Exploring Eating Habits, Healthy Food Awareness, and Inclination toward Functional Foods of Italian Elderly People through Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATIs).

The continuous increase in life expectancy leads to progressive population ageing, especially in most developed countries. A healthy diet and better consumption of tailored functional foods may represent one of the strategies to postpone or slow down age-related decrements, thus increasing healthy ageing and reducing healthcare costs. This research aimed to explore elderly people's (>65 years old) eating habits and assess their awareness of food-health correlation.

Failure to detect DNA in blastocoel fluid is associated with a higher live birth rate in both PGT-A and conventional IVF/ICSI cycles.

Study Question: Is the presence of DNA in the blastocoel fluid (BF) of expanded blastocysts, assessed by whole genome amplification (WGA), associated with the clinical outcome at the first transfer?

Summary Answer: At the first transfer, blastocysts with negative BF-WGA have more chance to implant and to develop to term than those with positive BF-WGA results, both in preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies (PGT-A) cycles (where only euploid blastocysts resulting from the chromosomal analysis of trophectoderm (TE) biopsies were transferred) and in IVF/ICSI conventional cycles.

What Is Known Already: Retrospective studies conducted in patients undergoing PGT-A have shown that the incidence of negative BF-WGA was significantly higher in TE-euploid blastocysts than in TE-aneuploid blastocysts. In addition, after the transfer of TE-euploid blastocysts, the ongoing clinical pregnancy rate was significantly higher in the group with negative BF-WGA compared with those with positive BF-WGA.

Influence of the Physical State of Two Monofloral Honeys on Sensory Properties and Consumer Satisfaction.

Honey is a worldwide known and appreciated food product. Its appreciation by consumers is due to both its nutritional properties and the extremely reduced processing. The floral origin, color, aroma and taste are key factors in determining the quality of honey.

Birefringence properties of human immotile spermatozoa and ICSI outcome.

Research Question: In sperm samples with complete asthenozoospermia, pregnancies are achieved by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), but this condition has a negative impact on fertilization and embryo development owing to the difficulty of identifying viable cells for oocyte injection. Is the selection of sperm cells with head birefringence properties under polarizing light a successful strategy to identify viable spermatozoa?

Design: This study included 192 ICSI cycles with complete asthenozoospermia (83 ejaculated and 109 testicular samples) performed under polarized light. Two types of sperm head birefringence were distinguished: partial (presumably reacted spermatozoa) and total (presumably intact acrosome).

Species-Level Differences in Osmoprotectants and Antioxidants Contribute to Stress Tolerance of L., and L. Seedlings under Water Deficit and High Temperatures.

The general aim of this work was to compare the leaf-level responses of different protective components to water deficit and high temperatures in L. and L. Several biochemical components of the osmotic adjustment and antioxidant system were investigated together with changes in hormones.

IVF Lite: a smart IVF programme based on mild ovarian stimulation for good prognosis patients.

Research Question: The IVF Lite programme is based on mild ovarian stimulation including up to three fresh/frozen embryo transfers within 12 months. Is it effective and safe in good prognosis patients?

Design: Single-centre prospective study on infertile patients at their first IVF attempt (female age ≤38 years, anti-Müllerian hormone concentrations >1.5 ng/ml and/or FSH ≤10 mIU/ml).

Food Involvement, Food Choices, and Bioactive Compounds Consumption Correlation during COVID-19 Pandemic: How Food Engagement Influences Consumers' Food Habits.

The containment measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic affected food-related activities, influencing dietary behavior, food habits, and dietary choices. This study aimed to compare the relationship between food involvement and dietary choices before and during the pandemic, investigating the role played by food in dietary habits. Responses given by 2773 Italian consumers to an online survey were studied through the Food Involvement Scale (FIS) and correlated to eating habits.

Oocyte donation: not all oocyte cryobanks are the same.

Research Question: Is the efficacy of imported vitrified oocyte donation affected by the cryobank of origin?

Design: Longitudinal cohort study, including 249 completed oocyte warming cycles from 200 recipients (January 2016-July 2020). No severe male factor was included. Vitrified oocytes were provided by three Spanish cryobanks.

Chemical Composition and Sensory Evaluation of Saffron.

The quality and economic value of saffron, one of the most counterfeited spices, are based on three key substances that are relatively easy to measure: crocines (colour); picrocrocines (bitter); safranal (odour impact). Despite being well-known, as their concentration is correlated to sensory intensity, a detailed sensory evaluation, performed by a trained panel, supported by advanced analytical approaches, may better show the relationships between saffron composition and sensory perception. Three saffron samples of different Italian origins (Sardinia and Tuscany) were evaluated by a trained sensory panel and their chemical composition was determined by HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) and spectrophotometry.

Italian Consumers' Readiness to Adopt Eggs from Insect-Fed Hens.

Demand for eggs from laying hens is increasing as the world population continues to grow. The use of insects as animal feed is a strategic opportunity to find a new innovative, economic and sustainable source of protein. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Italian consumer inclination for eggs produced with the use of insect-fed hens.

Remote testing: Sensory test during Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.

