Early warning monitoring of exothermic batch reactions: A kinetic-free approach

In the multipurpose fine chemical industry, several performance goods are produced in the same plant at relatively low volumes: the reactor is therefore typically operated on a discontinuous campaign basis. Moreover, if the reaction is not excessively fast and exothermic, the process is often performed in the simple batch mode, according to which all the raw materials are initially loaded into the reactor and the reaction is then triggered. The monitoring of the safe operation of a batch reactor is therefore even more critical than that of a fed-batch one, because all the reactants are in contact since from the beginning. In this work a kinetic-free approach is presented, through which the quasi-adiabatic unsafe operation of a batch reactor can be early detected before an excessive temperature peak, where an incidental scenario could occur: this allows for preventively adopting emergency actions aimed for example to quench the system or to bottom relieve the reaction mass. The proposed criterion has been validated through some industrial data of a potentially runaway reaction of the fine chemical industry, that is, the solvent-based batch polymerization of acrylic acid

Medication review and deprescribing in different healthcare settings: a position statement from an Italian scientific consortium

Recent medical advancements have increased life expectancy, leading to a surge in patients affected by multiple chronic diseases and consequent polypharmacy, especially among older adults. This scenario increases the risk of drug interactions and adverse drug reactions, highlighting the need for medication review and deprescribing to reduce inappropriate medications and optimize therapeutic regimens, with the ultimate goal to improving patients’ health and quality of life. This position statement from the Italian Scientific Consortium on medication review and deprescribing aims to describe key elements, strategies, tools, timing, and healthcare professionals to be involved, for the implementation of medication review and deprescribing in different healthcare settings (i.e., primary care, hospital, long-term care facilities, and palliative care). Challenges and potential solutions for the implementation of medication review and deprescribing are also discussed