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Circular feeds, such as grain dry distillers, citrus pulp, cane molasses, and potatoes peels, are co-products of biomass processes. They are currently proposed in animal nutrition to improve the environmental and economic sustainability of the food production chain. In this paper, we report a case study involving fipronil, a pesticide currently not authorized for agriculture within the EU, but used in the Americas, Eastern Europe, and Asia. Fipronil was found at a mean level of 0.49 mg/kg, in a grain dry distiller batch administered to dairy cows. This finding, along with other evidence of potential fipronil presence in feed materials, prompted us to evaluate the risk to food safety and food security from 12 different conventional and sustainable feeding regimens. To this purpose, we considered a fipronil feed-to-milk carry-over rate of 0.52, the tolerance levels in fodders and food from The EU, Codex Alimentarius, and US-EPA, and the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of 0.0002 mg/kg body weight for adverse effects on thyroid function in dairy cows. Under a conservative scenario, fipronil-contaminated potato peels and grain distillers in the feeding regimens may play a pivotal role in exceeding the EU Maximum Residue Level (MRL) in bovine milk and fat (0.005 and 0.030 mg/kg, respectively). Hay-based diets with soybean hulls and cane molasses show negligible risks (Hazard Index ∼ 1). In all cases, the ADI exceedance suggests the need to evaluate thyroid function in dairy cows exposed to fipronil as a food security factor.

Development of efficient portable sensors for accurately detecting biomarkers is crucial for early disease diagnosis, yet remains a significant challenge. To address this need, we introduce the enhanced luminescence lateral-flow assay, which leverages highly luminescent upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) alongside a portable reader and a smartphone app. The sensor's efficiency and versatility were shown for kidney health monitoring as a proof of concept. We engineered Er 3+ - and Tm 3+ -doped UCNPs coated with multiple layers, including an undoped inert matrix shell, a mesoporous silica shell, and an outer layer of gold (UCNP@mSiO 2 @Au). These coatings synergistically enhance emission by over 40-fold and facilitate biomolecule conjugation, rendering UCNP@mSiO 2 @Au easy to use and suitable for a broad range of bioapplications. Employing these optimized nanoparticles in lateral-flow assays, we successfully detected two acute kidney injury-related biomarkers─kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL)─in urine samples. Using our sensor platform, KIM-1 and NGAL can be accurately detected and quantified within the range of 0.1 to 20 ng/mL, boasting impressively low limits of detection at 0.28 and 0.23 ng/mL, respectively. Validating our approach, we analyzed clinical urine samples, achieving biomarker concentrations that closely correlated with results obtained via ELISA. Importantly, our system enables biomarker quantification in less than 15 min, underscoring the performance of our novel UCNP-based approach and its potential as reliable, rapid, and user-friendly diagnostics.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, several outbreaks have been recorded worldwide in industrial slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants. Competent Italian health authorities at regional and provincial levels agreed on a risk-oriented control plan., Methods: Advocacy actions were activated, targeting meat plant managers and related food business operators. A questionnaire focused on the inventoried risk factors from literature was developed and administered voluntarily to interested stakeholders. In addition, an outbreak questionnaire was proposed to the prevention department of local health units., Results: From 2021 to 2022, 333 advocacy and 24 outbreak questionnaires on 4,765 inventoried plants were collected. The lack of awareness in updating the Risk Assessment Document for COVID-19, non-instrumental body temperature checks at the entrance, working force from different subcontractors, poor hygiene in shared places, and insufficient ventilation were the main critical points recorded., Conclusions: Results provide a post hoc review with an eye toward future zoonotic pandemics.

The rise of Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) strains among cellular therapy recipients raises concerns due to increased morbidity, mortality, and hospitalization costs, particularly impacting transplanted patients with diminished survival expectations. Recent research linking lactose to Enterococcus growth and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) emphasizes the need for data on reducing lactose in the diets of VRE-carrying patients, especially in cellular therapy contexts like CAR-T or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Responding to elevated VRE positivity rates in rectal swabs among patients in our BMT Unit, a unique nutritional strategy was implemented, introducing lactose-free milk and strictly enforcing lactose-free diets. This approach resulted in a significant reduction in VRE carriers, with a 16% positivity rate in the Lactose Group versus 3.6% in the Lactose-Free Group, as of June 2023. These results indicate the potential efficacy of this innovative nutritional strategy in high-risk departments, such as BMT Units and Intensive Care Units, with implications for reducing isolation strategies and inappropriate antibiotic use in cases of VRE colonization., (Copyright © 2024 The American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Fish and seafood are valuable sources of both nutrients and organic contaminants. The expansion of the analytical per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) panel with toxicological characterisation necessitates an update of PFAS intake assessment and management within the context of cumulative exposure. Benthic and demersal seafood, such as clams, squid, and cuttlefish, are more prone to contamination with C9-C14 perfluorocarboxylic acids, exhibiting the highest relative potency factors in terms of immunotoxicity, according to the grid recently proposed by the European Commission Scientific Committee on Health, Environment, and Emerging Risk. Based on the Italian food consumption database referring to demersal and benthic biota such as squid, cuttlefish, crustaceans, and clams, a toxicology-based intake scenario was drafted to highlight the relevant contribution of such wild species to PFAS intake, well above the provisional health-based guidance value of 4.4 ng/kg body weight per week. Ensuring consistency between PFAS reduction and substitution policies, environmental quality standards for water bodies, and the issuance of advisories and regulations regarding safe and sustainable intake of fish and seafood is crucial. This is done to prevent a loss of accountability for institutional bodies, which aim to protect fragile (sensitive and vulnerable) groups from PFAS exposure and simultaneously promote 'blue growth' as a sustainable food production system., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Sustainable food systems involve the recycling of biowaste and water. This study characterizes thirty-one top soil improvers of anthropogenic, animal, and green waste origin, along with eleven irrigation waters from rivers, channels, and civil wastewater treatment plants (cWWTPs) for the presence of antimicrobials. Liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS) was employed to identify forty-eight drugs belonging to the classes of sulfonamides (11), tetracyclines (7), fluoroquinolones (10), macrolides (12), amphenicols (3), pleuromutilins (2), diaminopyrimidines (1), rifamycins (1) and licosamides (1). Sludge from cWWTPs, animal manure, slurry, and poultry litter exhibited the highest loads for sulfonamides, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones and macrolides (80, 470, 885, and 4,487 ng g -1 wet weight, respectively) with nor- and ciprofloxacin serving as markers for anthropogenic sources. In compost and digestate, antimicrobials were found to be almost always below the limits of quantification. Reused water from cWWTPs for irrigation in open-field lettuce production were contaminated in the range of 12-221 ng L -1 with sulfonamides, tetracyclines, and fluoroquinolones, compared to very few detected in channels and surface waters. The Antimicrobials Hazard Index (HI), based on the Predicted No Effect Concentration for Antimicrobial Resistance (PNEC AMR ), was significantly >100 in contaminated topsoil improvers from urban and animal sources. Accounting for worst-case inputs from topsoil improvers and irrigation water, as well as dilution factors in amended soil, fluoroquinolones only exhibited an HI around 1 in open fields for lettuce production. The origin of topsoil improvers plays a pivotal role in ensuring safe and sustainable leafy vegetable production, thereby mitigating the risk of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) onset in food-borne diseases and the transfer of AMR elements to the human gut flora.

