a new method for product service system the case of urban waste management

Abstract The growing attention on environmental and social sustainability issues is pushing companies to move towards new business models. In this context, PSS (Product Service System) seems to be one of the most suitable model to foster the transition to sustainable economic models. The PSS is composed of a mix of tangible products and intangible services. The method proposed in this paper supports the PSS design. The objective of this work is to integrate careful assessment of economic, environmental and social sustainability supporting the transition towards new business models and strategic company decision-making. The method is then validated through a case study on the management of urban waste

Association of MiR-126 with Soluble Mesothelin-Related Peptides, a Marker for Malignant Mesothelioma

BACKGROUND: Improved detection methods for diagnosis of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) are essential for early and reliable detection as well as treatment. Since recent data point to abnormal levels of microRNAs (miRNAs) in tumors, we hypothesized that a profile of deregulated miRNAs may be a marker of MPM and that the levels of specific miRNAs may be used for monitoring its progress. METHODS AND RESULTS: miRNAs isolated from fresh-frozen biopsies of MPM patients were tested for the expression of 88 types of miRNA involved in cancerogenesis. Most of the tested miRNAs were downregulated in the malignant tissues compared with the normal tissues. Of eight significantly downregulated, three miRNAs were assayed in cancerous tissue and adjacent non-cancerous tissue sample pairs collected from 27 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded MPM tissues by quantitative RT-PCR. Among the miRNAs tested, only miR-126 significantly remained downregulated in the malignant tissues. Furthermore, the performance of the selected miR-126 as biomarker was evaluated in serum samples of asbestos-exposed subjects and MPM patients and compared with controls. MiR-126 was not affected by asbestos exposure, whereas it was found strongly associated with VEGF serum levels. Levels of miR-126 in serum, and its levels in patients' serum in association with a specific marker of MPM, SMRPs, correlate with subjects at high risk to develop MPM. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: We propose miR-126, in association with SMRPs, as a marker for early detection of MPM. The identification of tumor biomarkers used alone or, in particular, in combination could greatly facilitate the surveillance procedure for cohorts of subjects exposed to asbestos

L’indice di complessità assistenziale come strumento di pianificazione: studio osservazionale prospettico in due strutture neurochirurgiche

AimPrimary purpose: the study was carried out to measure the complexity of care, through the Methodology of the Index of Caring Complexity (ICC, Bruno Cavaliere 1999), in two cohorts of patients affected by intracranial neoplasia or by vertebral degenerative pathology recruited in the University Hospital “Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona”. Secondary purpose: the study aimed to investigate the number and the type of care needs, in order to identify the possible nursing interventions of the support staff.Materials and methodsResearch design: prospective observational study. Setting: the two neurosurgery wards of the University Hospital “Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona”. Patients enrolled: subjects affected by intracranial neoplasia or by vertebral degenerative pathology. Data collection: subjects evaluated in five stages of the hospital stay from 1st of February to 30th of June. Research tools: Bruno Cavaliere’s ICC 1.1.mbd Software for data collection; Statistical Analysis System 9.0 (SASIA) and Microsoft Excel for data analysis.Results80 patients were enrolled, 55% of them were male. For both cohorts of patients, it was found that the care complexity appears to be “medium complexity” on the day of admission to the ward, with a maximum intervention weight (IW) of 3; it appears to be “high complexity” on the day of surgery and on the first post-operative day with an IW of 5; it appears to be “medium complexity” on the third post-operative day with an IW of 4; it appears to be “low complexity” on the day of discharge from the ward with a maximum IW of 3. However, statistical differences have been observed between the care complexity in intracranial neoplasia and vertebral degenerative pathology.DiscussionThe statistical analysis highlighted that care complexity is higher in neoplasia (p<0.0001) in respect to vertebral degenerative pathology. Moreover, there aren’t statistically significant differences between the ICC on the third post-operative day and on the day of admission to the ward; therefore, they can be compared in terms of caring. Regarding the care interventions detected, those related to the sphere “nutrition”, “elimination”, “hygiene”, “movement” could be attributed to the Healthcare Assistant (HCA), figure not currently included in the activities of the two wards analyzed.ConclusionsMeasuring nursing care complexity through the Index of Caring Complexity, allows to program and optimize the distribution of the skills of the healthcare staff in different surgical days.Obiettivo dello studioObiettivo primario: misurare la complessità assistenziale, attraverso la metodologia dell’Indice di Complessità Assistenziale-ICA (Cavaliere, 1999), in due coorti di soggetti affetti da neoplasia intracranica e da patologia degenerativa vertebrale afferenti ai due reparti di neurochirurgia dell’Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria “Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona”. Obiettivo secondario: indagare il numero e la tipologia dei bisogni assistenziali manifestati dai pazienti al fine di identificare la possibilità di attribuzione degli interventi infermieristici a personale di supporto.Materiali e metodiDisegno dello studio: osservazionale prospettico.Setting: due reparti di neurochirurgia dell’Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria “Ospedali Riuniti di Ancona”.Campione: soggetti ricoverati con diagnosi di neoplasia intracranica o di patologia degenerativa vertebrale.Strumenti: Software ICA 1.1.mbd di Bruno Cavaliere.Raccolta dati: dal 1° febbraio al 30 giugno 2016 in cinque momenti della degenza ospedaliera.Analisi dei dati: Statistical Analysis System 9.0 (SAS) e Microsoft Excel.RisultatiSono stati arruolati 80 soggetti, il 55% di sesso maschile. Per le due coorti di soggetti è emerso che la complessità assistenziale risulta essere “moderata” all’ingresso, con un peso intervento (PI) massimo di 3, “grave” all’intervento chirurgico e in I giornata post-operatoria, con un PI di 5, “moderata” in III giornata post-operatoria, con un PI di 4, “lieve” alla dimissione con PI massimo di 3, evidenziando tuttavia all’interno delle giornate esaminate delle differenze statisticamente significative in termini di impegno assistenziale tra le neoplasie intracraniche e le patologie degenerative vertebrali.DiscussioneDall’analisi statistica la complessità assistenziale risulta essere maggiore per le neoplasie intracraniche rispetto alle patologie degenerative vertebrali (p<0.0001). L’impegno assistenziale relativo alla III giornata post-operatoria e all’ingresso non mostra differenze statisticamente significative. Tra gli interventi assistenziali rilevati, quelli della sfera “alimentazione”, “eliminazione”, “igiene”, “movimento”, potrebbero essere attribuiti all’Operatore Socio Sanitario (OSS), figura attualmente non inserita nei piani delle attività del setting analizzato.ConclusioniMisurare la complessità assistenziale utilizzando il metodo ICA potrebbe facilitare l’ottimizzazione della distribuzione delle competenze all’interno dell’equipe assistenziale nelle diverse giornate chirurgiche

