169,952 research outputs found
Effects of pneumoperitoneum and reverse Trendelenburg position on cardiopulmonary function in morbidly obese patients receiving laparoscopic gastric banding
No full textWe prospectively evaluated the effects of pneumoperitoneum and reverse Trendelenburg position on cardiopulmonary function in 20 ASA physical status II-III morbidly obese patients (body mass index > 35 kg m(-2)) undergoing laparoscopic gastric banding. After general anaesthesia was induced, patients' lungs were ventilated using intermittent positive pressure ventilation (at measurement times, the following parameters were used: tidal volume 12 mL kg(-1) ideal body weight, respiratory rate of 12 bpm, an inspiratory to expiratory time ratio of 1:2). Haemodynamic variables, blood gas parameters, and lung/chest compliance were recorded: in the supine position, after induction of general anaesthesia (T0, baseline) and induction of pneumoperitoneum (T1); after placing the patient in a 25 degree reverse Trendelenburg position (T2); during the surgical time (T3); before deflating the abdomen (T4); after pneumoperitoneum resolution (T5), and before the end of anaesthesia, with the patient supine (T6). The PaO2, PaO2/FiO2 ratio, and lung/chest compliance decreased during the study. After the pneumoperitoneum had been resolved, lung/chest compliance but not oxygenation parameters returned to baseline values. The arterial to end-tidal CO2 tension difference progressively increased from 0.38+/-0.3 kPa (2.85+/-2.25 mmHg) (T0) to 0.63+/-0.3 kPa (4.73+/-2.25 mmHg) (T6). In morbidly obese patients, undergoing laparoscopic gastric banding, a CO2 pneumoperitoneum markedly affected gas exchange and lung/chest compliance, while positioning the patient in a 25 degree reverse Trendelenburg position had no beneficial effects
Modelling fungal growth, mycotoxin production and release in grana cheese
No full textNo information is available in the literature about the influence of temperature (T) on Penicillium and Aspergillus spp. growth and mycotoxin production on cheese rinds. The aim of this work was to: (i) study fungal ecology on cheese in terms of T requirements, focusing on the partitioning of mycotoxins between the rind and mycelium; and (ii) validate predictive models previously developed by in vitro trials. Grana cheese rind blocks were inoculated with A. versicolor, P. crustosum, P. nordicum, P. roqueforti, and P. verrucosum, incubated at different T regimes (10–30◦C, step 5◦C) and after 14 days the production of mycotoxins (ochratoxin A (OTA); sterigmatocystin (STC); roquefortine C (ROQ-C), mycophenolic acid (MPA), Pr toxin (PR-Tox), citrinin (CIT), cyclopiazonic acid (CPA)) was quantified. All the fungi grew optimally around 15–25◦C and produced the expected mycotoxins (except MPA, Pr-Tox, and CIT). The majority of the mycotoxins produced remained in the mycelium (~90%) in three out of five fungal species (P. crustosum, P. nordicum, and P. roqueforti); the opposite occurred for A. versicolor and P. verrucosum with 71% and 58% of STC and OTA detected in cheese rind, respectively. Available predictive models fitted fungal growth on the cheese rind well, but validation was not possible for mycotoxins because they were produced in a very narrow T range
MULTISOURCE DATA APPROACH FOR SEISMIC FRAGILITY ASSESSMENT OF MASONRY BUILDINGS AT REGIONAL SCALE
No full textInvestigation of architectural typological parameters influencing seismic vulnerability of masonry buildings in historical centres: the case of Puglia
No full textThe paper presents a systematical study on the main architectural features characterizing existing buildings in historical centres and influencing their vulnerability under seismic actions. In particular, the first step of the work reports a macro-classification of historical centres on regional scale, obtained through a combination of multisource data with different degrees of detail, such as data from regional landscape plans, public datasets on web GIS and quick virtual inspections. After, all gathered data have been collected and processed in a proper georeferenced database, in order to analyze specific features and their geographic distribution, releasing a new taxonomy. Therefore, a regional abacus of building typologies has been defined through the main architectural and morpho-typological features influencing seismic vulnerability. The starting dataset has been compared by means of other available urban-scale data as those derived from CARTIS (structural-typological characterization for urban compartments), the procedure proposed in Italy for an extensive classification at national scale of recurring building typologies in municipalities. The result is a homogeneous macro-classification of historical centres enriched by typological information also finalized to estimate seismic vulnerability in a given area. The above procedure has been applied on the case study of Puglia region, showing a GIS tool reporting the classification for Apulian historical centres and the resulting abacus for the recurring building typologies
