Large paravertebral abscess in a child.

A 2-year-old male infant with a recent history of imbalance and ambulatorydeficits came to our attention after entering the primary care unit. The child presented with a marked loss of appetite and progressive weight loss during the last two weeks. Clinical examination showeddorsal gibbus and signs of uppermotor neuron lesion on lower limb examination. Conventional laboratory exams showed a mild leukocytosis and elevation of erythrocyte sedimentation rate andC-reactive protein levels.Anultrasound evaluationof the abdomen identified a large solid mass reported on the left suprarenalgland.X-rayexaminationof the spinewasperformedand revealed crushing of the 11 and 12 dorsal vertebrae with

Comfort Driven Redesign: The Case of Library Chairs

AbstractUniversity students spend most of their time in a sitting position. Prolonged sitting on ill-fitted furniture and the resulting lousy posture is making students having different musculoskeletal disorders and is strictly related to students learning outcomes. This study aims to improve postural comfort of chairs placed inside the Science & Technology Library at the University of Salerno. A previous study about these library chairs showed that the lumbar area was the most suffering part while perceived (dis)comfort was dependent on time. Based on this, an ergonomic redesign and, consequently, manufacturing of the chair has been done. A perceived-comfort comparison between the library chair and the redesigned one has been performed. A statistical sample of 28 healthy students performed a 20-min experiment two times, alternatively on the library chair and the redesigned one. The 20-min experiment was divided into two 10-min tasks ("Reading & Writing" and "Laptop use") to simulate a study day. The participants' postures were acquired non-invasively using cameras and processed by Kinovea; questionnaires were used to rate the perceived subjective (dis)comfort. A procedure for improving an existing product through a comfort-driven redesign is proposed. Results showed the redesigned library chair lead on increasing postural comfort (particularly in the lumbar area) thanks to the new design and modifications

Structural FEM Analyses of a Landing Gear Testing Machine

The “Electro-mechanical Landing gear system Integration for Small Aircraft” (E-LISA) research project has the objective of developing an innovative “iron bird”, a testing facility dedicated to executing tests on an innovative landing gear of a small aircraft. This document presents the structural analyses of this complex testing machine performed with the Finite Element Method (FEM). Key purposes of these numerical simulations were the quantifications of the stress and displacement fields under the loading conditions foreseen for the machine. A modal analysis was performed with the aim of calculating eigenvalues and eigenvectors useful to provide an assessment of the structural dynamic response. The most critical mode shapes and the related frequencies were calculated, and the potentially critical rotational speeds were quantified. Finally, the Peak Stress Method (PSM) was adopted to quantify the fatigue resistance of the most critical weldments and an infinite fatigue life was assessed for the most critical one. The design of the machine, which is currently under manufacturing, was validated by the structural analyses presented here

Definition of a Protocol for the Experimental Monitoring of Rising Damp in Three Different Masonry Models with Tuff, Carparo, and Lecce Stone

This work presents a new protocol for monitoring rising damp, which is applied to three masonry models made of tuff, carparo, and Lecce stone. First, the physical characteristics of each stone were derived in the laboratory, which included porosity, imbibition, drying index, permeability, capillarity, and sorptivity. In this case, the protocol provided three columns, one for each material, consisting of five blocks. A layer of cotton tissue was interposed between columned blocks to simulate the hygroscopic behavior of a mortar, allowing a quick disassembly and reassembly of the multiblock columns for a quick weighing. The bottoms of the columns were immersed in water to a level of about three centimeters, providing a constant replenishment for the phenomena of evaporation and rising in the stone. The maximum height achieved by the rising damp depends on the characteristics of the building materials, i.e., the amount and size of pores, pore connectivity, etc. Since these materials have different physical characteristics, the objective was to quantify the rising moisture level of the three materials tested, block by block, in a controlled indoor microclimate environment. The three columns were periodically weighed, the quantity of collected water was evaluated, and a thermographic survey was performed. The results show that at the end of the test, the highest level of rising damp is reached by tuff with a height of 43 cm, followed by Lecce stone and carparo with a height of 40 cm and 21 cm, respectively. The innovation of this study is the proposal of a new flexible and easy-to-apply method for monitoring this phenomenon. It gives clear and numerically comparable results. Moreover, it is applicable to any type of stone, allowing the user to evaluate both the existing state and different design solutions

Definition of a Protocol for the Experimental Monitoring of Rising Damp in Three Different Masonry Models with Tuff, Carparo, and Lecce Stone

This work presents a new protocol for monitoring rising damp, which is applied to three masonry models made of tuff, carparo, and Lecce stone. First, the physical characteristics of each stone were derived in the laboratory, which included porosity, imbibition, drying index, permeability, capillarity, and sorptivity. In this case, the protocol provided three columns, one for each material, consisting of five blocks. A layer of cotton tissue was interposed between columned blocks to simulate the hygroscopic behavior of a mortar, allowing a quick disassembly and reassembly of the multiblock columns for a quick weighing. The bottoms of the columns were immersed in water to a level of about three centimeters, providing a constant replenishment for the phenomena of evaporation and rising in the stone. The maximum height achieved by the rising damp depends on the characteristics of the building materials, i.e., the amount and size of pores, pore connectivity, etc. Since these materials have different physical characteristics, the objective was to quantify the rising moisture level of the three materials tested, block by block, in a controlled indoor microclimate environment. The three columns were periodically weighed, the quantity of collected water was evaluated, and a thermographic survey was performed. The results show that at the end of the test, the highest level of rising damp is reached by tuff with a height of 43 cm, followed by Lecce stone and carparo with a height of 40 cm and 21 cm, respectively. The innovation of this study is the proposal of a new flexible and easy-to-apply method for monitoring this phenomenon. It gives clear and numerically comparable results. Moreover, it is applicable to any type of stone, allowing the user to evaluate both the existing state and different design solutions

Sensitivity to Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients with EGFR Exon 20 Insertion Mutations

Besides platinum-based chemotherapy, no established treatment option exists for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with EGFR exon 20 (Ex20ins) insertion mutations. We sought to determine the clinical outcome of patients with this EGFR mutation subtype in the immunotherapy era. Thirty NSCLCs with EGFR Ex20ins mutations were identified, of whom 15 had received immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) treatment as monotherapy (N = 12), in combination with chemotherapy (N = 2) or with another immunotherapeutic agent (N = 1). The response rate was observed in 1 out of 15 patients (6.7%), median progression-free survival (PFS) was 2.0 months and median overall survival (OS) was 5.3 months. A trend towards an inferior outcome in terms of PFS and OS was observed for patients receiving ICB treatment in the first versus second line setting (PFS: 1.6 months versus 2.7 months, respectively, p = 0.16—OS: 2.0 months versus 8.1 months, respectively, p = 0.09). Median OS from the time of diagnosis of advanced disease was shorter for patients treated with ICB versus those who did not receive immunotherapy (12.9 months versus 25.2 months, respectively, p = 0.08), which difference remained associated with a worse survival outcome at multivariate analysis (p = 0.04). Treatment with ICB is poorly effective in NSCLCs with EGFR Ex20ins mutations, especially when given in the first-line setting. This information is crucial in order to select the optimal treatment strategy for patients with this subtype of EGFR mutation