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Absence of long-term incremental prognostic value of inducible wall motion abnormalities on dipyridamole stress CMR in patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease
No full textObjectives: This single-center retrospective study evaluated the long-term (~5 years) prognostic value of dipyridamole stress cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD), assessing the impact of both key phases of the ischemic cascade (perfusion and wall motion). Material and methods: We considered 322 consecutive patients who underwent dipyridamole stress CMR. Abnormal wall motion at rest and after dipyridamole, perfusion at stress and at rest, and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) were analyzed. End-points were non-fatal myocardial infarction, unplanned late revascularization (60 days after CMR), and cardiac death. Results: Forty-four patients were excluded because they underwent early revascularization (within 60 days after stress CMR), leading to a final population of 278 patients (73 females, 62.42 ± 10.50 years). A positive stress CMR was found in 78 (28.1%) patients; 50 patients had a reversible stress perfusion defect in at least one myocardial segment and 28 had a reversible stress perfusion defect plus worsening of stress wall motion in comparison with the rest. During a mean follow-up time of 59.34 ± 31.72 months, 37 (13.3%) cardiac events were recorded: 10 cardiac deaths, one non-fatal myocardial infarction, and 26 late revascularization after unstable angina or myocardial infarction. According to the Cox regression analysis, age, diabetes mellitus, previous revascularization, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), reversible perfusion and perfusion + motion defect, and LGE were significant univariate prognosticators. The presence of associated wall motion abnormality (WMA) did not provide additional prognostic stratification in comparison to the only perfusion defect. In the multivariate Cox regression, the independent predictive factors were diabetes (hazard-ratio-HR = 5.64, p < 0.0001), reversible perfusion defect and reversible perfusion + motion defect vs normal stress CMR (HR = 6.43, p < 0.0001, and HR = 4.57, p = 0.004; respectively), and LVEF (HR = 0.96, p = 0.010). Conclusion: A positive dipyridamole stress CMR predicted a higher long-term risk of cardiovascular events, but the presence of inducible WMA did not show any additional prognostic value over the reversible perfusion defect. Key Points: Question The long-term incremental prognostic value of inducible wall motion abnormalities by stress cardiac MR in patients with known or suspected CAD requires investigation. Findings The presence of inducible wall motion abnormalities did not offer additional prognostic value in comparison to the only reversible perfusion defect. Clinical relevance Independent from the presence of wall motion abnormalities, more aggressive management may be appropriate in patients with reversible perfusion defects to reduce the long-term risk of cardiovascular events
Electrodialysis with bipolar membranes for acid and base production: a pilot scale investigation with real bitterns
No full textIn the fields of desalination and minerals recovery from seawater, Electrodialysis with Bipolar
Membranes (EDBM) is gaining significant attention as an innovative and sustainable way to valorise
waste brines (Lopez et al., 2025). Indeed, EDBM is an electro-membrane process, which employs only
saline streams and electricity to generate acid and base solutions, which are widely used in many
industrial sectors. Recently, this technology was investigated mainly at the laboratory scale with only a
few cases at the pilot scale, demonstrating its effectiveness in producing high purity acid and base
streams with low energy consumption, using synthetic NaCl feeds. As part of the European
SEArcularMINE project (https://searcularmine.eu/), a pilot scale EDBM system was integrated into a
circular scheme for the valorization of real saltworks bitterns. The aim of this work was the investigation
of the semi-industrial scale EDBM unit with real brines for the production of sodium hydroxide and
hydrochloric acid. Particularly, in this work we aim to identify the best operating conditions to reach a
target product concentration of 0.5 mol L-1 with the highest possible acid and base purities. The EDBM
unit was provided by SUEZ and composed of 50 repeating units. Different experiments were conducted
in a batch configuration (i.e., closed-loop), with a current density of 200 A m-2 and using different
volumes of the acid and base solutions. The saline solution composition was mainly made up of sodium
and chlorides, while sulphates, potassium and bromides were present in lower amounts. Titrations and
Ionic Chromatography were the main analytic techniques used for the analysis of the samples. The
experimental results were particularly promising, showing the best Key Performance Indicators
reported in the previous literature for EDBM. Particularly, the Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) was
below 1.35 kWh kg-1 of NaOH, and the Current Efficiency (CE) was up to 89%. Moreover, the purity of
the base and the acid were 97% and 90%, respectively. These results confirmed the efficacy of the
EDBM process in producing chemical reagents at a larger scale. Further studies are needed to optimize
the process conditions, bringing the technology to the industrial level
ARCHITETTURA E FORESTA. Progetti di architettura alle pendici di Monte Grifone, Palermo
No full textA fronte delle sempre più pressanti problematiche portate alla nostra attenzione
dal cambiamento climatico, emerge la necessità di un rinnovato contatto
tra essere umano e natura e, di conseguenza, l’esigenza di portare la vegetazione
nei centri urbani, rendendola parte integrante della vita quotidiana del cittadino.
