Biomethane Production and Utilization Pathways: an MDCA-based Impact Assessment in Sardinia, Italy

Biogas from the anaerobic digestion of organic substrates represents a renewable and sustainable fuel widely deployed in Sardinia, supported by the high share of rural areas and the generation of agro-industrial residues and by-products. On the wave of new economic incentives, interest is gradually shifting to biomethane. Nonetheless, the possible uses of biomethane are compelled by the local energy system, which defects in the implementation of the natural gas grid and gas fuelling stations. This is the reason why heat and power production may still be considered one of the most plausible biomethane utilization. Multiple options for upgrading biogas into biomethane exist. Chemical absorption represents an established and reliable upgrading solution. However, innovative alternatives such as biological methanation have emerged characterized by high sustainability and versatility. In the present paper, six scenarios for biomethane generation and utilization are presented and analysed to determine an integrated impact benchmark for each of them. The impact assessment is structured in criteria that depict the environmental, economic, technological and social dimensions. It is carried out using the Multi-criteria Decision Analysis. An in-depth literature review allowed to identify quantitative and qualitative indicators for each dimension according to a rationale described in the paper. The results describe the processes and technologies involved and determine the integrated impacts for the considered scenarios. The method adopted emphasizes the regional worth of the assessment process, and the critical importance of collecting technological data at the pilot or commercial scale, given the distinctiveness of the experiences developed at the laboratory-scale

Assessment of trabecular bone score (TBS) in overweight/obese men: effect of metabolic and anthropometric factors

The "trabecular bone score" (TBS) indirectly explores bone quality, independently of bone mineral density (BMD). We investigated the effects of anthropometric and metabolic parameters on TBS in 87 overweight/obese men. We assessed BMD and TBS by DXA, and some parameters of glucose metabolism, sex-and calciotropic hormone levels. Regression models were adjusted for either age and BMI, or age and waist circumference, or age and waist/hip ratio, also considering BMI >35 (y/n) and metabolic syndrome (MS) (y/n). Correlations between TBS and parameters studied were higher when correcting for waist circumference, although not significant in subjects with BMI >35. The analysis of covariance showed that the same model always had a higher adjusted r-square index. BMD at lumbar spine and total hip, fasting glucose, bioavailable testosterone, and sex hormone-binding globulin are the only covariates having a significant effect (p 35 on TBS values or significant interaction terms between each covariate and either BMI >35 or the presence of MS. Obesity negatively affected TBS, despite unchanged BMD. Alterations of glucose homeostasis and sex hormone levels seem to influence this relationship, while calciotropic hormones have no role. The effect of waist circumference on TBS is more pronounced than that of BMI

