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Abstract Sore throat represents one of the main causes of antibiotic overprescription in children. Its management is still a matter of debate, with countries considering streptococcal pharyngotonsillitis a benign and self-limiting condition and others advocating for its antibiotic treatment to prevent suppurative complications and acute rheumatic fever. Italian paediatricians frequently prescribe antibiotics on a clinical basis regardless of microbiological results. Moreover, broad-spectrum antibiotics are inappropriately prescribed for this condition. In this regard, an intersociety consensus conference was issued to promote the judicious use of antibiotic therapy in paediatric outpatient settings. A systematic review of the literature was performed, and updated recommendations were developed according to the GRADE methodology. Antibiotic treatment with amoxicillin (50 mg/kg/day) for 10 days is recommended in all children with proven streptococcal pharyngitis. Benzathine-penicillin could be prescribed in children with impaired intestinal absorption or inability to tolerate enteral intake and in those at high risk of suppurative complications with low compliance to oral therapy. In children with suspected amoxicillin allergy, third-generation cefalosporins for five days are recommended in low-risk patients, and macrolides are recommended in high-risk ones. Candidates for tonsillectomy due to recurrent pharyngitis could be treated with amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, clindamycin, or combined therapy with amoxicillin plus rifampicin for four days, in an attempt to avoid surgery.

Summary: Retinal stimulation (RS) allows restoring vision in blind patients, but it covers only a narrow region of the visual field. Optic nerve stimulation (ONS) has the potential to produce visual perceptions spanning the whole visual field, but it produces very irregular phosphenes. We introduced a geometrical model converting retinal and optic nerve firing rates into visual perceptions and vice versa and a method to estimate the best perceptions elicitable through an electrode configuration. We then compared in silico ONS and RS through simulated prosthetic vision of static and dynamic visual scenes. Both simulations and SPV experiments showed that it might be possible to reconstruct natural visual scenes with ONS and RS, and that ONS wide field-of-view allows the perception of more detail in dynamic scenarios than RS. Our findings suggest that ONS could represent an interesting approach for vision restoration and that our model can be used to optimize it.

Background: Pediatric dermatology represents one of the most underserved subspecialties in pediatrics. Artificial intelligence (AI) and telemedicine have become considerable in dermatology, reaching diagnostic accuracy comparable to or exceeding that of in-person visits. This work aims to review the current state of telemedicine and AI in pediatric dermatology, suggesting potential ways to address existing issues and challenges. Methods: We conducted a literature review including only articles published in the last 15 years. A total of 458 studies were identified, of which only 76 were included. Results: Most of the studies on telemedicine evaluate accuracy focused on concordance, which ranges from 70% to 89% for the most common pediatric skin diseases. Telemedicine showed the potential to manage chronic dermatological conditions in children, as well as decrease waiting times, and represents the chance for unprivileged populations to overcome barriers limiting access to medical care. The main limitations of telemedicine consist of the language barrier and the need for adequate technologies and acceptable image-quality video, which can be overcome by AI. AI-driven apps and platforms can facilitate remote consultations between pediatric dermatologists and patients or their caregivers. However, the integration of AI into clinical practice faces some challenges ranging from technical to ethical and regulatory. It is crucial to ensure that the development, deployment, and utilization of AI systems conform to the seven fundamental requirements for trustworthy AI. Conclusion: This study supplies a detailed discussion of open challenges with a particular focus on equity and ethical considerations and defining possible concrete directions.

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been used to investigate physical–chemical sensing of various proposed interfaces as SnSe@Graphene, SnSe2@Graphene, Graphene@SnSe@Graphene, and Graphene@SnSe2@Graphene, where dispersion corrections have been included to taken into account the vdW interactions between the layers. Initially, we predicted the electronic structures, mobility and carrier concentrations (cc) of SnSe and SnSe2 structures. Using different methodology, the outcomes have confirmed the semiconductor properties of SnSe and SnSe2 with indirect bandgap of 1.20 eV and 0.94 eV calculated by Generalized Gradient Approximation (GGA) and MetaGGA (MGGA) adopted with Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) functional, while hybrid Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof (HSE) hybrid functional overestimated the experimental observations for both materials. Room temperature high mobility and cc have predicted by 126 × 103 cm2V−1 s−1 with cc of 1.3 × 1013 cm3 for a two layers SnSe and 69 × 103 cm2V−1 s−1 with cc of 4.2 × 1018 cm3 for three layers SnSe2. Optical absorption spectrum revealed that the presence of two peaks at 60 THz and 48 THz with the intensity of 89879 cm−1 and 34504 cm−1 for interfaces including two layers of graphene. More interestingly, dielectric constant calculations showed that the transfer of carriers between graphene layers and SnSe in Graphene@SnSe@Graphene interface with absorption peak shifted to 24 THz along the in-plane direction and negative dielectric constants in the range of 24–169 THz, showing the effect of light-trapping through plasmonic.

A cluster of eleven research and innovation projects, funded under the same call of the EU’s H2020 programme, are developing breakthrough and game-changing renewable energy technologies that will form the backbone of the energy system by 2030 and 2050 are, at present, at an early stage of development. These projects have joined forces at a collaborative workshop, entitled ‘Low-TRL Renewable Energy Technologies’, at the 10th Sustainable Places Conference (SP2022), to share their insights, present their projects’ progress and achievements to date, and expose their approach for exploitation and market uptake of their solutions.

