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The proposal of reclassifying the mesentery as an organ prompts clinicians and radiologists to reappraise their approach to it and to mesenteric diseases (mesenteropathies). Recent updates in mesenteric anatomy and the better comprehension of its structure constitute a basis to push forward the process of disease management and allow the development of less radical (including endoscopic, radiological, and pharmacotherapeutic) treatments. Radiological evaluation currently plays a pivotal role in the noninvasive characterization of abdominal diseases. Mesenteric-based radiological assessments form an essential component in planning radiological interventions and postoperative surveillance programs. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to provide an update on the new anatomical concepts related to the mesentery, also performing an imaging-based review of mesenteric diseases by categorizing them as primary and secondary.

In recent years, renewable energies and storage systems are bringing a significant contribution to power system. Due to the high penetration of non-predictable power sources, especially in the distribution networks, new challenges related to the integration and management of these new resources also combined with storage systems arose in power system research. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to propose an innovative scheduling method for voltage regulation in low voltage networks. A simple type of contract for ancillary services that foresees the participation of active users endowed with a storage system coupled with a PV system is considered. The method allows to regulate the voltage in a distribution system by using a combined PV and storage system. The voltage regulation is achieved by setting the value of the inverter reactive power on the basis of sensitivity coefficients of the considered node, taking into account the capability curve constrains, as required by new grid codes. A possible tariff policy is also proposed for the ancillary service and for the operation of the realization of the scheduling algorithm. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for the scheduling of the power system.

The southern Alpine foreland, facing windward to moist southern airmasses, is claimed to have supported forest vegetation throughout the Last Glaciation. Here we present a multiproxy paleoecological record from a compressed peat, uncovered at Casaletto Ceredano, N-Italy, spanning the interval from 33 to 30.5 kyr cal BP. Stratigraphically, it underlies a fluvioglacial belt attributed to the Last Glacial Maximum. The peat records a floodplain swamp community with tree birch and tall sedges, pine woodlands in upland areas, and only limited patches of open vegetation. Plant macrofossils – bark, charcoal, wood and fruits – establish the predominant role of Betula pubescens group (downy birch) in the anoxic wetland, thanks to its ability to enhance gas exchange through a distinctive type of bark lenticels. A fire-induced birch-to-pine cycle is repeated twice along the 2500 years-time span covered by the peat layer. The climate reconstructed from modern pollen analogs compares to northern boreal zone, with Tjuly < 15 °C, excluding warm-temperate trees. A major flood sealing the swamp with minerogenic silt is precisely dated to 30,497 ± 594 yr cal BP (2σ uncertainty). Here, the pollen record shows a substantial forest withdrawal, and development of grasslands and semideserts, pointing to co-factorial action of increased climate continentality and of river dynamics. According to teleconnections with the Atlantic and Arctic framework of the stadial–interstadial climate variability, the age and pattern of this event are consistent with the onset of Heinrich Stadial 3, causing a lockdown of moist westerlies and of their Rossby waves in the W-Mediterranean.

Glycosylation is a fundamental post-translational modification of proteins that boosts their structural diversity providing subtle and specialized biological properties and functions. All those genetic diseases due to a defective glycan biosynthesis and attachment to the nascent glycoproteins fall within the wide area of congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG), mostly causing multisystem involvement. In the present paper we detailed the unique serum N- glycosylation of a CDG-candidate patient with an unexplained neurological phenotype and liver adenomatosis harbouring a recurrent pathogenic HNF1α variant. Serum transferrin IEF showed a surprising N-glycosylation pattern consisting on hyposialylation as well as remarkable hypersialylation. Mass spectrometry-based glycomic analyses of individual serum glycoproteins enabled to unveil hypersialylated complex N-glycans comprising up to two sialic acids per antenna. Further advanced MS analysis showed the additional sialic acid is bonded through an α2-6 linkage to the peripheral N-acetylglucosamine residue, giving rise to disialo-epitopes never described in human N-glycoproteins.

