A hybrid composting and HTC system for the management of the residues of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste treatment

viene studiato il trattamento del digestato derivante da rifiuti di matrice organica municipale tramite il processo di carbonizzazione idrotermica. è stato costruito un modello predittivo in matlab per definire le entalpie di reazione del processo. Infine è stato eseguita un'analisi economica e finanziaria su diverse configurazioni impiantistiche.ope

Which Are the Main Surface Disinfection Approaches at the Time of SARS-CoV-2?

Among many guidelines issued by the World Health Organization to prevent contagion from novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), disinfection of animate and inanimate surfaces has emerged as a key issue. One effective approach to prevent its propagation can be achieved by disinfecting air, skin, or surfaces. A thorough and rational application of an Environmental Protection Agent for disinfection of surfaces, as well as a good personal hygiene, including cleaning hands with appropriate products (e.g., 60–90% alcohol-based product) should minimize transmission of viral respiratory pathogens such as SARS-CoV- 2. Critical issues, associated with the potential health hazard of chemical disinfectants and the ineffective duration of most of the treatments, have fostered the introduction of innovative and alternative disinfection approaches. The present review aims to provide an outline of methods currently used for inanimate surface disinfection with a look to the future and a focus on the development of innovative and effective disinfection approaches (e.g., metal nanoparticles, photocatalysis, self-cleaning, and self-disinfection) with particular focus on SARS-CoV-2. The research reviews are, usually, focused on a specific category of disinfection methods, and therefore they are limited. On the contrary, a panoramic review with a wider focus, as the one here proposed, can be an added value for operators in the sector and generally for the scientific community

Which Are the Main Surface Disinfection Approaches at the Time of SARS-CoV-2?

Among many guidelines issued by the World Health Organization to prevent contagion from novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), disinfection of animate and inanimate surfaces has emerged as a key issue. One effective approach to prevent its propagation can be achieved by disinfecting air, skin, or surfaces. A thorough and rational application of an Environmental Protection Agent for disinfection of surfaces, as well as a good personal hygiene, including cleaning hands with appropriate products (e.g., 60\u201390% alcohol-based product) should minimize transmission of viral respiratory pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2. Critical issues, associated with the potential health hazard of chemical disinfectants and the ineffective duration of most of the treatments, have fostered the introduction of innovative and alternative disinfection approaches. The present review aims to provide an outline of methods currently used for inanimate surface disinfection with a look to the future and a focus on the development of innovative and effective disinfection approaches (e.g., metal nanoparticles, photocatalysis, self-cleaning, and self-disinfection) with particular focus on SARS-CoV-2. The research reviews are, usually, focused on a specific category of disinfection methods, and therefore they are limited. On the contrary, a panoramic review with a wider focus, as the one here proposed, can be an added value for operators in the sector and generally for the scientific community

Herpes Simplex Virus Infection in Pregnancy

Infection with herpes simplex is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. Because the infection is common in women of reproductive age it can be contracted and transmitted to the fetus during pregnancy and the newborn. Herpes simplex virus is an important cause of neonatal infection, which can lead to death or long-term disabilities. Rarely in the uterus, it occurs frequently during the transmission delivery. The greatest risk of transmission to the fetus and the newborn occurs in case of an initial maternal infection contracted in the second half of pregnancy. The risk of transmission of maternal-fetal-neonatal herpes simplex can be decreased by performing a treatment with antiviral drugs or resorting to a caesarean section in some specific cases. The purpose of this paper is to provide recommendations on management of herpes simplex infections in pregnancy and strategies to prevent transmission from mother to fetus

Increase in Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Grade I Hypertensive Subjects

We studied 74 never-treated grade I hypertensive subjects aged 18 to 45 years and 20 normotensive control subjects to define the rate of increase in carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and the potential role played by the various risk factors. IMT was assessed as mean IMT and as maximum IMT in the right and left common carotid artery, carotid bulb, and internal carotid artery at baseline and at the 5-year follow-up. In grade I hypertensive subjects, both mean IMT and mean of maximum IMT were significantly higher compared with baseline values. Compared with normotensive subjects, both mean IMT and maximum IMT increased significantly (at least P <0.01) in each carotid artery segment. The increase in cumulative IMT was 3.4-fold for mean IMT and 3.2-fold for mean of maximum IMT. Levels of mean arterial pressure at 24-hour monitoring and total serum cholesterol were factors potentially linked to the increment in mean IMT and mean of maximum IMT. Age was also relevant for the increment in mean of maximum IMT, whereas body mass index played some role in the increment of mean IMT. During the follow-up, mean IMT and mean of maximum IMT increased to a greater degree in white-coat hypertensive subjects (n=35) and sustained hypertensive subjects (n=39) than in normotensive control subjects. No differences were found between white-coat hypertensive subjects and sustained hypertensive subjects for both mean IMT and maximum IMT. Levels of mean arterial pressure at 24-hour monitoring affected the increment in IMT in both white-coat hypertensive subjects and sustained hypertensive subjects. In conclusion, our findings indicate that carotid IMT is greater and grows faster in white-coat hypertensive subjects than in normotensive subjects without significant differences with sustained hypertensive patients

A Proteomic Approach to Study the Effect of Thiotaurine on Human Neutrophil Activation

