The European bus system of the future: Research and innovation

The development of a new generation of bus systems was the goal of the European Bus System of the Future (EBSF) project, funded by the European Commission within the 7th Framework Program. To accomplish this, a series of very different innovative solutions for buses (such as new vehicle layouts, advanced remote maintenance systems, improved on-board communication systems, more performing bus stops and eco-efficient engines) were simultaneously tested in seven Use Cases (UCs) in Europe (Bremerhaven, Brunoy, Budapest, Gothenburg, Madrid, Rome and Rouen). All the tested measures had to increase the attractiveness and improve the image of the mode. The efficiency of all of them was assessed as well as their transferability to other European contexts. The paper describes the tested solutions and focuses on the assessment methodology, the main results achieved and the drivers and barriers for the transfer of such solutions across Europe

Smart High-Throughput Experimentation

This PhD project aimed to improve the effectiveness of a trial-and-error approach to olefin polymerization catalysis, one of the most important chemical technologies, by means of High Throughput Experimentation (HTE) methodologies. The project was hosted at the Laboratory of Stereoselective Polymerizations (LSP) of the Federico II University, which is world-leading in HTE catalyst screenings with optimization purposes, and sponsored by HTExplore srl, an academic spin-off of LSP delivering HTE services to polyolefin producers. The general objective was to introduce protocols for ‘smart’ applications of the existing HTE workflow of LSP to complex chemical problems in polyolefin catalysis. In particular, methods for the rapid and accurate determination of the Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (QSAR) of representative molecular or heterogeneous catalyst formulations were implemented as the basis for statistical modeling with predictive ability

An analysis on health care costs due to accidents involving powered two wheelers to increase road safety

Powered Two Wheelers (PTWs) provide a convenient mode for a large portion of population in many cities. At the same time PTWs present serious system problems, the most important being poorer safety if compared to other motorized modes. But even when lower safety levels are acknowledged, problems behind are far from being solved. Rome is an example: although PTWs accidents rates are not negligible, the need for a specific safety policy is still unmet. Therefore the local Mobility Agency appointed the authors of this paper for a study of PTWs accidents occurring in the urban area. An assessment of the associated health care costs was also required. The objective of the paper is to report the main outcomes of this study highlighting recurring features of PTWs accidents, the high health care costs and how to quantify the economic resources to improve safety. The methodology was based on three steps: i) an analysis of the causes of PTWs accidents, which resulted into the location of black spots and assessment of the severity of the events; ii) the estimation of health care costs after a scientific literature review; iii) the association of health care costs to black spots and accidents severity to rank interventions to improve PTWs safety. This led to a final list of roads where PTWs accidents of the highest severity occurred and the required economic resources to improve their safety level. This stressed, for the first time, the unaffordable expenditures due to PTWs accidents. In conclusion, the issue whether the awareness of such costs can be used as leverage for more mindful behaviors among the riders is addressed

Car Sharing in Rome: a Case Study to Support Sustainable Mobility

AbstractAlthough a “niche” measure, Car Sharing (CS) in Rome proved to be popular and worthy of a city-wide upscale. This prompted the municipality to develop an expansion plan. The authors, responsible for this plan, had to appraise whether CS could be successfully transferred to other locations and assess the environmental benefits thus far achieved as a way to increase CS attractiveness. The paper describes the methodology used and the main results i.e., the operational thresholds and the quality of the built environment required to start operating the service successfully in new districts of the city, along with the benefits for the community, especially under the environmental point of view

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and sepsis

We retrospectively analyzed data from 600 post-cardiac surgery patients in order to evaluate the incremental value of performing 4Ts Test and EuroSCORE test for prediction of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia

Sex differences in adherence to guidelines in aspirin prescription in a population of low-risk cardiovascular patients

Aspirin is widely used in low risk patients with cardiovascular disease to prevent thrombosis, despite the increasing risk of bleeding. We evaluated the adherence to guidelines in aspirin prescription in 2095 patients (960 men (45.8%) and 1135 women (54.2%), mean age 58 ± 12 years) affected by minor rectal hemorrhage

Alcohol mixed with energy drinks and arrhythmias

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Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia in Cardiac Surgery Patients

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Spin–orbit coupling controlling the superconducting dome of artificial superlattices of quantum wells

While it is known that a resonant amplification of Tc in two-gap superconductors can be driven by using the Fano-Feshbach resonance tuning the chemical potential near a Lifshitz transition, little is known on tuning the Tc resonance by cooperative interplay of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC) joint with phonon mediated (e-ph) pairing at selected k-space spots. Here we present first-principles quantum calculation of superconductivity in an artificial heterostructure of metallic quantum wells with 3 nm period where quantum size effects give two-gap superconductivity with RSOC controlled by the internal electric field at the interface between the nanoscale metallic layers intercalated by insulating spacer layers. The key results of this work show that fundamental quantum mechanics effects including RSCO at the nanoscale (Mazziotti et al Phys. Rev. B, 103, 024523, 2021) provide key tools in applied physics for quantitative material design of unconventional high temperature superconductors at ambient pressure. We discuss the superconducting domes where Tc is a function of either the Lifshitz parameter (?) measuring the distance from the topological Lifshitz transition for the appearing of a new small Fermi surface due to quantum size effects with finite spin-orbit coupling and the variable e-ph coupling g in the appearing second Fermi surface linked with the softening of the phonon energy cut off.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure