In this article/review, the selective interactions of several berberine and palmatine derivatives with various DNA G-quadruplex structures are reported. These derivatives were constructed starting from two natural compounds, berberine and palamatine, through specific synthetic passages following two different schemes for each of them and using several substituents. The details of these synthesis are also described. Indeed, the study of the interactions of these derivative compounds with various G-quadruplex forming sequences was carried out by means of various structural and biochemical techniques. The results show that the presence of suitable side chains are very useful to improve the interaction of the ligands with G-quadruplex structures. Thus, since G-quadruplex formation is promoted by these compounds, which have never been reported before, these may be tested as potential anticancer drugs.

ABSTRACT Background: To date, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the foremost health concern for humankind in the new millennia. This paper aims to describe the related hospitalizations in Italy during the first two years of the health emergency. Design and methods: This is a retrospective, population-based study of Italian hospitalizations for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 during the 2020-2021 period, extracted from the National Hospital Discharge Registry. The outcome variables considered include hospital admissions, costs, and length of stay, among other hospitalization-level variables. Costs were estimated through the charges associated with the Diagnosis-Related Group and Major Diagnostic Categories coding system, plus an additional cost attributed to COVID-19 admissions. To these charges was added an extra cost defined by the ministry of health. Results: In Italy, there were 357,354 hospitalizations for COVID-19 attributed to 298,856 patients in 2020 and 399,043 hospitalizations for COVID-19 attributed to 333,447 patients in 2021. COVID-19 patients faced a transfer rate thrice that of other patients. Hospitalizations were concentrated predominantly in the northern regions, particularly in the first year. Hospitalization rates varied by age in a sine wave pattern, peaking in the youngest and oldest age groups, with mortality rates escalating with age— tending to remain below 3% for those under 44 but surging to 40% in individuals over 75. The financial impact of COVID-19 hospitalizations was substantial, with total costs reaching €3.97 billion in 2020 and €4.99 billion in 2021. Costs per admission and per day also rose, from €11,112 and €807 in 2020 to €12,503 and €844 in 2021, respectively. Excluding the added financial burden of COVID-19, costs would have been notably lower. Hospitalizations involving continuous invasive mechanical ventilation were particularly costly (about 24.000 euros x admission), reflecting the significant resources required for these treatments. Conclusion: Implementing a protective pad around the entire health system that leverages networks of family doctors and nurses, connected in real time to the entire health system, can be crucial. Such a network, tasked with monitoring the local epidemiological situation, protecting vulnerable individuals also through telehealth visits, and establishing a triage system for infections in the initial phase, may effectively help in managing virus spread and protecting hospitals from unpredictable waves of admission demand. Strengthening primary health care could be a decisive factor for the future and enhance the system's resilience in facing new challenges.

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a persistent neurodevelopment disorder frequently co-occurring with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and behavior-related disorders. While behavioral therapy is the first-line option to manage ASD core symptoms, pharmacological therapy is sometimes needed to treat acute problems, such as agitation and aggressive behaviors. Recent guidelines recommend neuroleptics to reduce psychomotor agitation in people with ASD. However, since children with ASD are often drug-resistant, alternative treatments are often justified. Reports from literature showed that intra-venous valproate (IV-VPA) can be effective in reducing agitation in psychiatric patients, with lower frequency of adverse events compared to convention-al treatments. However, since findings are occasionally inconsistent, IV-VPA is not an approved option in clinical psychiatry. We aim at improving the knowledge on the IV-VPA treatment option in emergency psychiatry in the pediatric age. Methods: We report the case of a 11-year-old boy suffering from a complex neurodevelopmental condition, who experienced a psychotic episode with severe aggressive and disruptive behaviors, successfully treated with IV-VPA. Besides, we conducted an up-dated literature review on this topic. Conclusion: In our case, first-line therapies proved to be ineffective. On the contrary, IV-VPA led to a safe and prompt clinical success, in line with other reports. Based on our literature review, IV-VPA can be highly effective and can reduce the risk of adverse events that frequently occur with the use of high-dose standard medications in emergency psychiatry.

Recent works have shown that collective single photon spontaneous emission from an ensemble of N resonant two-level atoms is a rich field of study. Superradiance describes emission from a completely symmetric state of N atoms, with a single excited atom prepared with a given phase, for instance imprinted by an external laser. Instead, subradiance is associated with the emission from the remaining N−1 asymmetric states, with a collective decay rate less than the single-atom value. Here, we discuss the properties of the orthonormal basis of symmetric and asymmetric states and the entanglement properties of superradiant and subradiant states.

In this work we outline a general method for calculating Auger spectra in molecules, which accounts for the underlying symmetry of the system. This theory starts from Fano’s formulation of the interaction between discrete and continuum states and generalizes this formalism to deal with the simultaneous presence of several intermediate quasi-bound states and several non-interacting decay channels. Our theoretical description is specifically tailored to resonant autoionization and Auger processes, and includes explicitly the incoming wave boundary conditions for the continuum states and an accurate treatment of the Coulomb repulsion. This approach is implemented and applied to the calculation of the K−LL Auger and autoionization spectra of ozone, which is a C2v symmetric molecule, whose importance in our atmosphere to filter out radiation has been widely confirmed. We also show the effect that the molecular point group, and in particular the localization of the core-hole in the oxygen atoms related by symmetry operations, has on the electronic structure of the Auger states and on the spectral lineshape by comparing our results with experimental data.

Friction stir processing (FSP), a severe plastic deformation process, was applied on commercially pure Ti to obtain an improved microstructure. The process yielded a refined microstructure and higher mechanical properties at room temperature (RT). Yet the microstructure was found to contain bright bands demonstrating high hardness values of about 500 HV. High resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) as well as electron back scattering diffraction (EBSD) analysis indicated that these bands were composed of extra-fine equiaxed α-Ti grains with an average radius of 1-2 microns. In addition, a retained β-phase was detected at the boundaries of these α-Ti grains, together with a small quantity of separate β grains. The results of a fractography study conducted on broken tensile specimens showed that the FSP’ed material was free of defects and that the fracture started at these bands. It is proposed that these bright bands are due to excessive deformation occurring during the processing stage, leading to an accelerated dynamic recrystallization (DRX) process. In turn, these heavy deformation regions act as a strengthening constituent, making the material superior to the parent material as far as its mechanical RT properties are concerned. Consequently, this means that FSP of CP-Ti has the potential to serve as an industrial means of improving the mechanical properties of the material.

Background: The validation of laser usage during laparoscopic procedures, notably by Camran Nezhat in the late 1980s, has been significant. Lasers offer precision and depth control in tissue vaporization without bleeding. Surgical intervention remains central in managing endometrio-sis-associated pain and infertility, especially for patients unresponsive to hormonal therapy. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 200 patients with SPE who underwent laparo-scopic laser vaporization. Surgery was performed using a CO2 laser, and histological confirma-tion of endometriosis was obtained for all cases. Pain scores and SF-36 questionnaire domains were assessed preoperatively and postoperatively. Fertility outcomes were evaluated among pa-tients desiring pregnancy. Results: Significant improvements in pain score and SF-36 questionnaire domains were ob-served postoperatively (p-value

The present study aims at investigating the relationship between Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) variables mainly underpricing on one hand, and the brand value measures on the other. Our final data set is 104 international brand companies. We implement empirical approach using hierarchical OLS regression and descriptive statistics. We show that underpricing is positively related to brand value which emphasizes the marketing role of going public and underpricing in enhancing brand equity through the product market, which additionally confirms some information asymmetry models. We also find that on average brand companies had not been recognized as brands at the IPO time. Moreover, we show the positive role of private equity in enhancing brand value, additionally, the non-linear association between underpricing and brand value is not evident. Finally, we draw some policy implication and suggestions for future research.

Background Scientific literature in psychology considers personality as an organization of ways of being, knowing, and acting that ensures unity, coherence and continuity, stability and planning of the individual's relations with the world (Caprara & Gennaro, 1994). Personality is the outcome of two distinct constructs: Temperament and Character. So, personality is the result of the interaction between biological aspects (temperament) and the experiences that anybody experiences in his own life, interacting with the environment (Cloninger et al., 1993). Scientific literature now largely agrees that adversity in the early years of life has broad long-term consequences on the neuroendocrine, immune, and metabolic systems (Kim et al., 2019), as well as on neuroplasticity and neuronal morphology that alter the overall evolution of (van Bodegom, et al., 2017; Edwards et al., 2010). Here we analyze the hypothesis that maternal environmental factors (air and chemical pollutants, maternal health, eating behaviors, maternal and fetal stresses, caregivers' behaviors, etc.) can cause epigenetic alterations in the offspring in the prenatal and perinatal period that shape the trait's personality of the offspring themselves and that orient part of their character in adult life. Methods The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement was used to develop this systematic review. PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, and Biosis databases were searched for primary research articles published between 2010 and 2023 looking for English language articles containing the term "prenatal" and any of the following terms: "anxiety"; "brain development"; "depression"; "gestation"; "maternal health"; "maternal stress"; "mental health"; "newborn health"; "perinatal programming"; "pregnancy"; "prenatal stress"; "resilience to stress"; "transgenerational epigenetic inheritance"; "personality"; "personality trait"; "environmental epigenetics". Retrieved articles were screened and a subset of relevant abstracts was then selected for a more detailed evaluation. The final studies selected consisted of those resources that directly evaluated the relationship between maternal environmental factors and the personality traits of the offspring. Results and Conclusions One hundred and eleven studies were identified but only three met the primary question. There is evidence to support the hypothesis of correlations between environmental exposure during the intrauterine fetal period and personality traits of the newborn. Limits: multiple limitations were found based on the lack of research on this specific topic, although such a field of research can be important for developing effective strategies for primary prevention.

This research delves into the integration of green roofs with Building Information Modeling (BIM), a pivotal advancement in sustainable urban construction. Aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 11, the study explores how this integration can address global challenges like climate change and resource depletion. Using the Dynamo Visual Programming Language within Autodesk Revit, the research develops a computational modeling approach for green roofs, focusing on their thermal and structural characteristics under varied environmental conditions. Key findings demonstrate the significant influence of substrate and drainage material combinations on green roofs’ thermal performance, highlighting the need for tailored designs based on climatic conditions. The study also emphasizes the importance of considering structural performance in both dry and saturated conditions for overall building integrity. The research identifies gaps in current practices, such as limited focus on specific green roof materials and reliance on certain software tools, suggesting the need for broader material selection and software adaptability. Future research directions include expanding material selections, exploring diverse environmental conditions, and integrating green roofs with various BIM software platforms. The study's implications extend to stakeholders in the construction industry, offering a framework for architects, urban planners, and policymakers to design and implement green roofs aligned with environmental goals. This work contributes to the field by proposing a novel approach to sustainable construction, integrating ecological design with digital technology, and setting a new benchmark in the integration of green roofs with BIM. By addressing these aspects, the research paves the way for future developments in sustainable urban construction, enhancing the efficiency, sustainability, and resilience of urban communities in line with global sustainability objectives.

The digital breakthrough of the nineties has profoundly changed the way events are recognized. Starting from EST (Event Segmentation Theory) elaborated by J.M. Zacks and his collaborators, this contribution shows how the way we segment the experiential flow has been changed by the introduction of digital: while throughout modernity the perception of events was based on immediate segmentation processes, founded on five elements (agent, space, time, intention, purpose) and determined by an evident con-clusion, we currently see in the perceptive models of individuals and consequently also in aesthetic texts (films, television series, novels, graphic novels etc.) a weakening of the end. This determines not only a greater difficulty in perceiving an event, but also the need to introduce micro-caesuras between one event and another: it is space that con-stitutes the most salient category in differentiating one event from another, as is evident in the transmedia storytelling that characterizes contemporary aesthetics.

W. L. Edge proved that the internal points of a conic in PG(2,5), together with the collinear triples on the non-secant lines, form the Desargues configuration. M. Saniga showed an intimate connection between Desargues configurations and the generalized quadrangles of order two, GQ(2,2), whose representation has been dubbed “the doily” by Stan Payne in 1973. In this paper we prove that the external points of a conic in PG(2,5), together with the collinear and non-collinear triples on the non-tangent lines, form the generalized quadrangle of order two.

