The EcoThermo project: key and innovative aspects

In this paper we present the most innovative aspects of the EC-FP7 EcoThermo project. The main aim of the project consists on innovating the technique of heat cost allocation in buildings with a centralized heating system, overcoming the heat cost allocator drawbacks for reliability, measurement reproducibility and traceability and contexts of applications. Given the complexity of the project, we will focus on its main aspects, such as the use of a virtual sensor to estimate the radiators heating power, the design of electronic valves fitted out with an energy harvesting system and the original wireless communication protocol

Termoablazione con microonde versus lobectomia polmonare: studio con propensity match

Sebbene la chirurgia resti il trattamento di prima scelta nel tumore polmonare non a piccole cellule (NSCLC) in stadio iniziale, la terapia locale (radioterapia, termoablazione) ha acquistato un ruolo rilevante nei pazienti affetti da NSCLC localizzato che non possono essere sottoposti a chirurgia per et\ue0 avanzata o per ridotta funzione cardio-respiratoria. Il presente studio \ue8 indirizzato alla valutazione della non inferiorit\ue0 della termoablazione con microonde (MW) rispetto alla lobectomia polmonare nel trattamento di lesioni primitive in I stadio o secondarie del polmone

Surface antigens on plama extracellular vescicles of cystic fibrosis patients treated by extracorporeal photopheresis as induction therapy after lung transplantation: preliminary results of a pilot randomizd trial

Acute rejection (AR) is common during the first year after lung transplantation (LuTx) and can trigger chronic rejection (CR), the leading cause of late morbidity and mortality of LuTx. Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) is a promising treatment for chronic rejection. Few studies focus on ECP as prophylactic therapy of AR and CR. Microvesicles and exosomes (i.e.extracellular vesicles EV) are released into the blood and in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and their role in cell-to-cell communication has been assessed in several studies; EV have been proposed as non-invasive biomarkers to assess lung injury and monitor clinical outcome

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on surgical residency programmes in Italy: a nationwide analysis on behalf of the Italian Polyspecialistic Young Surgeons Society (SPIGC)

Introduction: Recently, Italy has been heavily hit by COVID-19 pandemic and today it is still one of the most affected countries in the world. The subsequent necessary lockdown decreed by the Italian Government had an outstanding impact on the daily life of the entire population, including that of Italian surgical residents\u2019 activity. Our survey aims to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the training programme of Italian surgical residents. Materials and methods: We designed a 12-item-electronic anonymous questionnaire on SurveyMonkey\ua9 web application. The survey was composed of different sections concerning demographic characteristics and impacts of COVID-19 on the concrete participation in clinical, surgical and research activities. Future perspectives of responders after the pandemic were also investigated. Results: Eighty hundred responses were collected, and 756 questionnaires were considered eligible to be included in the study analysis. Almost 35 and 27% of respondents experienced, respectively, complete interruption of surgical and clinical activities. A subgroup analysis, comparing the COVID-19 impact on clinical activities with demographics data, showed a statistically significant difference related to specialties (p = 0.0062) and Italian regions (p < 0.0001). Moreover, 112 residents have been moved to non-surgical units dealing with COVID-19 or, in some case, they voluntarily decided to interrupt their residency programme to support the ongoing emergency. Conclusion: Our survey demonstrated that COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the educational programme of Italian surgical residents. Despite many regional differences, this survey highlighted the overall shortage of planning in the re-allocation of resources facing this unexpected health emergency