A TYPOLOGICAL-MECHANICAL APPROACH TO ASSESS LARGE-SCALE SEISMIC FRAGILITY OF MASONRY BUILDINGS IN HISTORICAL CENTRES
No full textThe paper presents a mechanical approach for the assessment of large-scale seismic fragility for recurrent masonry building typologies in historical centres. Especially in the context of regional-scale analysis, the poor level of information drives analysts to develop suitable approaches to characterize in a synthetic way the seismic behaviour of the existing masonry building stock. Hence, the proposed framework arises from a matching between historical centres macro-classes and recurrent masonry building typologies defined by exploiting multisources data integration in GIS environment (e.g., census data, topographic cartographies, and information provided by the CARTIS form application). After, sets of mechanical models, which are sufficiently representative of the most widespread typologies on the regional territory, can be realized accounting for structural and morpho-typological features variability, as evincible from the available georeferenced database. Subsequently, nonlinear static analysis is adopted as analysis method where, for each model, Capacity/Demand ratio can be estimated for increasing levels of Peak Ground Acceleration. The obtained results are then processed according to Multiple Stripe Analysis method to derive typological fragility curves, which can be properly associated to historical centre macro-classes, covered by certain percentage of masonry building typologies. The proposed procedure was applied to the case study of Puglia region, allowing to investigate large portions of the building stock characterizing historical centres, by managing few information and by providing a methodology easily extendible to different context of applications
Is HE4 a useful endometrioma marker?
No full textPurpose of investigation: By the comparison between most used tumor marker trend (cancer antigen 125: CA 125 and human epididymal secretory protein E4: HE4) before and after laparoscopic surgery, the aim of the present study was to assess HE4 usefulness in ovarian benign cyst and endometrioma diagnosis. Materials and Methods: Thirty-eight patients were enrolled in this prospective study: 25 women underwent unilateral endometriosis ovarian cyst excision, 13 underwent benign ovarian cyst incision, and 26 were healthy controls. CA 125 and HE4 serum levels were estimated before surgery (in the early proliferative phase of the cycle) and one month after surgery. Results: A statistically significant decrease of CA 125 serum level was found after an endometrioma surgical excision but no decreases in HE4 serum level. Conclusion: In patients with endometrioma, no alteration was found in HE4 serum levels before and after surgery, while CA125 serum levels decreased after surgery. HE4 may better distinguish a malign cyst from benign one, but it is not useful in the diagnosis of low risk endometrioma
A TYPOLOGICAL-MECHANICAL APPROACH TO ASSESS LARGE-SCALE SEISMIC FRAGILITY OF MASONRY BUILDINGS IN HISTORICAL CENTRES
No full textThe paper presents a mechanical approach for the assessment of large-scale seismic fragility for recurrent masonry building typologies in historical centres. Especially in the context of regional-scale analysis, the poor level of information drives analysts to develop suitable approaches to characterize in a synthetic way the seismic behaviour of the existing masonry building stock. Hence, the proposed framework arises from a matching between historical centres macro-classes and recurrent masonry building typologies defined by exploiting multi-sources data integration in GIS environment (e.g., census data, topographic cartographies, and information provided by the CARTIS form application). After, sets of mechanical models, which are sufficiently representative of the most widespread typologies on the regional territory, can be realized accounting for structural and morpho-typological features variability, as evincible from the available georeferenced database. Subsequently, nonlinear static analysis is adopted as analysis method where, for each model, Capacity/Demand ratio can be estimated for increasing levels of Peak Ground Acceleration. The obtained results are then processed according to Multiple Stripe Analysis method to derive typological fragility curves, which can be properly associated to historical centre macro-classes, covered by certain percentage of masonry building typologies. The proposed procedure was applied to the case study of Puglia region, allowing to investigate large portions of the building stock characterizing historical centres, by managing few information and by providing a methodology easily extendible to different context of applications
