Analytical and Experimental Methods for the Characterization of Field Propagation in Non-Standard Conditions

The electromagnetic propagation is totally and fully assessed in free space, in standard working conditions. However there exists peculiar propagation environments in which the propagation has not been studied but in which it could be fully exploited in order to assess specic needs or to provide new sensing tools. In particular the research activity describes in this thesis has been devoted to the study of the propagation in non-standard condition

Chronopost v. Ufex: The Paradoc of the Competing Monopolist Symposium on European Competition Law

On July 3, 2003, in the Chronopost judgment, the European Court of Justice ( ECJ or the Court ) defined the conditions under which a public undertaking, enjoying a legal monopoly for the provision of services of general interest, can provide services to its subsidiaries without infringing Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty. The impact of this judgment on European Community ( EC ) state aid policy and public services is potentially large, in both legal and practical terms. The ruling casts light on the real dilemma underlying the application of state aid rules to the circumstances of the case: how to allow public companies, entrusted with a network enabling them to provide a given service to all users, to operate in competitive markets while, at the same time, preventing these public operators from unduly exploiting the specific advantages of their position as network operators, in terms of economies of scale/scope, on the downstream competitive markets. This article deals with the principles defined by the ECJ in the Chronopost ruling

Chronopost v. Ufex: The Paradoc of the Competing Monopolist Symposium on European Competition Law

On July 3, 2003, in the Chronopost judgment, the European Court of Justice ( ECJ or the Court ) defined the conditions under which a public undertaking, enjoying a legal monopoly for the provision of services of general interest, can provide services to its subsidiaries without infringing Article 87(1) of the EC Treaty. The impact of this judgment on European Community ( EC ) state aid policy and public services is potentially large, in both legal and practical terms. The ruling casts light on the real dilemma underlying the application of state aid rules to the circumstances of the case: how to allow public companies, entrusted with a network enabling them to provide a given service to all users, to operate in competitive markets while, at the same time, preventing these public operators from unduly exploiting the specific advantages of their position as network operators, in terms of economies of scale/scope, on the downstream competitive markets. This article deals with the principles defined by the ECJ in the Chronopost ruling

Chronic hyperplastic anemia as an independent risk factor for atherosclerotic lesions: a lesson from thalassemia intermedia

Introduction. Cardiovascular involvement represents a well-known complication and the primary cause of mortality, both in transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia major (β-TM) and in transfusion-independent beta thalassemia intermedia (β-TI). In β-TM, heart iron overload is considered the main cause of this complication. This is likely due to poor adherence to iron-chelating therapy, resulting in the inability of the body to efficiently remove iron excess derived from transfused red blood cell breakdown. Different clinical pictures may instead be evoked in cardiovascular involvement occurring in β-TI; however, until now, no factor has emerged as the major one responsible for these complications. 
Design and Methods. In the present study, iron status, and lipid profiles in serum, as well as lipid content in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were evaluated in 70 adult β-TM and in 22 adult β-TI patients. Ninety-two age-matched blood donors, free from any form of thalassemia, were utilized as controls. The mRNA levels of genes involved in the regulation of iron metabolism, such as interleukine 1 alfa (IL1α), tumor necrosis factor alfa (TNFα), as well as those involved in cholesterol homeostasis, such as acetyl-coenzymeA: cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT-1), neutral cholesterol ester hydrolase (nCEH), and ATP binding cassette-A (ABCA1), were also evaluated in PBMCs from the above subjects.
Results. In β-TI patients, serum iron, transferrin saturation and erythropoietin levels were higher, while transferrin and hepcidin were lower, compared to both β-TM and controls. Hepcidin and ILα mRNA levels were found to be reduced in β-TI-PBMCs, while those of TNFα were increased. A reduction in total and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (TC and HDL-C) in serum, and an accumulation of neutral lipids (NL), coupled with increased mRNA levels of ACAT-1 and decreased nCEH in PBMCs were also observed in β-TI. 
Conclusions. Since most of the parameters found to be altered in β-TI patients have a key role in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis, we suggest that cardiovascular complications in these patients may be, at least partially, dependent on the occurrence of premature atherosclerotic lesions. 
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Combination quetiapine therapy in the long-term treatment of patients with bipolar I disorder

OBJECTIVE: Determine the long-term effectiveness of quetiapine in combination with standard treatments in preventing relapses for patients with bipolar I disorders METHOD: Twenty-one outpatients with type I bipolar disorder who had inadequate responses to ongoing standard therapies were treated with add-on quetiapine in an open-label study. The quetiapine dose was increased until clinical response occurred. Illness response was assessed using the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale. Relapse rates before and during quetiapine treatment were compared by calculating incidence risk ratios. RESULTS: Quetiapine was added to ongoing standard therapy for 26 to 78 weeks. Thirteen patients received combination therapy for at least 52 weeks. The mean quetiapine dose received was 518 ± 244 mg/day. There were highly significant improvements in overall relapse rate, manic/mixed relapse rate, and depression relapse rate in the period during quetiapine treatment compared with the period before quetiapine was initiated. The calculated relative risk of relapse in the absence of quetiapine treatment was 2.9 overall (95% confidence interval, 1.5~5.6), 3.3 for manic/mixed relapse (95% confidence interval, 1.5~7.1), and 2.4 for depressive relapse (95% confidence interval, 1.3~4.4). The mean Clinical Global Impression scores improved significantly from baseline during 26 weeks of quetiapine treatment in 21 patients (p = 0.002) and remained significantly better during a 52-week treatment period in 13 patients (p = 0.036). CONCLUSION: Long-term treatment with quetiapine combination therapy reduced the probability of manic/mixed and depressive relapses and improved symptoms in patients with bipolar I disorder who had inadequate responses to ongoing standard treatment

Does Living in Previously Exposed Malaria or Warm Areas is Associated with a Lower Risk of Severe COVID-19 Infection in Italy?