This article investigates the dynamics of socio-ecological systems (SESs) unsustainability. By adopting a theoretical standpoint grounded in systems’ theory, the analysis shows how SESs’ teleology (or final cause) is of the utmost relevance for understanding unsustainability and how it is pivotal for envisioning possible evolutionary trajectories towards sustainability. Building on the contributions of both system and social scientists, the study argues that SES’s teleology is determined by dominant social ontologies that require a dialectical lens to be properly dealt with. The article therefore proposes the adoption of the adaptive cycle heuristic complemented by an historical-geographical approach based on world-ecology theory as a means to dynamically model of SESs’ behaviour. Such a perspective allows for the direct comparison between the four stages of the panarchy cycle (reorganization, exploitation, conservation, and release) and the four stages theorized by the world-ecology dialectics (expansion, appropriation, capitalization, crisis). In conclusion, the article claims that both system and social scientists would benefit from including in their analysis concepts and definitions from the other field, since both provide valuable insights about SESs' processes of change and both are necessary to envision transition pathways towards sustainability.

At the entrance of some churches in Tuscany (Italy), the reproduction of an apparently undecipherable inscription can be found. At least from the 18^th century, this epigraphic puzzle has originated a debate on its interpretation. This study proposes a hypothesis based on the Latin alphabet used in texts contemporary to the churches where the inscription is reproduced and a possible interpretation of the message consistent with the official religious doctrine. The proposed deciphering is extended to the full text, including some signs that were previously considered as geometric forms or a specific elaboration of letters not attested in other contemporary documents.

The reconstruction of land use practices in hyper arid Saharan Africa is often hampered by the accuracy of the available tools and by unconscious biases that see these areas as marginal and inhospitable. Considered for a long time the living space of pastoral mobile communities, new research is showing of agriculture might have been more important in these areas than previously thought. In this paper, after a review of present-day land use strategies in Saharan Africa, we show how ethnographic and ethnoarchaeological data can offer us a different point of view and help in better defining land use and food production strategies in this area. Ultimately, these insights can be integrated into the ongoing effort of reconstructing past land use globally.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common gastrointestinal diseases in humans. It is characterized by visceral pain and/or discomfort, hypersensitivity and abnormal motor responses along with change in gut habits. Although the etio-pathogenesis of IBS is only partially understood, a main role has been attributed to psychosocial stress of different origin. Animals models such as neonatal maternal separation, water avoidance stress and wrap restraint stress have been developed as psychosocial stressors in the attempt to reproduce the IBS symptomatology and identify the cellular mechanisms responsible for the disease. The study of these models has led to the production of drugs potentially useful for IBS treatment. This review intends to give an overview on the results obtained with the animal models; to emphasize the role of the enteric nervous system in IBS appearance and evolution and as a possible target of drug therapies.

The goal of this paper is to present a low-cost, low-power prototype of a pulsed Ultra Wide Band UWB) oscillator and an UWB elliptical dipole antenna integrated on the same Radio Frequency (RF) Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and its digital control board for Real Time Locating System (RTLS) applications. The design is compatible with IEEE 802.15.4 high rate pulse repetition UWB standard being able to work between 6 GHz and 8.5 GHz with 500 MHz bandwidth and with a pulse duration of 2 ns. The UWB system has been designed using the CST Microwave Studio transient Electro-Magnetic (EM) circuit co-simulation method. This method integrates the functional circuit simulation together with the full wave (EM) simulation of the PCB’s 3D model allowing fast parameter tuning. The PCB has been manufactured and the entire system has been assembled and measured. Simulated and measured results are in excellent agreement with respect to the radiation performances as well as the power consumptions.

Background: Gender stereotypes and biases can influence perceptions of competence and suitability for certain medical specialties. Empathy is an important component of an optimal doctor-patient relationship. The scope of our study is to verify the correlation between “empathetic" behavioral style with attention and sensibility to the gender differences of patients of the medical students. Methods: An online survey was conducted using the Jefferson Scale for Empathy (JSE), to measure empathy in the context of health professions education and patient care; and the Nijmegen Gender Awareness in Medicine Scale (N-GAMS), which measures attitudes and assumptions about gender. A total of 234 students (52.1% M; mean age: 22.68±2.48) from Medicine and Surgery at the University of Salerno (Italy) participated, of whom n° 175 were third-year students and n° 59 were fifth-year students. Results: The JSE score shows that male students have higher scores (77.29±12.38) than females (75.91±10.39). Conversely, female students have higher perspective-taking (JSE Factor 1: Male= 51.26±11.84; Female= 52.72±11.88). In addition, third-year students are much more empathetic than their fifth-year colleagues (JSE Score: 3°ys= 77.35±11.46; 5°ys= 74.49±11.33). With reference to the GS, we found that male students have greater sensitivity than their female colleagues (GS: Male= 2.67±0.68; Female= 2.37±0.48); conversely, they have higher scores of gender stereotype towards patients (GRIP: Male= 2±0.88; Female= 1.59±0.61) and doctors (GRID: Male= 1.88±0.89; Female= 1.64±0.63). Also, the third-year students compared to their fifth-year colleagues are characterized by greater gender sensitivity (GS: 3°ys= 2.57±0.62; 5°ys= 2.42±0.57), less bias with respect to patients (GRIP: 3°ys= 1.77±0.79; 5°ys= 1.90±0.78) but, on the other hand, show more stereotypes and prejudices towards doctors (GRID: 3°ys= 1.77±0.81; 5°ys= 1.75±0.74). Conclusions: Humanistic attitudes, including empathy, should be instilled, and evaluated among trainees as an essential part of their postgraduate medical education.

The objective of this study is to evaluate how two varying amounts of sepiolite-based powder, infused with indigo extract, affect the appearance and durability of a water-based white primer. To examine the influence of this eco-friendly pigment on the coatings' overall appearance, assessments were performed for color, gloss, and surface roughness. Additionally, the coatings were investigated through optical and electron microscopic observations, to evaluate the distribution of the pigment within the polymer matrix. The effect of the pigment on the coating's durability was assessed through accelerated tests, including exposure in a salt spray chamber and a UV-B chamber. These tests aimed to evaluate the emergence of defects and changes in the appearance of the samples over time. Furthermore, the impact of different quantities of sepiolite-based powder on the coating's ability to act as a barrier was assessed using liquid resistance tests and contact angle measurements. These evaluations aimed to understand how the coating responded to various liquids and its surface properties concerning repellency or absorption. In essence, this study underscores the considerable influence of the eco-friendly pigment, demonstrating its capacity to introduce unique color and texture variations to the paint. Moreover, the inclusion of the pigment has enhanced the coating's color stability, its ability to act as a barrier, and overall durability when exposed to harsh environments.

Increasingly, there is a focus on utilising renewable energy resources in a bid to fulfil increasing energy requirements and mitigate the climate change impacts of fossil fuels. While most renewable resources are free, the technology used to usefully convert such resources is not and there is an increasing focus on improving the conversion economy and efficiency. To this end, advanced control technologies can have a significant impact and is already a relatively mature technology for wind turbines. Though hydroelectric plants can use simple regulation systems, significant benefits have been shown to accrue from the appropriate use of the same control methods designed for wind turbine plants. This represents the key point of the paper. In fact, to date, the application communities connected with wind and hydraulic energies have had little communication, resulting in little cross fertilisation of control ideas and experience, particularly from the more mature wind area to hydrodynamic systems. Therefore, this paper examines the models and the application of control technology across both domains, both from a comparative and contrasting point of view, with the aim of identifying commonalities in models and control objectives, as well as potential solutions. Key comparative reference points include the articulation of the exployed models, specification of control objectives, development of high--fidelity simulators, and development of solution concepts. Not least, in terms of realistic system requirements are the set of physical and constraints under which such renewable energy systems must operate, and the need to provide reliable and robust control solutions, which respect the often remote and relatively inaccessible location of many onshore and offshore deployments.

Background: One challenge in implant dentistry is to reduce marginal bone resorption to avoid long-term esthetic and biological complications. Sub-gingival implant placement has been suggested as a suitable strategy. Methods: 38 healthy patients were enrolled to receive bone level (BL – Control group) or 2 mm sub-crestal (SC - Test group) conical connection, platform-switched implants. An immediate tissue level abutment was used in the Test group by following a One Time Abutment (OTA) restorative procedure. Marginal Bone Modification (MBM) was calcu-latied on standardized radiographs at surgery (T0), loading (T1), and 6 months (T2) and 12 months after loading (T3), and cathegorised in Bone Loss (BL) if the resorption occurred below the implant neck and Bone Remodeling (BR) if above. Pocket probing depth (PPD), Bleeding on probing (BoP) and Plaque Index (PI) were also collected. Results: The mean MBM in the test group after 12 months was 0.61mm, compared to 0.52mm in the control group. However, no BL was observed in the test group, as the MBM completely occurred above the implant neck as BR, whilst in the control group MBM corresponded in total to BL. The average PPD was 2.38mm in the test group and 3.04mm in the control group after 12 months, BoP 50% and 43%, PI 33% and 19.44% respectively. Conclusions: Sub-crestal conical connection, platform-switched implants could be a suitable clinical choice to avoid BL with exposure of the treated implants surfaces.

This paper presents the results of investigations into the pyrolysis of waste polypropylene in a laboratory fixed-bed batch reactor. The experiments were designed and verified in such a way as to allow the application of the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) in the development of an empirical mathematical model that quantifies the impacts mentioned above. The influence of the mass of the raw material (50, 100 and 150 g), together with the reactor temperature (450, 475 and 500 °C) and the reaction time (45, 50 and 75 min) was examined. It has been shown that the mass of the raw material, i.e. the filling volume of the reactor, has a significant influence on the pyrolysis oil yield. This influence exceeds the influence of reactor temperature and reaction time. This was explained by observing the temperature change inside the reactor at three different spots at the bottom, middle and top of the reactor. Recorded temperature diagrams show that with greater masses of feedstock, local overheating occurs in the middle part of the reactor, which leads to overcracking of vapor products, and from there to an increased formation of non-condensable gases, i.e. reduced yield of pyrolytic oil.

Background: Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) believe that diet is a key factor in the pathogenesis of their disease and in worsening their symptoms; they often follow restrictive diets that can lead to malnutrition, anxiety, and stress. Recent studies have found an association between eating disorders and IBD, particularly anorexia nervosa and ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder). None of these studies report the association with orthorexia nervosa, that is the obsession with healthy and natural foods. Aim: to assess the risk of orthorexia nervosa in patients with IBD. Methods: 158 consecutive subjects were recruited, including 113 patients diagnosed with IBD and 45 controls. The Donini standardized questionnaire ORTO-15 was administered to assess the risk of orthorexia; clinical and demographic data were also collected. Results: patients with IBD have a prevalence of orthorexia of 77%, significantly higher than the 47% observed in the control group. In patients with IBD, the risk of orthorexia is associated with lower BMI and history of previous surgery. Conclusion: Many patients with IBD develop orthorexia nervosa that impacts the patient's psychological and social sphere, exposes them to a high risk of nutritional deficiencies, and affects quality of life. Further high quality studies are warranted to evaluate the clinical impact of orthorexia and its correlation with clinical features and frank eating disorders.

Machine Learning can be used for social good. In this paper, we discuss how it can be used to combat climate change and facilitate land management and farming in developing countries and in particular in Côte d’Ivoire. This paper explores models that improve land and water management and agricultural farming cultivation to contrast climate change. Côte d’Ivoire is the largest producer of cocoa beans (43%) in the world, but deforestation, lack of rainfall, drought, and climate change threaten crops and the already fragile economy of Ivorian farmers. It is important to combat climate change with methods and techniques that are affordable to the local farmers and also induce positive effects in production. We discuss the use of low-cost sensors to collect data on the soil and open data and open source software to develop AI tools. We show that using deep neural networks (YOLOv5m) is effective for detecting healthy plants and pods of cocoa from damaged ones only using mobile phone images. Focusing on a single land is not enough to combat climate change, which has different causes and involves also knowledge at a higher scale. We propose a new method of forecasting for the analysis of remote sensors. Remote sensor data come from GRACE NASA Mission and ERA5 produced by the Copernicus Climate Change Service at ECMWF. We implement a new deep neural network architecture named CIWA-net. It is based on a Fully Convolutional Neural Network (FCN) [ 1] and it is a U-net like architecture [2]. The aim of CIWA-net is to forecast Total Water Storage Anomalies (TWSA). We show the quality of our model with a comparison to a vanilla Convolutional Neural Network. CIWA-net could be used also for the detection of lands that interfere with agricultural work and yields, such as deserted areas, water-soaking soil areas, zones at risk of desertification, and poor land use. The employment of AI at the service of agriculture can decrease crop losses and waste, lower the inputs onto the soil of fertilizers, responsible for the increase of Greenhouse Gases. It could be useful to help the small farmers (at a local scale) and also the policy-makers and farmers’ cooperatives (at the regional scale) to take valid and coordinated countermeasures to improve the correct use of the lands, helping to contrast and adapt to climate change.

