114 research outputs found
Energy management and guidelines to digitalisation of integrated natural gas distribution systems equipped with expander technology
No full textIn a swirling dynamic interaction, digital innovation, environment and
anthropological evolution are swiftly shaping the smart grid scenario. Integration
and flexibility are the keywords in this emergent picture characterised by a low
carbon footprint. Digitalisation, within the natural limits imposed by the
thermodynamics, seems to offer excellent opportunities for these purposes. Of
course, here starts a new challenge: how digital technologies should be employed
to achieve these objectives? How would we ensure a digital retrofit does not lead to
a carbon emission increase? In author opinion, as long as it remains a generalised
question, none answer exists: the need to contextualise the issue emerges from the
variety of the characteristics of the energy systems and from their interactions with
external processes. To address these points, in the first part of this research, the
author presented a collection of his research contributions to the topic related to the
energy management in natural gas pressure reduction station equipped with turbo
expander technology. Furthermore, starting from the state of the art and the author's
previous research contributions, the guidelines for the digital retrofit for a specific
kind of distributed energy system, were outlined. Finally, a possible configuration
of the ideal ICT architecture is extracted. This aims to achieve a higher level of
coordination involving, natural gas distribution and transportation, local energy
production, thermal user integration and electric vehicles charging. Finally, the
barriers and the risks of a digitalisation process are critically analysed outlining in
this way future research needs
Social touch: a new vista for developmental cognitive neuroscience?
No full textThe past years have seen a renewed interest in measuring neural, physiological or cognitive, immediate and longer-term effects of human interaction through touch. The term “social touch” was rapidly adopted, implying the existence of (stimulus) selective and (functionally) specific mechanisms. It has been suggested that decreased exposure to social touch during development, either due to its unavailability (e.g. as in the case of pre-term infants placed in incubators or of infants of mothers with post-partum depression) or to atypical touch perception (e.g. as might be the case in autism) has serious consequences for subsequent brain and cognitive development. Despite the excitement surrounding this topic, and its clinical relevance, its object of study remained poorly defined and understood
Antifungal susceptibility profiles of Candida isolates from a prospective survey of invasive fungal infections in Italian intensive care units
No full textThe antifungal susceptibility pattern of 302 Candida isolates collected during an Italian survey on invasive fungal infections in an intensive care setting was investigated. The results were correlated with some epidemiological data and compared with the antifungal profiles obtained in a previous survey. No resistance to echinocandins was detected. The overall resistance levels to fluconazole, posaconazole and voriconazole were 12.6, 6.0 and 7.1 %, respectively. Candida tropicalis and Candida parapsilosis accounted for more than half of all the fluconazole resistant isolates. Reduced susceptibility to fluconazole is not uncommon among isolates (12.3 %) and appears to be increasing, particularly among C. parapsilosis isolates, which showed an increase in resistant isolates from 2 % in the 1990s to 25.8 % in the present study. Routine antifungal susceptibility testing of this species is therefore recommended
Metrical prodosy: A template-and-constraint approach to phonological phrasing in Italian. Based on the poetry of Giuseppe Ungaretti and Eugenio Montale
No full textMetrical Prosody presents a rhythmic theory of phrasal phonology in an optimality theoretical framework. The theory departs radically from what is considered to constitute the standard approach to phrasal phonology, i.e. the syntax-to-prosody mapping approach. Helsloot argues that phrasal phonology depends rather on the distinction between lexical words and grammatical words on the one hand, and on principles of metrical minimality and metrical maximality on the other
Low bone mineral density in HIV-positive young Italians and migrants
No full textBackground Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected individuals may have osteoporosis. We aimed to evaluate the bone mineral density (BMD) in naïve antiretroviral (ARV) treated HIV positive patients comparing native Italian group (ItG) to a Migrants group (MiG) upon arrival in Italy. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study on 83 HIV patients less than 50 years old. We used the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) within six months from the HIV diagnosis. Participants were categorized as having low BMD if the femoral neck or total lumbar spine Z-score was– 2 or less. Results MiG showed low BMD more often than ItG (37.5% vs.13.6%), especially for the female gender (16.7% vs. 0.0%). A low CD4 rate (<200 cells/μl) was most often detected in MiG than ItG. In particular, we found most often male Italians with abnormal CD4 than male migrants (67.8% vs. 33.3%) and vice versa for females (30.5% vs. 66.7%). We found an abnormal bone mineral density at the lumbar site. Low BMD at the lumbar site was more frequently observed in female migrants than female Italians. Both male and female migrants had a Z-score value significantly lower than male and female Italians, respectively. By logistic regression low vitamin-D level was positively correlated to low BMD in ItG only. All data were verified and validated using a triple code identifier. Conclusions Both DXA and vitamin-D evaluation should be offered after the diagnosis of HIV infection. Lumbar site low BMD is an initial condition of bone loss in HIV young patients, especially in female migrants. Vitamin D levels and supplementation may be considered after HIV diagnosis independently of age to improve bone health. Highlights This study evaluates the frequency of bone mineral density in HIV positive patients naive to antiretroviral therapy. It compares the density of the native Italian population with that of HIV Migrants upon arrival in Italy. The results show that HIV positive migrants, even if younger than 50 years of age, are at risk for osteoporosis, especially if they are female. © 2020 Cascio et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Correction: Semantic Evaluation of Nursing Assessment Scales Translations by ChatGPT 4.0: A Lexicometric Analysis (Nursing Reports, (2025), 15, 6, (211), 10.3390/nursrep15060211)
No full text: Elena Sblendorio was not included as an author in the original publication [...]
