Identification of a characteristic VOCs pattern in the exhaled breath of post-COVID subjects: are metabolic alterations induced by the infection still detectable?

SARS-CoV-2 is expected to cause metabolic alterations due to viral replication and the host immune response resulting in increase of cytokine secretion and cytolytic activity. The present prospective observational study is addressed at exploring the potentialities of breath analysis in discrimination between patients with a documented previous history of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and, at the moment of the enrollment, exhibiting a negative nasopharyngeal swab and acquired immunity (post-COVID) and healthy subjects with no evidence of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection (no-COVID). The main purpose is to understand if traces of metabolic alterations induced during the acute phase of the infection are still detectable after negativization, in the form of a characteristic volatile organic compound (VOC) pattern.

Breath Analysis: Comparison among Methodological Approaches for Breath Sampling.

Despite promising results obtained in the early diagnosis of several pathologies, breath analysis still remains an unused technique in clinical practice due to the lack of breath sampling standardized procedures able to guarantee a good repeatability and comparability of results. The most diffuse on an international scale breath sampling method uses polymeric bags, but, recently, devices named Mistral and ReCIVA, able to directly concentrate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) onto sorbent tubes, have been developed and launched on the market. In order to explore performances of these new automatic devices with respect to sampling in the polymeric bag and to study the differences in VOCs profile when whole or alveolar breath is collected and when pulmonary wash out with clean air is done, a tailored experimental design was developed.

Minimum tillage and organic fertilization for the sustainable management of Brassica carinata A. (Braun) in the Mediterranean environment.

In recent years, the massive exploitation of agricultural land intended to meet growing food demand has led to a reduction in soil fertility through the depletion of nutrients and organic matter. To implement sustainable agriculture, it is necessary to reduce soil tillage and use residual biomasses that are easily available in the region as soil amendments. Furthermore, it is important to test these residual biomasses in order to exclude a possible increase of heavy metals in soils due to the incorporation of the aforementioned biomasses.

Photocatalytic Degradation of Diclofenac by Hydroxyapatite⁻TiO₂ Composite Material: Identification of Transformation Products and Assessment of Toxicity.

Diclofenac (DCF) is one of the most detected pharmaceuticals in environmental water matrices and is known to be recalcitrant to conventional wastewater treatment plants. In this study, degradation of DCF was performed in water by photolysis and photocatalysis using a new synthetized photocatalyst based on hydroxyapatite and TiO₂ (HApTi). A degradation of 95% of the target compound was achieved in 24 h by a photocatalytic treatment employing the HApTi catalyst in comparison to only 60% removal by the photolytic process.

Frequency, antimicrobial susceptibility and clonal distribution of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius in canine clinical samples submitted to a veterinary diagnostic laboratory in Italy: A 3-year retrospective investigation.

In the last decade there has been a rapid global spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) clones displaying multidrug resistance in dogs. We investigated prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility and clonal distribution of MRSP isolated from clinical canine samples between during 2011-2014. Following species identification by nuc PCR, MRSP were confirmed by the presence of mecA and characterized by antimicrobial susceptibility testing, Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE), SCCmec typing, and Multi-Locus Sequence Typing (MLST) of a few isolates having distinct PFGE profiles.