University of Udine
Archivio istituzionale della ricerca - Università degli Studi di UdineNot a member yet
91472 research outputs found
Sort by
Productive Archipelagos for an Alpine Urbanity
No full textHow is the mountain landscape transformed by the dispersed development of industrial production? How can productive areas be rethought within complex orographic contexts? This article addresses the project-related challenges posed by scattered industrial areas in alpine urbanities through a case study in Trentino. The diffusion of productive settlements in the Alps is interpreted as part of a broader condition that also characterizes dispersed urban forms in lowland areas, where the proliferation of productive fragments – underutilized spaces, abandoned buildings, unsold industrial sheds, vacant plots – contributes to the construction of an “urban countryside” shaped by processes of peripheral urbanization and incremental land consumption. The project challenge concerns the need to rationalize settlements and to repair the landscape by initiating processes of environmental and functional regeneration. The specific characteristics of the orographic context, its “territorial anisotropy” and the richness of its diversities, make it possible to recognize heterogeneity and discontinuity as values: resources for a project of coexistence among dissimilar elements configured as productive “archipelagos”. Low- and mid-altitude mountain areas thus represent a sensitive testing ground for rearticulating industrial zones as components of a territorial architecture in transition. This approach entails intervening in neglected, marginal, or discarded areas that escape common perception and are often considered insignificant. Understanding these spaces and reinterpreting their relationships with broader contexts anticipates project elements and logics that enable productive settlements to be reconsidered as constructions capable of generating ecologies and landscapes, thereby contributing to a reflection on emerging urbanities and the future configurations of the “landscape-city”
Food products with a protein-related nutrition claim: a cross-sectional analysis in the Italian market
No full textProducts carrying protein-related claims have substantially grown in popularity in Italy, also due to the perception that protein-foods support weight management and improve physical performance. This study surveyed the Italian market of pre-packaged foods bearing protein claims. Product selection was conducted across major retailers, and the nutritional profile of the items was analysed considering the information reported in the food labelling. Snack bars (n = 100), yogurt (n = 68), and mousse (n = 43) were the main representatives among the 418 identified products. Heterogeneity of nutritional profiles was observed for all the items, particularly regarding the percentage of total energy provided by protein, ranging from median ∼16% in crackers to ∼70% in processed meat, with a co-occurrence of different other nutrition claims. Findings underline the wide availability, in the Italian market, of products with protein-related claims, yet not informative of their actual protein content. Continuous monitoring of this trend is warranted to assess its nutritional implications and to evaluate the overall impact of these products when incorporated into habitual dietary patterns
Rethinking road mitigation priorities through detection-informed interpretation of roadkill data and road crossability
No full textRoads play a critical role in biodiversity loss by reducing species survival and promoting habitat fragmentation. Most roadkill studies focus on single species or localized areas, using roadkill as a direct measure of risk, often overlooking or misinterpreting inherent biases (i.e. carcass-location, persistence and observation biases). In this study, we apply two concepts to better understand the relationship between wildlife-vehicle collisions and habitat connectivity. First, we interpret roadkill locations modelled using species distribution models as indicators of roadkill detection, rather than actual roadkill risk. Additionally, we introduce road crossability, a measure of habitat connectivity along roads, assessed using circuit theory. We adopt a multispecies approach, analyzing roadkill data from 15 forest mammals with different mobility across different landscapes (natural and anthropized) in northeastern Italy, to investigate the relationship between roadkill detection and road crossability. Our results show positive correlations between roadkill detection and road crossability for medium and high mobility species, particularly in anthropized landscape, while low mobility species exhibit a weaker correlation. Combining these metrics, we classified the regional road network into zones with different conservation and mitigation priorities: Priority Areas for Connectivity Improvement (PACoIs), Potential Areas for Roadkill Mitigation (PARoMs), and Potential Areas for Connectivity Preservation (PACoPs). Our study suggests that multi-specie roadkill detection and road crossability assessment hold promise to facilitate more effective conservation strategies and mitigation measures to maintain habitat connectivity and reduce the impact of roads in different landscapes
SHORT-COURSE RADIOTHERAPY FOR OLDER PATIENTS WITH LOCALLY ADVANCED RECTAL CANCER AND UNFIT FOR CHEMOTHERAPY: THE SOFT STUDY
