THE ROLE OF ANTIBIOTIC DOSING SYSTEM IN PEDIATRICS INFECTIOUS DISEASES: IT’S A LONG WAY TO THE TOP (if you wanna achieve PK/PD)

A TDM-guided anti-infective therapy especially in the most complex clinical situations and/or in presence of antibiotic resistant pathogens should be started in order to personalize therapy. The possibility of evaluating plasma concentrations of antibiotics in pediatric patients, especially in the most complex clinical conditions, can have important scientific implications and, more importantly, be reflected in daily clinical activity. With a solid TDM system the clinician could go beyond the choice of the best molecule for the single pathogen, but also adapt the administration schedule and the posology on individual patient in the individual hospitalization setting

Components and Architecture optimisation for marine fuel cell systems

The energy transition to zero emission maritime transport implies a central role for hydrogen as an energy carrier of choice for multiple applications and use cases. Among the power conversion technologies fuel cell systems can combine unrivalled performance and zero tailpipe emission. Nonetheless the state-of-the-art architectures of fuel cell modules are largely driven by requirements related to the on-road applications, while the maritime applications with their specific performance indicators are expected to be suitable for alternative designs. In this context, the thesis is focusing on the architecture of the fuel cell module, the fundamental functions carried out by the subsystems within it and the design choices to be made in a defining an architecture suitable for installation in conjunction with a marine propulsion system. Moreover, the defined design is modelled and analysed to evaluate its performance and the ability of all subsystems to perform the assigned functions, at steady state and in transient conditions

Inflammation as a cause of acute myocardial infarction in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasm

Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) are a group of diseases characterized by the clonal proliferation of hematopoietic progenitor or stem cells. They are clinically classifiable into four main diseases: chronic myeloid leukemia, essential thrombocythemia, polycythemia vera, and primary myelofibrosis. These pathologies are closely related to cardio- and cerebrovascular diseases due to the increased risk of arterial thrombosis, the most common underlying cause of acute myocardial infarction. Recent evidence shows that the classical Virchow triad (hypercoagulability, blood stasis, endothelial injury) might offer an explanation for such association. Indeed, patients with MPN might have a higher number and more reactive circulating platelets and leukocytes, a tendency toward blood stasis because of a high number of circulating red blood cells, endothelial injury or overactivation as a consequence of sustained inflammation caused by the neoplastic clonal cell. These abnormal cancer cells, especially when associated with the JAK2V617F mutation, tend to proliferate and secrete several inflammatory cytokines. This sustains a pro-inflammatory state throughout the body. The direct consequence is the induction of a pro-thrombotic state that acts as a determinant in favoring both venous and arterial thrombus formation. Clinically, MPN patients need to be carefully evaluated to be treated not only with cytoreductive treatments but also with cardiovascular protective strategies

Optimal transport with nonlinear mobilities: A deterministic particle approximation result

We study the discretisation of generalised Wasserstein distances with nonlinear mobilities on the real line via suitable discrete metrics on the cone of N ordered particles, a setting which naturally appears in the framework of deterministic particle approximation of partial differential equations. In particular, we provide a Gamma-convergence result for the associated discrete metrics as N -> infinity to the continuous one and discuss applications to the approximation of one-dimensional conservation laws (of gradient flow type) via the so-called generalised minimising movements, proving a convergence result of the schemes at any given discrete time step tau > 0. This the first work of a series aimed at sheding new lights on the interplay between generalised gradient-flow structures, conservation laws, and Wasserstein distances with nonlinear mobilities