In recent years, the interest in increasingly sustainable agriculture has also turned attention towards new crops which could enter the food chain as new protein and oil sources or that can be used as new cover crops. In this scenario, Camelina sativa is a perfect crop to study. Camelina is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the Brassicaceae which is interesting for its oil content, since the seeds contain about 40% of oils, with a high level of polyunsaturated fatty acids (30-40% alpha linolenic acid, 15-25 % linoleic acid, 15% oleic acid and about 15% eicosenoic acid). It is a hexaploid species (2n = 40, genome size ~782 Mb) characterized by rapid growth, short life cycle (85-100 days for spring varieties, 190-210 for autumn varieties) and low input cultivation needs. All these traits make it suitable for use in marginal areas. However, its use in feed and food is limited by the presence of glucosinolates (GLS). GLS are sulfur molecules involved in plant defense. In recent years, they have been studied not only as anti-nutritionals, but also for their anti-carcinogenic effects against chronic inflammatory and heart diseases and for their use as natural pesticides. Given the recent interest in camelina and its highly nutritious oil, eight pure lines and a synthetic population were compared in two different growing periods, spring and winter. In this work, the genetic materials were characterized for different phenotypic traits, yields and yield components, bromatological and glucosinolate content. The results confirmed that in North Italy camelina has higher yields if cultivated in the autumn-winter period (about 2 t/ha vs 0.6 t/ha), furthermore, a negative correlation was found between spring and winter yields, indicating that varieties that produce more in winter cultivation produce less in spring cultivation. Moreover, to our knowledge, it is the first work in which a synthetic population of Camelina sativa has been tested and proved to be a valid solution for use in various environments both for its adaptability and for the low content of glucosinolates (about 17 mmol/ kg).

The use of haptic devices in rehabilitation of impaired limbs has become rather popular, given the proven effectiveness in promoting recovery. In a standard framework, such devices are used in rehabilitation centers, where patients interact with virtual tasks, presented on a screen. To track their sessions, kinematic/dynamic parameters or performance scores are recorded. However, as Internet access is now available at almost every home, and in order to reduce the hospitalization time of the patient, the idea of doing rehabilitation at home is gaining wide consent. Medical care programs can be synchronized with the home rehabilitation device; patient data can be sent to the central server that could redirect to the therapist laptop (tele-healthcare). The controversial issue is that the recorded data do not actually represent the clinical conditions of the patients according to the medical assessment scales, forcing them to frequently undergo clinical tests at the hospital. To respond to this demand, we propose the use of a bilateral master/slave haptic system that could allow the clinician, who interacts with the master, to assess remotely and in real time the clinical conditions of the patient that uses the home rehabilitation device as the slave. In this paper, we describe a proof of concept to highlight the main issues of such an application, limited to one degree of freedom, and to the measure of the stiffness and range of motion of the hand.

Shared public buildings have become centers of innovation, integrating advanced technologies to meet evolving societal needs. With a heightened emphasis on occupants’ health and well-being, these buildings serve as hubs for technological convergence, facilitating seamless connectivity and intelligent data analysis and management. Within this context, environmental monitoring emerges as a foundational element, pivotal to all aspects of building management. This article provides findings from the nationally funded RE-START project, which focuses on shared public buildings, with special regard to educational and medical facilities. The project explores enhanced indoor air quality monitoring, focusing in particular on CO2 concentration that is directly correlated with occupancy, as a fundamental element for developing health and safety protocols, energy efficiency strategies, integration of smart building technologies, and data-driven energy management. The intersection of environmental monitoring, energy efficiency, security, and IoT technologies in in indoor spaces are relevant. The outcomes of the study reveal the delicate nature of all the involved components, that need to be carefully developed in an integrated manner.

The interest on the use of renewable energy resources is increasing, especially towards wind and hydro powers, which should be efficiently converted into electric energy via suitable technology tools. To this aim, self--tuning control techniques represent viable strategies that can be employed for this purpose, due to the features of these nonlinear dynamic processes working over a wide range of operating conditions, driven by stochastic inputs, excitations and disturbances. Some of the considered methods were already verified on wind turbine systems, and important advantages may thus derive from the appropriate implementation of the same control schemes for hydroelectric plants. This represents the key point of the work, which provides some guidelines on the design and the application of these control strategies to these energy conversion systems. In fact, it seems that investigations related with both wind and hydraulic energies present a reduced number of common aspects, thus leading to little exchange and share of possible common points. This consideration is particularly valid with reference to the more established wind area when compared to hydroelectric systems. In this way, this work recalls the models of wind turbine and hydroelectric system, and investigates the application of different control solutions. The scope is to analyse common points in the control objectives and the achievable results from the application of different solutions. Another important point of this investigation regards the analysis of the exploited benchmark models, their control objectives, and the development of the control solutions. The working conditions of these energy conversion systems will be also taken into account in order to highlight the reliability and robustness characteristics of the developed control strategies, especially interesting for remote and relatively inaccessible location of many installations.

The interest on the use of renewable energy resources is increasing, especially towards wind and hydro powers, which should be efficiently converted into electric energy via suitable technology tools. To this aim, data--driven control techniques represent viable strategies that can be employed for this purpose, due to the features of these nonlinear dynamic processes working over a wide range of operating conditions, driven by stochastic inputs, excitations and disturbances. Some of the considered methods, such as fuzzy and adaptive self--tuning controllers, were already verified on wind turbine systems, and similar advantages may thus derive from their appropriate implementation and application to hydroelectric plants. These issues represent the key features of the work, which provides some guidelines on the design and the application of these control strategies to these energy conversion systems. The working conditions of these systems will be also taken into account in order to highlight the reliability and robustness characteristics of the developed control strategies, especially interesting for remote and relatively inaccessible location of many installations.

Background: Ankle fractures, comprising about 10% of musculoskeletal injuries, pose a significant healthcare burden with an increasing incidence, particularly among an aging population. This study focuses on isolated Danis-Weber type B fractures. Recent trends lean towards surgical intervention for anatomical restoration, quicker recovery, albeit with associated complications. This report aims to assess the safety and efficacy of NewClip narrow locking plate system with early weight bearing in treating isolated fibular fractures. Methods: The study includes patients with Danis-Weber type B fractures surgically treated with NewClip narrow locking plate system. Exclusions involved nondisplaced fractures, open fractures, or those requiring additional fixation.Results: Fifteen patients were enrolled in this study. Minor complications, including wound swelling, were observed in two cases. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain exhibited a steady decline postoperatively, with almost complete resolution by the third month. At three months, the FAOS demonstrated excellent results, and final follow-up at twelve months revealed complete osseous healing without complications.Conclusions: The use of this type of plates in treating isolated fibular fractures with early weight bearing shows promising results in terms of fracture healing, pain resolution, and functional outcomes warranting further investigation with larger cohorts.

In the last three decades the presence of phospholipids in the nucleus has been shown and thoroughly investigated. A great interest raised about nuclear inositol lipids mainly because of their role in signalling acting. Here we review the main issues of nuclear phospholipid localization and the role of nuclear inositol lipids and their related enzymes in cellular signaling both in physiological and pathological conditions.

CC16 plays many protective roles within the lung; however, the complete biological functions, es-pecially regarding the pulmonary epithelium during infection, remain undefined. We have previ-ously shown that CC16 deficient (CC16-/-) mouse tracheal epithelial cells (MTECs) have enhanced Mp burden, compared to CC16 sufficient (WT) MTECs; therefore, in this study, we wanted to fur-ther define how the pulmonary epithelium responds to infection in the context of CC16 deficiency. Using mass spectrometry and quantitative proteomics to analyze proteins secreted apically from MTECs grown at an air-liquid interface, we investigated the protective effects that CC16 elicits within the pulmonary epithelium during Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp) infection. When chal-lenged with Mp, WT MTECs have an overall reduction in apical protein secretion, whereas CC16-/- MTECs have increased apical protein secretion compared to their unchallenged controls. Fol-lowing Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) assessment, many of the proteins upregulated from CC16-/- MTECS (unchallenged and during Mp infection) were related to airway remodeling, which were not observed by WT MTECs. These findings sug-gest that CC16 is instrumental in providing protection within the pulmonary epithelium during respiratory infection with Mp, the major causative agent of community-acquired pneumoniae.

Cities have witnessed a booming interest in cycling in recent years. However, the implementation of cycling networks rarely followed a strategy to make them more accessible to specific social groups, such as women. To address this gap in knowledge, this paper provides a holistic perspective of women’s cycling mobility. Specifically, the study’s goal is to look into the social and environmental implications of cycling for women in Turin, Italy. Hence, this paper provides insights for ensuring a woman-friendly cycling system in a city and ensuring women’s participation as vital stakeholders in promoting a bike-friendly identity. We clarify women’s perceptions of cycling and outline the requirements for more inclusive bike infrastructures. Thus, we identify strategies to improve women’s access to bike lanes and investigate the environmental benefits of reduced air pollution by such a bike system. All this information is intended to define a more socially inclusive and environmental-friendly transport system in Turin for everyone, as depicted in Goal 11 of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A quantum particle constrained between two high potential barriers provides a paradigmatic example of a system sustaining quasi bound (or resonance) states. When the system is prepared in one of such quasi bound states, the wave function approximately maintains its shape but decays in time in a nearly exponential manner radiating into the surrounding space, the lifetime being of the order of the reciprocal of the width of the resonance peak in the transmission spectrum. Naively, one could think that adding more lateral barriers would preferentially slow down or prevent the quantum decay since tunneling is expected to become less probable and because of quantum backflow induced by multiple scattering processes. However, this is not always the case and in the early stage of the dynamics quantum decay can be accelerated (rather than decelerated) by additional lateral barriers, even when the barrier heights are arbitrarily large. The decay acceleration originates from resonant tunneling effects and is associated to large deviations from an exponential decay law. We discuss such a counterintuitive phenomenon by considering the hopping dynamics of a quantum particle on a tight-binding lattice with on-site potential barriers.

The (numerical) solution of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) problems is of paramount relevance, ODEs system being an ubiquitous mathematical formulation of many physical phenomena (such as those involved in fluid dynamics, chemistry, biology, evolutionary-anthropology, ...): almost every dynamici phenomenon can be modeled by means of an ODEs system. The present paper is the first manifesto of FOODIE, a library aimed to numerically solve ODEs problems by means of a clear, concise and efficient abstract interface. FOODIE, meaning Fortran Object oriented Ordinary Differential Equations integration library, has manifolds aims: to provide a set to built-in numerical schemes that are accurate, robust, validated and efficient and to allow easy application of these schemes to (almost) all ODEs problems by means of an effective Abstract Calculus Pattern. The key idea is to allow the same solver-implementation to be applied to all ODEs problems thus avoiding the re-implementation of the ODEs solver for each different ODEs problem: code re-usability is consequently maximized, FOODIE being a general robust framework. Besides, the same framework also allows rapid development of new ODEs solvers due to the high abstraction level of the library itself. The present paper is the first announcement of FOODIE project: the current implementation is extensively discussed and its capabilities are proved by means of tests and examples.

Motivated by experiments, we undertake an investigation of electronic structure reconstruction and its link to electrodynamic responses of monoclinic MoO$_2$. Using a combination of LDA band structure with DMFT for the subspace defined by the physically most relevant Mo $4d$-bands, we unearth the importance of multi-orbital electron interactions to MoO$_2$ parent compound. Supported by a microscopic description of quantum capacity we identify the implications of many-particle orbital reconstruction to understanding and evaluating voltage-capacity profiles intrinsic to MoO$_2$ battery material. Therein, we underline the importance of the dielectric function and optical conductivity in the characterisation of existing and candidate battery materials.

