A fluorescence LIDAR sensor for hyper-spectral time-resolved remote sensing and mapping

In this work we present a LIDAR sensor devised for the acquisition of time resolved laser induced fluorescence spectra. The gating time for the acquisition of the fluorescence spectra can be sequentially delayed in order to achieve fluorescence data that are resolved both in the spectral and temporal domains. The sensor can provide sub-nanometric spectral resolution and nanosecond time resolution. The sensor has also imaging capabilities by means of a computer-controlled motorized steering mirror featuring a biaxial angular scanning with 200 mu radiant angular resolution. The measurement can be repeated for each point of a geometric grid in order to collect a hyper-spectral time-resolved map of an extended target. (C)2013 Optical Society of Americ

House Dust Mite Allergy and the Der p1 Conundrum: A Literature Review and Case Series

The house dustmite (HDM) is globally ubiquitous in human habitats. Thirty-two allergens for Dermatophagoides farinae and 21 for Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus have been detected so far. The present minireview summarizes information about the role of Der p 1 as a key coordinator of the HDM-induced allergic response and reports on a series of Italian patients who are allergic to HDMs. We studied the specific IgE profiles in a population of patients with allergic asthma and rhinitis screened for specific immunotherapy (SIT) for HDMallergies, with the aim of obtaining insights into the pathogenic role of Der p1. Patients co-sensitized to other airborne allergens showed a higher prevalence of asthma (9/12 (75%) vs. 2/7 (29%); p < 0.05) than did HDMmono-sensitized patients. The latter group showed higher Der p1 concentrations than that of the co-sensitized group (p = 0.0360), and a direct correlation between Der p1 and Der p2 (r = 0.93; p = 0.0003) was observed. In conclusion, our study offers insights into the role of Der p1 in a population of patients with allergic rhinitis and asthma who were candidates for SIT. Interestingly, Der p1 positivity was associated with bronchial asthma and co-sensitization

Disentangling Fiscal Policy:a Data-Driven StructuralVector-Autoregressive Procedure

The thesis provides an empirical analysis relative to the estimation of the effects of fiscal policy on GDP. The research is conducted through the the study of the causal relationships that emerge from the implementation of some Structural Vector-Autoregressive models, which are estimated with U.S. time series data. Although Fiscal multipliers are the important tools that are able to capture the effect on GDP of one dollar spent by the State in increasing government expenditure or in reducing Taxation, economists until now have not reached a consensus about their size (and even their sign). For this reason one of the main topic on which the thesis is concentrated is the computation of fiscal multipliers. Three are the main innovative aspects of the work, respect to the literature of the empirical fiscal studies. The first one is the data-driven approach that characterises all the aspects of the work. In particular, differently from the majority of researches in the literature, the "identification" of fiscal shocks relies completely on a data-driven procedure (The Independent Component Analysis). This important innovation permits to detect the causal effects of fiscal policy relying exclusively on the properties of the data, avoiding in this way the imposition of some restrictions that are driven by some ex-ante economic knowledge. The second point of differentiation from a standard fiscal SVAR analysis is the completely new interpretation of what is called a "fiscal shock". The Fiscal shock is considered in the work as a unique mixture of exogenous and interrelated measures on Taxes and Government expenditure at the same time. In fact, given the evidence of some recent studies about how the fiscal policy is practically designed and implemented, the common assumption about the existence of two separate and independent fiscal shocks, one on taxes and one on government expenditure, is rejected in this work. Finally the results of government expenditure and Tax multipliers computed in the data-driven environment of the work result to be positive (Government expenditure also above the unity) and even persistent 2 years after the shock, something that is not very common in the literature

Exploring the Interaction between Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide and Biologic Treatment in Severe Asthma: A Systematic Review

Background: Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a biomarker of airway inflammation associated with airway hyper-responsiveness and type-2 inflammation. Its role in the management of severe asthmatic patients undergoing biologic treatment, as well as FeNO dynamics during biologic treatment, is largely unexplored. Purpose: The aim was to evaluate published data contributing to the following areas: (1) FeNO as a predictive biomarker of response to biologic treatment; (2) the influence of biologic treatment in FeNO values; (3) FeNO as a biomarker for the prediction of exacerbations in patients treated with biologics. Methods: The systematic search was conducted on the Medline database through the Pubmed search engine, including all studies from 2009 to the present. Results: Higher baseline values of FeNO are associated with better clinical control in patients treated with omalizumab, dupilumab, and tezepelumab. FeNO dynamics during biologic treatment highlights a clear reduction in FeNO values in patients treated with anti-IL4/13 and anti-IL13, as well as in patients treated with tezepelumab. During the treatment, FeNO may help to predict clinical worsening and to differentiate eosinophilic from non-eosinophilic exacerbations. Conclusions: Higher baseline FeNO levels appear to be associated with a greater benefit in terms of clinical control and reduction of exacerbation rate, while FeNO dynamics during biologic treatment remains a largely unexplored issue since few studies have investigated it as a primary outcome. FeNO remains detectable during biologic treatment, but its potential utility as a biomarker of clinical control is still unclear and represents an interesting research area to be developed

