Peak inspiratory pressure lacks accuracy to estimate plateau pressure in infants with severe obstructive lower airway disease.

Purpose: In children with acute respiratory distress syndrome receiving mechanical ventilation, the peak inspiratory pressure (PIP) is close to plateau pressure (P) when inspiratory flow approaches zero. We aimed to evaluate the reliability of PIP to estimate P in infants with severe respiratory viral infection (SRVI), characterized by increased airway resistance, and the accuracy of an equational model to estimates P (eP) based on PIP.

Methods: This was a retrospective observational study including mechanically ventilated children (1 to 24 month old) with SRVI, whose respiratory mechanics measurements were performed to evaluate PIP and P The measured P was compared with the result of the equation: eP = PIP - [5.

Effectiveness of SplashGuard Caregiver prototype in reducing the risk of aerosol transmission in intensive care unit rooms of SARS-CoV-2 patients: a prospective and simulation study.

Background: The contagiousness of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is known to be linked to the emission of bioaerosols. Thus, aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs) could increase the risk of infection among healthcare workers (HCWs).

Aim: To investigate the impact of an aerosol protection box, the SplashGuard Caregiver (SGGC) with suction system, by direct analysis of the presence of viral particles after an AGP, and by using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation method.

Long-Term Performance of Monolithic Silica Aerogel with Different Hydrophobicities: Physical and Color Rendering Properties after an Accelerated Aging Process.

Due to its excellent properties, monolithic silica aerogel is a promising material for innovative glazing systems. Since glazing systems are exposed to deteriorating agents during building service life, it is essential to investigate the long-term performance of aerogel. In the present paper, several 12.

Multisystemic Inflammatory Syndrome in Children: a step towards a better understanding of this entity.

As pediatricians, we all have to deal with new childhood inflammatory disorder due to COVID 19: the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). The recent article by Savorgnan et al. on the physiologic profiles associated with MIS-C proposed a classification through the "MIS-C severity score" (MSS).

Ontogenetic diet shifts of rough scad Trachurus lathami in the North Patagonian shelf (south-west Atlantic Ocean).

Rough scad Trachurus lathami is a key pelagic fish in the Argentinean continental shelf (ACS, south-west Atlantic Ocean), with recent increases in abundance. It is a main prey of fishes and marine mammals, and shares the environment with commercially relevant pelagic species (Engraulis anchoita and Scomber colias), playing an important role linking lower and upper trophic levels in the ecosystem. This study aims to determine the ontogenetic changes in the diet composition, feeding strategy, trophic niche breadth and trophic level of T.

LoRaWANSim: A Flexible Simulator for LoRaWAN Networks.

Among the low power wide area network communication protocols for large scale Internet of Things, LoRaWAN is considered one of the most promising, owing to its flexibility and energy-saving capabilities. For these reasons, during recent years, the scientific community has invested efforts into assessing the fundamental performance limits and understanding the trade-offs between the parameters and performance of LoRaWAN communication for different application scenarios. However, this task cannot be effectively accomplished utilizing only analytical methods, and precise network simulators are needed.

Trajectories and Resource Management of Flying Base Stations for C-V2X.

In a vehicular scenario where the penetration of cars equipped with wireless communication devices is far from 100% and application requirements tend to be challenging for a cellular network not specifically planned for it, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), carrying mobile base stations, becomes an interesting option. In this article, we consider a cellular-vehicle-to-anything (C-V2X) application and we propose the integration of an aerial and a terrestrial component of the network, to fill the potential unavailability of short-range connections among vehicles and address unpredictable traffic distribution in space and time. In particular, we envision a UAV with C-V2X equipment providing service for the extended sensing application, and we propose a UAV trajectory design accounting for the radio resource (RR) assignment.

Smart City Pilot Projects Using LoRa and IEEE802.15.4 Technologies.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), through wireless communications and the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm, are the enabling keys for transforming traditional cities into smart cities, since they provide the core infrastructure behind public utilities and services. However, to be effective, IoT-based services could require different technologies and network topologies, even when addressing the same urban scenario. In this paper, we highlight this aspect and present two smart city testbeds developed in Italy.

