The role of ion dissolution in metal and metal oxide surface inactivation of SARS-CoV-2.

Anti-viral surface coatings are under development to prevent viral fomite transmission from high-traffic touch surfaces in public spaces. Copper's anti-viral properties have been widely documented, but the anti-viral mechanism of copper surfaces is not fully understood. We screened a series of metal and metal oxide surfaces for anti-viral activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Copper and copper oxide surfaces exhibited superior anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity; however, the level of anti-viral activity was dependent on the composition of the carrier solution used to deliver virus inoculum. We demonstrate that copper ions released into solution from test surfaces can mediate virus inactivation, indicating a copper ion dissolution-dependent anti-viral mechanism. The level of anti-viral activity is, however, not dependent on the amount of copper ions released into solution per se. Instead, our findings suggest that degree of virus inactivation is dependent on copper ion complexation with other biomolecules (e.g., proteins/metabolites) in the virus carrier solution that compete with viral components. Although using tissue culture-derived virus inoculum is experimentally convenient to evaluate the anti-viral activity of copper-derived test surfaces, we propose that the high organic content of tissue culture medium reduces the availability of "uncomplexed" copper ions to interact with the virus, negatively affecting virus inactivation and hence surface anti-viral performance. We propose that laboratory anti-viral surface testing should include virus delivered in a physiologically relevant carrier solution (saliva or nasal secretions when testing respiratory viruses) to accurately predict real-life surface anti-viral performance when deployed in public spaces.IMPORTANCEThe purpose of evaluating the anti-viral activity of test surfaces in the laboratory is to identify surfaces that will perform efficiently in preventing fomite transmission when deployed on high-traffic touch surfaces in public spaces. The conventional method in laboratory testing is to use tissue culture-derived virus inoculum; however, this study demonstrates that anti-viral performance of test copper-containing surfaces is dependent on the composition of the carrier solution in which the virus inoculum is delivered to test surfaces. Therefore, we recommend that laboratory surface testing should include virus delivered in a physiologically relevant carrier solution to accurately predict real-life test surface performance in public spaces. Understanding the mechanism of virus inactivation is key to future rational design of improved anti-viral surfaces. Here, we demonstrate that release of copper ions from copper surfaces into small liquid droplets containing SARS-CoV-2 is a mechanism by which the virus that causes COVID-19 can be inactivated.

COVID-19 epidemic spread and green areas Italy and Spain between 2020 and 2021: An observational multi-country retrospective study.

Several studies have proposed that environmental factors influencing human wellbeing, such as chronic exposures to high levels of particulate matter, could indirectly or even directly affect also the severity of COVID-19 disease in case of infection by novel coronavirus SARS-COV2. This study has investigated the association between COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations or deaths and the extension of public green areas (km2 per 100,000 based on OECD data of 2014), an indicator that has been chosen as independent endpoint variable to test the research hypothesis in 10 Italian and 8 Spanish Provinces with more than 500.000 inhabitants, including capitals (Rome and Madrid) and bigger cities (Bologna, Catania, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Turin and Venice for Italy; Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, Malaga, Las Palmas and Bilbao for Spain). Two different methodologies have been applied: a bottom-up approach was applied to Spanish institutional data concerning contagions/hospitalizations/deaths and the extent of public green areas for each responder to an official questionnaire in the frame of a nationwide survey (with detailed data granularity per province) containing specific georeferenced information; a top-down approach was used for Italy, starting from the official figures of contagions/hospitalizations/deaths of each province and linking them to the OECD statistics about the extension of public green areas in the different areas. Linear and generalized models were used for statistical analyses including also PM2.5 in a multivariate approach (with annual average concentrations from official air quality monitoring stations) and were able to adjust for the different number inhabitants living in each province, in order to take into account the difference in contagion dynamics related to the different density of population. The results obtained for Spain are consistent with those observed for Italy, as for both countries, it has clearly emerged a statistically significant association between COVID-19 clinical features (contagions, hospitalizations, and deaths) and the extension of public green areas, as well as the annual average concentrations of PM2.5 (with this latter variable loosing statistical significance in some province). Therefore, the extension of public green areas and air pollution seem to have a high correlation with COVID-19 severity.