Abstract Febrile neutropenia (FN) represents one of the main complications of pediatric patients with oncological and hematological diseases. In these patients, it is crucial to identify bacterial infections. The aim of this study is to evaluate presepsin as an early biomarker of bacterial infections during FN. We compared patients with oncological and hematological diseases and a 2:1 age-matched healthy control group. In the FN group, we evaluated 4 biomarkers, namely, C reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), interleukin 6 (IL6) and presepsin at the onset of fever (T0) and 48 h after T0 (T1). In the control group, we only evaluated presepsin. We enrolled a total of 41 children with oncological and hematological diseases disease experiencing 50 FN episodes and 100 healthy patients in the control group. In patients with FN, we found that presepsin was significantly higher than in the control group (p

IntroductionRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and hospitalization in infants worldwide. The nasopharyngeal microbiota has been suggested to play a role in influencing the clinical course of RSV bronchiolitis, and some evidence has been provided regarding oral and gut microbiota. However, most studies have focused on a single timepoint, and none has investigated all three ecosystems at once.MethodsHere, we simultaneously reconstructed the gut, oral and nasopharyngeal microbiota dynamics of 19 infants with RSV bronchiolitis in relation to the duration of hospitalization (more or less than 5 days). Fecal samples, oral swabs, and nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected at three timepoints (emergency room admission, discharge and six-month follow-up) and profiled by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing.ResultsInterestingly, all ecosystems underwent rearrangements over time but with distinct configurations depending on the clinical course of bronchiolitis. In particular, infants hospitalized for longer showed early and persistent signatures of unhealthy microbiota in all ecosystems, i.e., an increased representation of pathobionts and a depletion of typical age-predicted commensals.DiscussionMonitoring infant microbiota during RSV bronchiolitis and promptly reversing any dysbiotic features could be important for prognosis and long-term health.

During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the pediatric emergency department (ED) of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy faced a reorganization to better deal with the new clinical needs. We herein describe the main changes in the organization and in the attendances to our pediatric ED. From the 1 March 2020 to the 31 January 2022, 796 children positive for SARS-CoV-2 presented to our pediatric ED, but only 26 required hospitalizations, of which only 9 for COVID-19 related reasons. During this period, we also registered a temporal correlation between multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) admissions and the peaks of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Italian population. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) remained during last year the viral infection with the highest hospitalization rate. The analysis and description of the changes in the activity of the pediatric ED during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic may help to better understand the routinary activity and be prepared for any possible new challenge.

Febrile urinary tract infection (UTI) is currently considered the most frequent cause of serious bacterial illness in children in the first 2 years of life. UTI in paediatrics can irreversibly damage the renal parenchyma and lead to chronic renal insufficiency and related problems. To avoid this risk, an early effective antibiotic treatment is essential. Moreover, prompt treatment is mandatory to improve the clinical condition of the patient, prevent bacteraemia, and avoid the risk of bacterial localization in other body sites. However, antibiotic resistance for UTI-related bacterial pathogens continuously increases, making recommendations rapidly outdated and the definition of the best empiric antibiotic therapy more difficult. Variation in pathogen susceptibility to antibiotics is essential for the choice of an effective therapy. Moreover, proper identification of cases at increased risk of difficult-to-treat UTIs can reduce the risk of ineffective therapy. In this review, the problem of emerging antibiotic resistance among pathogens associated with the development of paediatric febrile UTIs and the best potential solutions to ensure the most effective therapy are discussed. Literature analysis showed that the emergence of antibiotic resistance is an unavoidable phenomenon closely correlated with the use of antibiotics themselves. To limit the emergence of resistance, every effort to reduce and rationalise antibiotic consumption must be made. An increased use of antibiotic stewardship can be greatly effective in this regard.

Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are the most common infectious syndromes, primarily caused by viruses. The primary objective was to compare the illness courses between historical RTIs and recent SARS-CoV-2 infections. The study cohort consisted of RTI cases evaluated at the Pediatric Emergency Departments of Padua and Bologna, discharged or admitted with microbiologically confirmed viral RTI between 1 November 2018 and 30 April 2019 (historical period) and 1 March 2020 and 30 April 2021 (recent period). We evaluated the risk of oxygen or respiratory support, hospitalization, antibiotic therapy, and complications among different viral infections. The odds ratio (OR) and the 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated through mixed-effect logistic regression models, including a random intercept on the individual and hospital. We identified 767 RTIs: 359 in the historical period compared with 408 SARS-CoV-2 infections. Infections of SARS-CoV-2 had a lower risk of being admitted (OR 0.04, 95% CI 0.03–0.07), receiving respiratory support (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.06–0.58), needing antibiotic therapy (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.22–0.56) and developing complications (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.14–0.51) compared to all other viral RTIs. COVID-19 in children is clinically similar to other viral RTIs but is associated with a less severe infection course. Thus, most prevention strategies implemented for SARS-CoV-2 should still be considered during RSV and Influenza epidemics.

