Definition of LCA guidelines in the geothermal sector to enhance result comparability

Geothermal energy could play a crucial role in the European energy market and future scenarios focused on sustainable development. Thanks to its constant supply of concentrated energy, it can support the transition towards a low-carbon economy. In the energy sector, the decision-making process should always be supported by a holistic science-based approach to allow a comprehensive environmental assessment of the technological system, such as the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. In the geothermal sector, the decision-making is particularly difficult due to the large variability of reported results on environmental performance across studies. This calls for harmonized guidelines on how to conduct LCAs of geothermal systems to enhance transparency and results comparability, by ensuring consistent methodological choices and providing indications for harmonized results reporting. This work identifies the main critical aspects of performing an LCA of geothermal systems and provides solutions and technical guidance to harmonize its application. The proposed methodological approach is based on experts’ knowledge from both the geothermal and LCA sectors. The recommendations cover all the life cycle phases of geothermal energy production (i.e., construction, operation, maintenance and end of life) as well as a selection of LCA key elements thus providing a thorough base for concerted LCA guidelines for the geothermal sector. The application of such harmonized LCA framework can ensure comparability among LCA results from different geothermal systems and other renewable energy technologies

Definition of LCA guidelines in the geothermal sector to enhance result comparability

Geothermal energy could play a crucial role in the European energy market and future scenarios focused on sustainable development. Thanks to its constant supply of concentrated energy, it can support the transition towards a low-carbon economy. In the energy sector, the decision-making process should always be supported by a holistic science-based approach to allow a comprehensive environmental assessment of the technological system, such as the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. In the geothermal sector, the decision-making is particularly difficult due to the large variability of reported results on environmental performance across studies. This calls for harmonized guidelines on how to conduct LCAs of geothermal systems to enhance transparency and results comparability, by ensuring consistent methodological choices and providing indications for harmonized results reporting. This work identifies the main critical aspects of performing an LCA of geothermal systems and provides solutions and technical guidance to harmonize its application. The proposed methodological approach is based on experts' knowledge from both the geothermal and LCA sectors. The recommendations cover all the life cycle phases of geothermal energy production (i.e., construction, operation, maintenance and end of life) as well as a selection of LCA key elements thus providing a thorough base for concerted LCA guidelines for the geothermal sector. The application of such harmonized LCA framework can ensure comparability among LCA results from different geothermal systems and other renewable energy technologies

Diagnosis and treatment of bone metastases in breast cancer: Radiotherapy, local approach and systemic therapy in a guide for clinicians

The standard care for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is systemic therapies with imbrication of focal treatment for symptoms. Recently, thanks to implementation of radiological and metabolic exams and development of new target therapies, oligometastatic and oligoprogressive settings are even more common\u2014paving the way to a paradigm change of focal treatments role. In fact, according to immunophenotype, radiotherapy can be considered with radical intent in these settings of patients. The aim of this literature review is to analyze available clinical data on prognosis of bone metastases from breast cancer and benefits of available treatments for developing a practical guide for clinicians

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) from HIV patients’ perspective: comparison of patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures among people living with hiv (PLWH) and other chronic clinical conditions

Background: People living with HIV (PLWH) are generally known to suffer from a lower quality of life compared to the one of general population, but still very few is known about the self-perception of quality of life when comparing HIV to non-communicable diseases. We performed a comprehensive assessment of patient’s reported outcomes measures (PROMs) among PLWH and patients affected by other chronic conditions (OC) such as diabetes mellitus type 1, rheumatoid arthritis, breast cancer in hormonal therapy, in order to investigate differences in PROMs outcomes between PLWH and other pathologies. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was performed by using questionnaires investigating health-related quality of life (Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36-item Health Survey), work productivity (WPI), and global health status (EQ-5D-3L). They were administered to patients affected by chronic diseases consecutively observed at a single University Hospital during a 10 months period, with comparable disease related aspects. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the association between disease group (HIV vs OC) and PROMs. Results: 230 patients were enrolled (89 PLWH, 143 OC). Mean age: 49 years (SD 10), mean time of disease 12 years (10), 96% were Caucasian, 35% assumed polypharmacy, 42% of male were PLWH versus 16% OC (p < 0.001), 19% PLWH versus 6% OC had clinical complications (p < 0.001). HIV infection was independently associated to a better health-related quality of life in several domains compared with the other conditions, except in mental health, whereas a worst health-related quality of life in most domains was reported by older patients and those experiencing polypharmacy. Conclusions: In this cohort of patients with chronic conditions followed within the same health setting, PLWH showed better self-reported health outcomes compared to other chronic conditions with comparable characteristics of chronicity. The potential detrimental role of older age and polypharmacy in most outcomes suggests the need of longitudinal assessment of PROMs in clinical practice

Diario epistolare a Corrado Pavolini

Vulcano, Sicily 1964. After a meeting with him in Cortona, Helle Busacca, a poet and writer from Messina, began drafting an epistolary diary dedicated to Corrado Pavolini, a well-known intellectual and film director of Tuscan origins with whom she had been in love for over twenty years. Through the so far unpublished pages she dedicated to “una storia senza storia” (“a story without history"), the writer brings to life an incandescent theatre of the self, in which the dramatization of personal experience, the self-representative elaboration and the expression of a living and restless inner self combine in a mixture of strongly hybrid characters, which is conveyed by a disruptive communicative force. As the desperately pursued interlocutor becomes increasingly evanescent and unreachable, the voice of a modern tragic heroine emerges unmistakably between claim and confession.Vulcano, 1964. Dopo un incontro a Cortona, la poetessa e scrittrice messinese Helle Busacca intraprende la stesura di un Diario epistolare dedicato a Corrado Pavolini, noto intellettuale e regista di origini toscane di cui \ue8 innamorata da pi\uf9 di vent’anni. Ci\uf2 a cui d\ue0 vita attraverso le pagine sinora inedite dedicate a una “storia senza storia” \ue8 un incandescente teatro del s\ue9, in cui drammatizzazione dell’esperienza personale, elaborazione autorappresentativa ed espressione di un’interiorit\ue0 viva e inquieta si fondono in un amalgama dai caratteri fortemente ibridi, veicolato da una dirompente forza comunicativa. Mentre l’interlocutore disperatamente inseguito si fa sempre pi\uf9 evanescente e irraggiungibile emerge inconfondibile, fra confessione e rivendicazione, la voce di una moderna eroina tragica