Surgical site infection after caesarean section. Space for post-discharge surveillance improvements and reliable comparisons

Surgical site infections (SSI) after caesarean section (CS) represent a substantial health system concern. Surveying SSI has been associated with a reduction in SSI incidence. We report the findings of three (2008, 2011 and 2013) regional active SSI surveillances after CS in community hospital of the Latium region determining the incidence of SSI. Each CS was surveyed for SSI occurrence by trained staff up to 30 post-operative days, and association of SSI with relevant characteristics was assessed using binomial logistic regression. A total of 3,685 CS were included in the study. A complete 30 day post-operation follow-up was achieved in over 94% of procedures. Overall 145 SSI were observed (3.9% cumulative incidence) of which 131 (90.3%) were superficial and 14 (9.7%) complex (deep or organ/space) SSI; overall 129 SSI (of which 89.9% superficial) were diagnosed post-discharge. Only higher NNIS score was significantly associated with SSI occurrence in the regression analysis. Our work provides the first regional data on CS-associated SSI incidence, highlighting the need for a post-discharge surveillance which should assure 30 days post-operation to not miss data on complex SSI, as well as being less labour intensive

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TESTICULAR TUMORS IN MAN AND MAN’S BEST FRIEND

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 15-35 and is thus a diagnosis that negatively impacts many men early in their lives. Testicular cancer is also quite common in dogs but comes with several differences compared to the human counterpart. While testicular cancer typically occurs in young men, it is commonly found in older dogs. An additional difference is the cell type of origin – in men, the vast majority of testicular cancers are germ cell-derived, while in dogs most originate from epithelial Sertoli cells or interstitial Leydig cells. The exact cell type of origin can be difficult to define, as tumors often have a mixture of involved cell types. Also, the etiology of testicular cancers is poorly understood, and there are few molecular markers available for the clear diagnosis of specific tumor type for both humans and dogs. Although the prognosis for men (and dogs) diagnosed with testicular cancer is relatively good following surgical removal of the affected testis, the decision to follow up with radiation or chemotherapy is a difficult one to make based on our limited understanding of testicular cancer development and progression. Here, we present an analysis of human and canine case studies that examines distinct histological and protein marker expression changes in normal and abnormal (tumor-containing) testes. Results will be compared to published reports in the literature and data of previously conducted studies, with the goal to provide clearer diagnostic and prognostic tools for testicular cancers in both humans and dogs

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TESTICULAR TUMORS IN MAN AND MAN’S BEST FRIEND

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 15-35 and is thus a diagnosis that negatively impacts many men early in their lives. Testicular cancer is also quite common in dogs but comes with several differences compared to the human counterpart. While testicular cancer typically occurs in young men, it is commonly found in older dogs. An additional difference is the cell type of origin – in men, the vast majority of testicular cancers are germ cell-derived, while in dogs most originate from epithelial Sertoli cells or interstitial Leydig cells. The exact cell type of origin can be difficult to define, as tumors often have a mixture of involved cell types. Also, the etiology of testicular cancers is poorly understood, and there are few molecular markers available for the clear diagnosis of specific tumor type for both humans and dogs. Although the prognosis for men (and dogs) diagnosed with testicular cancer is relatively good following surgical removal of the affected testis, the decision to follow up with radiation or chemotherapy is a difficult one to make based on our limited understanding of testicular cancer development and progression. Here, we present an analysis of human and canine case studies that examines distinct histological and protein marker expression changes in normal and abnormal (tumor-containing) testes. Results will be compared to published reports in the literature and data of previously conducted studies, with the goal to provide clearer diagnostic and prognostic tools for testicular cancers in both humans and dogs

Combustion synthesis of LaFeO3 sensing nanomaterial

Since industrial revolution, human activities drive towards unsustainable global economy due to the overexploitation of natural resources and the unacceptable emissions of pollution and greenhouse gases. In order to address that issue, engineering research has been focusing on gas sensors development for monitoring gas emissions and controlling the combustion process sustainability. Semiconductors metal oxides sensors are attractive technology because they require simple design and fabrication, involving high accessibility, small size and low cost. Perovskite oxides are the most promising sensing materials because sensitivity, selectivity, stability and speed-response can be modulated and optimized by changing the chemical composition. One of the most convenient synthesis process of perovskite is the citrate-nitrate auto-combustion method, in which nitrate is the oxidizing agent and citrate is the fuel and the chelating argent in the same time. Since the sensibility of perovskite oxides depends on the defective crystallographic structure and the nanomorphology, the experimental was designed in order to study the dependence of powder properties on the synthesis conditions, such as the solution acidity and the relative amount of metals, nitrates and citric acid. Crystalline structure was studied in depth for defining the effects of synthesis conditions on size, morphology and crystallographic structure of nanopowders of LaFeO3

The Case Study of an Innovative Small Scale Biomass Waste Gasification Heat and Power Plant Contextualized in a Farm

