Clinical, Histological and Trichoscopic Correlations in Scalp Disorders

Trichoscopy is the term coined for the dermoscopic imaging of scalp and hair. This diagnostic technique, simple and noninvasive, can be used as a handy bedside tool for the diagnosis and follow-up of hair and scalp disorders. It allows the recognition of morphologic structures not visible by the naked eye and provides the clinician with a range of dermoscopic findings necessary for differential diagnosis. Trichoscopy observation can be broadly grouped as interfollicular patterns and follicular patterns. Recently, a third mixed class, called the follicular plus interfollicular pattern, has been introduced. Some of these features are specific to a certain scalp disease, while others can be found in many hair disorders. Although studies suggest that the use of trichoscopy can improve clinical accuracy, further investigation is needed. This review provides update information on the trichoscopic features of the most common scalp disorders, striving to show a histopathological and clinical correlation

Electrolyte Measures to Prevent Polysulfide Shuttle in Lithium‐Sulfur Batteries

Lithium-sulfur (Li−S) batteries are recognized as one of the most promising technologies with the potential to become the next-generation batteries. However, to ensure Li−S batteries reach commercialization, complex challenges remain, among which the tailoring of an appropriate electrolyte is the most important. This review discusses the role of electrolytes in Li−S batteries, focusing on the main issues and solutions for the shuttle mechanism of polysulfides and the instability of the interface with lithium metal. Herein, we present a background on Li−S chemistry followed by the state-of-the-art electrolytes highlighting the different strategies undertaken with liquid and solid electrolytes

Na-seawater battery technology integration with renewable energies: The case study of Sardinia Island

Europe has committed to net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 to boost the clean energy transition. Renewable electricity will be the key energy medium for decarbonization and a huge increase in renewable energy sources (RES) exploitation is expected. Due to RES stochastic character, an extensive energy storage integration in the energy system is needed to avoid the mismatch between generation and demand profiles. Reactive metals are promising energy carriers and storage media characterized by high volumetric energy densities and circularity, due to ease of storage and transportation, material availability and low cost. Among them, sodium is a largely available element since it can be extracted from seawater and exploited through the innovative sodium-seawater battery (SWB). Sodium cations are transferred from SWB’s open cathode to the anode side during charging. Upon discharge, Na metal is oxidized to Na$^+$ ions, which are discarded in seawater. This study assesses the impact of SWB technology focusing on Sardinia Island as a case study. For short-term application, SWB integration to wave energy converters allows a potential reduction of greater than 85% of generated power fluctuations, largely improving the quality of power injected into the grid. Regarding the long-term scenario, SWBs implementation in the energy system allows coverage of the Sardinia annual energy demand thanks to the integration of ∼340,000 cubic meter of Na metal, corresponding to a 12-m height Na reservoir under 4 soccer fields. SWB application to Sardinia also produces CO$_2$ sequestration while covering ∼29% of desalinated water requirements for the Sardinian population

Efficient photoinduced charge separation in a BODIPY-C60 dyad

A donor-acceptor dyad composed of a BF2-chelated dipyrromethene (BODIPY) and a C60 fullerene has been newly synthesized and characterized. The two moieties are linked by direct addition of an azido substituted BODIPY on the C60, producing an imino-fullerene-BODIPY adduct. The photoinduced charge transfer process in this system was studied by ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. Electron transfer toward the fullerene was found to occur selectively exciting both the BODIPY chromophore at 475 nm and the C60 unit at 266 nm on a time scale of a few picoseconds, but the dynamics of charge separation was different in the two cases. Eletrochemical studies provided information on the redox potentials of the involved species and spectroelectrochemical measurements allowed to unambiguously assign the absorption band of the oxidized BODIPY moiety, which helped in the interpretation of the transient absorption spectra. The experimental studies were complemented by a theoretical analysis based on DFT computations of the excited state energies of the two components and their electronic couplings, which allowed identification of the charge transfer mechanism and rationalization of the different kinetic behavior observed by changing the excitation conditions

Expressed Alu repeats as a novel, reliable tool for normalization of real-time quantitative RT-PCR data

Expressed Alu repeats are a reliable, accurate and universal reference for use in RT-qPCR normalization of human gene

Defining discovery:is Google Scholar a discovery platform? An essay on the need for a new approach to scholarly discovery

This essay discusses the concept of discovery, intended as content discovery, and defines it in the new context of Open Science, with a focus on Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). Starting from the example of Google Scholar, the authors show that this well established service does not address the current needs, practices, and variety of discovery. Alternatives in terms of technical choices, features, and governance, do however exist, offering richer and more open discovery. The paper presents in particular the implementations and research work of the H2020 project TRIPLE (Transforming Research through Innovative Practices for Linked Interdisciplinary Exploration). Dedicated to the building of a discovery platform for the SSH, the project is meant to address the specificities and evolution of discovery in this field. Prevailing scholarly resource platforms like Google Scholar limit discovery by focussing only on publications, and favouring through their algorithm well-cited papers, English content, and discipline-specific resources. A limitation in the context of cross-disciplinary and collaborative Open Science, such a service more specifically hinders discovery in the SSH. Characterized by a fragmented landscape, a variety of languages, data types, and outputs, research in the SSH requires services that fully exploit discovery potentialities. Moreover, a survey conducted within the TRIPLE project showed that most SSH researchers use Google Scholar as their starting point, and that they recognise the lack of control they have with this system. Beyond the extension of features and content, transparency is the other important criterion for the building of an Open Infrastructure actually serving the research community. In light of this, we present in some detail the GoTriple platform, which exploits today's technological potential and incorporates the best known functionalities in order to unveil more and innovative scholarly outputs and lead to international and interdisciplinary research project collaborations

Pancreatic transplant surgery and stem cell therapy. Finding the balance between therapeutic advances and ethical principles

The latest achievements in the field of pancreas transplantation and stem cell therapy require an effort by the scientific community to clarify the ethical implications of pioneering treatments, often characterized by high complexity from a surgical point of view, due to transplantation of multiple organs at the same time or at different times, and from an immunological point of view for stem cell therapy. The fundamental value in the field of organ transplants is, of course, a solidarity principle, namely that of protecting the health and life of people for whom transplantation is a condition of functional recovery, or even of survival. The nature of this value is that of a concept to which the legal discipline of transplants entrusts its own ethical dignity and for which it has ensured a constitutional recognition in different systems. The general principle of respect for human life, both of the donor and of the recipient, evokes the need not to put oneself and one's neighbor in dangerous conditions. The present ethical reflection aims to find a balance between the latest therapeutic advances and several concepts including the idea of the person, the respect due to the dead, the voluntary nature of the donation and the consent to the same, the gratuitousness of the donation, the scientific progress and the development of surgical techniques, and the policies of health promotion

Inflammatory response to cardiac bypass in ewe fetuses: effects of steroid administration or continuous hemodiafiltration

n/