Abstract A MM-loaded sub-THz on-chip antenna with a narrow beamwidth, 9 dB gain and a simulated peak efficiency of 76% at the center frequency of 300 GHz is presented. By surrounding the antenna with a single MM-cell ring defined solely on the top metal of the back-end of line, an efficient suppression of the surface waves is obtained. The on-chip antenna has been designed using IHPs 130 nm SiGe BiCMOS technology with a 7-layer metallization stack, combined with the local backside etching process aimed to creating an air cavity which is then terminated by a reflective plane. By comparing the measured MM-loaded antenna performances to its non-MM-loaded counterpart, an enhanced integrity of the main lobe due to the MM-cells shielding effect can be observed. An excellent agreement between the simulated and measured performances has been found, which makes the MM-loaded antennas a valid alternative for the upcoming next-generation sub-THz transceivers.

This work aimed to precisely evaluate the physical properties of vanadium dioxide (M), particularly the optical characteristics. We employed different exchange-correlation functionals to determine the phase stability, band gap properties, and optical characteristics of an experimentally recognized monoclinic VO2(M) polymorph. The calculations not only correctly interpreted the VO2(M) origin but also predicted other optical properties including the extinction coefficient (k) and refractive index (n), which have not been reported in experimental measurements. Phonon dispersion calculations confirmed the presence of negative frequencies for acoustic modes in the phononic curves. When the HSE functional correctly reproduced the experimental band gap, here for the first time, our calculations based on PBE and PBEsol yielded non-zero electronic bandgaps of 0.23 and 0.15 eV for bulk VO2(M). Our predictions showed that semi-local functionals can adequately predict the semiconductor properties of VO2(M) and performed better than all previously reported theoretical works on nulled band gaps. In addition to the better prediction of the peak position in the absorption spectra with HSE hybrid functional, this method also reasonably well described the static dielectric constant of 7.54, showing an excellent match to the experimental values. In general, the results of this study reveal that hybrid functionals yield superior outcomes compared to semi-local functionals for optical properties of a VO2(M) polymorph. Our results suggest that the PBEsol + HSE approach allows the efficient characterization of smart materials for electronic and optoelectronic applications.

Abstract The fast diffusion of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic have called for an equally rapid evolution of the therapeutic options. The Human recombinant monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have recently been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and by the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) in subjects aged ≥12 with SARS-CoV-2 infection and specific risk factors. Currently the indications are specific for the use of two different mAbs combination: Bamlanivimab+Etesevimab (produced by Eli Lilly) and Casirivimab+Imdevimab (produced by Regeneron). These drugs have shown favorable effects in adult patients in the initial phase of infection, whereas to date few data are available on their use in children. AIFA criteria derived from the existing literature which reports an increased risk of severe COVID-19 in children with comorbidities. However, the studies analyzing the determinants for progression to severe disease are mainly monocentric, with limited numbers and reporting mostly generic risk categories. Thus, the Italian Society of Pediatrics invited its affiliated Scientific Societies to produce a Consensus document based on the revision of the criteria proposed by AIFA in light of the most recent literature and experts’ agreement. This Consensus tries to detail which patients actually have the risk to develop severe disease, analyzing the most common comorbidities in children, in order to detail the indications for mAbs administration and to guide the clinicians in identifying eligible patients.

In this contribution, geometric diodes based on graphene patterned with spatial asymmetry have been studied, starting from tight-binding numerical approximation in a self-consistent framework, to verify their potential for electromagnetic (e. m.) harvesting. We report a detailed analysis of coherent charge transport and provide some figures of merit with respect to e. m. rectification, such as, for instance, the asymmetry of the dark current-voltage characteristics. The most important achievement of this work is given by the accurate analysis of the main key physical/geometric parameters that affect the nonlinear response of the diodes, for different configurations and geometries. Owing to the Scattering Matrix approach, introduced elsewhere for coherent transport calculation, it was possible to cascade asymmetric discontinuities and simulate large structures (more than 100K atoms) in a modular fashion. In this way, simulation at the atomistic level can be brought up to the device level to provide guidelines for design and fabrication, in view of practical applications related to clean-energy harvesting/rectification up to infrared and solar-light frequencies.

A cluster of eleven research and innovation projects, funded under the same call of the EU’s H2020 programme, are developing breakthrough and game-changing renewable energy technologies that will form the backbone of the energy system by 2030 and 2050 are, at present, at an early stage of development. These projects have joined forces at a collaborative workshop, entitled ‘Low-TRL Renewable Energy Technologies’, at the 10th Sustainable Places Conference (SP2022), to share their insights, present their projects’ progress and achievements to date, and expose their approach for exploitation and market uptake of their solutions.

Background: Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are among the most frequent reasons for referrals to the pediatric emergency department (PED). The aim of this study is to describe the management of antibiotic prescription in febrile children with LRTI or CAP admitted to a third-level PED and to investigate the different variables that can guide physicians in this decision-making. Methods: This is an observational, retrospective, monocentric study including patients < 14 years old who were presented to the PED for a febrile LRTI or CAP during the first six months of the year 2017. Demographic and clinical data, PED examinations, recommended therapy, and discharge modality were considered. Two multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed on patients with complete profiles to investigate the impact of demographic, laboratory, and clinical variables on antibiotic prescription and hospital admission. Results: This study included 584 patients with LRTI (n = 368) or CAP (n = 216). One hundred and sixty-eight individuals (28.7%) were admitted to the hospital. Lower age, higher heart rate, and lower SpO2 were associated with an increased risk of hospitalization. Antibiotics were prescribed to 495 (84.8%) patients. According to the multivariate logistic regression, the diagnosis and duration of fever were substantially linked with antibiotic prescription. Conclusions: The present study reports real-life data about our PED experience. A high rate of antibiotic prescription was noted. In the future, it is necessary to improve antibiotic stewardship programs to increase clinical adherence to guidelines.