Transportables

Los comienzos de este trabajo final de grado pueden encontrarse en el año 2015, en la cátedra Grabado III (Plan 85), momento adonde tenía lugar el proceso de experimentación con tetrabrik. La motivación de trabajar con materiales de menor toxicidad ‒una problemática típica del grabado tradicional‒ me permitió reflexionar acerca de los procesos de degradación o desecho de los elementos usados en esta disciplina. En aquel entonces realice una serie de paisajes en pequeño formato y, lo que inició como una exploración espontánea, intuitiva, lúdica, acabó siendo un intento por develar la potencialidad del material tetrabrik y la posibilidad de aplicarlo al grabado. En esta búsqueda, recogí producciones de artistas que, sin necesariamente pertenecer al campo del grabado, ejercieron alguna influencia en el desarrollo de la imagen de este trabajo; tal es el caso de Irene Kopelman, Mónica Millán, Ernesto Berra o el Proyecto Expedición. Decidí pensar en marcos teóricos que sustentaran aquellas ideas incipientes que habían surgido en 2015 y focalizar en el concepto de paisaje, agregando, posteriormente, el de “capas de memoria”. El grabado como lenguaje no deja de lado el concepto de tradición, aunque además permitió, en el sentido de cruzar esos límites tradicionales, una gráfica ampliada a fin de obtener mayor libertad de acción en cuanto a la expresión artística y la búsqueda de una producción de sentido. Por ello, la técnica está sujeta al tema del paisaje y se desarrolla a partir de una búsqueda bibliográfica que me permitió comprender su magnitud y, a partir de allí, hacer un recorte significativo para el trabajo personal. Incluyo, además, la problemática ambiental en el arte y específicamente en el grabado, tomando todas las decisiones de índole práctico y teórico teniendo en cuenta el carácter reutilizable del tetrabrik. Para guiar metodológicamente este trabajo, decidí dividirlo en dos momentos: el primero heurístico (búsqueda) y el segundo, hermenéutico (interpretación). Las dimensiones de “paisaje” y “capas de la memoria”, si bien fueron parte constitutiva del momento heurístico, permitieron y posibilitaron una hermenéutica de la imagen en su proceso de construcción de la obra y el montaje. Este estadio, cabe aclarar, no fue determinado a priori, pues se fue gestando en el mismo proceso de producción-investigación. Por ello, hacia el final hare hincapié en los conceptos de montaje y memoria en la génesis de la imagen personal, tomando a Didi Huberman como referente. Finalmente, lo que surgió de la inquietud de encontrar un(os) sentido(s) a la propia producción, permitió acceder a esos sentidos que, de alguna forma, se encontraban ocultos e insertos, quizás, en la propia autobiografía. De esta manera fui gestando la bitácora de trabajo a modo de “biografía narrativa”. Esta idea de arte ligada a la experiencia permitió hacer consciente objetivos, preocupaciones, avances y retrocesos sobre los procesos de trabajo que antes, quizá, habían pasado desapercibidos. El proceso autobiográfico resulta significativo para quienes se interesen en entender de qué manera y en base a qué pensamientos y sentimientos fui tomando algunas decisiones. El ejercicio de instalar la “voz biográfica” forma parte de un método de trabajo y de investigación usada en diversas áreas del conocimiento que toman al “yo” individual como proyecto y como reflejo (Meccia: 2018) 1 . En el cuerpo de este Trabajo Final –académico- se hace referencia a la biografía haciendo aclaraciones sobre su ubicación en el Anexo para que el lector pueda consultarlo allí de forma rápida. La biografía debe entenderse como un proceso empírico que marca mi vida y la búsqueda en la cotidianeidad del taller, respondiendo a una suerte de entramado que “forma un calendario privado, discreto, que permite, a la vez, ordenar los recuerdos y pensar un tiempo continuo, gracias a una especie de interpolación” (Leclerc-Olive, 2009: 2). De este modo, espero que Transportables pueda inspirar al lector a crear-descubrir nuevos paisajes, a participar del montaje de otro(s) mundo(s) y a sentirse parte, a través de la voz biográfica, del proceso de creación ‒con todos los errores y aciertos‒ de esta obra

La extensión como herramienta para repensar el perfil social profesional.

