30 research outputs found
Basics and recommendations on influence of future climate change on prediction of operational energy consumption – A contribution to IEA EBC Annex 72
Silence of the lambs: The immunological and molecular mechanisms of covid-19 in children in comparison with adults
Children infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can suffer from severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, compared to adults and the elderly, susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection in children seems to be lower; when infection does develop, most infected children remain asymptomatic or develop a mild disease. Understanding why children seem generally protected from severe COVID-19 and only rarely develop clinical conditions that can cause hospitalization, admission to the pediatric intensive care unit and death can be important. More details on the mechanism of action of SARS-CoV-2 could be defined. Moreover, the role played by children in virus diffusion should be better analyzed, and the development of effective preventive and therapeutic measures against COVID-19 could be favored. The main aim of this paper is to discuss the present knowledge on immunological and molecular mechanisms that could explain differences in COVID-19 clinical manifestations between children and adults. Literature analysis showed that although most children are clearly protected from the development of severe COVID-19, the reasons for this peculiarity are not fully understood. Developmental variations in immune system function together with the potential role of repeated antigen stimulation in the first periods of life on innate immunity are widely studied. As the few children who develop the most severe form of pediatric COVID-19 have certain alterations in the immune system response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, studies about the relationships between SARS-CoV-2 and the immune system of the host are essential to understand the reasons for the age-related differences in the severity of COVID-19
Is there any room for PD-1 inhibitors in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy as frontline treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer? A systematic review and meta-analysis with indirect comparisons among subgroups and landmark survival analyses
Background: The addition of PD-L1 inhibitors to platinum-based chemotherapy (CT) has newly received United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in extensive stage-small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). PD-1 agents similarly improved survival rates, even if not yet supported by international regulatory agencies. The current work aims to assess different efficacy and safety profiles among chemoimmunotherapy plus immuno-oncology (CT+IO) approaches according to different immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) subtypes. Material & Methods: We included in our meta-analysis six first-line randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing the association of single-agent ICI with CT versus CT alone in ES-SCLC. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and risk ratios (RRs) for progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), objective response rates (ORR), 12-month duration of response rate (DORR), disease control rate (DCR), treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) and discontinuation rates (DRs) were obtained. Moreover, we performed indirect comparisons according to ICI subtypes, also among subgroups and landmark survival analyses. Results: Although no ORR benefit was observed, our results showed how CT+IO significantly improved DORR, resulting in improved PFS and OS with no differences in TRAEs; however, CT+IO led to a significant increase in DR. Interestingly, an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) of 1, the use of cisplatin, and the absence of brain metastases seem to be associated with a survival gain using CT+IO in ES-SCLC. Indirect comparisons suggested a slight advantage in favour of programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) over anti-CTLA-4 agents in terms of efficacy with no additional safety concerns. No further differences were observed between PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors among subgroups and landmark survival analyses with benefit trends towards anti-PD-1 in terms of DORR and DR. Conclusion: While confirming a survival advantage of CT+IO in selected patients, these results suggested the association of PD-1 inhibitors with CT as a viable option for novel therapeutic approaches in the frontline management of ES-SCLC. Further trials evaluating anti-CTLA-4 agents should be carefully studied in biomarker-selected patients
Linear and non-linear parameterization of EEG during monitoring of carotid endarterectomy
In this paper, new quantitative linear (HLF ratio: high frequency/low frequency spectral power ratio) and non-linear parameters (ZC: zero crossing and FD: fractal dimension) which can assist the physician in real-time decision whether a shunt is required or not during intra-operative EEG monitoring of carotid endarterectomy are presented. The results obtained with the new parameters are compared with those achieved by other indexes proposed in the literature. The HLF ratio and ZC parameters yielded the best results with a 100% of correct identification of both shunt and no-shunt situations. The ZC can be also easily implemented in the real-time monitoring of EEG
Real-time EEG parameterization for shunt decision supporting system during carotid endarterectomy
Linear and non-linear effects of gradient artifact filtering methods in simultaneous EEG-fMRI
Paper-based synthesis of Prussian Blue Nanoparticles for the development of whole blood glucose electrochemical biosensor
Nowadays, environmentally friendly synthesis pathways for preserving the environment and minimizing waste are strongly required. Herein, we propose filter paper as a convenient scaffold for chemical reactions. To demonstrate this novel approach, Prussian Blue Nanoparticles (PBNPs) were synthesized on filter paper by utilizing few μL of its precursors without external inputs, i.e. pH, voltage, reducing agents, and without producing waste as well. The functional paper, named "Paper Blue", is successfully applied in the sensing field, exploiting the reduction of hydrogen peroxide at low applied potential. The eco-designed "Paper Blue" was combined with wax- and screen-printing to manufacture a reagentless electrochemical point-of-care device for diabetes self-monitoring, by using glucose oxidase as the biological recognition element. Blood glucose was linearly detected for a wide concentration range up to 25 mM (450 mg/dL), demonstrating its suitability for management of diabetes and glucose-related diseases. The Paper Blue-based biosensor demonstrated a correlation coefficient of 0.987 with commercial glucose strips (Bayer Contour XT). The achieved results demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach, which is also extendible to other (bio)systems to be applied in catalysis, remediation, and diagnostics
