75 research outputs found
Innovative Process for Dried Caper (Capparis spinosa L.) Powder Production
No full textThis research aimed to develop a new time, energy, and cost-saving production process for obtaining dried powder from Capparis spinosa floral buds. Four different trials, including dry salting with 40% NaCl (for 10 days and 40 days) and brine salting with 18% NaCl (at room temperature for 3 days and at 60 °C for 6 h), were carried out, and two different air-drying temperatures (40 and 50 °C) were used. The effects on chemical and sensory characteristics were investigated and compared with traditional undried caper samples. Spectroscopy and chromatographic techniques such as UV–VIS, GC-MS, and FTIR were used for chlorophylls, carotenoids, polyphenols, flavonoids, and volatile aroma compounds’ analyses. Moreover, a sensory descriptive analysis and acceptability were applied to individuate the product most appreciated by the consumers. Among the different trials, brine salting at 60 °C and drying at 50 °C constituted the fastest process that yielded an appreciated powder by consumers; the chemical analyses demonstrated that this process did not lead to the formation of extraneous aroma compounds that could influence the typical sensory properties of capers and maintained high levels of chlorophylls, carotenoids, and polyphenols. Altogether, the results could be of great significance to industrial production and potentiate positive impacts on the economy of production areas
A wearable intelligent system for the health of expectant mom's and their childs
No full textIl monitoraggio dello stato di salute del feto anteparto mediante l’analisi della frequenza cardiaca fetale e delle contrazioni uterine (CTG) è, insieme all’ecografia, l’esame standard a cui tutte le donne si sottopongono almeno una volta durante la gravidanza. Tuttavia, la maggior parte dei presidi clinici in cui è effettuato il monitoraggio fetale non hanno a disposizione gli strumenti necessari per un’accurata analisi quantitativa dei segnali CTG, e devono affidarsi alla sola competenza del medico che esamina visivamente il tracciato. Pertanto, in termini di valutazione sull’intera popolazione delle gravidanze, l’affidabilità del monitoraggio anteparto è bassa.
Il problema può essere risolto grazie al progetto di un nuovo sistema per il monitoraggio remoto che consenta alle pazienti di effettuare l’esame in qualunque momento ed in qualunque luogo, ricevendo risposte tempestive ed affidabili sulla condizione del feto. Utilizzando le più recenti tecnologie nei settori dei “textile wearable devices” e dell’ICT, realizzeremo un sistema indossabile, in grado di inviare i segnali ad un centro diagnostico remoto, che combinerà la semplicità e la comodità d’uso con un’elevata affidabilità diagnostica.
Per raggiungere l’obiettivo è nato un progetto che coinvolge ricercatori del Politecnico di Milano, dell’università di Pavia e dell’Università di Napoli, al fine di:
• sviluppare e realizzare un sistema indossabile, costituito da una fascia addominale sensorizzata, per la rilevazione, la pre-elaborazione locale e la trasmissione via telefonia wireless dell’attività del cuore fetale e materno, delle contrazioni uterine e della stima dei movimenti fetali;
• definire e implementare algoritmi per l’analisi di segnali e adattamento a dati di sensori indossabili. La ricerca partirà dalla situazione esistente e potrà portare allo sviluppo di nuovi algoritmi di analisi e per la separazione dei contributi materni e fetali con estrazione di parametri e costruzione di classificatori;
• sviluppo di un database di conoscenze e implementazione di un Web Service per l’analisi remota dei dati;
• esecuzione di test clinici su un campione di soggetti volontari nel terzo trimestre di gravidanza in diverse condizioni (riposo, cammino, attività lavorativa, ecc..). Confronto con registrazioni CTG tradizionali già acquisite con il sistema Tocomat
"Studio computerizzato prospettico a campione da una casistica di 258 casi di carcinomi differenziati della tiroide"
No full textOutcomes of a mini external fixator system for the treatment of unstable periphyseal hand fractures