We investigate the stationary and dynamic properties of the celebrated Nosé-Hoover dynamics of many-body interacting Hamiltonian systems, with an emphasis on the effect of inter-particle interactions. To this end, we consider a model system with both short- and long-range interactions. The Nosé-Hoover dynamics aims to generate the canonical equilibrium distribution of a system at a desired temperature by employing a set of time-reversible, deterministic equations of motion. A signature of canonical equilibrium is a single-particle momentum distribution that is Gaussian. We find that the equilibrium properties of the system within the Nosé-Hoover dynamics coincides with that within the canonical ensemble. Moreover, starting from out-of-equilibrium initial conditions, the average kinetic energy of the system relaxes to its target value over a size-independent timescale. However, quite surprisingly, our results indicate that under the same conditions and with only long-range interactions present in the system, the momentum distribution relaxes to its Gaussian form in equilibrium over a scale that diverges with the system size. On adding short-range interactions, the relaxation is found to occur over a timescale that has a much weaker dependence on system size. This system-size dependence of the timescale vanishes when only short-range interactions are present in the system. An implication of such an ultra-slow relaxation when only long-range interactions are present in the system is that macroscopic observables other than the average kinetic energy when estimated in the Nosé-Hoover dynamics may take an unusually long time to relax to its canonical equilibrium value. Our work underlines the crucial role that interactions play in deciding the equivalence between Nosé-Hoover and canonical equilibrium.

Abstract: The purpose of this review is to summarize recent knowledge on the main processes that occur during wound healing, including the responses of various cell types and the molecular mechanisms involved. Particular attention is also dedicated to new therapies often involved in the resolution of wounds, whether acute or chronic. Awareness of these dynamics is important for the various professional figures who are confronted with these kinds of problem daily. However, the study of the healing mechanisms has yet to be defined in detail, in fact there are alterations of variously coordinated events which lead to a delayed resolution or, as in the case of keloids, to pathological states consisting in the excessive formation of scars with consequences yet to be seen. to define. Therefore, it is necessary to know the most feasible approaches and the most effective therapies.

Trace amine-associated receptors (TAARs) are a family of G protein-coupled receptors present in mammals in the brain and in several peripheral organs. Apart from its olfactory role, TAAR5 is expressed in the major limbic brain areas and regulates brain serotonin functions and emotional behaviors. However, most of its functions remain undiscovered. Given the role of serotonin and limbic regions in some aspects of cognition, we used a temporal decision-making task to unveil a possible role of TAAR5 in cognitive processes. We found that TAAR5 knock-out (KO) mice showed a generally better performance due to a reduced number of errors and displayed a greater rate of improvement at the task than WT littermates. However, task-related parameters, such as time accuracy and uncertainty have not changed significantly. Overall, we show that TAAR5 modulates specific domains of cognition, highlighting a new role in brain physiology.

The extensive collection of paper documents and books stored in the archives of universities worldwide is a hidden cultural heritage that is frequently inaccessible. To overcome this problem, the University of Genoa, Italy, seeks to collect, store, and digitize a wide variety of items, encompassing books, manuscripts, archival materials, and documents related to museum artifacts, which together form a cultural heritage of great importance and historical significance. To make such a cultural heritage accessible to both humans and machines, images and videos must be provided with alternate descriptions, metadata, and speech-to-text transcriptions while ancient texts, for which OCR techniques are often not effective, must be accompanied by word-for-word transcripts. This work presents the design of a transcription system for the “University Museum System” at the University of Genoa, Italy (SMA-UniGe), including user interface elements and users’ engagement techniques. The goal is to create an accessible digital heritage that can be enjoyed by all, facilitated by a community of digital volunteers who are eager to dedicate their time, have a great experience, socialize, and interact on the proposed transcription system. The system exploits gamification theory to transform the typically monotonous task of transcription into a captivating experience. This activity is in line with the so-called University third mission, i.e., the activity of public engagement that aims at generating knowledge outside the academic environment to the benefit of the social, cultural, and economic development.

Sea surface wind forecasts in the Adriatic Sea often suffer for unadequate modelling, especially for the wind speed. This has detrimental effects on the accuracy of sea level and storm surge predictions. We present a numerical method to reduce the bias between the sea surface wind observed by the scatterometers and that supplied by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) global atmospheric model, for storm surge forecasting applications. The method, called “wind bias mitigation”, relies on scatterometer observations to determine a multiplicative factor ∆ws which modulates the standard model wind in order to decrease the bias between scatterometer and model. We compare four different mathematical approaches to this method, for a total of eight different formulations of the multiplicative factor ∆ws. Four datasets are used for the assessment of the eight different bias mitigation methods: a collection of 29 Storm Surge Events (SEVs) cases in the years 2004-2014, a collection of 48 SEVs in the years 2013-2016, a collection of 364 cases of random sea level conditions in the same period, and a collection of the seven SEVs in 2012-2016 that were worst predicted by the Centro Previsioni e Segnalazioni Maree, Comune di Venezia (Tide Forecast and Early Warning Centre of the Venice Municipality - CPSM). The statistical analysis shows that the bias mitigation procedures supplies a mean wind speed more accurate than the standard forecast, when compared with scatterometer observations, in more than 70% of the analyzed cases.

During the last decades the quantitative description of electrical and magnetotransport properties of solid-state materials has been a remarkable challenge in materials science. Recently, the discovery of a novel class of materials, the topological semimetals, has led to a growing interest for the full understanding of their magnetotransport properties. In this review, the strong interplay among topology, band structure and carrier mobility in recently discovered high carriers mobility topological semimetals is discussed and their effect on their magnetotransport properties is outlined. The huge magnetoresistance effect, especially in the Hall transverse configuration, and a new version of a three-dimensional quantum Hall effect observed in high-mobility Weyl and Dirac semimetals are reviewed. The design of novel quantum sensors based on solid-state semimetals is also encouraged.

The application of space robotic manipulators and heightened autonomy for ios represents a paramount pursuit for leading space agencies, given the substantial threat posed by space debris to operational satellites and forthcoming space endeavors. This work presents a guidance algorithm based on drl to solve for the space manipulator path-planning during the motion synchronization phase with the mission target. The goal is the trajectory generation and control of a spacecraft equipped with a 7-dof robotic manipulator, such that its end effector remains stationary with respect to the target point of capture. The ppo drl algorithm is used to optimize the manipulator’s guidance law, and the autonomous agent generates the desired joints rates of the robotic arm, which are then integrated and passed to a model-based feedback linearization controller. The agent is first trained to optimize its guidance policy and then tested extensively to validate the results against a simulated environment representing the motion synchronization scenario of an ios mission.

Studying and understanding the behavior of people and vehicles on public roads can be of utmost importance for supporting the activities of many institutional stakeholders. It may allow automated supervision of the ongoing situation in a given place, with warnings or alarms raised in case of anomalies. It may be used to plan their interventions on road and town organization. It may provide them with advanced support to decision-making. The number of involved entities and places to manage makes it infeasible to manually handle all the traffic-related tasks. Moreover, the complexity of the tasks to be carried out requires the adoption of advanced approaches. Many AI solutions are nowadays mature to support these requirements. In some cases, the motivations and objectives of traffic management require the AI outcomes to be understandable, interpretable and explainable. In this paper, we propose TrAnSIT (TRaffic ANalysis Supervision and Interpretation Tool), an AI-based framework that combines several modules, each aimed at tackling a specific traffic-related task, so as to cover a wide landscape of traffic-related issues, from overall urban or suburban traffic management to surveying specific road segments that fall under the scope of one camera. Most of these modules are based on AI techniques that support a human-level understanding of the outcomes.

For a mobile robot, navigation in a densely crowded space can be a challenging and sometimes impossible task, especially with traditional techniques. In this paper, we present a framework to train neural controllers for differential drive mobile robots which must safely navigate a crowded environment while trying to reach a target location. To learn the robot’s policy, we train a convolutional neural network using two reinforcement learning algorithms, Deep Q-Networks (DQN) and Asynchronous Advantage Actor Critic (A3C), and develop a training pipeline that allows to scale the process to several compute nodes. We show that the asynchronous training procedure in A3C can be leveraged to quickly train neural controllers and test them on a real robot in a crowded environment.

The protection of grapevine from the diseases is now particularly focused on the development of environmentally friendly strategies. Although sulphur is not in itself a toxic substance, a large use towards powdery mildew, in organic vineyards especially, may cause problems to environment, health and safety of viticultural workers and plant phytotoxicity. The activity on powdery mildew of sulphur applied at doses reduced up to 50% in tank mixtures with silicates and Equisetum arvense based products, never tested on grapevine, was assessed. Two-year trials were carried out applying the products every 7-9 days in the period of greatest risk for spring ascosporic infections, in two organic vineyards in the Abruzzo region, Italy. The effectiveness towards the disease of the mixtures was demonstrated, often to a greater extent than that of full-dose sulphur, normally used in the vineyards. Furthermore, in vines treated with the mixtures, increases in yield quantity and quality, such as higher contents of soluble solids and lower levels of total acidity, have been shown. Due to the strong efficacy demonstrated on the leaves, silicon-based products + sulphur mixtures can also be recommended in eradicative applications, aimed at reducing the inoculum of the disease. The great activity of the mixtures demonstrated in this study suggests confirmation through further investigations on different cultivars and vine-growing areas at different levels of infection, also testing the effectiveness of individual silicon products against the disease.

Since the global request for freight transportation is continuously increasing to face the requirements of the modern economy, 5G infrastructures and companion technologies are becoming essential to support the digital transformation in logistics and transportation, in particular for their capability to allow data collection through a multitude of different sources across the supply chain, improving the connectivity and making more effective the secure and reliable data sharing. The objective of this work is to assess the penetration and implementation levels of innovative technologies to optimize port operations, by interviewing a set of actors and stakeholders directly involved in the logistics chain of ports.

In this study, the analysis of the changes of SARS-CoV-2 Orf3a protein during pandemic is reported. Orf3a, a conserved protein in the Coronaviruses, is involved in virus replication and release. A software workflow able to carry out a quick, systematic and repeatable screening of the SARS-CoV-2 genome isolates to detect protein mutations, was utilized to scan 70,752 high-quality SARS-CoV-2 genomes available in GISAID databank at the end of August 2020. All ORF3a mutations in the virus genomes were grouped according to the collection date interval and over the entire data set. The considered intervals were start of collection-February, March, April, May, June, July and August 2020. The top five most frequent variants were examined within each collection interval. Overall, seventeen variants have been isolated. Ten of the seventeen mutant sites occur within the transmembrane (TM) domain of ORF3a and are in contact with the central pore or side tunnels. The other variant sites are in different places of the Orf3a structure. Within the entire sample, the five most frequent mutations are V13L, Q57H, Q57H+A99V, G196V and G252V. The same analysis identified 28 sites identically conserved in all the genome isolates. These sites are possibly involved in stabilization of monomer, dimer, tetramerization and interaction with other cellular components. The results here reported can be helpful to understand virus biology and to design new therapeutic strategies.

Energy management systems (EMS) play a central role in improving the performance of microgrids by ensuring their efficient operation while minimizing operational costs and environmental impacts. This paper presents a comprehensive study of a MILP-based EMS developed and implemented in MATLAB using Yalmip software for the energy management of a new positive energy district in the city of Savona, Italy, as part of the Interreg Alpine Space Project ALPGRIDS. The main objective of this research is to optimize the functioning of the microgrid, focusing on cost efficiency and environmental sustainability. In pursuit of this objective, the EMS undergoes comprehensive testing and analysis, replicating actual conditions and addressing the diverse demands of end-users across typical days throughout the year considering real electricity selling and purchase price. The EMS also accounts for the reactive power capabilities of the various technologies integrated into the microgrid. The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) serves as a metric for assessing curtailment costs, while penalties related to reactive power absorption from the distribution network are appraised in alignment with prevailing regulatory guidelines. The case study provides valuable insights into the practical implementation of EMS technology in microgrids and demonstrates its potential for sustainable energy management in complex urban energy districts. The insights and strategies developed through this research contribute to the overall goals of improving energy efficiency and reducing the environmental footprint of future energy districts.

