On the refurbishment of the public building stock toward the nearly zero-energy target: two Italian case studies

The study presents some results of the on-going European Project, RePublic_ZEB, on the refurbishment of the public building stock towards nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB). The work is focused on the application of the nZEB requirements to two existing public buildings representative of the 1960s in Northern Italy. Many packages of energy efficiency measures that comply with nZEB requirements are identified and evaluated. The aim is to promote energy efficient but also cost-effective solutions for the Italian building stock refurbishment. The results are presented in terms of “package of measures”, energy consumption, global costs, actualized pay-back period and CO2 emission

From gating to computational flow cytometry: Exploiting artificial intelligence for MRD diagnostics

The era of AI-based methods to improve flow cytometry diagnostics in haematology is now at the beginning. The study by Nguyen and colleagues explored an emerging machine learning approach to assess phenotypic MRD in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients, showing that such AI-driven computational analysis may represent a robust and feasible tool for advanced diagnostics of haematological malignancies.Commentary on: Nguyen et al. Computational flow cytometry provides accurate assessment of measurable residual disease in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Br J Haematol 2023 (Online ahead of print). doi

On the use of areal roughness parameters to assess surface quality in laser cutting of stainless steel with CO2 and fiber sources

"Laser cutting provides various advantages such as high flexibility in terms of process parameters and cut material type, as well as the possibility to obtain complex geometry in different dimensions with high precision. From industrial point of view, the two more competitive laser cutting technologies are based on the use of CO2 and active fiber sources, which produce samples visually different, with non-uniform surface and different depth of the striations. The quality assessment between the two laser systems within the industry is commonly based on standard ISO 9013; that covers several aspects of quality, the most used are the surface roughness and edge perpendicularity; however 2D profilometers adopted for measures are not able to analyze the complex 3D surface topography of the cutting edge. As a result, despite the fact that the differences are visually appreciated, measured 2D roughness values of different CO2 and fiber laser cutting conditions are very similar. Recently, a greater diffusion of 3D surface profilometry devices is present. These devices allow areal surface roughness parameters to be defined, which are potentially suitable to better quantify the laser cut quality. This work points out the use of a focus-variation microscopy to acquire 3D surfaces and evaluate analytically the surface quality of laser cut edges using areal surface roughness parameters. In particular, the purpose is to define a simple and repeatable method to identify the type of cutting process analyzed through the reconstruction of surface characteristics and quality of the cut-edge. As a case study, two stainless steel samples with the same geometry obtained with different laser sources, CO2 and active, fiber is presented. For comparison purposes the cutting conditions were fixed to represent the state of the art of respective laser cutting technologies, which actually show distinct cutting edge characteristics.

Sustainability of sunflower cultivation for biodiesel production in central Italy according to the Renewable Energy Directive methodology

The use of renewable energies as alternative to fossil fuels has value from different points of view and has effects at environmental, social and economic level. These aspects are often connected to each other and together define the overall sustainability of bioenergy. At European level, the Directive 2009/28/EC gives the basic criteria for the estimation of sustainability of biofuels and indicates a minimum threshold of 35% of greenhouse gas saving for a biofuel in order to be considered sustainable. The Directive gives the possibility to identify standard regional values for the cultivation steps that could be utilized for the certification. This paper aims to give a contribution to the definition of these values considering the RED methodology applied to the sunflower cropped in central Italy which is characterized by a hilly landscape and not-irrigated crops. To determine input and output of sunflower cultivation in the central Italy, the results of PROBIO project, carried out by the Authors, were used. The sustainability of biodiesel produced from sunflower grown in central Italy is variable and depends on the nitrogen input and seasonal climatic conditions that affect the yields. The greenhouse gases savings of the Italian chain is 40% in average, greater than the required 35% and would be possible to assign this value as standard to the biofuel chain biodiesel from sunflower cultivated in central Italy. Using an averaged regional standard value guards against the possibility of considering unsustainable harvesting in unfavourable years and seeing it overestimated in the favourable ones

