Pneumoventricle of Unknown Origin. A Personal Experience and Literature Review of a Clinical Enigma

Pneumocephalus (PC) is an uncommon and life-threatening neurological condition. Air within the ventricular system of the brain is also known as Pneumoventricle (PV). It requires emergency treatments to prevent catastrophic neurological outcomes. Head injury is the most common cause of PV, but there are other well-recognized etiologies in case there is no clear radiological evidence of skull discontinuity. Although this clinical entity has been well described in Literature, our report presents the unique feature of describing a purely ventricular PC without evidence of skull base or cranial vault fracture. Therefore, this case presentation explores mysterious causes of fistulous connections with the atmosphere that may lead to air trapped in and around the cranial vault. The aim of the present paper is to report a case of post-traumatic PV without radiological signs of skull base or convexity fracture in a 72-years-old man, underlining the diagnostic and clinical features, and review the relevant Literature

COME SE VEDESSE IL POSSIBILE. CONTRIBUTO PER UNA GAUDIUMTHEOLOGIE

L’articolo prende in esame i discorsi di papa Francesco rivolti a teologi o concernenti la teologia stessa, allo scopo di evidenziare lo specifico servizio della riflessione teologica all’interno della prospettiva evangelizzatrice. Su questa base vengono enucleati tre elementi per una teologia rinnovata, a servizio della gioia degli uomini e delle donne di oggi, capace di contribuire alla costruzione della convivenza tra i popoli

La corte di cassazione ritorna sul tema del riconoscimento del ripudio islamico

With its judgment filed on 7 August 2020, the Italian Corte di cassazione addressed, once again, the issue of the recognition of a foreign repudiation order. As it is well known, the institution of repudiation, which is traditional within Islamic legal systems, has already been the subject of a specific attention in the past in the Italian case-law, which was mainly oriented towards denying the attribution of any effect because of an insurmountable “ontological” conflict between the values underlying this institution in the countries of origin with the principles underlying the so-called international public order of the domestic forum. The contribution aims to examine this position critically, also moving from some isolated signs of a different view, to be found both in the case-law and in the related literature.Con sentenza depositata il 7 agosto 2020, la Corte di cassazione è tornata a confrontarsi con il tema del riconoscimento di un provvedimento straniero di ripudio. Come noto l’istituto, proprio degli ordinamenti giuridici di matrice islamica, è già stato oggetto in passato di particolari attenzioni da parte della giurisprudenza italiana, prevalentemente orientata nel senso di negare l’attribuzione di qualsiasi effetto a causa di un insormontabile conflitto “ontologico” tra i valori sottesi a tale istituto nei Paesi d’origine ed i principi fondanti il cd. ordine pubblico internazionale del foro interno. Il contributo mira a vagliare in senso critico tale posizione, anche alle luce di alcuni isolati segnali di segno opposto, rinvenibili sia in giurisprudenza che nella riflessione dottrinale

DALL’AMORIS LAETITIA AL DIALOGO ECUMENICO

Questo articolo esamina la dimensione ecumenica dell’esortazione apostolica Amoris Laetitia di papa Francesco, mostrando come dipenda anche dagli interventi degli osservatori cristiani non-cattolici al Sinodo sulla famiglia. Questi interventi hanno messo in evidenza le ricchezze della riflessione ecumenica sul matrimonio che costituisce un elemento rilevante nel dialogo ecumenico da anni. La lettura ecumenica della Amoris Laetitia e la sua recezione pone l’attenzione sull’importanza della relazione tra grazia e matrimonio, il ruolo del matrimonio nell’evangelizzazione del XXI secolo e la natura dei matrimoni misti per la vita quotidiana e per la riflessione teologica della Chiesa Cattolica. FROM AMORIS LAETITIA TO ECUMENICAL DIALOGUEAbstractThis article examines the ecumenical dimension of Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, showing how it also depends on the interventions of non-Catholic Christian observers at the Synod on the Family. These interventions pointed out the riches of the ecumenical reflection on marriage that has been an important element in the ecumenical dialogue for years. The ecumenical reading of Amoris Laetitia and its reception focus the importance of the relationship between grace and marriage, the role of marriage in the evangelization in the 21st century and the nature of mixed marriages for daily life and theological reflection of the Catholic Church

