A Long-Term Dynamic Analysis of Heat Pumps Coupled to Ground Heated by Solar Collectors

In agreement with the decarbonization of the building sector to meet the 2050 climate neutrality targets, borehole thermal storage for solar energy represents a potential solution to increase the energy efficiency of renewable energy plants. As is well known, electricity is not the optimum solution to integrate large inflows of fluctuating renewable energy. In the present paper, we investigate the possibility to use the solar collector to give energy to the borehole field. In detail, a solar-assisted geothermal heat pump is applied to a school located in Milan, Italy. In winter, both the energy from the solar collector and the heat pump are collected into a storage tank connected to the emission terminals, whereas, in summer, as there is no energy demand, the hot water from the solar collector flows into the geothermal probes. By means of this seasonal thermal energy storage technology, the intermittent solar energy collected and stored during the summer months can be utilized during the winter months when the heating demand is high. A long-term dynamic analysis is performed by employing Trnsys. The results show that solar collectors coupled with ground-source heat pumps can give an important contribution to the soil temperature drift, and this also applies in cases of un-balanced loads during the heating season. Moreover, the employment of solar collectors increases the seasonal coefficient of performance of the heat pumps and may rise to reductions to the probes field

Hidradenitis suppurativa: guidelines of the Italian Society of Dermatology and Venereology (SIDeMaST) for the use of anti-TNF-α agents.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by nodules, abscesses and sinus tracts, primarily affecting the intertriginous areas. The occlusion of the upper part of the folliculopilosebaceous unit, leading to rupture of the sebofollicular canal with the consequent development of perifollicular lympho-histiocytic inflammation, is believed to be the initial pathogenic event in HS. Giving the chronic nature of HS, its destructive impact on social, working and daily life of patients, its management is often frustrating both for patients and physicians. The HS treatment choices are influenced by disease severity and its individual subjective impact. In this article, the Board of the Italian Society of Dermatology and Venereology (SIDeMaST) on HS has prepared a document focusing on the role of biologic drugs (anti-TNF-α) in HS management, providing also a flow-chart for HS handling and the inclusion and exclusion criteria for HS treatment with anti-TNF-α

Characterization of Reachable Attractors Using Petri Net Unfoldings

International audienceAttractors of network dynamics represent the long-term behaviours of the modelled system. Their characterization is therefore crucial for understanding the response and differentiation capabilities of a dynamical system. In the scope of qualitative models of interaction networks, the computation of attractors reachable from a given state of the network faces combinatorial issues due to the state space explosion. In this paper, we present a new algorithm that exploits the concurrency between transitions of parallel acting components in order to reduce the search space. The algorithm relies on Petri net unfoldings that can be used to compute a compact representation of the dynamics. We illustrate the applicability of the algorithm with Petri net models of cell signalling and regulation networks, Boolean and multi-valued. The proposed approach aims at being complementary to existing methods for deriving the attractors of Boolean models, while being %so far more generic since it applies to any safe Petri net

Reliability and inter-observer agreement of dermoscopic diagnosis of melanoma and melanocytic naevi

The aim of this study was to analyse the reliability and the inter- observer agreement of dermoscopy in the diagnosis of melanocytic skin lesions. Nine dermatologists, with a different training experience and who routinely used dermoscopy in different hospitals in Italy, evaluated clinical and dermoscopy photographs of 15 melanocytic lesions (four invasive melanomas, four histologically common naevi, and seven naevi with histological atypia). A further series of dermoscopic photographs of 40 melanocytic lesions was evaluated to quantify inter-observer concordance in recognizing dermoscopic criteria. Compared to the true (histological) diagnosis, clinical diagnosis (categories: melanoma, common naevus, atypical naevus) was correct in 40% of cases (range, 27-53%). The percentage raised to 55% (40-73%) by the use of dermoscopy, with an average improvement of 15.6%. Concerning melanoma, clinical diagnosis resulted in a sensitivity of 41.9%, specificity of 77.8%, positive predictive value (PPV) of 36.1%, negative predictive value (NPV) of 81.8%. By using dermoscopy, an improvement of diagnostic performance was found (sensitivity 75%, specificity 88.8%, VPP 71.0%, VPN 90.7%). The inter-observer agreement in melanoma diagnosis, by using dermoscopy, was similar to that obtained by clinical examination (k statistics = 0.54 and 0.52, respectively). Concerning dermoscopic criteria, the best agreement among observers was found for pseudopods, a dermoscopic parameter related to the radial growth phase of melanoma. We conclude that dermoscopy is an useful tool for a non-invasive diagnosis of melanocytic skin lesions, improving the diagnostic performance compared to clinical examination

