Between Past and Future: The Mission of University of L’Aquila and Its Action on Energy and Climate Change

For the University of L’Aquila, sustainability and civic engagement are key commitments. Actions to enhance and safeguard the territory and to improve the community wellbeing are even more meaningful in a city that, after the earthquake of 2009, is re-thinking its social and economic backbone. The aim to provide buildings with a high level of seismic security, of energy efficiency and resources saving, has been particularly challenging, but that also offered an opportunity. The participation to the UI Green Metric WUR has been a natural consequence of this process of renovation. Moreover, throughout the data collection and analysis, UI GM rankings stimulates the cross disciplinary cooperation in research, innovation, social and civic engagement.Concerning “Energy and Climate Change” the University could take the opportunity to exploit the competencies of research teams worldwide known working in renewable energies production (solar, wind, hydropower), building efficiency and retrofitting, environmental impacts. The University is member of the Italian University Network for Sustainable Development, which offered guidelines to implement energy and climate change related politics. The improvements of building focused on: smart illumination appliances (61% of the area), smart automation of heating/cooling (90% of the area), renewable energy production (PV and solar thermal), and integration of climate action into the strategic plan

Bernard-Horner Syndrome after accidental lesion of carotid artery: case report

Among the complications of internal jugular vein insertion there is the lesion of the cervical sympathetic trunk with the onset of Bernard-Horner syndrome, consisting of miosis, eyelid ptosis, enophthalmos and anhidrosis on the same side of the lesion. The neurological damage can be caused by the direct puncture of the trunk or by the irritating and compressive action of a hematoma during the puncture of the internal jugular; the clinical picture, when reversible, resolves in a few months. The case we report is about the onset of the syndrome after accidental puncture of carotid artery, followed by the total disappearance of signs in a few day

Multidisciplinary approach for a relapsing goiter with severe tracheal stenosis: a case report in an elderly patient

Total thyroidectomy is considered the gold standard for thyroid benign pathology treatment. Unfortunately, many partial interventions carried out in the past created many complications due to the tendency of the goiter to relapse and the formation of adherences in the anterior region of the neck. A woman 72 years of age with a relapsing goiter and severe respiratory symptomatology underwent thyroidectomy. After thyroid removal, tracheal stenosis persisted, making the positioning of a T silicon prosthesis (Montgomery’s T-tube) necessary. After 60 days, the prosthesis was replaced with a new made out of the same material but with a larger diameter and a softer consistency, which was removed after 4 months. The patient completely recovered her respiratory function and also maintained normal vocal cord activity without any kind of surgical sequelae. The full success was possible because of the involvement of different specialists

ANÁLISE DA ESTRUTURA PRODUTIVA DA MESORREGIÃO DO SUDOESTE PIAUIENSE ENTRE 2002 E 2017 Analysis of the production structure of the mesoregion of southwest of Piauí between 2002 and 2017

Este estudo analisou a estrutura produtiva da Mesorregião do Sudoeste Piauiense entre 2002 e 2017. Utilizou-se a análise fatorial por componentes principais como metodologia para estimar um índice de estrutura produtiva municipal, na intenção de classificar os municípios de acordo com seu grau de produtividade e verificar a ocorrência de mudança na estrutura produtiva no período analisado. Os resultados mostraram alto grau de produtividade para os municípios de Floriano, São Raimundo Nonato e Uruçuí, enquanto os municípios de Antônio Almeida, Baixa Grande do Ribeiro, Bom Jesus, Canto do Buriti, Corrente, Guadalupe e Ribeiro Gonçalves apresentaram grau médio de produtividade no ano de 2002. No cenário do ano de 2017, os municípios de Baixa Grande do Ribeiro e Bom Jesus passaram a apresentar índice de produtividade alto, além de melhoria modesta do índice de estrutura produtiva na maioria dos municípios analisados. Constatou-se que a maior parte dos municípios de grau alto e médio de produtividade foram mais intensivos no indicador de estrutura agropecuária e os de baixo grau, mais intensivos no indicador de estrutura industrial. Conclui-se, portanto, que essa mesorregião vem passando por transformações importantes em todos os setores econômicos, base da sua estrutura produtiva, carecendo de um olhar mais atento do poder público para o fortalecimento e a melhoria de sua dinamização. Nesse sentido, seria importante a elaboração e aplicação de um plano de investimentos direcionado aos setores-chaves da economia regional com objetivo de elevar a produtividade e promover o desenvolvimento econômico regional