Bioimpedentiometry parameters used as indicators of frailty and malnutrition: association between G8 score and Phase angle (PHA) in elderly cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Since the incidence of cancer increases with age, in older cancer patients important information may be missed without a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA). On the other side, CGA is a time-consuming and complex instrument, so that Geriatric 8 (G8) has been proposed as a more feasible screening tool to identify patients who could benefit from a CGA evaluation. G8 consists of 8 questions (patient age + 7 items derived from the Mini Nutritional Assessment questionnaire). A G8 score ≤ 14 is considered associated with frailty and risk of malnutrition. Another screening test is Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (Bioimpedentiometry, BIA), which enables to evaluate the nutritional status through a specific parameter known as Phase angle (PhA). This study is aimed at assessing the ability of G8 alone or in combination with PhA to detect elderly cancer patients at higher risk for malnutrition who cannot undergo immediate anticancer treatments. METHODS: A total of 289 cancer patients (168 men and 121 women) aged ≥ 70 years old were enrolled and performed both G8 test, body mass index (BMI) and BIA assessments. A concurrent G8 score ≤ 14 and PhA < 5 defined subjects most exposed to the risk of malnutrition. RESULTS: An association between BMI and G8 (p < 0.001, OR 1.54) and a clinically significant relationship between G8 and PhA (p = 0.013) were observed. CONCLUSION: G8 can be used to identify patients at risk for malnutrition who would benefit from comprehensive CGA. The concurrent use of G8 and BIA presents a higher power in discriminating subjects at higher risk of malnutrition than a single test. This study suggests the need for routine assessment of nutritional status in cancer patients using combinations of methods, in order to implement strategies for individually-tailored care before starting any treatment.

Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition Mechanisms in Chronic Airway Diseases: A Common Process to Target?

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a reversible process, in which epithelial cells lose their epithelial traits and acquire a mesenchymal phenotype. This transformation has been described in different lung diseases, such as lung cancer, interstitial lung diseases, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other muco-obstructive lung diseases, such as cystic fibrosis and non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis. The exaggerated chronic inflammation typical of these pulmonary diseases can induce molecular reprogramming with subsequent self-sustaining aberrant and excessive profibrotic tissue repair. Over time this process leads to structural changes with progressive organ dysfunction and lung function impairment. Although having common signalling pathways, specific triggers and regulation mechanisms might be present in each disease. This review aims to describe the various mechanisms associated with fibrotic changes and airway remodelling involved in chronic airway diseases. Having better knowledge of the mechanisms underlying the EMT process may help us to identify specific targets and thus lead to the development of novel therapeutic strategies to prevent or limit the onset of irreversible structural changes.

Two-tier manipulation of holographic information.

Here we demonstrate the two-tier manipulation of holographic information using frequency-selective metasurfaces. Our results show that these devices can diffract light efficiently at designed frequency and environmental conditions. By changing the frequency and refractive index of the surrounding environment, the metasurfaces produce two different holographic images. We anticipate that these environmental dependent, frequency-selective metasurfaces will have practical applications in holographic encryption and sensing.

All-optical manipulation of photonic membranes.

We demonstrate the all-optical manipulation of polymeric membranes in microfluidic environments. The membranes are decorated with handles for their use in holographic optical tweezers systems. Our results show that due to their form factor the membranes present a substantial increase in their mechanical stability, respect to micrometric dielectric particles. This intrinsic superior stability is expected to improve profoundly a wide range of bio-photonic applications that rely on the optical manipulation of micrometric objects.

Correction to: Normative values of the Rao's Brief Repeatable Battery in an Italian young adolescent population: the influence of age, gender, and education.

