate to membrane, where it binds phosphatidylinositols. Taking into account that Centaurin-α₂ can localize in cytoplasm and that its cytoplasmatic function is not well defined, we searched for further interactors by yeast two-hybrid assay to investigate its biological function. We identified a further Centaurin-α₂ interacting protein, β-Tubulin, by yeast two-hybrid assay. The interaction, involving the C-terminal region of β-Tubulin, has been confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation experiments. After Centaurin-α₂ overexpression in HeLa cells and extraction of soluble (αβ dimers) and insoluble (microtubules) fractions of Tubulin, we observed that Centaurin-α₂ mainly interacts with the polymerized Tubulin fraction, besides colocalizing with microtubules (MTs) in cytoplasm accordingly. Even following the depolimerizing Tubulin treatments Centaurin-α₂ remains mainly associated to nocodazole- and cold-resistant MTs. We found an increase of MT stability in transfected HeLa cells, evaluating as marker of stability the level of MT acetylation. In vitro assays using purified Centaurin-α₂ and tubulin confirmed that Centaurin-α₂ promotes tubulin assembly and increases microtubule stability. The biological effect of Centaurin-α₂ overexpression, assessed through the detection of an increased number of mitotic HeLa cells with bipolar spindles and with the correct number of centrosomes in both dividing and not dividing cells, is consistent with the Centaurin-α₂ role on MT stabilization. Centaurin-α₂ interacts with β-Tubulin and it mainly associates to MTs, resistant to destabilizing agents, in vitro and in cell. We propose Centaurin-α₂ as a new microtubule-associated protein (MAP) increasing MT stability.

IntroductionHandwriting deteriorates proportionally to the writer’s cognitive state. Such knowledge is of special importance in the case of a contested will, where dementia of the testator is claimed, but medical records are often insufficient to decide what the testator’s cognitive state really was. By contrast, if the will is handwritten, handwriting analysis allows us to gauge the testator’s cognitive state at the precise moment when he/she was writing the will. However, quantitative methods are needed to precisely evaluate whether the writer’s cognitive state was normal or not. We aim to provide a test that quantifies handwriting deterioration to gauge a writer’s cognitive state.MethodsWe consecutively enrolled patients who came for the evaluation of cognitive impairment at the Outpatient Clinic for Cognitive Impairment of the Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics and Maternal and Child Sciences (DINOGMI) of the University of Genoa, Italy. Additionally, we enrolled their caregivers. We asked them to write a short text by hand, and we administered the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Then, we investigated which handwriting parameters correlated with cognitive state as gauged by the MMSE.ResultsOur study found that a single score, which we called the COGnitive Impairment Through hAndwriTing (COGITAT) score, reliably allows us to predict the writer’s cognitive state.ConclusionThe COGITAT score may be a valuable tool to gage the cognitive state of the author of a manuscript. This score may be especially useful in contested handwritten wills, where clinical examination of the writer is precluded.

IntroductionThis study investigated attachment networks in a sample of Italian young adults. Attachment networks were defined in terms of attachment functions, attachment strength, the presence of a primary figure, and full-blown attachments.MethodParticipants were 405 young adults, and we studied the effects of the demographic variables of gender, romantic status (whether single, involved in a romantic relationship for less or more than 24 months) and employment (whether university students or workers) on the structure of attachment networks. Participants were asked to answer the WHO-TO questionnaire, and derived indexes were analyzed using mixed ANOVAs, linear and logistic regression techniques.ResultsResults indicated that while friends still had great importance in the network, partners were acquiring increasing relevance; at the same time, parents, and particularly mothers, remained central figures, particularly for the secure base function. Regarding the demographic variables, we observed that women reported stronger bonds with their mothers than men did, while the importance of friends was higher for men than for women. Additionally, our study supports previous findings underlining the importance of romantic partners in this phase of life, with participants involved in romantic relationships for longer than 24 months showing a fully developed attachment bond with their partners. Finally, for workers, the transfer of functions from the family-of-origin to external figures seemed to be fostered.DiscussionIn conclusion, young Italian young adults go through a phase of intensive restructuring of attachment bond networks, particularly in relation to the consolidation of romantic relationships and work commitments.

(1) Background: In hereditary creatine transporter deficiency (CTD), there is an absence of creatine in the brain and neurological symptoms are present, including severe language impairment. However, the pathological changes caused by creatine deficiency that generate neuropsychological symptoms have been poorly studied. (2) Aims: To investigate if the language impairment in CTD is underpinned by possible pathological changes. (3) Methods: We used MRI tractography to investigate the trophism of the left arcuate fasciculus, a white matter bundle connecting Wernicke’s and Broca’s language areas that is specifically relevant for language establishment and maintenance, in two patients (28 and 18 y.o.). (4) Results: The T1 and T2 MRI imaging results were unremarkable, but the left arcuate fasciculus showed a marked decrease in mean fractional anisotropy (FA) compared to healthy controls. In contrast, the FA values in the corticospinal tract were similar to those of healthy controls. Although white matter atrophy has been reported in CTD, this is the first report to show a selective abnormality of the language-relevant arcuate fasciculus, suggesting a possible region-specific impact of creatine deficiency.