Inpatient pulmonary rehabilitation: does it make sense?

Among the nonpharmacological therapies, pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is particularly appropriate for patients with chronic respiratory impairment who, despite any optimal drug management, are still symptomatic and experience restriction in every day activities. Pulmonary rehabilitation performed in inpatient, outpatient, or home settings demonstrates short- and long-term clinical efficacy. Although disease severity does not inherently dictate candidacy for exercise training, the degree of physiological and functional impairment may influence setting in which the training should occur. Therefore, inpatient rehabilitation is generally best-suited for the most sick and most disabled patients. The overall results from the literature confirm that the inpatient setting for a PR program is a feasible option and does not necessarily result in higher direct costs when balanced against duration and effectiveness in terms of improved outcomes

Co-digestion of macroalgae for biogas production: an LCA-based environmental evaluation

Algae represent a favourable and potentially sustainable source of biomass for bioenergy-based industrial pathways in the future. The study, performed on a real pilot plant implemented in Augusta (Italy) within the frame of the BioWALK4Biofuels project, aims to figure out whether seaweed (macroalgae) cultivated in near-shore open ponds could be considered a beneficial aspect as a source of biomass for biogas production within the co-digestion with local agricultural biological waste. The LCA results confirm that the analysed A and B scenarios (namely the algae-based co-digestion scenario and agricultural mix feedstock scenario) present an environmental performance more favourable than that achieved with conventional non-renewable-based technologies (specifically natural gas - Scenario C). Results show that the use of seaweed (Scenario A) represent a feasible solution in order to replace classical biomass used for biofuel production from a land-based feedstock. The improvement of the environmental performances is quantifiable on 10% respect to Scenario B, and 38 times higher than Scenario

Ultrashort soliton switching based on coherent energy hiding

3openopenRomagnoli, M.; Wabnitz, Stefan; Zoccolotti, L.M., Romagnoli; Wabnitz, Stefan; L., Zoccolott

The beneficial role of green bonds as a new strategic asset class: Dynamic dependencies, allocation and diversification before and during the pandemic era

The paper proposes a full comprehensive analysis of green bond diversification benefits, their co-movement with multiple market indices, and the corresponding implications for portfolio allocation. Based on a time frame of seven years, divided into four sub-periods, the co-movements of green-bond indices, i.e. Solactive Green Bond Index and Bloomberg Barclays MSCI Green Bond Index, and the stock/bond market have been described, shedding light on the connections with sectors most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Solactive Green Bond Index is found to provide the greater diversification benefit of the two green-bond indices, on average during the seven years and also during the pandemic. Allocation strategies and risk performances have also been analyzed to assess the impact of green-bond indices on otherwise traditional portfolios; their diversification power is discussed by use of traditional measures and an additional behavioral approach, drawing attention to its evolution in time and its consistency in terms of diminished risks and increased returns. Portfolios constructed with the inclusion of green bonds prove preferable in terms of risk, in all periods and for all strategies, while the superiority of returns depends on the allocation strategy

On the prediction of psd in antisolvent mediated crystallization processes based on fokker-planck equations

A phenomenological model for the description of antisolvent mediated crystal growth processes is presented. The crystal size growth dynamics is supposed to be driven by a deterministic growth factor coupled to a stochastic component. Two different models for the stochastic component are investigated: a Linear and a Geometric Brownian motion terms. The evolution in time of the particle size distribution is then described in terms of the Fokker-Planck equation. Validations against experimental data are presented for the NaCl-water-ethanol anti-solvent crystallization system. It was found that a proper modeling of the stochastic component does have an impact on the model capabilities to fit the experimental data. In particular, the GBM assumption is better suited to describe the antisolvent crystal growth process under examination

Composition of fungal communities in soil and endophytic in raspberry production systems.

Fungi play important roles as decomposers, plant symbionts and pathogens in soil. While endophytes are microorganisms that dwell within plant tissues and have a symbiotic association with the host. The structures of fungal communities in the soil and in endophytic association are dependent up complex interactions with the environment and the host. These two communities have a great influence on plant health and development. Using culture-independent fungal community profiling, we investigated the effects of fertilizer (composted dairy solids + mustard seed meal) on fungal communities in soil and endophytic in a raspberry production system. During the study we evaluated the impact of primer selection ITS1 vs ITS2. We characterized the communities for both spring and fall time periods. The results show that the soil communities are dominated by Ascomycota, and Basidiomycota in soil, while the endophytes were primarily Ascomycota. The relative abundances of certain taxa, such as Capnodiales, were more predominant in composted soil (8%) than the control (4%). There were no significant differences identified in the endophytic communities between the two treatments. Further research should elucidate the specific roles of these fungal taxa in raspberry soils and endophyte, and on the heath of the plant. To advance the ecological management of crop soils, understanding is needed of how beneficial microbial relationships can be fostered in these production systems

Time-domain Fourier optics for polarization-modedispersion compensation

We report on a novel technique to compensate for all-order polarization-mode dispersion. By means of this technique, based on a suitable combination of phase modulation and group-velocity dispersion, we compensated for as much as 60 ps of differential group delay that affected a 10-Gbit/s return-to-zero data stream

Examining perceptions of the usefulness and usability of a mobile-based system for pharmacogenomics clinical decision support: A mixed methods study

Background. Pharmacogenomic testing has the potential to improve the safety and efficacy of pharmacotherapy, but clinical application of pharmacogenetic knowledge has remained uncommon. Clinical Decision Support (CDS) systems could help overcome some of the barriers to clinical implementation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the perception and usability of a web- and mobile-enabled CDS system for pharmacogenetics-guided drug therapy-the Medication Safety Code (MSC) system-among potential users (i.e., physicians and pharmacists). Furthermore, this study sought to collect data on the practicability and comprehensibility of potential layouts of a proposed personalized pocket card that is intended to not only contain the machine-readable data for use with the MSC system but also humanreadable data on the patient's pharmacogenomic profile. Methods. We deployed an emergent mixed methods design encompassing (1) qualitative interviews with pharmacists and pharmacy students, (2) a survey among pharmacogenomics experts that included both qualitative and quantitative elements and (3) a quantitative survey among physicians and pharmacists. The interviews followed a semistructured guide including a hypothetical patient scenario that had to be solved by using the MSC system. The survey among pharmacogenomics experts focused on what information should be printed on the card and how this information should be arranged. Furthermore, the MSC system was evaluated based on two hypothetical patient scenarios and four follow-up questions on the perceived usability. The second survey assessed physicians' and pharmacists' attitude towards the MSC system. Results. In total, 101 physicians, pharmacists and PGx experts coming from various relevant fields evaluated the MSC system. Overall, the reaction to the MSC system was positive across all investigated parameters and among all user groups. The majority of participants were able to solve the patient scenarios based on the recommendations displayed on the MSC interface. A frequent request among participants was to provide specific listings of alternative drugs and concrete dosage instructions. Negligence of other patient-specific factors for choosing the right treatment such as renal function and co-medication was a common concern related to the MSC system, while data privacy and cost-benefit considerations emerged as the participants' major concerns regarding pharmacogenetic testing in general. The results of the card layout evaluation indicate that a gene-centered and tabulated presentation of the patient's pharmacogenomic profile is helpful and well-accepted. Conclusions. We found that the MSC system was well-received among the physicians and pharmacists included in this study. A personalized pocket card that lists a patient's metabolizer status along with critically affected drugs can alert physicians and pharmacists to the availability of essential therapy modifications