Multidisciplinary Approach for a Relapsing Goiter with Severe Tracheal Stenosis: A Case Report in an Elderly Patient

SummaryTotal thyroidectomy is considered the gold standard for thyroid benign pathology treatment. Unfortunately, many partial interventions carried out in the past created many complications due to the tendency of the goiter to relapse and the formation of adherences in the anterior region of the neck. A woman 72 years of age with a relapsing goiter and severe respiratory symptomatology underwent thyroidectomy. After thyroid removal, tracheal stenosis persisted, making the positioning of a T silicon prosthesis (Montgomery’s T-tube) necessary. After 60 days, the prosthesis was replaced with a new made out of the same material but with a larger diameter and a softer consistency, which was removed after 4 months. The patient completely recovered her respiratory function and also maintained normal vocal cord activity without any kind of surgical sequelae. The full success was possible because of the involvement of different specialists

Dissecting the different biological effects of oncogenic Ras isoforms in cancer cell lines: could stimulation of oxidative stress be the one more weapon of H-Ras? Regulation of oxidative stress and Ras biological effects

Ras proteins are small GTPase functioning as molecular switches that, in response to particular extracellular signalling, as growth factors, activate a diverse array of intracellular effector cascades regulating cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Human tumours frequently express Ras proteins (Ha-, Ki-, N-Ras) activated by point mutations which contribute to malignant phenotype, including invasiveness and angiogenesis. Despite the common signalling pathways leading to similar cellular responses, studies clearly demonstrate unique roles of the Ras family members in normal and pathological conditions and the lack of functional redundancy seems to be explainable, at least in part, by the ability of Ras isoforms to localize in different microdomains to plasma membrane and intracellular organelles. This different intracellular compartmentalization could help Ras isoforms to contact different downstream effectors finally leading to different biological outcomes. Interestingly, it has also been shown that Ha- and Ki-Ras exert an opposite role in regulating intracellular redox status. In this regard we suggest that H-Ras specific induction of ROS (reactive oxygen species) production could be one of the main determinants of the invasive phenotype which characterize cancer cells harbouring H-Ras mutations. In our hypothesis then, while K-Ras (not able to promote oxidative stress) could mainly contribute to cancer progression and invasiveness through activation of MAPK and PI3K, H-Ras-mediated oxidative stress could play a unique role in modulation of intercellular contacts leading to a loss of cell adhesion and eventually also to a metastatic spread

Comparison between local and regional anesthesia in arteriovenous fistula creation.

PURPOSE: Assessment of the effectiveness of Brachial Plexus Block (BPB) via axillary approach compared to regional anesthesia for arteriovenous fistula surgery in patients affected by end-stage renal disease. METHODS: We compared forty patients randomly divided into two groups. Group A underwent BPB procedure with 15 mL ropivacaine 1% and 10 mL of saline (0.9% NaCl) via axillary approach. Group B received local anesthesia with lidocaine 2%. The forearm blood vessels were assessed by Doppler ultrasonography before and after the intervention. RESULTS: BPB performed on Group A was associated with a considerable venous dilation and a significant decrease (48.7%, P<.05) in pulsatility index (PI) measured by Doppler ultrasound. In Group B, PI and venous dilation remained unaltered in the postoperative phase. No complications such as thrombosis or occlusion were encountered among patients who underwent BPB. CONCLUSIONS: The axillary-approached BPB was more advantageous than local anesthesia. Its effectiveness was because of venous dilation and the decrease in the PI, consequent to the reduction in peripheral resistances and the increase in local blood flow, thus offering an ideal background for fistula creation and short-term patency

Gastric leiomyosarcoma: case report and review of literature

True smooth muscle neoplasms of the wall of digestive tract are rare, in particular in the stomach, and the benign ones are prevalent. We report a case of gastric leiomyosarcoma (LMS) that we observed, diagnosed to a 71 years-old man, with important comorbidities, who had already underwent the amputation of the right lower limb. In consequence of the discovery of anaemia and melaena he underwent an endoscopy of the upper GI tract and CT scan, which showed the presence of a neoformation of the gastric wall, but because of the thrombosis of the common iliac artery and the occurrence of the clinical picture of critical ischaemia, at first the patient underwent the amputation of the left lower limb e only then an intervention of atypical gastroresection. Despite the neoplastic infiltration of the resection margins and the impossibility to undertake an adjuvant chemotherapy, the follow-up at 6, 12 and 28 months did not show a recurrence of the disease that remained in phase of clinical remission