Per-and Poly-FluoroAlkyl Substances (PFAS) are a class of persistent, toxic, and mobile and chemicals both from industrial sources and from the use and disposal of Consumers products containing PFAS, whose concentration in marine food webs could pose a toxicological risk for biota and humans. In 2021, unhatched eggs were sampled from 41 loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta nests from the Italian shores of the Campania Region (Southern Italy). Whole eggs were analysed for the presence of 66 legacy and emerging PFAS with Liquid Chromatography coupled to Hybrid High Resolution Mass Spectrometry. A median Σ 66 Per- and Poly-FluoroAlkyl Substances value of 3.34 ng/g egg fresh weight was found; perfluoroctane sulfonate (PFOS) represented the most contributing congener (47%), followed by perfluoro-n-undecanoic acid, perfluoro-n-tridecanoic acid, perfluoro-n-decanoic acid, perfluoro-n-decanoic acid, and perfluoro-n-tetradecanoic acid, respectively. Such compounds showed a log-norm distribution, suggesting found concentrations could represent the baseline levels in the considered sampling area. Emerging ChloroPolyFluoroPolyEthers Carboxylic Acids (ClPFECAs) were found in 20 out of 41 samples in the range 0.01-1.59 ng/g. Four samples had 20-100 fold higher concentration compared to that of other samples, suggesting the presence of hot spot areas possibly related to presence of fluoropolymer-based marine litter turtles may ingest. The analysis of two paired eggs/liver samples recovered from stranded animals revealed PFAS concentration in the same order of magnitude, supporting the role of vitellogenin in their selective transfer to yolk. Significant (P = 0.0155) Kendall negative correlation coefficient of -0.2705 among PFOS content in eggs and the recorded hatching success prompts for further investigation on associated exposure assessment and related eco-toxicity risk. This work reports for the first time PFAS presence in georeferenced loggerhead turtle eggs of the Mediterranean Sea and results represent a starting point to study PFAS time-trends in this vulnerable species., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Hypothesis: Light scattering techniques can provide a non-intrusive measurement of particle and droplet size distribution but are limited to relatively diluted liquid dispersions. Measurement of particle velocity distributions (PVD) and particle/droplet size distributions (PSD) in diluted to highly concentrated solid suspensions and emulsions can be performed by coupling the static multiple light scattering technique (SMLS) to mathematical models describing the vertical motion under gravity of polydisperse particles and droplets., Experiments: Measurement of the PSD using SMLS was performed on silica particles dispersed in water with monomodal, bimodal and trimodal PSDs ranging from 570 nm and 7.90 µm. Quasi-monodisperse certified latex particles with 815 nm mean diameter dispersed in water and non-controlled emulsions of hexadecane-water emulsions at volume fractions ranging from 0.005 % to 20 % were also characterized with SMLS. These measurements were compared to certified size distributions, and to laser diffraction and dynamic light scattering measurements., Findings: Robust, highly resolutive and concentration-dependent measurement of the PVD and PSD of solid particles and droplets was achieved for diluted to highly concentrated liquid dispersions. As interactions between particles or droplets are dependent on the dispersed phase concentration, accurate characterization of as-formulated industrial liquid dispersions can be performed with SMLS., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: M.PL.S, G.L, E.H, M.B and G.B are Formulaction employees., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Optical sensors and sensing technologies are playing a more and more important role in our modern world. From micro-probes to large devices used in such diverse areas like medical diagnosis, defence, monitoring of industrial and environmental conditions, optics can be used in a variety of ways to achieve compact, low cost, stand-off sensing with extreme sensitivity and selectivity. Actually, the challenges to the design and functioning of an optical sensor for a particular application requires intimate knowledge of the optical, material, and environmental properties that can affect its performance. This roadmap on optical sensors addresses different technologies and application areas. It is constituted by twelve contributions authored by world-leading experts, providing insight into the current state-of-the-art and the challenges their respective fields face. Two articles address the area of optical fibre sensors, encompassing both conventional and specialty optical fibres. Several other articles are dedicated to laser-based sensors, micro- and nano-engineered sensors, whispering-gallery mode and plasmonic sensors. The use of optical sensors in chemical, biological and biomedical areas is discussed in some other papers. Different approaches required to satisfy applications at visible, infrared and THz spectral regions are also discussed., (© 2023 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd.)

