Radiation exposure of astronauts following an intense solar particle event: analysis and comparison of doses in male and female voxel phantoms.

According to NASA's plans, a human travel to the Moon is planned by the end of 2025 with the Artemis II mission, and humans should land on the Moon again in 2026. Exposure to space radiation is one of the main risks for the crew members; while for these short missions the doses from galactic cosmic rays would be relatively low, the possible occurrence of an intense solar particle event (SPE) represents a major concern, especially considering that in 2025 the Sun activity will be at its peak. Quantifying the amount and the effects of such exposure is therefore crucial, to identify shielding conditions that allow respecting the dose limits established by the various space agencies.

Deep-Cavity Calix[4]naphth[4]arene Macrocycles: Synthesis, Conformational Features, and Solid-State Structures.

We recently introduced calix[]naphth[]arenes as a novel class of deep-cavity hybrid macrocycles constituted by phenol (n) and naphthalene (m) units. In this study, we report the synthesis, conformational analysis, spectroscopic properties, and solid-state structures of calix[4]naphth[4]arene () and its permethylated analog (), thereby expanding the calix[]naphth[]arene family. was synthesized through a 2 + 2 fragment coupling macrocyclization under acidic conditions, where the solvent played a crucial role in selectively forming the derivative.

L. Pod Valves: A By-Product with High Potential as an Adjuvant in the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease.

L. is a leguminous plant with seeds rich in nutritional compounds, such as polyphenols and L-dopa, a dopamine precursor and first-line treatment for Parkinson's symptoms. Recently, its by-products have been revalued as a sustainable source of bioactive compounds.

Thermodynamically Templated Macrocyclizations: Enhancing the Synthesis of Prism[5]arenes with Tailor-Made Guests.

The macrocyclization of 2,6-dialkoxynaphthalene monomers to prism[5]arenes is thermodynamically templated by DABCO cations. In this study, we demonstrate that a greater template affinity for prism[5]arene improves the macrocyclization yield. By using novel templating cations, the yield of alkoxy-prism[5]arenes increases significantly compared with those of previously reported procedures, while the purification process becomes easier and faster.

Under the Influence of Water: Molecular Recognition of Organic Hydrophilic Molecules in Water with a Prismarene Host Driven by Hydration Effects.

A water-soluble prism[5]arene host can form endo-cavity complexes with hydrophilic organic substances in water by displacing frustrated water molecules from its deep cavity. Water molecules structured at both rims of the prismarene host can mediate hydrogen bonding interactions with the guest. Water-mediated hydrogen bonding interactions were invoked here to elucidate the elevated binding affinities and selectivity of the prismarene host toward hydrophilic organic guests.

Mixing of endogenous CO and meteoric HO causes extremely efficient carbonate dissolution.

Karst corrosion of carbonate rocks by water with dissolved gases proceeds in most cases along two major scenarios: (i) meteoric water absorbs CO from soil and atmosphere, or (ii) ascending water of deep circulation carries with it dissolved endogenous gases, mainly CO and HS. We have observed a peculiar variant where meteoric water absorbs ascending endogenous gases at a natural gas vent on a travertine mound in Slovakia. Carbonate dissolution's extreme effectiveness is demonstrated by mineralization of rainwater ponded at a gas vent, rising to 3.

Chirality Sensing of Cryptochiral Guests with Prism[n]arenes.

Optical chirality sensing has gained significant attention in recent years. Within this field, the quest for stereodynamic chiroptical probes capable of detecting cryptochiral guests presents a formidable challenge. Macrocycles exhibiting planar chirality have emerged as promising candidates for amplifying the chirality of cryptochiral guests.

Resection to restoration: Assessing the synergy of polypropylene mesh (Marlex®) combined with methyl-methacrylate and latissimus dorsi flap for primary chest wall sarcomas.

Background: Chest-wall sarcomas are treated with extensive resections and complex defect reconstruction to restore chest-wall integrity. It is a difficult surgical procedure that incorporates a multidisciplinary approach for the best outcome, preventing paradoxical chest movement issues and reducing complications.

Objective: We aimed to describe our experience of chest-wall reconstruction using polypropylene mesh (Marlex® Mesh) combined with methyl-methacrylate and soft-tissue coverage with a latissimus dorsi flap following sarcoma resection.

Pyrolysis of Specific Non-Recyclable Waste Materials: Energy Recovery and Detailed Product Characteristics.