Energy and environmental assessment of residual bio-wastes management strategies
This paper assesses the potential energy and environmental impacts of an anaerobic digester coupled with a combined heat and power plant powered with bio-wastes from the agri-food sector. The analysis is carried out through the Life Cycle Assessment methodology following a “cradle-to-grave” approach and is based mostly on primary data. The anaerobic digester - combined heat and power plant is analysed considering a twofold perspective: one more energy – oriented where the main function of the system is to generate renewable electricity and a waste – oriented one in which the main function is treating bio-wastes. In addition, the environmental indirect effects related to potential competitive uses of bio-wastes are evaluated. Biomass transport and the electricity consumed during the operation phase make the largest contribution (higher than 60%) to almost all the impact categories examined. The comparison with the electricity eco-profile from the national grid and with a composting facility highlights that the anaerobic digester - combined heat and power system may reach better energy and environmental performances for both the electricity generation and bio-waste management
An integrated energy simulation and life cycle assessment to measure the operational and embodied energy of a Mediterranean net zero energy building
Net Zero Energy Buildings can play a key role in reducing the energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and the use of natural resources associated to the built environment. It is widely recognized that in low energy building a shift in relevance may occur from the operational to the embodied impacts. However, building performance assessment focus mostly on the operational phase and on primary energy consumption. This study aims to assess the energy and environmental impacts of a residential net zero energy building expanding the analysis to the full life cycle and to a wide range of environmental impact categories. The methodological approach integrates a non-steady state building energy simulation and the life cycle assessment methodology. The analysis is performed by considering four different design scenarios using alternatively two thermal insulation materials (extruded expanded polystyrene (XPS) and cellulose fibres (CF)) combined with two configurations for a building integrated photovoltaic system (with and without a battery storage system). The main results highlight that the CF/battery storage system scenario has the lowest impact in almost all the energy and environmental categories investigated, while the configuration with XPS and without battery storage system has the worst performances. In detail, the indicators “global energy requirement” and “climate change” are 18% and 34% lower than the XPS/no battery scenario. However, the impact increases in terms of resource depletion (4%). This outcome confirms the importance of a life cycle perspective to orient the low energy buildings design process towards more sustainable solutions. Moreover, very different results can be achieved if the credits beyond the building system boundaries are included or not in the balance. In detail, if system boundaries are expanded to include the net environmental credits, the configuration with CF and without battery storage system is the best, while the XPS/battery storage system one is the worst. “Global energy requirement” and “climate change” decrease, respectively, by 37% and 29% from XPS/battery configuration to CF/no battery storage configuration. Therefore, the management of the credits beyond the building system boundaries is an aspect not to be overlooked in similar approaches while defining a clear and unambiguous procedure to manage it in the perspective of a wide diffusion of low energy buildings
An integrated building energy simulation early—Design tool for future heating and cooling demand assessment
Climate change and its effects are becoming clear on a global scale either from the perspective of global warming and the increase in the rate of occurrence of weather events of extreme magnitude. This has impacts also for sure on the standard building performance analysis approach, since the buildings designed today are supposed to withstand for the following decades climate impacts that may be different than those they were designed for. The paper proposes a simple, easy to use and freely available building simulation utility which performs morphing of existing weather data files and, by connecting to the Energy Plus simulation routine, allows to perform future climate building simulation analyses. Users are required to select one of the ASHRAE buildings models or provide one of their own choosing and to input the original weather data file. The tool will generate a future weather data file with the preferred assumptions (e.g. RCP scenarios, time frame) and elaborate results in terms of heating and cooling required for air conditioning. The paper proposes also an implementation of the tool to a case study aimed at showing the potential of the application proposed. A typical office building model from the ASHRAE library was simulated in two different locations under different climate change assumptions up to the year 2090. The analysis of the results in the two locations of Palermo (Italy) and Copenhagen (Denmark) highlight relevant increases in the current century of up to +20% of cooling requirements and similar reductions for heating in both case studies, if compared to current levels. The research targets a specific limit in the investigation of climate resilience of buildings and follows the principles described by SDSN in the definition of SDGs and the interest at the EU level towards climate neutral and innovative cities. In this context, the paper may contribute to the limited availability of easy to use and free tools available for practitioners to investigate the design of climate resilience buildings