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Novel Antiviral Agents: Synthesis, Molecular Modelling Studies and Biological Investigation, 2nd Edition
No full text: After the success of the Special Issue entitled "Novel Antiviral Agents: Synthesis, Molecular Modelling Studies and Biological Investigation" (https://www [...]
A Didactic Sequence Inspired by the Historical Evolution of Colorimetry to Introduce the Lambert–Beer Law at High School Level
No full textThis research paper aims to propose a novel didactic sequence inspired by an historical / epistemological study of the evolution of spectroscopy and in particular of colorimetry. The working principles of the historical color comparators and the visual color matching method, first proposed by Duboscq, stimulated us in the development of a five-steps sequence of experiments, following a phenomenological approach. The teaching sequence was designed to help students understanding several key-aspects of the well-known and widely used Lambert-Beer equation, which is typically introduced to high school students for analytical chemistry applications. Through the proposed laboratorial experiences students should understand the meaning and the role of the optical path and of the concentration of the solution in the color intensity. Moreover, students should realize that the intensity of color is determined by the number of absorber particles the light encounters during its optical path. The didactic sequence has been experimented with 95 high school students from four different institutes and a qualitative study was carried out based on the analysis of students’ answers to a 15 open questions survey which was specifically designed to investigate students’ misconceptions, way of reasoning and understanding of the main aspects related to the phenomenon of light absorption of a colored solution. The main results of the experimentation based on the analysis of the questionnaires are here reported and discussed. The description of the sequence and relevant technical aspects together with the materials useful for high school teachers are also provided
Age-Oriented Resource Allocation for IoT Computational Intensive Tasks in Edge Computing Systems
No full textCurrent edge computing (EC) solutions face the significant challenge of limited computational capacities. Effectively allocating resources and controlling the system to ensure task timeliness remains an open problem. The age of information (AoI) is a metric to measure the freshness of information that circulates in a system. While the AoI is primarily influenced by packet generation rate, transmission latency, and queuing delays, the processing time becomes notably significant when dealing with Internet-of-Things (IoT) computationally intensive tasks. Such IoT applications necessitate processing before embedded information can emerge and status can be acquired. This paper proposes a combined system control and resource assignment policy, in new-generation EC environments, where edge nodes have limited capacity and task flows are computationally intensive. The objective is to assign task flows to dedicated resource capacity, minimizing the worst AoI experienced by flows. For this purpose, three problem formulations for the flow-resource assignment are considered: i) the assignment with fixed arrival and service processes; ii) the service process control problem; iii) the arrival process control problem. For each problem formulated, a matching game with externalities is designed, and preference lists are built considering the mean AoI of an M/G/1 system, here exploited as reference model to represent each computation partition. The stability of matching games proposed is investigated, and experimental results are presented to highlight the validity of the matching approaches, providing critical discussion about the performance impact of the three problems addressed, also compared with a reservoir learning approach. The proposed matching algorithm surpasses the state-of-the-art Deferred Acceptance method by achieving a lower maximum AoI, thereby meeting the optimization objective. It also demonstrates improved performance over the data-driven approach. While comparable maximum AoI values can be attained with sufficiently large training datasets, the proposed algorithm consistently yields superior results
Could Urology’s Antimicrobial Stewardship Be Enhanced by the Routine Use of the Meares and Stamey Test?
No full textChronic bacterial prostatitis (CBP) is a prevalent urological condition significantly impacting patients’ quality of life. Accurate diagnosis is
essential to differentiate bacterial from non-bacterial prostatitis and to guide appropriate antimicrobial therapy. In the context of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the Meares and Stamey (M&S) test is a valuable diagnostic tool for targeted antibiotic use and a valuable antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) measure. Despite its clinical relevance, its adoption is
limited by practical and logistical challenges. Methods: Relevant databases were searched
by using methods recommended by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews
and Meta-Analysis guidelines. The keywords used included “Meares and Stamey test,”
“antimicrobial stewardship and prostatitis,” and “chronic bacterial prostatitis and Meares.”
