Controlled Fault-Tolerant Power Converters for Power Quality Enhancement

Power quality depends generally on the interaction of electrical power with electrical equipments. If electrical equipments operate correctly and reliably without being damaged or stressed, a suitable level of power quality is assured. On the other hand, if the electrical equipment malfunctions, is unreliable, or is damaged during normal usage, power quality is poor and probably the economical loss could be important like the technical one. In the scenario of the Distributed Generation, power quality issues will be moreover important because an higher dissemination of power conditioning equipment will be requested and this obviously increases the sources of vulnerability of the electrical system. In this paper fault tolerant power converters are considered as a viable solution of power quality problems and a suitable control algorithm of them is presented. The control proposed in the paper is based on the model of the power converter reformulated in terms of healthy leg binary variable and the paper shows how this control is able to save the aspect of power quality when the converter works in the linear range. The effectiveness of such an algorithm and of the fault tolerant power converters are finally verified by means of simulations

Unexpected Hypertensive Pneumothorax after Digestive Upper Endoscopy: A Case Report

We report an unexpected massive left pneumothorax at the end of a digestive upper endoscopy without evidences of perforation or airway over-pressure. The possible air passage through a diaphragmatic failing is discussed

Low central venous saturation predicts poor outcome in patients with brain injury after major trauma: a prospective observational study

Abstract Background Continuous monitoring of central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) has been proposed as a prognostic indicator in several pathological conditions, including cardiac diseases, sepsis, trauma. To our knowledge, no studies have evaluated ScvO2 in polytraumatized patients with brain injury so far. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the prognostic role of ScvO2 monitoring during first 24 hours after trauma in this patients' population. Methods This prospective, non-controlled study, carried out between April 2006 and March 2008, was performed in a higher level Trauma Center in Florence (Italy). In the study period, 121 patients affected by major brain injury after major trauma were recruited. Inclusion criteria were: 1. Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score ≤ 13; 2. an Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥ 15. Exclusion criteria included: 1. pregnancy; 2. age 2 monitoring within 2 hours from the trauma. Demographic and clinical data were collected, including Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS), Injury Severity Score (ISS), Simplified Acute Physiologic Score II (SAPS II), Marshall score. The worst values of lactate and ScvO2 within the first 24 hours from trauma, ICU length of stay (LOS), and 28-day mortality were recorded. Results Patients who deceased within 28 days showed higher age (53 ± 16.6 vs 43.8 ± 19.6, P = 0.043), ISS core (39.3 ± 14 vs 30.3 ± 10.1, P 2 resulted significantly lower (66.7% ± 11.9 vs 70.1% ± 8.9 vs, respectively; P = 0.046). Patients with ScvO2 values ≤ 65% also showed higher 28-days mortality rate (31.3% vs 13.5%, P = 0.034), ICU LOS (28.5 ± 15.2 vs 16.6 ± 13.8, P 2 > 65%. Conclusion ScvO2 value less than 65%, measured in the first 24 hours after admission in patients with major trauma and head injury, was associated with higher mortality and prolonged hospitalization.</p

An Ontological Approach to Inform HMI Designs for Minimizing Driver Distractions with ADAS

ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) are in-vehicle systems designed to enhance driving safety and efficiency as well as comfort for drivers in the driving process. Recent studies have noticed that when Human Machine Interface (HMI) is not designed properly, an ADAS can cause distraction which would affect its usage and even lead to safety issues. Current understanding of these issues is limited to the context-dependent nature of such systems. This paper reports the development of a holistic conceptualisation of how drivers interact with ADAS and how such interaction could lead to potential distraction. This is done taking an ontological approach to contextualise the potential distraction, driving tasks and user interactions centred on the use of ADAS. Example scenarios are also given to demonstrate how the developed ontology can be used to deduce rules for identifying distraction from ADAS and informing future designs

Detection of antimicrobial proteins/peptides and bacterial proteins involved in antimicrobial resistance in raw cow’s milk from different breeds

Proteins involved in antibiotic resistance (resistome) and with antimicrobial activity are present in biological specimens. This study aims to explore the presence and abundance of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and resistome proteins in bovine milk from diverse breeds and from intensive (Pezzata rossa, Bruna alpina, and Frisona) and non-intensive farming (Podolica breeds). Liquid atmospheric pressure matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (LAP-MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS) profiling, bottom-up proteomics, and metaproteomics were used to comprehensively analyze milk samples from various bovine breeds in order to identify and characterize AMPs and to investigate resistome proteins. LAP-MALDI MS coupled with linear discriminant analysis (LDA) machine learning was employed as a rapid classification method for Podolica milk recognition against the milk of other bovine species. The results of the LAP-MALDI MS analysis of milk coupled with the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) demonstrate the potential of distinguishing between Podolica and control milk samples based on MS profiles. The classification accuracy achieved in the training set is 86% while it reaches 98.4% in the test set. Bottom-up proteomics revealed approximately 220 quantified bovine proteins (identified using the Bos taurus database), with cathelicidins and annexins exhibiting higher abundance levels in control cows (intensive farming breeds). On the other hand, the metaproteomics analysis highlighted the diversity within the milk’s microbial ecosystem with interesting results that may reflect the diverse environmental variables. The bottom-up proteomics data analysis using the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD) revealed beta-lactamases and tetracycline resistance proteins in both control and Podolica milk samples, with no relevant breed-specific differences observed

Sigh in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome: the PROTECTION pilot randomized clinical trial

Background: Sigh is a cyclic brief recruitment manoeuvre: previous physiological studies showed that its use could be an interesting addition to pressure support ventilation to improve lung elastance, decrease regional heterogeneity and increase release of surfactant. Research question: Is the clinical application of sigh during pressure support ventilation (PSV) feasible? Study design and methods: We conducted a multi-center non-inferiority randomized clinical trial on adult intubated patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure or acute respiratory distress syndrome undergoing PSV. Patients were randomized to the No Sigh group and treated by PSV alone, or to the Sigh group, treated by PSV plus sigh (increase of airway pressure to 30 cmH2Ofor 3 seconds once per minute) until day 28 or death or successful spontaneous breathing trial. The primary endpoint of the study was feasibility, assessed as non-inferiority (5% tolerance) in the proportion of patients failing assisted ventilation. Secondary outcomes included safety, physiological parameters in the first week from randomization, 28-day mortality and ventilator-free days. Results: Two-hundred fifty-eight patients (31% women; median age 65 [54-75] years) were enrolled. In the Sigh group, 23% of patients failed to remain on assisted ventilation vs. 30% in the No Sigh group (absolute difference -7%, 95%CI -18% to 4%; p=0.015 for non-inferiority). Adverse events occurred in 12% vs. 13% in Sigh vs. No Sigh (p=0.852). Oxygenation was improved while tidal volume, respiratory rate and corrected minute ventilation were lower over the first 7 days from randomization in Sigh vs. No Sigh. There was no significant difference in terms of mortality (16% vs. 21%, p=0.342) and ventilator-free days (22 [7-26] vs. 22 [3-25] days, p=0.300) for Sigh vs. No Sigh. Interpretation: Among hypoxemic intubated ICU patients, application of sigh was feasible and without increased risk

How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p &lt; 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p &lt; 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p &lt; 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p &lt; 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p &lt; 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice