Energy consumption and analysis of industrial drying plants for fresh pasta process

The article presents results concerning the energy needs and the CO2 emissions resulting from the production process of a small factory (located in Molise region) producing fresh pasta. Two production processes are responsible for the most of energy demand. The pasteurisation and the drying processes are responsible for the 50% of the electricity consumption and the whole thermal energy. Therefore innovative solutions have been studied in order to limit the energy requirements and the CO2 emissions. Such solutions take into account the adoption of high-efficiency motors and heat recovery in the main processes

What underlies NYHA class in elderly patients with heart failure? Role of diastolic dysfunction, functional mitral regurgitation and abnormal ventilation during exercise

Background - Color-Doppler ecocardiography and cardiopulmonary stress test are pivotal in the evaluation of patients with heart failure. Besides determining systolic function through left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), color-Doppler ecocardiography evaluates the presence and degree of functional mitral regurgitation and the severity of diastolic dysfunction. Moreover, in addition to the aerobic capacity indicated by peak O2 consumption, other parameters of cardiopulmonary stress have proven useful for diagnostic purposes, such as the peak VE/VCO2 ratio or ventilatory efficiency. Since in elderly patients with heart failure the functional impairment often is a combination of the effects of aging with those of disease, the relationship between symptoms, i.e. the NYHA class, ventricular pump function and aerobic performance is sometimes difficult to estabilish. Materials and methods - In 60 elderly with systolic heart failure (75+3 years, EF 30+6%), we correlated symptoms (i.e. NYHA class) with [1] degree of functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) determined by color-Doppler echocardiography; [2] degree of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, measured by Doppler analysis of transmitralic and pulmonary veins flow; [3] VO2 e VE/VCO2 at peak exercise at cardiopulmonary test. Results - In all patients, NYHA class was only weakly related with EF and peakVO2, with wide overlap of individual values among patients with different NYHA class. Instead, we observed a tight relationship between NYHA class, FMR degree, and severity of diastolic dysfunction and VE/VCO2 ratio at peak exercise (p<0.001), with a more evident partition among patients in different NYHA classes. Conclusions - In elderly heart failure patients, the reduced effort tolerance expressed by the NYHA classification is only weakly associated with reduced aerobic capacity and pump function, but rather is related with the presence of mitral regurgitation, left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, and a poor ventilatory efficiency during exercise

Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors toward COVID-19 vaccination in a sample of Italian healthcare workers

Vaccine hesitancy in healthcare workers (HCWs) has been studied for various contagious diseases, but there is still insufficient knowledge about this phenomenon for COVID-19. We developed and validated a knowledge, attitude, and practice survey of 39 questions to assess Italian HCWs' hesitancy toward vaccination in general (general hesitancy), COVID-19 vaccination (COVID-19 hesitancy), and public health injunctive measures (refusal of obligations). The survey was administered through a web platform between July and November 2021. Three multivariable logistic regressions were performed to evaluate the association between the explored dimensions of hesitancy and the potential determinants investigated. Out of 2,132 respondents with complete answers, 17.0% showed to be generally hesitancy toward vaccination, 32.3% were hesitant on COVID-19 vaccination, while 18.8% were categorized as refusing obligations. A significant protective effect against all three dimensions of hesitancy was found for increasing fear of COVID-19, advising COVID-19 vaccination to relatives and patients, having received flu vaccination in the previous year and having higher levels of education. Better self-rated knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines and reading up institutional sources were significantly protective against general and COVID-19 hesitancy, while being a physician rather than another healthcare professional was protective only against COVID-19 hesitancy. Conversely, increasing age and referring to colleagues to expand knowledge about COVID-19 were positively associated with COVID-19 hesitancy. The determinants of general hesitancy, COVID-19 hesitancy and the refusal of obligations are mostly overlapping. Given the great influence they exert on patients and communities, it is pivotal to limit HCWs vaccine hesitancy through appropriate training activities

Factors Influencing the Choice to Advise for or against COVID-19 Vaccination in the Physicians and Dentists of an Italian Region

Healthcare workers (HCWs), particularly physicians, are a relevant and trusted source of information for patients, especially when health-related choices such as vaccination are concerned. Between July and November 2022, we administered a web-based survey to physicians and dentists living in the Latio region of Italy to explore whether their background might affect their willingness to recommend the COVID-19 vaccination to their patients (RCVtoPat) and their relatives (RCVtoRel). We performed a multivariable logistic regression to study the association between the two outcomes (RCVtoPat and RCVtoRel) and their potential determinants in our sample (n = 1464). We found that being a dentist, an increasing fear of COVID-19, and having been previously vaccinated against flu are positively associated with both RCVtoPat and RCVtoRel, while a better self-rated knowledge of COVID-19 vaccines is associated only with RCVtoRel. No role was found for age, sex, civil status, education level, information sources, previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, and chronic diseases. A subgroup analysis of physicians alone (n = 1305) demonstrated a positive association with RCVtoRel of being specialized in diagnostic/therapeutic services and a negative effect on RCVtoPat of being trained in general practice. We provide useful insights about the factors that should be addressed to ensure HCWs exert a positive influence on their patients and communities

In Vitro-Produced Equine Blastocysts Exhibit Greater Dispersal and Intermingling of Inner Cell Mass Cells than In Vivo Embryos

In vitro production (IVP) of equine embryos is increasingly popular in clinical practice but suffers from higher incidences of early embryonic loss and monozygotic twin development than transfer of in vivo derived (IVD) embryos. Early embryo development is classically characterized by two cell fate decisions: (1) first, trophectoderm (TE) cells differentiate from inner cell mass (ICM); (2) second, the ICM segregates into epiblast (EPI) and primitive endoderm (PE). This study examined the influence of embryo type (IVD versus IVP), developmental stage or speed, and culture environment (in vitro versus in vivo) on the expression of the cell lineage markers, CDX-2 (TE), SOX-2 (EPI) and GATA-6 (PE). The numbers and distribution of cells expressing the three lineage markers were evaluated in day 7 IVD early blastocysts ( n = 3) and blastocysts ( n = 3), and in IVP embryos first identified as blastocysts after 7 (fast development, n = 5) or 9 (slow development, n = 9) days. Furthermore, day 7 IVP blastocysts were examined after additional culture for 2 days either in vitro ( n = 5) or in vivo (after transfer into recipient mares, n = 3). In IVD early blastocysts, SOX-2 positive cells were encircled by GATA-6 positive cells in the ICM, with SOX-2 co-expression in some presumed PE cells. In IVD blastocysts, SOX-2 expression was exclusive to the compacted presumptive EPI, while GATA-6 and CDX-2 expression were consistent with PE and TE specification, respectively. In IVP blastocysts, SOX-2 and GATA-6 positive cells were intermingled and relatively dispersed, and co-expression of SOX-2 or GATA-6 was evident in some CDX-2 positive TE cells. IVP blastocysts had lower TE and total cell numbers than IVD blastocysts and displayed larger mean inter-EPI cell distances; these features were more pronounced in slower-developing IVP blastocysts. Transferring IVP blastocysts into recipient mares led to the compaction of SOX-2 positive cells into a presumptive EPI, whereas extended in vitro culture did not. In conclusion, IVP equine embryos have a poorly compacted ICM with intermingled EPI and PE cells; features accentuated in slowly developing embryos but remedied by transfer to a recipient mare