The published version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in Table 2.

Normative values of the Rao's Brief Repeatable Battery in an Italian young adolescent population: the influence of age, gender, and education.

AIM: The Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests (BRB) is frequently used to estimate cognitive function in adults with multiple sclerosis (MS), while it has been included in few studies on young MS, also because of the absence of normative values. We aim to evaluate the impact of age, gender, and education on BRB scores in a young adolescent population. METHODS: We administered the BRB to 76, 14-to-17-year-old, healthy subjects. Linear regression models were used to assess the impact of age, gender, and education on sub-test scores. When statistically significant (p < 0.05), we used the regression coefficient to correct the raw scores. RESULTS: Younger age was associated with better performance on SPART (ß = - 2.54; p < 0.05) and SPART-D (ß = - 1.06; p < 0.05). Male gender was associated with better performance on SPART (ß = 3.40; p < 0.05), SPART-D (ß = 1.41; p < 0.05), PASAT-3 (ß = 5.58; p < 0.05), and PASAT-2 (ß = 5.07; p < 0.05). Educational attainments were associated with better performance on SPART (ß = 3.23; p < 0.05) and SPART-D (ß = 1.28; p < 0.05). Cut-off points were suggested at the 5th lowest percentile. INTERPRETATION: Age, gender, and education must be accounted for when applying the BRB to young population. Present results can prove useful for future clinical and research applications in adolescent MS patients.

Coffee consumption, metabolic syndrome and clinical severity of psoriasis: good or bad stuff?

Despite the wide consumption of coffee, its anti-inflammatory effect on clinical severity of psoriasis is still debatable. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the coffee consumption and clinical severity of psoriasis in a sample of patients stratified according to the presence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and smoking. This cross-sectional case-control observational study was conducted on 221 treatment-naïve psoriatic patients. Lifestyle habits, anthropometric measures, clinical and biochemical evaluations were obtained. Clinical severity of psoriasis was assessed by Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score. Data on energy caloric intake and coffee consumption were collected using a 7-day food diary record. The coffee consumption was analyzed as coffee intake (consumers and non-consumers) and daily servings (range 0-4 servings/day). Coffee consumers have a lower PASI score vs non-consumers (p < 0.001). The lowest PASI score and MetS prevalence were found in patients consuming 3 cups of coffee/day (p < 0.001), which was also the most common daily serving (34.8%), whereas the highest PASI score was found among those drinking ≥ 4 cups/day. Grouping the case patients according to smoking and MetS, the best odds of PASI score was observed in those drinking 3 cups of coffee per day and no smokers, after adjusting for total energy intake (OR 74.8; p < 0.001). As a novel finding, we reported a negative association between coffee intake, MetS prevalence and clinical severity of psoriasis. The evaluation of the anti-inflammatory effect of coffee on clinical severity of psoriasis, whose metabolic risk increases along with its clinical severity, could be of great importance from a public health perspective.

Flexible Nanowire Cluster as a Wearable Colorimetric Humidity Sensor.

Wearable plasmonic devices combine the advantages of high flexibility, ultrathinness, light weight, and excellent integration with the optical benefits mediated by plasmon-enhanced electric fields. However, two obstacles severely hinder further developments and applications of a wearable plasmonic device. One is the lack of efficient approach to obtaining devices with robust antimotion-interference property, i.e., the devices can work independently on the morphology changes of their working structures caused by arbitrary wearing conditions. The other issue is to seek a facile and high-throughput fabrication method to satisfy the financial requirement of industrialization. In order to overcome these two challenges, a functional flexible film of nanowire cluster is developed, which can be easily fabricated by taking the advantages of both conventional electrochemical and sputtering methods. Such flexible plasmonic films can be made into wearable devices that work independently on shape changes induced by various wearing conditions (such as bending, twisting and stretching). Furthermore, due to plasmonic advantages of color controlling and high sensitivity to environment changes, the flexible film of nanowire cluster can be used to fabricate wearable items (such as bracelet, clothes, bag, or even commercial markers), with the ability of wireless visualization for humidity sensing.