Abstract Background Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis (AHOM) is an insidious infection of the bone that more frequently affects young males. The etiology, mainly bacterial, is often related to the patient’s age, but it is frequently missed, owing to the low sensitivity of microbiological cultures. Thus, the evaluation of inflammatory biomarkers and imaging usually guide the diagnosis and follow-up of the infection. The antibiotic treatment of uncomplicated AHOM, on the other hand, heavily relies upon the clinician experience, given the current lack of national guidelines for the management of this infection. Methods A systematic review of the studies on the empirical treatment of uncomplicated AHOM in children published in English or Italian between January 1, 2009, and March 31, 2020, indexed on Pubmed or Embase search engines, was carried out. All guidelines and studies reporting on non-bacterial or complicated or post-traumatic osteomyelitis affecting newborns or children older than 18 years or with comorbidities were excluded from the review. All other works were included in this study. Results Out of 4576 articles, 53 were included in the study. Data on different topics was gathered and outlined: bone penetration of antibiotics; choice of intravenous antibiotic therapy according to the isolated or suspected pathogen; choice of oral antibiotic therapy; length of treatment and switch to oral therapy; surgical treatment. Conclusions The therapeutic management of osteomyelitis is still object of controversy. This study reports the first Italian consensus on the management of uncomplicated AHOM in children of pediatric osteomyelitis, based on expert opinions and a vast literature review.

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) represents one of the most common infectious diseases and a major cause of antibiotic prescription in children. To prevent recurrent infections and long-term complications, low-dose continuous antibiotic prophylaxis (CAP) has been used. However, the efficacy of CAP is controversial. The aim of this document was to develop updated guidelines on the efficacy and safety of CAP to prevent pediatric UTIs. Methods: A panel of experts on pediatric infectious diseases, pediatric nephrology, pediatric urology, and primary care was asked clinical questions concerning the role of CAP in preventing UTIs in children. Overall, 15 clinical questions were addressed, and the search strategy included accessing electronic databases and a manual search of gray literature published in the last 25 years. After data extraction and narrative synthesis of results, recommendations were developed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) methodology. Results: The use of CAP is not recommended in children with a previous UTI, with recurrent UTIs, with vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) of any grade, with isolated hydronephrosis, and with neurogenic bladder. CAP is suggested in children with significant obstructive uropathies until surgical correction. Close surveillance based on early diagnosis of UTI episodes and prompt antibiotic therapy is proposed for conditions in which CAP is not recommended. Conclusions: Our systematic review shows that CAP plays a limited role in preventing recurrences of UTI in children and has no effect on its complications. On the other hand, the emergence of new antimicrobial resistances is a proven risk.

Abstract Heat pipe is one of the most efficiency tools for heat dissipation in power systems. Currently, heat pipes are usually made of copper or aluminum. However, due to their relatively high density and limited heat transmission capacity, heat pipes are facing urgent challenges in power electronics. In this paper, a new class of graphene enhanced heat pipe that can cope with these issues is reported. The graphene enhanced heat pipe is made of high thermal conductivity graphene assembled film with nanostructure enhanced inner surfaces. The study shows that the dramatically improved heat dissipation capacity, 7230 W m−2 K−1 g−1, about 3.5 times higher than that of copper based commercial heat pipes can be achieved. This paves the way for using graphene enhanced heat pipe in lightweight and large capacity cooling applications, as required in many systems such as automotive electronics, hand‐sets and space electronics.

Abstract A statement of consensus was formulated after reviewing available literature on pediatric treatment strategies for COVID-19 by the Steering and Scientific Committee of the Italian Society of Infectious Pediatric Diseases in connection with the Italian Society of Paediatrics.

MoO3 and MoO2 systems have attracted particular attention for many widespread applications thanks to their electronic and optical peculiarities; from the crystallographic point of view, MoO3 adopts a thermodynamically stable orthorhombic phase (α-MoO3) belonging to the space group Pbmn, while MoO2 assumes a monoclinic arrangement characterized by space group P21/c. In the present paper, we investigated the electronic and optical properties of both MoO3 and MoO2 by using Density Functional Theory calculations, in particular, the Meta Generalized Gradient Approximation (MGGA) SCAN functional together with the PseudoDojo pseudopotential, which were used for the first time to obtain a deeper insight into the nature of different Mo–O bonds in these materials. The calculated density of states, the band gap, and the band structure were confirmed and validated by comparison with already available experimental results, while the optical properties were validated by recording optical spectra. Furthermore, the calculated band-gap energy value for the orthorhombic MoO3 showed the best match to the experimental value reported in the literature. All these findings suggest that the newly proposed theoretical techniques reproduce the experimental evidence of both MoO2 and MoO3 systems with high accuracy.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) bronchiolitis is the leading cause of hospitalization in infants. The role of RSV load in disease severity is still debated. We present the interim results of a prospective monocentric study enrolling previously healthy infants hospitalized for RSV bronchiolitis, collecting nasopharyngeal aspirates every 48 h from admission to discharge, and evaluating RSV load dynamics in relation to clinical outcome measures of bronchiolitis severity, including: need, type and duration of oxygen therapy, length of hospitalization, and the bronchiolitis clinical score calculated at admission. The results showed that the highest viral replication occurs within the first 48 hours after admission, with a significant decrease at subsequent time points (p < 0.0001). Moreover, higher RSV-RNA values were associated with the need for oxygen therapy (p = 0.03), particularly high-flow nasal cannula type (p = 0.04), and longer duration of respiratory support (p = 0.04). Finally, higher RSV load values were correlated with lower white blood cells, especially lymphocyte counts and C-reactive protein levels (p = 0.03, p = 0.04, and p = 0.01, respectively), as well as with patients of a younger age (p = 0.02). These data suggest that RSV may actively contribute to the clinical severity of bronchiolitis, together with other potential non-viral factors.

