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Folate and global health umbrella review series, part 1: methodological framework and syntheses on anaemia and neural tube defects
No full textBackground: Folate is essential for normal growth and in human health throughout the lifecycle. Clinical deficiency of folate impairs DNA synthesis and results in megaloblastic anaemia, while suboptimal folate status before and in early pregnancy results in an elevated risk of neural tube defects (NTD). The evidence on the association of folate status with other health outcomes is largely fragmented and understudied. We conducted a series of umbrella reviews examining the association between folate and multiple health outcomes in various populations and settings. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, and DARE from inception to February 2024 for systematic reviews with or without meta-analyses examining an association between folate intake/status and any health outcome. We performed screening and data extraction in duplicate and assessed the risk of bias using the ROBIS tool. Evidence was then characterised into unique associations (unique exposure measure - unique outcome measure - unique setting). For each category of unique associations, we identified the evidence based on the statistical power, recency of publication and the potential risk of bias. All unique associations were evaluated for credibility using predefined criteria. Results: We retrieved 3565 records and included 283 in the final synthesis. The evidence on anaemia consisted of four intervention trials demonstrating effectiveness of folic acid supplementation during pregnancy in reducing the risk of megaloblastic anaemia (relative risk (RR) = 0.21; 95% CI = 0.11, 0.38; I2 = 15%). Maternal folic acid use was also significantly inversely related to the prevention of NTD at birth (RR = 0.31; 95% CI = 0.16, 0.60; I2 = 0%) and NTD recurrence (RR = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.14, 0.65; I2 = 0%). This relationship was supported by the inverse association reported between low maternal blood folate concentrations and the increased risk of NTD. Further evidence showed that fortification of food with folic acid was associated with the lower prevalence of NTD on a population-level. Conclusion: In NTDs and anaemia, we identified strong evidence supporting the protective role of folate status based on intervention trials and observational studies. More recent reviews examining the role of folate in other less well understood health conditions will be presented in the subsequent reports. Registration: PROSPERO: CRD42021265041
Biogas production through combined thermochemical and biochemical processing of grape pomace
No full textGrape pomace, the solid residue from winemaking, is produced in large seasonal quantities and represents a challenge for sustainable waste management due to its elevated lignin concentration (≈50 wt%, markedly higher than in other agricultural residues such as corn stover or wheat straw, ≈20 wt%), which severely limits its biodegradability in anaerobic digestion. Its potential as a feedstock for bioenergy production remains underexploited, largely because of this recalcitrant fraction.
This study investigates the use of mild hydrothermal pretreatment under pressurized conditions as a strategy to restructure the lignin matrix of grape pomace and thereby enhance its subsequent anaerobic digestion and biogas production. A combined thermochemical and biochemical process was conducted at laboratory scale with grape pomace as biomass. The effects of temperature and solid yield on lignin content and bioconversion efficiency were analyzed. Results show that thermochemical pretreatment increases the overall lignin content while inducing morphological changes that improve its fermentability. As a result, the pretreated samples produced higher biomethane volumes up to 29 % with respect to the as-received biomass and referred to the lignin fraction.
By comparison with literature on different biomasses, a correlation of biomethane yield with treatment temperature was obtained, showing a maximum increment of 20 % in the biomethane yield compared to the untreated biomass at around 130 °C.
The findings confirm the viability of combining mild thermochemical treatment with anaerobic digestion as a strategy to valorize grape pomace, aligning with circular economy principles.Grape pomace, the solid residue from winemaking, is produced in large seasonal quantities and represents a challenge for sustainable waste management due to its elevated lignin concentration (≈50 wt%, markedly higher than in other agricultural residues such as corn stover or wheat straw, ≈20 wt%), which severely limits its biodegradability in anaerobic digestion. Its potential as a feedstock for bioenergy production remains underexploited, largely because of this recalcitrant fraction. This study investigates the use of mild hydrothermal pretreatment under pressurized conditions as a strategy to restructure the lignin matrix of grape pomace and thereby enhance its subsequent anaerobic digestion and biogas production. A combined thermochemical and biochemical process was conducted at laboratory scale with grape pomace as biomass. The effects of temperature and solid yield on lignin content and bioconversion efficiency were analyzed. Results show that thermochemical pretreatment increases the overall lignin content while inducing morphological changes that improve its fermentability. As a result, the pretreated samples produced higher biomethane volumes up to 29 % with respect to the as-received biomass and referred to the lignin fraction. By comparison with literature on different biomasses, a correlation of biomethane yield with treatment temperature was obtained, showing a maximum increment of 20 % in the biomethane yield compared to the untreated biomass at around 130 °C. The findings confirm the viability of combining mild thermochemical treatment with anaerobic digestion as a strategy to valorize grape pomace, aligning with circular economy principles