Preliminary results demonstrating the impact of Mediterranean diet on bone health.

BACKGROUND: Nutrition is an environmental factor affecting bone health. Nutrition is considered essential to achieve and maintain optimal bone mass. Mediterranean diet (MD) has shown to prevent bone disease. Aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between bone health status and adherence the MD. METHODS: Four-hundred eighteen healthy people (105 males and 313 females, age 50 ± 14 years) were recruited in the outdoor hospital of the "Campus Salute Onlus" held in Piazza del Plebiscito in Naples, October 17-20th 2013 and 09-11th October 2014. All subjects underwent clinical assessment, calcaneal quantitative ultrasound (QUS) scanner and PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED) questionnaire. RESULTS: Globally, prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia were 7.7 and 46.0%, respectively. The majority of subjects (60.5%) had an average score (score 6-9) of adherence to MD. The T-score showed positive correlation with PREDIMED score (r = 0.250, p < 0.001). The higher T-scores were positively associated with a higher consumption of extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), vegetables, fruits, legumes, and fish and negatively associated with consumption of red meat. The higher T-scores were positively associated with the highest odds of PREDIMED scores (higher adherence) (OR 6.91, IC 6.27-7.61, p < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis models indicated that, among the single food items investigated, high T-score can be predicted by consumption of EVOO (p < 0.001), fish (p < 0.001) and fruit (p = 0.002) intake. A PREDIMED score of 3 was found to be predictive for a low T-score (α = 0.05, R-squared index = 0.417). CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate a positive correlation between bone health status and adherence to MD, suggesting that a high adherence to MD promotes bone health. The observations here reported confirmed that a specific dietary approach, such as MD, can represent a modifiable environmental factor for osteoporosis' prevention.

Bioelectrical phase angle and psoriasis: a novel association with psoriasis severity, quality of life and metabolic syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Obesity, metabolic syndrome (MetS), and psoriasis, largely driven by environmental factors, show multiple bidirectional associations, with important metabolic implications in psoriatic patients. Besides body mass index (BMI) as a measure of obesity, data on phase angle (PhA), a direct measure by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), used as a marker of cellular health and a predictor of morbidity and mortality in various diseases, are still lacking in psoriasis. In this case-control, cross-sectional study, we investigated the PhA in 180 pairs of adult psoriatic patients and healthy controls, evaluating also the potential use of the PhA as marker of the clinical severity, the quality of life, and the presence of the MetS in psoriatic patients. METHODS: Anthropometric measures, metabolic profile and bioelectrical variables were evaluated. The clinical severity was assessed by standardized psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score and c-reactive protein (CRP) levels, and the quality of life was evaluated by dermatology life quality index (DLQI). MetS was diagnosed according to Adult Treatment Panel III. RESULTS: Psoriatic patients presented smaller PhA (p < 0.001) and higher prevalence MetS compared with controls. The PhA was significantly associated with number of parameters of MetS in both groups (p < 0.001). After adjusting for BMI, this association remained significant in psoriatic patients only (p < 0.001). Among psoriatic patients, the PhA was the major index value for the diagnosis of MetS (OR 5.87, 95 % CI 5.07-6.79) and was inversely associated with both PASI score and DLQI, independently of BMI (p < 0.001). At multiple regression analysis, the PhA well predicted the PASI score and DLQI. Based on ROC curves, the most sensitive and specific cutoffs of PhA to predict the highest PASI score and the lowest DQLI were ≤4.8° and ≤4.9°, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We reported that psoriatic patients presented small PhAs, with a novel association between PhA, clinical severity, quality of life in psoriatic patients, and MetS. Further studies are required to validate the PhA's prognostic ability in assessing the clinical severity and MetS in psoriatic patients.