Photobiomodulation (PBM) is a procedure that uses light to modulate cellular functions and bio-logical processes. Over the past decades, PBM has gained considerable attention for its potential in various medical applications due to its non-invasive nature and minimal side effects. This narrative review article examines the existing literature on PBM, encompassing research studies, clinical trials, and technological developments. This review highlights the mechanisms of action underlying PBM, including the interaction with cellular chromophores and the activation of in-tracellular signaling pathways. The evidence from clinical trials and experimental studies to evaluate the efficacy of PBM in clinical practice is summarized with a special emphasis on der-matology. Furthermore, advancements in PBM technology, such as novel light sources and treat-ment protocols, are discussed in the context of optimizing therapeutic outcomes and improving patient care. This narrative review underscores the promising role of PBM as a non-invasive therapeutic approach with broad clinical applicability. Despite the need for further research to develop standard protocols, PBM holds great potential for addressing a wide range of medical conditions and enhancing patient outcomes in modern healthcare practice.

This study investigates the impact of experienced contact on prejudiced attitudes toward individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID), examining beliefs in a just world (BJW) and social dominance orientation (SDO) as potential serial mediators. Data were collected from 224 university students (M = 23.02, SD = 2.48). Path analysis modeling assessed the structural relationships between the study variables. The findings revealed that experienced contact was negatively and significantly associated with BJW and SDO. Additionally, BJW and SDO fully mediated the relationship between experienced contact and overt prejudice. These findings underscore the influence of individual differences on attitudes toward individuals with ID, establishing a crucial foundation for future research and the development of interventions aimed at reducing prejudice and discrimination.

Trace amine-associated receptor 5 (TAAR5) is a G protein-coupled receptor that belongs to the TAARs family (TAAR1-TAAR9). TAAR5 is expressed in the olfactory epithelium and is responsible for sensing 3-methylamine (TMA). However, recent studies showed that TAAR5 is also expressed in the limbic brain regions and is involved in the regulation of emotional behaviour and adult neurogenesis, suggesting that TAAR5 antagonism may represent a novel therapeutic strategy for anxiety and depression. We used the AtomNet® model, the first deep learning neural network for structure-based drug discovery, to identify putative TAAR5 ligands and tested them in an in vitro BRET assay. We found two mTAAR5 antagonists with low to submicromolar activity that are able to inhibit the cAMP production induced by TMA. Moreover, these two compounds also inhibited the mTAAR5 downstream signalling, such as the phosphorylation of CREB and ERK. These two hits exhibit drug-like properties and could be used to develop further more potent TAAR5 ligands with putative anxiolytic and antidepressant activity.

Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) has been prescribed for neuropathic pain for several years. This study is mainly addressed to summarize what has been published on the topic in the last decades, and how appropriate the numerous prescriptions are. Among others, it examines the innovative EquiPEA^® patent, which aims to address obstacles encountered with conventional PEA formulations. EquiPEA^® seems to partially ameliorate the bioavailability and the targeted distribution. It seems to introduce novel advancements that have the potential to enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of PEA in terms of its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and analgesic properties. The deep literature analysis aims to examine the potential advantages of this innovative formulation, in the context of several pathological conditions that may benefit from this molecule. In particular, it investigates the potential enhanced bioavailability and targeted delivery system of EquiPEA^®. Also, it tries to understand if it can modernize the field of therapy based on PEA, thus offering a better treatment option for individuals with long-term inflammation, oxidative stress, and neuropathic or mixed pain with a neuropathic component. The study examines the possible impact of EquiPEA^® on personalized medicine strategies and its potential for translation into clinical practice. It analyses the possibilities that EquiPEA^® has in enhancing patient outcomes in a range of central nervous system and inflammatory conditions. This narrative review makes a valuable contribution to the ongoing comprehension of PEA therapy. It establishes a foundation for further exploration in research and potential uses in clinical settings.

The investigation of submerged speleothems for sea level studies has made significant contributions to the understanding of the global and regional sea level variations during the Middle and Late Quateranry. This has been especially the case for the Mediterranean Sea, where more than 300 submerged speleothems sampled in 32 caves have been analysed so far. Here, we present a comprehensive review of the results obtained from the study of submerged speleothems since 1978. The studied speleothems cover the last 1.4 Ma and are focused mainly on Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 1, 2, 3, 5.1, 5.3, 5.5, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 7.5. Results reveal that submerged speleothems represent extraordinary archives providing accurate information on former sea level changes, also considering that the Mediterranean Sea is devoid of any tropical corals since the Miocene. New results from a stalagmite collected at Palinuro (Campania, Italy) characterized by marine overgrowth are also reported. The measured elevations of speleothems are contaminated by the local response to glacial- and hydro-isostatic adjustment (GIA), and thus might significantly deviate from the global eustatic signal. Age and altitude comparation between Mediterranean speleothems, flowstone from Bahamas with local GIA provide a new scenario for MIS 5 and 7 sea level reconstrutions.

We have previously reported on the diachronical changes in the narrative structure of research articles (RAs) and review manuscripts, using corpora of abstracts from MEDLINE. The present study investigates 5 linguistic dimensions (D1-5) of the text, following Biber’s well established Multimensional Analysis, on the same corpora, to assess how writing practices have changed in these two biomedical literature sub-genres over the years. Our analysis encompassed a sample of more than 1.2 million subtracts from manuscripts that were published over the course of more than 30 years. Both RAs and reviews have reinforced their informational, emotionally detached tone (D1), and have progressively refrained from the use of narrative devices (D2), while increasing their context-independent content (D3). Both RAs and reviews have displayed low levels of overt persuasion (D4), while steering away from abstract content to focus on a more marked author agency and identity adfirmation. When the linguistic features that underly these 5 dimensions are compared, it becomes apparent that RAs and review papers have often changed quite independently, both usually converging to standardized stylistic canons.

The European corn borer (ECB) and in a lesser extent the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) are a threat to maize in the Po Valley (Northern Italy), and its control can require insecticide applications. The results of a study to assess the effects of insecticide sprays on the beneficial insect Trichogramma brassicae (Hymenoptera Trichogrammatidae) and aphid predators are reported. A three-year research was carried out in two study areas, in Lombardy. In area 1, crop rotation was a common practice, while in area 2, maize monoculture was practiced. The ordinary trend of ECB egg masses attacked by T. brassicae was affected and parasitism rates were reduced as a result of exposure to insecticides (chlorpyriphos methyl, cypermethrin, alphacypermethrine, teflubenzuron). Repeated maize crop and insecticides spraying increased the aphid population abundance and negatively affected the aphid predator community, which mainly included ladybirds, hoverflies, bugs and lacewings. In sprayed fields, managed according to repeated crop protocols, the predator community was dominated by hoverflies, whereas ladybirds and Orius spp. prevailed in maize fields managed according to crop rotation protocols. Crop rotation protocols help to prevent ECB outbreaks; when threshold limit can be at risk, inundative release of T. brassicae or microbial control (i.e. use of preparation of Bacillus thuringiensis) can integrate natural biocontrol, a valuable alternative to chemical insecticides.

The creep response of commercially pure titanium was investigated in air at 550, 600 and 650°C, to assess the effect of oxidation on the mechanical response. Experiments demonstrated that exposure at high temperature produced a marked reduction of the minimum creep rate under a given applied stress. Microhardness measurements showed that a hardened zone forms in proximity of the surface, due to oxygen penetration into metal. A simplified composite-model was then used to describe the creep response. In this model, the sample consisted of two zones, the hard case, enriched in oxygen, and the soft pure-titanium core, both creeping with similar strain rates. Calculation led to an estimation of the dependence of the minimum creep rate on stress and temperature for the hard high-oxygen zone. The simplified composite-model here presented gave an excellent description of experimental creep data for pure titanium tested in air and also provided a reliable picture of the effect of oxidation on complex Ti-alloys.

The Oldroyd–B model for a linear viscoelastic fluid is employed to investigate the buoyant flow in a vertical porous layer with permeable boundaries kept at different uniform temperatures. Seepage flow in the viscoelastic fluid saturated porous layer is modelled through an extended version of Darcy’s law taking into account the Oldroyd–B rheology. The basic stationary flow is parallel to the vertical axis and describes a single–cell vertical pattern where the cell has an infinite vertical height. A linear stability analysis of such a basic flow is carried out to determine the onset conditions for a multicellular pattern. The neutral stability curves and the values of the critical Rayleigh number are evaluated numerically for different retardation time and relaxation time characteristics of the fluid.

Primates are traditionally considered to have a poor sense of smell. However, olfaction is important for non-human primates as demonstrated by conspicuous scent-marking behaviours in lemurs. We studied two family groups (N=4) of crowned lemurs (Eulemur coronatus) housed at Colchester and Twycross zoos (UK) by combining behavioural observations and chemical analyses of scent-marks. We recorded observations of olfactory behaviours for 201 h using instantaneous scan sampling. We investigated the volatile compounds of ano-genital odour secretions using solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Males scent-marked most frequently, displaying ano-genital marking for allomarking, head marking for countermarking and wrist marking in specific areas of the enclosure. Females displayed ano-genital marking predominantly on feeding devices. We detected a total of 38 volatile components in all male ano-genital scent-marks and 26 in all female samples of ano-genital odour secretions, including a series of esters, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols, terpenes, volatile fatty acids and hydrocarbons that have been identified in odour profiles of other primates. In conclusion, we found sexual dimorphism in crowned lemurs. Male head and wrist marking behaviours might play defensive territorial functions, while ano-genital marking would be related to socio-sexual communication as chemical mate-guarding. Female ano-genital marking might be involved in resource defense.

The present paper investigates the influence of the specimen size of EN-AW6082 wrought aluminium alloy subjected to very high cycle fatigue (VHCF) tests. The hourglass specimens were tested under fully reversed loading condition, up to 10^9 cycles, by means of the ultrasonic fatigue testing machine developed by Italsigma® (Italy). Three specimens groups were considered, with a diameter in the middle cross-section ranging from 3 mm up to 12 mm. The stress field in the specimens was determined numerically and by strain gauge measurements in correspondence of the cross-section surface. The dispersion of experimental results has been accounted for, and data are reported in P-S-N diagrams. The decrease in fatigue resistance with increasing specimen size is evident. Theoretical explanation for the observed specimen-size effect is provided, based on Fractal Geometry concepts, allowing to obtain scale independent P-S*-N curves. The fatigue life expectation in the VHCF regime of the EN-AW6082 aluminium alloy full-scale components is rather overestimated if it is assessed only from standard small specimens of 3 mm in diameter. Experimental tests carried out on larger specimen, and a proper extrapolation, are required to assure safe structural design.

Skin involvement is an overlooked aspect in the management of paediatric patients with type 1 diabetes. A comprehensive search of published literature using the PubMed database was carried out using the following key terms: “children”, “pediatric/paediatric patients”, “skin”, “skin disorders”, “type 1 diabetes”. Dermatological side effects are frequently observed among diabetic children and adolescents. Insulin-induced lipodystrophies and allergic contact dermatitis caused by insulin pumps or glycaemic sensors are the most common skin reactions in these patients. Furthermore, several diabetes-associated skin diseases such as necrobiosis lipoidica, granuloma annulare, vitiligo, and bullosis diabeticorum may already be present in paediatric age. Paediatric diabetes specialists should pay attention to their patients’ skin so as to recognize these disorders, identify the potential causes, and choose the most suitable treatment. Finally, the evaluation of skin concentrations of advanced glycation end-products using non-invasive diagnostic techniques may be used to assess the risk of chronic complications of diabetes as early as adolescence.

The Lac Fallère area, located in the upper Clusellaz Valley (tributary of the middle Aosta Valley), is shaped in micaschist and gneiss referred to as the Mont Fort Unit (Middle Penninic) near the tectonic contact with calcschist and marble of the Aouilletta Unit (Combin Zone). Lac Fallère exibits an elongated shape and is hosted in a WSW–ENE trending depression, according to slope direction. This lake also shows a semi-submerged WSW–ENE rocky ridge, that longitudinally divides the lake. This evidence, in addition to the extremely fractured rocks, indicates the presence of a wide deep-seated gravitational slope deformation (DSGSD), even if this area is not yet included within the regional landslide inventory of the Aosta Valley Region. The Lac Fallère area also shows reliefs involved by glacial erosion (roche moutonnée), a wide cover of subglacial sediments and many moraines essentially referred to as Lateglacial. The DSGSD evolution in a glacial environment produced, as observed in other areas, significant effects both on the facies of Quaternary sediments and the formation of numerous and wide moraines. Glacial slope sectors and lateral moraines displaced by minor scarps and counterscarps and glaciers using trenches forming several arched moraines suggest an interplay between glacial and gravitational processes, which shared part of their evolution history.