Exploring the Interaction between Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide and Biologic Treatment in Severe Asthma: A Systematic Review

Background: Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a biomarker of airway inflammation associated with airway hyper-responsiveness and type-2 inflammation. Its role in the management of severe asthmatic patients undergoing biologic treatment, as well as FeNO dynamics during biologic treatment, is largely unexplored. Purpose: The aim was to evaluate published data contributing to the following areas: (1) FeNO as a predictive biomarker of response to biologic treatment; (2) the influence of biologic treatment in FeNO values; (3) FeNO as a biomarker for the prediction of exacerbations in patients treated with biologics. Methods: The systematic search was conducted on the Medline database through the Pubmed search engine, including all studies from 2009 to the present. Results: Higher baseline values of FeNO are associated with better clinical control in patients treated with omalizumab, dupilumab, and tezepelumab. FeNO dynamics during biologic treatment highlights a clear reduction in FeNO values in patients treated with anti-IL4/13 and anti-IL13, as well as in patients treated with tezepelumab. During the treatment, FeNO may help to predict clinical worsening and to differentiate eosinophilic from non-eosinophilic exacerbations. Conclusions: Higher baseline FeNO levels appear to be associated with a greater benefit in terms of clinical control and reduction of exacerbation rate, while FeNO dynamics during biologic treatment remains a largely unexplored issue since few studies have investigated it as a primary outcome. FeNO remains detectable during biologic treatment, but its potential utility as a biomarker of clinical control is still unclear and represents an interesting research area to be developed

Coronavirus HKU 1 infection with bronchiolitis, pericardial effusion and acute respiratory failure in obese adult female

Seven species of coronavirus cause acute respiratory illness in humans. Coronavirus HKU 1 (CoV HKU 1) was first described in 2005 in an adult patient with pneumonia in Hong Kong. Although it is a well-known respiratory tract pathogen, there is not much information about its role in hospitalized adults, especially in southern Europe. Here, we describe a case of radiologically demonstrated CoV HKU 1-related bronchiolitis with acute respiratory failure in an adult female without significant comorbidities except obesity

The SIEP-DIRECT'S Project on the discrepancy between routine practice and evidence. An outline of main findings and practical implications for the future of community based mental health services.

AIMS: To highlight the major discrepancies that emerged between evidence and routine practice in the framework of the SIEP-DIRECT'S Project (DIscrepancy between Routine practice and Evidence in psychiatric Community Treatments on Schizophrenia). The Project was conducted in 19 Italian mental health services (MHS), with the aims of: (a) evaluating the appropriateness of the NICE Guidelines for Schizophrenia in the Italian context, (b) developing and testing a set of 103 indicators that operationalised preferred clinical practice requirements according to the NICE Guidelines, and (c) evaluating their actual application in Italian MHSs. METHODS: The indicators investigated five different areas: common elements in all phases of schizophrenia; first episode treatment; crisis treatment; promoting recovery; the aggressive behaviour management. RESULTS: The NICE recommendations examined were judged in most instances to be appropriate to the Italian MHS context, and the indicators fairly easy to use. The more severe and frequently encountered evidence-practice discrepancies were: lack of written material, guidelines, and information to be systematically provided to users; lack of intervention monitoring and evaluation; difficulty in implementing specific and structured forms of intervention; difficulty in considering patients' family members as figures requiring targeted support themselves and who should also be regularly involved in the patient care process. CONCLUSIONS: The key actions to be undertaken to favour implementation of evidence-based routine practices are: focussing on mental illness onset and family support/involvement in care; planning training activities aimed at achieving specific treatment goals; encouraging MHS participation in evaluation activities; identifying thresholds for guideline application and promoting specific guideline implementation actions; and activating decision making and resource allocation processes that rely more strictly on evidence and epidemiological assessment. These considerations are of value for rethinking the model of community psychiatry in Italy as well as in other countries