The recycling of biowaste from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in agriculture represents a circular economy-driven source of water and nutrients to support food system sustainability. However, biowaste may represent the source of emerging hazards of anthropogenic and animal origin that can transfer from agricultural soils to related food production, posing a risk to consumers' health, as in the case of outbreaks due to the consumption of ready-to-eat leafy vegetables contaminated with pathogenic E. coli . From this perspective, we propose a combined strategy based on both classical methods and culture-independent metagenomics approaches to identify microbial hazards relevant to foodborne diseases in WWTP-related biowastes. The virulence genes targeted by real-time PCR, performed before and after the enrichment of the raw samples, may represent a proxy for the viability of pathogens, the presence of which is then confirmed via classical microbiological methods. Bioinformatics analysis of shotgun metagenomic sequences could assess the presence of genes associated with resistance to specific antimicrobials followed by phenotypic confirmation via cultivation of the raw samples in the presence of the predicted molecules. Bacterial 16S rDNA analysis supports biowaste traceability based on their taxonomic composition. This strategy would support a "One Health" Action based on a cross-cutting assessment of emerging food-borne risks along the food chain., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Co-published by Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and American Chemical Society.)

Malnutrition in allogeneic stem cell transplant (allo-SCT) is associated with poor outcomes. Supplementation with Foods for Special Medical Purposes may be a valid alternative to enteral nutrition or total parental nutrition to reduce malnutrition in allo-SCT. In this study, 133 patients consecutively allo-transplanted were assessed for nutritional status by Patient- Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) and supplemented with TGF-beta enriched Food for Special Medical Purposes (TGF-FSMP). PG-SGA, gold standard for nutritional assessment in oncologic patients, was assessed at admission and on day 0, +7, +14, +21, and + 28 from transplant and categorized as follows: A = good nutritional status; B = moderate malnutrition; C = severe malnutrition. TGF-FSMP (Modulen-IBD) is currently used in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) as primary nutritional support and in this study the dose was calculated according to BMI and total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). The patients assuming ≥50% of the prescribed TGF-FSMP dose were classified in Group A; the patients who received < 50% were included in Group B per protocol. The primary endpoint of the study was the assessment of the malnourished patients in Group A and B at day+28 after transplantation, according to the criteria of PG-SGA C categorization. At day +28 after transplant: i) patients in Group A were significantly less severely malnourished than patients in the Group B (21/76,28% vs 42/53, 79% respectively, OR 2.86 - CI 1.94-4.23 -, p = 0.000); ii) the incidence of severe (MAGIC II-IV) aGVHD and of any grade gastrointestinal (GI) aGVHD was higher in Group B than in Group A, (43% vs 21% p = 0.003) and (34.5% vs 9.2% p = 0.001); iii) Pneumonia was more frequent in the malnourished patients of Group B than in well/moderate nourished patients of Group A (52.7% vs 27.6% p = 0.002). In group A parenteral nutrition was avoided more frequently than in group B (67.5% vs 33.3% p = 0.000) and a median hospital stay of 27 days in comparison to 32 was reported (p = 0.006). The estimated median overall survival (OS) of the population was 33 months in Group A and 25.1 months in group B (p = 0.03). By multivariate and ANN analysis, TGF-FSMP TR < 50% assumption was significantly correlated with malnutrition, severe and GI aGVHD, pneumonia and reduced OS., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that there are not conflicting interests., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Undersea earthquake-triggered giant tsunamis pose significant threats to coastal areas, spanning thousands of kilometers and affecting populations, ecosystems, and infrastructure. To mitigate their impact, monitoring seismic activity in underwater environments is crucial. In this study, we propose a new, to the best of our knowledge, approach for monitoring vibrations in submarine optical cables. By detecting vibration-induced polarization rotation, our dual-wavelength fiber-optic sensing system enables precise measurement of acoustic/vibration amplitude, frequency, and position. As a proof of concept, a double-ended forward-transmission distributed fiber-optic vibration sensor was demonstrated with a single vibration source with a sensitivity of 3.4 mrad/µε at 100 Hz (20 m fiber on PZT), limit of detection of 1.7 pε/Hz 1/2 at 100 Hz, sensing range of 121.5 km without an optical amplifier, spatial resolution of 5 m, and position error as small as 34 m. The vibration frequency range tested is from 0.01 to 100 Hz. The sensing system has several advantages, including elegant setup, noise mitigation, and super-long sensing distance.

Pollution monitoring in waterways and oceans is often performed in a laboratory on samples previously taken from the environment. The integration of molecular imprinting polymer nanoparticles (MIP-NPs) with a novel, to the best of our knowledge, fiber optic interferometer allowed a fast and selective detection of water pollutant 2,4-Dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP). The proposed sensor with an increased surface-to-volume ratio of MIP-NPs provided an enhanced sensitivity of 17.1 nm/µM and a wide operating range of 0.1-100 µM. It showed a highly repeatable performance and potential to measure up to nM concentrations. This integrated technique is suitable for the development of compact, stable, precise, and sensitive biosensors for online monitoring and remote chemical sensing applications.

Simultaneous blue-red emission in a fiber pumped by a single wavelength source is perceived as a great challenge because of the large energy difference of the emitted photons. This Letter reports the dependence of the blue-to-red upconversion (UC) emission ratio in Yb 3+ -Tm 3+ codoped fluorosilicate glasses (FSGs) under the excitation of a 980-nm laser on the host glass silica content. Photoluminescence spectra and SEM-EDS are used to clarify the UC mechanism, indicating that the probability of the cross-relaxation (CR) process 1 G 4  +  3 F 2 → 3 H 6  +  3 F 4 is key to the dominance of the blue or red emissions. This research can provide a new platform for variable UC luminescence.

We demonstrate a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) strain interrogator based on a scattering medium to generate stable and deterministic speckle patterns, calibrated with applied strain, which are highly dependent on the FBG back-reflection spectral components. The strong wavelength-dependency of speckle patterns was previously used for high resolution wavemeters where scattering effectively folds the optical path, but instability makes practical realization of such devices difficult. Here, a new approach is demonstrated by utilizing femtosecond laser-written scatterers inside flat optical fiber, to enhance mechanical stability. By inscribing 15 planes of pseudo-randomized nanovoids (714 [Formula: see text] 500 voids per plane) as a 3D array in a 1 [Formula: see text] 0.7 [Formula: see text] 0.16 mm volume, the intrinsic stability and compactness of the device was improved. Operating as a wavemeter, it remained stable for at least 60 h with 45 pm resolution over the wavelength range of 1040-1056 nm. As a reflection mode FBG interrogator, after calibrating speckle patterns by applying tensile strain to the FBG, the device is capable of detecting microstrain changes in the range of 0-200 [Formula: see text] with a standard error of 4 [Formula: see text], limited by the translation stage step size. All these characteristics make it an interesting technology for filling the niche of low-cost, high-resolution wavemeters and interrogators which offer the best available trade-off between resolution, compactness, price and stability., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

This feature issue of Optics Express highlights contributions from authors who presented their latest research at the OPTICA Optical Sensors and Sensing Congress, held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 11-15 July 2022. The feature issue comprises 9 contributed papers, which expand upon their respective conference proceedings. The published papers introduced here cover a range of timely research topics in optics and photonics for chip-based sensing, open-path and remote sensing and fiber devices.

In this Letter, we present a compact scattering spectrometer system based on fluorosilicate glass ceramics. By the algorithmic spectral calibration and reconstruction, we achieve wavelength detection with a resolution of 0.1 nm. Numerous nanocrystals embedded in the glass host in the glass ceramics result in a significant natural multilayer scattering medium, which can provide a 60% scattering efficiency for incident light while increasing the optical path of incident light transmitting in the medium. The glass ceramics scattering medium with a rather compact physical size is integrated with a low-cost camera to compose an optical spectral system, which has potential application in lab-on-a-chip optical spectroscopy.

Objective: Intestinal metaplasia (IM) is the point of no return in gastric carcinogenesis, and patients with extensive (antrum plus corpus) IM are at high risk of developing gastric cancer. We evaluated the impact of improved gastroscopy quality on the detection of gastric IM in an Italian area at high risk for gastric cancer., Methods: Data of consecutive patients with gastric biopsies according to the updated Sydney System observed in 2013, 2016 and 2019 resulting in IM diagnosis were retrieved. In the first period, endoscopy was performed with standard white light instruments. In the second period, preendoscopic gastric preparation was administered, and the examinations lasting at least 7 min with standard endoscopes were performed. In the third period, the latter procedure was followed, with virtual chromoendoscopy equipped instruments. The prevalence of IM in any gastric site and that of extensive IM were compared among the three periods., Results: Data of 3485 patients were available. The detection of IM in at least one gastric site increased from 29.9 to 33.6% and 34.5% (95% CI, 32.1-36.8) in the first, second and third period, respectively. The difference was statistically significant between the first and last (P = 0.02; OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.04-1.48) period. When considering extensive IM, the detection increased from 4.28 to 6.1% and 5.44%, although the difference failed to reach statistical significance (P = 0.076)., Conclusion: Our data showed that implementation of a quality protocol increased the probability to detect IM in the stomach, allowing us to select patients deserving stricter follow-up., (Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Orbital myositis is a rare inflammatory condition affecting the extraocular muscles of the eyes. It has also been linked to systemic autoimmune diseases. We present a case of orbital myositis in a 57-year-old male undergoing treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with tofacitinib, a Janus kinase inhibitor (JAK). Prompt administration of intravenous steroids led to rapid symptom improvement. To date, only six published cases have documented the association between RA and orbital myositis. This is the first description of orbital myositis occurring during treatment with the anti-inflammatory drug tofacitinib, an increasingly used disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD). We review the literature and emphasize the importance of ongoing vigilance regarding adverse events linked to tofacitinib.

Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

The poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae is the most important blood-sucking ectoparasite in egg-laying hen facilities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro acaricidal activity of different concentration of authorized (phoxim, ByeMite®, 500 mg/mL) and unauthorized (fipronil, Frontline® 250 mg/100 mL spray) molecules on 14 field isolates of D. gallinae collected from different ornamental poultry farms from different Italian regions. The sensitivity test was performed by contact exposure to four concentrations of each insecticide diluted at 1:5 (10,000-2000-400-80 ppm for phoxim, 500-100-20-4 ppm for fipronil) on a filter paper. The effectiveness of the treatment was significantly (p < 0.0001) associated with the dose of the pesticide used. Considering the mean lethality, phoxim has greater efficacy compared to fipronil (p < 0.001). A great variability of lethality rate was observed with the increase in fipronil dilution; conversely, for phoxim, some outliers were observed, particularly in one farm, suggesting the hypothesis that a certain degree of resistance in the mite population could occur possibly as a consequence of the continual contact with the molecule. This underlines the importance of the use of licensed products administered at correct dosages and the need for alternative molecules to avoid the onset of drug resistance phenomena.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the scientific community to share timely evidence, also in the form of pre-printed papers, not peer reviewed yet., Purpose: To develop an artificial intelligence system for the analysis of the scientific literature by leveraging on recent developments in the field of Argument Mining., Methodology: Scientific quality criteria were borrowed from two selected Cochrane systematic reviews. Four independent reviewers gave a blind evaluation on a 1-5 scale to 40 papers for each review. These scores were matched with the automatic analysis performed by an AM system named MARGOT, which detected claims and supporting evidence for the cited papers. Outcomes were evaluated with inter-rater indices (Cohen's Kappa, Krippendorff's Alpha, s * statistics)., Results: MARGOT performs differently on the two selected Cochrane reviews: the inter-rater indices show a fair-to-moderate agreement of the most relevant MARGOT metrics both with Cochrane and the skilled interval scores, with larger values for one of the two reviews., Discussion and Conclusions: The noted discrepancy could rely on a limitation of the MARGOT system that can be improved; yet, the level of agreement between human reviewers also suggests a different complexity between the two reviews in debating controversial arguments. These preliminary results encourage to expand and deepen the investigation to other topics and a larger number of highly specialized reviewers, to reduce uncertainty in the evaluation process, thus supporting the retraining of AM systems., (Copyright © 2022 Brambilla, Rosi, Antici, Galassi, Giansanti, Magurano, Ruggeri, Torroni, Cisbani and Lippi.)

