Security of Energy Supply: Comparing Scenarios From a European Perspective

This paper compares different results from a set of energy scenarios produced by international energy experts, in order to analyze projections on increasing European external energy dependence and vulnerability. Comparison among different scenarios constitutes the basis of a critical review of existing energy security policies, suggesting alternative or complementary future actions. According to the analysis, the main risks and negative impacts in the long term could be the increasing risk of collusion among exporters due to growing dependence of industrialized countries and insufficient diversification; and a risk of demand/supply imbalance, with consequent instability for exporting regions due to insufficient demand, and lack of infrastructures due to insufficient supply. Cooperation with exporting countries enhancing investments in production capacity, and with developing countries in order to reinforce negotiation capacity of energy importing countries seem to be the most effective policies at international level.Energy security, Energy scenarios, Oil and natural gas markets

Market-based Options for Security of Energy Supply

Energy market liberalization and international economic interdependence have affected governments’ ability to react to security of supply challenges. On the other side, whereas in the past security of supply was largely seen as a national responsibility, the frame of reference has increasingly become the EU in which liberation increases security of supply mainly by increasing the number of markets participants and improving the flexibility of energy systems. In this logic, security of supply becomes a risk management strategy with a strong inclination towards cost effectiveness, involving both the supply and the demand side. Security of supply has two major components that interrelate: cost and risk. This paper focus the attention on costs in the attempt to develop a market compatible approach geared towards security of supply.Energy supply, Market-based options

Broncalt®, class II medical device, in patients with chronic upper airways disease: a survey in clinical practice

Inflammation and infection are common pathogenic mechanisms involved in many otorhinolaryngological (ORL) chronic diseases. Broncalt® is a class II Medical Device containing: thermal water (Medesano, PR, Italy), hyaluronic acid, and grapefruit seed extract. It could exert a safe and effective anti-inflammatory, washing, and antimicrobial activity by virtue of these components. Therefore, the aim of the current survey, conducted in clinical practice of 84 Italian ORL centers, was to evaluate its safety and efficacy in the treatment of patients with chronic upper airways disease. The 1,817 (958 males, mean age 49 years) patients were evaluated at baseline (T0) and after one (T1) and two (T2) weeks of treatment, they were treated or not treated with Broncalt®. Signs and symptoms severity were measured by visual analogue scale. Broncalt® significantly, quickly, and safely diminished the clinical features in all sub-groups (p<0.001 for all). In conclusion, Broncalt® is a class II Medical Device able to exert a safe, quick, and effective activity in patients with chronic ORL disorders

Metadynamics for perspective drug design: Computationally driven synthesis of new protein-protein interaction inhibitors targeting the EphA2 receptor

Metadynamics (META-D) is emerging as a powerful method for the computation of the multidimensional freeenergy surface (FES) describing the protein-ligand binding process. Herein, the FES of unbinding of the antagonist N-(3α-hydroxy-5β-cholan-24-oyl)-L-β-homotryptophan (UniPR129) from its EphA2 receptor was reconstructed by META-D simulations. The characterization of the free-energy minima identified on this FES proposes a binding mode fully consistent with previously reported and new structure-activity relationship data. To validate this binding mode, new N-(3α-hydroxy-5β-cholan-24-oyl)-L-β-homotryptophan derivatives were designed, synthesized, and tested for their ability to displace ephrin-A1 from the EphA2 receptor. Among them, two antagonists, namely compounds 21 and 22, displayed high affinity versus the EphA2 receptor and resulted endowed with better physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties than the parent compound. These findings highlight the importance of free-energy calculations in drug design, confirming that META-D simulations can be used to successfully design novel bioactive compounds

Antimicrobial Prophylaxis in Neonates and Children Undergoing Dental, Maxillo-Facial or Ear-Nose-Throat (ENT) Surgery: A RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method Consensus Study

Surgical site infections (SSIs) represent a potential complication in surgical procedures, mainly because clean/contaminated surgery involves organs that are normally colonized by bacteria. Dental, maxillo-facial and ear-nose-throat (ENT) surgeries are among those that carry a risk of SSIs because the mouth and the first respiratory tracts are normally colonized by a bacterial flora. The aim of this consensus document was to provide clinicians with recommendations on surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis in neonates (<28 days of chronological age) and pediatric patients (within the age range of 29 days-18 years) undergoing dental, maxillo-facial or ENT surgical procedures. These included: (1) dental surgery; (2) maxilla-facial surgery following trauma with fracture; (3) temporo-mandibular surgery; (4) cleft palate and cleft lip repair; (5) ear surgery; (6) endoscopic paranasal cavity surgery and septoplasty; (7) clean head and neck surgery; (8) clean/contaminated head and neck surgery and (9) tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. Due to the lack of pediatric data for the majority of dental, maxillo-facial and ENT surgeries and the fact that the recommendations for adults are currently used, there is a need for ad hoc studies to be rapidly planned for the most deficient areas. This seems even more urgent for interventions such as those involving the first airways since the different composition of the respiratory microbiota in children compared to adults implies the possibility that surgical antibiotic prophylaxis schemes that are ideal for adults may not be equally effective in children