En la actualidad las Universidades Nacionales sufren las medidas y reformas aplicadas a la educación superior en la década del 90, tendientes en su mayoría a encaminar el perfil de los graduados hacia las necesidades del mercado, recortando el presupuesto universitario y creando un vaciamiento en cuanto a la formación social y ética del profesional. Se fueron desvirtuando roles y responsabilidades de la Universidad como promover el desarrollo de cultura y ciencia orientadas a las necesidades nacionales, alejando al pueblo de este accionar, dejando de lado el trabajo mancomunado con las instituciones que lo representan para que los beneficios de la investigación y la enseñanza sean verdaderamente universales. Consideramos que la formación de grado posee escasas herramientas que contribuyan a la formación integral de un profesional comprometido con su pueblo. Queremos ser capaces de encontrar soluciones concretas para los males que lo aquejan. El estudiante universitario, especialmente de universidades públicas, no se debe sentir separado de su comunidad por la posesión del título universitario sino por el contrario, posee ciertas obligaciones que le confiere su condición de universitario porque tiene más posibilidades de comprender las realidades del mundo; tiene la obligación de ser un factor dinámico del proceso de cambio, sin perder los perfiles, también, de la realidad -Salvador Allende, año 1972-. Sobre estas premisas se desarrolla el Proyecto "Conéctate con Alto Verde" que se lleva adelante en un barrio costero de la Ciudad de Santa Fe. Engloba cuatro ejes interdisciplinarios integrados por estudiantes de todas las carreras de la Universidad Nacional del Litoral, participación de docentes y egresados en actividades particulares e instituciones del barrio. Dichos ejes son hasta el momento "Manos a la Huerta", "Sanitario-Ambiental", "Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación" y "Educación no Formal". Todos ellos surgen de las inquietudes y necesidades de los estudiantes y los diferentes actores sociales del barrio, quienes en relación dialógica logran identificar las problemáticas a abordar y en conjunto delinear soluciones. Se evidencia el crecimiento de las responsabilidades asumidas para la transformación de la realidad social desde lo académico y lo humano. Apostamos a que este proyecto fomente una verdadera educación, desarrollando el deseo de comprender, el respeto a lo que comprendan, deseen y digan los demás, nutriéndose continuamente de los saberes populares, revalorizando el conocimiento que se encuentra fuera de las paredes de la universidad contenido en nuestro pueblo.

Genetic variants affecting NQO1 protein levels impact the efficacy of idebenone treatment in Leber hereditary optic neuropathy

Idebenone, the only approved treatment for Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), promotes recovery of visual function in up to 50% of patients, but we can neither predict nor understand the non -responders. Idebenone is reduced by the cytosolic NAD(P)H oxidoreductase I (NQO1) and directly shuttles electrons to respiratory complex III, bypassing complex I affected in LHON. We show here that two polymorphic variants drastically reduce NQO1 protein levels when homozygous or compound heterozygous. This hampers idebenone reduction. In its oxidized form, idebenone inhibits complex I, decreasing respiratory function in cells. By retrospectively analyzing a large cohort of idebenone-treated LHON patients, classified by their response to therapy, we show that patients with homozygous or compound heterozygous NQO1 variants have the poorest therapy response, particularly if carrying the m.3460G>A/MT-ND1 LHON mutation. These results suggest consideration of patient NQO1 genotype and mitochondrial DNA mutation in the context of idebenone therapy

Sudden Unexpected Deaths and Vaccinations during the First Two Years of Life in Italy: A Case Series Study

Background The signal of an association between vaccination in the second year of life with a hexavalent vaccine and sudden unexpected deaths (SUD) in the two days following vaccination was reported in Germany in 2003. A study to establish whether the immunisation with hexavalent vaccines increased the short term risk of SUD in infants was conducted in Italy. Methodology/Principal Findings The reference population comprises around 3 million infants vaccinated in Italy in the study period 1999–2004 (1.5 million received hexavalent vaccines). Events of SUD in infants aged 1–23 months were identified through the death certificates. Vaccination history was retrieved from immunisation registries. Association between immunisation and death was assessed adopting a case series design focusing on the risk periods 0–1, 0–7, and 0–14 days after immunisation. Among the 604 infants who died of SUD, 244 (40%) had received at least one vaccination. Four deaths occurred within two days from vaccination with the hexavalent vaccines (RR = 1.5; 95% CI 0.6 to 4.2). The RRs for the risk periods 0–7 and 0–14 were 2.0 (95% CI 1.2 to 3.5) and 1.5 (95% CI 0.9 to 2.4). The increased risk was limited to the first dose (RR = 2.2; 95% CI 1.1 to 4.4), whereas no increase was observed for the second and third doses combined. Conclusions The RRs of SUD for any vaccines and any risk periods, even when greater than 1, were almost an order of magnitude lower than the estimates in Germany. The limited increase in RRs found in Italy appears confined to the first dose and may be partly explained by a residual uncontrolled confounding effect of age

Promiscuous Binding of Invariant Chain-Derived CLIP Peptide to Distinct HLA-I Molecules Revealed in Leukemic Cells