Building a rheumatology biobank for reliable basic/translational research and precision medicine

Research biobanks are non-profit structures that collect, manipulate, store, analyze and distribute systematically organized biological samples and data for research and development purposes. Over the recent years, we have established a biobank, the Rheumatology BioBank (RheumaBank) headed by the Medicine and Rheumatology unit of the IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli (IOR) in Bologna, Italy for the purpose of collecting, processing, storing, and distributing biological samples and associated data obtained from patients suffering from inflammatory joint diseases. RheumaBank is a research biobank, and its main objective is to promote large-scale, high-quality basic, translational, and clinical research studies that can help elucidate pathogenetic mechanisms and improve personalization of treatment choice in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and other spondyloarthritides (SpA)

Indole derivative interacts with estrogen receptor beta and inhibits human ovarian cancer cell growth

Ovarian cancer remains the leading cause of mortality among gynecological tumors. Estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) expression has been suggested to act as a tumor suppressor in epithelial ovarian cancer by reducing both tumor growth and metastasis. ERβ expression abnormalities represent a critical step in the development and progression of ovarian cancer: for these reasons, its re‐expression by genetic engineering, as well as the use of targeted ERβ therapies, still constitute an important therapeutic approach. 3‐{[2‐chloro‐1‐(4‐chlorobenzyl)‐5‐methoxy‐6-methyl‐1H‐indol‐3‐yl]methylene}‐5‐hydroxy‐6‐methyl‐1,3‐dihydro‐2H‐indol‐2‐one, referred to here as compound 3, has been shown to have cytostatic as well cytotoxic effects on various hormone-dependent cancer cell lines. However, the mechanism of its anti‐carcinogenic activity is not well understood. Here, we offer a possible explanation of such an effect in the human ovarian cancer cell line IGROV1. Chromatin binding protein assay and liquid chromatography mass spectrometry were exploited to localize and quantify compound 3 in cells. Molecular docking was used to prove compound 3 binding to ERβ. Mass spectrometry‐based approaches were used to analyze histone post‐translational modifications. Finally, gene expression analyses revealed a set of genes regulated by the ERβ/3 complex, namely CCND1, MYC, CDKN2A, and ESR2, providing possible molecular mechanisms that underline the observed antiproliferative effects

Pustular psoriasis with a focus on generalized pustular psoriasis: classification and diagnostic criteria. An Italian expert consensus

Generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) is a severe and life-threatening systemic disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Recent progress has been made in understanding the pathogenetic pathways involved in GPP and an intricate interaction between innate and adaptive immune mechanisms has been suggested. Despite formal consensus guidelines on pustular psoriasis currently available in the literature, the definitions and classifications of GPP used across studies were inconsistent. Consequently, there are no unified criteria that can be universally adopted for precise diagnosis, classification and effective treatment of GPP patients with new targeted drugs. The aim of this review was to col- lect all the main evidence on available diagnostic criteria for GPP and to establish recommendations in order to promote a better stratification and therapeutic management of this severe and heterogeneous disease. (Cite this article as: Costanzo A, Bardazzi F, De Simone C, Fabbrocini G, Foti C, Marzano AV, et al. Pustular psoriasis with a focus on generalized pustular psoriasis: classification and diagnostic criteria. An Italian expert consensus. Ital J Dermatol Venereol 2022;157:489-96. DOI: 10.23736/ S2784-8671.22.07415-1

