ZnAl-SO4 Layered Double Hydroxide and Allophane for Cr(VI), Cu(II) and Fe(III) Adsorption in Wastewater: Structure Comparison and Synergistic Effects

Owing to their structure, layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and allophane are nowadays considered as promising materials for application in different fields. The goal of this work is to compare the efficacy of allophane and ZnAl-SO4 LDH to remove, by adsorption, some cationic and anionic pollutants from industrial wastewater. Both compounds were synthesized via the coprecipitation route (direct method) followed by hydrothermal treatment, obtaining nanoscopic crystallites with a partially disordered turbostratic (ZnAl-SO4 LDH) or amorphous (allophane) structure. The characterization of the obtained compounds was performed by means of powder xray diffraction (PXRD), thermal gravimetry analysis (TGA), field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis (FESEM), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The sorbents were tested using wastewater produced by a real metalworking plant and containing ionic species such as Cu(II), Fe(III) and Cr(VI), whose concentration was measured by means of inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). This investigation represents an alternative procedure with respect to standard protocols based on customarily made and artificially lab-produced wastewaters. Both sorbents and their combination proved to be efficient in Cr(VI) removal, irrespective of the presence of cations like Cu(II) and Fe(III). A synergistic effect was detected for Cu(II) adsorption in a mixed allophane/LDH sorbent, leading to a Cu(II) removal rate of 89.5%

Swallowing disorders in tracheostomised patients: a multidisciplinary/multiprofessional approach in decannulation protocols

Safe removal of tracheal cannula is a major goal in the rehabilitation of tracheostomised patients to achieve progressive independence from mechanical support and reduce the risk of respiratory complications. A tracheal cannula may also cause significant discomfort to the patient, making verbal communication difficult. Particularly when cuffed, tracheal cannula reduces the normal movement of the larynx which can further compromise the basic swallowing defect. A close connection between respiratory, phonating, swallowing and feeding abilities to be recovered, implies a strict integration among different professionals of the rehabilitation team. An appropriate management of tracheostomy cannula is closely connected with assessment and treatment of swallowing disorders in order to limit the development of severe pulmonary and nutritional complications, but at present there are no uniform protocols in the scientific literature. Furthermore, several studies report as an essential criterion for decannulation the presence of good patient consciousness, which is often altered in patients with tracheostomy, but a general agreement is lacking

AIRO Breast Cancer Group Best Clinical Practice 2022 Update

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common tumor in women and represents the leading cause of cancer death. Radiation therapy plays a key-role in the treatment of all breast cancer stages. Therefore, the adoption of evidence-based treatments is warranted, to ensure equity of access and standardization of care in clinical practice.Method: This national document on the highest evidence-based available data was developed and endorsed by the Italian Association of Radiation and Clinical Oncology (AIRO) Breast Cancer Group.We analyzed literature data regarding breast radiation therapy, using the SIGN (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network) methodology (www.sign.ac.uk). Updated findings from the literature were examined, including the highest levels of evidence (meta-analyses, randomized trials, and international guidelines) with a significant impact on clinical practice. The document deals with the role of radiation therapy in the treatment of primary breast cancer, local relapse, and metastatic disease, with focus on diagnosis, staging, local and systemic therapies, and follow up. Information is given on indications, techniques, total doses, and fractionations.Results: An extensive literature review from 2013 to 2021 was performed. The work was organized according to a general index of different topics and most chapters included individual questions and, when possible, synoptic and summary tables. Indications for radiation therapy in breast cancer were examined and integrated with other oncological treatments. A total of 50 questions were analyzed and answered.Four large areas of interest were investigated: (1) general strategy (multidisciplinary approach, contraindications, preliminary assessments, staging and management of patients with electronic devices); (2) systemic therapy (primary, adjuvant, in metastatic setting); (3) clinical aspects (invasive, non-invasive and micro-invasive carcinoma; particular situations such as young and elderly patients, breast cancer in males and cancer during pregnancy; follow up with possible acute and late toxicities; loco-regional relapse and metastatic disease); (4) technical aspects (radiation after conservative surgery or mastectomy, indications for boost, lymph node radiotherapy and partial breast irradiation).Appendixes about tumor bed boost and breast and lymph nodes contouring were implemented, including a dedicated web application. The scientific work was reviewed and validated by an expert group of breast cancer key-opinion leaders.Conclusions: Optimal breast cancer management requires a multidisciplinary approach sharing therapeutic strategies with the other involved specialists and the patient, within a coordinated and dedicated clinical path. In recent years, the high-level quality radiation therapy has shown a significant impact on local control and survival of breast cancer patients. Therefore, it is necessary to offer and guarantee accurate treatments according to the best standards of evidence-based medicine

I numeri dell'economia in Regione

L'articolo presenta un'analisi della congiuntura economica in Emilia-Romagna, facendo uso dell'indicatore di attivit\ue0 economica elaborato da RegiosS

PERCEIVE. WP1. Framework for comparative analysis of the perception of Cohesion Policy and identification with the European Union at citizen level in different European countries. Task1.2. Focus group with Cohesion Policy practitioners