High genetic diversity and low-population differentiation in the Patagonian sprat (Sprattus fuegensis) based on mitochondrial DNA.

The Patagonian sprat, Sprattus fuegensis, is a small pelagic marine fish that inhabits the continental shelf along the coasts of Chilean Patagonian and Argentina, a distribution that was highly impacted during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). In order to identify how the LGM played a role on the current observed genetic diversity and population structure of S. fuegensis, we analyzed 1438 nucleotide positions from the control region of 335 individuals collected at 12 sites across its distribution.

Taxonomic review of Argentine mackerel (Houttuyn, 1782) by phylogenetic analysis.

Taxonomically, Argentine mackerels were first considered as and later as Houttuyn 1782, although, in the last years, different studies have suggested that South Atlantic mackerel species belongs to Gmelin 1789. These latter results, incorporated in the main fish databases (FishBase and Catalog of Fishes), promoted a phylogenetic study using cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene sequences taken from the Barcode of Life (FISH-BOL) database. Thus, 76 sequences of , , and from different regions were used; including 3 from as outgroup.

Optimization of torrefaction conditions of coffee industry residues using desirability function approach.

The aim of the present study is to analyze the influence of independent process variables such as temperature, residence time, and heating rate on the torrefaction process of coffee chaff (CC) and spent coffee grounds (SCGs). Response surface methodology and a three-factor and three-level Box-Behnken design were used in order to evaluate the effects of the process variables on the weight loss (W) and the Higher Heating Value (HHV) of the torrefied materials. Results showed that the effects of the three factors on both responses were sequenced as follows: temperature>residence time>heating rate.

Carbon footprint of conventional and organic beef production systems: An Italian case study.

Beef cattle production is a widespread activity in Italy in the agricultural field and determines an important impact on environment and resources consumption. Carbon footprint evaluation is thus necessary to evaluate the contributions of the different stages and the possible improvements of the production chain. In this study, two typical Italian beef production systems, a conventional and an organic one are investigated in order to evaluate the greenhouse gas emissions from "cradle to gate farm" by a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach; the carbon footprint (CF) per 1kg of live weight meat is calculated.

Thermal degradation of driftwood: Determination of the concentration of sodium, calcium, magnesium, chlorine and sulfur containing compounds.

The annual production of driftwood in Italy has been estimated to be more than 60,000 tonnes. This wood can be used as an energy source. Particular attention should be paid to its content of alkali and alkaline earth metals, sulfur and chlorine.

Thermal behaviour and kinetic study of the olive oil production chain residues and their mixtures during co-combustion.

The kinetic behaviour of olive tree pruning (PR), two- (2PH) and three-phase (3PH) olive pomace and their blends was investigated under combustion condition using thermogravimetric analysis. PR was blended with 2PH and 3PH at different ratios (25:75, 50:50 and 75:25) and tested in the temperature range from ambient to 1000°C in order to evaluate the co-combustion behaviour. Results showed that the thermal degradation of all samples can be divided into three regions (drying, devolatilisation, char oxidation) with different combustion properties, depending on the percentage of PR.

Optimization of the steam explosion and enzymatic hydrolysis for sugars production from oak woods.

Fermentable sugars production from three kind of steam-exploded oak wood was optimized by Response Surface Methodology (RSM), using the severity factor (R0), the pretreated total solids (TS%) and the enzyme loading (EL%) as variables of a central composite design. A total of 17 experiments for each biomass were carried out. The optimal conditions established with RSM were: severity, 4.

Thermogravimetric analysis of the behavior of sub-bituminous coal and cellulosic ethanol residue during co-combustion.