Restrictions adopted by many countries in 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic had severe consequences on the management of sensory and consumer testing that strengthened the tendency to move data collection out of the laboratory. Remote sensory testing, organized at the assessor's home or workplace and carried out under the live online supervision of the panel leader, represents a trade-off between adequate control and the convenience of conducting testing out of the lab. The Italian Sensory Science Society developed the "Remote sensory testing" research project aimed at testing the effectiveness and validity of the sensory tests conducted remotely through a comparison with evaluations in a classical laboratory setting.

Identification of a targetable KRAS-mutant epithelial population in non-small cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths. Tumor heterogeneity, which hampers development of targeted therapies, was herein deconvoluted via single cell RNA sequencing in aggressive human adenocarcinomas (carrying Kras-mutations) and comparable murine model. We identified a tumor-specific, mutant-KRAS-associated subpopulation which is conserved in both human and murine lung cancer.

Sperm chromosome abnormalities in patients with normal karyotype and in translocation carriers: clinical relevance for assisted reproductive technology.

Research Question: What is the proportion of chromosomally abnormal spermatozoa in men with a history of reproductive failure, including patients with normal karyotype and carriers of translocations? Should this analysis be included in a clinical setting to define the best treatment options for infertile couples?

Design: Aneuploidy for chromosomes XY, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22 was tested by fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) in 1665 samples from couples with normal karyotype having had at least three previous IVF failures, miscarriages, or both (group-A). A FISH test was also carried out in 76 samples from carriers of translocations (group B) to detect the proportion of spermatozoa with unbalanced rearrangement.

Results: In group A, the lowest incidence of aneuploid sperm cells was found in men with normozoospermia (1.

Are there overlapping clinical features between thoracic radiotherapy side effects and covid-19 pneumonia? Radiation pneumonitis outside the radiation ports: Three case reports.

Respiratory involvement of COVID-19 infection, with presentations ranging from a mild flu-like illness to potentially lethal acute respiratory distress syndrome, is the main clinical manifestation in adults. Chest imaging shows a pictorial fashion of images due to the severity and stage of the disease, starting from focal nodular or mass-like opacities with air bronchogram to areas of ground glass consolidation or whited out lung. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, CT findings could yield confounding reporting in the case of cancer patients previously treated with thoracic radiotherapy (tRT) due to atypical radiation pneumonitis occurring outside the radiation ports.

ESHRE Clinical Embryologist certification: the first 10 years.

Study Question: What has the ESHRE programme 'ESHRE Certification for Clinical Embryologists' achieved after 10 years?

Summary Answer: The post-exam analysis showed a pass rate of 60% for Clinical and 50% for Senior Clinical Embryologists and a high level of internal consistency of all exams, leading to a total of 773 certified Clinical and 493 Senior Clinical Embryologists over the decade.

What Is Known Already: In an ESHRE survey on the educational and professional status of Clinical Embryology in Europe, it was found that education of laboratory personnel working in the field of assisted reproduction is highly variable between countries. In 2008, ESHRE introduced a programme, curriculum and certification in the field of Clinical Embryology.

EWHETA (Eat Well for a HEalthy Third Age) Project: novel foods to improve the nutrition in the elderly people.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of mortality. However, by treating modifiable cardiovascular risk factors and following a healthy diet as the Mediterranean diet, we have opportunity to prevent CVD. In the EWHETA (Eat Well for a HEalthy Third Age) Project, our goal has been to develop novel foods ("Mediterranean Lasagne", MLs) in versions all nutritionally complete and well balanced in terms of calories, whole carbohydrates, fibers, source of vegetable proteins, and vegetable fats.

Permanence of de novo segmental aneuploidy in sequential embryo biopsies.

Study Question: Is de novo segmental aneuploidy (SA) a biological event or an artifact that is erroneously interpreted as partial chromosome imbalance?

Summary Answer: The detection of de novo SA in sequential biopsies of preimplantation embryos supports the biological nature of SA.

What Is Known Already: Although some SAs are detected in oocytes and in blastocysts, the highest incidence is observed in cleavage-stage embryos. Based on these findings, we can postulate that the majority of cells affected by SAs are eliminated by apoptosis or that affected embryos mainly undergo developmental arrest.

Intestinal perforation secondary to blunt abdominal trauma in pre-existing inguinal hernia.

Inguinal hernias are very common in men. We report a rare case of intestinal perforation following blunt abdominal trauma in a 80-year-old man with pre-existing inguinal hernia. A careful and serial physical examination, with the information obtained from the computed tomography (CT) scan guides the prompt surgical exploration.

The Role of Prep1 in the Regulation of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells.

Molecular mechanisms governing cell fate decision events in bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are still poorly understood. Herein, we investigated the homeobox gene as a candidate regulatory molecule, by adopting hypomorphic mice as a model to investigate the effects of downregulation, using in vitro and in vivo assays, including the innovative single cell RNA sequencing technology. Taken together, our findings indicate that low levels of are associated to enhanced adipogenesis and a concomitant reduced osteogenesis in the bone marrow, suggesting Prep1 as a potential regulator of the adipo-osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stromal cells.

Sensory characterization of cucumbers pickled with verjuice as novel acidifying agent.

Verjuice is an acidic unfermented unripe grape juice that has recently been proposed as an alternative to vinegar in different food preparations. In this study, pickled cucumber preserves were industrially prepared using two dilutions of verjuice as acidifying agent and compared with the traditional vinegar-pickled samples. Samples were chemically characterized and subjected to sensory analyses using a trained panel and consumers.