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The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is the first cryogenic experiment searching for 0 ν β β decay that has been able to reach the one-tonne mass scale. The detector, located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy, consists of an array of 988 TeO 2 crystals arranged in a compact cylindrical structure of 19 towers. CUORE began its first physics data run in 2017 at a base temperature of about 10 mK and in April 2021 released its 3 rd result of the search for 0 ν β β , corresponding to a tonne-year of TeO 2 exposure. This is the largest amount of data ever acquired with a solid state detector and the most sensitive measurement of 0 ν β β decay in 130 Te ever conducted. We present the current status of CUORE search for 0 ν β β with the updated statistics of one tonne-yr. We finally give an update of the CUORE background model and the measurement of the 130 Te 2 ν β β decay half-life and decay to excited states of 130 Xe , studies performed using an exposure of 300.7 kg yr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CUORE experiment is a ton-scale array of TeO 2 cryogenic bolometers located at the underground Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), in Italy. The CUORE detector consists of 988 crystals operated as source and detector at a base temperature of ∼ 10 mK. Such cryogenic temperature is reached and maintained by means of a custom built cryogen-free dilution cryostat, designed with the aim of minimizing the vibrational noise and the environmental radioactivity. The primary goal of CUORE is the search for neutrinoless double beta decay of 130 Te , but thanks to its large target mass and ultra-low background it is suitable for the study of other rare processes as well, such as the neutrinoless double beta decay of 128 Te . This tellurium isotope is an attractive candidate for the search of this process, due to its high natural isotopic abundance of 31.75%. The transition energy at (866.7 ± 0.7) keV lies in a highly populated region of the energy spectrum, dominated by the contribution of the two-neutrino double beta decay of 130 Te . As the first ton-scale infrastructure operating cryogenic TeO 2 bolometers in stable conditions, CUORE is able to achieve a factor > 10 higher sensitivity to the neutrinoless double beta decay of this isotope with respect to past direct experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is the first bolometric experiment searching for neutrino-less double-beta (0 ν β β) decay that has been able to reach the one-ton scale. The detector, located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy, consists of an array of 988 TeO2 crystals arranged in a compact cylindrical structure of 19 towers. Following the completion of the detector construction in August 2016, CUORE began its first physics data run in 2017 at a base temperature of about 10 mK. Following multiple optimization campaigns in 2018, CUORE is currently in stable operating mode. In 2019, CUORE released its second result of the search for 0 ν β β corresponding to a TeO2 exposure of 372.5 kg ⋅ yr and a median exclusion sensitivity to a 130Te 0 ν β β decay half-life of 1. 7 ⋅ 1 0 2 5 yr. We find no evidence for 0 ν β β decay and set a 90% C.I. Bayesian lower limit of 3. 2 ⋅ 1 0 2 5 yr on the 130Te 0 ν β β decay half-life. We present the current status of CUORE's search for 0 ν β β. We give an update of the CUORE background model and the measurement of the 130Te two neutrino double-beta (2 ν β β) decay half-life. Eventually, we show the preliminary results on half-life limits from the analysis of 130Te 0 ν β β and 2 ν β β decay to the first 0 + excited state of 1 3 0 Xe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this multinational retrospective cohort study, conducted at academic and community oncology centres, was to describe real-world treatment patterns for patients with a confirmed diagnosis of advanced/metastatic (stage IIIB/ IV) non-small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC) who initiated first-line systemic therapy from January 2011 through June 2014. The study included 1265 patients in Italy, Spain, Germany, Australia, Korea, Taiwan and Brazil. The proportion of patients with squamous versus non-squamous NSCLC was approximately 20% versus 75%, and associated patient demographic characteristics were similar in all countries, excepting race. Patients with squamous