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Metformin is the most common anti-diabetic drug and a promising therapy for disorders beyond diabetes, including Rett syndrome (RTT), a rare neurologic disease characterized by severe intellectual disability. A 10-day-long treatment rescued aberrant mitochondrial activity and restrained oxidative stress in a female RTT mouse model. However, this treatment regimen did not improve the phenotype of RTT mice. In the present study, we demonstrate that a 4-month-long treatment with metformin (150 mg/Kg/day, delivered in drinking bottles) provides a selective normalization of cognitive flexibility defects in RTT female mice at an advanced stage of disease, but it does not affect their impaired general health status and abnormal motor skills. The 4-month-long treatment also rescues the reduced activity of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex activities, the defective brain ATP production and levels as well as the increased production of reactive oxidizing species in the whole blood of RTT mice. A significant boost of PGC-1α-dependent pathways related to mitochondrial biogenesis and antioxidant defense occurs in the brain of RTT mice that received the metformin treatment. Further studies will have to verify whether these effects may underlie its long-lasting beneficial effects on brain energy metabolism.

The aim of this work was to verify the applicability of the European Standard EN 13751, based on Photo-Stimulated Luminescence (PSL) and the European Standard EN 1788, based on Thermoluminescence (TL), for the detection of irradiation in plant food supplement (PFS) ingredients, nuts and fresh fruits with health benefits. In particular, in this work, herbal ingredients (Camellia sinensis, Ginkgo biloba, Glycine max, Silybum marianum, Vaccinium myrtillus), almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pistachios, walnuts and fresh blueberries, papaya and mango, were analyzed by both stimulated luminescence methods. To verify the reliability of the methods in detecting the treatment over time, the analyses were replicated after irradiation within the product shelf life. The PSL screening method allowed to correctly identify blueberries, nuts and raw materials of PFS but failed with dried herbal extracts, mango and papaya, due to their low content of silicates. To validate the procedure elaborated during the preliminary study, blind tests, involving several national laboratories of the official control, were organized. The tests confirmed the limits in detecting dried extracts, mango and papaya by PSL technique. TL method resulted suitable as a confirmatory method for all the matrices of the study.

Fungal spoilage of bread remains an unsolved issue in bread making. This work aims to identify alternative strategies to conventional preservatives in order to prevent or delay fungal spoilage of bread. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of bacterial metabolites and chemical preservatives was evaluated in vitro, and compared to their in situ activity in baking trials. Calcium propionate, sorbic acid, 3-phenyllactic acid, ricinoleic acid, and acetic acid were tested both individually and in combination at their MIC values against Aspergillus niger and Penicillium roqueforti. The combination of acetic acid with propionate and sorbate displayed additive effects against the two fungi. For these reasons, we introduced sourdough fermentation with specific strains of lactobacilli, using wheat or flaxseed, in order to generate acetate in bread. A combination of Lactobacillus hammesii and propionate reduced propionate concentration required for shelf life extension of wheat bread 7-fold. Flaxseed sourdough bread fermented with L. hammesii, excluding any preservative, showed a shelf life 2 days longer than the control bread. The organic acid quantification indicated a higher production of acetic acid (33.8 ± 4.4 mM) when compared to other sourdough breads. Addition of 4% of sucrose to sourdough fermentation with L. brevis increased the mould free shelf-life of bread challenged with A. niger by 6 days. The combination of L. hammesii sourdough and the addition of ricinoleic acid (0.15% or 0.08%) prolonged the mould free shelf-life by 7–8 days for breads produced with wheat sourdoughs. In conclusion, the in vitro MIC of bacterial metabolites and preservatives matched the in situ antifungal effect. Of the different bacterial metabolites evaluated, acetic acid had the most prominent and consistent antifungal activity. The use of sourdough fermentation with selected strains able to produce acetic acid allowed reducing the use of chemical preservatives.

Botrytis cinerea is the causal agent of gray mold disease and can infect fruits of important crops like grape, pistachio, and pomegranate, causing significant yield losses worldwide. In this study, mycelial growth assays in vitro were used to evaluate the sensitivities of 160 single-spore isolates of Botrytis cinerea collected from commercial grape (n = 58), pistachio (n = 74), and pomegranate (n = 28) fields in California to cyprodinil, fludioxonil, and iprodione. Based on the effective concentration at which mycelial growth was inhibited by 50% (EC50 values), 100, 83, and 38% of the isolates from the 3 hosts were sensitive (EC50

Species prioritization efforts are a common strategy implemented to efficiently and effectively apply conservation efforts and allocate resources to address global declines in biodiversity. These structured processes help identify species that best represent the entire species community; however, these methods are often subjective and focus on a limited number of species characteristics. We developed an objective, transparent approach using a Structured Decision Making (SDM) framework to identify a group of grassland bird species on which to focus conservation efforts that considers biological, social, and logistical criteria in the Northern Great Plains of North America. The process quantified these criteria to ensure representation of a variety of species and habitats and included the relative value of each criterion to the working group. These SDM methods provide a unique roadmap for prioritization of grassland bird species and offer an objective, transparent, and repeatable method of selection for priority species in other well-studied ecosystems.