This study explores the pyrolysis process applied to various non-utilized waste materials, specifically focusing on separated plastics from municipal waste, wood waste (including pallets and window frames), paper rejects, and automotive carpets. Different combinations of these waste materials were subjected to pyrolysis, a process involving high-temperature treatment (600 °C) in a nitrogen atmosphere. The resulting products, including biochar, gas, and liquid fractions, as well as the residual waste materials, underwent comprehensive analysis.

A method to predict space radiation biological effectiveness for non-cancer effects following intense Solar Particle Events.

In addition to the continuous exposure to cosmic rays, astronauts in space are occasionally exposed to Solar Particle Events (SPE), which involve less energetic particles but can deliver much higher doses. The latter can exceed several Gy in a few hours for the most intense SPEs, for which non-stochastic effects are thus a major concern. To identify adequate shielding conditions that would allow respecting the dose limits established by the various space agencies, the absorbed dose in the considered organ/tissue must be multiplied by the corresponding Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE), which is a complex quantity depending on several factors including particle type and energy, considered biological effect, level of effect (and thus absorbed dose), etc.

Purification of time-resolved insulin granules reveals proteomic and lipidomic changes during granule aging.

Endocrine cells employ regulated exocytosis of secretory granules to secrete hormones and neurotransmitters. Secretory granule exocytosis depends on spatiotemporal variables such as proximity to the plasma membrane and age, with newly generated granules being preferentially released. Despite recent advances, we lack a comprehensive view of the molecular composition of insulin granules and associated changes over their lifetime.

The Resorcinarene Hexameric Capsule as a Supramolecular Photoacid to Trigger Olefin Hydroarylation in Confined Space.

The self-assembled resorcinarene capsule C shows remarkable photoacidity upon light irradiation, which is here exploited to catalyze olefin hydroarylation reactions in confined space. An experimental pKa* value range of -3.3--2.

Postmastectomy dual-plane submuscular-subcutaneous implant-based reconstruction: a series of 100 consecutive patients.

Background: Advances in cancer knowledge and surgical techniques over the last decades have enabled plastic surgeons to use muscle-sparing procedures and more conservative approaches for implant-based reconstructions. In this paper, the authors describe an innovative subpectoral/subcutaneous implant pocket that represents an evolution of the classical submuscular technique and they report on the first consecutive hundred patients undergoing this procedure.

Methods: Between April 2019 and May 2022, 100 consecutive patients underwent immediate postmastectomy implant-based reconstruction using the subpectoral/subcutaneous space, for a total of 122 procedures.

Hexahexyloxycalix[6]arene, a Conformationally Adaptive Host for the Complexation of Linear and Branched Alkylammonium Guests.

Hexahexyloxycalix[6]arene leads to the -cavity complexation of linear and branched alkylammonium guests showing a conformational adaptive behavior in CDCl solution. Linear -pentylammonium guest induces the cone conformation of at the expense of the 1,2,3-alternate, which is the most abundant conformer of in the absence of a guest. In a different way, branched alkylammonium guests, such as -butylammonium and isopropylammonium , select the 1,2,3-alternate as the favored conformation (/⊂), but other complexes in which adopts different conformations, namely, /⊂, /⊂, and /⊂, have also been revealed.

ICARUS at the Fermilab Short-Baseline Neutrino program: initial operation.

The ICARUS collaboration employed the 760-ton T600 detector in a successful 3-year physics run at the underground LNGS laboratory, performing a sensitive search for LSND-like anomalous appearance in the CERN Neutrino to Gran Sasso beam, which contributed to the constraints on the allowed neutrino oscillation parameters to a narrow region around 1 eV. After a significant overhaul at CERN, the T600 detector has been installed at Fermilab. In 2020 the cryogenic commissioning began with detector cool down, liquid argon filling and recirculation.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass affects the expression of genes related to the intestinal folate metabolism pathway in obese women.

Objectives: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) promotes sustained weight loss, and the resulting new gastrointestinal anatomy can contribute to nutritional depletions. Folate deficiency is one of the most frequently observed nutritional deficiencies after RYGB. The aim of this study was to assess whether RYGB affects the expression of genes related to the intestinal folate metabolism pathway as an additional molecular mechanism contributing to its postoperative deficiency.

Size-age population structure of an endangered and anthropogenically introgressed northern Adriatic population of marble trout ( Cuv.): insights for its conservation and sustainable exploitation.

