Supporting study for the Fitness Check on the construction sector: EU internal market and energy efficiency legislation. CEPS Report, October 2016

This study is intended to support the REFIT Sectoral Fitness Check of the Construction Sector, undertaken by the European Commission and expected to be published in the spring of 2017. The Sectoral Fitness Check aims at examining how various EU legal acts impact on the construction sector, and at identifying possible areas of improvement, including reduction of regulatory costs and burdens and a better alignment of provisions, if applicable. The analysis included evaluating the efficiency, coherence, effectiveness, relevance and EU added value of most relevant provisions of EU legislation, with respect to the objectives for a more competitive and sustainable construction sector, in particular for SMEs. Particular attention was paid to identifying any synergy or inefficiencies arising from these acts

Composition and drivers of energy prices and costs: Case studies in selected energy-intensive industries. Final Report. CEPS Special Report, January 2017

Researchers at CEPS, in cooperation with researchers at Ecofys and Economisti Associati, have carried out a comprehensive examination of energy prices in selected EU industries, commissioned by DG Grow of the European Commission. The 309-page study concentrates on three sectors and two sub-sectors of the ceramics industry: Steel Aluminium (primary & downstream) Wall and floor tiles Bricks and roof tiles Refineries For each of these five (sub-)sectors, the study provides an overview of energy price developments, with particular attention paid to i) energy price levels and ii) the structure of energy prices, i.e. the components of energy bills. The analysis was conducted between December 2015 and June 2016, with the primary information collected between February and March 2016 via a questionnaire sent to the selected plants. The questionnaire contains (inter alia) questions on production levels, financial data and energy costs and consumption

Composition and drivers of energy prices and costs: Case studies in selected energy-intensive industries. Final Report. CEPS Special Report.

Researchers at CEPS, in cooperation with researchers at Ecofys and Economisti Associati, have carried out a comprehensive examination of energy prices in selected EU industries, commissioned by DG Grow of the European Commission. The 309-page study concentrates on three sectors and two sub-sectors of the ceramics industry: Steel Aluminium (primary & downstream) Wall and floor tiles Bricks and roof tiles Refineries For each of these five (sub-)sectors, the study provides an overview of energy price developments, with particular attention paid to i) energy price levels and ii) the structure of energy prices, i.e. the components of energy bills. The analysis was conducted between December 2015 and June 2016, with the primary information collected between February and March 2016 via a questionnaire sent to the selected plants. The questionnaire contains (inter alia) questions on production levels, financial data and energy costs and consumption

Customized Knowledge Discovery in Databases methodology for the Control of Assembly Systems

The advent of Industry 4.0 has brought to extremely powerful data collection possibilities. Despite this, the potential contained in databases is often partially exploited, especially focusing on the manufacturing field. There are several root causes of this paradox, but the crucial one is the absence of a well-established and standardized Industrial Big Data Analytics procedure, in particular for the application within the assembly systems. This work aims to develop a customized Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) procedure for its application within the assembly department of Bosch VHIT S.p.A., active in the automotive industry. The work is focused on the data mining phase of the KDD process, where ARIMA method is used. Various applications to different lines of the assembly systems show the effectiveness of the customized KDD for the exploitation of production databases for the company, and for the spread of such a methodology to other companies too

Customized Knowledge Discovery in Databases methodology for the Control of Assembly Systems

The advent of Industry 4.0 has brought to extremely powerful data collection possibilities. Despite this, the potential contained in databases is often partially exploited, especially focusing on the manufacturing field. There are several root causes of this paradox, but the crucial one is the absence of a well-established and standardized Industrial Big Data Analytics procedure, in particular for the application within the assembly systems. This work aims to develop a customized Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) procedure for its application within the assembly department of Bosch VHIT S.p.A., active in the automotive industry. The work is focused on the data mining phase of the KDD process, where ARIMA method is used. Various applications to different lines of the assembly systems show the effectiveness of the customized KDD for the exploitation of production databases for the company, and for the spread of such a methodology to other companies too