Thiotaurine, a thiosulfonate related to taurine and hypotaurine, is formed by a metabolic process from cystine and generated by a transulfuration reaction between hypotaurine and thiocysteine. Thiotaurine can produce hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from its sulfane sulfur moiety. H2S is a gaseous signaling molecule which can have regulatory roles in inflammatory process. In addition, sulfane sulfur displays the capacity to reversibly bind to other sulfur atoms. Thiotaurine inhibits PMA-induced activation of human neutrophils, and hinders neutrophil spontaneous apoptosis. Here, we present the results of a proteomic approach to study the possible effects of thiotaurine at protein expression level. Proteome analysis of human neutrophils has been performed comparing protein extracts of resting or PMA-activated neutrophils in presence or in absence of thiotaurine. In particular, PMA-stimulated neutrophils showed high level of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) expression compared to the level of the same glycolytic enzyme in the resting neutrophils. Conversely, decreased expression of GAPDH has been observed when human neutrophils were incubated with 1 mM thiotaurine before activation with PMA. This result, confirmed by Western blot analysis, suggests again that thiotaurine shows a bioactive role in the mechanisms underlying the inflammatory process, influencing the energy metabolism of activated leukocytes and raises the possibility that thiotaurine, acting as a sulfur donor, could modulate neutrophil activation via persulfidation of target proteins, such as GAPDH

Metformin attenuates the exacerbation of the allergic eosinophilic inflammation in high fat-diet-induced obesity in mice

A positive relationship between obesity and asthma has been well documented. The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activator metformin reverses obesity-associated insulin resistance (IR) and inhibits different types of inflammatory responses. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of metformin on the exacerbation of allergic eosinophilic inflammation in obese mice. Male C57BL6/J mice were fed for 10 weeks with high-fat diet (HFD) to induce obesity. The cell infiltration and inflammatory markers in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and lung tissue were evaluated at 48 h after ovalbumin (OVA) challenge. HFD obese mice displayed peripheral IR that was fully reversed by metformin (300 mg/kg/day, two weeks). OVA-challenge resulted in higher influx of total cell and eosinophils in lung tissue of obese mice compared with lean group. As opposed, the cell number in BAL fluid of obese mice was reduced compared with lean group. Metformin significantly reduced the tissue eosinophil infiltration and prevented the reduction of cell counts in BAL fluid. In obese mice, greater levels of eotaxin, TNF-α and NOx, together with increased iNOS protein expression were observed, all of which were normalized by metformin. In addition, metformin nearly abrogated the binding of NF-κB subunit p65 to the iNOS promoter gene in lung tissue of obese mice. Lower levels of phosphorylated AMPK and its downstream target acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC) were found in lung tissue of obese mice, which were restored by metformin. In separate experiments, the selective iNOS inhibitor aminoguanidine (20 mg/kg, 3 weeks) and the anti-TNF-α mAb (2 mg/kg) significantly attenuated the aggravation of eosinophilic inflammation in obese mice. In conclusion, metformin inhibits the TNF-α-induced inflammatory signaling and NF-κB-mediated iNOS expression in lung tissue of obese mice. Metformin may be a good pharmacological strategy to control the asthma exacerbation in obese individuals.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, 2012/14225-

A hybrid composting and HTC system for the management of the residues of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste treatment

viene studiato il trattamento del digestato derivante da rifiuti di matrice organica municipale tramite il processo di carbonizzazione idrotermica. è stato costruito un modello predittivo in matlab per definire le entalpie di reazione del processo. Infine è stato eseguita un'analisi economica e finanziaria su diverse configurazioni impiantistiche

Mixed Nodule Infection in Sinorhizobium meliloti&#8211;Medicago sativa Symbiosis Suggest the Presence of Cheating Behavior

In the symbiosis between rhizobia and legumes, host plants can form symbiotic root nodules with multiple rhizobial strains, potentially showing different symbiotic performances in nitrogen fixation. Here, we investigated the presence of mixed nodules, containing rhizobia with different degrees of mutualisms, and evaluate their relative fitness in the Sinorhizobium meliloti–Medicago sativa model symbiosis. We used three S. meliloti strains, the mutualist strains Rm1021 and BL225C and the non-mutualist AK83. We performed competition experiments involving both in vitro and in vivo symbiotic assays with M. sativa host plants. We show the occurrence of a high number (from 27 to 100%) of mixed nodules with no negative effect on both nitrogen fixation and plant growth. The estimation of the relative fitness as non-mutualist/mutualist ratios in single nodules shows that in some nodules the non-mutualist strain efficiently colonized root nodules along with the mutualist ones. In conclusion, we can support the hypothesis that in S. meliloti–M. sativa symbiosis mixed nodules are formed and allow non-mutualist or less-mutualist bacterial partners to be less or not sanctioned by the host plant, hence allowing a potential form of cheating behavior to be present in the nitrogen fixing symbiosis

Conference on Recent Advances in Commutative Ring and Module Theory & Conference on Rings and Polynomials

This volume presents a collection of articles highlighting recent developments in commutative algebra and related non-commutative generalizations. It also includes an extensive bibliography and lists a substantial number of open problems that point to future directions of research in the represented subfields. The contributions cover areas in commutative algebra that have flourished in the last few decades and are not yet well represented in book form. Highlighted topics and research methods include Noetherian and non-Noetherian ring theory, module theory and integer-valued polynomials along with connections to algebraic number theory, algebraic geometry, topology and homological algebra. Most of the eighteen contributions are authored by attendees of the two conferences in commutative algebra that were held in the summer of 2016: “Recent Advances in Commutative Ring and Module Theory,” Bressanone, Italy; “Conference on Rings and Polynomials”  Graz, Austria. There is also a small collection of invited articles authored by experts in the area who could not attend either of the conferences. Following the model of the talks given at these conferences, the volume contains a number of comprehensive survey papers along with related research articles featuring recent results that have not yet been published elsewhere