This paper reports the results of a study carried out to verify the applicability of the EN 1787 method, which uses the Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) technique for the identification of irradiated plant-origin foods with health benefits. The method was tested on samples of herbal ingredients of Plant Food Supplements (PFSs), nuts and fresh blueberries. Untreated and irradiated samples of Camellia sinensis (leaves) Ginkgo biloba (leaves), Glycine max (seeds), Silybum marianum (fruits), Vaccinium myrtillus (fruits), almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, pistachios, walnuts and fresh blueberries were analysed. The work includes an inter-laboratory blind test involving five Italian laboratories that perform routine analyses for the official control of irradiated food. A total of 180 untreated and irradiated samples of PFS ingredients, nuts and fresh blueberries were analysed. The analyses on the irradiated samples were replicated even a long time after irradiation (up to two years depending on the matrix) to test the reliability of the method throughout the shelf life of the products. The results were matrix-dependent: all the 5 kGy irradiated nuts and the 1 kGy-irradiated blueberries were correctly classified, whereas herbal ingredients showed complex ESR spectra with spurious signals which often prevented the correct classification of the sample.

Background and objectives A cross-sectional biomonitoring study was carried out to investigate exposure to incinerator emission in relation to the body burden of selected biomarkers in the population living around the plant. Methods Approximately 500 people, aged 18–69 yrs, living within 4 km from the incinerator were randomly selected form the population register. Exposure was measured through fall-out maps of particulate matter (PM), used as tracer for incinerator emissions. Ten metabolized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), from naphthalene to chrysene, 1-hydroxypyrene and twelve metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Ni, Zn, V, Tl, As, Sn) were measured in spot urine samples. Confounders, such as diet, smoking, traffic, occupation and personal characteristics were assessed by questionnaires and objective measurements, and included into multivariate linear regression models. Results Metal concentrations in urine were in line with or higher than Italian reference limits, besides Cr and V with more than twofold concentrations. Metal levels did not show clear association to exposure categories. Most abundant PAHs were naphthalene (median 26.2 ng/L) and phenanthrene (7.4 ng/L). All PAHs, but benz[a]anthracene and 1-hydroxypyrene, were found in more than 52% of samples, and included in regression models. Significant associations between urinary PAHs and exposure were found, strong for fluorene, and weaker for naphthalene, fluoranthene and pyrene. Results were confirmed by sensitivity analyses. Correlation with variables reported in literature were observed. Conclusions The study indicates that the emissions were very low and highlights that specific urinary PAHs provided useful information about the internal dose arising from incinerator emission.

In the last decade, the paradigm Historical Building Information Modeling (HBIM) was investigated to exploit the possibilities offered by the application of BIM to historical buildings. In the Cultural Heritage domain, the BIM-oriented approach can produce 3D models that are data collector populated by both geometrical and non-geometrical information related to various themes: historical documents, monitoring data, structural information, conservation or restoration state and so on. The realization of a 3D model fully interoperable and rich in its informative content could represent a very important change towards a more efficient management of the historical real estate. The work presented in these pages outlines a novel approach to solve this interoperability issue, by developing and testing a workflow that exploits the advantages of BIM platforms and Semantic-Web technologies, enabling the user to query a repository composed of semantically structured and rich HBIM data. The presented pipeline follows four main steps: (i) the first step consists on modeling an ontology with the main information needs for the domain of interest, providing a data structure that can be leveraged to inform the data-enrichment phase and, later, to meaningfully query the data. (ii) Afterwards, the data enrichment was performed, by creating a set of shared parameters reflecting the properties in our domain ontology. (iii) To structure data in a machine-readable format, a data conversion was needed to represent the domain (ontology) and analyze data of specific buildings respectively; this step is mandatory to reuse the analysis data together with the 3D model, providing the end-user with a querying tool. (iv) As a final step in our workflow, we developed a demonstrative data exploration web application based on the faceted browsing paradigm and allowing to exploit both structured metadata and 3D visualization. This research demonstrates how is possible to represent a huge amount of specialized information models with appropriate LOD and Grade in BIM environment and then guarantee a complete interoperability with IFC/RDF format. Relying on semantically structured data (ontologies) and on the Linked Data stack appears a valid approach for addressing existing information system issues in the CH domain and constitutes a step forward in the management of repositories and web libraries devoted to historical buildings.

Nano-sized colloidal carriers represent innovative drug delivery systems, as they allow a targeted and prolonged release of poorly water-soluble drugs, improving their bioavailability and modifying their pharmacokinetic parameters. In this work we describe cyclodextrin-based nanosponges, obtained through polimerization of β-cyclodextrin with diphenyl carbonate as the cross-linking agent, loaded with a novel multi-effective heterocyclic compound, DB103, able to regulate key cellular events involved in the remodelling of vessels wall. Fabrication and drug-loading procedures, as well as physical-chemical characterization and drug-release profile of the novel colloidal system are reported. Results achieved demonstrate the ability of nanosponges to enclose efficiently the target drug and release it slowly and continuously, thus suggesting the exploitability of the novel system for the local therapy of vessels wall subjected to percutaneous intervention.