El fútbol en Italia: entre la crisis financiera y el obligado camino hacia los mercados ilegales

El debate deportivo en Italia explica muy bien la relación entre la crisis financiera del fútbol y la globalización. Uno de los clubes más prestigiosos a nivel mundial, el Inter de Milán, fue recientemente comprado por el magnate de Indonesia Erick Thohir. Thohir no es un conocido fanático del Inter, pero ha integrado su pasión por el business global con la del deporte; tan es así que tiene un patrimonio de 8.000 millones de euros y es propietario del D.C. United Usa, del Nba Philadelphia 76ers y, ahora, del Inter. La compra del Inter no representa un simple cambio de administración; el presidente actual, el petrolero Massimo Moratti, vende el 70% de las acciones del Club porque tiene un déficit anual de 70 millones de euros. Hablamos de que el club es una sociedad con 200 empleados que en el 2010 - año del éxito de la Champions League- ha empleado 235 millones de euros solo en el pago de sueldos y salarios.El debate deportivo en Italia explica muy bien la relación entre la crisis financiera del fútbol y la globalización. Uno de los clubes más prestigiosos a nivel mundial, el Inter de Milán, fue recientemente comprado por el magnate de Indonesia Erick Thohir. Thohir no es un conocido fanático del Inter, pero ha integrado su pasión por el business global con la del deporte; tan es así que tiene un patrimonio de 8.000 millones de euros y es propietario del D.C. United Usa, del Nba Philadelphia 76ers y, ahora, del Inter. La compra del Inter no representa un simple cambio de administración; el presidente actual, el petrolero Massimo Moratti, vende el 70% de las acciones del Club porque tiene un déficit anual de 70 millones de euros. Hablamos de que el club es una sociedad con 200 empleados que en el 2010 - año del éxito de la Champions League- ha empleado 235 millones de euros solo en el pago de sueldos y salarios

Numerical analysis of the CIRCE-HERO PLOFA scenarios

The present work deals with simulations carried out at the University of Pisa by using the System Thermal Hydraulics code RELAP5/Mod3.3 to support the experimental campaign conducted at the ENEA (Energia Nucleare ed Energie Alternative) Brasimone Research Centre on the CIRColazione Eutettico—Heavy liquid mEtal pRessurized water cOoled tubes (CIRCE-HERO) facility. CIRCE is an integral effect pool type facility dedicated to the study of innovative nuclear systems and cooled by heavy liquid metal, while HERO is a heat exchanger heavy liquid metal/ pressurized cooling water system hosted inside the CIRCE facility. Beside the H2020 project Multi-Purpose Hybrid Research Reactor for High-Tech Applications (MYRRHA) Research and Transmutation Endeavour (MYRTE), a series of experiments were performed with the CIRCE-HERO facility, for both nominal steady-state settings and accidental scenarios. In this framework, the RELAP5/Mod3.3 code was used to simulate the experimental tests assessing the heat losses of the facility and analyzing the thermal hydraulics phenomena occurring during the postulated Protected Loss Of Flow Accident (PLOFA). The modified version Mod. 3.3 of the source code RELAP5 was developed by the University of Pisa to include the updated thermo–physical properties and convective heat transfer correlations suitable for heavy liquid metals. After reproducing the facility through an accurate nodalization, boundary conditions were applied according to the experiments. Then, the PLOFA scenarios were reproduced by implementing the information obtained by the experimental campaign. Sensitivity analyses of the main parameters affecting the thermofluidynamics of the Lead-Bismuth Eutectic (LBE) were carried out. In the simulated scenario, the LBE mass flow rate strongly depends on the injected argon flow time trend. The numerical results are in agreement with the experimental data, however further investigations are planned to analyze the complex phenomena involved

STH/CFD coupled simulation of the protected loss of flow accident in the CIRCE-HERO facility

The paper presents the application of a coupling methodology between Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and System Thermal Hydraulic (STH) codes developed at the University of Pisa. The methodology was applied to the CIRCE-HERO facility in order to reproduce the recently performed experimental conditions simulating a Protected Loss Of Flow Accident (PLOFA). The facility consists of an internal loop, equipped with a fuel pin simulator and a steam generator, and an external pool. In this coupling application, the System code RELAP5 is adopted for the simulation of the internal loop while the CFD code ANSYS Fluent is used for the sake of simulating the pool. The connection between the two addressed domains is provided at the inlet and outlet section of the internal loop; a thermal coupling is also performed in order to reproduce the observed thermal stratification phenomenon. The obtained results are promising and a good agreement was obtained for both the mass flow rates and temperature measurements. Capabilities and limitations of the adopted coupling technique are discussed in the present paper also providing suggestions for improvements and developments to be achieved in the frame of future applications