The data set consists of transcripts of interviews to practitioners, beneficiaries and targets of the Cohesion Policy projects in the selected case-study regions of seven different countries (Austria, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom). Interviewees are asked to provide their views and perceptions on the multilevel governance system, on the communication activities of the Operational Programmes and on the effectiveness of Cohesion Policy. The issues related to the governance schemes in the selected case-study regions were addressed in focus groups with practitioners of Cohesion Policy programmes. Between February and March 2017, eight focus groups were organised by partners of the PERCEIVE consortium with the only exception of WU Vienna who organised in-depth interviews. UNIBO, leader of the Work Package, provided a semi-structured questionnaire that was designed to explore the multilevel governance system, the communication strategies and the policy effectiveness as perceived by the practitioners. The aims of the questionnaire, in regards to governance, were to collect qualitative information about the strengths and weaknesses of the governance model adopted by each of the case-study MAs. In order to grasp the multitude and the complexity of the issues involved, invitations were sent to both internal and external members of the MAs. This assembled a panel of directors and managers from the MAs, relevant stakeholders of the CP programmes and beneficiaries. The questionnaire was designed in such a way that all participants could be able to answer to all the questions throughout the entire focus group, regardless of their affiliations, to ensure that the focus group could generate a fruitful discussion between the participants. The Austrian case is an exception because, in conformity with the confidentiality agreement based on the Austrian Data Protection Act, the transcripts of the interviews must not be made publically available, reproduced, or distributed in any way

PERCEIVE: WP1: Framework for comparative analysis of the perception of Cohesion Policy and identification with the European Union at citizen level in different European countries: Task1.1: The framework for the comparative analysis

This dataset contains data on the Cohesion Policy projects managed by Local Managing Authorities in the selected case-studies of the PERCEIVE project over the 2007-2013 programming period. The selected case-study regions are the following: Emilia-Romagna and Calabria (IT), Extremadura (ES), Burgenland (AT), Norra Mellansverige (SE), Sud-Est (RO), Essex (UK), Dolnośląskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie (PL). The framework for the data collection was built by UNIBO after the guidelines set by the European Commission for the monitoring of the Cohesion Policy projects. All partners from the PERCEIVE consortium have contributed to the construction of this dataset by gathering data referred to their own case-study region from the Managing Authorities, some of which are involved in the PERCEIVE project as third-parties: Regione Emilia-Romagna (IT), Ministerio de Economia y Hacienda - Direccion General de Fondos Comunitarios (ES) and Agentia pentru Dezvoltare Regionala Sud-Est (RO). The dataset is made up of 4 sheets: "1. Categorisation" includes information on projects' scopes, locations, titles, as well as on the managing authorities and other bodies involved; "2. Payments" contains information on the CP expenditure, broken down by source of the funding and year of payment, where available; "3. Beneficiaries" contains information on the beneficiaries of the CP funding (name and location, if available) and the amount of funding received broken down by year, if available; "4. Communication" reports the expenditure in Cohesion Policy-related communication and dissemination activities, broken down by type of activities and year, if available. A codebook is included which provides information on the variables' content as well as details regards space and time coverage. This dataset is also available on Zenodo (10.5281/zenodo.1035808)

PERCEIVE. WP1. Framework for comparative analysis of the perception of Cohesion Policy and identification with the European Union at citizen level in different European countries. Regional Diversity. Italy. Emilia-Romagna_Calabria

This dataset contains data related to the paper: "Regional diversity in experiences of Cohesion Policy: the cases of Emilia-Romagna and Calabria". The dataset is made up of 5 files: 2 files consist in transcripts of interviews to practitioners, beneficiaries and targets of the Cohesion Policy projects in the Italian selected case‐study regions. Interviewees are asked to provide their views and perceptions on the multilevel governance system, on the communication activities of the Operational Programmes and on the effectiveness of Cohesion Policy. 2 files consist in tables showing the overview of political elections, the turnover of involved practitioners and the ROPs financial implementation in the two Italian case‐study regions. 1 file consist in a table showing the regional indicators on socio-economic cohesion. A readme file is included

PERCEIVE. WP1. Cohesion Policy and identification with the European Union at citizen level in different European countries. Survey at citizen level. European identity and citizens’ support for the EU

This dataset contains data related to the paper: Aiello V, Brasili C, Revereberi PM (2019) "European identity and citizens' support for the EU: testing the utilitarian approach", published by Regional Science Policy and Practice, Wiley. The dataset was built collecting data from different sources: the dataset “PERCEIVE: WP1: Framework for comparative analysis of the perception of Cohesion Policy and identification with the European Union at citizen level in different European countries: Survey at citizen level and data relative to regional performance of the Cohesion Policy and institutional quality” (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3346047), EUROSTAT (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database) and a dataset on EU funding provided by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG Regio) [“Historic EU payments - regionalised and modelled”, https://cohesiondata.ec.europa.eu/Other/Historic-EU-payments-regionalised-and-modelled/tc55-7ysv]. A readme file is included

PERCEIVE project - Deliverable D8.5 "PERCEIVE (Perception and Evaluation of Regional and Cohesion policies by Europeans and Identification with the Values of Europe): Data Management Plan. Version (M6)"

This DMP provides details regarding all the research data collected and generated within PERCEIVE project. In particular, it explains the way research data are handled, organized, licensed and made openly available to the public, and how they will be preserved after the project is completed. This DMP also provides motivations when versions or parts of the project research data cannot be openly shared on account of third-party copyright issues, confidentiality or personal data protection requirements, or when open dissemination could jeopardize the project achievements. This DMP reflects the current state of the art of PERCEIVE project (M6). The details and the final number of the project data sets may vary during the course of research. The variations will be recorded in updated versions of this DMP