Fermi-LAT Observations of the 2017 September 10 Solar Flare

The Fermi-Large Area Telescope detection of the X8.2 GOES class solar flare of 2017 September 10 provides for the first time observations of a long-duration high-energy gamma-ray flare associated with a ground-level enhancement (GLE). The >100 MeV emission from this flare lasted for more than 12 hr covering both the impulsive and extended phases. We present the localization of the gamma-ray emission and find that it is consistent with the active region from which the flare occurred over a period lasting more than 6 hr. The temporal variation of the gamma-ray flux and of the proton index inferred from the gamma-ray data seems to suggest three phases in acceleration of the proton population. Based on timing arguments we interpret the last phase to be tied to the acceleration mechanism powering the powering the production of the GLE particles

Investigation of Ducted Fuel Injection Implementation in a Retrofitted Light-Duty Diesel Engine through Numerical Simulation

Ducted Fuel Injection (DFI) is a concept of growing interest to abate soot emissions in diesel combustion, based on a small duct within the combustion chamber in front of the injector nozzle. Despite the impressive potential of the DFI has been proven in literature, its application for series production and the complexity for the adaptation of existing compression-ignition (CI) engines need to be extensively investigated. In this context, the aim of this study is to numerically assess the potential of DFI implementation in a CI engine for light-duty applications, highlighting the factors which can limit or facilitate its integration in existing combustion chambers. The numerical model for combustion simulation was based on a 1D/3D-CFD coupled approach relying on a calibrated spray model, extensively validated against experimental data. Once assessed the coupling procedure by comparing the numerical results with experimental in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate data for both low and high load operating conditions, the duct impact was investigated introducing it in the computational domain. It was observed that DFI did not yield any significant advantage to engine-out soot emissions and fuel consumption with the existing combustion system. Although the soot formation was generally reduced, the soot oxidation process was partially inhibited by the duct adoption maintaining fixed the engine calibration, suggesting the need for complete optimization of the combustion system design. On the other hand, a preliminary variation of engine calibration highlighted several beneficial trends for DFI, whose operation improved with a simplified injection strategy. Present numerical results indicate that DFI retrofit solutions without specific optimization of the combustion system design do not guarantee soot reduction. Nevertheless, wide room for improvement remains in terms of DFI-targeted combustion chamber design and engine calibration towards the complete success of this technology for soot-free CI engines

Numerical and experimental investigation of a piston thermal barrier coating for an automotive diesel engine application

This paper investigates the potential of coated pistons in reducing fuel consumption and pollutant emissions of a 1.6l automotive diesel engine. After a literary review on the state-of-the-art of the materials used as Thermal Barrier Coatings for automotive engine applications, anodized aluminum has been selected as the most promising one. In particular, it presents very low thermal conductivity and heat capacity which ensure a high “wall temperature swing” property. Afterwards, a numerical analysis by utilizing a one-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics engine simulation code has been carried out to investigate the potential of the anodized aluminum as piston Thermal Barrier Coating. The simulations have highlighted the potential of achieving up to about 1% in Indicated Specific Fuel Consumption and 6% in heat transfer reduction. To confirm the simulation results, the coated piston technology has been experimentally evaluated on a prototype engine and compared to the baseline aluminum pistons. Despite the promising potential for Indicated Specific Fuel Consumption reduction highlighted by the numerical simulation, the experimental campaign has indicated a slight worsening of the engine efficiency (up to 2% at lower load and speed) due to the slowdown of the combustion process. The primary cause of these inefficiencies is attributed to the roughness of the coating

Synergetic Application of Zero-, One-, and Three-Dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics Approaches for Hydrogen-Fuelled Spark Ignition Engine Simulation