Spectroscopy of phase transitions for multiagent systems

In this paper, we study phase transitions for weakly interacting multiagent systems. By investigating the linear response of a system composed of a finite number of agents, we are able to probe the emergence in the thermodynamic limit of a singular behavior of the susceptibility. We find clear evidence of the loss of analyticity due to a pole crossing the real axis of frequencies. Such behavior has a degree of universality, as it does not depend on either the applied forcing or on the considered observable. We present results relevant for both equilibrium and nonequilibrium phase transitions by studying the Desai–Zwanzig and Bonilla–Casado–Morillo models. Multiagent models feature in a very vast range of applications in natural sciences, social sciences, and engineering. We study here the Desai–Zwanzig (DZ) and Bonilla–Casado–Morillo (BCM) models, which are paradigmatic for equilibrium and nonequilibrium conditions, respectively. Phase transitions result from the coordination between the individual agents and are associated with the divergence of the linear response of the system. The occurrence of phase transitions is universal: it does not depend on the acting forcing and can be detected by looking at virtually any observable of the system. We showcase here how response theory is capable of providing a useful angle for understanding the universal properties of phase transitions in complex systems

Post-Acute COVID-19 Joint Pain and New Onset of Rheumatic Musculoskeletal Diseases: A Systematic Review

As the number of reports of post-acute COVID-19 musculoskeletal manifestations is rapidly rising, it is important to summarize the current available literature in order to shed light on this new and not fully understood phenomenon. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review to provide an updated picture of post-acute COVID-19 musculoskeletal manifestations of potential rheumatological interest, with a particular focus on joint pain, new onset of rheumatic musculoskeletal diseases and presence of autoantibodies related to inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid factor and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies. We included 54 original papers in our systematic review. The prevalence of arthralgia was found to range from 2% to 65% within a time frame varying from 4 weeks to 12 months after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Inflammatory arthritis was also reported with various clinical phenotypes such as symmetrical polyarthritis with RA-like pattern similar to other prototypical viral arthritis, polymyalgia-like symptoms, or acute monoarthritis and oligoarthritis of large joints resembling reactive arthritis. Moreover, high figures of post-COVID-19 patients fulfilling the classification criteria for fibromyalgia were found, ranging from 31% to 40%. Finally, the available literature about prevalence of rheumatoid factor and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies was largely inconsistent. In conclusion, manifestations of rheumatological interest such as joint pain, new-onset inflammatory arthritis and fibromyalgia are frequently reported after COVID-19, highlighting the potential role of SARS-CoV-2 as a trigger for the development of autoimmune conditions and rheumatic musculoskeletal diseases

A Simplified, Light Emitting Diode (LED) based, modular system to be used for the rapid evaluation of fruit and vegetable quality: development and validation on dye solutions

NIR spectroscopy has proven to be one of the most efficient and ready to transfer tools to monitor product's quality. Portable VIS/NIR instruments are particularly versatile and suitable for field use to monitor the ripening process or quality parameters. The aim of this work is to develop and evaluate a new simplified optoelectronic system for potential measurements on fruit and vegetables directly in the field. The development, characterization and validation of an operative prototype is discussed. LED technology was chosen for the design, and spectral acquisition at four specific wavelengths (630, 690, 750 and 850 nm) was proposed. Nevertheless, attention was given to the modularity and versatility of the system. Indeed, the possibility to change the light sources module with other wavelengths allows one to adapt the use of the same device for different foreseeable applications and objectives, e.g., ripeness evaluation, detection of particular diseases and disorders, chemical and physical property prediction, shelf life analysis, as well as for different natures of products (berry, leaf or liquid). Validation tests on blue dye water solutions have shown the capability of the system of discriminating low levels of reflectance, with a repeatability characterized by a standard deviation proportional to the measured intensity and in general limited to 2%-4%