The Muon Portal Project was born as a joint initiative between Italian research and industrial partners, aimed at the construction of a real-size working detector prototype to inspect the content of traveling containers by means of secondary cosmic-ray muon radiation and recognize potentially dangerous hidden materials. The tomographic image is obtained by reconstructing the incoming and outgoing muon trajectories when crossing the inspected volume, employing two tracker planes located above and below the container under inspection. In this paper, the design and development of the front-end electronics of the Muon Portal detector is presented, with particular emphasis being devoted to the photo-sensor devices detecting the scintillation light and to the read-out circuitry which is in charge of processing and digitizing the analog pulse signals. In addition, the remote control system, mechanical housing, and thermal cooling system of all structural blocks of the Muon Portal tracker are also discussed, demonstrating the effectiveness and functionality of the adopted design.

Aupres du Service de Transfusion de Ragusa a ete realise un suivi statistique de la procedure de filtration en ligne pour demontrer que le changement de la methodologie, comme l’Introduction du nouveau systeme de filtration COMPOFLOW SELECT CQ31555, a donne les resultats attendus. Soixante-quinze hematies filtrees pre-storage ont ete soumises a un controle. Pour chaque unite on a enregistre les poids des hematies concentrees, les valeurs de Hb, HCT, nombre de leucocytes residus. Pour mesurer l’efficacite d’un procede de production sont utilises les indices de capacites: l’indice Cp et le Cpk. Pour le HCT le Cpk = (2.519; 2.638) resulte majeur de 1, l’ampleur des donnees se situe dans les limites de tolerance indiquant une tres bonne capacite de la procedure. L’indice Cp est 2.579 etant donne que Cpk et Cp sont deux valeurs similaires cela suppose une situation ou la moyenne est centree sur le point median des specifications. Meme situation pour le volume des unites Cpk = (1.577; 1.18), Cp = 1.37. Pour les leucocytes residus l’indice Cpk = (8.189; 0.34). Choisissant la plus petite des deux valeurs calculees c’est-a-dire comprise entre 0 et 1, cela indique qu’une partie des unites de la procedure depassent les limites. Ce probleme a ete attribue a une basse performance du filtre d’une seule unite. L’indice Cpk de l’hemoglobine est egal a (1.27;2.02), les deux resultats resultent majeurs de 1, cela indique que la procedure est sous controle. A partir des analyses de la capacite nous avons deduit que la procedure satisfait les limites des specifications superieures et inferieures preetablies en phase de validation, permettant de tenir sous controle les eventuelles causes source d’erreur.

The Muon Portal is a recently started Project aiming at the construction of a large area tracking detector that exploits the muon tomography technique to inspect the contents of traveling cargo containers. The detection planes will be made of plastic scintillator strips with embedded wavelength-shifting fibres. Special designed silicon photomultipliers will read the scintillation light transported by the fibres along the strips and a dedicated electronics will combine signals from different strips to reduce the overall number of channels, without loss of information. Different silicon photomultiplier prototypes, both with the p-on-n and n-on-p technologies, have been produced by STMicroelectronics during the last years. In this paper we present the main characteristics of the silicon photomultipliers designed for the Muon Portal Project and describe the setup and the procedure implemented for the characterization of these devices, giving some statistical results obtained from the test of a first batch of silicon photomultipliers.

This work addresses a systematic and in-depth electro-optical characterization of the Multi-Pixel Photon Counter (MPPC) sensors constituting the camera detection system at the focal plane of the ASTRI telescope prototype. The paper reports the experimental results of a large set of measurements on the MPPC devices in order to provide a reliable qualification of the detector performance and evaluate its compliance with the telescope focal plane requirements. In particular, breakdown voltage, internal gain, dark count rate, cross-talk and extra-charge probability, and absolute photon detection efficiency measurements are performed on the basic sensor device unit as a function of the detector operating conditions.

