What are the consequences of the AWG-projections for the adequacy of social security pensions? ENEPRI Research Report No. 65, 16 January 2009

This paper starts by describing the model MIDAS in detail. It next presents and discusses some simulation results for Belgium, Germany and Italy. Finally, the simulation results of two alternative policy scenarios are presented and discussed

Prepectoral breast reconstruction: an ideal approach to bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy

Background: Bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy (BRRM) has increased its popularity in the last years because of its aim to minimise the chances of developing breast cancer in high-risk patients. Women undergoing this procedure must be considered highly demanding patients given the need to combine aesthetical, functional and preventive desires. This study aims to present the authors’ experience in performing BRRM followed by single-stage prepectoral reconstruction (PPBR) with implant completely covered by acellular dermal matrix (ADM) and to report indications, surgical techniques, functional and aesthetic results. Methods: A single-centre prospective data collection was carried out from January 2017 to January 2021 of patients at high risk of developing breast cancer undergoing BRRM and immediate PPBR with ADM. Patients were subdivided into two groups according to the breast shape: Group A had small and medium size breasts and Group B had large and ptotic breasts. Oncological and surgical outcomes were collected. Satisfaction with reconstruction and related quality of life were evaluated through the BREAST-Q questionnaire. Results: A total of twenty-three patients met the inclusion criteria. Seventeen patients were included in group A and six patients in group B. Average follow-up was 18.4 months. Minor complications occurred in four breasts: one seroma, one hematoma and two cases of wound dehiscence. Capsular contracture was not observed. All patients were satisfed with the fnal result according to the post-operative BREAST-Q questionnaire. Conclusions: Immediate prepectoral breast reconstruction could represent the ideal reconstruction option after BRRM and should be offered to all women that fulfl the inclusion criteria

Entanglement swapping with photons generated on-demand by a quantum dot

Photonic entanglement swapping, the procedure of entangling photons without any direct interaction, is a fundamental test of quantum mechanics and an essential resource to the realization of quantum networks. Probabilistic sources of non-classical light can be used for entanglement swapping, but quantum communication technologies with device-independent functionalities demand for push-button operation that, in principle, can be implemented using single quantum emitters. This, however, turned out to be an extraordinary challenge due to the stringent requirements on the efficiency and purity of generation of entangled states. Here we tackle this challenge and show that pairs of polarization-entangled photons generated on-demand by a GaAs quantum dot can be used to successfully demonstrate all-photonic entanglement swapping. Moreover, we develop a theoretical model that provides quantitative insight on the critical figures of merit for the performance of the swapping procedure. This work shows that solid-state quantum emitters are mature for quantum networking and indicates a path for scaling up.Comment: The first four authors contributed equally to this work. 17 pages, 3 figure

Correction to: The Role of Laparoscopic Surgery in Localized Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumours

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Laparoscopic R1 vascular hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (with video)

Surgical resection is considered the standard of treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), when realized with negative margins (R0)1. Not infrequently, R0 resection is unachievable, thus the concept of R1 vascular hepatectomy has been introduced and has been defined as exposure of the tumor on the specimen surface due to its detachment from vascular structure

Combined Orthoplastic Approach in Fracture-Related Infections of the Distal Tibia

This series reports on the treatment of distal tibia (DT) fracture-related infections (FRI) with a combined orthoplastic approach. Thirteen patients were included. In eight patients with extensive bone involvement and in those with a non-healed fracture, the DT was resected ("staged approach"). In five cases, the DT was preserved ("single-stage approach"). A wide debridement was performed, and the cavity was filled with antibiotic-loaded PerOssal beads. All patients had a soft-tissue defect covered by a free vascularized flap (anterolateral thigh perforator flap in eight cases, latissimus dorsi flap in five). At the final follow-up (mean 25 months, range, 13-37), no infection recurrence was observed. In one patient, the persistence of infection was observed, and the patient underwent a repeated debridement. In two cases, a voluminous hematoma was observed. However, none of these complications impacted the final outcome. The successful treatment of FRI depends on proper debridement and obliteration of dead spaces with a flap. Therefore, when dealing with DT FRI, debridement of infected bone and soft tissues must be as radical as required, with no fear of the need for massive reconstructions

