Lentikat®-based Biocatalysts: Effective Tools for Inulin Hydrolysis

A commercial inulinase preparation from Aspergillus niger was immobilized into polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel lenticular particles (Lentikats®) and into hemispheric-shaped capsules, both based on the use of LentiKat® liquid. The characterization of the resulting biocatalysts, aiming at inulin hydrolysis to fructose, was performed, and the two methods of immobilization were compared. Temperature and pH profiles, as well as kinetic constants were determined, for both free and immobilized enzyme preparations. A broader-shaped curve was observed for the pH-activity profile when immobilized forms were compared to the free form. The apparent KM of inulinase increased roughly 2-fold upon immobilization in either form of the support particles, suggesting diffusion limitations of inulin inside the gel. Long-term operation with immobilized enzymes proved unfeasible above 55 °C, due to the lack of mechanical stability of the supports tested. When the temperature of incubation was lowered to 50 °C, the hemispheric form of the immobilized enzyme displayed considerable long-term operational stability, since it allowed 20 repeated, consecutive batch-mode runs, with a final decay in product yield of 20 %. When inulinase immobilized in Lentikats® particles was used, the final decay in product yield was roughly 70 %

Astrophysics with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will be a transformative experiment for gravitational wave astronomy, and, as such, it will offer unique opportunities to address many key astrophysical questions in a completely novel way. The synergy with ground-based and space-born instruments in the electromagnetic domain, by enabling multi-messenger observations, will add further to the discovery potential of LISA. The next decade is crucial to prepare the astrophysical community for LISA’s first observations. This review outlines the extensive landscape of astrophysical theory, numerical simulations, and astronomical observations that are instrumental for modeling and interpreting the upcoming LISA datastream. To this aim, the current knowledge in three main source classes for LISA is reviewed; ultra-compact stellar-mass binaries, massive black hole binaries, and extreme or interme-diate mass ratio inspirals. The relevant astrophysical processes and the established modeling techniques are summarized. Likewise, open issues and gaps in our understanding of these sources are highlighted, along with an indication of how LISA could help making progress in the different areas. New research avenues that LISA itself, or its joint exploitation with upcoming studies in the electromagnetic domain, will enable, are also illustrated. Improvements in modeling and analysis approaches, such as the combination of numerical simulations and modern data science techniques, are discussed. This review is intended to be a starting point for using LISA as a new discovery tool for understanding our Universe

Fully general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of accretion flows onto spinning massive black hole binary mergers

We perform the first suite of fully general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of spinning massive black hole binary mergers. We consider binary black holes with spins of different magnitudes aligned to the orbital angular momentum, which are immersed in a hot, magnetized gas cloud. We investigate the effect of the spin and degree of magnetization (defined through the fluid parameter \u3b2-1pmag/pfluid) on the properties of the accretion flow. We find that magnetized accretion flows are characterized by more turbulent dynamics, as the magnetic field lines are twisted and compressed during the late inspiral. Postmerger, the polar regions around the spin axis of the remnant Kerr black hole are magnetically dominated, and the magnetic field strength is increased by a factor approximately 102 (independently from the initial value of \u3b2-1). The magnetized gas in the equatorial plane acquires higher angular momentum and settles in a thin circular structure around the black hole. We find that mass accretion rates of magnetized configurations are generally smaller than in the unmagnetized cases by up to a factor approximately 3. Black hole spins have also a suppressing effect on the accretion rate, as large as approximately 48%. As a potential driver for electromagnetic emission, we follow the evolution of the Poynting luminosity, which increases after merger up to a factor approximately 2 with increasing spin, regardless of the initial level of magnetization of the fluid. Our results stress the importance of taking into account both spins and magnetic fields when studying accretion processes onto merging massive black holes

GRMHD simulations of accretion flows onto unequal-mass, precessing massive binary black hole mergers

In this work, we use general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations to explore the effect of spin orientation on the dynamics of gas in the vicinity of merging black holes. We present a suite of eight simulations of unequal-mass, spinning black hole binaries embedded in magnetized clouds of matter. Each binary evolution covers approximately 15 orbits before the coalescence. The geometry of the accretion flows in the vicinity of the black holes is significantly altered by the orientation of the individual spins with respect to the orbital angular momentum, with the primary black hole dominating the mass accretion rate M ̇. We observe quasiperiodic modulations of M ̇ in most of the configurations, whose amplitude is dependent on the orientation of the black hole spins. We find the presence of a relation between the average amplitude of M ̇ and the spin precession parameter χp showing that spin misalignment systematically leads to stronger modulation, whereas configurations with spins aligned to the orbital angular momentum damp out the quasiperiodicity. This finding suggests a possible signature imprinted in the accretion luminosity of precessing binaries approaching merger and has possible consequences on future multimessenger observations of massive binary black hole systems

Sindrome compartimentale addominale da gangrena di Fournier. Case report

Analizzando un complesso caso clinico giunto alla loro attenzione e facendo riferimento alle principali casistiche riportate in letteratura, gli Autori descrivono una sindrome compartimentale addominale conseguente a gangrena di Fournier. Dall’analisi del caso emerge l’importanza di una diagnosi precoce della malattia, in modo da attuare tempestivamente un efficace trattamento medico e chirurgico. Infatti, la particolarità di questo caso non è tanto rappresentata dalla rarità della gangrena di Fournier, quanto dalla comparsa di una sindrome compartimentale addominale conseguente all’estensione della gangrena dallo scroto, attraverso il funicolo spermatico, alla parete e alla cavità addominali. Il trattamento è stato la toilette chirurgica delle zone necrotiche (scroto, parete addominale e cavità addominale) associata ad orchiectomi