Angiogenic effect induced by mineral fibres

Due to the toxic effect of asbestos, other materials with similar chemical-physical characteristics have been introduced to substitute it. We evaluate the angiogenic effect of certain asbestos substitute fibres such as glass fibres (GFs), ceramic fibres (CFs) and wollastonite fibres (WFs) and then compare angiogenic responses to those induced by crocidolite asbestos fibres (AFs). An in vitro model using human endothelial cells in small islands within a culture matrix of fibroblasts (Angio-Kit) was used to evaluate vessel formation. The release of IL-6, sIL-R6, IL-8. VEGF-A and their soluble receptors, 5vEGFR-1, sVEGFR-2, was determined in the conditioning medium of Angio-Kit system after fibre treatment. ROS formation and cell viability were evaluated in cultured endothelial cells (HUVEC). To evaluate the involvement of intracellular mechanisms, EGFR signalling, ROS formation and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF kappa B) pathway were then inhibited by incubating HUVEC cells with AG1478, NAC and PDTC respectively, and the cytokine and growth factor release was analyzed in the culture medium after 7 days of fibre incubation. Among the mineral fibres tested, WFs markedly induced blood vessel formation which was associated with release of IL-6 and IL-8. VEGF-A and their soluble receptors. ROS production was observed in HUVEC after WFs treatment which was associated with cell cytotoxicity. The EGFR-induced ERK phosphorylation and ROS-mediated NF kappa B activation were involved in the cytokine and angiogenic factor release. However, only the EGFR activation was able to induce angiogenesis. The WFs are potential angiogenic agents that can induce regenerative cytokine and angiogenic factor production resulting in the formation of new blood vessels. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

RAN as a universal marker of developmental dyslexia in Italian monolingual and minority language children

Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) is considered a universal marker of developmental dyslexia (DD) and could also be helpful to identify a reading deficit in minority-language children (MLC), in which it may be hard to disentangle whether the reading difficulties are due to a learning disorder or a lower proficiency in the language of instruction. We tested reading and rapid naming skills in monolingual Good Readers (mGR), monolingual Poor Readers (mPR), and MLC, by using our new version of RAN, the RAN-Shapes, in 127 primary school students (from 3rd to 5th grade). In line with previous research, MLC showed, on average, lower reading performances as compared to mGR. However, the two groups performed similarly to the RAN-Shapes task. On the contrary, the mPR group underperformed both in the reading and the RAN tasks. Our findings suggest that reading difficulties and RAN performance can be dissociated in MLC; consequently, the performance at the RAN-Shapes may contribute to the identification of children at risk of a reading disorder without introducing any linguistic bias, when testing MLC

Box plot of miR-335, miR-126 and miR-32 expression levels according to tumor staging.

<p>Distribution of miR-335, miR-126 and miR-32 expression levels (ΔC_T) in S1, MPMs staged S-Ia, S-Ib, S-II without lymph nodes and metastases involvement and S2, MPMs staged S-III, S-IV with lymph nodes and metastases involvement. *S1 <i>vs.</i> S2, <i>p</i><0.05.</p