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Nowadays, the detection of microplastics (MPs) is an emerging critical issue in environmental and analytical science. Thus far, there is no standardized method for the identification and quantification of MPs (Nguyen et al., 2019). One method can be the visual identification without further chemical identification, which has a high potential of false counts. Therefore, chemical identification is indispensable to monitor. To determine the mass of plastic within the sample, mass spectrometry could be combined with pyrolysis gas chromatography or thermal extraction desorption gas chromatography. Both methods allow the chemical identification of the polymer types as well as the determination of mass of MPs in the sample; nonetheless, through these processes, the sample is destroyed and particle sizes and numbers cannot be calculated. In addition, these methods are time - and reagent-consuming analytical procedures because they require concentration or separation steps that present also a limiting factor in terms of sample load. Currently, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) is widely recognized as a reliable tool for nondestructive analysis and it is a rapidly expanding research area. In particular, Fourier transform infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy (FTIR-PAS) has been applied in many fields, such as soil physical and chemical properties analysis (Xing et al., 2016), identification of plant diseases (Andrade et al., 2008), gas monitoring (Wang and Wang, 2016), and food safety (Yang and Irudayaraj, 2001). However, the scope of FTIR-PAS to identify MPs nature remains unexplored. To set up a general spectral database, different plastic samples from different suppliers were measured with a FTIR Perkin-Elmer Spectrum GX2000 spectrometer (running under Spectrum 5.0 software) with a MTEC 300 detector (MTEC, Ames, IA). Samples were placed in the photoacoustic cup for direct determination in the infrared photoacoustic spectrum. Before the determination was made, helium was purged for 5 min (at a slow flow rate of 5 cm 3 sec -1 to prevent fine particles spreading) to reduce the infrared absorption interference from carbon dioxide and water in the air. All spectra were collected in the wavenumber range of 4000 to 400 cm -1 at 4 cm -1 resolution. Each sample was scanned 256 times in succession: the final spectra was the merging version resulting from all these scans. All spectra were made compatible so they contain the same number of wavenumber datapoints in the considered spectral range (x axis). Spectra with a low signal-to-noise ratio were excluded afterwards. An initial charcoal blank spectrum was run to test the spectrometer performance and as a reference for calculating the sample spectra in photoacoustic units. At the end of the analysis, sample spectra were processed using The Unscrambler 10.4 software to detect differences, if present, among different type of polymers. After the collection of all database spectra, it was possible to distinguish among samples and all materials could be well separated by cluster analysis. The statistical hierarchical cluster analysis well separated spectra of different polymers. A dendrogram was obtained when normalized spectra from the FTIR-PAS database were subjected to a hierarchical cluster analysis. A number was assigned to each spectra and a library with database entries was created. From the results of the analysis, FTIR-PAS has proven to be a versatile, bias-free tool to succeed at the prefixed task. It could overcome the disadvantage of time-costing (measurements take only about 20-30 min/sample totally; as a comparison, the fastest thermal degradation methods take approximately 2-3 h per sample) and rapidly assess chemical composition of microplastics without any chemical pretreatment. Due to differences in their chemical structure and composition, polymers exposed to Fourier transform infrared photoacoustic radiation displayed characteristic absorption patterns which allow the distinction. In this work, through statistical analysis and clustering of spectra, the basis for an adaptable reference database for the analysis of MPs has be provided. Moreover, the database can be expanded with new spectra in the future, by allowing the implementation. Finally, as FTIR-PAS has been successfully used for the identification of many components of complex matrices, such as bulk sediment samples using calibration databases between spectra of the sediment and known values of the detrital component, in the next future similar models for the detection of microplastics in food could be established. Bibliography Yang H, Irudaraj J. 2001. Characterization of Beef and Pork using Fourier-Transform Infrared Photoacoustic Spectroscopy. LWT Food Sci Technol 34(6): 402-409. Andrade L, Freitas P, Mantovani B, Figueiredo M, Lima R, Lima S, Rangel M, Mussury R. 2008. Detection of soybean rust contamination in soy leaves by FTIR photoacoustic spectroscopy. Eur Phys J Spec Top 153,539-541. Wang J, Wang H. 2016. Ammonia, carbon dioxide and water vapor detection based on tunable fiber laser photoacoustic spectroscopy. Optik 127(2): 942-945. Xing Z, Du C, Tian K, Ma F, Shen Y, Zhou J. 2016. Application of FTIR-PAS and Raman spectroscopies for the determination of organic matter in farmland soils. Talanta. 158:262-269. Nguyen B, Claveau-Mallet D, Hernandez LM, Xu EG, Farner JM, Tufenkji N. 2019. Separation and Analysis of Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Complex Environmental Samples. Acc Chem Res. 52(4):858-866.

