Analysis of sustainable concrete obtained from the by-products of an industrial process and recycled aggregates from construction and demolition waste

warming. In response to the extreme climate changes and the lack of primary resources that social-economic systems are The excessive exploitation of natural resources for construction is producing an extreme impact on air pollution and global experiencing all over the world, international and local governments are supporting the development of the culture of warming. In response to the extreme climate changes and the lack of primary resources that social-economic systems are sustainable manufacturing, following the principles of the circular economy. In this context, the present study supports the experiencing all over the world, international and local governments are supporting the development of the culture of research on the design of sustainable and cross-industry value chains. This paper investigates the characteristics of sustainable sustainable manufacturing, following the principles of the circular economy. In this context, the present study supports the concrete obtained from industrial waste and recycled aggregates from construction and demolition waste. The industrial waste research on the design of sustainable and cross-industry value chains. This paper investigates the characteristics of sustainable adopted in this study is the by-product of an industrial production process. The aim was to investigate the characteristics of concrete obtained from industrial waste and recycled aggregates from construction and demolition waste. The industrial waste such a by-product as a recycled additive for sustainable concrete and to assess its eco-compatible safety performance. The adopted in this study is the by-product of an industrial production process. The aim was to investigate the characteristics of results suggest that the by-products adopted in this research provide an interesting alternative to the use of primary resources, such a by-product as a recycled additive for sustainable concrete and to assess its eco-compatible safety performance. The e.g. the fine sand, in the concrete mixture. However, the optimal amount of by-products depends on the characteristics of the results suggest that the by-products adopted in this research provide an interesting alternative to the use of primary resources, waste material in the mixture. The eco-compatibility test was performed to investigate the leaching behavior of the proposed e.g. the fine sand, in the concrete mixture. However, the optimal amount of by-products depends on the characteristics of the sustainable concrete. The present research promotes the adoption of a cross-industry and circular approach towards waste material in the mixture. The eco-compatibility test was performed to investigate the leaching behavior of the proposed sustainability, showing that the use of industrial waste to produce sustainable concrete allows benefits for all the stakeholders sustainable concrete. The present research promotes the adoption of a cross-industry and circular approach towards involved in the value chain and for society. sustainability, showing that the use of industrial waste to produce sustainable concrete allows benefits for all the stakeholders involved in the value chain and for society

COMPARISON OF BAYESIAN-UTILITARIAN AND MAXIMIN PRINCIPLE APPROACHES

Abstract. The Precautionary Principle implies the adoption of a set of rules aimed at avoiding possible future harm associated with suspected, but not ascertained, risk factors. Several philosophical, economical and societal questions are implied by precaution-based public health decision making. The purpose of the present paper is to specify the scope of the principle examining the notion of uncertainty involved, and the implication of different approaches to the decision-making process. The Bayesian-utilitarian approach and the approach based on the maximin principle will be considered, and the different meaning of prudence in the two settings will be discussed. In the Bayesian-utilitarian approach the small number of attributable cases will end up in a low average expected value, easily regarded as acceptable in a cost-benefit analysis. In a maximin approach, on the other hand, the issue will be to consider the high etiologic fraction of a rare disease in the highest category of exposure. In the light of the aforementioned cautions in interpretation, the core difference between the two approaches has to do with the choice between averaging knowledge or equitably distributing technological risks. The Precautionary Principle implies adoption of a set of rules aimed at avoiding possible future harm associated with suspected, but not ascertained, risk factors A recent World Health Organization (WHO) workshop extensively discussed a central issue in the implementation of the Precautionary Principle, namely to define what is meant by "prudent approach to risk" [2]. It was stated, among other things, that adoption of the Precautionary Principle implies some sort of immediate action followed by a second stage of undertakings, including scientific investigations and search for alternatives. Action inspired by precaution is characterized by uncertainty, and the policy framework should thus regularly be reviewed

Lysyl oxidase activates the transcription activity of human collagene III promoter. Possible involvement of Ku antigen.