One-Dimensional Chirality: Strong Optical Activity in Epsilon-Near-Zero Metamaterials.

We suggest that electromagnetic chirality, generally displayed by 3D or 2D complex chiral structures, can occur in 1D patterned composites whose components are achiral. This feature is highly unexpected in a 1D system which is geometrically achiral since its mirror image can always be superposed onto it by a 180 deg rotation. We analytically evaluate from first principles the bianisotropic response of multilayered metamaterials and we show that the chiral tensor is not vanishing if the system is geometrically one-dimensional chiral; i.e., its mirror image cannot be superposed onto it by using translations without resorting to rotations. As a signature of 1D chirality, we show that 1D chiral metamaterials support optical activity and we prove that this phenomenon undergoes a dramatic nonresonant enhancement in the epsilon-near-zero regime where the magnetoelectric coupling can become dominant in the constitutive relations.

Contra-directional coupling into slotted photonic crystals for spectrometric applications.

We propose and demonstrate the concept of a contra-directional coupler between a W1 and a slotted photonic crystal waveguide. The bandwidth and operating wavelength of such a coupler can be controlled via its geometrical parameters, and power transfer is not periodic unlike in the more familiar codirectional case. Light of specific wavelengths can be extracted from the W1 mode into air slot modes using this design, with W1/slot coupling efficiencies of up to 99±1%, and waveguide extracted coupling efficiencies of up to 51±12% demonstrated experimentally. Combining several of these couplers in series, we demonstrate the spectral filtering functionality on-chip. The device therefore combines the well-known sensing function of the slotted waveguide geometry with the spectrometer function, thus uniting two essential biosensor functions in a monolithic device.

Random super-prism wavelength meter.

The speckle pattern arising from a thin random, disordered scatterer may be used to detect the transversal mode of an incident beam. On the other hand, speckle patterns originating from meter-long multimode fibers can be used to detect different wavelengths. Combining these approaches, we develop a method that uses a thin random scattering medium to measure the wavelength of a near-infrared laser beam with picometer resolution. The method is based on the application of principal component analysis, which is used for pattern recognition and is applied here to the case of speckle pattern categorization.

Ten Years of Experience With a Telemedicine Platform Dedicated to Health Care Personnel: Implementation Report.

BACKGROUND: Telemedicine, a term that encompasses several applications and tasks, generally involves the remote management and treatment of patients by physicians. It is known as transversal telemedicine when practiced among health care professionals (HCPs). OBJECTIVE: We describe the experience of implementing our telemedicine Eumeda platform for HCPs over the last 10 years. METHODS: A web-based informatics platform was developed that had continuously updated hypertext created using advanced technology and the following features: security, data insertion, dedicated software for image analysis, and the ability to export data for statistical surveys. Customizable files called "modules" were designed and built for different fields of medicine, mainly in the ophthalmology subspecialty. Each module was used by HCPs with different authorization profiles. IMPLEMENTATION (RESULTS): Twelve representative modules for different projects are presented in this manuscript. These modules evolved over time, with varying degrees of interconnectivity, including the participation of a number of centers in 19 cities across Italy. The number of HCP operators involved in each single module ranged from 6 to 114 (average 21.8, SD 28.5). Data related to 2574 participants were inserted across all the modules. The average percentage of completed text/image fields in the 12 modules was 65.7%. All modules were evaluated in terms of access, acceptability, and medical efficacy. In their final evaluation, the participants judged the modules to be useful and efficient for clinical use. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate the usefulness of the telemedicine platform for HCPs in terms of improved knowledge in medicine, patient care, scientific research, teaching, and the choice of therapies. It would be useful to start similar projects across various health care fields, considering that in the near future medicine as we know it will completely change.

Optical guided mode resonance filter on a flexible substrate.