Background: The emergence of highly active novel agents has led some to question the role of autologous haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) and subsequent consolidation therapy in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. We therefore compared autologous HSCT with bortezomib–melphalan–prednisone (VMP) as intensification therapy, and bortezomib–lenalidomide–dexamethasone (VRD) consolidation therapy with no consolidation. Methods: In this randomised, open-label, phase 3 study we recruited previously untreated patients with multiple myeloma at 172 academic and community practice centres of the European Myeloma Network. Eligible patients were aged 18–65 years, had symptomatic multiple myeloma stage 1–3 according to the International Staging System (ISS), measurable disease (serum M protein >10 g/L or urine M protein >200 mg in 24 h or abnormal free light chain [FLC] ratio with involved FLC >100 mg/L, or proven plasmacytoma by biopsy), and WHO performance status grade 0–2 (grade 3 was allowed if secondary to myeloma). Patients were first randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either four 42-day cycles of bortezomib (1·3 mg/m2 administered intravenously or subcutaneously on days 1, 4, 8, 11, 22, 25, 29, and 32) combined with melphalan (9 mg/m2 administered orally on days 1–4) and prednisone (60 mg/m2 administered orally on days 1–4) or autologous HSCT after high-dose melphalan (200 mg/m2), stratified by site and ISS disease stage. In centres with a double HSCT policy, the first randomisation (1:1:1) was to VMP or single or double HSCT. Afterwards, a second randomisation assigned patients to receive two 28-day cycles of consolidation therapy with bortezomib (1·3 mg/m2 either intravenously or subcutaneously on days 1, 4, 8, and 11), lenalidomide (25 mg orally on days 1–21), and dexamethasone (20 mg orally on days 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, and 12) or no consolidation; both groups received lenalidomide maintenance therapy (10 mg orally on days 1–21 of a 28-day cycle). The primary outcomes were progression-free survival from the first and second randomisations, analysed in the intention-to-treat population, which included all patients who underwent each randomisation. All patients who received at least one dose of study drugs were included in the safety analyses. This study is registered with the EU Clinical Trials Register (EudraCT 2009-017903-28) and ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01208766), and has completed recruitment. Findings: Between Feb 25, 2011, and April 3, 2014, 1503 patients were enrolled. 1197 patients were eligible for the first randomisation, of whom 702 were assigned to autologous HSCT and 495 to VMP; 877 patients who were eligible for the first randomisation underwent the second randomisation to VRD consolidation (n=449) or no consolidation (n=428). The data cutoff date for the current analysis was Nov 26, 2018. At a median follow-up of 60·3 months (IQR 52·2–67·6), median progression-free survival was significantly improved with autologous HSCT compared with VMP (56·7 months [95% CI 49·3–64·5] vs 41·9 months [37·5–46·9]; hazard ratio [HR] 0·73, 0·62–0·85; p=0·0001). For the second randomisation, the number of events of progression or death at data cutoff was lower than that preplanned for the final analysis; therefore, the results from the second protocol-specified interim analysis, when 66% of events were reached, are reported (data cutoff Jan 18, 2018). At a median follow-up of 42·1 months (IQR 32·3–49·2), consolidation therapy with VRD significantly improved median progression-free survival compared with no consolidation (58·9 months [54·0–not estimable] vs 45·5 months [39·5–58·4]; HR 0·77, 0·63–0·95; p=0·014). The most common grade ≥3 adverse events in the autologous HSCT group compared to the VMP group included neutropenia (513 [79%] of 652 patients vs 137 [29%] of 472 patients), thrombocytopenia (541 [83%] vs 74 [16%]), gastrointestinal disorders (80 [12%] vs 25 [5%]), and infections (192 [30%] vs 18 [4%]). 239 (34%) of 702 patients in the autologous HSCT group and 135 (27%) of 495 in the VMP group had at least one serious adverse event. Infection was the most common serious adverse event in each of the treatment groups (206 [56%] of 368 and 70 [37%] of 189). 38 (12%) of 311 deaths from first randomisation were likely to be treatment related: 26 (68%) in the autologous HSCT group and 12 (32%) in the VMP group, most frequently due to infections (eight [21%]), cardiac events (six [16%]), and second primary malignancies (20 [53%]). Interpretation: This study supports the use of autologous HSCT as intensification therapy and the use of consolidation therapy in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, even in the era of novel agents. The role of high-dose chemotherapy needs to be reassessed in future studies, in particular in patients with undetectable minimal residual disease after four-drug induction regimens including a monoclonal antiboby combined with an immunomodulatory agent and a proteasome inhibitor plus dexamethasone. Funding: Janssen and Celgene. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