Incidence of Covid-19 positivity (21/2/2020-28/3/2020) in provinces of 4 Italian regions whose territory was described as previously exposed to Malaria was compared with those of other provinces of the same regions. The climate of such provinces was compared with the climate of the other provinces in some regions. Previously malarial areas show a lower risk than other provinces of the same regions: Mantua (Lombardy) RR=0.94 (CI95%0.89-0.99); Venice-Rovigo (Veneto) RR=0.61 (CI95%0.58-0.65); Ferrara-Ravenna (Emilia-Romagna) RR=0.37 (CI95%0.35-0.41); Cagliari Oristano-South Sardinia (Sardinia) RR=0.25 (0.17-0.31). The maximum temperature in March 2020 in those provinces was higher in mean 1.5° for other provinces. The lower frequency of COVID-19 in the provinces previously exposed to Malaria of four Italian regions does not reveal a causal link. The phenomenon has emerged independently in all the regions investigated. People born between the 1920s and 1950s were those most exposed to malaria years ago and today are the most exposed to the severest forms of COVID-19. A warmer climate seems to be associated with a lower risk of COVID, in line with the evidence highlighted in equatorial states where a lower lethality of the virus has emerged, however this regardless of the presence of Malaria. This may suggest that climate and not Malaria is the real risk factor, though further studies need to determine the role of the association climate / COVID

Co-infection of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Respiratory Infections Caused by SARS-CoV-2

Abstract: Viral respiratory infections are often associated with bacterial co-infections that often lead to increased severity and mortality of the disease. During the recent pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), hospitalized patients reported developing secondary bacterial infections ranging from 0 to 40% of the cases. In the previous influenza pandemics, Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most isolated bacterial pathogen causing increased mortality in patients affected by viral pneumonia. Due to the difficulty to detect pneumococcal infection in SARSCoV-2 patients by a rapid clinical test, the real prevalence of S. pneumoniae might be underestimated, and only a few cases have been documented so far. It has been estimated that 90% of patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit are empirically treated with antimicrobial. The application of more rapid and sensitive diagnostic methods could help with targeted antibiotic therapy. Additionally, pneumococcal vaccination of high-risk individuals could reduce bacterial pneumonia, hospital admissions, and comorbidities associated with serious illness

Atividades de retextualização do gênero receita médica em contextos de comunicação médico-paciente

In this study, which focuses on the communication between physicians and patients in medical consultation contexts, we analyze the retextualization activities used by patients in the process of (re)readings of the discursive medical prescription genre. The following question arises: What retextualization forms or strategies do patients use to understand the prescription? From the methodological point of view, it is a study of a qualitative approach, carried out through the bibliographic method, supported by the dialogical conception of Bakhtin’s language (2011 [1979]); as well as Marcuschi (2010a [2001]), when dealing with retextualization; and Adam (1992), Bronckart (2008/2012) and Dolz and Schneuwly (2004), on discursive genres. And also, field research, carried out in three Basic Health Units (BHUs), where the medical prescriptions that make up the corpus presented in this study were recorded. The analyzes guide some conclusions: i) the strategies and / or mechanisms for retextualizing the medical recipes that patients are involved, constitute an ideological continuum of organization of the modalities of use of the language (oral or written), mediated by the textual genres; and ii) understanding, which encompasses the whole process, both during consultation and outside it, is therefore through interactive and dialogical practices, in which the social literacy of each subject enables them to re-signify social roles and practices in the world.Neste estudo, que tem como foco a comunicação entre médicos e pacientes em contextos de consulta médica, analisa-se atividades de retextualização utilizadas por pacientes no processo de (re)leituras do gênero discursivo receita médica. Parte-se do seguinte questionamento: Quais as formas ou estratégias de retextualização que pacientes utilizam para a compreensão da receita médica? Do ponto de vista metodológico, constitui-se de um estudo de abordagem qualitativa, realizado através do método bibliográfico, apoiado na concepção dialógica da linguagem de Bakhtin (2011 [1979]); bem como Marcuschi (2010a [2001]), ao tratar de retextualização; e Adam (1992), Bronckart (2008/2012) e Dolz e Schneuwly (2004), sobre gêneros discursivos. E também, pesquisa de campo, realizada em três Unidades Básicas de Saúde (UBS), onde foi feito o registro das receitas médicas que compõem o corpus apresentado neste estudo. As análises orientam algumas conclusões: i) as estratégias e/ou mecanismos de retextualização das receitas médicas que os pacientes se envolvem, constituem um continuum ideológico de organização das modalidades de uso da língua (oral ou escrita), mediada pelos gêneros textuais; e ii) a compreensão, que engloba todo o processo, tanto durante a consulta, como fora dela, acontece, portanto, por meio de práticas interativas e dialógicas, nas quais os letramentos sociais de cada sujeito lhes possibilitam uma ressignificação dos papéis e práticas sociais no mundo