We demonstrate the operation of a flexible optical filter based on guided mode resonances that operates in the visible regime. The filter is fabricated on a free standing polymeric membrane of 1.3 µm thickness and we show how the geometrical design parameters of the filter determine its optical properties, and how various types of filter can be made with this scheme. To highlight the versatility and robustness of the approach, we mount a filter onto a collimated fibre output and demonstrate successful wavelength filtering.

Slotted photonic crystal sensors.

Optical biosensors are increasingly being considered for lab-on-a-chip applications due to their benefits such as small size, biocompatibility, passive behaviour and lack of the need for fluorescent labels. The light guiding mechanisms used by many of them results in poor overlap of the optical field with the target molecules, reducing the maximum sensitivity achievable. This review article presents a new platform for optical biosensors, namely slotted photonic crystals, which provide higher sensitivities due to their ability to confine, spatially and temporally, the optical mode peak within the analyte itself. Loss measurements showed values comparable to standard photonic crystals, confirming their ability to be used in real devices. A novel resonant coupler was designed, simulated, and experimentally tested, and was found to perform better than other solutions within the literature. Combining with cavities, microfluidics and biological functionalization allowed proof-of-principle demonstrations of protein binding to be carried out. Higher sensitivities were observed in smaller structures than possible with most competing devices reported in the literature. This body of work presents slotted photonic crystals as a realistic platform for complete on-chip biosensing; addressing key design, performance and application issues, whilst also opening up exciting new ideas for future study.

On-Chip Optical Trapping with High NA Metasurfaces.

Optical trapping of small particles typically requires the use of high NA microscope objectives. Photonic metasurfaces are an attractive alternative to create strongly focused beams for optical trapping applications in an integrated platform. Here, we report on the design, fabrication, and characterization of optical metasurfaces with a numerical aperture up to 1.2 and trapping stiffness greater than 400 pN/µm/W. We demonstrate that these metasurfaces perform as well as microscope objectives with the same numerical aperture. We systematically analyze the impact of the metasurface dimension on the trapping performance and show efficient trapping with metasurfaces with an area as small as 0.001 mm2. Finally, we demonstrate the versatility of the platform by designing metasurfaces able to create multisite optical tweezers for the trapping of extended objects.

Incidence of Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers in Salento (Southern Italy): A 15-Year Retrospective Analysis from the Cancer Registry of Lecce.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) include basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC), as well as a wide range of rare skin tumors. NMSCs is the most frequently diagnosed type of tumor among Caucasians. We aimed at estimating the incidence and mortality of NMSCs in the Salento area (Lecce province, Southern Italy), whose population is assumed to experience heavy and frequent sun exposure due to climatic/environmental factors, both for working and leisure activities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We computed the incidence of NMSCs in the Province of Lecce by examining the comprehensive real-world data collected by the local cancer registry, which covers all the 830,000 inhabitants, over a period of fifteen years (from 2003 to 2017), with a focus on the latest 5 years (2013-2017) for the analysis of the different histologic morphologies of these tumors. The incidence of NMSCs has been described in terms of absolute frequencies, crude rates and age-adjusted direct standardized rates (DSR). Joinpoint analysis was used to examine temporal trends in the incidence of NMSCs and estimate annual percent changes (APCs). RESULTS: During the period of 2003-2017, the incidence of NMSCs reached a direct standardized rate (DSR) of 162.62 per 100,000 in men (mortality 1.57 per 100,000) and 89.36 per 100,000 in women (mortality 0.52 per 100,000), respectively. The incidence significantly increased among both men and women across the entire period. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC), with its different morphologies, represented about 67.6% of the NMSCs in men (n = 2139 out of a total of 3161 tumors observed between 2013 and 2017) and about 75.8% of the NMSCs in women (n = 1718 out of a total of 2264 tumors from 2013 to 2017), thus accounting for the vast majority of NMSCs. The results are consistent with the literature data carried out both at national and international level. CONCLUSIONS: Proper monitoring of this phenomenon through timely reporting and recording of all new NMSC cases is necessary to develop new preventive strategies.