Results: We enclosed seven studies: one single-center prospective observational com-
parative study, two national surveys, three cross-sectional studies, and one consensus
conference. The M&S test remains the gold standard for diagnosing CBP, offering high
specificity in identifying bacterial infections localized within the prostate. The test enables
precise pathogen identification and facilitates targeted antimicrobial therapy. Despite its
clinical relevance, its adoption is hindered by procedural complexity, patient discomfort,
and the apparent need for specialized personnel and facilities. Alternative diagnostic
methods, such as the two-glass pre- and post-massage test (PPMT), have demonstrated
comparable diagnostic sensitivity while being more practical and time-efficient. Addition-
ally, emerging microbiological techniques are under investigation to increase the M&S test’s
sensitivity. Conclusions: The M&S test plays a crucial role in AMS by ensuring targeted
antimicrobial therapy in CBP. Overcoming its limitations through patient stratification,
clinician education, and the integration of emerging microbiological techniques is essential
to enhance its applicability in modern urological practice
La resistenza e la terra. Verso un'ecologia partigiana
No full textL'esperienza della Resistenza può offrire spunti per riflettere sui conflitti contemporanei, sia ecologici che sociali? Il libro esplora il legame tra la Resistenza, la letteratura e una nuova riflessione ecologica, invitando a ripensare il nostro rapporto con la Terra. Attraverso le letture dei romanzi L'Agnese va a morire di Renata Viganò e Una questione privata di Beppe Fenoglio, l'autore cerca di tracciare una "ecologia partigiana", un pensiero critico che riconsidera il nostro rapporto con la Terra, con gli altri esseri viventi e con le forze naturali, alla luce dei conflitti passati e delle sfide ecologiche contemporanee
Hybrid modeling of photocatalytic contaminant degradation using nanomaterials synthesized with microalgal extracts
No full textSynthetic dyes released through industrial effluents pose significant environmental risks due to their persistence and toxicity. Photocatalytic degradation through metal nanoparticles offers a promising, eco-friendly remediation approach. This study presents a hybrid modeling framework for simulating the visible-light-driven degradation of Brilliant Blue R using silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized through extracts of Haematococcus pluvialis, Spirulina platensis, and Chlorella vulgaris. The biogenic AgNPs exhibited favorable physicochemical properties, including crystalline sizes of 13–16 nm and band gap energies between 2.17 and 2.33 eV. A simplified deterministic model was first developed, accounting for adsorption–desorption equilibrium and degradation kinetics, which enables analytical estimation of key kinetic parameters. These parameters were used to train artificial neural networks (ANNs) that map experimental conditions such as light intensity, dye concentration, nanoparticle dosage, and pH to degradation kinetics. To overcome the limited size of datasets obtained through experiments, a novel data augmentation strategy was implemented using Gaussian noise derived from measurement uncertainty and confidence intervals of the deterministic model's parameters. This strategy enabled the significant augmentation of data enhancing the ANN performance. Indeed, the global mean squared error dropped from 5.6 × 10−4 to 1.3 × 10−5 for AgNPs from H. pluvialis, from 1.6 × 10−2 to 3.3 × 10−6 for C. vulgaris, and from 2.4 × 10−3 to 4.2 × 10−4 for S. platensis when using both input and output augmentation. The proposed hybrid framework couples mechanistic interpretability with data-driven prediction providing a reliable tool for optimizing photocatalytic degradation processes via sustainable nanomaterials of microalgal origin
A novel approach to graph distinction through GENEOs and permutants
No full textThe theory of Group Equivariant Non-Expansive Operators (GENEOs) was initially developed in Topological Data Analysis for the geometric approximation of data observers, including their invariances and symmetries. This paper departs from that line of research and explores the use of GENEOs for distinguishing r-regular graphs up to isomorphisms. In doing so, we aim to test the capabilities and flexibility of these operators. Our experiments show that GENEOs offer a good compromise between efficiency and computational cost in comparing r-regular graphs, while their actions on data are easily interpretable. This supports the idea that GENEOs could be a general-purpose approach to discriminative problems in Machine Learning when some structural information about data and observers is explicitly given
In Vivo Assessment About the Effects of a Diet Containing Iodine Enriched Foodstuffs: A Pilot Study
No full textIodine deficiency (ID) represents one of the major worldwide health problems. ID is the result of insufficient dietary iodine intake. The main strategy for the correction of ID is the fortification of table salt with iodide/iodine. The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a diet containing iodized foods enriched during industry processing with protected iodized salt (Presal). Twenty-one 21 healthy volunteers added to their alimentary habits a basket of iodine-enriched foodstuffs and iodine intake was assessed by measuring the urinary iodine excretion (UIE). The median UIE in the two baseline urine samples were 116 and 112 (μg/L), respectively, and increased to 249 and 246 (μg/L). Seven days after the discontinuation of iodized foods intake, UIE was 116 μg/L. In our voluntary subjects the addition to the daily alimentary habits of a basket of foodstuffs added with “stable” iodized salt (Presal) for 2 weeks determines a significant increase in urinary iodine excretion. This study provides an opportunity to increase iodine intake by introducing iodine fortification in industrial food processing. Stable iodized salt (Presal) represents a good way to introduce iodine with the normal diet without increasing the normal consumption of salt