Bronchiolitis is the main cause of hospitalization in infants. Diagnosis is clinical, and treatment is based on hydration and oxygen therapy. Nevertheless, unnecessary diagnostic tests and pharmacological treatments are still very common. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate whether the setting of bronchiolitis care influences diagnostic and therapeutic choices. The management of 3201 infants, referred to our Italian Tertiary Care Center for bronchiolitis between 2010 and 2020, was analyzed by comparing children discharged from the pediatric emergency department (PEDd group) undergoing short-stay observation (SSO group) and hospitalization. Antibiotic use in PEDd, SSO, and ward was 59.3% vs. 51.6% vs. 49.7%, respectively (p < 0.001); inhaled salbutamol was mainly administered in PEDd and during SSO (76.1% and 82.2% vs. 38.3% in ward; p < 0.001); the use of corticosteroids was higher during SSO and hospitalization (59.6% and 49.1% vs. 39.0% in PEDd; p < 0.001); inhaled adrenaline was administered mostly in hospitalized infants (53.5% vs. 2.5% in SSO and 0.2% in PEDd; p < 0.001); chest X-ray use in PEDd, SSO, and ward was 30.3% vs. 49.0% vs. 70.5%, respectively (p < 0.001). In a multivariate analysis, undergoing SSO was found to be an independent risk factor for the use of systemic corticosteroid and salbutamol; being discharged at home was found to be a risk factor for antibiotic prescription; undergoing SSO and hospitalization resulted as independent risk factors for the use of CXR. Our study highlights that different pediatric acute care settings could influence the management of bronchiolitis. Factors influencing practice may include a high turnover of PED medical staff, personal reassurance, and parental pressure.

HfO2 can assume different crystalline structures, such as monoclinic, orthorhombic, and cubic polymorphs, each one characterized by unical properties. The peculiarities of this material are also strongly related to the presence of doping elements in the unit cell. Thus, the present paper has the main purpose of studying and comparing twelve different systems characterized by diverse polymorphs and doping percentages. In particular, three different crystalline structures were considered: the monoclinic P21/c, the orthorhombic Pca21, and the cubic Fm3¯m phases of HfO2. Each one has been studied by using Y as a doping agent with three different contents: 0% Y:HfO2, 8% Y:HfO2, 12% Y:HfO2, and 16% Y:HfO2. For all the systems, density functional theory (DFT) methods based on PBE/GGA, and on the HSE hybrid functionals were used to optimize the geometry as well as to study their optical properties. Depending on the polymorphs, Y affects the formation energy in different ways and causes changes in the optical properties. When the percentage of Y did not exceed 12%, a stabilization of the cubic phase fraction and an increase of the dielectric constant was observed. Additionally, the calculated optical bandgap energies and the refractive index are examined to provide an overview of the systems and are compared with experimental data. The bandgaps obtained are in perfect agreement with the experimental values and show a slight increase as the doping percentage grows, while only minor differences are found between the three polymorphs in terms of both refractive index and optical band gap. The adopted first principles study generates a reasonable prediction of the physical-chemical properties of all the systems, thus identifying the effects of doping phenomena.

Starting from a rigorous finite mass, Dirac equation-based model, we investigate the R.F. quantum admittance of a monolayer 2D material under the action of an electromagnetic (e.m.) wave with axially directed vector potential. With some reasonable approximations, the analysis yields a relatively simple RLC-equivalent circuit with frequency-independent elements depending on the bias, temperature, effective mass, Fermi velocity and effective e.m. index of the material, losses and other relevant parameters.

Scanning microwave microscopy (SMM) is a novel metrological tool that advances the quantitative, nanometric, high-frequency, electrical characterization of a broad range of materials of technological importance. In this work, we report an inverted near-field scanning microwave microscopy (iSMM) investigation of a graphene oxide-based epoxy nanocomposite material at a nanoscopic level. The high-resolution spatial mapping of local conductance provides a quantitative analysis of the sample’s electrical properties. In particular, the electrical conductivity in the order of ∼10−1 S/m as well as the mapping of the dielectric constant with a value of ∼4.7 ± 0.2 are reported and validated by the full-wave electromagnetic modeling of the tip–sample interaction.