Serum Albumin Is Inversely Associated With Portal Vein Thrombosis in Cirrhosis

We analyzed whether serum albumin is independently associated with portal vein thrombosis (PVT) in liver cirrhosis (LC) and if a biologic plausibility exists. This study was divided into three parts. In part 1 (retrospective analysis), 753 consecutive patients with LC with ultrasound-detected PVT were retrospectively analyzed. In part 2, 112 patients with LC and 56 matched controls were entered in the cross-sectional study. In part 3, 5 patients with cirrhosis were entered in the in vivo study and 4 healthy subjects (HSs) were entered in the in vitro study to explore if albumin may affect platelet activation by modulating oxidative stress. In the 753 patients with LC, the prevalence of PVT was 16.7%; logistic analysis showed that only age (odds ratio [OR], 1.024; P = 0.012) and serum albumin (OR, -0.422; P = 0.0001) significantly predicted patients with PVT. Analyzing the 112 patients with LC and controls, soluble clusters of differentiation (CD)40-ligand (P = 0.0238), soluble Nox2-derived peptide (sNox2-dp; P < 0.0001), and urinary excretion of isoprostanes (P = 0.0078) were higher in patients with LC. In LC, albumin was correlated with sCD4OL (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient [r(s)], -0.33; P < 0.001), sNox2-dp (r(s), -0.57; P < 0.0001), and urinary excretion of isoprostanes (r(s), -0.48; P < 0.0001) levels. The in vivo study showed a progressive decrease in platelet aggregation, sNox2-dp, and urinary 8-iso prostaglandin F2 alpha-III formation 2 hours and 3 days after albumin infusion. Finally, platelet aggregation, sNox2-dp, and isoprostane formation significantly decreased in platelets from HSs incubated with scalar concentrations of albumin. Conclusion: Low serum albumin in LC is associated with PVT, suggesting that albumin could be a modulator of the hemostatic system through interference with mechanisms regulating platelet activation

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound LI-RADS LR-5 in hepatic tuberculosis: Case report and literature review of imaging features

Background: The liver is involved in disseminated tuberculosis in more than 80% of cases while primary liver involvement is rare, representing <1% of all cases. Hepatic tuberculosis (TB) can be treated by conventional anti-TB therapy; however, diagnosing this disease remains a challenge. The diagnosis might be particularly difficult in patients with a single liver lesion that could be misdiagnosed as a tumor or other focal liver lesions. Although computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings have been described, there is a paucity of literature on contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) features of hepatic TB. Case Summary: herein, we describe a case of a patient with tuberculous lymphadenopathy and chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)- related liver disease who developed a single macronodular hepatic TB lesion. Due to the finding of a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) highly suggestive CEUS pattern, specifically a LR5 category according to the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS), and a good response to antitubercular therapy, a non-invasive diagnosis of HCC was made, and the patient underwent liver resection. We also review the published literature on imaging features of hepatic TB and discuss the diagnostic challenge represented by hepatic TB when occurs as a single focal liver lesion. Conclusions: this report shows for the first time that the CEUS pattern of hepatic TB might be misinterpreted as HCC and specific imaging features are lacking. Personal history and epidemiological data are mandatory in interpreting CEUS findings of a focal liver lesion even when the imaging pattern is highly suggestive of HCC

Experimental Investigation and Modelling of Film Evaporation in the Presence of Countercurrent Air Flow

This paper describes the results of experimental tests carried out to study falling film evaporation on a heated flat plate with countercurrent air flow. The considered data are related to inlet film and plate temperatures of 70, 80 and 90°C. The considered range of parameters was chosen with reference to innovative nuclear reactors equipped with passive containment decay heat removal systems. The first part of the paper summarises the characteristics of the experimental facility and of the obtained experimental data. The methodology developed for modelling film evaporation is then presented. The countercurrent steady-state flow is simulated by non-equilibrium two-fluid balance equations, which are numerically integrated making use of appropriate constitutive equations. The calculated results are then compared with experimental data, drawing conclusions about the applicability of the analogy between heat and mass transfer

Simulation of Fast Gas Injection Expansion Phase Experiments

The injection of a high pressure gas into a stagnant liquid pool is the characteristic phenomenon during the expansion phase of a hypothetical core disruptive accident in liquid metal cooled fast reactors. In order to investigate lot of mechanism involved in this phase of the accident’s evolution, an experimental campaign called SGI was performed in 1994 in Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, now KIT. This campaign consists of nine experiments which have been dedicated to assess the effects of different pressure injection, the nozzle’s size and the presence of inner confinement in the formation of the rising bubble. Three of these experiments, which were focused on the pressure effects, have now been simulated with SIMMER III code and with FLUENT 6.3 code, a commercial CFD code. Both codes, despite their different features, have showed a good agreement with the experimental results. In particular, time trend evolutions of pressures and bubble volumes have been well reproduced by simulation. Furthermore, both codes agree on the shape of the bubble, even though they have evidenced same discrepancies with the experimental shape

Regorafenib Combined with Other Systemic Therapies: Exploring Promising Therapeutic Combinations in HCC

: Regorafenib was the first drug to demonstrate a survival benefit as a second-line agent after sorafenib failure in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Recent studies have shown that its mechanism of action is not only limited to its very broad spectrum of inhibition of angiogenesis, tumor proliferation, spread, and metastasis, but also to its immunomodulatory properties that have favorable effects on the very intricate role that the tumor microenvironment plays in carcinogenesis and tumor growth. In this review, we discuss rationale and evidence supporting regorafenib efficacy in HCC and that led to its approval as a second-line treatment, after sorafenib failure. We also discuss the evidence from clinical practice studies that confirm the results previously achieved in clinical trials. Finally, we analyze the potential role of regorafenib in emerging combined treatment approach with immunotherapy strategies using immune checkpoint blockade and its potential extension to patient categories not included in the registrative study