Bone and Joint Infections: The Role of Imaging in Tailoring Diagnosis to Improve Patients' Care

Imaging is needed for the diagnosis of bone and joint infections, determining the severity and extent of disease, planning biopsy, and monitoring the response to treatment. Some radiological features are pathognomonic of bone and joint infections for each modality used. However, imaging diagnosis of these infections is challenging because of several overlaps with non-infectious etiologies. Interventional radiology is generally needed to verify the diagnosis and to identify the microorganism involved in the infectious process through imaging-guided biopsy. This narrative review aims to summarize the radiological features of the commonest orthopedic infections, the indications and the limits of different modalities in the diagnostic strategy as well as to outline recent findings that may facilitate diagnosis

Strain-induced dynamic control over the population of quantum emitters in two-dimensional materials

The discovery of quantum emitters in two-dimensional materials has triggered a surge of research to assess their suitability for quantum photonics. While their microscopic origin is still the subject of intense studies, ordered arrays of quantum emitters are routinely fabricated using static strain-gradients, which are used to drive excitons toward localized regions of the 2D crystals where quantum-light-emission takes place. However, the possibility of using strain in a dynamic fashion to control the appearance of individual quantum emitters has never been explored so far. In this work, we tackle this challenge by introducing a novel hybrid semiconductor-piezoelectric device in which WSe2 monolayers are integrated onto piezoelectric pillars delivering both static and dynamic strains. Static strains are first used to induce the formation of quantum emitters, whose emission shows photon anti-bunching. Their excitonic population and emission energy are then reversibly controlled via the application of a voltage to the piezoelectric pillar. Numerical simulations combined with drift-diffusion equations show that these effects are due to a strain-induced modification of the confining-potential landscape, which in turn leads to a net redistribution of excitons among the different quantum emitters. Our work provides relevant insights into the role of strain in the formation of quantum emitters in 2D materials and suggests a method to switch them on and off on demand.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Risk factors for persistent enterococcal bacteraemia: a multicentre retrospective study

Objectives: Conditions favouring persistent enterococcal bacteraemia (p-EB) have not been fully investigated yet. The aim of our study is to analyse risk factors for p-EB and its impact on mortality.Methods: International two-centre retrospective study of all hospitalised adults with enterococcal bacteraemia managed with follow-up blood cultures (BCs) during the period 2011-2019. Exclusion criteria were: (1) death within 72 hours from index BCs and (2) polymicrobial bacteraemia. Primary endpoint was p-EB, defined as further isolation of the same species of Enterococcus spp. from BCs after at least 72 hours of appropriate antibiotic therapy. Multivariable logistic regression model was performed to assess risk factors for p-EB. The impact of p-EB on 30-day mortality was assessed by Kaplan-Meier survival curve and Cox regression multivariable model.Results: During the study period, 244 enterococcal bacteraemia were diagnosed. P-EB were 13.5% (33/244). At multivariable analysis, factors independently associated with p-EB were hematologic malignancy (OR 4.60 [95% CI 1.32-16.00], P = 0.01), infective endocarditis (OR 7.99 [95% CI 2.20-28.9], P = 0.002), and use of daptomycin as initial treatment (OR 4.50 [95% CI 1.29-15.61], P = 0.018). Mortality rate was higher in the p-EB group (32% vs. 18%). Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that patients with p-EB were less likely to survive at 30 days from index BCs (log-rank P = 0.002). Using a Cox regression model, independent predictors of 30-day mortality were hematologic malignancy (HR 2.30 [95% CI 1.02-4.11], P = 0.043), p-EB (HR 1.93 [95% CI 0.92-4.04], P = 0.08), and septic shock (HR 5.92 [95% CI 2.17-16.30], P = 0.001).Conclusion: P-EB was diagnosed mainly in very fragile patients and in those receiving daptomycin as frontline therapy. P-EB may have an impact on mortality.(c) 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/