Objective Chronic subdural hematoma (CSH) is a common neurosurgical disease among elderly population with concomitant degenerative neurological disorders. This is a retrospective series-control analysis of prospectively collected data, aiming to show advantages and indications of a minimally invasive, percutaneous drainage system for CSH. Patients and methods We retrospectively analyse the clinical and radiological data of a minimally invasive, percutaneous draining system (Integra ™) used in fifteen patients (Group A; mean age: 75.7) with CSH, and compare them with those obtained from two retrospective series of patients: the first one (Group B 15 patients, mean age 77.1) treated with standard, single-burr hole technique for subdural drainage under general anaesthesia; the second one (Group C 15 patients, mean age 76.4) treated with standard, single-burr hole technique for subdural drainage under local anaesthesia and mild sedation. All The percutaneous procedures (Group A) were performed under local anaesthesia. Results Mean follow-up was 10.9 (range 3–14), 18.2 (range 10–29) and 15.2 (range 8–28) months in Group A, B and C respectively. Three of 15 and in Group B experienced a worsening of pre-existing neurodegenerative disorders after general anaesthesia. One patient in group C suffering from Parkinson’s disease experienced a worsening of gait disturbances. Post-operative CT scans were performed at 48 h and 21 days after the operation. An early post-operative CT-scan, obtained immediately after surgical procedure, was performed in all Group A patients. No differences in CSH evacuation were observed comparing the three groups. Two recurrent hematomas, one in group A and one in group B, required revision. Post-operative hospitalization was similar (5.1 vs 5.7 vs 5.6 days, respectively, in group A, B and C) but analgesics use was lower in Group A. Conclusion Pre-operative evaluation of radiological features of CSDHs is crucial in determining the right indication for a minimally invasive drainage. Minimally invasive treatments of CSH may reduce the use of anaesthetic drugs and worsening of pre-existing neurodegenerative disorders.

Les transfusions a domicile necessitent une gestion specifique, y compris la gestion des complications des transfusions. A considerer les conditions preexistantes du patient, l’incidence et la gravite des reactions, nous utilisons un questionnaire. Les Medecins Generalistes (MG) adressent leur demande au personnel du service immuno-hematologie de l’Hopital qui en evalue la pertinence et transmet les composants sanguins a notre Medecin affilie. Les transfusions effectuees utilisent le meme systeme biometrique (SecurBlood) utilise a l’hopital. En 2018, nous avons transfuse 1134 patients en consultation externe a Raguse. Sur les 2150 produits sanguins transfuses (97 % de globules rouges, 3 % de plaquettes), 13 (0,6 %) reactions ont ete repertoriees : 2 etaient sans gravite et ont ete resolues en quelques minutes ; 11 ont requis une intervention therapeutique. Neuf patients souffraient d’hypertension et de dyspnee preexistante et ont manifeste une surcharge volumique liee a la transfusion (7), une dyspnee (1), et une reaction transfusionnelle febrile non hemolytique (1). La transfusion a ete interrompue. Seuls 2 patients presentant une insuffisance renale legere et une fibrillation auriculaire preexistantes ont du etre hospitalises : ils souffraient d’un œdeme pulmonaire et de surcharge volumique. Aucun patient n’avait recu de premedication. L’utilisation d’un questionnaire durant la transfusion nous permet de collecter les symptomes cliniques et les conditions preexistantes pouvant conduire aux reactions transfusionnelles. Les MG pourraient l’utiliser avant transfusion pour identifier les patients qui devraient beneficier d’une premedication ou etre transfuses en milieu hospitalier.

