COVID-19 in solid organ transplantation: an analysis of the impact on transplant activity and wait lists

The limited knowledge about COVID-19, the disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), makes mortality figures hard to interpret in the undetermined prevalence of an asymptomatic infection. Treatments are currently being tested, but without proof of an effective vaccination, the fear of further detrimental outcomes, as a result of a second wave, persists. One of the main differences in the death toll among the various countries seems related to the different response to the outbreak: early measures of containment as lockdown, revealed their effectiveness in mitigating the virus spread, with the earliest the lockdown, the lower the death toll

Assessing kidney graft viability and its cells metabolism during machine perfusion

 Kidney transplantation is the golden treatment for end‐stage renal disease. Static cold  storage is currently considered the standard method of preservation, but dynamic techniques, such  as machine perfusion (MP), have been shown to improve graft function, especially in kidneys donated by extended criteria donors and donation after circulatory death. With poor organ quality  being a major reason for kidneys not being transplanted, an accurate, objective and reliable quality  assessment during preservation could add value and support to clinicians’ decisions. MPs are  emerging technologies with the potential to assess kidney graft viability and quality, both in the  hypothermic and normothermic scenarios. The aim of this review is to summarize current tools for  graft viability assessment using MP prior to implantation in relation to the ischemic damage.&nbsp

Multifunctional bioinspired sol-gel coatings for architectural glasses

Although several multinational companies have recently released products incorporating bioinspired functional coatings, their practical integration in building envelopes is still an open issue. High production costs associated to the existing vacuum deposition technologies, as well as the difficulties in extending the number of functions achievable by a single coating, represent to date the main limitations to their diffusion on a large scale. This review summarizes the key topics in the field of functional coatings for architectural glasses, focusing in particular on the potential applications of sol-gel based antireflective and self-cleaning coatings, that have received a tremendous attention in the last years. It provides an overview of the recent research efforts aimed to improve their properties and to extend their range of applicability. The bioinspired principles, upon which such coatings are based, are also described and are related to the chemical and morphological properties of such surfaces. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Cervico-Facial Actinomycosis: Epidemiological and clinical comments

In a retrospective investigation performed in the department of Surgical Odontostomatology of Palermo University Polyclinic from 1997-2006, the authors examined 12 cases of cervico-facial actinomycosis, taking into consideration age range, gender distribution, predisposing factors and symptoms. In concordance with reports in literature, they found that the disease was perimandibular in 65%, they also report the diagnostic methods and therapeutic approaches used in the stud

The effects of a Meso-Alpine collision event on the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Peloritani mountain belt (eastern Sicily, southern Italy)

AbstractThe Peloritani Mountains, in the southern part of the Calabrian Terranes, southern Italy, have been classically interpreted as the product of the Paleogene brittle deformation of the European continental back-stop of the Neotethyan subduction complex. This reconstruction conflicts with the occurrence of an Alpine metamorphic overprint that affected portions of both the Variscan metamorphic units and part of the Mesozoic sedimentary covers of the mountain belt. New field data, integrated with petrographic, micro- and meso-structural analyses and stratigraphic investigation of the syn-tectonic terrigenous covers, well constrain a Paleogene collision event along the Africa–Nubia convergent margin that caused the exhumation of the Alpine metamorphic units of the Peloritani Mountains. The syn-collisional exhumation was associated with shearing along two major Africa-verging crustal thrusts arising from the positive tectonic inversion of the former European palaeomargin. Early tectonic motions occurred within the mountain belts and produced the exhumation of the external portions of the edifice. Later tectonic motions occurred along the sole-thrust of the entire edifice and caused the definitive exhumation of the entire mountain belt. The whole crustal thrusting lasted for a period ofc. 10 Ma, during the entire Oligocene. The definitive southwestward emplacement of the Peloritani Mountain Belt onto the Neotethyan accretionary wedge was followed by two Late Oligocene – Early Miocene NW–SE-oriented right lateral shear zones, replacing the previous crustal thrust. These two strike-slip belts are interpreted as the surface expression of the deep-seated suture zone between the colliding Africa and Europe continental crusts

First discovery of adventive populations of Trissolcus japonicus in Europe

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