No full textBackground: Most unstable hand fractures in children are treated by dosed methods. If osteosynthesis is required, Kirschner (K)-wires are commonly used, though they carry a risk of injury to the physis. We have been using a mini external fixator system (MEFS) for the treatment of unstable periphyseal fractures of the hand. The aim of this study is to describe the application and report the outcomes of MEFS for the treatment of periphyseal fractures of the hand.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all the patients with periphyseal fracture of the hand treated with MEFS from March 2010 to December 2019. Data with regard to age, sex, hand dominance, digit and bone injured, mechanism of injury, medical records and related radiographs were collected. Salter-Harris classification was used to classify epiphyseal fractures and the Al-Qattan classification for categorising neck fractures. Range of motion and residual deformity of the affected fingers were evaluated during follow-up and at 3 months postoperatively.Results: Fourteen periphyseal unstable fractures were treated using dosed reduction and MEFS. Only one patient with a fracture of the neck of the proximal phalanx of the little finger required revision surgery. No patient had pin site infection or pin loosening and the device was well tolerated by all patients. All fractures united and all the patients recovered a full range of motion at final follow-up.Conclusions: The MEFS is a reasonable alternative for unstable periphyseal fractures with good outcomes and avoids the risk of iatrogenic physeal injury from K-wire fixation
Diagnosis and therapy of female sterility secondary to cervical and endometrial inflammation
No full textState of the Art on the European Court of Justice and Enacting Citizenship. CEPS Special Report, April 27 2009
No full textThis report provides a state of the art of the main interdisciplinary academic discussions, EU acts and European Court of Justice (ECJ) case law surrounding issues related to citizenship, migration and integration. The report was finalised in mid-2008 and has provided the basis upon which the work conducted by the Justice and Home Affairs Section at CEPS in the framework of the ENACT research project funded by DG Research of the European Commission has been developed. In particular, the general objectives of CEPS’ contribution to this project are: first, to assess the impact of Community governance on the enactment of European citizenship and the exclusivity of the nation-state competence over nationality matters; and to examine the ways in which the ECJ and the adoption of the Council Directive 2004/38/EC on the rights of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely have influenced its enactment; second, to analyse the impacts of the enlargement processes, and of accompanying measures such as the transitional arrangements inserted in the Acts of Accession and other restrictions to the fundamental right of freedom of movement, on the status and practices of European citizenship; and third, to assess the tensions inherent to nationality and/or residence-based enactment of citizenship versus European citizenship of TCNs; to address the effects and dilemmas posed by the Council Directive 2003/109/EC of November 2003 on the status of third country nationals who are long-term residents
Botulinum toxin type A for genitofemoral neuralgia: A case report
No full textGenitofemoral neuralgia is an uncommon pain disorder that could be resistant to conventional treatment. A 78-year-old woman with refractory right genitofemoral neuralgia was treated with BoNT/A subcutaneous injections; the treatment was performed three times with significant pain improvement, although temporary, and without adverse events. BoNT/A may be a promising alternative intervention in the setting of genitofemoral neuralgia refractory to oral and/or topical treatment
A Wearable Intelligent System for The Health of Expectant Mom’s and of Their Children
No full textIn this paper, we present the implementation
of the Infomax algorithm on a computing unit
featuring a typical embedded processor of the ARM
family and a second partial execution on a custom
CPU developed through the FPGA technology. The
computational unit will be the “core” of an instrument
which aims at allowing the pregnant mothers a real
time monitoring of her and the fetus health state. The
Infomax algorithm belongs to the Independent
Component Analysis family and serves to separate the
fetal ECG from the mother’s one. Also the evaluation
of the wide literature and the corresponding debate is
illustrated together with the motivations for the
choice. In terms of performance, both the
implementations are suitable for the project’s goal,
but the FPGA overcomes the ARM processor (on a
reduced portion of the algorithm) by an order of
magnitud
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