Lysyl oxidase is an extracellular enzyme controlling the maturation of the collagen. Because the similar behavior of lysyl oxidase and collagen III expressions in fibrotic tissues, we investigated the influence of lysyl oxidase over-expression on the promoter activity of COL3A1 gene. Our results showed that when COS-7 cells over-expressed the mature form of lysyl oxidase, COL3A1 promoter activity was significantly increased. Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay showed a binding activity in the region from –100 to -76, that was significantly increased by lysyl oxidase over-expression. We identified the binding activity as Ku antigen. The study suggests a new co-ordinated mechanisms that might be critical for the development of fibrosis

L\u2019utilizzo dei farmaci analgesici oppiacei per il trattamento del dolore in Italia: un\u2019analisi empirica

The International association for the study of pain and the World medical association stated that receiving a fair treatment of pain is a right of each individual. Moderate or high intensity cases of pain are treated with opiates. In Italy, in 2010, a new legislation has been issued, one of the most advanced on the topic of the treatment of pain and the usage of opiates. Although the legislative progresses, the consumption of opiates is not so common and ranks far behind the other European countries. The analysis of the spread of opiates in the treatment of pain pointed out relevant differences in terms of gender, age, region, cancer, type of opioid prescribed. It should then take action to make consistent use of opiates in pain therapy, focusing in particular on cancer patients and territorial differences. The analysis of religiosity as a potential barrier to pain management and opiates usage allowed us to conclude, however, that it is a factor that influences the number of prescriptions of opiates, even if the moderate effect. Public policies should respect personal choices (also religious ones), but it is important broadcasting some appropriate information campaigns which allow to make independent and informed choices. Key words. Opioids, pain, religiosity. JEL classification. I18

Association between mode of breast cancer detection and diagnosis delay

abstract We investigated the association between mode of breast cancer (Bca) detection and diagnosis delay in a case-series of primary, histologically confirmed Bca patients from Southern Italy. Nine hundred and fifty nine women diagnosed with incident, primary Bca were recruited in two southern Italian regions. We grouped the mode of detection into two categories: Self-Detection (S-D) and Mammography (MG). Diagnosis delay was defined as the time between detection and a histologically confirmed diagnosis of invasive Bca. 20.9% detected Bca with MG while 79.1% had S-D Bca. Women who detected Bca themselves (S-D) were more likely to delay breast cancer diagnosis than women who were diagnosed by a mammography (MG) (OR: 2.0; 95% CI: 1.39–2.87); when considering the model adjusted for health system-related characteristics, the risk increased (OR: 2.13; 95% CI: 1.47–3.09). Our study indicates a disadvantage in terms of diagnostic delay for women who were admitted and treated in community hospitals compared to women admitted and treated in breast health services

Evaluating the quality of patient-specific deformable image registration in adaptive radiotherapy using a digitally enhanced head and neck phantom

This paper presents a deformable image registration-based method for the quality assurance of head and neck adaptive radiotherapy using digitally post-processed anthropomorphic phantom image datasets. One of the main findings of this work is that spatial and dose errors are a function of the magnitude of the deformation and of the gradient of the dose distribution. This emphasizes the importance of performing patient-specific deformable image registration verification and, consequently, the need to develop and make available tools that are for this purpose

A Machine Learning Approach for Mortality Prediction in COVID-19 Pneumonia: Development and Evaluation of the Piacenza Score

