Integrative assessment of congestion in heart failure using ultrasound imaging.

In heart failure (HF), congestion is a key pathophysiologic hallmark and a major contributor to morbidity and mortality. However, the presence of congestion is often overlooked in both acute and chronic settings, particularly when it is not clinically evident, which can have important clinical consequences. Ultrasound (US) is a widely available, non-invasive, sensitive tool that might enable clinicians to detect and quantify the presence of (subclinical) congestion in different organs and tissues and guide therapeutic strategies.

Monitoring Risk Factors and Improving Adherence to Therapy in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease (Smit-CKD Project): Pilot Observational Study.

Background: Chronic kidney disease is a major public health issue, with about 13% of the general adult population and 30% of the elderly affected. Patients in the last stage of this disease have an almost uniquely high risk of death and cardiovascular events, with reduced adherence to therapy representing an additional risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Considering the increased penetration of mobile phones, a mobile app could educate patients to autonomously monitor cardiorenal risk factors.

The Listening to music tuned to 440 Hz versus 432 Hz to reduce anxiety and stress in emergency nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: a double-blind, randomized controlled pilot study.

Background And Aim: Healthcare providers in the emergency first response units have been exposed to a considerable stress during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This study was designed to identify the effects of listening to music during the work break compared to the routine break (in the absence of listening to music) on the level of state anxiety and on the vital parameters of the nurses on duty at the operations center.

Methods: Randomized, controlled, three-arm, double-blind, single-center clinical study.

Preliminary Assessment of Parmigiano Reggiano Authenticity by Handheld Raman Spectroscopy.

Raman spectroscopy, and handheld spectrometers in particular, are gaining increasing attention in food quality control as a fast, portable, non-destructive technique. Furthermore, this technology also allows for measuring the intact sample through the packaging and, with respect to near infrared spectroscopy, it is not affected by the water content of the samples. In this work, we evaluate the potential of the methodology to model, by multivariate data analysis, the authenticity of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, which is one of the most well-known and appreciated hard cheeses worldwide, with protected denomination of origin (PDO).

Aesthetic compatibility assessment of consolidants for wall paintings by means of multivariate analysis of colorimetric data.

Background And Methods: Wall paintings and architectural surfaces in outdoor environments are exposed to several physical, chemical and biological agents, hence they are often treated with different products to prevent or slow down their deterioration. Among the factors that have to be taken into account in the selection of the most suitable treatment for decorated surfaces, the aesthetic compatibility with the substrate is of great importance in the cultural heritage field; minimizing colour variation after treatment application is a crucial issue in particular for painted surfaces. In the framework of the European Project Nanomatch the color variation induced on wall painting mock-ups by the two innovative consolidants (calcium alkoxides) developed was evaluated using colorimetry in comparison with two traditional products.

Enhancing the luminescence efficiency of silicon-nanocrystals by interaction with H ions.

The emission of silicon nanocrystals (Si-NCs), synthesized by pulsed laser ablation in water, was investigated on varying the pH of the solution. These samples emit μs decaying orange photoluminescence (PL) associated with radiative recombination of quantum-confined excitons. Time-resolved spectra reveal that both the PL intensity and the lifetime increase by a factor of ∼20 when the pH decreases from 10 to 1 thus indicating that the emission quantum efficiency increases by inhibiting nonradiative decay rates.

Cone beam computed tomography investigation of the antral artery anastomosis in a population of Central Italy.

Background: The arterial vascular supply of maxillary sinus has to be considered in all the surgical procedures where it is involved. In particular, the intraosseous anastomosis between the posterior superior alveolar artery and the infraorbital artery branches in the bony canal can be tricky to a not well aware clinician. The aim of this study is to investigate the arterial blood supply of the maxillary sinus to give clinicians the basis for a better understanding of vascular complications that can derive from surgical procedures at this level.

RP-HPLC and chemometrics for wheat flour protein characterisation in an industrial bread-making process monitoring context.

In the baking industry, a difficult task is to keep the quality perceived by the consumer as constant as possible, given the inner variability of flour, e.g. due to different wheat mixtures, harvesting time, etc.

Near infrared spectroscopy and multivariate analysis to evaluate wheat flour doughs leavening and bread properties.

A mixture design of experiment approach was followed to explore formulation effects on the technological properties of wheat flours optimized for industrial bread-making purposes. Ten different flour mixtures were investigated by means of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to obtain information on flour performance in a critical phase such as dough leavening. For each mixture, a laboratory-scale bread making experiment was carried out according to a standardized recipe and the leavening phase of each dough sample was monitored by means of NIRS at different times.

Near infrared spectroscopy and multivariate analysis methods for monitoring flour performance in an industrial bread-making process.

The present study is aimed at evaluating the possibility to predict bread specifications, for an industrial bread-making process, on the basis of the properties of flour employed in production. The flour delivered at the production plant, of which rheological and chemical properties were available, were analysed by means of Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). Based on the flour properties and NIR signals, multivariate control charts were constructed in order to detect flour batches leading to a bread with non-optimal behaviour.