Test-Retest Reliability of Graph Metrics in Functional Brain Network

The statistical link between spontaneous fluctuations occurring in different parts of the brain can provide insights into its functional organization. Here, we used high-quality resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) data acquired with a test-retest (TRT) paradigm to assess the reliability of graph metrics. After applying time/frequency methods to generate FC matrices, we restricted our focus on global, local and central graph measure through different statistical measures, including but not limited to the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). We found that full correlation and magnitude square coherence yielded more reproducible measurements than the other metrics, as revealed by ICC values. These results have important implications when choosing metrics for quantifying FC in rs-fMRI studies, adding novel information to the current panorama of information on TRT reliability topic

Early autologous stem-cell transplantation versus conventional chemotherapy as front-line therapy in high-risk, aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: An Italian multicenter randomized trial

Purpose: To evaluate the role of early intensification with high-dose therapy (HDT) and autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) as front-line chemotherapy for patients with high-risk, histologically aggressive nonHodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Patients and Methods: We planned a multicenter, randomized trial to compare a conventional chemotherapy regimen of methotrexate with leucovorin rescue, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, and bleomycin (MACOP-B; arm A) with an abbreviated regimen of MACOP-B (8 weeks) followed by HDT and ASCT (arm B) for intermediate-high-risk/high-risk patients (according to the age-adjusted International Prognostic Index). From September 1994 to April 1998, 150 patients with aggressive lymphoma were enrolled onto the trial. Seventy-five patients were randomly assigned to arm A and 75 patients were randomly assigned to arm B. In both arms, involved-field radiation therapy (36 Gy) was delivered to the site of bulky disease. Results: The rate of complete response was 68% in arm A and 76% in arm B (P = not significant [NS]). Three toxic deaths (4%) occurred in arm B and one (11%) occurred in arm A (P = NS). In arm B, 30 patients (40%) did not undergo HDT and ASCT. According to the intention-to-treat analysis at a median follow-up of 24 months, 5-year overall survival probability in arms A and B was 65% and 64% (P =.95), 5-year progression-free survival was 49% and 61% (P =.21), and 5-year relapse-free survival was 65% and 77% (P =.22), respectively. Conclusion: Abbreviated chemotherapy followed by intensification with HDT-ASCT is not superior to conventional chemotherapy in patients with high-risk, aggressive NHL. Additional randomized trials will clarify whether HDT-ASCT as front-line therapy after a complete course of conventional chemotherapy improves survival in this group of patients. (C) 2003 by American Society of Clinical Oncology

Long-term follow-up of cladribine treatment in hairy cell leukemia: 30-year experience in a multicentric Italian study

Abstract Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is a rare lymphoproliferative disease with an excellent prognosis after treatment with cladribine (2CDA), although relapse may occur during follow-up. The aim of the study is to review the efficacy, safety, long-term remission rate, and overall survival (OS) in those patients who received 2CDA as first-line treatment. We retrospectively reviewed data of HCL patients treated with 2CDA between March 1991 and May 2019 at 18 Italian Hematological centers: 513 patients were evaluable for study purpose. The median age was 54 years (range 24–88) and ECOG was 0 in 84.9% of cases. A total of 330 (64.3%) patients received 2CDA intravenously and 183 (35.7%) subcutaneously. ORR was 91.8%: CR was obtained in 335 patients (65.3%), PR in 96 (18.7%), and hematological response in 40 (7.8%) patients; in 42 (8.2%) no response was observed. Hemoglobin value (p = 0.044), frequency of circulating hairy cells (p = 0.039), recovery of absolute neutrophil count (p = 0.006), and normalization of spleen (p ≤ 0.001) were associated with CR compared to PR in univariable analysis. At a median follow-up of 6.83 years (range 0.04–28.52), the median time to relapse was 12.2 years. A significant difference in duration of response was identified between patients that obtained a CR and PR (19.4 years versus 4.8 years, p < 0.0001). Non-hematological grade 3 or higher early toxicity was reported in 103 (20.1%) patients. Median OS was not reached: 95.3%, 92.4%, and 81.8% of patients were estimated to be alive at 5, 10, and 15 years, respectively. Forty-nine patients died (9.5%), following an infection in 14 cases (2.7%), natural causes in 14 (2.7%), cardiovascular events in 13 (2.5%), a second neoplasm in 6 (1.2%), and progression of HCL in 2 cases (0.4%). Following treatment of HCL with 2CDA, 80% of patients are estimated to be alive 15 years after diagnosis