A hollow-core anti-resonant fiber for the THz regime is proposed and demonstrated. The proposed fiber is the hexagonal core shape which is directly extruded using a conventional 3D printer. Experimental results show that by using cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), the proposed fiber design provides a low attenuation of ∼3 dB∕m at ∼ 0.86 THz and ∼15 dB∕m at ∼ 0.42 THz.

Objectives: To describe a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant outbreak among residents (n = 69) and health workers (n = 69) of a small nursing home in northeastern Italy, with full vaccination coverage of 91% and 82%, respectively. Evaluation of the anti-Spike IgG titres 28 weeks after the mRNA vaccine booster dose against SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)., Materials and Methods: Sera were collected within 48 hours from the index case; anti-Spike IgG was determined (expressed as WHO binding antibody units (BAU)/mL) through a commercial quantitative assay; SARS-CoV-2 was diagnosed using RT-PCR, and full-genome sequencing was performed for lineage characterization. Residents were grouped according to anti-Spike IgG titres (≤50, 51-1000 and > 1000 BAU/mL) and the resulting protection against infection and severe disease was measured., Results: None of the health workers and 14 of the 59 (24%) residents fully vaccinated and without a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection showed anti-Spike IgG ≤50 BAU/mL (one-sided Fisher exact test, p 0.011). Among these residents, a level of anti-Spike IgG ≤50 BAU/mL resulted in a higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection (relative risk 1.55, 95% CI 1.17-2.05) and severe COVID-19 (relative risk 5.33, 95% CI 1.83-15.57)., Conclusion: Low levels of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing anti-Spike IgG in serum 28 weeks after the administration of the second dose parallel the waning of vaccine protection., (Copyright © 2021 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A Brillouin distributed acoustic sensor (DAS) based on optical time-domain refractometry exhibiting a maximum detectible strain of 8.7 mε and a low signal fading is developed. Strain waves with frequencies of up to 120 Hz are measured with an accuracy of 12 με at a sampling rate of 1.2 kHz and a spatial resolution of 4 m over a sensing range of 8.5 km. The sensing range is further extended by using a modified inline Raman amplifier configuration. Using 80 ns Raman pump pulses, the signal-to-noise ratio is improved by 3.5 dB, while the accuracy of the measurement is enhanced by a factor of 2.5 to 62 με at the far-end of a 20 km fiber.

A distributed optical fiber acoustic sensor based on interferometric demodulation technique with no polarization fading is demonstrated. A polarization diversity scheme based on a high-speed polarization rotator is used to eliminate signal fading due to polarization mismatch in the Rayleigh backscattered signal between adjacent points on the sensing fiber. This technique yields a spatially uniform response to the applied strain. The sensor exhibited spatial and strain resolutions of <4 m and <7 nɛ, respectively.

In this Letter, we report the fabrication of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) in home-made Ho 3+ /Pr 3+ co-doped single-cladding fluoroaluminate (AlF 3 ) glass fibers and its application in watt-level lasing at the mid-infrared (MIR) wavelength of 2.86 µm. The FBGs were inscribed using an 800 nm femtosecond (fs) laser direct-writing technique. The FBG properties were investigated for different pulse energies, inscription speeds, grating orders, and transversal lengths. A second-order FBG with a high reflectivity of 99% was obtained at one end of a 16.5-cm-long gain fiber. Under 1150 nm laser pumping, this fiber yielded a power exceeding 1 W at 2863.9 nm with an overall laser efficiency of 17.7%. The fiber laser showed a FWHM bandwidth of 0.46 nm and long-term spectral stability.

As of November 17, 2021, SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2), the causative agent of COVID-19 (COronaVIrus Disease 19), has infected ~250 million people worldwide, causing around five million deaths. Titers of anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies were relatively stable for at least 9 months in a population-based study conducted in Wuhan, China, both in symptomatic and in asymptomatic individuals. In the mass screening campaign conducted in the town of Ariano Irpino (Avellino, Italy) in May, 2020, 5.7% (95% CI: 5.3-6-1) of the 13,444 asymptomatic citizens screened were positive for anti-nucleocapsid antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Among these, 422 citizens were re-tested for anti SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in January, 2021 and/or in April, 2021 and enrolled in this longitudinal observational study. Median (interquartile range) age of the study cohort was 46 years (29-59), with 47 (11.1%) participants of minor age, while 217 (51.4%) participants were females. There was no evidence of re-infection in any of the subjects included. Presence of anti-nuclear antibodies antibodies (Elecysis, Roche) was reported in 95.7 and 93.7% of evaluable participants in January and April, 2021. Multiple logistic regression analysis used to explore associations between age, sex and seroprevalence showed that adults vs. minors had significantly lower odds of having anti-S1 antibodies (Biorad) both in January, 2021 and in April, 2021. Our findings showed that antibodies remained detectable at least 11.5 months after infection in >90% of never symptomatic cases. Further investigation is required to establish duration of immunity against SARS-CoV-2., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Coppola, Buonerba, Cardinale, Lo Conte, Sansone, Rofrano, De Vita, Morgante, Triassi, Atripaldi, Brambilla, Sabatino, Pierri, Pacella, Pizzolante, Pierri, Ferrucci, Zollo, Capasso, Stringhini, Ascierto, Roperto and Cerino.)

