Characterization of The Role of Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) in Mammalian Development

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Towards a Decision Support System for environmental emergencies management in poor settlements in the Kathmandu Valley (Nepal)

The output of the collaboration among ASIA Onlus and the University of Trento (Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering) in the analysis of environmental risk occurrences in the Kathmandu Valley is presented. Aim of the study was to design and implement a prototype of a practical Decision Support System for environmental emergencies management for the informal poor settlements in Kathmandu. Intensive fieldwork and analysis have been carried out to collect the necessary input data for the application. The population of informal urbanized areas has been involved with a participatory approach to discover perception and behaviors during environmental emergency occurrences and to share knowledge and procedures in risk management. The study focuses on one poor-area in the Kathmandu Valley considering flooding, earthquake and fire as environmental risks and aims to be extended to the entire city with the direct involvement of local authorities

International Cooperation and University Agreements: new opportunities for sustainable development.

Internationalization of higher education institutes is becoming a real opportunity of development in environmental and social subjects. This paper explores a case study where university agreements and student exchanges between low-middle income and high-income countries have started a process of international cooperation about environmental themes. The agreements, signed between two Italian and two Bolivian Universities, started formally in 2015 and include the cooperation through local authorities, private companies and non-governmental organizations. This case study proved the importance of Universities for implementing international programs concerning environmental issues in low-middle income countries, opening new opportunities for sustainable development

Pulmonary rehabilitation improves functional outcomes and quality of life in post-SARS-CoV-2 mild-to-moderate infection patients: a pilot study

: SARS-CoV-2 infection impairs functional outcomes and quality of life, even in its mild-to-moderate form. It is therefore appropriate to draw attention to the role played by respiratory rehabilitation and physiotherapists in the pulmonary rehabilitation process that post-SARS-CoV-2 patients must undergo. We enrolled 80 patients in a prospective case-control study; 40 cases (mild-to-moderate post-SARS-CoV-2 infection patients) and 38 control subjects (i.e. patients affected by other respiratory diseases) completed a full pulmonary rehabilitation cycle. 6 Minute Walking Distance, Borg CR10 Scale, modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) Dyspnoea scale, EuroQoL EQ-5D-3L questionnaire, Barthel scale, arterial blood gas test and peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) were compared for all patients before and after rehabilitation. All patients experienced significant improvements in all parameters analyzed, except for arterial blood gas test. Results were similar for both groups, in particular both groups experienced improvements in mMRC scale, EuroQoL questionnaire, Barthel scale and 6-minute walking distance. Pulmonary rehabilitation appears to improve exercise tolerance, dyspnea and quality of life in patients recovering from mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection. Further studies are needed on larger sample size population to validate these results

Unidirectional endobronchial valves for management of persistent air-leaks. Results of a multicenter study

Background: To evaluate the efficacy of Endo-Bronchial Valves in the management of persistent air-leaks (PALs) and the procedural cost. Methods: It was a retrospective multicenter study including consecutive patients with PALs for alveolar pleural fistula (APF) undergoing valve treatment. We assessed the efficacy and the cost of the procedure. Results: Seventy-four patients with persistent air leaks due to various etiologies were included in the analysis. In all cases the air leaks were severe and refractory to standard treatments. Sixty-seven (91%) patients underwent valve treatment obtaining a complete resolution of air-leaks in 59 (88%) patients; a reduction of air-leaks in 6 (9%); and no benefits in 2 (3%). The comparison of data before and after valve treatment showed a significant reduction of air-leak duration (16.2±8.8 versus 5.0±1.7 days; P<0.0001); chest tube removal (16.2±8.8 versus 7.3±2.7 days; P<0.0001); and length of hospital stay (LOS) (16.2±8.8 versus 9.7±2.8 days; P=0.004). Seven patients not undergoing valve treatment underwent pneumo-peritoneum with pleurodesis (n=6) or only pleurodesis (n=1). In only 1 (14%) patient, the chest drainage was removed 23 days later while the remaining 6 (86%) were discharged with a domiciliary chest drainage removed after 157±41 days. No significant difference was found in health cost before and after endobronchial valve (EBV) implant (P=0.3). Conclusions: Valve treatment for persistent air leaks is an effective procedure. The reduction of hospitalization costs related to early resolution of air-leaks could overcome the procedural cost

coastal erosion triggered by political and socio economical abrupt changes the case of lalzit bay albania

