Valutazione clinica dello strumento robotico Da Vinci nella chirurgia polmonare

Purpose. The main end point of the study was to compare the surgical performance of robot-assisted pulmonary lobectomy with open (thoracotomy) lobectomy for clinical stage I (T1a N0 – T2a N0; T <5 cm) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Secondary end points were description of short and mid-term clinical outcomes of the robotic procedure, in particular in terms of pain perception and quality of life. Methods. A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data was performed, concerning totally endoscopic robotic lobectomies (RL) performed between January 2011 and December 2013 on 86 patients for Stage I NSCLC. The robotic procedures were conducted employing a four-arm robotic device (Da Vinci Robotic System) through a five port minimally invasive access (a fifth utility port was needed for insertion of suction devices and gauze placement). After lobectomy, a systematic lymphadenectomy was performed in all cases. The surgical outcomes were subsequently compared to a cohort of 160 patients who afforded standard “open” lobectomy (OL) in the same period, and the data were matched to the robotic group using propensity scores for a series of pre-determined preoperative variables. Results. Clinical and pathologic characteristics were similar between the two groups. Conversion from robotic to open surgery was necessary in 4 cases. Median operating time was 168 min (110 – 308 min) for robotic procedures and 122 min (97 – 145 min) for open procedures. Median number of lymph nodes removed and rate of major complication were similar in the 2 groups. Pain perception in the first three post-operative days was significantly lower in the robotic cohort. Median postoperative drainage and hospitalization time were similar between two groups. Quality of life, determined by the Short Form Health Survey (SF 12), was evaluated after 4 weeks from surgery. A better average mental and physical health perception was evidenced in the RL group as compared to OL (Mental: 56.2 vs 39, p = 0.01; Physical 43.8 vs 32.1, p = 0.04). Conclusions. Robotic lobectomy with lymph node dissection for clinical stage I lung cancer proved to be equal to open lobectomy in terms of surgical performance. Furthermore, robotic approach allows a faster recovery with a long lasting limitation of pain perception, improvement of quality of life and faster return to the preoperative activity level

Modellistica e controllo di un cambio CVT per motoveicolo

Per la nuova serie di moto e scooter di grossa cilindrata, che andrà in produzione nell'estate 2007, Piaggio s.p.a ha realizzato un cambio CVT (Continuous Variable Transimission) elettroattuato. Tale dispositivo è attualmente controllato da un semplice algoritmo. Nel presente lavoro si è effettuata la modellizzazione del CVT con l'ausilio di Matlab-Simulink. Il modello è stato identificato e validato. Quindi è stato progettato un controllore PID che garantisce prestazioni migliori di quello originario, soprattutto in termini di precisione nel posizionamento della puleggia mobile che determina il rapporto di trasmissione effettivo. Successivamente è stato realizzato un modello longitudinale dei motoveicoli che utilizzeranno tale cambio CVT, in base al quale sono state realizzare due strategie di controllo secondo le specifiche fornite da Piaggio: massimizzare le prestazioni del veicolo in qualsiasi condizione di andatura e percorso, e minimizzare i consumi sulla prova di emissioni ministeriale ECE-EUDC. Il controllo di prestazione massima è stato realizzato con la teoria del controllo ottimo ed il principio del minimo di Pontryagin; il controllo dei consumi invece è stato realizzato con una procedura di ottimizzazione algebrica. Dopo essere stato verificato sulla prova richiesta, tale algoritmo è stato modificato per essere utilizzato su qualsiasi percorso. Successivamente sono stati applicati al modello reale del CVT e confrontati con gli algoritmi attualmente implementati: da questa analisi si sono ottenuti miglioramenti fino al 3% per la prestazione massima del veicolo, e fino al 34.2% nell'economizzazione dei consumi sul ciclo ECE-EUDC

Energy transport in Heisenberg chains beyond the Luttinger liquid paradigm

We study the energy transport between two interacting spin chains which are initially separated, held at different temperatures and subsequently put in contact. We consider the spin-1/2 XXZ model in the gapless regime and exploit its integrability properties to formulate an analytical Ansatz for the non-equilibrium steady state even at temperatures where the low-energy Luttinger liquid description is not accurate. We apply our method to compute the steady energy current and benchmark it both with the known low-energy limit and at higher temperatures with numerical simulations. We find an excellent agreement even at high temperatures, where the Luttinger liquid prediction is shown to fail.Comment: 5 pages + 3 suppl. mat., 5 figure

Energy transport between two integrable spin chains

We study the energy transport in a system of two half-infinite XXZ chains initially kept separated at different temperatures, and later connected and let free to evolve unitarily. By changing independently the parameters of the two halves, we highlight, through bosonisation and time-dependent matrix-product-state simulations, the different contributions of low-lying bosonic modes and of fermionic quasi-particles to the energy transport. In the simulations we also observe that the energy current reaches a finite value which only slowly decays to zero. The general pictures that emerges is the following. Since integrability is only locally broken in this model, a pre-equilibration behaviour may appear. In particular, when the sound velocities of the bosonic modes of the two halves match, the low-temperature energy current is almost stationary and described by a formula with a non-universal prefactor interpreted as a transmission coefficient. Thermalisation, characterized by the absence of any energy flow, occurs only on longer time-scales which are not accessible with our numerics.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figure

Model and Solution Methods for the Mixed-Fleet Multi-Terminal Bus Scheduling Problem

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willingness to pay for innovation the case of the anti hcv drugs from the italian national health service perspective

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Energy transport in an integrable parafermionic chain via generalized hydrodynamics

We study energy transport in the integrable Z3 parafermionic chain using the partitioning protocol. By exploiting the Bethe-ansatz solution for the thermodynamics of the system, we develop a generalized hydrodynamic description of the nonequilibrium steady states, which we benchmark using numerical simulations based on matrix product states. The model features a low-energy conformal limit with central charge c=45, which affects the low-temperature energy current, as we explicitly show. Moreover, we exploit that, for energies close to the maximally excited state, the system is also critical and described by a conformal field theory with c=1. By considering the two halves prepared at two temperatures both low in value but opposite in sign, we are able to investigate in an exact and controlled way the junction between two conformal field theories with different central charges. Notwithstanding the absence of global conformal invariance, we find results that approximate to a high degree those of out-of-equilibrium conformal field theories. Our study extends the generalized hydrodynamics to a framework where it can be profitably used for exploring new physical phenomena

Chemical reactivity of thermal treated naturally occurring amphibole asbestos

Non-occupational (environmental) exposure to naturally occurring asbestos (NOA) represents a potentially important source of risk for human health in several parts of the world. Chemical reactivity of fibres surface is one of the most relevant physical-chemical property to asbestos toxicity and is commonly associateci to the presence of Fe at the surface, and in particular to its coordination and oxidation state. However, no detailed information is still available about dependence of chemical reactivity on surface iron topochemistry, which is the basis for defining structure-activity relationships. In this work the chemical reactivity of two amphibole asbestos samples, UICC crocidolite from Koegas Mine, Northern Cape (South Africa) and fibrous tremolite from Montgomery County, Maryland (USA), was investigateci after sample heating up to 1200 °c. Ex-situ X-ray powder diffraction (XRPS and the Rietveld method), scanning (SEM) and transmission (TEM) electron microscopy were used for characterizing the minerai fibres before and after the thermal treatment. In addition, thermal stability of the of the amphibole asbestos was analysed in-situ by TG/DSC. Two conventional target molecules (H202 and Hcoo-) and the DMPO spintrapping/ EPR technique were used to measure the radical activity of both pristine and thermal treated samples. Results show that, after thermal treatment, both amphibole asbestos are completely converted into hematite, cristobalite and pyroxene, stili preserving the originai fibrous morphology (pseudomorphosis). Notably, in spite of the thermal decomposition, the heated samples show a radical production comparable to that of the pristine ones

A multilevel data integration resource for breast cancer study

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancer types. Due to the complexity of this disease, it is important to face its study with an integrated and multilevel approach, from genes, transcripts and proteins to molecular networks, cell populations and tissues. According to the systems biology perspective, the biological functions arise from complex networks: in this context, concepts like molecular pathways, protein-protein interactions (PPIs), mathematical models and ontologies play an important role for dissecting such complexity. RESULTS: In this work we present the Genes-to-Systems Breast Cancer (G2SBC) Database, a resource which integrates data about genes, transcripts and proteins reported in literature as altered in breast cancer cells. Beside the data integration, we provide an ontology based query system and analysis tools related to intracellular pathways, PPIs, protein structure and systems modelling, in order to facilitate the study of breast cancer using a multilevel perspective. The resource is available at the URL http://www.itb.cnr.it/breastcancer. CONCLUSIONS: The G2SBC Database represents a systems biology oriented data integration approach devoted to breast cancer. By means of the analysis capabilities provided by the web interface, it is possible to overcome the limits of reductionist resources, enabling predictions that can lead to new experiments