Global Tracking Passivity--based PI Control of Bilinear Systems and its Application to the Boost and Modular Multilevel Converters

This paper deals with the problem of trajectory tracking of a class of bilinear systems with time--varying measurable disturbance. A set of matrices {A,B_i} has been identified, via a linear matrix inequality, for which it is possible to ensure global tracking of (admissible, differentiable) trajectories with a simple linear time--varying PI controller. Instrumental to establish the result is the construction of an output signal with respect to which the incremental model is passive. The result is applied to the boost and the modular multilevel converter for which experimental results are given.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

Does ozonation enhance activated carbon adsorption of PFAS in textile wastewater?

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are used in numerous industrial applications, such as in textile manufacturing, because of their special chemical properties. To avoid PFAS spread in the environment, removal strategies need to be implemented at the wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) to reduce their environmental risk on receiving water bodies. The fate of 14 PFAS in a full-scale WWTP treating textile and civil wastewater (WW) was investigated. The addition of an adsorption step before or after the ozonation process was studied through adsorption isotherms tested on the WW collected before and after the full-scale ozonation step. Ozonation is not aimed at PFAS removing, but it lowers organic matter competition towards long-chain PFAS in the following adsorption step. The removal of UVA254 seems to be a good proxy variable for PFAS adsorption, with relationships not dependent on the presence of ozonation step

Adsorption on activated carbon for PFAS removal: should we act at the source or before the discharge into the environment?

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), used in several industrial applications, such as textile production, are gaining increasing concern due to their spread in the environment, their stability and eco-toxicity. To avoid PFAS spread in the environment, removal strategies need to be implemented at both industrial and municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). This study presents a case study in a textile district in northern Italy where PFAS removal in wastewater (WW) through adsorption on activated carbon was tested at lab and pilot-scale at different points of the system (textile companies and municipal WW treatment plant). This lab-testing was proved to be useful to identify where to apply such process in the system and to optimize process configuration and operating conditions

Early phylogenetic estimate of the effective reproduction number of SARS-CoV-2

To reconstruct the evolutionary dynamics of the 2019 novel-coronavirus recently causing an outbreak in Wuhan, China, 52 SARS-CoV-2 genomes available on 4 February 2020 at Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data were analyzed. The two models used to estimate the reproduction number (coalescent-based exponential growth and a birth-death skyline method) indicated an estimated mean evolutionary rate of 7.8 7 10 124 subs/site/year (range, 1.1 7 10 124-15 7 10 124) and a mean tMRCA of the tree root of 73 days. The estimated R value was 2.6 (range, 2.1-5.1), and increased from 0.8 to 2.4 in December 2019. The estimated mean doubling time of the epidemic was between 3.6 and 4.1 days. This study proves the usefulness of phylogeny in supporting the surveillance of emerging new infections even as the epidemic is growing

PFAS in textile wastewater: an integrated approach to reduce the environmental risk for their mixture

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), used in several industrial applications, are gaining increasing concern due to their spread in the environment, their stability and eco-toxicity. To avoid PFAS spread in the environment, reducing the environmental risk on receiving water bodies, removal strategies need to be implemented at both industrial and municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). This study presents a case study in a textile district in northern Italy where PFAS monitoring campaigns were combined with testing at lab and pilot-scale of two promising removal processes (membrane separation, adsorption on activated carbon) and data used for environmental risk assessment. This combination was proved to be useful to support the identification of the optimal combination of prevention and treatment interventions to be applied at different system points to reduce the environmental risk

Benefit of switching to mepolizumab from omalizumab in severe eosinophilic asthma based on patient characteristics

Asma; Tractament de l'asma; EosinòfilsAsma; Tratamiento del asma; EosinófilosAsthma; Asthma treatment; EosinophilsBackground The OSMO study assessed the efficacy of switching to mepolizumab in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma that was uncontrolled whilst receiving omalizumab. The objective of this analysis was to assess the proportion of patients achieving pre-defined improvements in up to four efficacy outcomes and the relationship between patient baseline characteristics and treatment response. Methods This was a post hoc analysis of OSMO study data (GSK ID:204471; ClinicalTrials.gov No. NCT02654145). Patients with severe eosinophilic asthma uncontrolled by high-dose inhaled corticosteroids, other controller(s) and omalizumab subcutaneously (≥ 4 months) were switched to mepolizumab 100 mg administered subcutaneously. Endpoints included the proportion of responders—i.e. patients achieving a pre-defined clinical improvement in ≥ 1 of the following outcomes: (1) Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ)-5 score (≥ 0.5-points), (2) St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) total score (≥ 4-points), (3) pre-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV1; ≥ 100 mL), all at Week 32, and (4) annualised rate of clinically significant exacerbations (≥ 50% reduction). Results Of the 145 patients included, 94%, 83%, 63% and 31% were responders for ≥ 1, ≥ 2, ≥ 3 and 4 outcomes, respectively; 75% and 78% were ACQ-5 and SGRQ score responders, and 50% and 69% were FEV1 and exacerbation responders. Subgroup analyses demonstrated improvements irrespective of baseline blood eosinophil count, prior omalizumab treatment regimen/duration, comorbidities, prior exacerbation history, maintenance oral corticosteroid use, ACQ-5 and SGRQ scores, and body weight/body mass index. Conclusions After switching to mepolizumab, almost all patients with uncontrolled severe eosinophilic asthma on omalizumab achieved a beneficial response in ≥ 1 clinical outcome. Improvements were observed regardless of baseline characteristics.This post hoc analysis and the parent study (GSK ID: 204471; ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT02654145) were funded by GSK