We introduce the fabrication and use of microcracks embedded in glass as an optical element for manipulating light propagation, in particular for enhancing waveguide performance in silica integrated optics. By using a femtosecond laser to induce a strong asymmetric stress pattern in silica, uniform cracks with set dimensions can be created within the substrate and propagated along a fixed path. The smoothness of the resulting cleave interface and large index contrast can be exploited to enhance waveguide modal confinement. As a demonstration, we tackle the longstanding high bend-loss issue in femtosecond laser written silica waveguides by using this technique to cleave the outer edge of laser written waveguide bends, to suppress radiative bend loss. The microcrack cross section is estimated to be 15 μm in height and 30 nm in width, for the 10 [Formula: see text] 10 μm waveguides. At 1550 nm wavelength, losses down to 1 dB/cm at 10 mm bend radius were achieved, without introducing additional scattering. Both the cleave stress pattern and waveguide are fabricated with the same multiscan writing procedure, without requiring additional steps, and re-characterisation of the waveguides after 1 year confirm excellent long term performance stability., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorodibenzo-furans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorobiphenyls (DL-PCBs) enter the food chain from the environment. In this study, we report the 2008-2018 time-trends in the PCDD/F and DL-PCB contamination of milk from buffaloes fed on local forage in rural areas of the Campania region. Validated according to QA/QC criteria, the dataset (N = 808 on a total of 2068 samples, after excluding follow-up results and outliers) was computed on the upper-bound value pg WHO-TEQ 2005 g -1 fat. We assessed time-trends and assayed baseline contamination levels, which displayed log-normal distribution. A significant decreasing trend (p < 0.01) was observed from 2008 to 2009 and 2010; the P50-P95 range fell from 2.37-8.48 pg WHO-TEQ 2005 g -1 fat (N = 393) in 2008 to 1.73-4.61 in 2009 (N = 86) and to 0.67-1.46 in 2010 (N = 42). From 2010 to 2018 (N = 329), no significant variation was found among years and the related dataset fitted a log-normal distribution (p < 0.05). Occurrence descriptors indicated that the baseline contamination of dairy products (mean = 0.54; P50-P95 = 0.47-1.24) in the Campania Region was well below the EU regulatory limit in force (5.5 pg WHO-TEQ 2005 g -1 fat). Given the Tolerable Weekly Intake of 2 pg WHO-TEQ kg -1 body weight (bw) proposed by the EFSA for PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs, this level of baseline contamination is discussed with regard to the orientation of food safety and food security risk connected with buffalo mozzarella cheese production., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this study, a distributed acoustic sensor (DAS) was numerically modeled based on the non-ideal optical components with their noises and imperfections. This model is used to compare the response of DAS systems to standard single-mode fibers and ultra-low loss-enhanced backscattering (ULEB) fibers, a fiber with an array of high reflective points equally spaced along its length. It is shown that using ULEB fibers with highly reflective points improves the signal-to-noise ratio and linearity of the measurement, compared with the measurement based on standard single-mode fibers.

In this retrospective study, a cohort of 67 subjects vaccinated with AZD1222 was retrospectively observed. Consistently with published findings, no serious adverse event was reported, and all adverse events reported (fever, muscle ache and/or pain in the site of injection) had resolved by day 8. Of note, some citizens were prescribed low-dose aspirin and even heparin for thrombosis prevention. We also found variations in laboratory test results (full blood count and chemistry) on day 1 compared with day 8. Physicians should be aware that no prevention therapy for thrombosis is currently recommended, given the very low incidence of this side effect. Additional studies are warranted to interpret our findings., Competing Interests: Financial & competing interests disclosure The authors have no relevant affiliationsor financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript., (© 2021 The Authors.)

A room-temperature watt-level continuous-wave-output power mid-infrared fiber laser operating at $\lambda\sim 3\; \unicode{x00B5}{\rm m}$ is demonstrated using a ${{\rm Ho}^{3 +}}/{{\rm Pr}^{3 +}}$ co-doped ${{\rm AlF} &#95;3}$ based glass fiber as a gain fiber. This fixed-wavelength laser had maximum output power of 1.13 W with a slope efficiency of 10.3% and a long-term operating stability of ${\gt}{40}\;{\min }$ without any additional packaging or active thermal management. A fiber laser with tunability from 2.842 to 2.938 µm showed a maximum output power of 110 mW.

The use of E u 3+ codoping for enhancing the H o 3+ : 5 I 5 → 5 I 6 emission in fluoroindate glasses shows that E u 3+ could depopulate the lower laser state H o 3+ : 5 I 6 while having little effect on the upper state H o 3+ : 5 I 5 , resulting in greater population inversion. The H o 3+ / E u 3+ codoped glass has high spontaneous transition probability (6.31 s -1 ) together with large emission cross section (7.68×10 -21 c m 2 ). This study indicates that codoping of H o 3+ with E u 3+ is a feasible alternative to quench the lower energy level of the 3.9 µm emission and the H o 3+ / E u 3+ codoped fluoroindate glass is a promising material for efficient 3.9 µm fiber lasers.

SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of the COVID-19 pandemic, has rarely been associated with transmission from humans to animals (reverse zoonotic transmission). In this retrospective study, the authors reviewed data obtained from 236 animals, including buffaloes, goats/sheep, horses, carrier pigeons, rabbits, hens, snakes, pigs and cows that were screened for SARS-CoV-2 infection because they had been in contact with their SARS-CoV-2-positive breeder for at least 2 weeks. None of the tested animals were found to be positive. The authors' findings suggest that the risk of reverse zoonotic transmission among bred animals and SARS-CoV-2-positive breeders is very low or nonexistent. Additional studies are warranted., Competing Interests: Financial & competing interests disclosure The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending or royalties. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript., (© 2021 Carlo Buonerba.)

Introduction: The Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) has been asked for rapid technical and scientific advice to the State and Regions during Sars-CoV-2 pandemic preparedness., Methods: An ad hoc Working Group on Scientific Literature updates (WG SL) was set up at ISS (March-May 2020) to screen pre-prints and peer reviewed papers from arXiv, medRxiv, bioRxiv, and Pubmed to provide a real time knowledge and empirical evidence addressed to health-workers., Results: The WG SL screened a total of 4,568 pre-prints and 15,590 peer reviewed papers, delivered as daily summary report of pre-print selection for ISS President activity in the National Scientific Technical Committee framework and a weekly open access publication (COVID Contents) on peer-reviewed papers of interest for health professionals, monitored by a satisfaction questionnaire., Conclusions: Promoting heath literacy, with a cross-cutting approach is a powerful heritage of Public Health Institutes and a proven effective non pharmacological intervention.