No full textBackground: The treatment of locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) in older patients is not sufficiently standardized in international guidelines. Short-course radiotherapy (SCRT) followed by delayed surgery has emerged as a promising therapeutic option for these patients, offering potential benefits in terms of reduced treatment time and toxicity, along with improved convenience. Materials and Methods: From February 2019 to April 2024, a total of 141 older patients aged ≥ 70 years [median age = 79 (range, 70–91)], unfit for chemotherapy and with LARC (stage II-III) adenocarcinoma, underwent SCRT (5 daily fractions of 5 Gy each for a total dose of 25 Gy) followed by delayed surgery (no earlier than 6 weeks after the end of treatment). The study was conducted at 11 centers in Italy. Down-staging rates, relapse-free survival (RFS), overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), safety, and mortality were analyzed. Results: Down-staging occurred in 87 cases (61.7 %). Complete radiological responses after SCRT and before surgery were reported in 10 patients (7.1 %), while partial responses were reported in 77 (54.6 %) cases. All patients underwent delayed surgery. The R0 resection rate was 93.6 %. Eight patients (5.7 %) had a pathological complete response (pCR). At a follow-up of 70.5 months, the median RFS, OS and CSS were 31.5, 40.5 and 41.5 months, respectively. Post-operative severe morbidity was 23.4 %, and mortality was 2.8 %. Conclusions: Overall, SCRT offers a viable alternative to conventional long-term radiotherapy plus chemotherapy in older patients with LARC, with favorable results in terms of efficacy, limited toxicity and low mortality
La Parabola del Figliol Prodigo in saurano. Analisi e comparazione dei testi ottocenteschi
No full textThis article analyses three nineteenth-century versions of the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Saurian, a southern Bavarian variety spoken in the linguistic enclave of Sauris/Zahre in Carnia, Friuli. These texts allow us to verify whether structural features of contemporary Saurian – often attributed to interference from Romance languages – are recent innovations or pre-existing properties. The analysis shows that the language of the texts already exhibits the characteristics of present-day Saurian. This suggests that the role of language contact in the emergence of features potentially due to such contact has been limited
Context and intent enhanced target tracking
No full textExploitation of contextual knowledge has recently emerged as a promising approach to increase the performance of Information Fusion systems. Despite pioneering efforts in context assisted target tracking, the realm is still in its infancy, as the frameworks combining context reasoning with target tracking are not abundant. We here postulate that, in addition to physical constraints, such as the road network, knowledge of common patterns that targets pursue can significantly improve tracking accuracy and continuity. In the presented approach, we address the problem of tracking ground targets in complex urban environments, which generally poses a challenge to modern airborne surveillance systems. A target’s actions are modeled as a Markov chain with relevant context defining transition and emission probabilities. Target’s kinematics are estimated by the Interacting Multiple Models (IMM) filter that estimates the mode transition probability matrix (TPM) at each recursion step. The TPM posterior is computed by a Quasi-Bayesian estimator conditioned on the prior and the likelihood originating from target’s measurements and the context. Through extensive simulations, we demonstrate that incorporating contextual information into TPM estimation significantly improves the filtering performance compared to both the IMM filter with a fixed TPM and adaptive TPM estimation without considering contextual information
Management of painful metal-on-metal hip replacement: current evidence of diagnosis and treatment
No full textThe evolution of metal-on-metal (MoM) total hip replacement exemplifies the tension between biomaterial innovation and long-term patient safety, highlighting the critical role of robust post-market surveillance. First-generation MoM implants, introduced in the 1960s, were designed to mitigate polyethylene wear but exhibited inconsistent fixation, variable tribological properties, and poorly characterized local tissue reactions, ultimately resulting in their decline. A resurgence of interest in the 1990s, driven by advances in metallurgy and precision engineering, promoted large-diameter femoral heads to enhance stability and reduce dislocation risk, leading to widespread use, particularly among young and active patients. However, registry data and multicentre analyses soon revealed inferior survivorship compared with metal-on-polyethylene and ceramic alternatives, primarily due to adverse reactions to metal debris. These encompass a spectrum of local tissue responses – including pseudotumour formation, aseptic lymphocytic vasculitis–associated lesions, and soft-tissue necrosis – often complicating both diagnosis and surgical management. Although concerns regarding systemic cobalt and chromium toxicity have been raised, large-scale cohort studies have not demonstrated population-level risks, underscoring the importance of individualized monitoring. Current diagnostic algorithms integrate clinical evaluation, serum ion measurements, and cross-sectional imaging such as metal artifact reduction sequence magnetic resonance imaging (MARS MRI), while surgical management emphasizes comprehensive debridement and revision to biologically favorable bearings, notably ceramic-on-highly cross-linked polyethylene. The decline of MoM implants has reshaped contemporary replacement practice by reinforcing preclinical testing standards, international registry collaboration, and vigilance in the clinical adoption of novel biomaterials
