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Functional endothelial cells (EC) are a critical interface between blood vessels and the thrombogenic flowing blood. Disruption of this layer can lead to early thrombosis, inflammation, vessel restenosis, and, following coronary (CABG) or peripheral (PABG) artery bypass graft surgery, vein graft failure. Blood-derived ECs have shown potential for vascular tissue engineering applications. Here, we show the development and preliminary testing of a method for deriving porcine endothelial-like cells from blood obtained under clinical conditions for use in translational research. The derived cells show cobblestone morphology and expression of EC markers, similar to those seen in isolated porcine aortic ECs (PAEC), and when exposed to increasing shear stress, they remain viable and show mRNA expression of EC markers similar to PAEC. In addition, we confirm the feasibility of seeding endothelial-like cells onto a decellularised human vein scaffold with approximately 90% lumen coverage at lower passages, and show that increasing cell passage results in reduced endothelial coverage.

Lockdown measures were initiated in Italy on March 9th after the start of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic to flatten the epidemic curve. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of restrictive measures in the Apulia Region, southern Italy, on air quality from March to April 2020. We applied a dual-track approach. We assessed citizen mobility and vehicle traffic with mobility network data and information obtained from satellite tracking, and we evaluated and compared pollutant concentration data as measured by monitoring stations maintained by the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection and Prevention of Apulia (ARPA). The results showed a decrease in the weekly mean NO2 concentration recorded by urban traffic stations during the lockdown period. In particular, in the city of Bari, the average NO2 concentration decreased from 62.2 μg/m3 in March 2019 to 48.2 μg/m3 in March 2020. Regarding PM10 levels, the average concentrations at the individual traffic stations showed no particular variation compared to those in the same months of the previous year, except for Bari-Caldarola Station in March 2019/2020 (p-value < 0.001) and in April 2019/2020 (p-value = 0.04). In particular the average in March 2019 was ~26.9 μg/m3, while that in March 2020 was ~22.9 μg/m3. For April, the average concentration of PM10 in 2019 was 27.9 μg/m3, while in 2020, the average was ~22.4 μg/m3. This can be explained by the fact that PM10 levels are influenced by multiple variables such as weather and climate conditions and desert dust advections.

La “grande lista di Delfi”, pubblicata da André Plassart nel 1921, è il più importante fra gli otto cataloghi di theorodokoi conservatisi, e fornisce il quadro complessivo dei contatti mantenuti dagli ambasciatori sacri (theoroi) del santuario panellenico di Delfi con tutte le comunità greche del Mediterraneo che partecipavano periodicamente alla celebrazione delle Pitiche e delle Soterie, tra la fine del III e l’inizio del II sec. a.C. La faccia anteriore della stele registra una successione di lemmi disposti in ordine itinerario, formati da un toponimo seguito da uno o più nomi personali di theorodokoi. A loro volta le singole voci sono disposte sotto sezioni territoriali, corrispondenti alle aree che le diverse commissioni di theoroi avrebbero dovuto percorrere allo scopo di annunciare la celebrazione delle festività e invitare le rispettive poleis a prendervi parte. Nel complesso, sulle quattro colonne in cui è diviso il campo epigrafico è incisa una serie di sette itinerari regionali, di cui quattro sono identificati da altrettante intestazioni.Il testo dell’ultima delle theoriai non presenta problemi di lettura sulla pietra se non per i toponimi alle linee 111-115 della quarta colonna, interessate dalla lacuna assai grave che investe tutto lo spigolo in basso a destra della Grande Stele. Per queste righe sono state proposte diverse integrazioni, volte a ricomporre la parte finale dell’itinerario siciliano. Nelle proposte di lettura, le diverse soluzioni avanzate, tutte ugualmente insoddisfacenti, restituiscono di volta in volta un percorso differente rispetto al tragitto seguito dai theoroi di Delfi. La lettura complessiva della “grande lista dei theorodokoi di Delfi” presenta elementi utili non tanto a risolvere in modo definitivo la questione, quanto piuttosto a fornire una nuova chiave di lettura relativa alla reale configurazione di questa parte dell’itinerario, risultante dalla sequenza dei toponimi della sezione siciliana. Un dato di confronto decisivo è costituito dalle evidenze contenute sulle colonne della stele, dalle quali si evince chiaramente come, in almeno due circoscrizioni regionali, le theoriai degli ambasciatori di Delfi si sono separate in gruppi più piccoli, che hanno percorso autonomamente itinerari differenti. Questa medesima soluzione si adatta anche al caso della Sicilia, dove due gruppi di theoroi sembrano seguire le vie lungo il versante ionico e tirrenico. The “great list of Delphi”, published by André Plassart in 1921, is the most important of eight catalogs of theorodokoi preserved, and provides the overall picture of the contacts maintained by the sacred ambassadors (theoroi) of the Panhellenic sanctuary of Delphi with all the Greek communities of the Mediterranean that participated regularly in the celebration of the Pythia and Soteria, between the late third and the beginning of the second century B.C. The front face of the stele records a succession of items arranged in itinerary order, formed by a place name followed by one or more personal names of theorodokoi. In turn, the individual items are placed under local sections, corresponding to the areas that the various delegations of theoroi would have to travel in order to announce the celebration of the feast and invite their poleis to take part. Overall, on the four columns in which the inscribed area is divided, it is engraved a series of seven regional routes, four of which are identified by the same number of headers. The text of the last of the theoriai has no reading problems on the stone, with exception of the place names in lines 111-115 of the fourth column, affected by a very serious gap that affects the corner at the bottom right of the Great Stele. For these lines several integrations have been proposed, designed to reconstruct the final part of the Sicilian itinerary. In our reading proposals, all the various solutions advanced, equally unsatisfactory, provide from time to time a different version of the path followed by theoroi of Delphi. The overall reading of the “great list of Delphi’s theorodokoi” offers useful notions not so much to definitively resolve the issue, but rather to provide a new interpretation on the actual configuration of this part of the route, resulting from the sequence of place names of the Sicilian section on the stone. A matter of decisive confrontation is provided by the evidence contained in the columns of the stele, from which it is clear that, in at least two regional constituencies, the theoriai of Delphi’s ambassadors were separated into smaller groups, which have traveled different routes independently. This same solution is suited to the case of Sicily, where two groups of theoroi seem to follow the paths along the Ionian and the Tyrrhenian coast.

(1) Background: The association of radon-222 with lung cancer is well studied. The aim of the study was to validate a model of indoor radon measurements, to apply radon software to estimate lung cancer cases that are attributable to radon and to study the relationship between radon and earthquakes. (2) Methods: Different data detectors were used to obtain radon measurements in different places. Continuous data collection and predictions of indoor radon concentrations were carried out. Software was used to assess radon-attributable lung cancer cases, and data related to earthquake magnitudes were downloaded from Italian Vulcanology Institute. (3) Results: As expected, the highest radon concentrations were observed on the ground floor (232 ± 232 Bq/m3), with higher values measured during winter than in other seasons. The comparison of the detectors showed the overlapping of the two detectors-measured data sets. The cases of lung cancer that were attributable to radon in Locorotondo were studied (3.66/10,000). From the multivariate analysis of the relationship between high radon concentrations and high earthquake magnitude values, they show statistically significant ORs of just over 1. (4) Conclusions: Although the measured values are, on average, within the reference level, prevention measures must be implemented, as the measured radon values allow us to estimate an expected value of 3.66 cases of lung cancer per 10,000 people in the resident population.