Prevention of Surgical Site Infections in Neonates and Children: Non-Pharmacological Measures of Prevention

A surgical site infection (SSI) is an infection that occurs in the incision created by an invasive surgical procedure. Although most infections are treatable with antibiotics, SSIs remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality after surgery and have a significant economic impact on health systems. Preventive measures are essential to decrease the incidence of SSIs and antibiotic abuse, but data in the literature regarding risk factors for SSIs in the pediatric age group are scarce, and current guidelines for the prevention of the risk of developing SSIs are mainly focused on the adult population. This document describes the current knowledge on risk factors for SSIs in neonates and children undergoing surgery and has the purpose of providing guidance to health care professionals for the prevention of SSIs in this population. Our aim is to consider the possible non-pharmacological measures that can be adopted to prevent SSIs. To our knowledge, this is the first study to provide recommendations based on a careful review of the available scientific evidence for the non-pharmacological prevention of SSIs in neonates and children. The specific scenarios developed are intended to guide the healthcare professional in practice to ensure standardized management of the neonatal and pediatric patients, decrease the incidence of SSIs and reduce antibiotic abuse

Broncalt®, class ii medical device, in patients with chronic relapsed upper airways disease: A survey in clinical practice

Chronic respiratory otorhinolaryngological (ORL) diseases may exacerbate. Broncalt® is a class II Medical Device containing: thermal water (Medesano, PR, Italy), hyaluronic acid, and grapefruit seed extract. It could exert a safe and effective anti-inflammatory, washing, and antimicrobial activity. The current survey, conducted in clinical practice of 84 Italian ORL centers, evaluated its safety and efficacy in the treatment of patients with exacerbated chronic upper airways disease. The 459 (254 males, mean age 44.7 years) patients were evaluated at baseline (T0) and after a 2-week treatment (T1), treated or not-treated with Broncalt®. Signs and symptoms severity were measured by visual analogue scale. Broncalt® significantly, quickly, and safely diminished the clinical features in all sub-groups (p<0.001 for all). In conclusion, Broncalt® is a class II Medical Device able to exert a safe, quick, and effective activity in patients with relapsed chronic ORL disorders. (www.actabiomedica.it)

Broncalt®, class II medical device, in patients with acute upper airways disease: A survey in clinical practice

Inflammation is a common pathogenic mechanism involved in many otorhinolaryngological (ORL) disorders. Broncalt® is a class II Medical Device containing: Thermal water (Medesano, PR, Italy), hyaluronic acid, and grapefruit seed extract. It has been reported that it exerted a safe and effective anti-inflammatory, washing, and antimicrobial activity by virtue of these components. Therefore, the aim of the current survey, conducted in clinical practice of 84 Italian ORL centers, was to evaluate its safety and efficacy in the treatment of patients with acute upper airways disease. The 3,533 (1,797 males, mean age 43.5 years) patients were evaluated at baseline (T0) and after a 2-week treatment (T1) with or without Broncalt®. Signs and symptoms severity were measured by visual analogue scale. Broncalt® significantly and safely diminished the clinical features in all sub-groups (p<0.001 for all). Interestingly, Broncalt® significantly induced a faster symptom relief already within 3 days after the start of the treatment. In conclusion, Broncalt® is a class II Medical Device able to exert a safe and effective activity in patients with acute ORL disorders. (www.actabiomedica.it)

Market-based Options for Security of Energy Supply. Summary and Conclusions. INDES Working Paper #1, 1 March 2004

The INDES project and related working papers focus on market-compatible, cost-effective security of supply responses by the EU. Security of supply is understood as insurance against risks, in which responsibility is shared between the EU, member states, energy companies and customers. Thus security of supply is seen as an economic risk-management strategy. Critical to such an approach is first the minimisation of the insurance ‘premium’ to achieve the degree of security that is politically called for. Second, there is a need to identify the best systemic actor able to ‘hedge’ the risk. This can be governments, companies, consumers or in some cases, the market itself subsequent to careful design. Based on these premises, INDES research has emphasised two areas: i) costs of energy supply disruptions and ii) costs of potential policy responses. Towards this end, robust methodologies to assess costs and a sound empirical basis for cost data have been used in the working paper series as the precondition for informed policy choices reflecting both effectiveness and cost-efficiency