Countries that undergo abrupt changes in their political regimes, such as the transition from totalitarianism to systems based on democratic principles, experience socio-economic changes that may also have a direct impact on the trans- formation and the anthropic pressure applied to the environment. This can ranges from the scale of small communities to larger spatial scales, such as that of a catchment basin. The rise of a liberal society in countries such as the Eastern European nations, often lacks a structure capable of regulating and planning the development of the territory and the use of natural resources, which should be aimed at conciliating the new development needs with the sustainable man- agement of the environment. This paper describes and analyses the extensive coastal erosion that has taken place over the past thirty years in Lalzit Bay, Albania, which may be attributed to the great social and economic transformations that occurred in the country after the fall of Enver Hoxa's communist regime in 1991, and the consequent changes in land use. These led to a significant reduction in the volume of sediment carried by rivers, which was necessary for the morphological equilibrium of the coast and its natural replenishment

Testing new tools for introducing the global dimension in engineering education

Resumen del trabajo presentado en la 5th International Conference on Technologies for Development, celebrada en Lausana (Suiza) del 27 al 29 de junio de 2018.Engineers with a broader capacity are needed to contribute to the realization of the SDGs. Though a number of technical universities have recently devoted efforts to integrating sustainable development into engineering curricula, current international debates have not yet explored in detail the role that Higher Education should play within Global Citizenship Education. Here we present lessons learned from a European initiative, the Global Dimension in Engineering Education (GDEE), promoted by a transdisciplinary consortium of technical universities and nongovernmental organisations. GDEE (http://gdee.eu) has developed specific novel tools to widen the training of Engineers in Europe, and to include global development aspects into their professional competences. There are increasing needs to further transform learning and training environments and build capacity of educators and trainers on sustainable development issues (Perez-Foguet et al., 2017). The work discusses project-based training and a recently launched honors programme that represent promising tools to set possible ways forward

Preoperative Multiparametric Ultrasound and Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology evaluation of parotid gland tumors : which is the best technique?

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Societatea Romana de Ultrasonografie in Medicina si Biologie. All rights reserved.AIMS: To evaluate the pre-surgical diagnostic value of Multiparametric Ultrasound (MPUS) and Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) in differentiating parotid gland tumors, comparing the results with histology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study enrolled 84 patients with parotid gland lesions surgically treated in a single tertiary center and evaluated by MPUS. Each patient underwent FNAC. Histological examination was considered the gold standard. RESULTS: Histology identified 62 benign tumors and 22 malignancies. In the differential diagnosis between malignant and benign lesions, B-mode Ultrasound (US), Color-Doppler US, Contrast-Enhanced US (CEUS), Elastography (USE) and FNAC showed the following values of sensitivity: 82%, 81%, 86%, 77%, 73% respectively; specificity: 97%, 61%, 95%, 71%, 97% respectively; PPV: 90%, 43%, 86%, 50%, 89% respectively; NPV: 93%, 90%, 95%, 88%, 91% respectively; and accuracy: 89%, 71%, 90%, 78%, 84% re-spectively. CONCLUSIONS: CEUS proved to be a valid and accurate method for identifying malignant tumors of parotid gland; the combination of B-mode US with CEUS showed similar diagnostic accuracy, but better sensitivity than CEUS taken alone. USE did not improve the diagnostic performance of the B-mode US, alone or in association with CEUS; however, it revealed the highest diagnostic accuracy in the differentiation between benign lesions. FNAC demonstrated lower values in comparison with CEUS and with USE. Therefore, according to our study, MPUS could be proposed as a valid alternative to FNAC.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Testing new tools for introducing the global dimension in engineering education

Testing new tools for introducing the global dimension in engineering educatio