Oxidative Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Liver Diseases: From Systems Biology to the Personalized Medicine

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Augmented Collective Digital Twins for Self-Organising Cyber-Physical Systems

Context. Self-organising and collective computing approaches are increasingly applied to large-scale cyber-physical systems (CPS), enabling them to adapt and cooperate in dynamic environments. Also, in CPS engineering, digital twins are often leveraged to provide synchronised logical counterparts of physical entities, whereas in sensor networks the different-but-related concept of virtual device is used e.g. to abstract groups of sensors. Vision. We envision the design concept of 'augmented collective digital twin' that captures digital twins at a collective level extended with purely virtual devices. We argue that this concept can foster the engineering of self-organising CPS by providing a holistic, declarative, and integrated system view. Method. From a review and proposed taxonomy of logical devices comprehending both digital twins and virtual devices, we reinterpret a meta-model for self-organising CPSs and discuss how it can support augmented collective digital twins. We illustrate the approach in a crowd-aware navigation scenario, where virtual devices are opportunistically integrated into the system to enhance spatial coverage, improving navigation capabilities. Conclusion. By integrating physical and virtual devices, the novel notion of augmented collective digital twin paves the way to self-improving system functionality and intelligent use of resources in self-organising CPSs. Conclusion. By integrating physical and virtual devices, the novel notion of augmented collective digital twin paves the way to self-improving system functionality and intelligent use of resources in self-organising CPSs

Treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal: A new strategies with anti-EGFR therapy and immunotherapy

The incidence of squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal (SCAC) is increasing in both sexes but the standard treatment remains that of 20 years ago. However, interesting data have recently emerged on the use of anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) agents and immunotherapy in advanced disease. Thus, new avenues of research are opening up that will hopefully lead to more effective therapeutic strategies. We provide an overview of the latest studies published on this tumor and discuss the possible future therapeutic options for combination therapy, anti-EGFR treatment and radiotherapy

Ultrasound as first line step in anaemia diagnostics

This review covers the role of ultrasonography as an essential non-invasive diagnostic approach when facing patients with anaemia, a common clinical problem. Abdomen ultrasound is well recognised as a first-line examination in the setting of blood loss, both acute and chronic. Less is clear about the additional opportunities, given by ultrasound in anaemia, due to the many other possible causes. Here we provide information on the utility of ultrasound in different contexts and a practical guide for clinicians facing anaemic patients

Treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal (SCCA): A new era?

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INCREASE OF REPORTS OF SUSPECTED ADVERSE DRUG REACTIONS IN ONCOLOGY

Objective: The information of safety of antineoplastic agents derives solely from clinical studies that have a number of limitations, such as the number of patients enrolled, selected case studies, follow-up of short duration; therefore, it is not possible to identify the complete profile of safety and possible side effects of the drugs under study. ADRs monitoring and reporting programmes aim to identifying and quantifying the risks associated with the use of drugs provided in a hospital setting. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the ADRs that occurred during hospitalization for chemotherapy in 7 cancer centers, and to facilitate the development of a monitoring system of pharmacovigilance. Methods: An observational study was conducted in 7 cancer centers in the Emilia Romagna region over a period of 2 years, from January 2012 to January 2014. This study was based on an analysis of ADRs reported. Several parameters were utilised in the data evaluation, including drug and reaction characteristics. Results: From January 2012 to January 2014 No. 884 ADRs were included in National Network of pharmacovigilance. The highest ADR rate (57.4%) was found in the adult females with a mean age of 62. The oncology drug most frequently reported were taxanes and platinum derivates. Conclusion: The results obtained will contribute to the development of strategies for the pharmacovigilance service in 7 cancer centers, which will improve the quality of ADR reporting and ensure safer oncology drug use

Optimization and characterization of tungsten thick coatings on copper based ally substrates

Tungsten is a promising armour material for plasma facing components of nuclear fusion reactors because of its low sputter rate and favourable thermo-mechanical properties. Among all the techniques able to realise W armours, plasma spray looks particularly attractive owing to its simplicity and low cost. The present work concerns the optimisation of spraying parameters aimed at 4–5 mm thickWcoating on copper–chromium–zirconium (Cu,Cr,Zr) alloy substrates. Characterisation of coatings was performed in order to assess microstructure, impurity content, density, tensile strength, adhesion strength, thermal conductivity and thermal expansion coefficient. The work performed has demonstrated the feasibility of thick W coatings on flat and curved geometries. These coatings appear as a reliable armour for medium heat flux plasma facing component

A Methodology and Simulation-Based Toolchain for Estimating Deployment Performance of Smart Collective Services at the Edge

Research trends are pushing artificial intelligence (AI) across the Internet of Things (IoT)-edge-fog-cloud continuum to enable effective data analytics, decision making, as well as the efficient use of resources for QoS targets. Approaches for collective adaptive systems (CASs) engineering, such as aggregate computing, provide declarative programming models and tools for dealing with the uncertainty and the complexity that may arise from scale, heterogeneity, and dynamicity. Crucially, aggregate computing architecture allows for 'pulverization': applications can be decomposed into many deployable micromodules that can be spread across the ICT infrastructure, thus allowing multiple potential deployment configurations for the same application logic. This article studies the deployment architecture of aggregate-based edge services and its implications in terms of performance and cost. The goal is to provide methodological guidelines and a model-based toolchain for the generation and simulation-based evaluation of potential deployments. First, we address this subject methodologically by proposing an approach based on deployment code generators and a simulation phase whose obtained solutions are assessed with respect to their performance and costs. We then tailor this approach to aggregate computing applications deployed onto an IoT-edge-fog-cloud infrastructure, and we develop a corresponding toolchain based on Protelis and EdgeCloudSim. Finally, we evaluate the approach and tools through a case study of edge multimedia streaming, where the edge ecosystem exhibits intelligence by self-organizing into clusters to promote load balancing in large-scale dynamic settings

Robust Online Magnet Demagnetization Diagnosis in Asymmetrical Six-Phase AC Permanent Magnet Motor Drives

Rotor magnets are critical components, which in case of fault, directly affect the performance of drives based on permanent magnet synchronous motors. Thus, monitoring the rotor magnets status is essential to ensure both high level of efficiency and service continuity. The present study focuses on the investigation of a new full-time domain-based method for the diagnosis of incipient rotor magnet demagnetization in a vector-controlled asymmetrical six-phase surface-mounted ac permanent magnet synchronous motor. The proposed strategy evaluates the rotor magnet demagnetization using a fault index derived from the control signals synthetized in the 5th subspace, and already available in the control system platform. The main advantages of the proposed new strategy are its simplicity of implementation, and effectiveness even under time-varying operating conditions as the employed control signals in specific subspaces have a dc behavior. Extensive numerical simulations and experimental tests, carried out at different speed and load levels, have shown the validity of the proposed method, leading to an effective diagnostic procedure for a vector-controlled asymmetrical six-phase surface-mounted ac PMSM