Nel presente volume trentatré progetti di architettura, sulla soglia tra Monte
Grifone e Palermo, convogliano i punti di vista e le tradizioni disciplinari di ventitré
atenei italiani nell’esplorazione del rapporto tra città e foresta. Come una lente
d’ingrandimento che, sotto i raggi del sole, accende un fuoco, così le proposte
rispondono alle domande poste dall’Unità di Ricerca RightTT dell’Università
degli Studi di Palermo e moltiplicano le prospettive del ragionamento,
dissolvendo ogni giudizio precostituito.
La fiamma che questo studio custodisce reca in sé la tragica memoria
dell’incendio che, nel 2023, ha distrutto il bosco e la chiesa di Santa Maria
di Gesù; ma è soprattutto metafora di un indispensabile cambiamento del modo
in cui abitiamo il pianeta, dell’entusiasmo di poterlo fare insieme, collaborando,
della fiducia nelle lezioni dei maestri e nelle straordinarie potenzialità dei luoghi
e delle comunità che li abitano e, da ultimo, della conoscenza, che resta il mezzo
più efficace a nostra disposizione. Autorevoli chiavi di lettura trovano spazio
nei saggi che completano il volume chiarendo aspetti metodologici
e approfondendo temi legati alle infrastrutture ecologiche, alla forestazione
urbana e al concetto chiave di coesistenza del molteplice.In light of the increasingly pressing issues brought to our attention by climate change, there emerges a need for renewed contact between human beings and nature and, consequently, for bringing vegetation into urban centers, making it an integral part of citizens’ everyday lives.
This volume presents thirty-three architectural projects, located at the threshold between Monte Grifone and Palermo, which bring together the viewpoints and disciplinary traditions of twenty-three Italian universities in an exploration of the relationship between city and forest. Like a magnifying glass that, under the sun’s rays, ignites a fire, the proposals respond to the questions posed by the RightTT Research Unit of the University of Palermo and multiply the perspectives of the debate, dissolving any preconceived judgment.
The flame preserved by this study carries within it the tragic memory of the fire that, in 2023, destroyed the forest and the church of Santa Maria di Gesù; yet it is above all a metaphor for an indispensable change in the way we inhabit the planet: for the enthusiasm of doing so together, through collaboration; for trust in the lessons of our teachers and in the extraordinary potential of places and the communities that inhabit them; and, lastly, for knowledge, which remains the most effective means at our disposal. Authoritative interpretive perspectives are offered in the essays that complete the volume, clarifying methodological aspects and delving into themes related to ecological infrastructures, urban afforestation, and the key concept of coexistence within multiplicity
La terra straniera è pur sempre anche ospizio di desideri
No full textThe article synthesises two research initiatives conducted in the Department of Architecture at the University of Palermo. The initial experience is attributed to Professor Pasquale
Culotta, who, from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, integrated numerous ethnic groups of foreigners residing in the historic core of Palermo into his architectural design workshops.
In the four mandates of the historic city centre, Culotta, along with cultural mediator Syrus Nikkho, photographer Giovanni Chiaramonte, and sociologist Maria Letizia Montalbano, looked at the potential of converting students’ design exercises into substantive research on inter-ethnic architecture. The aspirations and cultural practices of diverse ethnic groups
have served as the tangible catalyst for students’ design explorations, leading to remarkable outcomes. The article also features an overview of Daniele Roccaro’s dissertation research focused on the experience of the Saharawi (Inhabiting the desert. The experience of the Saharawis in the hammāda of Tindouf in Algeria). In the thesis supervised by Andrea Sciascia,
the requirements of the nomadic population were extensively examined through a detailed analysis of the current state of things, followed by several project proposals addressing landscape, urban, and architectural scales
Le ‘tarsie’ grafiche di Gianni Pirrone
No full textGianni Pirrone, a Palermo-born architect, lecturer and scholar, born in 1924, was one most influential figures on the Sicilian architectural scene in the period between the Second World War and the end of the 1990s. A shy character, very often surly but absolutely multifaceted, he is still considered a point of reference especially for the last of the two generations of architects who trained with him. His intense professional and publishing activity covered the themes of town planning, architecture, restoration, landscape and garden art, the latter of which he investigated in the early 1980s. This short essay unveils an unknown project by the master from Palermo to reveal a detail of his painstaking work and to further refine our knowledge of it. It is the ‘Verde Sperone’ project, a public park designed for the outskirts of Palermo, drawn up between 1989 and 1990 together with Filippo Renda and Antonio Salvato, his most esteemed collaborators. The project drawings, veritable graphic and architectural inlays, not only recount a way of proceeding but also constitute a significant corpus for the history of representation, which finds in the designers’ analogue drawings, in India ink on transparencies, eloquent models on the art of garden design just before the beginning of the use of CAD and post-production software
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.): literature quantitative research analysis
No full textMedicago sativa L., also known as alfalfa, is a perennial crop native of the Mediterranean area. It is one of the most widely cultivated plants due to its adaptability to diverse environments. This communication aims at giving an updated picture of Medicago sativa L.; a literature quantitative research analysis was carried out based on the Scopus database content. The resulting research gives 20,565 documents, which cover a time range between 1866 and 2025. The main subject areas are as follows: Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Environmental Science, and others. The main relevant research directions, challenges, and emerging applications are explored
Spazi mutevoli e nuove ecologie nel giardino storico. Il caso di Villa Torlonia a Roma
No full textVilla Torlonia is a public park in Rome. Surrounded by high walls (a legacy of the Torlonia aristocratic family) that hide
it from view and prevent access to the surrounding area, inside it is actually a place of great environmental and social
value for the city and its inhabitants. The conditions that make it a place of correspondence between the common
forms of everyday life and the new ecologies necessary to improve pollution and the urban climate are the result of
a historical and cultural process that began in 1661 and still accompanies, comforts and entertains the inhabitants
of Rome
Il problema del senso comune e i diritti delle persone possibili
No full textNel suo contributo Giuseppe Rocchè delinea i problemi fondamentali dell’etica della popolazione, branca dell’etica sostanziale, emersa grazie al lavoro di Derek Parfit, uno dei più importanti e influenti filosofi morali posti a cavallo tra XX e XXI secolo. I problemi di cui si occupa l’etica della popolazione e che sono considerati del contributo si possono suddividere in due tipologie. Una prima tipologia riguarda la giustificazione della nostra condanna intuitiva di certe azioni, come l’azione con cui un genitore o un medico negligente determina l’esistenza di una persona che andrà incontro a particolari difficoltà per via di certi handicap congeniti, laddove, se si fosse usata la normale diligenza, a nascere sarebbe stata una persona che avrebbe goduto di una qualità della vita migliore. Dato che l’azione negligente determina chi nascerà – la sua identità –, le giustificazioni più intuitive della condanna, quali quelle che riposano sul principio del danno, non possono essere invocate, perché il nato non può dirsi danneggiato. Si tratta di problemi che hanno chiare ricadute bioetiche e che sono ben noti ai giuristi che si occupano delle cause per wrongful life. Il secondo tipo di problema di cui si occupa l’etica della popolazione deriva dal