Compton-thick AGN in the NuSTAR era II: A deep NuSTAR and XMM-Newton view of the candidate Compton thick AGN in NGC 1358

We present the combined NuSTATR and XMM-Newton 0.6-79 keV spectral analysis of a Seyfert 2 galaxy, NGC 1358, which we selected as a candidate Compton thick (CT-) active galactic nucleus (AGN) on the basis of previous Swift/BAT and Chandra studies. According to our analysis, NGC 1358 is confirmed to be a CT-AGN using physical motivated models, at >3 $\sigma$ confidence level. Our best-fit shows that the column density along the 'line-of-sight' of the obscuring material surrounding the accreting super-massive black hole is N$\rm _H$ = [1.96--2.80] $\times$ 10$^{24}$ cm$^{-2}$. The high-quality data from NuSTAR gives the best constraints on the spectral shape above $\sim$10 keV to date on NGC 1358. Moreover, by combining NuSTAR and XMM-Newton data, we find that the obscuring torus has a low covering factor ($f_c$ <0.17), and the obscuring material is distributed in clumps, rather than uniformly. We also derive an estimate of NGC 1358's Eddington ratio, finding it to be $\lambda_{\rm Edd}$ $\sim$$4.7_{-0.3}^{+0.3}$ $\times$ 10$^{-2}$, which is in acceptable agreement with previous measurements. Finally, we find no evidence of short-term variability, over a $\sim$100 ks time-span, in terms of both 'line-of-sight' column density and flux.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

PRM102 Budget Impact Analysis of Delayed-Release Dimethylfumarate In The Treatment of Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis In Italy

INTRODUCTION: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a condition with a significant economic and social burden that affects young adults, in their active working phase. The most recent evaluations show an annual average social cost of € 38-39 thousand per patient. Today the approval of the new oral therapies allows physicians to select further options that can meet patients’ clinical unmet needs. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the economic impact of a recently approved therapy, delayed-release dimethyl-fumarate (DMF; also known as gastro-resistant DMF), on the overall management costs of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in Italy. METHODS: A budget impact model, adopting the perspective of the Italian National Healthcare Service (NHS), was used to compare healthcare costs of two different treatment scenarios: a) base-case, where DMF is not available for RRMS patients (Scenario A), vs. b) alternative-case, where DMF is available for RRMS patients (Scenario B). Healthcare costs sustained by the Italian NHS to manage the RRMS population (drug treatment, administration, therapy and disease monitoring, relapse management, treatment-related adverse events) have been calculated over 3 years and compared for the two scenarios. Impact of relapses for the disease modifying therapies (DMTs) included in the analysis was estimated using an elaboration of the results from published mixed treatment comparison. RRMS population treated with DMTs was estimated using Italian prevalence and incidence data. According to these estimates, the number of treated patients amounted to 36,078 at Year 1, 38,832 at Year 2, and 40,673 at Year 3. RESULTS: According to the current price and to the assumptions reported in the methodology section, it was estimated that the introduction of DMF (Scenario B) determines a decrease of the budget impact, if compared with the base case (Scenario A) in the perspective of Italian NHS. Over three years, the budget impact would be € 1,376 mln in the Scenario A and € 1,354 mln in the Scenario B (-22.18 mln €; -1.61% relative budget variation). The main drivers for cost-saving were pharmacological treatment costs and reduced burden of relapses (corresponding to more than 1,800 avoided relapses). CONCLUSIONS: At the current cost conditions applied in Italy and according to the described assumptions, the use of DMF is economically sustainable for the Italian NHS. Plausibly, the introduction and usage of this new therapy in RRMS patients will ensure clinical benefits for patients without resulting in additional costs for the Italian NHS. [In Italian

Blockchain and self sovereign identity to support quality in the food supply chain

This work presents how a digital identity management system can support food supply chains in guaranteeing the quality of the products marketed and the compliance of the several supplychain’s nodes to standards and technical regulations. Specific goal of this work is to present a system that provides full visibility of process/food certifications, which nowadays are issued by accredited and approved certification bodies (issuers) and delivered and stored in paper version by the several participants (holders) of the supply chain. The system is designed and implemented by combining the latest most innovative and disruptive technologies in the market—Self Sovereign Identity system, Blockchain, and Inter Planetary File System. The crucial aspects that it aims to hit are the storage and access of food/process certifications, and the proper eligibility verification of these certifications exploiting the concepts of the Self Sovereign Identity-based models. The proposed system, realized by using standards that are WWW Consortium-compatible and the Ethereum Blockchain, ensures eligibility, transparency, and traceability of the certifications along a food supply chain, and could be an innovation model/idea that the companies that adopt the Open Innovation paradigm might want to pursue

A System Proposal for Information Management in Building Sector Based on BIM, SSI, IoT and Blockchain

