Radiation and magnetic field effects on new semiconductor power devices for HL-LHC experiments

The radiation hardness of commercial Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride power MOSFETs is presented in this paper, for Total Ionizing Dose effects and Single Event Effects, under gamma, neutrons, protons and heavy ions. Similar tests are discussed for commercial DC-DC converters, also tested in operation under magnetic field

Smart coatings of epoxy based CNTs designed to meet practical expectations in aeronautics

A smart coating exhibiting self-diagnostic capability is designed to meet industrial requirements in aeronautics. The coating made of epoxy-based carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been applied on industrial Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRPs) currently employed in aeronautics. The correlations between mechanical strain and electrical properties of coated CFRPs highlights the feasibility in manufacturing CFRPs having integrated high sensitivity in providing an effective real-time structural health monitoring. The reliability of the developed CFRPs, in the normal operational temperature range of aircrafts, opens new perspectives in the field of self-responsive structures in aeronautics. Self-responsive panels can simultaneously act as sensor and structural element

Short-term treatment of iron deficiency anemia after cardiac surgery

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is frequent after cardiac surgery and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. In a retrospective study, we analyzed 106 patients with IDA (hemoglobin [Hb] ≤ 12 g/dl in women and ≤ 13 g/dl in men, transferrin saturation [TSAT] ≤ 20%) on admission to a Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit after cardiac surgery. The patients were divided into two groups, one was treated with oral sucrosomial iron (SI) and the other with intravenous ferric carboxymaltose (FCM). Patients received a single 1000 mg dose of FCM from the day after admission to rehabilitation (T1), or a 120 mg/day dose of SI from T1 until discharge (T2); after discharge, SI was reduced to 30 mg/day until the end of follow-up (T3). Hb was evaluated at T1, T2 and T3; the other hematological parameters at T1 and T3; natriuretic peptides at T1, T2 and T3; 6-minute walk test (6MWT) at T1 and T2. Folate, vitamin B12 and reticulocytes were sampled on admission. Folate deficiency was documented in 60.4% of patients. Hb increased in both groups with no significant differences between the two treatments (p = 0.397). The other iron metabolism parameters (sideremia, transferrin, TSAT) displayed similar behavior, showing a significant increase at T3 (p < 0.001) with both therapies, although the increase was faster with FCM. Ferritin - high on admission - decreased at T3 in the SI group and rose significantly in the FCM group (SI 219.5 vs. FCM 689 ng/ml p < 0.0001). The 6MWT increased significantly at T2, with an overlap between SI and FCM. In conclusion, the results of this study show that SI and FCM exhibit the same effectiveness on IDA; the response time to therapy of both treatments is also equally fast. SI and FCM induce a similar increase in functional capacity. The study shows that SI can be a viable alternative to FCM after cardiac surgery in terms of effectiveness and tolerability

Beneficial contribution to glucose homeostasis by an agro-food waste product rich in abscisic acid. A results from a randomized controlled trial

The control of glucose homeostasis represents the primary goal for the prevention and management of diabetes and prediabetes. In recent decades, the hypoglycemic hormone abscisic acid (ABA) has attracted considerable interest in the scientific literature. In this regard, the high ABA concentration in immature fruits led us to consider these food matrices as candidates for diabetes control. Therefore, the beneficial efficacy of a nutraceutical formulation based on thinned nectarines (TNs) rich in ABA was tested through a three-month, three-arm, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted on sixty-one patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). After 3 months, both the treatments with low doses of TN (500 mg 3 times/day) and high doses of TN (750 mg 3 times/day) showed a significant reduction in glycemic parameters compared to baseline. Treatment with low doses of TN showed a greater insulin-sparing effect (fasting plasma insulin, FPI: −29.2%, p &lt; 0.05 vs. baseline) compared to the high-dose group (FPI: −16.5%, p &lt; 0.05 vs. baseline). Moreover, a significant correlation between glycemia and ABA plasmatic levels was observed for both intervention groups at baseline and after 3 months. Overall, our data reasonably support TN as a promising and innovative nutraceutical product able to contribute to the management of glucose homeostasis

mechanoluminescence of nylon under high velocity impact

The light emissions produced during deformation of solids induced by any mechanical action is called mechanoluminescence (ML). This phenomenon was reported mostly in hypervelocity impacts. Using high speed video-recording, the authors found evidence of ML for nylon at much lower impact velocity (of the order of 100 m/s). In order to understand the mechanism responsible for ML, Taylor impact experiments were planned and performed. Several impact configurations were investigated: Taylor anvil impact, Taylor impact on nylon anvil and rod-on-rod impact experiment. During the tests, the emitted light was measured using a wide-spectrum visible-to-infrared photodiode with response below 1 microsecond, and the signals were analyzed. The existence of a limiting impact velocity below which ML is no longer observed seems to be indicative of the fact that ML is controlled by the high pressure that is generated under uniaxial strain loading conditions. This result is consistent with the fact that, as soon as the compressive stress wave travels longitudinally in the Taylor sample and the pressure drops as a result of the arrival of the release waves, the ML no longer occurs. When tests were repeated in vacuum, no light emission in the visible range was observed. This finding seems to indicate that light emission occurs as a result of the oxidation of free radicals generated by the rupture of the polymer chains caused by the dynamic pressure wave