Antigen presentation by HLA class I (HLA-I) and HLA class II (HLA-II) complexes is achieved by proteins that are specific for their respective processing pathway. The invariant chain (Ii)-derived peptide CLIP is required for HLA-II-mediated antigen presentation by stabilizing HLA-II molecules before antigen loading through transient and promiscuous binding to different HLA-II peptide grooves. Here, we demonstrate alternative binding of CLIP to surface HLA-I molecules on leukemic cells. In HLA-II-negative AML cells, we found plasma membrane display of the CLIP peptide. Silencing Ii in AML cells resulted in reduced HLA-I cell surface display, which indicated a direct role of CLIP in the HLA-I antigen presentation pathway. In HLA-I-specific peptide eluates from B-LCLs, five Ii-derived peptides were identified, of which two were from the CLIP region. In vitro peptide binding assays strikingly revealed that the eluted CLIP peptide RMATPLLMQALPM efficiently bound to four distinct HLA-I supertypes (-A2, -B7, -A3, -B40). Furthermore, shorter length variants of this CLIP peptide also bound to these four supertypes, although in silico algorithms only predicted binding to HLA-A2 or -B7. Immunization of HLA-A2 transgenic mice with these peptides did not induce CTL responses. Together these data show a remarkable promiscuity of CLIP for binding to a wide variety of HLA-I molecules. The found participation of CLIP in the HLA-I antigen presentation pathway could reflect an aberrant mechanism in leukemic cells, but might also lead to elucidation of novel processing pathways or immune escape mechanisms

Protection by Anti-β-Glucan Antibodies Is Associated with Restricted β-1,3 Glucan Binding Specificity and Inhibition of Fungal Growth and Adherence

Anti-β-glucan antibodies elicited by a laminarin-conjugate vaccine confer cross-protection to mice challenged with major fungal pathogens such as Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus and Cryptococcus neoformans. To gain insights into protective β-glucan epitope(s) and protection mechanisms, we studied two anti-β-glucan monoclonal antibodies (mAb) with identical complementarity-determining regions but different isotypes (mAb 2G8, IgG2b and mAb 1E12, IgM). C. albicans, the most relevant fungal pathogen for humans, was used as a model

Communication and visiting policies in Italian intensive care units during the first COVID-19 pandemic wave and lockdown: a nationwide survey

Background: During the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic wave, an unprecedented number of patients with respiratory failure due to a new, highly contagious virus needed hospitalization and intensive care unit (ICU) admission. The aim of the present study was to describe the communication and visiting policies of Italian intensive care units (ICUs) during the first COVID-19 pandemic wave and national lockdown and compare these data with prepandemic conditions. Methods: A national web-based survey was conducted among 290 Italian hospitals. Each ICU (active between February 24 and May 31, 2020) was encouraged to complete an individual questionnaire inquiring the hospital/ICU structure/organization, communication/visiting habits and the role of clinical psychology prior to, and during the first COVID-19 pandemic wave. Results: Two hundred and nine ICUs from 154 hospitals (53% of the contacted hospitals) completed the survey (202 adult and 7 pediatric ICUs). Among adult ICUs, 60% were dedicated to COVID-19 patients, 21% were dedicated to patients without COVID-19 and 19% were dedicated to both categories (Mixed). A total of 11,102 adult patients were admitted to the participating ICUs during the study period and only approximately 6% of patients received at least one visit. Communication with family members was guaranteed daily through an increased use of electronic devices and was preferentially addressed to the same family member. Compared to the prepandemic period, clinical psychologists supported physicians more often regarding communication with family members. Fewer patients received at least one visit from family members in COVID and mixed-ICUs than in non-COVID ICUs, l (0 [0–6]%, 0 [0–4]% and 11 [2–25]%, respectively, p < 0.001). Habits of pediatric ICUs were less affected by the pandemic. Conclusions: Visiting policies of Italian ICUs dedicated to adult patients were markedly altered during the first COVID-19 wave. Remote communication was widely adopted as a surrogate for family meetings. New strategies to favor a family-centered approach during the current and future pandemics are warranted