Thalidomide plus dexamethasone (TD) is a standard induction therapy for myeloma. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of addition of bortezomib to TD (VTD) versus TD alone as induction therapy before, and consolidation therapy after, double autologous stem-cell transplantation in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.Patients (aged 18-65 years) with previously untreated symptomatic myeloma were enrolled from 73 sites in Italy between May, 2006, and April, 2008, and data collection continued until June 30, 2010. Patients were randomly allocated (1:1 ratio) by a web-based system to receive three 21-day cycles of thalidomide (100 mg daily for the first 14 days and 200 mg daily thereafter) plus dexamethasone (40 mg daily on 8 of the first 12 days, but not consecutively; total of 320 mg per cycle), either alone or with bortezomib (1·3 mg/m(2) on days 1, 4, 8, and 11). The randomisation sequence was computer generated by the study coordinating team and was stratified by disease stage. After double autologous stem-cell transplantation, patients received two 35-day cycles of their assigned drug regimen, VTD or TD, as consolidation therapy. The primary endpoint was the rate of complete or near complete response to induction therapy. Analysis was by intention to treat. Patients and treating physicians were not masked to treatment allocation. This study is still underway but is not recruiting participants, and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01134484, and with EudraCT, number 2005-003723-39.480 patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive VTD (n=241 patients) or TD (n=239). Six patients withdrew consent before start of treatment, and 236 on VTD and 238 on TD were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. After induction therapy, complete or near complete response was achieved in 73 patients (31%, 95% CI 25·0-36·8) receiving VTD, and 27 (11%, 7·3-15·4) on TD (p0·0001). Grade 3 or 4 adverse events were recorded in a significantly higher number of patients on VTD (n=132, 56%) than in those on TD (n=79, 33%; p0·0001), with a higher occurrence of peripheral neuropathy in patients on VTD (n=23, 10%) than in those on TD (n=5, 2%; p=0·0004). Resolution or improvement of severe peripheral neuropathy was recorded in 18 of 23 patients on VTD, and in three of five patients on TD.VTD induction therapy before double autologous stem-cell transplantation significantly improves rate of complete or near complete response, and represents a new standard of care for patients with multiple myeloma who are eligible for transplant.Seràgnoli Institute of Haematology at the University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.

Biodeteriogens are an important cause of the weathering of a monument, particularly those made of stone, and their detection at an early stage of development helps to protect the monument from deterioration. Frequent mapping of biodeteriogen accumulation is therefore highly necessary. The use of fluorescence lidar for this purpose was introduced in 1995 and has been developed in subsequent years. Three main aspects emerged during this research: the possibility of discriminating between different biodeteriogen strains, the minimum detectable quantity of biodeteriogens, and the control of the efficiency of biocide treatments. We describe the results of a laboratory experiment devoted to clarifying these three aspects of biodeteriogen monitoring by means of fluorescence lidar.

Treatments of different chemical composition are employed to preserve the surface of historical stone building. The uniform distribution of the protective treatment and the conservation of its integrity during the years are crucial factors for an efficient protection of the monument. A technique which allows a remote mapping of the treatment and its characteristics would be therefore very attractive. The paper describes the first experiments devoted to the investigation of fluorescence lidar potential in the monitoring of protective treatments on a stone surface. Dolomitic Marble samples were treated with different protective substances and than analysed by a laboratory set up which simulates a lidar measurement. Although further investigations are necessary these laboratory results indicate an interesting potential of the lidar in the non-destructive, remote monitoring of the protective treatments.