The impact of seasonal weather variation on mycotoxins: Maize crop in 2014 in northern Italy as a case study
No full textThe occurrence of mycotoxins differs greatly from year to year and this variation has been attributed to climate variability. The aim of this study was to consider the variability of fungal infection and mycotoxin contamination on a small geographic scale as a possible result of local weather conditions. The presence of Fusarium spp. and Aspergillus spp. and their related mycotoxins was investigated in 51 maize fields grown in 2014 in the Emilia Romagna region, in northern Italy; information regarding the cropping system was collected for all the fields. Samples collected at harvest were analysed for fumonisins, aflatoxins and trichothecenes. Hourly meteorological data were collected from nine stations and fields were clustered with the stations based on the shortest distance principle. Fusarium spp. and Aspergillus spp. incidence varied between 17.6-46.0% and 0.6-6.3%, respectively. Fumonisins ranged between 1,718 and 106,054 μg/kg and aflatoxin B1 betwee
ASSESSMENT OF SEISMIC FRAGILITY OF HISTORICAL BUILDINGS AT THE URBAN SCALE BY TYPOLOGICAL-MECHANICAL APPROACHES: THE CASE STUDY OF FOGGIA
No full textThe study of the seismic vulnerability of historical centres, especially in the Mediterranean zone, is one of the main issues in ongoing scientific research. This is due, on the one hand, to the continuous evolution of the seismic demand and, on the other hand, to the high vulnerability of the masonry existing building stock. The seismic events of the last few years highlighted the necessity to perform a large-scale survey of the huge amount of masonry buildings in historical centres, in order to provide prioritization scales for planning mitigation strategies. With this regard, the scientific literature provides several methodologies that allow a rapid assessment based on predefined survey forms. The data obtained from the surveys are usually used as the input for algorithms aimed at estimating the vulnerability level of the building investigated. The aim of the present work is to propose a general framework for analysing seismic vulnerability of masonry historical centres and deriving fragility curves basing on multiple data sources. In particular, using data collected through existing territorial databases, supplemented by a set of vulnerability forms available for the city centre of the Municipality of Foggia, Southern Italy, some vulnerability classes are defined. Based on the mechanical and geometrical features identified for each class, several ideal and representative buildings are generated, and their seismic behaviour is investigated through the variation of significant parameters. At the end, the capacity of the buildings is evaluated by performing simplified nonlinear analyses and, subsequently, by estimating the damage level of the sample through the definition of regional fragility curves
Modelling the sporulation of some fungi associated with cheese, at different temperature and water activity regimes
No full textThe objectives of this study were to determine, in-vitro, the influence of temperature (T; 10–30 °C, step 5°), water activity (aw, 0.83–0.99; step 0.04) and time on sporulation (SPO) of some cheese-related fungi belonging to Penicillium spp. and A. versicolor. Overall, sporulation started rapidly (8 h in optimal conditions); it was significantly influenced by T and aw and the fungi studied were clearly distinguished based on their thermo-hydro adaptation. Boundary conditions for sporulation were defined for all the fungi considered and the sporulation rate was successfully modelled, especially based on T and time regimes. Penicillium crustosum, P. nordicum and P. verrucosum showed optimum for SPO at T between 20 and 25 °C and their sporulation continued up to aw=0.87 (aw=0.83 for P. nordicum). They resulted the fungi best adapted to the environmental conditions of ripening grana cheese storehouses; therefore, it is expected they dominate on the grana cheese surface. Studies on cheese are necessary to validate these results obtained on artificial media and without fungi co-occurrenc
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