Background: Several models have been developed to predict mortality in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, but only a few have demonstrated enough discriminatory capacity. Machine learning algorithms represent a novel approach for the data-driven prediction of clinical outcomes with advantages over statistical modeling.Objective: We aimed to develop a machine learning-based score-the Piacenza score-for 30-day mortality prediction in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.Methods: The study comprised 852 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia, admitted to the Guglielmo da Saliceto Hospital in Italy from February to November 2020. Patients' medical history, demographics, and clinical data were collected using an electronic health record. The overall patient data set was randomly split into derivation and test cohorts. The score was obtained through the naive Bayes classifier and externally validated on 86 patients admitted to Centro Cardiologico Monzino (Italy) in February 2020. Using a forward-search algorithm, 6 features were identified: age, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, PaO2/FiO(2) ratio, temperature, previous stroke, and gender. The Brier index was used to evaluate the ability of the machine learning model to stratify and predict the observed outcomes. A user-friendly website was designed and developed to enable fast and easy use of the tool by physicians. Regarding the customization properties of the Piacenza score, we added a tailored version of the algorithm to the website, which enables an optimized computation of the mortality risk score for a patient when some of the variables used by the Piacenza score are not available. In this case, the naive Bayes classifier is retrained over the same derivation cohort but using a different set of patient characteristics. We also compared the Piacenza score with the 4C score and with a naive Bayes algorithm with 14 features chosen a priori.Results: The Piacenza score exhibited an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.78 (95% CI 0.74-0.84, Brier score=0.19) in the internal validation cohort and 0.79 (95% CI 0.68-0.89, Brier score=0.16) in the external validation cohort, showing a comparable accuracy with respect to the 4C score and to the naive Bayes model with a priori chosen features; this achieved an AUC of 0.78 (95% CI 0.73-0.83, Brier score=0.26) and 0.80 (95% CI 0.75-0.86, Brier score=0.17), respectively.Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that a customizable machine learning-based score with a purely data-driven selection of features is feasible and effective for the prediction of mortality among patients with COVID-19 pneumonia

Direct bandgap quantum wells in hexagonal Silicon Germanium

Silicon is indisputably the most advanced material for scalable electronics, but it is a poor choice as a light source for photonic applications, due to its indirect band gap. The recently developed hexagonal Si1−xGex semiconductor features a direct bandgap at least for x &gt; 0.65, and the realization of quantum heterostructures would unlock new opportunities for advanced optoelectronic devices based on the SiGe system. Here, we demonstrate the synthesis and characterization of direct bandgap quantum wells realized in the hexagonal Si1−xGex system. Photoluminescence experiments on hex-Ge/Si0.2Ge0.8 quantum wells demonstrate quantum confinement in the hex-Ge segment with type-I band alignment, showing light emission up to room temperature. Moreover, the tuning range of the quantum well emission energy can be extended using hexagonal Si1−xGex/Si1−yGey quantum wells with additional Si in the well. These experimental findings are supported with ab initio bandstructure calculations. A direct bandgap with type-I band alignment is pivotal for the development of novel low-dimensional light emitting devices based on hexagonal Si1−xGex alloys, which have been out of reach for this material system until now.</p

Veno-occlusive disease nurse management: Development of a dynamic monitoring tool by the GITMO nursing group

Veno-occlusive disease (VOD) is a complication arising from the toxicity of conditioning regimens that have a significant impact on the survival of patients who undergo stem cell transplantation. There are several known risk factors for developing VOD and their assessment before the start of conditioning regimens could improve the quality of care. Equally important are early identification of signs and symptoms ascribable to VOD, rapid diagnosis, and timely adjustment of support therapy and treatment. Nurses have a fundamental role at the stages of assessment and monitoring for signs and symptoms; therefore, they should have documented skills and training. The literature defines nurses' areas of competence in managing VOD, but in the actual clinical practice, this is not so clear. Moreover, there is an intrinsic difficulty in managing VOD due to its rapid and often dramatic evolution, together with a lack of care tools to guide nurses. Through a complex evidence-based process, the Gruppo Italiano per il Trapianto di Midollo Osseo (GITMO), cellule staminali emopoietiche e terapia cellulare nursing board has developed an operational flowchart and a dynamic monitoring tool applicable to haematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients, whether they develop this complication or not