Hearing dysfunctions can be classified by type, degree, configuration, time of onset, aetiology, and finally, consequences on speech development. They can be divided into conductive, mixed, central types and sensorineural. Conductive hearing loss (CHL) results from interference with the mechanical transmission of sound through the external and middle ear; it can be congenital, as a consequence of anatomic abnormalities, but it can commonly be acquired following middle ear inflammatory pathologies. Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) results from failure to transduce vibrations to neural impulses in the cochlean and is a consequence of an irreversible damage to the differentiated cells which make up the organ of hearing and the acoustic paths at various levels. Mixed hearing loss involves a combination of these two types in the same ear. Studies in neuroscience field have shown that the prevention of cell degeneration is only possible if all the factors taken at the different stages of stem cells’ multiplication and differentiation are administered together. We have demonstrated this in a recent study on the ability of SCDSFs to prevent neurodegeneration in hippocampal cells of the CA1 zone in mice. This study confirms previous findings demonstrating that early developmental zebrafish embryo extracts could act as a modulator of senescence in human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) isolated from many adult tissues. These findings have open a promising way for the approaches promoting the rejuvenation and regeneration of different tissues, by-passing stem cell transplantation. In the present clinical trial we have used SCDSFs to study the possible reversion of neurosensory hearing loss, until now considered an irreversible condition.

Being one of the most critical phases of a flight, landing deserves specific attention, especially when the aircraft is subject to external disturbances such as wind. A notable concern associated with touchdown events, especially when crosswind is present is tire wear. This work is aimed first at developing a nonlinear flight simulator able to handle the entire landing maneuver in non-null wind conditions, considering the airborne phase, ground run, and the transition between them. Then, the simulator is included in an optimal process to define the landing technique associated with the minimum tire wear. The methodology is tested in a simulation environment with a realistic model of a reference aircraft, showing that a significant reduction of tire wear can be obtained by optimizing the sideslip angle at touchdown and the lateral-directional controls after the airplane touches the runway with both legs of the main landing gear.

Volatility is the most widespread measure of risk. Volatility modeling allows investors to capture potential losses and investment opportunities. This work aims to examine the impact of the two waves of COVID-19 infections on the return and volatility of the stock market indices of the euro area countries. The study also focuses on other important aspects such as time-varying risk premium and leverage effect. Thus, this investigation employed the Threshold GARCH(1,1)-in-Mean model with exogenous dummy variables. Daily returns of ten euro area stock indices from 4th January 2016 to 31th December 2020 has been used for the analysis. The results reveal that euro area stock markets respond differently to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the first wave of COVID-19 infections had a notable impact on stock market volatility of euro area countries with large and middle financial centres while the second wave had a significant impact only on stock market volatility of Belgium.

Diatom microalgae are the most outstanding natural source of porous silica. Diatom cell is enclosed in 3-D ordered nanopatterned silica cell wall, called frustule. The unique properties of diatoms frustule, including high specific surface area, thermal stability, biocompatibility, tailorable surface chemistry, make them really promising for biomedical applications. Moreover, diatoms are easy to cultivate in artificial environment and there is a huge availability of diatom frustules as fossil material (diatomite) in several areas of the world. For all these reasons, diatoms are an intriguing alternative to synthetic materials for the development of low-cost drug delivery systems. This review article focuses on the possible use of diatoms derived silica as drug carrier systems. The functionalization strategies of diatom micro-/nanoparticles for improving their biophysical properties, such as cellular internalization and drug loading/release kinetics, are described. In addition, the realization of hybrid diatom-based devices with advanced properties for theranostics and targeted or augmented drug delivery applications, are also discussed.

Acute and chronic graft versus host disease (a/cGVHD) are major complications of allogeneic stem cell transplantation and a frequent cause of non relapse-mortality. The treatment of a/cGVHD consists of steroid administration at full dose. In the case of aGVHD, around 60 % of patients with grade III/IV fails to respond (steroid-resistant, SR), requiring a second line therapy. Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) represents a good option for second line treatment, leading to multiorgan response in several patients. Here, we have evaluated the performances of a cytofluorimetric quality control of the first ECP procedure in 29 patients with severe SR aGVHD who underwent ECP. The quality control represents a check control of in vitro cell apoptosis/death induction in collected and irradiated CD3+ cells by ECP. Our analysis shows that in more than 70 % quality controls a relevant apoptotosis/death of CD3+ cells was observed after cell irradiation, as compared to non-irradiated controls. Albeit observed in a small patients’ series, the occurrence of relevant in vitro effect after ECP relates to less procedures and/or to a better survival on ECP. Age, disease, gender, aGVHD grade and time from transplant to the first ECP had not impact on ECP efficacy in this patients’ series.

This review was written with the aim of examining the effects that caused an insult such as a wound to an organ such as the skin. Before examining the cellular mechanisms relating to wound healing, the reader is invited to read the structure of the skin as a necessary basis for understand-ing the final aim of this review. The structure of the skin as a basis for understanding the phe-nomena relating to wound healing is addressed taking into account updated literature that ad-dresses the numerous problems of the skin microenvironment. Starting from this awareness, the paragraph dedicated to wound healing becomes complicated when this phenomenon is not im-plemented and therefore the problems dedicated to chronic wounds, keloids and hypertrophic scars are addressed, pathologies that are still difficult to understand and treat today.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease, the research community is producing unprecedented efforts dedicated to better understand and mitigate the affects of the pandemic. In this context, we review the data integration efforts required for accessing and searching genome sequences and metadata of SARS-CoV2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 disease, which have been deposited into the most important repositories of viral sequences. Organizations that were already present in the virus domain are now dedicating special interest to the emergence of COVID-19 pandemics, by emphasizing specific SARS-CoV2 data and services. At the same time, novel organizations and resources were born in this critical period to serve specifically the purposes of COVID-19 mitigation, while setting the research ground for contrasting possible future pandemics. Accessibility and integration of viral sequence data, possibly in conjunction with the human host genotype and clinical data, are paramount to better understand the COVID-19 disease and mitigate its effects.

In this article we report the first investigation over time of the atmospheric conditions around TGFs occurrence, using GPS sensors in combination with geostationary satellite observations and ERA5 reanalyses data. The goal is to understand which characteristics are favourable to the development of these events and to investigate if any precursor signals can be expected. A total of 9 TGFs, occurred at a distance lower than 45 km from a GPS sensor, were analysed and two of them are shown here as an example analysis. Moreover, the lightning activity, collected by the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) was used in order to identify any links and correlations with TGF occurrence and PWV trends. The combined use of GPS and the stroke rate trends identified, for all cases, a recurred pattern in which an increase of PWV is observed on a timescale of about two hours before the TGF occurrence that can be placed within the lightning peak. The temporal relation between the PWV trend and TGF occurrence is strictly related to the position of GPS sensors in relation to TGF coordinates. The life cycle of these storms observed by geostationary sensors, described TGFs producing clouds as intense with a wide range of extensions and, in all cases, the TGF is located at the edge of the convective cell. Furthermore, the satellite data give an added value in associating the GPS water vapor trend to the convective cell generating the TGF. The investigation with ERA5 reanalyses data showed that TGFs mainly occur in convective environment with not exceptional values with respect to the monthly average value of parameters measured in the same location. Moreover the analysis showed the strong potential of the use of GPS data for the troposphere characterization in areas with complex territorial morphology. This study provided indications on the dynamics of convective systems linked to TGFs and will certainly help refine our understanding on their production highlights a potential approach through the use of GPS data to explore the lightning activity trend and the TGFs occurrence.

In this study, the potential of Fe3Al coating material as an environmentally friendly alternative to coatings containing critical elements for brake discs was investigated. A buffer layer of Cr-Mo steel (Ferro 55) was applied to enhance coating quality and prevent the formation of hot cracks during solidification. Microstructural analysis of the cross-section of the coating showed that the buffer layer diffused into the Fe3Al coating, forming a combination of Fe3Al, Fe, and Fe3AlC0.5 phases. The tribological properties of the Fe3Al coating were evaluated by pin-on-disc tests using two different copper-free friction materials extracted from commercial brake pads. The wear results showed a coefficient of friction comparable to that of an uncoated disc, but with a reduction in Particulate Matter (PM) emissions, an interesting aspect that is gaining increasing importance in view of the upcoming international standards..

A large body of evidence, replicated in many mouse models of Alzheimer Disease (AD), demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of oral rapamycin. Administration of m-TOR inhibitors (mTOR-Is), early after the clinical onset, greatly diminished cognitive impairment, amyloid angiopathy, intracellular beta Amyloid and neurofibrillary tangles load. The daily intake of rapamycin has always been 2.24g/Kg/24h. In humans the maximal tolerated oral dose is a few milligrams/day, and at this dosage patients are severely immunosuppressed. Thanks to rapalogs’ scarce CNS-related side effects, we administered intracerebroventricularly (ICV) high doses of the mTOR-I everolimus in a mouse model of AD (3xTg-AD) without significant systemic effects. The instability of the liquid formulation at body temperature (BT) made the treatment very short. Nevertheless, the efficacy of the treatment was high and much longer lasting than expected. In order to set up a thermostable, translational liquid formulation of mTOR-Is, we loaded everolimus in distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine-polyethylene glycol 2000 (DSPE-PEG2000) micelles by the thin layer method. The formulation we obtained maintained over 95% of activity after 14 days at BT. We can envision short, potentially periodic ICV treatments in AD patients which replicate results obtained on animal models. The treatment could benefit also Tuberous Sclerosis and Multiple Sclerosis patients.

Powered lower limb exoskeletons (PLLE) have attracted much interest due to their potential applications. They provide assistance for persons with disabilities to accomplish activities of daily living (ADL), and more importantly assist them in achieving their rehabilitation goals. However, still there are unclear evidences on the quality and benefits that PLLEs can deliver to patients. This is due to limited usability and performance of current PLLEs, insufficient clinical use of PLLEs for different patients with high diversity in their disability type and impairment, and also the large gap between the technological state of the art and clinical expectations. In this study, we review and analyse various factors that can improve the effectiveness of PLLEs at yielding better assistance and rehabilitation training for patients with motor impairments. First, we define a set of criteria that characterize the majority of expectations for the rehabilitation and assistance domains and we use them for evaluating PLLEs depending on the context. Then, we include the effects of control strategies and combined approaches which include auxiliary devices such as Functional electrical stimulation and smart crutches applied to PLLEs with regard to the criteria we defined.

Olfactory Receptors (ORs) are a large family of G protein coupled receptors predominantly expressed by the main olfactory epithelium at nasal level and are responsible for the generation of smelling sense. Microarray and deep sequencing analyses, however, have demonstrated that ORs are ectopically expressed in various human tissues including testis, kidneys, adipose tissue and liver and their biological functions become to be unrevealed. Molecular and pharmacological approaches have shown that some of these ORs modulate glucose and lipid metabolism at multiple interfaces, suggesting that ORs might be part of the large family of nutrient sensors. i.e. molecular/ cellular machines that respond to a specific nutrient component. By using nutrients- derived agonists it has been shown that ORs effectively modulates glucose and lipid metabolism raising interest on their possible therapeutic application in the treatment of metabolic disorders including dyslipidemia, obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Background: A new access technique was developed to reduce postoperative adverse events after the extraction of impacted maxillary wisdom teeth. Hence, this study aimed to assess the occurrence of adverse events after extraction of maxillary impacted wisdom teeth using traditional or modified access. Methods: Two different surgical incision designs were used for bilateral wisdom tooth extractions in 30 patients. The traditional incision was performed distal to the second molar in the center of the tuberosity, followed by a buccal releasing incision. After tooth extraction the wound was secured by sutures. The new technique consists of an oblique incision from the distal palatal aspect of the tuberosity towards the buccal aspect of the second molar. After tooth extraction, cyanoacrylate glue was used on the wound. Results: Lower pain was reported by patients at the site treated with the new technique (p<0.01). Edema, postsurgical bleeding, and hematoma were similar in both groups. The surgical time was shorter for the new technique (p<0.01). Conclusions: The new technique applied for the extraction of impacted maxillary wisdom teeth reduced postsurgical pain and the duration of surgery.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has recently established the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) program that requires countries to report their carbon emissions and sink estimates through national greenhouse gas inventories (NGHGI). Thus, developing automatic systems capable of estimating the carbon absorbed by forests without in-situ observation becomes essential. To support this important need, in this work we introduce ReUse, a simple but effective deep-learning approach to estimate the carbon absorbed by forest areas based on remote sensing. The novelty of the proposed method is in the use of the public above-ground biomass (AGB) data from the European Space Agency's Climate Change Initiative Biomass project as ground truth to estimate the carbon sequestration capacity of any portion of land on Earth using Sentinel-2 images and a pixel-wise Regressive UNet. The approach has been compared to two literature proposals, using a private dataset and human-engineered features. The results show a greater generalization ability of the proposed approach, with a decrease in Mean Absolute Error and Root Mean Squared Error, respectively, of 16.9 and 14.3 in the area of Vietnam and 4.7 and 5.1 in the area of Myanmar over the runner-up. Finally, as a case study, we reported an analysis made for the Astroni area, a nature reserve located near the metropolitan area of Naples in southern Italy, struck by a large fire, producing predictions consistent with values found by experts in the field. These results further support the use of such an approach for the early detection of AGB variations, both in urban and rural areas.