Nowadays hydrogen, especially if derived from biomass or produced by renewable power, is rising as a key energy solution to shift the mobility of the future toward a low-emission scenario. It is well known that hydrogen can be used with both internal combustion engines (ICEs) and fuel cells (FCs); however, hydrogen-fuelled ICE represents a robust and cost-efficient option to be quickly implemented under the current production infrastructure. In this framework, this article focuses on the conversion of a state-of-the-art 3.0L diesel engine in a hydrogen-fuelled Spark Ignition (SI) one. To preliminarily evaluate the potential of the converted ICE, a proper simulation methodology was defined combining zero-, one-, and three-dimensional (0D/1D/3D) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approaches. First of all, a detailed kinetic scheme was selected for both hydrogen combustion and Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emission predictions in a 3D-CFD environment. Afterward, to bring the analysis to a system-level approach, a 1D-CFD predictive combustion model was firstly optimized by implementing a specific laminar flame speed correlation and, secondly, calibrated against the 3D-CFD combustion results. The combustion model was then integrated into a complete engine model to assess the potential benefit derived from the wide range of flammability and the high flame speed of hydrogen on a complete engine map, considering NOx formation and knock avoidance as priority parameters to control. Without a specific modification of turbocharger and combustion systems, a power density of 34 kW/L and a maximum brake thermal efficiency (BTE) of about 42% were achieved, thus paving the way for further hardware optimization (e.g., compression ratio reduction, turbocharger optimization, direct injection [DI]) to fully exploit the advantages enabled by hydrogen combustion

Impact of counter-bore nozzle on the combustion process and exhaust emissions for light-duty diesel engine application