L’etablissement du Service de Transfusion Sanguine (ST) de Raguse est le siege, depuis 1998, d’un des quatre Centres de Don de Moelle Osseuse de la Region Sicile. Des medecins recruteurs du ST selectionnent les donneurs potentiels, tandis que le typage HLA est effectue dans le laboratoire HLA annexe, accredite EFI. Cette etude expose l’activite du Centre de Dons de Raguse pendant la periode 1998–2018. Dans ce but, les donnees relatives au numero de Donneurs de Moelle Osseuse actifs et ecartes, classes par sexe, âge, ethnie, preference de type de don (de sang medullaire ou de sang peripherique), resolution allelique HLA et rappel des donneurs pour verifier une eventuelle compatibilite avec un receveur, ont ete extrapolees du Logiciel de Gestion du Registre Italien des Donneurs de Moelle Osseuse (IBMDR). Au vu des donnees obtenues, resumees dans la Tableau 1 , il est possible de tirer les conclusions suivantes : grâce a l’activite de selection, qui a considerablement augmente ces dernieres annees, 63 % de nos donneurs ont moins de 35 ans (1278 sur 2020), ce qui permet de prevoir une permanence d’au moins 20 ans dans le Registre. Grâce au recrutement recent, et grâce aussi au programme de requalification des donneurs finance par IBMDR, l’ensemble des donneurs resulte avoir un typage de haute resolution selon les standards actuels dans 77 % des cas (1564 sur 2020), raison pour laquelle il ressort que la possibilite de rappeler des donneurs de moelle osseuse pour le don proprement dit est proportionnellement elevee. En effet, sur 12 work up (c’est-a-dire dons effectifs de cellules souches) que nous avons geres au total, 2 ont ete effectues en 2017 et 3 en 2018.

Dans les 12 etablissements AVIS que compte la Province de Raguse nous avons applique, conformement au principe de “don personnalise” deja introduit par Bonomo et coll. (2004), des criteres de selection ( Tableau 1 ) selon lesquels on conseille a chaque donneur le type de don le plus indique pour lui. En 2018, 25 270 donneurs ont ainsi ete selectionnes. On a ainsi collecte 39,933 unites dont : 27,435 (68,70 %) SI, 9,360 (23,44 %) P, 1,846 P-PLT (4,62 %), 835 R-P (2,1 %). Nous avons obtenu 2,681 unites grâce a des systemes d’apherese multi composants. Pendant la meme annee, 2,947 donneurs potentiels ont ete examines afin de rechercher d’eventuels cas de porteurs d’hemoglobinopathie ou de trait thalassemique. Parmi eux, 183 (6,2 %) resultent etre porteurs de trait thalassemique, 35 (1,2 %) de HbS, 3 (0,1 %) de HbC et 6 (0,2 %) d’autres pathologies de l’hemoglobine. Les porteurs d’hemoglobinopathie S ou C ont ete exclus de la liste des donneurs. Il a ete conseille de donner plasma et plaquettes aux femmes en âge fertile et aux donneurs presentant de faibles valeurs de Hb ou le trait thalassemique afin de preserver leur sante. Nous avons obtenu des autres donneurs des unites SI qui respectent des standards de qualite eleves en ce qui concerne les taux de Hb et Hct. 6,7 % des unites collectees en 2018 derivent de systemes d’apherese multi composants dont il est necessaire que les centres de collecte soient dotes, ainsi que d’un personnel dument forme a leur utilisation ( Tableau 1 ).

Growth cones integrate a remarkably complex concert of chemical cues to guide axons to their appropriate destinations. Recent work suggests that integrins contribute to axon guidance by interacting with a wide range of extracellular molecules including axon guidance molecules, by mechanisms that are not fully understood. Here, we describe an interaction between integrins and netrin-1 in growth cones that contributes to growth cone collapse. Our data show that netrin-1 causes growth cone collapse in a substratum-specific manner and is integrin-dependent. Netrin-1 causes collapse of cultured chick dorsal root ganglion (DRG) growth cones extending on high levels of laminin-1 (LN) but not growth cones extending on low levels of LN or on fibronectin. Blocking integrin function significantly decreases netrin-induced growth cone collapse on high LN. Netrin-1 and integrins interact on growth cones; netrin-1 causes integrin activation, a conformational shift to a high ligand-affinity state. Netrin-1 directly binds to integrin α3 and α6 peptides, further suggesting a netrin–integrin interaction. Interestingly, our data reveal that netrin-1 increases growth cone levels of cAMP in a substratum-specific manner and that netrin-induced growth cone collapse requires increased cAMP in combination with integrin activation. Manipulations that either decrease cAMP levels or integrin activation block netrin-induced collapse. These results imply a common mechanism for growth cone collapse and novel interactions between integrins, netrin-1 and cAMP that contribute to growth cone guidance.

