Surgical treatment of retrosternal extraosseous Ewing Sarcoma in a 6-years old female: a clamshell approach with hemysternectomy and application of a non-crosslinked extracellular matrix

Background Ewing Sarcoma (ES) and Neuroblastoma (NB) belong to a family of tumours of primitive neuroectodermal origin (PNET) that occurs in both bone and soft tissue. Notwithstanding ES and NB are two distinct malignant tumours, sometimes there could be a link between them. Case report We describe a case of an extraosseous ES localized in the retrosternal region and the upper lobe of the right lung, which had been previously treated for NB in a 6 years old female. We treated this case with a clamshell approach which allows, in a one-step surgery, a complete excision of the mass reconstructing the hemysternectomy with a non-crosslinked matrix. Conclusion the clamshell approach is therefore useful to achieve the retrosternal space and the lung with a single surgical access. According to our experience, we consider appropriate to use a non-crosslinked matrix for sternal reconstruction

Study on Conservation Aspects Using LED Technology for Museum Lighting

The use of LEDs in museums is becoming more and more frequent. Benefits are claimed in terms of lighting quality, conservation and maintenance. Nonetheless the impact of LED light on collections preservation is not yet completely explored. The goal of this study was to evaluate, through exposure tests, the colour degradation and fading produced by LED: several white LEDs, with different colour temperature, and a traditional halogen lamp, were used to light up light-responsive samples. The results stressed the importance of the spectral distribution with respect to effective wavelengths in causing colour degradation, and in general white LEDs resulted more suitable, in terms of fading prevention, than traditional halogen light sources

Exposure to the natural alkaloid Berberine affects cardiovascular system morphogenesis and functionality during zebrafish development

The plant-derived natural alkaloid berberine displays therapeutic potential to treat several pathological conditions, including dyslipidemias, diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. However, data on berberine effects during embryonic development are scarce and in part controversial. In this study, using zebrafish embryos as vertebrate experimental model, we address the effects of berberine treatment on cardiovascular system development and functionality. Starting from the observation that berberine induces developmental toxicity and pericardial edema in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, we found that treated embryos display cardiac looping defects and, at later stages, present an abnormal heart characterized by a stretched morphology and atrial endocardial/myocardial detachment. Furthermore, berberine affected cardiac functionality of the embryos, promoting bradycardia and reducing the cardiac output, the atrial shortening fraction percentage and the atrial stroke volume. We also found that, during development, berberine interferes with the angiogenic process, without altering vascular permeability. These alterations are associated with increased levels of vascular endothelial growth factor aa (vegfaa) mRNA, suggesting an important role for Vegfaa as mediator of berberine-induced cardiovascular defects. Altogether, these data indicate that berberine treatment during vertebrate development leads to an impairment of cardiovascular system morphogenesis and functionality, suggesting a note of caution in its use during pregnancy and lactation

Robot-assisted Heller myotomy for achalasia

Achalasia is a rare neuromuscular esophageal disorder in children. There are many surgical options to treatment including botulinum toxin (Botox) injections, oral pharmacologic therapies with nitrates and calcium channel blockers, pneumatic dilation (PD), and surgical myotomy (open surgery, endoscopy, laparoscopy and recently robotic approach). In pediatric age, usually, Heller's myotomy is the main choice. Laparoscopic approach is known and standardized. Few robotic have been published. We decided to report our first case to share our experience with scientific community

Daylighting Design for Energy Saving in a Building Global Energy Simulation Context

A study on the impact that different daylighting solutions have on the global energy demand of a space is presented. The methodology relies on dynamic simulations carried out with Daysim and EnergyPlus used in synergy to perform a parametric study to assess the indoor daylighting conditions and the energy performance of rooms with different architectural features: room depth, window size, external obstruction angle and glazing visible transmittance. Furthermore, different lighting and shading control strategies were tested. The results of the study demonstrated that optimizing daylight can lead to a reduction of up to 30% in the global energy demand for a building

Drilling down hotspots of infraspecific diversity to bring them into on-ground conservation of threatened species

Unprecedented rates of biodiversity loss raise the urgency for preserving species ability to cope with ongoing global changes. An approach in this direction is to target intra-specific hotspots of genetic diversity as conservation priorities. However, these hotspots are often identified by sampling at a spatial resolution too coarse to be useful in practical management of threatened species, hindering the long-appealed dialog between conservation stakeholders and conservation genetic researchers. Here, we investigated the spatial and temporal variation in species presence, genetic diversity, as well as potential risk factors, within a previously identified hotspot of genetic diversity for the endangered Apennine yellow-bellied toad Bombina pachypus. Our results show that this hotspot is neither a geographically homogeneous nor a temporally stable unit. Over a time-window spanning 10–40 years since previous assessments, B. pachypus populations declined in large portions of their hotspot, and their genetic diversity levels decreased. Considering the demographic trend, genetic and epidemiological data, and models of current and future climatic suitability, populations at the extreme south of the hotspot area still qualify for urgent in-situ conservation actions, whereas northern populations would be better managed through a mix of in-situ and ex-situ actions. Our results emphasize that identifying hotspots of genetic diversity, albeit an essential step, does not suffice to warrant on-ground conservation of threatened species. Hotspots should be analyzed at finer geographic and temporal scales, to provide conservation stakeholders with key knowledge to best define conservation priorities, and to optimize resource allocation to alternative management practices

The New prEN 15193-1 to Calculate the Energy Requirements for Lighting in Buildings: Comparison to the Previous Standard and Sensitivity Analysis on the New Influencing Factors

The differences included in the new version of the standard prEN15193-1 to calculate the LENI were analyzed, especially focusing on the approach to calculate the daylight supply factor (FD,S). The estimation of the daylight availability does not only rely on the calculation of the daylight factor but it also accounts for the climate, the orientation of openings, and the presence of mobile sun shades for glare and thermal control. A sensitivity analysis on these factors was carried out, complemented by a set of case-studies (simple reference rooms with different site and architectural features) for which the LENI was calculated

Design and prototyping of a family of OLED luminaires for indoor environmental applications: results from the ODALINE project

Results of the project ‘ODALINE’ (OLED Devices Application in Luminaires for Interior and Exterior lighting) are presented. A team of academic and industrial partners worked together to design and manufacture a family of OLED luminaires. The project went through the following phases: i) analysis of the state-of-the-art of OLED technology; ii) identification of scenarios and application fields for OLED-based lighting systems and definition of requirements and performances expected for each scenario; iii) definition of the concept of new OLED lighting systems and development of their preliminary design; iv) executive design and manufacturing of some prototypes. After the identification of the most suitable OLED unit and of the application scenarios, the concept of the new luminaires was conceived: the luminaires rely on a suitable aggregation of a base module (consisting of an array of 6 OLED units, measuring 30 cm ∗ 20 cm) to provide systems with enhanced properties in terms of high efficiency, high quality light and flexibility as the luminaires can be combined to respond to different lighting tasks for indoor environmental applications. Final output of the research project was the manufacturing of three prototypes: a suspended luminaire (6 basic modules), a free-standing luminaire (4 basic modules) and a task lighting luminaire (1 module). The power supply system, consistently with the general concept, was developed for a single module rather than for the whole luminaire. Its architecture was conceived to allow the control of the luminaire (switching on/off, dimming) through the DALI digital protocol. Furthermore, some secondary optics were conceived and designed to concentrate the Lambertian light output and to increase the utilization factor of the flux