AbstractThe use of biomass waste in high efficient low pollutants emissions micro-cogeneration plants overpasses the main biomass barriers: competition with the food and material uses, dispersion of a low energy density fuel and high emissions. Evaluations of present technical aspects, economic benefits and their future projections are very important to bring into focus the needs of the technological development of this energy application.This paper is focused on a small (250 kWth) steam gasification fluidized bed and hot gas conditioning system, contextualized in the case study of a farm situated near Rome. Since most of usable biomass waste comes from agriculture, appraisal of applicability to real rural contexts deserves closer examination, considering the necessity of a small size solution as well. A feasibility study of an actual employment of this energy system has included: biomass availability and energy consumption analysis, biomass and gasification tests, power plant sizing, using experimental data and chemcad simulation. Finally an economic analysis has been carried out by varying the main economic parameters. Olive pruning are confirmed as very suitable, and in this case, able to satisfy the farm energy consumption. Global electrical efficiency of 25% can be achieved without any auxiliary fuel consumption. Consumption of 60% of the heat generated are required, meanwhile investment and biomass costs up to 8000 €/kW and 100 €/t can be sustained, especially if the farm electricity cost are higher than 0.15 €/kWh

The interaction of biotic and abiotic factors at multiple spatial scales affects the variability of CO2 fluxes in polar environments

Climate change may turn Arctic biomes from carbon sinks into sources and vice versa, depending on the balance between gross ecosystemphotosynthesis, ecosystem respiration (ER) and the resulting net ecosystem Exchange (NEE). Photosynthetic capacity is species specific, and thus, it is important to quantify the contribution of different target plant species to NEE and ER. At Ny A \ub0 lesund (Svalbard archipelago, Norway), we selected different Arctic tundra plant species and measured CO2 fluxes at plot scale and photosynthetic capacity at leaf scale. We aimed to analyze trends in CO2 fluxes during the transition seasons (beginning vs. end of the growing season) and assess which abiotic (soil temperature, soil moisture, PAR) and biotic (plot type, phenology, LAI, photosynthetic capacity) factors influenced CO2 emissions. NEE and ER differed between vegetation communities. All communities acted as CO2 sources, with higher source strength at the beginning than at the end of the growing season. The key factors affecting NEE were soil temperature, LAI and species-specific photosynthetic capacities, coupled with phenology. ER was always influenced by soil temperature. Measurements of photosynthetic capacity indicated different responses among species to light intensity, as well as suggesting possible gains in response to future increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Species- specific adaptation to low temperatures could trigger significant feedbacks in a climate change context. Our data highlight the need to quantify the role of dominant species in the C cycle (sinks or sources), as changes of vegetation composition or species phenology in response to climate change may have great impact on the regional CO2 balance

Effects of the Road Deicing Practices on Gas Exchange Parameters in Urban Lawn Ecosystems

More than 1100 million ha of the lands are affected by the soil salinity globally. In Europe, soil salinization affects 1 to 4 million ha and is concentrated mainly in Mediterranean. Among the major causes of salinization in rural areas are salt-water introgression into the ground waters used for irrigation and dust suppression practices, in urban areas - deicing of roads with chloride salts (NaCl, CaCl 2 ). To simulate urban soil salinization after the release of the deicing agents, Lolium perenne, typically used in urban public and private lawns, was planted in pots and grown in the green house for 5 months before being treated with NaCl 0 mM, 30 mM and 90 mM solution as regular irrigation practice. The grass was moved to 4 cm height. Gas exchange measurements: soil respiration, ecosystem respiration and net ecosystem exchange were measured from planted and non-planted collars, installed in the pots. Soil salinization affected negatively soil respiration rates but increased plant respiration proportionally to the level of salinization. Together with the decline in gross primary production, it resulted in no changes in the net ecosystem exchange rates between control and salt treatments. Lolium perenne could be recommended for urban lawns subjected to periodical salinization

BVOC emission from Populus x canadensis saplings in response to acute UV-A radiation

Hybrid poplar (Populusxcanadensis) saplings were subjected to acute ultraviolet-A (UV-A) irradiation (30Wm2, ambient treatment, 60, 90 and 120Wm2 of UV-A irradiance) to determine the effects on photosynthesis and biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions in two different short-term experiments (i.e. sequential increase in UV-A irradiance and UV-A intensityresponse relationships). Both intensityresponse experiments showed that the UV-A ambient treatment did not affect photosynthesis and BVOC emissions. Whereas exposition at 60, 90 and 120Wm2 of UV-A (first experiment), increasingly inhibited photosynthesis. This increasing inhibition was also detected by decreasing trends of both photochemical reflectance index (PRI) and fluorescence yield. Isoprene emission resulted to be very sensitive to increasing UV-A irradiances. Methanol was also very sensitive to high UV-A radiation, suggesting the occurrence of strong damages of cellular structures. The second experiment, which was performed both in the middle of July and repeated towards the end of the summer, showed a temporal variations in the UV-A intensityresponse relationships. In fact, there were no longer significant differences in photosynthesis, PRI and isoprene emission in response to high UV-A radiation toward the end of the summer season. The adaxial flavonoid level increased significantly over the period monitored, resulting 85% higher toward the end of the summer than during the middle of the summer. This dramatic increase in the adaxial flavonoids may have played a protective role against UV-A radiation by shielding leaves. Our findings add to the understanding of physiological processes involved in plant response to UV radiation