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DECARBONIZING HISTORICAL BUILDINGS: OBJECTIVES AND CONSTRAINTS
No full textThe need to decarbonize the European construction sector clashes with a building stock in many cities dating back a few centuries, with variable energy performance. This raises the question of how much to focus on embodied carbon, the choice of materials, or operational carbon, hence energy efficiency. The Italian National Energy and Climate Change Plan proposes the progressive electrification of the building sector as the primary decarbonization measure, replacing heating systems with heat pumps. This prediction raises several questions. Non-monumental historic buildings are often subjected to landscape restrictions or present typological and decorative characteristics that do not allow insulation interventions, such as reducing energy consumption significantly and, therefore, related CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the need to replace and centralize the systems raises the problem of positioning the external units and heat distribution. The paper defines issues and opportunities through considerations and graphical schemes
Second‐Line Treatment for Patients With Primary Biliary Cholangitis: A Systematic Review With Network Meta‐Analysis
No full textBackground & Aims: Approximately 40% of patients with Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) show incomplete response to ursodeoxycholic acid, thus needing second-line treatment to prevent disease progression. As no head-to-head comparison study is available, we used a network meta-analysis (NMA) to compare efficacy and safety of available second-line therapies. Methods: We performed a systematic literature review including randomised, placebo-controlled trials of patients with PBC and incomplete response, or intolerance, to ursodeoxycholic acid, and compared relative risks (RRs) for primary (biochemical response at 52-week) and secondary outcomes [incidence of new-onset pruritus and serious adverse events (SAEs)]. Results: The NMA included three studies, each testing obeticholic acid (OCA), seladelpar or elafibranor versus placebo (active therapy/placebo: 379/191 patients). All treatments significantly increased the RR for biochemical response with an advantage of elafibranor versus seladelpar (RR: 4.37, 95% CI: 1.01–18.87). OCA 5–10 mg/10 mg was associated with a higher risk of new-onset pruritus compared to placebo (RR: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.09–1.88/RR: 1.79; 95% CI: 1.37–2.33), while seladelpar decreased this risk (RR: 0.30; 95% CI: 0.12–0.80). Compared to placebo, OCA 5–10 mg/10 mg was associated with an increased risk of SAE (RR: 3.82; 95% CI: 1.46–10.02/RR 2.67; 95% CI: 1.00–7.08). Conclusions: Among second line therapies for patients with PBC, elafibranor is slightly more effective in obtaining biochemical response than seladelpar that, on the other hand, is the only drug associated with a lower incidence of pruritus. While of similar efficacy, OCA was associated with increased pruritus and SAEs. These findings may help personalise second-line treatment in patients with PBC
Robustness-Congruent Adversarial Training for Secure Machine Learning Model Updates
No full textMachine-learning models demand periodic updates to improve their average accuracy, exploiting novel architectures and additional data. However, a newly updated model may commit mistakes the previous model did not make. Such misclassifications are referred to as negative flips, experienced by users as a regression of performance. In this work, we show that this problem also affects robustness to adversarial examples, hindering the development of secure model update practices. In particular, when updating a model to improve its adversarial robustness, previously ineffective adversarial attacks on some inputs may become successful, causing a regression in the perceived security of the system. We propose a novel technique, named robustness-congruent adversarial training, to address this issue. It amounts to fine-tuning a model with adversarial training, while constraining it to retain higher robustness on the samples for which no adversarial example was found before the update. We show that our algorithm and, more generally, learning with non-regression constraints, provides a theoretically-grounded framework to train consistent estimators. Our experiments on robust models for computer vision confirm that both accuracy and robustness, even if improved after model update, can be affected by negative flips, and our robustness-congruent adversarial training can mitigate the problem, outperforming competing baseline methods
An innovative approach to structural health monitoring through intelligent materials / Un approccio innovativo al monitoraggio strutturale tramite materiali intelligenti
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Checklist of pioneer benthic taxa found on Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica)
No full textBackground Benthic communities studies in the Southern Ocean highlight their potential for assessing climate and anthropogenic impacts. However, the lack of standardised methods limits result reliability and interpretation. This dataset presents the first checklist focus on the Antarctic pioneer benthic communities collected using a standardised approach such as Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) located at 25 m depth in the surroundings of the Italian research station “Mario Zucchelli” (MZS) in the Terra Nova Bay (TNB) area of the Ross Sea, Antarctica. The data encompass ARMS time series corresponding to deployments of 1, 2, 3 and 5 years, from which 277 occurrence data corresponding to 12 phyla, 43 families, 49 genera and 39 species were obtained. All retrieved specimens are curated by the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, section of Genoa). This dataset is a contribution to the Antarctic Biodiversity Portal, the thematic Antarctic node for both the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (AntOBIS) and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility Antarctic Biodiversity