High Flow Nasal Cannula (HFNC) is a noninvasive technique for respiratory support increasingly used in the pediatric wards for the management of respiratory failure. Few data are reported about the safety of HFNC. We describe the case of a 3-months-old infant admitted for acute bronchiolitis Respiratory Syncyctial Virus-related and treated with HFNC for severe respiratory distress. 12 hours after the beginning of HFNC a subcutaneous swelling of the neck, attributable to subcutaneous emphysema, became clinically evident. Radiological imaging showed pneumomediastinum with air leaking up to the neck. Patient was moved to PICU where he further worsened due to a mediastinal shift requiring drainage and mechanical ventilation. He was then progressively weaned from ventilation and was discharged from the hospital. Pneumomediastinum may occur during HFNC, particularly in moderate-severe cases of acute bronchiolitis. Patients undergoing HFNC should be strictly monitored in order to promptly recognize this complication and treat the child appropriately.

Abstract The investigation of the thermal properties of an array of microbolometers has been carried out by mean of two independent numerical analysis, respectively the Direct-Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) and the classic diffusive approach of the Fourier’s equation. In particular, the thermal dissipation of a hot membrane placed in a low-pressure cavity has been studied for different values of the temperature of the hot body and for different values of the pressure of the environment. The results for the heat flux derived from the two approaches have then been compared and discussed.

Compared to adults, severe or fatal COVID-19 disease is much less common in children. However, a higher risk for progression has been reported in infants. Different pediatric COVID-19 severity scores are reported in the literature. Methods: Subjects under 90 days of age admitted to 35 Italian institutions for COVID-19 were included. The severity of COVID-19 was scored as mild/moderate or severe/critical following the classification reported in the literature by Venturini, Dong, Kanburoglu, and Gale. To assess the diagnostic accuracy of each classification system, we stratified all enrolled patients developing a posteriori severity score based on clinical presentation and outcomes and then compared all different scores analyzed. Results: We included 216 infants below 90 days of age. The most common symptom was fever, followed by coryza, poor feeding, cough, and gastrointestinal manifestations. According to Venturini, Dong, Kanburoglu, and Gale’s severity scores, 18%, 6%, 4.2%, and 29.6% of infants presented with severe/critical disease, respectively. A correlation analysis between these four scores and the a posteriori severity score assigned to all enrolled subjects was performed, and a crescent strength of correlation from Gale (R = 0.355, p < 0.001) to Venturini (R = 0.425, p < 0.001), Dong (R = 0.734, p < 0.001), and Kanburoglu (R = 0.859, p < 0.001) was observed. Conclusions: The percentage of infants with severe COVID-19 varies widely according to the score systems. A unique clinical score should be designed for neonates and infants with COVID-19.

Introduction: There is marked heterogeneity in clinicians’ choice of antibiotic duration for pediatric urinary tract infections (UTIs). Most patients with bacterial UTIs still receive between 7 and 10 days of antibiotics. Prolonged antibiotic exposure drives the emergence of resistance and increases the occurrence of adverse effects. There is increasing evidence that shorter antibiotic regimens may be equally effective compared with longer ones. However, studies evaluating shorter therapies in children hospitalized with urinary tract infections have not yet been performed. Methods: We performed a retrospective study comparing children hospitalized with UTIs treated with a short antibiotic (

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a vector-borne disease caused by an intracellular protozoa of the genus Leishmania that can be lethal if not treated. VL is caused by Leishmania donovani in Asia and in Eastern Africa, where the pathogens’ reservoir is represented by humans, and by Leishmania infantum in Latin America and in the Mediterranean area, where VL is a zoonotic disease and dog is the main reservoir. A part of the infected individuals become symptomatic, with irregular fever, splenomegaly, anemia or pancytopenia, and weakness, whereas others are asymptomatic. VL treatment has made progress in the last decades with the use of new drugs such as liposomal amphotericin B, and with new therapeutic regimens including monotherapy or a combination of drugs, aiming at shorter treatment duration and avoiding the development of resistance. However, the same treatment protocol may not be effective all over the world, due to differences in the infecting Leishmania species, so depending on the geographical area. This narrative review presents a comprehensive description of the clinical picture of VL, especially in children, the diagnostic approach, and some insight into the most used pharmacological therapies available worldwide.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common infectious diseases in the pediatric population and represents a major cause of antibiotic consumption and hospitalization in children. Considering the ongoing controversies on the management of pediatric UTI and the challenges due to increasing antimicrobial resistance, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the level of agreement on UTI management in pediatric age in Emilia-Romagna Region, Italy, and to assess on the basis of recent studies whether there is the need to change current recommendations used by primary care pediatricians, hospital pediatricians, and pediatric surgeons in everyday clinical practice to possibly improve outcomes. This consensus provides clear and shared indications on UTI management in pediatric age, based on the most updated literature. This work represents, in our opinion, the most complete and up-to-date collection of statements on procedures to follow for pediatric UTI, in order to guide physicians in the management of the patient, standardize approaches, and avoid abuse and misuse of antibiotics. Undoubtedly, more randomized and controlled trials are needed in the pediatric population to better define the best therapeutic management in cases with antimicrobial resistance and real usefulness of long-term antibiotic prophylaxis.