Effects of Bisphosphonate Treatment on Circulating Lipid and Glucose Levels in Patients with Metabolic Bone Disorders

Bisphosphonates are the first-choice treatment of osteoporosis and Paget’s disease of bone. Among the bisphosphonates, the non-amino-bisphosphonates, such as clodronic acid, are intracellular converted into toxic analogues of ATP and induce cellular apoptosis whereas the amino-bisphosphonates, such as zoledronic acid, inhibit the farnesyl-diphosphate-synthase, an enzyme of the mevalonate pathway. This pathway regulates cholesterol and glucose homeostasis and is a target for statins. In this retrospective cohort study, we evaluated the effects of an intravenous infusion of zoledronic acid (5&nbsp;mg) or clodronic acid (1500&nbsp;mg) on blood lipid (i.e. total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and triglycerides) and glucose levels in patients with osteoporosis and Paget’s disease of bone. All patients were evaluated before, 1 and 6&nbsp;months after bisphosphonate treatment. Pagetic and osteoporotic patients treated with zoledronic acid showed a significant reduction in glucose and atherogenic lipids during follow-up whereas these phenomena were not observed after clodronic treatment. The effect on circulating lipid levels was similar in naïve and re-treated Pagetic patients. Zoledronic acid treatment was associated with a reduction in blood glucose and atherogenic lipids in patients with metabolic bone disorders. The extent of change was similar to that obtained with the regular assumption of a low-intensity statin. Further studies are warranted to better evaluate the clinical implications of these observations

Refinement of the diagnostic approach for the identification of children and adolescents affected by familial hypercholesterolemia: Evidence from the LIPIGEN study

Background and aims: We aimed to describe the limitations of familiar hypercholesterolemia (FH) diagnosis in childhood based on the presence of the typical features of FH, such as physical sings of cholesterol accumulation and personal or family history of premature cardiovascular disease or hypercholesterolemia, comparing their prevalence in the adult and paediatric FH population, and to illustrate how additional information can lead to a more effective diagnosis of FH at a younger age. Methods: From the Italian LIPIGEN cohort, we selected 1188 (≥18 years) and 708 (&lt;18 years) genetically-confirmed heterozygous FH, with no missing personal FH features. The prevalence of personal and familial FH features was compared between the two groups. For a sub-group of the paediatric cohort (N = 374), data about premature coronary heart disease (CHD) in second-degree family members were also included in the evaluation. Results: The lower prevalence of typical FH features in children/adolescents vs adults was confirmed: the prevalence of tendon xanthoma was 2.1% vs 13.1%, and arcus cornealis was present in 1.6% vs 11.2% of the cohorts, respectively. No children presented clinical history of premature CHD or cerebral/peripheral vascular disease compared to 8.8% and 5.6% of adults, respectively. The prevalence of premature CHD in first-degree relatives was significantly higher in adults compared to children/adolescents (38.9% vs 19.7%). In the sub-cohort analysis, a premature CHD event in parents was reported in 63 out of 374 subjects (16.8%), but the percentage increased to 54.0% extending the evaluation also to second-degree relatives. Conclusions: In children, the typical FH features are clearly less informative than in adults. A more thorough data collection, adding information about second-degree relatives, could improve the diagnosis of FH at younger age

Lipoprotein(a) Genotype Influences the Clinical Diagnosis of Familial Hypercholesterolemia

Background Evidence suggests that LPA risk genotypes are a possible contributor to the clinical diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). This study aimed at determining the prevalence of LPA risk variants in adult individuals with FH enrolled in the Italian LIPIGEN (Lipid Transport Disorders Italian Genetic Network) study, with (FH/M+) or without (FH/M-) a causative genetic variant. Methods and ResultsAn lp(a) [lipoprotein(a)] genetic score was calculated by summing the number risk-increasing alleles inherited at rs3798220 and rs10455872 variants. Overall, in the 4.6% of 1695 patients with clinically diagnosed FH, the phenotype was not explained by a monogenic or polygenic cause but by genotype associated with high lp(a) levels. Among 765 subjects with FH/M- and 930 subjects with FH/M+, 133 (17.4%) and 95 (10.2%) were characterized by 1 copy of either rs10455872 or rs3798220 or 2 copies of either rs10455872 or rs3798220 (lp(a) score &gt;= 1). Subjects with FH/M- also had lower mean levels of pretreatment low-density lipoprotein cholesterol than individuals with FH/M+ (t test for difference in means between FH/M- and FH/M+ groups &lt;0.0001); however, subjects with FH/M- and lp(a) score &gt;= 1 had higher mean (SD) pretreatment low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (223.47 [50.40] mg/dL) compared with subjects with FH/M- and lp(a) score=0 (219.38 [54.54] mg/dL for), although not statistically significant. The adjustment of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels based on lp(a) concentration reduced from 68% to 42% the proportion of subjects with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level &gt;= 190 mg/dL (or from 68% to 50%, considering a more conservative formula). ConclusionsOur study supports the importance of measuring lp(a) to perform the diagnosis of FH appropriately and to exclude that the observed phenotype is driven by elevated levels of lp(a) before performing the genetic test for FH