A high-sensitivity ethanol gas sensor based on two microfiber couplers and the Vernier effect is examined in this Letter using the unique variation rate conversion point characteristics. The output spectrum of the two couplers connected in parallel are superimposed to form a symmetrical envelope curve, showing high responsivity to variations in the external environment. Ethanol sensitivity was achieved by coating the waist region of the coupler with a mixture of Nile red and polymethyl methacrylate. When the concentration of ethanol gas changes, the envelope spectrum shifts. Experimental results show that a high responsivity of 160 pm/ppm can be obtained by tracing the reference peaks in the envelope curve and that the response and recovery times are on the order of seconds.

In this Letter, a distributed acoustic sensor (DAS) with a sensing range in excess of 150 km is reported. This extended sensing range is achieved by adding a low-loss enhanced-backscattering fiber at the far end of a standard single-mode fiber. A conventional DAS system along with inline optical amplifiers are used to interrogate the sensing fiber. The combined system exhibits a minimum detectable strain of 40 nε at 1 Hz over a spatial resolution of 5 m.

Background and study aim  Pre-endoscopic use of a preparation with tensioactive and mucolytic agents improved gastric mucosa visualization in Eastern studies. Data on Western population are scanty. Patients and methods  This prospective, endoscopist-blinded, randomized study enrolled patients who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy in a single center. Before endoscopy patients, were randomized to receive or not receive an oral preparation with simethicone and N-acetylcysteine in water. A pretested score (Crema Stomach Cleaning Score [CSCS]) for gastric mucosa cleaning evaluation was used. In detail, the stomach was divided into the antrum, body, and fundus and a score of 1 to 3 was assigned to each part (the higher the score, the better the preparation), and a total value ≤ 5 was considered as insufficient. Time between endoscope insertion and clean achievement (mouth to clean time) or the end of examination (mouth to mouth time) was recorded. Results  A total of 197 patients were enrolled. The mean overall CSCS value and mucosal cleaning in all parts was better in treated patients than in controls. Prevalence total score ≤ 5 was significantly lower in patients treated before endoscopy. Need for water flush occurred less frequently in treated patients ( P  < 0.0001). The mouth to clean time was lower in the treated than in the control group (2.3 ± 1.6 vs 3.8 ± 1.6 min; P  < 0.001), whereas no significant difference in mouth to mouth time emerged. Conclusions  Data from this study show that premedication with simethicone and N-acetylcysteine results in significantly better endoscopic visualization of gastric mucosa, and the proposed CSCS could be useful for standardizing this evaluation., Competing Interests: Competing interests The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

In 2008-2018, 1458 georeferenced samples of clams and 343 of mussels were harvested in Italy from classified areas along Marche coast and analyzed within food-safety monitoring plans. Pb, Cd, V, Ni, Cr, and As median levels (mg kg -1 ) were 0.09, 0.08, 0.29, 0.77, 0.35, and 2.35 in clams and 0.16, 0.15, 0.46, 0.48, 0.25, and 3.34 in mussels. The reported levels were comparable with the published ones, and Hg always fell below LOQ (0.025 mg kg -1 ). Pb and Cd datasets, based on quarterly results, show a decreasing trend in clams and constant baseline value for mussels. Time-trends and forecasting models represent an asset to predict emerging food safety/security risks. The metal levels in mussels and clams from the same area allow environmental safety assessment and thus enable the evaluation of contaminants in both water column and sediment. Monitoring of elements that are not regulated may help in preserving food and environmental safety., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The Italian municipality of Ariano Irpino (Avellino, Campania, Italy) was locked down by the regional authorities from March until April 2020 after several citizens tested positive for SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A serological mass screening campaign targeting the Ariano Irpino population using the Roche Cobas Elecsys anti-SARS-CoV-2 assay was organized by the Zoo-Prophylactic Institute of Southern Italy (Portici, Italy) and conducted in cooperation with the Local Health Unit (Azienda Sanitaria Locale - ASL - Avellino, Avellino, Italy), the Department of Public Health of University Federico II (Naples, Italy) and Department of Health Services of Azienda Ospedaliera dei Colli-Cotugno and Monaldi Hospital (Naples, Italy) in May 2020. A total of 13,218 asymptomatic individuals were reviewed in this analysis. A total of 738 citizens tested positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (398 females, 340 males). The overall prevalence in the sample was 5.6% (95% CI: 5.2-6.0). Among seropositive citizens, 101 cases tested positive on RT-PCR (0.76% of the overall population). Among citizens aged 14-18, 18-65 and >65 years, the seroprevalence was equal to 6.1 (95% CI: 4.1-8.7), 5.6 (95% CI: 5.1-6.1) and 4% (95% CI: 3.3-4.8), respectively. In the pediatric cohort (<14 years old), seroprevalence was 13% (95% CI: 10.2-16.2). A serological-based screening strategy could be a cost-effective public health intervention to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic., Competing Interests: Financial & competing interests disclosure C Buonerba is a member of the editorial board of Future Science OA. The authors recognize the following funding: POR FESR CAMPANIA 2014-2020- O.S. 1.3 - AZIONE 1.3.1. DG 10. – PROGETTO “Studio di Sorveglianza Sanitaria del virus SARS-CoV-2 responsabile della pandemia da COVID-19 nella popolazione ad alto rischio o esposta a contatto diretto con pazienti positivi” –CUP C75I20000060002, approved by the Federico II Ethics Committee (n. 141/20) - “GENCOVID – Studio di Sorveglianza Sanitaria del virus SARS-CoV-2 responsabile della pandemia da COVID-19 nella popolazione ad alto rischio o esposta a contatto diretto con pazienti positivi” – Protocollo Studio Clinico Studio SPEM – Covid19 – GENCOVID. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript., (© 2021 Carlo Buonerba.)