Background: Many aspects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and adolescents remain unclear and optimal treatment is debated. The objective of our study was to investigate epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic characteristics of pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infection, focusing on risk factors for complicated and critical disease.Methods: The present multicenter Italian study was promoted by the Italian Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, involving both pediatric hospitals and general pediatricians/family doctors. All subjects under 18 years of age with documented SARS-CoV-2 infection and referred to the coordinating center were enrolled from March 2020.Results: As of 15 September 2020, 759 children were enrolled (median age 7.2 years, IQR 1.4; 12.4). Among the 688 symptomatic children, fever was the most common symptom (81.9%). Barely 47% of children were hospitalized for COVID-19. Age was inversely related to hospital admission (p < 0.01) and linearly to length of stay (p = 0.014). One hundred forty-nine children (19.6%) developed complications. Comorbidities were risk factors for complications (p < 0.001). Viral coinfections, underlying clinical conditions, age 5–9 years and lymphopenia were statistically related to ICU admission (p < 0.05).Conclusions: Complications of COVID-19 in children are related to comorbidities and increase with age. Viral co-infections are additional risk factors for disease progression and multisystem inflammatory syndrome temporarily related to COVID-19 (MIS-C) for ICU admission.

The aim of this study was to understand the epidemiology, disease severity, and microbiology of bronchiolitis in Italy during the 2021–2022 cold season, outside of lockdowns. Before COVID-19, the usual bronchiolitis season in Italy would begin in November and end in April, peaking in February. We performed a prospective observational study in four referral pediatric centers located in different geographical areas in Italy (two in the north, one in the center and one in the south). From 1 July 2021 to 31 January 2022, we collected all new clinical diagnoses of bronchiolitis in children younger than two years of age recording demographic, clinical and microbiological data. A total of 657 children with a clinical diagnosis of bronchiolitis were enrolled; 56% children were admitted and 5.9% required PICU admission. The first cases were detected during the summer, peaking in November 2021 and declining into December 2021 with only a few cases detected in January 2022. RSV was the commonest etiological agent, while SARS-CoV-2 was rarely detected and only since the end of December 2021. Disease severity was similar in children with RSV vs. non-RSV bronchiolitis, and in those with a single infectious agent detected compared with children with co-infections. The 2021–2022 bronchiolitis season in Italy started and peaked earlier than the usual pre-pandemic seasons, but had a shorter duration. Importantly, the current bronchiolitis season was not more severe when data were compared with Italian published data, and SARS-CoV-2 was rarely a cause of bronchiolitis in children younger than 24 months of age.

Abstract Background Guidelines currently do not recommend the routine use of chest x-ray (CXR) in bronchiolitis. However, CXR is still performed in a high percentage of cases, mainly to diagnose or rule out pneumonia. The inappropriate use of CXR results in children exposure to ionizing radiations and increased medical costs. Lung Ultrasound (LUS) has become an emerging diagnostic tool for diagnosing pneumonia in the last decades. The purpose of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy and reliability of LUS for the detection of pneumonia in hospitalized children with bronchiolitis and to evaluate the agreement between LUS and CXR in diagnosing pneumonia in these patients. Methods We enrolled children admitted to our hospital in 2016–2017 with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis and undergone CXR because of clinical suspicion of concomitant pneumonia. LUS was performed in each child by a pediatrician blinded to the patient’s clinical, laboratory and CXR findings. An exploratory analysis was done in the first 30 patients to evaluate the inter-observer agreement between a pediatrician and a radiologist who independently performed LUS. The diagnosis of pneumonia was established by an expert clinician based on the recommendations of the British Thoracic Society guidelines. Results Eighty seven children with bronchiolitis were investigated. A final diagnosis of concomitant pneumonia was made in 25 patients. Sensitivity and specificity of LUS for the diagnosis of pneumonia were 100% and 83.9% respectively, with an area under-the-curve of 0.92, while CXR showed a sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 87.1%. When only consolidation > 1 cm was considered consistent with pneumonia, the specificity of LUS increased to 98.4% and the sensitivity decreased to 80.0%, with an area under-the-curve of 0.89. Cohen’s kappa between pediatrician and radiologist sonologists in the first 30 patients showed an almost perfect agreement in diagnosing pneumonia by LUS (K 0.93). Conclusions This study shows the good accuracy of LUS in diagnosing pneumonia in children with clinical bronchiolitis. When including only consolidation size > 1 cm, specificity of LUS was higher than CXR, avoiding the need to perform CXR in these patients. Added benefit of LUS included high inter-observer agreement. Trial registration Identifier: NCT03280732. Registered 12 September 2017 (retrospectively registered).

Background: Hafnium Dioxide (HfO2) represents a hopeful material for gate dielectric thin films in the field of semiconductor integrated circuits. For HfO2, several crystal structures are possible, with different properties which can be difficult to describe in detail from an experimental point of view. In this study, a detailed computational approach has been shown to present a complete analysis of four HfO2 polymorphs, outlining the intrinsic properties of each phase on the basis of atomistic displacements. Methods: Density functional theory (DFT) based methods have been used to accurately describe the chemical physical properties of the polymorphs. Corrective Hubbard (U) semi-empirical terms have been added to exchange correlation energy in order to better reproduce the excited-state properties of HfO2 polymorphs. Results: the monoclinic phase resulted in the lowest cohesive energy, while the orthorhombic showed peculiar properties due to its intrinsic ferroelectric behavior. DFT + U methods showed the different responses of the four polymorphs to an applied field, and the orthorhombic phase was the least likely to undergo point defects as oxygen vacancies. Conclusions: The obtained results give a deeper insight into the differences in excited states phenomena in relation to each specific HfO2 polymorph.

