Non semi-simple sl(2) quantum invariants, spin case

Invariants of 3-manifolds from a non semi-simple category of modules over a version of quantum sl(2) were obtained by the last three authors in [arXiv:1404.7289]. In their construction the quantum parameter $q$ is a root of unity of order $2r$ where $r>1$ is odd or congruent to $2$ modulo $4$. In this paper we consider the remaining cases where $r$ is congruent to zero modulo $4$ and produce invariants of $3$-manifolds with colored links, equipped with generalized spin structure. For a given $3$-manifold $M$, the relevant generalized spin structures are (non canonically) parametrized by $H^1(M;\mathbb C/2\mathbb Z)$.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figure

EOQ inventory model for perishable products under uncertainty

Perishable products require accurate inventory control models as their effect on operations management can be critical. This assumption is particularly relevant in highly uncertain and dynamic markets, as for the ones generated by the pandemic era. This paper presents an inventory control model for perishable items with a demand rate variable over time, and dependent on the inventory rate. The model also considers the potential for backlogging and lost sales. Imperfect product quality is included, and deterioration is modelled as a time-dependent variable. The framework envisages the possibility to define variables affected by uncertainty in terms of probability distribution functions, which are then jointly managed via a Monte Carlo simulation. This paper is intended to provide an analytical formulation to deal with uncertainty and time-dependent inventory functions to be used for a variety of perishable products. The formulation is designed to support decision-making for the identification of the optimal order quantity. A numerical example exemplifies the outcomes of the paper and provides a cost-based sensitivity analysis to understand the role of main parameters

Unusual recurrence of trigeminal neuralgia after microvascular decompression by muscle interposal

Background: Patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) and persistent or recurrent facial pain after microvascular decompression (MVD) typically undergo less invasive procedures in the hope of providing pain relief. However, re-operation should be considered in selected patients. Case Report: A 48-year-old woman presented with recurrent trigeminal neuralgia (TN) 3 years following microvascular decompression (MVD). The patient underwent brain magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), which did not reveal neurovascular compression; therefore surgical re-exploration was carried out. During the operation, the fifth cranial nerve was seen without impingement from any blood vessels; however, a very firm tissue was observed and identified as the muscle fragment from the previous MVD procedure. The fifth cranial nerve was carefully separated from the muscle. Thereafter, the right SCA was dissected out from the muscle and suspended by a periosteum tape sutured to the nearby dura. Conclusions: Our findings, along with similar cases reported in the literature, support the development of new inert materials and alternative surgical strategies that can limit TN recurrence

A system-approach for recoverable spare parts management using the discreteweibull distribution

Optimal spare parts management strategies allow sustaining a system's availability, while ensuring timely and effective maintenance. Following a systemic perspective, this paper starts from the Multi-Echelon Technique for Recoverable Item Control (METRIC) to investigate the potential use of a Weibull distribution for modelling items' demand in case of failure. Adapting the analytic formulation of METRIC through a Discrete Weibull distribution, this study originally proposes a METRIC-based model (DW-METRIC) to be used for modelling the stochastic demand in multi-item systems, in order to ensure process sustainability. The DW-METRIC has been tested in a case study related to an industrial plant constituted by 98 items in a passive redundancy configuration. Comparing the results via a simulation model, the outcomes of the study allow defining applicability criteria for the DW-METRIC, in those settings where the DW-METRIC offers more accurate estimations than the traditional METRIC

Prognostic value of the Sinonasal Outcome Test 22 (SNOT-22) in chronic rhinosinusitis

Studi in letteratura hanno evidenziato che il punteggio basale del Sinonasal Outcome Test 22 (SNOT-22) influenza l\u2019outcome chirurgico nella rinosinusite cronica (CRS) ed hanno suggerito che un approccio SNOT-22-mediato potrebbe migliorare la comprensione delle aspettative dei pazienti dopo il trattamento. Il presente studio mirava a verificare questa ipotesi in una popolazione italiana di CRS. In 457 pazienti con CRS, trattati con chirurgia endoscopica endonasale dopo fallimento della terapia medica massimale, sono stati calcolati la percentuale di raggiungimento della differenza minima clinicamente rilevabile (MCID) e la percentuale di miglioramento relativo dopo l\u2019intervento chirurgico. Inoltre, \ue8 stato studiato l\u2019impatto di diversi fattori sul punteggio dello SNOT-22 preoperatorio e postoperatorio. Il miglioramento dei sintomi si \ue8 verificato nella maggior parte dei pazienti ed era direttamente proporzionale alla SNOT-22 basale. Il 79,7% dei pazienti ha raggiunto l\u2019MCID e la percentuale di miglioramento relativo \ue8 stata del 50,1%. Le implicazioni psicologiche e sociali hanno influenzato significativamente i punteggi dello SNOT-22. Un\u2019analisi di regressione multipla ha mostrato che la storia di precedenti interventi chirurgici, asma, score endoscopico preoperatorio e SNOT-22 basale hanno statisticamente predetto il punteggio dello SNOT-22 postoperatorio (R2 = 0,229). Sottoporre i pazienti con CRS a SNOT-22 prima dei trattamenti chirurgici potrebbe quindi aiutare ad informarli sui probabili esiti, sebbene sia fortemente influenzato dalla percezione individuale. Sono necessari ulteriori studi per identificare un set efficace di parametri soggettivi e oggettivi per la valutazione dei risultati.Previous studies have highlighted that baseline Sinonasal Outcome Test 22 (SNOT-22) score affects surgical outcomes in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and suggested that a SNOT-22- based approach might ameliorate patients\u2019 understanding of expectations after treatment. Our study aimed at verifying this hypothesis in an Italian CRS population. In 457 CRS patients treated with endoscopic sinus surgery after failure of maximal medical therapy, the percentage of achieving a minimal clinically important difference (MCID) and the percentage of relative improvement after surgery were calculated. Moreover, the impact of several factors on preoperative and postoperative SNOT-22 score was investigated. Symptom improvement occurred in the majority of patients and was directly proportional to baseline SNOT-22. 79,7% of patients achieved the MCID and the percentage of relative improvement was 50,1%. Psychological and social-functioning implications significantly affected SNOT-22 scores. Multiple regression analysis showed that history of previous surgery, asthma, preoperative endoscopic and SNOT-22 scores predicted the postoperative SNOT-22 score (R2 = 0,298). Submitting CRS patients to SNOT-22 prior to surgical treatments might help to inform about probable outcomes, although it is strongly influenced by individual perception. Further studies are needed to identify an effective set of subjective and objective parameters for evaluation of outcomes