Contribution of transgender sex workers to the complexity of the HIV-1 epidemic in the metropolitan area of Milan

Objectives: Transgender people are disproportionately affected by the HIV-1 epidemic. We evaluated the origin of HIV-1 variants carried by South American transgenders living in Milan by combining accurate phylogenetic methods and epidemiological data. Methods: We collected 156 HIV-1 pol sequences obtained from transgender patients engaged in sex work (TSWs) followed between 1999 and 2015 at L. Sacco Hospital, Milan, Italy. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted by HIV-TRACE, MrBayes, MacClade and Beast programs. Reference sequences were retrieved from Los Alamos and local databases. Last negative testing or proxy data from clinical records of infected individuals were used to investigate the country of infection. Results: Among South American TSWs, the most represented HIV-1 subtypes were B (70.5%), F1 (12.8%) and C (4.4%). Gene flow migrations of B subtype indicated significant fluxes from TSWs to Italians (21.3%) belonging to all risk groups (26.4% to heterosexuals (HEs), 18.9% to men who have sex with men (MSM), 15.1% to injecting drug users). The largest proportion of bidirectional fluxes were observed between Italians and TSWs (24.6%). For F1 subtype, bidirectional viral fluxes involved TSWs and Italians (7.1% and 14.3%), and a similar proportion of fluxes linked TSWs and Italian HEs or MSM (both 15.8%). Significant fluxes were detected from Italians to TSWs for subtype C involving both MSM (30%) and HEs (40%). Country of HIV-1 acquisition was identified for 72 subjects; overall, the largest proportion of patients with B subtype (73.5%) acquired HIV-1 infection in South America. Conclusions: Our results indicated that South American transgenders largely contribute to the heterogeneity of HIV-1 variants in our country. The high number of clusters based on all subtypes indicated numerous transmission chains in which TSWs were constantly intermixed with HEs and MSM. Our results strongly advocate interventions to facilitate prevention, diagnosis and HIV-1 care continuum among transgender people

International overview of somatic dysfunction assessment and treatment in osteopathic research: A scoping review

Background: Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) is a patient-centred, whole-body intervention aimed at enhance the person’s self-regulation. OMT interventions are focused on somatic dysfunctions (SD) that can be defined as an altered regulative function associated with inflammatory signs palpable in the body framework in different body regions. The conceptual model that sustains SD, as well as its usefulness for the osteopathic profession, is still being discussed by the osteopathic community. Understanding the role and the application of SD is the aim of this scoping review. Methods: A literature search was carried out through the main biomedical databases: Pubmed (Medline), Cochrane, Central (Cochrane), Embase, PEDro and Scopus. Grey literature was considered via Google Scholar and the Osteopathic Research Web. The review was prepared by referring to the “Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews” (PRISMA-ScR). Results: A total of 37,279 records were identified through database searching and other sources. After the duplicates were removed, 27,023 titles and abstracts were screened. A total of 1495 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. The qualitative synthesis included 280 studies. Conclusions: Treating SD is an important part of osteopathic practice that varies from country to country. SD should be considered as a clinical value that assists in the clinical assessment and guides the decision-making process of osteopathic practitioners. Further studies should be designed to better understand why and how to choose the different assessment and intervention modalities to approach SD and to evaluate new osteopathic models

Local epidemics gone viral: Evolution and diffusion of the Italian HIV-1 recombinant form CRF60_BC

The molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in Italy is becoming increasingly complex, mainly due to the spread of non-B subtypes and the emergence of new recombinant forms. We previously characterized the outbreak of the first Italian circulating recombinant form (CRF60_BC), occurring among young MSM living in Apulia between the years 2009 and 2011. Here we show a 5-year follow-up surveillance to trace the evolution of CRF60_BC and to investigate its further spread in Italy. We collected additional sequences and clinical data from patients harboring CRF60_BC, enrolled at the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the University of Bari. In addition to the 24 previously identified sequences, we retrieved 27 CRF60_BC sequences from patients residing in Apulia, whose epidemiological and clinical features did not differ from those of the initial outbreak, i.e., the Italian origin, young age at HIV diagnosis (median: 24 years; range: 18-37), MSM risk factor (23/25, 92%) and recent infection (from 2008 to 2017). Sequence analysis revealed a growing overall nucleotide diversity, with few nucleotide changes that were fixed over time. Twenty-seven additional sequences were detected across Italy, spanning multiple distant regions. Using a BLAST search, we also identified a CRF60_BC sequence isolated in United Kingdom in 2013. Three patients harbored a unique second generation recombinant form in which CRF60_BC was one of the parental strains. Our data show that CRF60_BC gained epidemic importance, spreading among young MSM in multiple Italian regions and increasing its population size in few years, as the number of sequences identified so far has triplicated since our first report. The observed further divergence of CRF60_BC is likely due to evolutionary bottlenecks and host adaptation during transmission chains. Of note, we detected three second-generation recombinants, further supporting a widespread circulation of CRF60_BC and the increasing complexity of the HIV-1 epidemic in Italy