To evaluate the nanoparticle (NP) toxicity, much efforts have been devoted for developing methods to accurately disperse NPs into aqueous suspensions prior to in vitro toxicological studies. As NP toxicity is strongly dependent on their physicochemical properties, NP characterization is a key step for any in vitro toxicological study. This study demonstrates that the static multiple light scattering (SMLS) technique allows for the simultaneous screening of the NP size, agglomeration state, stability and dosimetry in biological media. Batch dispersions of TiO 2 P25 NPs in water with various bovine serum albumin (BSA) mass fractions (from 0% to 0.5%) and dilutions of these dispersions into cell culture media were characterized with SMLS. In the batch dispersions, TiO 2 NPs are stable and well dispersed for BSA mass fraction lower than 0.2% while agglomeration and rapid settling is observed for higher BSA mass fractions. Paradoxically, when diluted in cell culture media, TiO 2 NPs are well dispersed and stable for BSA mass fractions higher than 0.2%. The TiO 2 NP dosimetry of these dilutions was evaluated experimentally with SMLS and confronted with numerical approaches. The TiO 2 NP bottom concentration evolves far more slowly in the case of the higher BSA mass fraction. Such measurements give valuable insights on the NP fate and transport in biological media to obtain in fine reliable size and dose-cytotoxicity responses., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Monitoring the dynamic humidity requires sensors with fast response and anti-electromagnetic interference, especially for human respiration. Here, an ultrafast fiber-optic breath sensor based on the humidity-sensitive characteristics of gelatin film is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The sensor consists of a microknot resonator superimposed on a Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interferometer produced by a tapered single-mode fiber, which has an ultrafast response (84 ms) and recovery time (29 ms) and a large dynamic transmission range. The humidity in dynamic ambient causes changes in the refractive index of gelatin coating, which could trigger spectral intensity transients that can be explicitly distinguished between the two states. The sensing principle is analyzed using the traditional transfer-matrix analysis method. The influence of coating thickness on the sensor's trigger threshold is further investigated. Experiments on monitoring breath patterns indicate that the proposed breath sensor has high repeatability, reliability, and validity, which enable many other potential applications such as food processing, health monitoring, and other biomedical applications.

Background: Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is a multisystemic inherited vascular disease characterized by a heterogeneous clinical presentation and prognosis. Dietary evaluation is relevant in HHT patients to provide adequate iron and nutrient intake. Additionally, different dietary items have been reported to precipitate epistaxis in this setting. Our primary aim was to investigate the dietary habits of HHT patients through a food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to evaluate the presence of precipitants and/or protective factors for epistaxis and the occurrence of possible dietary modifications. The secondary aims were to evaluate the nutritional intake of iron in HHT patients and the self-reported effect of iron treatments on epistaxis. From April 2018 to October 2018, a 138-item FFQ was provided to HHT patients followed up at the HHT Referral Center of Crema Maggiore Hospital. The relationship between food items and epistaxis was ascertained on a separate form. Daily iron intake was calculated to establish the mean iron content of food items reported in the FFQ., Results: One hundred forty-nine questionnaires were evaluated [72 females, median age 54 years (12-76). Overall, 26 (18%) patients reported dietary items that improved epistaxis (mostly blueberries and red fruits, green vegetables and legumes), while 38 (26%) reported some dietary items that exacerbated epistaxis (spices, chocolate, alcohol, strawberries and ginger). Dietary modifications were reported in up to 58% of cases. In HHT patients, the mean daily iron intake was 8.46 ± 2.78 mg, and no differences were observed in the iron intake of patients reporting a diet modification and those who did not., Conclusions: In the comprehensive management of HHT a healthy and balanced diet, with increased consumption of dietary items with a high iron content, should be encouraged.

An analytical method for the quantification of thirty-three perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in animal liver was developed applying the isotopic dilution methodology with twenty-one labelled isotopologues of native compounds. The proposed protocol involved the determination of short and long aliphatic chain PFASs (C 4 C 18 ) extracting liver with acetonitrile followed by two clean-up steps. The instrumental analysis was performed with liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry. The acquisition method combined full MS/dd-MS 2 , t-SIM/dd-MS 2 and SIM experiments with variable resolution in order to maximize in one chromatographic run accuracy, sensitivity and selectivity. An eight-level validation study was performed evaluating linearity, trueness, precision, quantification and detection limits. Trueness was from 94 to 126% with intra-laboratory reproducibility lower than 20%. Limits of quantification were in the range 2-100 pg g -1 , except for 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-2-(1,1,2,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropoxy)-propanoic acid, HFPO-DA (500 pg g -1 ). The analysis of a certified reference material (IRMM-427) and participation in a proficiency test scheme (FAPAS - 0687) confirmed these satisfactory performances. Finally, the application of the developed procedure to detect PFASs in sixteen liver samples of farm animals revealed that chicken was the less contaminated species., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Fibre optic technology is rapidly evolving, driven mainly by telecommunication and sensing applications. Excellent reliability of the manufacturing processes and low cost have drawn ever increasing attention to fibre-based sensors, e.g. for studying mechanical response/limitations of aerospace composite structures. Here, a vector bending and orientation distinguishing curvature sensor, based on asymmetric coupled multi-core fibre, is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. By optimising the mode coupling effect of a seven core multi-core fibre, we have achieved a sensitivity of - 1.4 nm/° as a vector bending sensor and - 17.5 nm/m -1 as a curvature sensor. These are the highest sensitivities reported so far, to the best of our knowledge. In addition, our sensor offers several advantages such as repeatability of fabrication, wide operating range and small size and weight which benefit its sensing applications.

Broadband emission at 2.7 µm is observed in an E r 3+ -doped P b O - P b F 2 - B i 2 O 3 - G a 2 O 3 glass. The measured emission band full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) is ∼184.4 n m , approximately 36 nm wider than that of fluoride glasses. The 2.7 µm emission intensity is almost twice as strong as that of fluoride glasses. The peak values of emission and absorption cross-sections are calculated to be 1.54×10 -20 c m 2 and 1.19×10 -20 c m 2 , respectively. This oxyfluoride heavy metal glass shows potential as broadband mid-infrared emission gain material.