The present work introduces an improved SPICE equivalent electrical model of silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) detectors, in order to simulate and predict their transient response to avalanche triggering events. In particular, the developed circuit model provides a careful investigation of the magnitude and timing of the read-out signals and can therefore be exploited to perform reliable circuit-level simulations. The adopted modeling approach is strictly related to the physics of each basic microcell constituting the SiPM device, and allows the avalanche timing as well as the photodiode current and voltage to be accurately simulated. Predictive capabilities of the proposed model are demonstrated by means of experimental measurements on a real SiPM detector. Simulated and measured pulses are found to be in good agreement with the expected results.

In this paper an innovative approach for Si solar cells based on radial junctions is presented. It consists of fabricating the junction in quasi one-dimensional structures like holes. The hole-based architecture, while maintaining the decoupling between the light absorption and the electrical collection typical of the more common wires and rods, ensures more robustness, numerous waveguide coupling modes and possibility to form non-conformal top contact. Nanosizes also provide the possibility to tune the band gap by quantum effects. Doping of the nanoholes, like in the case of nanowires, presents critical issues like conformality and control of the dopant dose and junction depth at nanometric level. We propose to dope the nanoholes by using a chemical method based on the use of a dopant containing molecules dispersed in solution. We apply the procedure on an array of holes of micrometric sizes fabricated to test and study the method and to properly scale it down and implement it on the nanostructures. Results show that the method provides junction depths in the nm scale with dopant peak concentrations as high as 1019 cm−3 and that the doping is conformal on the vertical surfaces of the hole.

In this work, we present a numerical model aimed to accurately and efficiently simulate the plasma dry-etching process in nano-patterned samples. The method is designed to reproduce the physical phenomena and control the parameters involved in the process. The modelling formulation is based on the Monte Carlo approach. This simulation technique is fundamental to efficiently compute the erosion kinetic at the atomic resolution. The atomic level simulation of the evolving profile is obtained linking (one to one) each virtual Monte Carlo event to each possible atomic phenomenon. The code has been designed to be coupled with a generic plasma status, characterized by the particle types (ions and neutrals), their flow rates and their energy/angle distributions. The simulation approach has been tested comparing numerical results and experimental analysis of etching processes for the case of Si etching in HBr/O2 plasma. The results show the effectiveness of the implemented model which is able to predict the profile evolution and, consequently, to significantly support the process design.

Our previous studies described the synthesis and the antiviral activity of 3,4,5-trisubstituted isothiazole derivatives that were found to be particularly effective against enteroviruses. Compound 3-methylthio-5-phenyl-4-isothiazolecarbonitrile (IS-2) exhibited an interesting anti-poliovirus activity with a high selectivity index. In the present study we investigated the mechanism of action of this compound. Studies on the time of IS-2 addition to poliovirus type 1 infected cells suggested that the compound may inhibit some early process of viral replication. In order to determine its mechanism of action, we evaluated the rate of attachment and internalization of purified [ 3 H]uridine-labeled poliovirus to HEp-2 cells in the presence or absence of IS-2. No effect on poliovirus adsorption and internalization to host cells was detected. We also investigated the influence of the compound on virus uncoating using labeled poliovirus and measuring the radioactivity of oligoribonucleotides formed from viral RNA susceptible to ribonuclease. These experiments demonstrated that poliovirus uncoating is influenced by IS-2 action.