Antiseizure Prescription for Children With Severe Congenital Heart Defects and Children With Gastrointestinal Anomalies
No full textBackground: Children with congenital anomalies (CAs) are at an increased risk of developing epilepsy, but the relative risk (RR) for specific anomaly subtypes remains underexplored. This study aims to estimate the risk of epilepsy, as indicated by antiseizure medication (ASM) prescriptions, among children with various CAs compared to children without anomalies. Methods: We utilized data from six European regions participating in the European network for surveillance of congenital anomalies registries, covering births from 2000 to 2015. Children with major CAs, classified by International Classification of Diseases codes, were compared to a reference population without anomalies. Epilepsy was identified based on >1 ASM prescription within a year. RRs were calculated using mixed-effects models to account for registry-specific variations. Results: The study included 60,662 children with anomalies and 1,722,912 reference children, with a mean follow-up of 5.5 years. By age 5 years, ASM prevalence was 17.8 per 1000 in anomaly groups and 2.0 per 1000 in reference children. The highest RRs were observed in children with central nervous system anomalies, including anomalies of the corpus callosum, severe microcephaly, and hydrocephalus. Comparable RRs were found in children with severe congenital heart defects and gastrointestinal anomalies, primarily driven by diaphragmatic hernia. Conclusions: Children with CAs have a significantly higher risk of epilepsy, with central nervous system, chromosomal, severe congenital heart defect, and diaphragmatic hernia being key contributors. This study highlights the importance of tailored monitoring and early intervention for high-risk groups to improve neurological outcomes
Solving Hard Combinatorial Optimization Problems with PyQASP
No full textAnswer Set Programming with Quantifiers (ASP(Q)) extends classical ASP to naturally capture problems within the polynomial hierarchy (PH). Recently, the formalism has been enriched with weak constraints to express both local and global optimization criteria, enabling the modeling of problems in Δn+1P. In this paper, we present the first implementation of ASP(Q) with global weak constraints, built on top of the state-of-the-art ASP(Q) system PyQASP, based on an upper-bound improving strategy that effectively guides the search toward optimal solutions. Experiments demonstrate that our approach can be effectively applied to solve hard optimization problems
Exploring the “Microburin Blow”: An Insight into the Variability of the Microburin Blow Method for the Production of Sauveterrian Geometrics in the Site of Mondeval de Sora (N-E, Italy)
No full textThis paper examines the microburin blow method and its impact on geometric
microliths production during the Early Mesolithic. Through experimentation, a
novel analytical framework was developed, combining a high- and a low-magnification analysis of a large sample of microburins. This approach enabled both the
identification and description of combinations of micro-, meso-, and macroscopic
features diagnostic of diverse microburin blow techniques and provided valuable insight into the variability of production modalities of Sauveterrian geometrics, i.e. the number of microliths and microburins obtainable from a single blank.
Furthermore, this research extends beyond the experimental realm, examining an
assemblage of microburins from SU 8 of Mondeval de Sora (San Vito, N-E Italy),
for which two new radiocarbon dates are reported here, providing a more precise
chrono-cultural attribution of its occupation. Such an analysis revealed the application of one specific microburin blow technique applied by the Sauveterrian inhabitants of the site. At the same time, a meticulous technological study of a representative sample of geometrics was performed, enhancing our understanding of the
chaîne opératoire involving their production. The results of this study represent a
major advance for the interpretation of the microburin blow method and its role in
Mesolithic armatures production, contributing to a richer characterisation of the
Sauveterrian technical traditions
Revealing EEG signatures of intervention in disorder of consciousness using artificial intelligence: methodology and feasibility
No full textBackground and Objective: Electroencephalography (EEG) is a crucial tool for monitoring recovery in patients with
disorders of consciousness (DOC) after therapeutic interventions. It helps in identifying the neural correlates and
in guiding the development of personalized treatments. Spectrum power measures are widely employed. However,
these measures are manually handcrafted, not patient-specific, and not tailored to the specific intervention.
Methods: To address these limitations, we propose an explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) framework designed
to automatically uncover the most salient frequency-domain EEG signatures in an intervention- and patient-
specific manner. The framework integrates an interpretable convolutional neural network, which is capable of
learning interpretable frequency-domain EEG features, with an explanation technique, which quantifies the
relevance of the learned spectral features. This approach enables the automatic tracking of patient-specific
spectral EEG changes and refines the analysis toward neural features that are more closely associated with
key clinical variables.
Results: We showcase the potential of our approach by applying it to EEG signals collected from patients in a
minimally conscious state following an intervention based on transcranial direct current stimulation. The XAI
results reveal a prominent role of alpha-band EEG oscillations in DOC intervention, supporting evidence that
functional improvements due to intervention are associated with an increase in alpha-band spectral content.