Information Facility (ANTABIF). The dataset was uploaded and integrated with the SCAR-AntOBIS database under the licence CC-BY 4.0. Please follow the guidelines from the SCAR Data Policy (ISSN 1998–0337) when using the data. If you have any questions regarding this dataset, please contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata or via [email protected]. Issues with the dataset can be reported at the biodiversity-aq GitHub project. New information We describe the biodiversity of the Antarctic pioneer benthic communities of TNB sampled using the ARMS installed at the Italian research station “Mario Zucchelli”. ARMS is a standardised, reproducible and comparable method for quantifying biodiversity. This dataset provides essential baseline data on the occurrence and abundance of pioneer benthic communities in this study area, representing an important contribution for understanding the dynamics of benthic pioneer communities in an area where these structures have never been deployed and, in general, for an exposure time that largely exceed the standard one, which is usually of one year only. The 277 occurrences reported here have been classified at the lowest possible taxonomic level and comprise 39 recognised species, 49 genera and 43 families. Approximately 98% of the samples are stored in 96% ethanol, while the others at -20°C, representing a potential resource for future genetic studies. To date, the entire ARMS collection has not been DNA barcoded, although preliminary metabarcoding analyses have already been published in Cecchetto et al. (2024). Outcomes of the barcoding activity will be the target of another future publication (Cometti et al., in prep). The publication of this data paper was funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO, contract n°FR/36/AN1/AntaBIS) in the framework of EU-Lifewatch as a contribution to the SCAR Antarctic Biodiversity Portal (bio diversity.aq)
Tendon-Driven Hyper-Redundant Manipulators: A Review on Design Solutions
No full textDue to their uniqueness, hyper-redundant manipulators are becoming increasingly relevant in robotics research. The abundance of degrees of freedom makes them adaptable to a variety of applications across various fields, including inspection, medical procedures, and space exploration. These manipulators are particularly effective where high maneuverability is needed, particularly in constrained environments, thanks to their surplus of degrees of freedom. While this hyper-redundancy offers significant benefits, it also introduces complexities in developing effective actuation strategies and innovative design solutions. This work is the first of two parts of a survey conducted on hyper-redundant manipulators, their design, and actuation strategies. This first part of the review provides an examination of the current state of tendon-driven hyper-redundant manipulator design and actuation, analyzing both continuum and rigid-link manipulators. The article synthesizes recent advancements, explores various designs, and identifies key challenges
The use of high-efficacy disease-modifying therapies in multiple sclerosis: recommendations from an expert Delphi consensus
No full textObjective: To establish recommendations based on an expert consensus on the early and appropriate use of high-efficacy disease-modifying therapies (HE-DMTs) in the management of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, based on current clinical evidence and real-world practice in Italy.
Material and methods: A Delphi panel comprising 65 neurologists from 54 Italian MS centers engaged in a two-round consensus process. Experts rated 43 statements across five domains: therapeutic goals, definitions of HE-DMT, MS patient profiling, and use of HE-DMT at diagnosis and later in MS course, using a 5-point Likert scale. A statement reached strong consensus if ≥80% of panelists agreed; whereas between 70% and 80% it was considered as moderate.
Results: In Round 2, 53 experts completed the survey on 43 statements. Strong consensus was achieved for 33 (76.7%), and moderate consensus for 6 (14.0%) statements. Experts strongly supported early HE-DMT initiation to prevent irreversible disability, endorsed a multidimensional definitions of treatment efficacy, and recommended personalized approaches based on clinical, radiological, and biomarker indicators. Consensus supported initiating HE-DMTs in patients with poor prognostic features and identified magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) activity, neurodegeneration markers, and suboptimal clinical response as specific factors requiring escalation to HE-DMTs.
Conclusion: This Italian Delphi underscores the importance of early, personalized HE-DMT use to optimize long-term outcomes in MS. The strong expert alignment reflects a paradigm shift toward proactive treatment and highlights actionable clinical, radiological, and biological indicators that should guide therapeutic decisions. These findings may support national policy changes and promote more equitable and evidence-based access to HE-DMTs across healthcare systems
Design of a Submarine 30-km Cable for the Combined Transfer of 0.3 and from Offshore Plants to the Ravenna Port
No full textA submarine, hybrid cable for the simultaneous transfer of green electricity and Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) in a 30 km-long pipeline from an offshore renewable power plant, in the Adriatic Sea is presented here. The superconducting (SC) cable is designed with MgB2 strands to carry the transport current with a significant margin. The SC strands are twisted around a bundle of normal conducting strands with the function of protecting against overcurrents and ensuring at the same time flexibility of the cable. The SC cable, covered by multiple layers of cold dielectric, is inserted into a corrugated pipe, constituting the inner part of a cryostat where LH2 flows. LH2 has the dual function of cryogen and energy carrier. The outer part of the cryostat is designed to limit the heat load to less than 2 W/m, and to withstand the pressure in operation due to the submarine installation at a maximum depth of ∼ 50 m