conflitto tra le nostre intuizioni rispetto a scelte che determineranno non solo l’identità ma anche il numero di chi esisterà. Questo secondo tipo di problema, in particolare, sembra difficile da risolvere, ed è su di esso che l’autore si sofferma. Si sostiene come il dibattito di etica della popolazione proceda secondo due stili diversi, la cui enucleazione costituisce originale contributo di Rocchè. Il primo stile consiste nel ricercare un principio morale che riesca ad appagare le nostre intuizioni assiologiche. In base a questo primo stile, un principio ha successo nella misura in cui evita di generare conclusioni contro-intuitive, fallisce se le ingenera. Sebbene questo sia il metodo della teorizzazione morale che viene spontaneamente adottato ed è più comune, alcuni autori optano per una mossa eccentrica. Il secondo stile, eccentrico, consiste nell’accettazione di conclusioni-controintuitive – come il fatto che a un mondo in cui tutti hanno una elevata qualità della vita dovremmo preferire un mondo molto più popolato i cui ciascuno ha una vita appena degna di essere vissuta – sulla premessa che alcune delle nostre intuizioni assiologiche sono fallaci. Rocchè chiama questo secondo stile morale il “Metodo dell’Accettazione” e si sofferma sul carattere arbitrario dell’accettazione di conclusioni contro-intuitive. Al medesimo tempo mostra come il Metodo dell’Accettazione trovi impiego anche fuori dall’ambito dell’etica. Si delinea così un contrasto generale tra un modo conservatore di concepire la riflessione morale, in cui il senso comune resta parametro di correttezza ultimo, e una visione più rivoluzionaria per cui a volte dobbiamo accettare conclusioni-controintuitive. Il contributo si chiude con alcune riflessioni sull’integrazione tra filosofia morale e teoria del diritto
BioSet2Vec: extraction of k-mer dictionaries from multiple sets of biological sequences via big data technologies
No full textBackground: In several contexts involving large collections of sets of biological sequences, a relevant problem is that of selecting significant groups of k-mers that characterize one set with regards to the others in the same collection. Results: Here a software framework is proposed implementing a novel methodology for the extraction of k-mer dictionaries, from multiple sets of biological sequences. It has been implemented according to the most recent technologies for Big Data analytics, with the perspective of allowing its usage with a variety of input datasets of any size. In particular, two different packages are provided. The first is BioFt, enabling the extraction of recurrent patterns based on k-mers frequency and the computation of other metrics from information retrieval, here specialized for biological sequences. The second package BioSet2Vec, instead, extends the functionality of BioFt by allowing the creation of dictionaries according to different criteria. Conclusions: The framework has been validated on three different case studies: (1) the characterization of different chromatin states; (2) the study of association between different diseases and related genes; (3) the analysis of genomes of different organisms. All tests performed on the considered datasets have shown the potentialities of the proposed approach
Sandy bottoms play a key role in shaping coastal fish functional β-diversity in the Mediterranean Sea
No full textThe functional diversity of temperate coastal ecosystems is strongly influenced by environmental variability and habitat characteristics. The specific contribution of different marine habitats to the functional diversity of fish communities remains comparatively understudied in temperate regions such as the Mediterranean Sea. Herein, we use a multivariate approach along with functional diversity indices to examine and compare the functional diversity and traits of fish communities in the three most abundant infralittoral Mediterranean habitats, sandy bottoms, rocky bottoms, and Posidonia oceanica meadows. The results revealed significant differences in functional diversity and traits among habitats, with variations in the ecological characteristics of fish communities. Specifically, functional traits such as the minimum depth and vertical distribution exhibited strong associations with particular habitats, influencing the functional structure of fish communities. Environmental drivers such as seabed temperature, depth, and chlorophyll concentration significantly influenced the functional composition of fish communities, as identified by partial redundancy analysis (pRDA). Among these, seabed temperature and depth explained the largest share of variation. No difference in functional redundancy was detected among habitats. Functional diversity is unevenly distributed across habitats, underscoring the significance of sandy bottoms in preserving functional beta diversity—an aspect often underrepresented in current conservation strategies. This study offers novel insights valuable for coastal biodiversity management, emphasising the complementary role of habitats in maintaining the ecological functionality of Mediterranean fish communities