Clinical ethics committees and clinical ethics services. A proposal for Italy. = Comitati etici per la pratica clinica e servizi di etica clinica. Una proposta operativa per l’Italia

In Italia, l’entrata in vigore dei provvedimenti riguardanti la riorganizzazione dei Comitati Etici Territoriali (CET) ha riacceso la discussione relativa alla necessità di regolamentare anche lo svolgimento di attività di natura consultiva svolte al fine di affrontare le questioni etiche che possono emergere nella pratica clinica. Le soluzioni prospettate sono ad oggi sostanzialmente tre: affidare ai CET il compito di far fronte anche degli aspetti etici connessi alla pratica clinica; introdurre Comitati etici appositamente istituiti per la pratica clinica; prevedere un intervento su più livelli, che assegni a dei Servizi di etica clinica il compito di assicurare la consulenza etica al letto del malato e la formazione degli operatori sanitari e ai Comitati etici per la partica clinica un ruolo di revisione delle consulenze e di elaborazione di raccomandazioni generali sui temi dell’etica clinica. Il presente contributo intende quindi analizzare e fornire un’interpretazione della questione. A tal fine verranno innanzitutto analizzati i documenti prodotti dal Comitato Nazionale per la Bioetica (CNB) e gli studi condotti in Italia negli ultimi anni che hanno indagato le attitudini degli operatori sanitari sul tema. In secondo luogo, verrà presentato lo scenario attuale e, in particolare, i compiti e le caratteristiche della consulenza etica svolta negli enti assistenziali. Infine, sulla base di quanto esposto, verrà formulata una proposta operativa maturata in seno al Centro di Ricerca in Etica Clinica (CREC) dell’Università degli Studi dell’Insubria.In Italy, the implemented reform concerning the reorganisation of research ethics committees has rekindled the debate on the need to also regulate ethics consultation in relation to ethical issues that may arise in clinical practice. The solutions put forward to date are essentially threefold: to assign research ethics committees also the task of dealing with the ethical aspects of clinical practice; to introduce ethics committees specifically set up for clinical practice; to plan a multilevel intervention, assigning to clinical ethics services the task of providing ethics consultation at the bedside and training of healthcare professionals, and to clinical ethics committees the role of reviewing consultation and drawing up general recommendations on clinical ethics issues. This contribution is therefore intended to analyse and offer an interpretation on this topic. To this end, we will first analyse the documents produced by the Italian National Bioethics Committee and the studies conducted in Italy in recent years that have investigated the attitudes of healthcare professionals on the subject. Secondly, we will present the current scenario and, in particular, the tasks and characteristics of ethics consultation carried out in healthcare institutions. Finally, based on what has been outlined, we will provide an operational proposal developed within the Clinical Ethics Research Centre of the University of Insubria

Experimental assessment of electron ionization cross sections

We report preliminary results of an extensive investigation of theoretical and semi-empirical calculations of electron impact ionization cross sections, detailed by individual shells: they encompass the well known tabulations of the EEDL data library (also distributed within ENDF/B-VII) used by Geant4, MCNP and other codes, recent calculations used in Penelope, as well as other models not yet used in general-purpose Monte Carlo transport codes. All models have been subject to a rigorous validation test against a wide collection of experimental measurements. Special attention has been devoted to possible sources of systematics affecting the validation process, both of physical and mathematical origin. As most of the data reported in the literature as experimental measurements of ionization cross sections actually derive from X-ray production measurements, the systematic effect of different compilations of fluorescence yields has been quantitatively assessed. The compatibility of calculated and experimental cross sections has been further examined with categorical analysis methods to determine whether the observed differences across the various models are statistically significant. The results of this validation process identify objectively and quantitatively the state of the art in modeling electron impact ionization; they are relevant for the improvement of ionization modeling in Monte Carlo codes

Bioethics in italian medical and healthcare education. A pilot study

Background and aim of the work: Bioethics is relevant in healthcare and medical schools. However, unlike other foreign countries, its teaching in Italy has only been recently introduced, it is less extensively offered and no academic standards for bioethics education have been established. This research aims at understanding whether university bioethics courses attendees appreciate and consider teaching strategies to be effective with the objective of validating a coherent didactic approach to the discipline and stimulate further discussion on ways to improve it. Methods: A standardized survey was administered to 1590 students attending undergraduate degree programs in medicine and healthcare at four Italian universities. Results: The majority of interviewees (92.5%) had an interest in bioethics, considered it to be important for any life-sciences-related program (73.5%) and most healthcare (77.2%) and medical students (69.2%) suggested its teaching should be included in their curricula and made mandatory (66.3%) and continuous (57.7%), given its usefulness in clinical practice. Students consider bioethics as a care-integrated practice and appreciate teaching methods where it is integrated into clinical cases. Conceptual specificity and interdisciplinarity may affect the learning process and contribute to enhance students\u2019 analytical skills. Conclusions: Italian bioethics education should be revised to meet students\u2019 expectations and preferences. Its complex, multi-disciplinary and transversal nature suggests bioethical education to be flexible and integrated among different disciplines, thus stimulating a broader critical capacity through cases studies and other interactive teaching methods for helping students better deal with bioethics-inherent difficulties and improve the learning process. (www.actabiomedica.it)