Since the first description of COVID-19 infection, among clinical manifestations of the disease including fever, dispnea, cough, fatigue, it was observed a high incidence of thromboembolic events potentially evolving towars ARDS and COVID-associated-coagulopathy (CAC).The hypercoagulation state is based on an interaction between thrombosis and inflammation. The so-called CAC represents a key aspect in the genesis of organ damage from SARS-CoV-2. The prothrombotic status in COVID-19 disease can be explained by the increase of coagulation levels of D-dimer, lymphocytes, fibrinogen, IL-6 and prothrombin time. Several mechanisms have been hypothesized to explain this hypercoagulable process such as inflammatory cytokine storm, platelet activation, endothelial dysfunction and stasis for a long time. The purpose of this narrative review is to provide an overview of the current knowledge on the pathogenic mechanisms of coagulopathy that may characterize COVID-19 infection and inform on new areas of research. New vascular therapeutic strategies are also reviewed.

Sustainable food systems imply the re-use of biowastes and water. In this paper we characterize 30 top soil improvers of anthropogenic, animal and green waste origin, and 11 irrigation waters from rivers, channels, and civil wastewater treatment plants (cWWTPs) for the presence of antimicrobials. Liquid chromatography coupled to hybrid High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS) was applied to determine 50 different drugs belonging to the classes of sulfonamides (11), tetracyclines (7), fluoroquinolones (10), macrolides (12), amphenicols (3), pleuromutilins (2), diaminopyrimidines (1), rifamycines (1) and lincosamides (1). Biowastes from cWWTPs and animal manure, slurry and litter revealed the highest loads for sulfonamides, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, and macrolides (80, 470, 885, and 4,487 ng/g wet weight, respectively) with nor- and cipro-floxacin as marker of anthropogenic sources. In composts and digestates antimicrobials were almost below the determination limits. Re-used waters for irrigation in open field lettuce production resulted contaminated in the range of 12-221 ng/L for sulfonamides, tetracyclines, and fluoroquinolones, against very few detects in channels and surface waters. Antimicrobials Hazard Index (HI) based on Predicted No Effect Concentration for Antimicrobial Resistance (PNEC_AMR) was largely >100 in contaminated top soil improvers from urban and animal sources. Accounting for worst-case inputs from top soil improvers and irrigation water and dilution factors of amended soil, fluoroquinolones only showed a HI around 1 in open fields for lettuce production. The origin of top soil improvers plays a pivotal role for safe and sustainable leafy vegetable productions, to abate the risk of AMR onset in food-borne diseases, as well the transfer of AMR elements to human gut flora.

The paper presents the final results from the research project “Urban Abacus of Building Energy performances (Abaco Urbano Energeticodegli Edifci – AUREE)” aimed at supporting the renovation and energy efficiency enhancement of urban building heritage financed by the “Ricerca Sistema Elettrico (MISE) program”. The crux of AUREE project is a Web – GIS GeoBlog portal with customized semantic dashboards aimed at sharing information on urban built environment and promoting the participation of local stakeholders to its improvement. As the latest development of this research, a workflow integrating the AUREE portal with BIM authoring and an open source IoT platform has been implemented and applied to an experimental case study concerning a public building in Carbonia (Italy). The headquarters of the sustainable energy research center Sotacarbo was selected as case study. The presented results proved that it was possible to create an open system, which could be easily consulted by "non-expert" users as well, to make available real-time monitoring data obtained from IoT sensors measuring the energy consumption, the indoor environmental conditions and the usage profiles of public buildings. The proposed open system could also be suitable to be later used as an effective tool to support the rising “energy communities”.

Roller milling of sorghum and quinoa seeds into flour fractions (course, middle, and fine) was investigated, chemically analysed and applied in the baking of gluten-free sourdough bread. Gap settings were adjusted to 0, 5, 8 and 10 for quinoa and 3, 5, and 7 for sorghum. The fine fractions reached values of up to about 41% (gap 8) for quinoa and around 20% for sorghum (gap 5). SEM pictographs illustrated clear separation of each fraction with chemical analysis showing high contents of protein, TDF (total dietary fibre) and IDF (insoluble dietary fibre) in the course fraction. Up to 77% starch content was obtained in the fine fraction with significant amounts of SDF (soluble dietary fibre) which has good health benefits. Increasing the dough moisture up to 90% helped in decreasing the bread crumb firmness, while low Avrami parameters and RVA pasting behaviour indicated slow bread staling rate for both sourdough breads.

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the second most common cancer worldwide, resulting in 1.8 million deaths/year. Most of the patients are diagnosed with a metastatic disease. Central Nervous System is one of the major metastatic sites. Brain metastases are associated with severe neurological symptoms, shorter survival and worst clinical outcomes. Brain radiotherapy and systemic oncological therapies are currently used for controlling both cancer progression and neurological symptoms. Brain radiotherapy includes stereotactic brain ablative radiotherapy (SBRT) or whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT). SBRT is applied for single or multiple (≤ 4) small lesions (< 3 cm), while WBRT represents the best treatment choice in case of multiple and large brain metastases. In both cases radiotherapy application can represent an overtreatment causing severe toxicities without achieving a significant clinical benefit. So far, some scores have been proposed to define the potential clinical benefits derived from brain radiotherapy. However, most of them are not well validated into clinical practice. In this article, by presenting a clinical case of a patient with advanced NSCLC carrying a BRAFV600E mutation and brain metastases, we review the variables as well as the potential applicable scores to be considered in order to predict clinical outcomes and benefits from brain radiotherapy in patients with NSCLC and brain metastases.

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the second most common cancer worldwide, resulting in 1.8 million deaths/year. Most of the patients are diagnosed with a metastatic disease. Central Nervous System is one of the major metastatic sites. Brain metastases are associated with severe neurological symptoms, shorter survival and worst clinical outcomes. Brain radiotherapy and systemic oncological therapies are currently used for controlling both cancer progression and neurological symptoms. Brain radiotherapy includes stereotactic brain ablative radiotherapy (SBRT) or whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT). SBRT is applied for single or multiple (≤ 4) small lesions (< 3 cm), while WBRT represents the best treatment choice in case of multiple and large brain metastases. In both cases radiotherapy application can represent an overtreatment causing severe toxicities without achieving a significant clinical benefit. So far, some scores have been proposed to define the potential clinical benefits derived from brain radiotherapy. However, most of them are not well validated into clinical practice. In this article, by presenting a clinical case of a patient with advanced NSCLC carrying a BRAFV600E mutation and brain metastases, we review the variables as well as the potential applicable scores to be considered in order to predict clinical outcomes and benefits from brain radiotherapy in patients with NSCLC and brain metastases.

Aortic valve stenosis and malignancy frequently coexist and share the same risk factors as atherosclerotic disease. Data reporting the prognosis of patients with severe aortic stenosis and cancer are limited. Tailoring the correct and most optimal care for cancer patients with severe aortic stenosis is complex. Cancer patients may be further disadvantaged by aortic stenosis if it interferes with their treatment by increasing the risk associated with oncologic surgery and compounding the risks associated with cardiotoxicity and heart failure (HF). Nowadays, several therapeutic options are available for aortic valve stenosis (surgical valve replacement , transcatheter valve implantation, balloon valvuloplasty, or medical therapy), but in presence of malignancy, the use of one of these versus the others should be decided on a case-by-case approach, depending on cancer stage and associated treatment, expected outcome, comorbidities and after an accurate physical examination and Doppler-echocardiography which are the key tools for diagnosing and evaluating aortic stenosis. The current review considers the available data on the association between aortic stenosis and cancer, and therapeutic options.

We simulate the effects of diagenesis, cementation and compaction on the elastic properties of shales and sandstones with four different petro-elastical theories and a basin-evolution model, based on constant heating and sedimentation rates. We consider shales composed of clay minerals, mainly smectite and illite, depending on the burial depth, and the pore space is assumed to be saturated with water at hydrostatic conditions. Diagenesis in shale (smectite/illite transformation here) as a function of depth is described by a 5th-order kinetic equation, based on an Arrhenius reaction rate. On the other hand, quartz cementation in sandstones is based on a model that estimates the volume of precipitated quartz cement and the resulting porosity loss from the temperature history, using an equation relating the precipitation rate to temperature. Effective pressure effects (additional compaction) are accounted for by using Athy equation and the Hertz-Mindlin model. The petro-elastic models yield similar seismic velocities, despite the different level of complexity and physics approaches, with increasing density and seismic velocities as a function of depth. The methodology provides a simple procedure to obtain the velocity of shales and sandstones versus temperature and pressure due to the diagenesis-cementation-compaction process.

Data collection and analysis are becoming more and more important in a variety of application domains as long as the novel technologies advance. At the same time, we are experiencing a growing need for human-machine interaction with expert systems pushing research through new knowledge representation models and interaction paradigms. In particular, in the last years eHealth - that indicates all the health-care practices supported by electronic elaboration and remote communications - calls for the availability of smart environment and big computational resources. The aim of this paper is to introduce the HOLMeS (Health On-Line Medical Suggestions) framework. The introduced system proposes to change the eHealth paradigm where a trained machine learning algorithm, deployed on a cluster-computing environment, provides medical suggestion via both chat-bot and web-app modules. The chat-bot, based on deep learning approaches, is able to overcome the limitation of biased interaction between users and software, exhibiting a human-like behavior. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the machine learning algorithms showing 74.65% of Area Under ROC Curve (AUC) when first-level features are used to assess the occurrence of different prevention pathways. When disease-specific features are added, HOLMeS shows 86.78% of AUC achieving a more specific prevention pathway evaluation.

Ibrutinib, a first-in-class Bruton’s Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor (BTKi), is a commonly deployed therapeutic option for previously untreated, and relapsed/refractory (R/R) patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The use of ibrutinib is, however, partially limited by significant off-target side effects. Zanubrutinib (zanu) is a second-generation BTKi with enhanced target selectivity and occupancy of the kinase binding site. The SEQUOIA study showed that zanu significantly prolonged progression-free survival (PFS) when compared to bendamustine–rituximab (BR) in treatment-naive CLL patients with an acceptable safety profile. More recently, data from the phase III ALPINE trial which directly compared zanu with ibrutinib has demonstrated that zanu’s advantages are both an improved safety profile and enhanced clinical efficacy. Based on the results of the SEQUOIA and ALPINE pivotal trials the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) licensed zanu for the treatment of patients with CLL or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) in January 2023. The updated (v2.2023) National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines and newly released German CLL algorithm, suggest that zanu may replace first-generation BTKi as one of the preferred therapeutic options for patients with CLL/SLL due to its increased selectivity for the kinase binding site, improved therapeutic efficacy, and favorable toxicity profile.

Efficient natural resource management prevents and reduces negative impacts, such as environmental damage, misappropriation of resources, and conflicts; several strategies can be leveraged to conserve, protect, and enhance natural resources. Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is useful in providing solutions to addressing decision-choice problems. In this study, the natural resource under evaluation is the chestnut forest, with the objective of valorising its supply chains. The methodology applied is A'WOT, which allows previously identified factors through a qualitative SWOT matrix, to be ordered through an objective quantification using AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process), which is a multicriteria decision-support method. The survey was conducted with a group of chestnut resource (n=20) experts. The SWOT matrix identified a total of 20 factors: 6 strengths and 6 weaknesses and 4 factors each for opportunities and threats. The results express a clear stakeholder interest, which identifies the significant role of civil society in directing management choices for the provision and enhancement of ecosystem and vocational services. This study evaluated the adaptability of decision-support tools applied to a real case of forest resource management to identify and order factors useful to enhance the resource and stimulate the supply chains to achieve greater added value. In a general sense, the methodological potential emerged to replicate or improve the research in other geographical regions, whether regional or extra-regional, or even on a larger scale, such as on a national level.