Corrigendum: Azole-resistance in aspergillus terreusand related species: An emerging problem or a rare phenomenon? (Frontiers in Microbiology (2018) 9 (516) DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00516)
No full textRaquel Sabino was not included as an author in the published article. The authors apologize for this error and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way. The original article has been updated. © 2019 Zoran, Sartori, Sappl, Aigner, Sánchez-Reus, Rezusta, Chowdhary, Taj-Aldeen, Arendrup, Oliveri, Kontoyiannis, Alastruey-Izquierdo, Lagrou, Lo Cascio, Meis, Buzina, Farina, Drogari-Apiranthitou, Grancini, Tortorano, Willinger, Hamprecht, Johnson, Klingspor, Arsic-Arsenijevic, Cornely, Meletiadis, Prammer, Tullio, Vehreschild, Trovato, Lewis, Segal, Rath, Hamal, Rodriguez-Iglesias, Roilides, Arikan-Akdagli, Chakrabarti, Colombo, Fernández, Martin-Gomez, Badali, Petrikkos, Klimko, Heimann, Uzun, Roudbary, de la Fuente, Houbraken, Risslegger, Sabino, Lass-Flörl and Lackner
Corrigendum: Azole-resistance in aspergillus terreusand related species: An emerging problem or a rare phenomenon? (Frontiers in Microbiology (2018) 9 (516) DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00516)
No full textRaquel Sabino was not included as an author in the published article. The authors apologize for this error and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way. The original article has been updated. © 2019 Zoran, Sartori, Sappl, Aigner, Sánchez-Reus, Rezusta, Chowdhary, Taj-Aldeen, Arendrup, Oliveri, Kontoyiannis, Alastruey-Izquierdo, Lagrou, Lo Cascio, Meis, Buzina, Farina, Drogari-Apiranthitou, Grancini, Tortorano, Willinger, Hamprecht, Johnson, Klingspor, Arsic-Arsenijevic, Cornely, Meletiadis, Prammer, Tullio, Vehreschild, Trovato, Lewis, Segal, Rath, Hamal, Rodriguez-Iglesias, Roilides, Arikan-Akdagli, Chakrabarti, Colombo, Fernández, Martin-Gomez, Badali, Petrikkos, Klimko, Heimann, Uzun, Roudbary, de la Fuente, Houbraken, Risslegger, Sabino, Lass-Flörl and Lackner
EXPRESSION OF VESICLE-ASSOCIATED MEMBRANE-PROTEIN-ASSOCIATED PROTEIN B CLEAVAGE PRODUCTS IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD LEUKOCYTES AND CEREBROSPINAL FLUID OF PATIENTS WITH SPORADIC AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS
No full textBackground and purpose: Vesicle-associated membrane-protein-associated protein B (VAPB) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) resident protein participating in ER function, vesicle trafficking, calcium homeostasis and lipid transport. Its N-terminal domain, named MSP, is cleaved and secreted, serving as an extracellular ligand. VAPB mutations are linked to autosomal-dominant motor neuron diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) type 8. An altered VAPB function is also suspected in sporadic ALS (SALS). Methods: The expression pattern of VAPB cleavage and secreted products in the peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of SALS patients and neurological controls was assessed. PBL from healthy controls were also analyzed. Assays were carried out through western blotting, using an anti-VAPB (N-terminal) antibody. Results: Two VAPB fragments containing the MSP domain (17 kDa and 14 kDa molecular sizes) were identified in PBL of SALS and controls, with no significant differences amongst groups. In CSF, only the 14 kDa VAPB MSP fragment was expressed and a corresponding VAPA fragment was not detected. The CSF VAPB fragment was absent in 58.7% of SALS patients, of whom 79.2% were bulbar onset (P = 0.001, bulbar versus spinal). Conclusions: The absence of the CSF VAPB MSP fragment from most bulbar-onset SALS patients suggests a specific alteration of brain-derived VAPB cleavage and secretion in this group of patients, and hints at a role of VAPB in the pathophysiology of this motor neuron disease. © 2013 The Author(s). European Journal of Neurology © 2013 EFNS
PER LA BIOGRAFIA DI BENVENUTO CAMPESANI: UN'EPIGRAFE COMMEMORATIVA DI ALBERTINO MUSSATO
No full textL’articolo ha per oggetto un’epigrafe commemorativa del poeta e storico padovano Albertino Mussato (1261-1329) composta per il sepolcro di Benvenuto Campesani (1250/55-1323). Sulla base di una rinnovata interpretazione del testo, di cui si fornisce una nuova edizione corredata di traduzione in italiano, è stato possibile dimostrare come la morte di Benvenuto sia avvenuta nella notte fra il 3 e il 4 novembre del 1323.
The article deals with a commemorative epigraph that the Paduan poet and historian Albertino Mussato (1261-1329) wrote for the sepulcher of Benvenuto Campesani (1250/55-1323). Through a novel interpretation of the epigraph, a new edition of which is provided with an Italian translation, the author proves that Campesani’s death occurred on the night of November 3-4, 1323
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