In vitro activity of cefepime/zidebactam against sulbactam/durlobactam-susceptible and -resistant Acinetobacter baumannii clinical isolates
No full textObjectives: To evaluate the in vitro activity of cefepime in association with a β-lactamase inhibitor (enmetazobactam) or β-lactam enhancer (BLE), zidebactam, against carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) strains susceptible or resistant to sulbactam/durlobactam. Material and methods: Twenty-one CRAB clinical isolates were characterized by WGS and AST to cefepime/enmetazobactam, cefepime/zidebactam and comparators was determined. Results: Resistome analysis revealed that all CRAB carried bla OXA-23 carbapenemase genes, while bla ADC-25 and bla OXA-66 β-lactamase genes were observed exclusively in sulbactam/durlobactam-resistant strains. Analysis of penicillin-binding protein genes demonstrated the presence of specific mutations within PBP3 (N392T) previously associated to the resistance to sulbactam/durlobactam. Phenotypic analysis revealed that cefepime/enmetazobactam did not exert antibacterial activity against CRAB, while cefepime/zidebactam displayed potent bactericidal activity against both sulbactam/durlobactam-susceptible and -resistant strains. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that cefepime/zidebactam exhibited potent in vitro antibacterial activity against CRAB producing OXA carbapenemase and support its clinical use against both sulbactam/durlobactam-susceptible or -resistant isolates
Forest Surveying with Robotics and AI: SLAM-Based Mapping, Terrain-Aware Navigation, and Tree Parameter Estimation
No full textForest surveying and inspection face significant challenges due to unstructured environments, variable terrain conditions, and the high costs of manual data collection. Although mobile robotics and artificial intelligence offer promising solutions, reliable autonomous navigation in forest, terrain-aware path planning, and tree parameter estimation remain open challenges. In this paper, we present the results of the AI4FOREST project, which addresses these issues through three main contributions. First, we develop an autonomous mobile robot, integrating SLAM-based navigation, 3D point cloud reconstruction, and a vision-based deep learning architecture to enable tree detection and diameter estimation. This system demonstrates the feasibility of generating a digital twin of forest while operating autonomously. Second, to overcome the limitations of classical navigation approaches in heterogeneous natural terrains, we introduce a machine learning-based surrogate model of wheel-soil interaction, trained on a large synthetic dataset derived from classical terramechanics. Compared to purely geometric planners, the proposed model enables realistic dynamics simulation and improves navigation robustness by accounting for terrain-vehicle interactions. Finally, we investigate the impact of point cloud density on the accuracy of forest parameter estimation, identifying the minimum sampling requirements needed to extract tree diameters and heights. This analysis provides support to balance sensor performance, robot speed, and operational costs. Overall, the AI4FOREST project advances the state of the art in autonomous forest monitoring by jointly addressing SLAM-based mapping, terrain-aware navigation, and tree parameter estimation
Endovascular Treatment of Visceral and Iliac Artery Aneurysms and Pseudoaneurysms: Management and Outcome Analysis in A Tertiary Referral Center Over one Decade
No full textAbstract
Purpose: To determine the radiological and clinical outcomes of patients with aneurysms and pseudoaneurysms of visceral and iliac arteries submitted to endovascular treatment.
Patients and Methods: We evaluated the electronic medical records of patients with aneurysms submitted to endovascular radiological procedure. These cases were analysed in relation to location and diameter of the vascular lesion, the clinical symptomatology, the type of the interventional procedure and the postoperative complications. A systematic review of the studies in literature was performed using medical databases PubMed and Medline.
Results: In our study, we examined 117 true aneurysms and 39 pseudoaneurysms in the visceral and iliac arteries of 151 patients. All cases were treated using the percutaneous procedure, with technical success achieved in 95% of patients and organ preservation in 84.2% of cases. Following a review of the literature, we included 56 studies reporting data on 3,299 patients and 3,439 aneurysms. Of these, 79.2% were treated with an interventional radiological approach, achieving a technical success rate of 94.2%.
Conclusions: In our experience, endovascular treatment of visceral and iliac aneurysms is feasible and safe, as this procedure has a high success rate, low operative risk and reduced morbidity