Conclusions: Our XAI-driven analysis offers a robust, individualized, and transparent alternative (or complement)
to conventional EEG analyses, thereby enhancing the EEG characterization of DOC patients
A set of distinctive properties ruling the prompt emission of GRB 230307A and other long γ-ray bursts from compact object mergers
No full textShort gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs), occasionally followed by a long and spectrally soft extended emission, are associated with compact object mergers (COMs). Yet, a few recent long GRBs (LGRBs) show compelling evidence for a COM origin, in contrast with the massive-star core-collapse origin of most LGRBs. While possible COM indicators were found, such as the minimum variability timescale (MVT), a detailed and unique characterisation of their γ-ray prompt emission that may help identify and explain their deceptively long profile is yet to be found. Here we report the discovery of a set of distinctive properties that rule the temporal and spectral evolution of GRB 230307A, a LGRB with evidence for a COM origin. Specifically, the sequence of pulses that make up its profile is characterised by an exponential evolution of (i) flux intensities, (ii) waiting times between adjacent pulses, (iii) pulse durations, and (iv) spectral peak energy. Analogous patterns are observed in the prompt emission of other long COM candidates. The observed evolution of gamma-ray pulses would imply that a relativistic jet is colliding with more slowly expanding material. This contrasts with the standard internal shock model for typical LGRBs, in which dissipation occurs at random locations within the jet itself. We tentatively propose a few simple toy models that may explain these properties and are able to reproduce the overall time profile
Children With Biliary Atresia Have Substantial Morbidity in Early Childhood and a High Risk of Liver Transplantation
No full textBackground: Biliary atresia is a rare but severe congenital anomaly associated with substantial morbidity and mortality in early childhood. Population-based estimates of survival, surgical management, and liver transplantation across Europe remain limited. This study aimed to describe mortality and morbidity among children born with biliary atresia using multinational population-based data. Methods: We investigated children diagnosed with biliary atresia across nine registries from five countries within the European surveillance of congenital anomalies network (EUROCAT), covering births from 1995 to 2014. The data were linked to hospital databases and adjusted for regional differences and follow-up length. Results: Our cohort included 171 children, with an infant mortality rate of 12.3% (95% CI: 7.8-17.6) and a mortality rate before age five of 18.5% (95% CI: 10.7-27.7). Among these children, 151 had undergone surgery, including 133 who received the Kasai procedure by the age of 1 year at a median age of 57 days (95% CI: 51-62 days). By age five, 37% (adjusted percentage, 95% CI: 30-44) had undergone liver transplantation, with the median age at transplantation being 318 days (95% CI: 244-391 days). Median age at death in the first year was over 6 months and was not immediately after surgery. Conclusion: The high mortality and the substantial need for liver transplantation within the first year of life underline the severity of biliary atresia. This highlights the urgent need for further research into pregnancy exposures that may contribute to this rare but severe congenital anomaly to develop primary prevention strategies
Collective intelligence-based service migration enabling zoom-in functionality within industry 5.0
No full textThe rapid evolution of Industry 5.0 emphasizes the integration of human expertise with machine intelligence to create resilient, adaptive, and human-centric industrial systems. This paper introduces a novel Collective Intelligence (CI)-based service migration framework designed for Industry 5.0 environments, enabling dynamic orchestration of stateful services across heterogeneous edge-to-cloud infrastructures. At its core, the framework leverages Kubernetes (K8s) enhanced with AI-driven decision-making and human-in-the-loop collaboration to address the limitations of traditional orchestration in industrial settings. A key innovation of this work is the Zoom-In functionality, which empowers human operators to escalate anomaly detection and analysis by deploying advanced machine learning models on demand, seamlessly migrating services to resource-rich nodes when deeper investigation is warranted. The proposed framework integrates Large Language Models (LLMs) to translate operator intent into actionable policies, ensuring context-aware and explainable decision-making. Experimental validation in real industrial scenarios demonstrates high anomaly detection accuracy (F1-scores up to 1.0), reliable operator intent translation (over 70 % correct JSON generations with lightweight LLMs), and efficient multi-criteria scheduling with millisecond-level decision times. Moreover, the proposed migration mechanism reduces downtime by more than 50 % compared to vanilla Kubernetes, ensuring service continuity in mission-critical tasks. This work advances the vision of collaborative intelligence in IoT systems, bridging the gap between human judgment and automated orchestration for Industry 5.0 applications
Unveiling soil stewardship: plural values in the management of the Montado agro-silvo-pastoral system in Portugal
No full textFarmers’ and landowners’ decisions affecting soil management reflect not only economic motivations related to productivity, but also deeper principles and values associated with soil health. However, such values are often implicit and not explicitly acknowledged in decision-making processes. In complex agro-silvo-pastoral systems like the Montado in Southern Iberia, where multiple productive and climatic pressures intersect, soil often remains hidden in farmers’ strategic priorities. This study investigates the values and motivations behind soil regeneration efforts in the Montado, a multifunctional system capable of delivering a wide range of ecosystem services but increasingly threatened by degradation and decline. Drawing on interviews with farmers and landowners, we developed a value-driven understanding of soil health through the analytical dimensions of care, knowledge, and agency. While Montado farmers show strong commitment to soil health and have sought out education and innovative practices, they often lack long-term planning capacity, technical support, and feel poorly supported by current policy instruments. This results in fragmented and short-term soil management strategies. At the same time, key stewardship values including place attachment, self-determination and responsibility, emerge as powerful motivators for regenerative practices. Yet these values alone are not sufficient to translate into effective agency when the agricultural knowledge and innovation system (AKIS) remains weak and uncoordinated. The case of Montado underscores the need for governance frameworks that recognize both instrumental and non-instrumental values, integrating them into policy and advisory systems. Doing so could better align support structures with farmers’ lived realities, enabling more coherent and scalable soil regeneration efforts