NSCLC were predominantly male and current/ex-smokers. Biomarker tests were performed for the majority of patients with non-squamous NSCLC, ranging from 54% (Brazil) to 91% in Taiwan, where, of those tested, 68% with non-squamous NSCLC had positive epidermal growth factor receptor ( EGFR)-mutation status; in other countries the EGFR-positive percentages ranged from 17% (Spain/Brazil) to 40% (Korea). Platinum-based regimens were the most common first-line therapy in all countries except Taiwan, where gefitinib was the most common first-line agent. Median overall survival ranged from 9.3 months (Brazil) to 25.5 months (Taiwan). The diagnostic and treatment patterns recorded in this study were heterogeneous but largely in line with NSCLC guidelines during the study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yessotoxin is one of the shellfish toxins leading to mussel farm closures in the Adriatic Sea of Italy. Two putative Gonyaulax spinifera strains GSA0501 and GSA0602 are known as yessotoxins producers, but their identities have remained elusive since 2005. To address this gap, we established five Gonyaulax strains by incubating sediments from the Adriatic Sea and subsequently isolating single cells. Both cyst and theca morphology were examined using light and scanning electron microscopy. In addition, LSU and/or SSU rRNA gene sequences were obtained for all strains. Two strains produce cysts resembling Spiniferites mirabilis and one strain was related to S. scabratus. The other two strains are described as Gonyaulax montresoriae sp. nov., characterized by a high cingular displacement and overhang, along with two unequal antapical spines. Cysts of G. montresoriae are pear-shaped, showing a smooth surface and exclusively gonal processes with perforations at the base, the latter similar to S. lazus. LSU rRNA gene sequence comparison suggests that the G. spinifera strain GSA0501 isolated from the Adriatic Sea in 2005 should also be identified as G. montresoriae. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses based on LSU and SSU rRNA gene sequences reveal that G. montresoriae is monophyletic, and close to several toxic strains of presumable Gonyaulax spinifera from the Adriatic Sea and New Zealand, whose taxonomic positions are uncertain. One strain of G. montresoriae was examined for yessotoxin production using LC-MS/MS, and found to produce predominantly yessotoxin at a concentration of 3.0 pg cell -1 . Our results highlight the rich diversity and risks associated with Gonyaulax species in the Mediterranean Sea., 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 © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Several Italian and Chinese temperate lakes with soluble reactive phosphorus concentrations < 0.015 mg L -1 were studied to estimate nitrogen and phosphorus regeneration mediated by microbial decomposition and possible different mechanisms driven by prevailing oligo- or eutrophic conditions. Leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), beta-glucosidase (GLU) and alkaline phosphatase (AP), algal, and bacterial biomass were related to trophic and environmental variables. In the eutrophic lakes, high algal and particulate organic carbon concentrations stimulated bacterial respiration (> 20 μg C L -1  h -1 ) and could favor the release of inorganic phosphorus. High extracellular enzyme activities and phosphorus solubilizing bacteria abundance in sediments accelerated nutrient regeneration. In these conditions, the positive GLU-AP relationship suggested the coupling of carbon and phosphorus regeneration; an efficient phosphorus regeneration and high nitrogen levels (up to 0.067 and 0.059 mg L -1 NH 4 and NO 3 in Italy; 0.631 and 1.496 mg L -1 NH 4 and NO 3 in China) led to chlorophyll a peaks of 14.9 and 258.4 μg L -1 in Italy and China, respectively, and a typical algal composition. Conversely, in the oligo-mesotrophic lakes, very low nitrogen levels (in Italy, 0.001 and 0.005 mg L -1 NH 4 and NO 3 , respectively, versus 0.053 and 0.371 mg L -1 in China) induced high LAP, while low phosphorus (33.6 and 46.3 μg L -1 total P in Italy and China, respectively) led to high AP. In these lakes, nitrogen and phosphorus regeneration were coupled, as shown by positive LAP-AP relationship; however, the nutrient demand could not be completely met without the supply from sediments, due to low enzymatic activity and phosphorus solubilizing bacteria found in this compartment.