This work presents a Self Sovereign Identity based system proposal to show how Blockchain, Building Information Modeling, Internet of Thing devices, and Self Sovereign Identity concepts can support the process of building digitalization, guaranteeing the compliance standards and technical regulations. The proposal ensures eligibility, transparency and traceability of all information produced by stakeholders, or generated by IoT devices appropriately placed, during the entire life cycle of a building artifact. By exploiting the concepts of the Self Sovereign Identity, our proposal allows the identification of all involved stakeholders, the storage off-chain of all information, and that on-chain of the sole data necessary for the information notarization and certification, adopting multi-signature approval mechanisms where appropriate. In addition it allows the eligibility verification of the certificated information, providing also useful information for facility management. It is proposed as an innovative system and companies that adopt the Open Innovation paradigm might want to pursue it. The model proposal is designed exploiting the Veramo platform, hence the Ethereum Blockchain, and all the recommendations about Self Sovereign Identity systems given by the European Blockchain Partnership, and by the World Wide Web Consortium

Bitcoin as Safe Haven during Covid-19 Disease

In this paper, we investigate the role of Bitcoin as a safe haven against the stock market losses during the spread of COVID-19. The performed analysis was based on a regression model with dummy variables defined around some crucial dates of the pandemic and on the dynamic conditional correlations. To try to model the real dynamics of the markets, we studied the safe-haven properties of Bitcoin against thirteen of the major stock market indexes losses using daily data spanning from 1 July 2019 until 20 February 2021. A similar analysis was also performed for Ether. Results show that this pandemic impacts on the Bitcoin status as safe haven, but we are still far from being able to define Bitcoin as a safe haven

Characterization of recycled nitrile butadiene rubber industrial scraps

The amount of rubber scraps derived from rubber goods production consists of about 20-30% of the processed material, so it is necessary to enhance this material by developing new recycling techniques as well as a new market for recycled rubber products. In the present research, nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR) scraps are reprocessed via a calendering process acting with a mechanical devulcanization. Compounds were prepared with 20%, 80%, and 100% recycled rubber content and characterized. The experimental results highlighted that the compound prepared with 20% recycled rubber content via calendering and compression molding processes shows comparable mechanical properties to that of virgin NBR. The tensile properties are the most penalized by the increasing content of recycled material (100% recycled shows - 25% and - 50% stress and strain at break, respectively). Other properties remain comparable to the standard material up to 80% recycled material: 60 +/- 5 Shore A, compression elastic modulus 8 MPa, compression set 20%. FTIR analysis revealed no changes in chemical structure from the recycling process. The results demonstrate that simple mechanical devulcanization can effectively reprocess industrial rubber waste while largely maintaining useful properties. This provides a potential pathway to enhance sustainability in rubber production through the valorization of process scraps

Giant congenital melanocytic naevi: review of literature

giant congenital pigmented naevi is a great reconstructive challenge for the pediatric and plastic surgeons. due to the increased risk of malignant transformation in such lesions, many procedures have been used to remove giant congenital naevi like dermoabrasion, laser treatment or surgical excision combined with reconstruction through skin expansion or skin grafting; among these, only a complete excision can offer an efficacious treatment. in our centre we use the "tissue expansion" technique in order to achieve a sufficient quantity of normal skin to perform a both staged and radical excision of these giant lesions

The potential utility of fecal (or intestinal) microbiota transplantation in controlling infectious diseases

The intestinal microbiota is recognized to play a role in the defense against infection, but conversely also acts as a reservoir for potentially pathogenic organisms. Disruption to the microbiome can increase the risk of invasive infection from these organisms; therefore, strategies to restore the composition of the gut microbiota are a potential strategy of key interest to mitigate this risk. Fecal (or Intestinal) Microbiota Transplantation (FMT/IMT), is the administration of minimally manipulated screened healthy donor stool to an affected recipient, and remains the major ‘whole microbiome’ therapeutic approach at present. Driven by the marked success of using FMT in the treatment of recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection, he potential use of FMT in treating other infectious diseases is an area of active research. In this Review, we discuss key examples of this treatment based on recent findings relating to the interplay between microbiota and infection, and potential further exploitations of FMT/IMT

Feasibility study of a hybrid-electric multipurpose craft for coastal sustainable navigation

The importance of reducing polluting emissions of small crafts operating in coastal areas is also linked to the concept of preserving the marine and coastal environment. So, nowadays the need to reduce as far as possible the pollutants' emissions is a primary objective that must be considered in the design of any type of vessel. This paper illustrates the design of a small vessel conceived with two different operational conditions: passenger transport and research support unit. In particular, the hybrid-electric power system was designed to guarantee ZEM (Zero Emission Mode) navigation, even in protected areas where usually navigation is not allowed, such as natural reserves