Salmonid species are main actors in the Italian socio-ecological landscape of inland fisheries. We present novel data on the size-age structure of one of the remnant Italian populations of the critically endangered marble trout , which co-occurs with other stocked non-native salmonids in a large glacial river of the Lake Maggiore basin (Northern Italy-Southern Switzerland). Like other Italian native trout populations, the Toce River marble trout population is affected by anthropogenic introgression with the non-native brown trout .

Red Meat Intake, Indole-3-Acetate, and Together Affect Insulin Resistance after Gastric Bypass.

Roux-en-Y Gastric bypass (RYGB) promotes improvement in type 2 diabetes (T2D) shortly after surgery, with metabolic mechanisms yet to be elucidated. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between food intake, tryptophan metabolism, and gut microbiota on the glycemic control of obese T2D women after RYGB surgery. Twenty T2D women who underwent RYGB were evaluated before and three months after surgery.

Modification of Breast Cancer Milieu with Chemotherapy plus Dendritic Cell Vaccine: An Approach to Select Best Therapeutic Strategies.

Background: The addition of dendritic cell vaccines (DCV) to NAC could induce immune responses in those patients with residual disease (RD) by transforming the tumor microenvironment.

Methods: Core diagnostic biopsies and surgical specimens from 80 patients (38 in the vaccinated group plus NAC (VG) and 42 in the control group (CG, treated only with NAC) were selected. We quantify TILs (CD8, CD4 and CD45RO) using immunohistochemistry and the automated cellular imaging system (ACIS III) in paired samples.

A Mission to Mars: Prediction of GCR Doses and Comparison with Astronaut Dose Limits.

Long-term human space missions such as a future journey to Mars could be characterized by several hazards, among which radiation is one the highest-priority problems for astronaut health. In this work, exploiting a pre-existing interface between the BIANCA biophysical model and the FLUKA Monte Carlo transport code, a study was performed to calculate astronaut absorbed doses and equivalent doses following GCR exposure under different shielding conditions. More specifically, the interface with BIANCA allowed us to calculate both the RBE for cell survival, which is related to non-cancer effects, and that for chromosome aberrations, related to the induction of stochastic effects, including cancer.

Exploring the Regime of Fragmentation in Strongly Tilted Fermi-Hubbard Chains.

Intriguingly, quantum many-body systems may defy thermalization even without disorder. One example is so-called fragmented models, where the many-body Hilbert space fragments into dynamically disconnected subspaces that are not determined by the global symmetries of the model. In this Letter we demonstrate that the tilted one-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model naturally realizes distinct effective Hamiltonians that are expected to support nonergodic behavior due to fragmentation, even at resonances between the tilt energy and the Hubbard on site interaction.

Postmastectomy breast reconstruction for women with hereditary gastric and breast cancer syndrome.

Post mastectomy reconstruction is nowadays an integral part of breast cancer treatment, usually performed in the immediate setting. Among women with hereditary gastric and breast cancer syndromes, three different scenarios can be identified. First, healthy women seeking for prophylactic mastectomies.

Dynamics in Systems with Modulated Symmetries.

We extend the notions of multipole and subsystem symmetries to more general spatially modulated symmetries. We uncover two instances with exponential and (quasi)periodic modulations and provide simple microscopic models in one, two, and three dimensions. Seeking to understand their effect on the long-time dynamics, we numerically study a stochastic cellular automaton evolution that obeys such symmetries.

Confused-Prism[5]arene: a Conformationally Adaptive Host by Stereoselective Opening of the 1,4-Bridged Naphthalene Flap.

The confused-prism[5]arene macrocycle (c-PrS[5] ) shows conformational adaptive behavior in the presence of ammonium guests. Upon guest inclusion, the 1,4-bridged naphthalene flap reverses its planar chirality from pS to pR (with reference to the pS(pR) enantiomer). Stereoselective directional threading is also observed in the presence of directional axles, in which up/down stereoisomers of homochiral (pR) -c-PrS[5] pseudorotaxanes are formed.

Gastrointestinal genetic reprogramming of vitamin A metabolic pathways in response of gastric bypass.

Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is one of the most performed bariatric surgical techniques. However, RYGB commonly results, as side effects, in nutritional deficiencies. This study aimed to examine changes in the expression of vitamin A pathway encoding genes in the gastrointestinal tract (GI) and to evaluate the potential mechanisms associated with hypovitaminosis A after RYGB.