Development and testing a low-cost device for airborne PM monitoring in highly anthropized areas: The international maritime hub of Civitavecchia (Rome, Italy)

In this paper we describe our work aimed at designing a system able to measure the particulate matter (PM) concentrations via an optical particle counter (OPC) and simultaneously collect it via standard 2.5 cm filters for laboratory characterization. The Port of Civitavecchia (Italy), one of the most important maritime hubs of the Mediterranean Sea, was selected as a test site for an eight-months monitoring campaign. Comparison between the data provided by our device with those from the referenced and certified monitoring stations from the governmental Regional Agency for the Protection of the Environment (ARPA Lazio) allowed to define clear threshold values (PM10 = 25 μg/m3 and PM2.5 = 10 μg/m3). These threshold values need to be considered when correcting the OPC raw data with respect to the humidity (RH) conditions. The sample material was characterized through optical microscopy and SEM-EDS (scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence) and spectroscopy (FTIR, Raman), showing a variegate composition from Al-Fe-oxides to silicates, carbonates, and sulfates, to coal and amorphous carbon together with microplastics and textile fibers. As a final test, we analyzed the PM trends provided by our device during the Covid-19 lockdown, when stringent restrictions in the human activities caused well-known fluctuations in the atmospheric pollution. We again observed an evolution of the PM peaks in excellent agreement with the results yielded by the ARPA Lazio monitoring stations. This result provides a valuable confidence test for our devices highlighting the effectiveness of the presented strategy for airborne particulate-matter monitoring.

Shorter androgen receptor polyQ alleles protect against life-threatening COVID-19 disease in European males.

BACKGROUND: While SARS-CoV-2 similarly infects men and women, COVID-19 outcome is less favorable in men. Variability in COVID-19 severity may be explained by differences in the host genome. METHODS: We compared poly-amino acids variability from WES data in severely affected COVID-19 patients versus SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive oligo-asymptomatic subjects. FINDINGS: Shorter polyQ alleles (≤22) in the androgen receptor (AR) conferred protection against severe outcome in COVID-19 in the first tested cohort (both males and females) of 638 Italian subjects. The association between long polyQ alleles (≥23) and severe clinical outcome (p = 0.024) was also validated in an independent cohort of Spanish men <60 years of age (p = 0.014). Testosterone was higher in subjects with AR long-polyQ, possibly indicating receptor resistance (p = 0.042 Mann-Whitney U test). Inappropriately low serum testosterone level among carriers of the long-polyQ alleles (p = 0.0004 Mann-Whitney U test) predicted the need for intensive care in COVID-19 infected men. In agreement with the known anti-inflammatory action of testosterone, patients with long-polyQ and age ≥60 years had increased levels of CRP (p = 0.018, not accounting for multiple testing). INTERPRETATION: We identify the first genetic polymorphism that appears to predispose some men to develop more severe disease. Failure of the endocrine feedback to overcome AR signaling defects by increasing testosterone levels during the infection leads to the polyQ tract becoming dominant to serum testosterone levels for the clinical outcome. These results may contribute to designing reliable clinical and public health measures and provide a rationale to test testosterone as adjuvant therapy in men with COVID-19 expressing long AR polyQ repeats. FUNDING: MIUR project "Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018-2020" to Department of Medical Biotechnologies University of Siena, Italy (Italian D.L. n.18 March 17, 2020) and "Bando Ricerca COVID-19 Toscana" project to Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Senese. Private donors for COVID-19 research and charity funds from Intesa San Paolo.