This is the author s version of a work that was accepted for publication in International Journal of Engine Research. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published as https://doi.org/10.1177/1468087418819250[EN] This article describes the main results of an investigation about counter-bore injector nozzle impact on the combustion process in a modern Euro 6 diesel engine. First, hydraulic and spray visualization tests have been performed, showing a potential advantage of such nozzle design in fuel-air mixing efficiency. Then, combustion performance has been assessed on a GM-designed 1.6-L four-cylinder engine. The engine has been installed on a dynamometric test bench and instrumented with an AVL cylinder pressure transducer for heat release rate analysis, as well as HORIBA MEXA gas analyzer for exhaust emissions and AVL 415 Smoke Meter. Engine efficiency and emissions have been analyzed on four different part-load steady-state points, representative of New European Driving Cycle and Worldwide harmonized Light duty Test Cycle certification cycles, and covering engine speeds from 1250 to 2000 r/min and brake mean effective pressure between 0.2 and 1.4 MPa. Results of indicated analysis show that counter-bore nozzles have significant differences in terms of pilot injection combustion at low load points, which in turn lead to a better ignition and shorter combustion of the main injection. In addition, an improvement of diffusive combustion is observed as load increases. Because of both, fuel consumption is reduced by approximately 1% with respect to a standard nozzle. Finally, an appreciable decrease in engine exhaust emissions has been recorded, especially in terms of particulate matter and hydrocarbon emissions. This reduction has been linked to the improvement of fuel-air mixing promoted by the counter-bore nozzle previously observed.The authors would like to thank General Motors Global Propulsion Systems-Torino S.r.l. for sponsoring the current work. Part of the equipment was purchased with the help of Generalitat Valenciana in project IDIFEDER2018 with title "Equipamiento de diagnostico optico de alta velocidad para estudiar procesos de inyeccion''.Payri, R.; De La Morena, J.; Monsalve-Serrano, J.; Pesce, FC.; Vassallo, A. (2019). Impact of counter-bore nozzle on the combustion process and exhaust emissions for light-duty diesel engine application. International Journal of Engine Research. 20(1):46-57. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468087418819250S4657201Kastengren, A. L., Tilocco, F. Z., Powell, C. F., Manin, J., Pickett, L. M., Payri, R., & Bazyn, T. (2012). ENGINE COMBUSTION NETWORK (ECN): MEASUREMENTS OF NOZZLE GEOMETRY AND HYDRAULIC BEHAVIOR. Atomization and Sprays, 22(12), 1011-1052. doi:10.1615/atomizspr.2013006309Payri, R., Viera, J. P., Gopalakrishnan, V., & Szymkowicz, P. G. (2016). The effect of nozzle geometry over internal flow and spray formation for three different fuels. Fuel, 183, 20-33. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2016.06.041Postrioti, L., Malaguti, S., Bosi, M., Buitoni, G., Piccinini, S., & Bagli, G. (2014). Experimental and numerical characterization of a direct solenoid actuation injector for Diesel engine applications. Fuel, 118, 316-328. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2013.11.001Payri, R., Gimeno, J., De la Morena, J., Battiston, P. A., Wadhwa, A., & Straub, R. (2016). Study of new prototype pintle injectors for diesel engine application. Energy Conversion and Management, 122, 419-427. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2016.06.003Payri, R., Bracho, G., Marti-Aldaravi, P., & Viera, A. (2017). NEAR FIELD VISUALIZATION OF DIESEL SPRAY FOR DIFFERENT NOZZLE INCLINATION ANGLES IN NON-VAPORIZING CONDITIONS. Atomization and Sprays, 27(3), 251-267. doi:10.1615/atomizspr.2017017949Li, T., Moon, S., Sato, K., & Yokohata, H. (2017). A comprehensive study on the factors affecting near-nozzle spray dynamics of multi-hole GDI injectors. Fuel, 190, 292-302. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2016.11.009Payri, R., Viera, J. P., Gopalakrishnan, V., & Szymkowicz, P. G. (2017). The effect of nozzle geometry over ignition delay and flame lift-off of reacting direct-injection sprays for three different fuels. Fuel, 199, 76-90. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2017.02.075Yao, C., Geng, P., Yin, Z., Hu, J., Chen, D., & Ju, Y. (2016). Impacts of nozzle geometry on spray combustion of high pressure common rail injectors in a constant volume combustion chamber. Fuel, 179, 235-245. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2016.03.097Hong, J. G., Ku, K. W., Kim, S. R., & Lee, C. W. (2010). EFFECT OF CAVITATION IN CIRCULAR NOZZLE AND ELLIPTICAL NOZZLES ON THE SPRAY CHARACTERISTIC. Atomization and Sprays, 20(10), 877-886. doi:10.1615/atomizspr.v20.i10.40Molina, S., Salvador, F. J., Carreres, M., & Jaramillo, D. (2014). A computational investigation on the influence of the use of elliptical orifices on the inner nozzle flow and cavitation development in diesel injector nozzles. Energy Conversion and Management, 79, 114-127. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2013.12.015Taskiran, O. O., & Ergeneman, M. (2014). Effect of nozzle dimensions and fuel type on flame lift-off length. Fuel, 115, 833-840. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2013.03.005He, Z., Guo, G., Tao, X., Zhong, W., Leng, X., & Wang, Q. (2016). Study of the effect of nozzle hole shape on internal flow and spray characteristics. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 71, 1-8. doi:10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2015.12.002Salvador, F. J., de la Morena, J., Carreres, M., & Jaramillo, D. (2017). Numerical analysis of flow characteristics in diesel injector nozzles with convergent-divergent orifices. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering, 231(14), 1935-1944. doi:10.1177/0954407017692220Baldwin, E. T., Grover, R. O., Parrish, S. E., Duke, D. J., Matusik, K. E., Powell, C. F., … Schmidt, D. P. (2016). String flash-boiling in gasoline direct injection simulations with transient needle motion. International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 87, 90-101. doi:10.1016/j.ijmultiphaseflow.2016.09.004Payri, R., Salvador, F. J., Gimeno, J., & Bracho, G. (2008). A NEW METHODOLOGY FOR CORRECTING THE SIGNAL CUMULATIVE PHENOMENON ON INJECTION RATE MEASUREMENTS. Experimental Techniques, 32(1), 46-49. doi:10.1111/j.1747-1567.2007.00188.xDesantes, J. M., Pastor, J. V., García-Oliver, J. M., & Pastor, J. M. (2009). A 1D model for the description of mixing-controlled reacting diesel sprays. Combustion and Flame, 156(1), 234-249. doi:10.1016/j.combustflame.2008.10.008PASTOR, J., JAVIERLOPEZ, J., GARCIA, J., & PASTOR, J. (2008). A 1D model for the description of mixing-controlled inert diesel sprays. Fuel, 87(13-14), 2871-2885. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2008.04.017Payri, F., Molina, S., Martín, J., & Armas, O. (2006). Influence of measurement errors and estimated parameters on combustion diagnosis. Applied Thermal Engineering, 26(2-3), 226-236. doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2005.05.00

anosmia in COVID-19. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 through the nasoliary epithelium and a possible spreading way to the central nervous system—a purpose to study

Italy is currently one of the countries most affected by the global emergency of COVID-19, a lethal disease of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).1 A lot of emergency centers from China,2 United Kingdom, and Italy,3 including our Department of Policlinic Umberto I of Rome, reported a significant number of COVID-19 patients presenting anosmia and ageusia as onset symptoms,4 and it is reported that anosmia appear at an early stage of the disease