In recent years, the field of deep learning achieved considerable success in pattern recognition, image segmentation and may other classification fields. There are a lot of studies and practical applications of deep learning on images, video or text classification. In this study, we suggest a method for changing the architecture of the most performing CNN models with the aim of designing new models to be used as stand-alone networks or as a component of an ensemble. We propose to replace each activation layer of a CNN (usually a ReLu layer) by a different activation function stochastically drawn from a set of activation functions: in this way the resulting CNN has a different set of activation function layers.

The paper deals with the modelization and optimization of an integrated multi-component energy system. On-off operation and presence-absence of components must be described by means of binary decision variables, besides equality and inequality constraints; furthermore, the synthesis and the operation of the energy system should be optimized at the same time. In this paper a hierarchical optimization strategy is used, adopting a genetic algorithm in the higher optimization level, to choose the main binary decision variables, whilst a MILP algorithm is used in the lower level, to choose the optimal operation of the system and to supply the merit function to the genetic algorithm. The method is then applied to a distributed generation system, which has to be designed for a set of users located in the center of a small town in the North-East of Italy. The results show the advantage of distributed cogeneration, when the optimal synthesis and operation of the whole system are adopted, and significant reduction in the computing time by using the proposed two-level optimization procedure.

Since its first isolation in 1934, hyaluronic acid (HA) has been studied across a variety of research areas. This unbranched glycosaminoglycan consisting of repeating disaccharide units of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and D-glucuronic acid is almost ubiquitary in humans and in other vertebrates. HA is involved in many key processes -including cell signaling, wound reparation, tissue regeneration, morphogenesis, matrix organization and pathobiology-, and has unique physico-chemical properties -such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, mucoadhesivity, hygroscopicity and viscoelasticity. For these reasons, exogenous HA has been investigated as drug delivery system and treatment in cancer, ophthalmology, arthrology, pneumology, rhinology, urology, aesthetic medicine and cosmetic. To improve and customize its properties and applications, HA can be subjected to chemical modifications: conjugation and crosslinking. The present review gives an overview regarding HA, describing its history, physico-chemical, structural and hydrodynamic properties, and biology –occurrence, biosynthesis (by hyaluronan synthases), degradation (by hyaluronidases and oxidative stress), roles, mechanisms of action and receptors. Furthermore, both conventional and recently emerging methods developed for the industrial production of HA and its chemical derivatization are presented. Finally, the medical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications of HA and its derivatives are reviewed, reporting examples of HA-based products which currently are on the market or are undergoing further investigations.

In factory automation systems, hybrid wired/wireless networks are often deployed to connect devices of difficult reachability such as those mounted on mobile equipment. A widespread version of these networks makes use of Access Points (APs) to implement wireless extensions of Real--Time Ethernet (RTE) networks via the IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN (WLAN). Unfortunately, APs may introduce random delays in packet forwarding, mainly related to the their internal behaviors (e.g. code processing times) that negatively impact on the whole performance of the automation systems. Consequently, the knowledge of these delays represent a crucial design information. This paper presents an original and effective method to measure the delays introduced by APs, exploiting a hybrid loop-back link and a simple set-up with moderate instrumentation requirements. The method, which requires an initial calibration by means of a reference AP, has been successfully tested on some commercial APs. As it will be shown, the proposed measurement procedure is general and, as such, can be profitably adopted in even different scenarios.

Multiple Myeloma (MM) is the second most common type of hematological disease and, although it is rare among patients under 40 years of age, its incidence rises in elderly subject. MM manifestations are usually known with the abbreviation CRAB (hyperCalcemia, Renal failure, Anaemia, and lytic Bone lesions). In particular, the extent of the bone disease is negatively related to a decreased patients’ quality of life and, in general, bone disease in MM increases both morbidity and mortality. The detection of lytic bone lesions on imaging, especially CT and MRI, is becoming crucial from the clinical viewpoint to separate asymptomatic from symptomatic MM patients and the detection of focal lytic lesion in these imaging data is becoming relevant even when no clinical symptoms are present. Therefore, radiology is pivotal in the staging and accurate management of patients with MM even in early phases of the disease. In this review we describe the opportunities offered by quantitative imaging and radiomics in multiple myeloma. At present time there is still high variability in the choice between various imaging methods to study MM patients and high variability in image interpretation with suboptimal agreement among readers even in tertiary centres. Therefore, the potential of medical imaging for patients affected by MM is still to be completely unveiled. In the next years, new insights to study MM with medical imaging will derive from artificial intelligence (AI) and radiomics usage in different bone lesions and from the wide implementations of quantitative methods to report CT and MRI. Eventually, medical imaging data can be integrated with the patient's outcomes with the purpose to find radiological biomarkers for predicting the disease prognostic flow and its therapeutic response.

One of the most notable changes in the Esophageal Cancer (EC) epidemiology is the rising incidence and prevalence of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) in developed countries, likely due to lifestyle and/or environmental factors that may play an important role in EAC onset. The aim of this systematic review was to collect and summarize all the available evidence regarding lifestyle, diet and EAC risk. We searched the PubMed and Scopus databases in January 2021 for studies providing information about lifestyle, diet, WCRF/AICR recommendations and EAC risk. A total of 106 publications met the inclusion criteria. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) are associated with increased EAC risk. Physical activity does not appear to have a significant direct role in EAC risk. A diet rich in fruit, vegetables, and whole grains appeared to be more protective than a diet rich in animal fat, red meat, and processed meat. Alcohol does not seem to be related to EAC whereas smokers, particularly heavy smokers, have an increased risk of EAC. Primary prevention remains the best option to avert EAC. BMI and WC, along with low consumption of red and processed meat, high consumption of plant food, and the avoidance of smoking are pivotal for EAC prevention.

In the digital age, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as a transformative force in various sectors, in-cluding medicine. This article explores the potential of AI, akin to the magical genie of Aladdin's lamp, particularly within thoracic surgery and lung cancer management. It examines AI applications like ma-chine learning and deep learning in achieving more precise diagnoses, preoperative risk assessment, and improved surgical outcomes. The challenges and advancements in AI integration, especially in computer vision and multi-modal models, are discussed alongside their impact on robotic surgery and operating room management. Despite its transformative potential, implementing AI in medicine faces challenges regarding data scarcity, interpretability issues, and ethical concerns. Collaboration between AI and medi-cal communities is essential to address these challenges and unlock the full potential of AI in revolution-izing clinical practice. This article underscores the importance of further research and interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure the safe and effective deployment of AI in real-world clinical settings.

When researching rock blasting, the design parameters used for the analysis are usually the ge-ometric and charging ones. This study is based on a different approach, and focuses on the effect of timing, in specific the role of delays in the initiation sequence. The data come from the results of full-scale blasts. The experimental setting and location allowed to consider all parameter other than the number of delays as a constant. The experimental results are analyzed relating the delay var-iables to fragmentation and KPIs of downstream operations. It is shown how increasing the number of delays per unit of blasted rock and reducing simultaneous adjacent holes produces finer fragmentation, reduces the amount of fines, facilitates the secondary operations and reduces the risk of flyrock.

Every intervention of planning, implementation, and monitoring of agricultural and agri-environmental policies requires assessment tools that should have the characteristics of relevance, completeness, interpretability, data quality, efficiency, and overlapping. Despite the extensive selection of bibliographies and numerous projects designed to develop agri-environmental indicators necessary for assessing the sustainability of new policies, it is difficult to have an integrated and updated set of indicators available, which can be an effective and practical application tool to assists policymakers, researchers, and actors in policy design, monitoring and impact assessment. Particularly, such need is pressing to face the new environmental challenges imposed by the upcoming European Union Green Deal on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) post 2023. This study, therefore, aims to fill this gap by proposing a selection methodology and different pools of agri-environmental indicators differentiated based on a scale approach (crop-farm-district-region). Furthermore, we have attempted to validate our approach by quantifying selected indicators for a specific evaluation necessity, represented in this case by an assessment of environmental impact of land use change induced by CAP greening requirements in the Northern Italy context. Results of this validation show original crops’ impacts comparison, but also highlight great knowledge gaps in the available literature.

Oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) is the basic function of mitochondria although the land-scape of mitochondrial functions is continuously growing to include more aspects of cellular homeostasis. Thanks to the application of -omics technologies to the study of the OxPhos system, novel features emerge from the cataloging of novel proteins as mitochondrial thus adding de-tails to the mitochondrial proteome and defining novel metabolic cellular interrelations, espe-cially in the human brain. We focussed on the diversity of bioenergetics demand and different aspects of mitochondrial structure, functions, and dysfunction in the brain. Definition as ‘mitoexome’, ‘mitoproteome’ and ‘mitointeractome’ have entered the field of ‘mitochondrial medicine’. In this context, we reviewed several genetic defects that hamper the last step of aerobic metabolism mostly involving the nervous tissue as one of the most prominent energy-dependent tissues and, as consequence, as a primary target of mitochondrial dysfunction. The dual genetic determination of the OxPhos complexes is one of the reasons for the complexity of the geno-type-phenotype correlation when facing human diseases associated with mitochondria defects; clinically, are characterized by extremely heterogeneous symptoms, ranging from organ-specific to multisystemic dysfunction with different clinical courses. Finally, we briefly discuss the fu-ture directions of the multi-omics study of human brain disorders.

The object of this work is to report some preliminary results on the mechanical harvesting of blueberry fruits of cv. Cargo® in the Piedmont region, one of the most productive areas of Italy that is specialized for fresh blueberry production. The automatization of harvesting operations could represent a competitive advantage for the investigated area’s blueberries supply chain, but could act as a limitation to maintaining the quality of fresh berries. A prototype machine and a commercial harvester (Easy Harvester®) were compared to manual picking, considering harvest efficiency (share of loss), labor productivity and harvesting cost. In the indicated context, the cost of labor exceeds 2.00 euros per kg of sellable product. The use of the prototype allowed a 37% re-duction of this cost, and the use of the Easy Harvester® allowed a reduction of about two thirds. It should be emphasized that these positive performances do not consider two other aspects: the re-duction in the marketable volume (attributable to losses in the harvest and post-harvest phase), and the reduction in the net sale price by 0.30 euros due to the sorting/selection costs in the ware-house. In this study, we highlight how the transition to mechanical harvesting requires the trans-formation of several farming and warehouse operations, such as new crop varieties, new field configurations, and new packaging processes. However, a possible technical improvement of the Easy Harvester® machine could represent an opportunity for Italian companies in the planning of the production and marketing of berries, involving all actors of the supply chain. Further research on the use of mechanization in the sector must still be continued and supported.

We consider a random dynamical system arising in a model of associative memory. This system can be seen as a small (stochastic and deterministic) perturbation of a determinstic system having two weak attractors which are destroyed after the perturbation. We show, with a computer aided proof, that the system has a kind of chaotic itineracy. Typical orbits are globally chaotic, while they spend relatively long time visiting attractor's ruins.

Background: In the landscape of thoracic surgery, innovation continually drives progress, offering novel approaches to address complex pathologies while prioritizing patient well-being. Dual-portal robotic-assisted thoracic surgery DRATS represents the next frontier in this evolution. In this report we describe our experience with the DRATS approach for segmentectomy with the indocyanine green intersegmental plane identification. Methods: We presented the case of a patient who underwent a DRATS lingulectomy and lymphadenectomy stations 5, 6, 7, and 10 using the daVinci Surgical System. Results: The patient's postoperative course was uneventful with chest tube was removed in second post operative day. The final pathological analysis confirmed a low-grade malignant potential adenocarcinoma, with main diameter of 1.1 cm, at 3 cm from lung margins. 12 nodes were removed, from station 5,6,7,10,11, all of the free of metastases. Conclusions: Our initial observations suggest that Dual-Portal Robotic-Assisted Tho-racic Surgery (DRATS) demonstrates notable feasibility.