[Abolishing mandatory routine medical and laboratory examination of food handlers may have influenced the reporting trends of foodborne diseases? Frequency of notified foodborne illnesses in Southern Italy from 1996 to 2009]

The aim of this study is to compare notifications of foodborne diseases in Southern Italy, before and after abolishing mandatory medical and laboratory examination routine. Data were obtained from the National Epidemiological Report of Health Ministry, that includes the annual summaries of foodborne infectious illnesses notified in Italy. The average number of foodborne diseases per million inhabitants per year decreased after the abolishment of health card for all examined conditions. There was a statistically significant reduction in all Regions for Salmonellosis and in Basilicata, Calabria, Campania and Sicily for Brucellosis. Abolishing health card of food handlers workers did not increase trends of foodborne illnesses and foodborne epidemics in Southern Italy. Examined data confirm the substantial effectiveness of food handlers self-control and training as essentials instruments of Evidence Based Prevention

Framing the FRAM: A literature review on the functional resonance analysis method

The development of the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) has been motivated by the perceived limitations of fundamentally deterministic and probabilistic approaches to understand complex systems’ behaviour. Congruent with the principles of Resilience Engineering, over recent years the FRAM has been progressively developed in scientific terms, and increasingly adopted in industrial environments with reportedly successful results. Nevertheless, a wide literature review focused on the method is currently lacking. On these premises, this paper aims to summarise all available published research in English about FRAM. More than 1700 documents from multiple scientific repositories were reviewed through a protocol based on the PRISMA review technique. The paper aims to uncover a number of characteristics of the FRAM research, both in terms of the method's application and of the authors contributing to its development. The systematic analysis explores the method in terms of its methodological aspects, application domains, and enhancements in qualitative and quantitative terms, as well as proposing potential future research directions

Park\u27s Tribolium Competition Experiments: A Non-equilibrium Species Coexistence Hypothesis

1. In this journal 35 years ago, P. H. Leslie, T. Park and D. B. Mertz reported competitive exclusion data for two Tribolium species. It is less well-known that they also reported \u27difficult to interpret\u27 coexistence data. We suggest that the species exclusion and the species coexistence are consequences of a stable coexistence two-cycle in the presence of two stable competitive exclusion equilibria. 2. A stage-structured insect population model for two interacting species forecasts that as interspecific interaction is increased there occurs a sequence of dynamic changes (bifurcations) in which the classic Lotka-Volterra-type scenario with two stable competitive exclusion equilibria is altered abruptly to a novel scenario with three locally stable entities; namely, two competitive exclusion equilibria and a stable coexistence cycle. This scenario is novel in that it predicts the competitive coexistence of two nearly identical species on a single limiting resource and does so under circumstances of increased interspecific competition. This prediction is in contradiction to classical tenets of competition theory

Solvent-Free Synthetic Route for Cerium(IV) Metal–Organic Frameworks with UiO-66 Architecture and Their Photocatalytic Applications

A near solvent-free synthetic route for Ce-UiO-66 metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is presented. The MOFs are obtained by energetically grinding the reagents, cerium ammonium nitrate (CAN) and the carboxylic linkers, in a mortar for a few minutes with the addition of a small amount of acetic acid (AcOH) as a modulator (8.75 equiv, 0.5 mL). The slurry is then transferred into a 2 mL vial and heated at 120 °C for 1 day. The MOFs have been characterized for their composition, crystallinity, and porosity and employed as heterogeneous catalysts for the photo-oxidation reaction of substituted benzylic alcohols to benzaldaldehydes under near-ultraviolet light irradiation. The catalytic performances, such as selectivity, conversion, and kinetics, exceed those of similar systems studied by chemical oxidation using similar Ce-MOFs as a catalyst. Moreover, the MOFs were found to be reusable up to three cycles without loss of activity. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to fully describe the electronic structure of the best performing MOFs and to provide useful information on the catalytic activity experimentally observed

Human reliability analysis: exploring the intellectual structure of a research field

Humans play a crucial role in modern socio-technical systems. Rooted in reliability engineering, the discipline of Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) has been broadly applied in a variety of domains in order to understand, manage and prevent the potential for human errors. This paper investigates the existing literature pertaining to HRA and aims to provide clarity in the research field by synthesizing the literature in a systematic way through systematic bibliometric analyses. The multi-method approach followed in this research combines factor analysis, multi-dimensional scaling, and bibliometric mapping to identify main HRA research areas. This document reviews over 1200 contributions, with the ultimate goal of identifying current research streams and outlining the potential for future research via a large-scale analysis of contributions indexed in Scopus database