The influence of the addition of cellulosic ethanol residue (CER) on the combustion of Indonesian sub-bituminous coal was analyzed by non isothermal thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). The effect of blends ratio (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%), interaction mechanism, and heating rate (5°C/min, 10°C/min, 15°C/min, 20°C/min) on the combustion process was studied. The results show that the increase of the blending ratio allows to achieve the increase of the combustibility index from 7.

Feeding strategy of juvenile (age-0+ year) Argentine hake Merluccius hubbsi in the Patagonian nursery ground.

Age-0+ year juvenile Argentine hake Merluccius hubbsi (60-150 mm total length, L(T)) from San Jorge Gulf, north Patagonian shelf region of the Argentine Sea, had an almost exclusively pelagic diet dominated by the hyperiid amphipod Themisto gaudichaudii and the euphausiid Euphausia lucens. This suggested that final settlement and permanent demersal habitat utilization might not, as previously reported, occur at earlier sizes (c. 20 mm L(T)).

Anaerobic digestion of mechanically treated OFMSW: experimental data on biogas/methane production and residues characterization.

One of the more promising processes for the energetic transformation of waste is the anaerobic digestion of the Organic Fraction of Municipal Solid Waste (OFMSW). An experimental campaign was carried out on three different samples of OFMSW from Waste Separation (WS), one as received and two obtained after mechanical treatment (squeezing): OFMSW slurry (liquid fraction) and OFMSW Waste (residual solid fraction). Anaerobic Biogasification Potential (ABP) and anaerobic digestion tests (AD) were carried out, investigating the effects of inoculum and pH.

Biogas production from different substrates in an experimental Continuously Stirred Tank Reactor anaerobic digester.

Different mixtures were digested in a single-stage, batch, mixed, laboratory scale mesophilic anaerobic digester at the Biomass Research Centre Laboratory (University of Perugia). The yield and the composition of biogas from the different substrates were evaluated and the cumulative curves were estimated. Two experimental campaigns were carried out, the first on three mixtures (chicken, pig and bovine manures), the second on animal and vegetal biomasses (chicken and cow manure, olive husk) with different inocula (rumen fluid and digested sludge).

Assessment of the initial stability of the Symax femoral stem with EBRA-FCA: a multicentric study of 85 cases.

We report a study of 85 Symax femoral stems that were followed at regular intervals with radiographs at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months. The radiological migration of each stem was measured using the computer-assisted EBRA -FCA method. In 30 cases in which the EBRA method did not provide a complete measurement another computer-assisted method (Roman version 1.

Cytoplasmic Prep1 interacts with 4EHP inhibiting Hoxb4 translation.

Background: Homeobox genes are essential for embryonic patterning and cell fate determination. They are regulated mostly at the transcriptional level. In particular, Prep1 regulates Hox transcription in association with Pbx proteins.

An overview on wireless sensor networks technology and evolution.

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) enable new applications and require non-conventional paradigms for protocol design due to several constraints. Owing to the requirement for low device complexity together with low energy consumption (i.e.

Eight- to ten-year results of a variable geometry stem.

This prospective study was conducted on 108 consecutive implantations straight, cementless, taper-designed stem with variable lateral flare (Pegasus; DePuy, Warsaw, Indiana) at an 8- to 10-year follow-up; DEXA scanning was performed at 3 and 12 months on a second cohort of 40 patients. The mean Harris hip score was 94.2, and no revision was performed.

Ion release and chromosomal damage from total hip prostheses with metal-on-metal articulation.

A prospective multicentric study was carried out in patients having metal-on-metal METASUL components (Sulzer Medica, Winterthur, Switzerland) in order to check the following null hypotheses: H1: The concentration of Co, Cr, Ni, and Mb in blood and urine is not modified by the implant of a hip prosthesis with METASUL components at 6 months. H2: The incidence of markers of chromosomal damage [sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) and micronuclei (Mni)] in lymphocytes is not modified by the implant of METASUL components at 6 months. H3: The concentrations of Co, Cr, Ni, and Mb in blood and urine did not correlate with the incidence of the markers of chromosomal damage.