Release of Type 2 Cytokines by Epithelial Cells of Nasal Polyps

Background. T2 inflammation of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) may be influenced by epithelial cytokines release (TSLP, IL-25, and IL-33). We investigated the release of TSLP, IL-25, and IL-33 by epithelial CRSwNP cells compared to epithelial sinus mucosa cells of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps (CRSsNP). Methods. IL-25, IL-33, and TSLP were measured by ELISA in the supernatant of cell cultures derived by CRSwNP (9 patients, 6 atopic) and CRSsNP (7 patients, 2 atopic) in baseline condition and following stimulation with Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (DP), Aspergillus fumigatus (AF), and poly(I:C). Results. CRSwNP epithelial cells released increased levels of IL-25 (from 0.12 ± 0.06 pg/ml to 0.27 ± 0.1 pg/ml, p<0.01) and TSLP (from 0.77 ± 0.5 pg/ml to 2.53 ± 1.17 pg/ml, p<0.001) following poly(I:C) stimulation, while CRSsNP epithelial cells released increased levels of IL-25 and IL-33 following AF and DP stimulation, respectively (IL-25: from 0.18 ± 0.07 pg/ml to 0.51 ± 0.1 pg/ml, p<0.001; IL-33: from 2.57 ± 1.3 pg/ml to 5.7 ± 3.1 pg/ml, p<0.001). Conclusions. CRSwNP epithelial cells release TSLP and IL-25 when stimulated by poly(I:C) but not by DP or AF, suggesting that viral infection may contribute to maintain and amplify the T2 immune response seen in CRSwNP

The Challenges of the Femoral Bone Loss in the Management of the Floating Knee IIB According Fraser: A Case Report

Introduction: This case report describes the management and the possible therapeutic solutions for the treatment of femoral bone loss associated with an open fracture IIIB Gustilo Andersonin a polytrauma that includes floating knee (GF) Fraser IIB from damage control orthopedics to final treatment. Case Report: The patient was treated with an external fixator femorotibial bridge after extensive cleaning and debridement of open fractures. After 17-day post-trauma, we substitute the fixator with a less invasive stabilization system plate and screws with contralateral allograft bone strut.3months after the first surgery, the patient underwent surgery for the intramedullary nailing of the tibia. The follow-up was clinical using the knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score (KOOS), short form 12 health survey (SF-12) for the quality of life, and radiological at 1–3–6–12–18–24–36 months. The patient walked with partial load up until the 6months after injury and then began a progression to a total load. At 24-months post surgery, the patient had both the KOOS and SF-12 at 100 points. Conclusion: Not all Fraser IIB are equal, the timing of treatment should be discussed case by case. The surgical sequence should be respected: First, the fixation of the femur, and then, the stabilization of the tibia, taking into account the condition of the skin, eventual exposure or the eventual level of sub-amputation of the limb. The clinical and radiographic results show how efficient damage can lay the foundations for an excellent definitive treatment

La trasformazione degli edifici pubblici in nZEB (edifici a energia quasi zero)

L’articolo presenta alcuni risultati del progetto europeo RePublic_ZEB, relativo alla ristrutturazione del patrimonio edilizio pubblico verso l’obiettivo nZEB. Il lavoro si concentra sull’applicazione della definizione di nZEB adottata nel progetto attraverso l’analisi di un edificio pubblico esistente ad uso uffici. Vengono identificati e valutati un insieme di pacchetti di misure di efficienza energetica che rispondono ai requisiti nZEB. The paper presents some results of the European Project, RePublic_ZEB, on the refurbishment of the public building stock towards the nearly zero energy target (nZEB). The work is focused on the application of the nZEB definition as adopted in the project context, to an existing public office, representative of this Italian building type in Northern Italy. A set of packages of energy efficiency measures that comply with the nZEB requirements has been identified and evaluated

Efficacy of imatinib mesylate as maintenance therapy in adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in first complete remission

Seven Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ALL) patients in first complete remission received maintenance therapy with imatinib alone. Two-year progression-free survival was 75%. Quantitative polymerase-chain-reaction (qPCR) monitoring of BCR-ABL showed that: (i) persisting molecular complete response (CR) was associated with long-lasting CR; (ii) molecular relapse did not invariably mean hematologic relapse; (iii) only the wide and rapid increment of BCR-ABL values was predictive of leukemia relapse