With the spread of antibiotic resistance in pediatric urinary tract infections (UTIs), more patients are likely to be started empirically on antibiotics to which pathogens are later found to be resistant (discordant therapy). However, in-vivo effectiveness may be different from in-vitro susceptibility. Aims of this study were to describe clinical outcomes of discordant empirical treatments in pediatric UTIs and to investigate risk factors associated to treatment failure. This observational, retrospective study was conducted on children hospitalized for febrile UTIs with positive urine culture and started on discordant empirical therapy. Failure rates of discordant treatments and associated risk factors were investigated. A total of 142/1600 (8.9%) patients were treated with inadequate empirical antibiotics. Clinical failure was observed in 67/142 (47.2%) patients, with no fatal events. Higher failure rates were observed for combinations of penicillin and beta-lactamase inhibitors (57.1%). Significant risk factors for failure of discordant treatment were history of recurrent UTIs (95% CI: 1.13–9.98, OR: 3.23, p < 0.05), recent use of antibiotics (95% CI: 1.46–21.82, OR: 5.02, p < 0.01), infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (95% CI: 1.85–62.10, OR: 7.30, p < 0.05), and empirical treatment with combinations of penicillin and beta-lactamase inhibitors (95% CI: 0.94–4.03, OR: 1.94, p = 0.05). This study showed that discordant empirical treatments may still be effective in more than half of pediatric UTIs. Clinical effectiveness varies between different discordant antibiotics in pediatric UTIs, and patients presenting risk factors for treatment failure may need a differentiated empirical approach.

As part of a biopolymer matrix, pectin was investigated to obtain an engineered jam, due to its biodegradability. Only a few examples of pectin-based nanocomposites are present in the literature, and even fewer such bionanocomposites utilize nanocarbon as a filler—mostly for use in food packaging. In the present paper, ecofriendly nanocomposites made from household reagents and displaying multiple properties are presented. In particular, the electrical behavior and viscoelastic properties of a commercial jam were modulated by loading the jam with carbon nanotubes and graphene nanoplates. A new nanocomposite class based on commercial jam was studied, estimating the percolation threshold for each filler. The electrical characterization and the rheological measurements suggest that the behavior above the percolation threshold is influenced by the different morphology—i.e., one-dimensional or two-dimensional—of the fillers. These outcomes encourage further studies on the use of household materials in producing advanced and innovative materials, in order to reduce the environmental impact of new technologies, without giving up advanced devices endowed with different physical properties.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) is one of the main causes of both upper and lower respiratory infections in school-aged children, accounting for up to 40% of community-acquired pneumonia. Younger children are also affected, and extrapulmonary manifestations have been recently reported in the pediatric population. We carried out a retrospective analysis of MP-positive patients admitted to the Pediatric Emergency Unit of S. Orsola Malpighi University Hospital in Bologna, the largest tertiary pediatric referral center in the Emilia–Romagna region, Northern Italy, between 2012 and 2020. We identified 145 patients with MP infection (82 males and 63 females), 27% of which were younger than 2 years; the median age was 5 years (interquartile range 1–9). The clinical presentation partially differed between age groups. School-aged children were more likely to have a chest X-ray-confirmed pneumonia (p = 0.013), while younger children required oxygen therapy more often (p = 0.048). Seventy-four children (51%) showed extrapulmonary manifestations, mainly gastrointestinal (30%) and dermatological (14%). Neurological symptoms were more frequent in children older than 6 years (p = 0.006). The rate of other extrapulmonary manifestations did not differ significantly between age groups. This study shows that MP infection is a frequent cause of pediatric hospitalization, including of children younger than 2 years. Clinicians should be aware of the variable clinical expressions of MP, including extrapulmonary manifestations, to achieve a correct diagnosis and determine appropriate treatment.

A numerical method aimed to predict the optomechanical dynamics in micro- and nano-structured resonant cavities is introduced here. The rigorousness of it is ensured by exploiting the harmonic version of the transformation optics (TO) technique and by considering all the energy-transduction contributions of electrostriction, radiation pressure, photoelasticity and moving boundaries. Since our full-wave approach implements a multi-modal analysis and also considers material losses, from both a mechanical and an optical point of view, a considerable step further has been made in respect to the standard optomechanical perturbative theory. The efficiency and the versatility of the strategy are tested by analysing the optomechanical behaviour of a corrugated Si-based nanobeam and comparing numerical results to experimental ones from the literature.

The development and spread of antibiotic resistance is an increasingly important global public health problem, even in paediatric urinary tract infection (UTI). In light of the variability in the data, it is necessary to conduct surveillance studies to determine the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in specific geographical areas to optimize therapeutic management. In this observational, retrospective, multicentre study, the medical records of 1801 paediatric patients who were hospitalised for UTI between 1 January 2012, and 30 June 2020, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, were analysed. Escherichia coli was the most frequently detected pathogen (75.6%), followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (6.9%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2.5%). Overall, 840 cases (46.7%) were due to antimicrobial-resistant uropathogens: 83 (4.7%) extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing, 119 (6.7%) multidrug resistant (MDR) and 4 (0.2%) extensively drug resistant (XDR) bacteria. Empirical antibiotic therapy failed in 172 cases (9.6%). Having ESBL or MDR/XDR uropathogens, a history of recurrent UTI, antibiotic therapy in the preceding 30 days, and empirical treatment with amoxicillin or amoxicillin/clavulanate were significantly associated with treatment failure, whereas first-line therapy with third-generation cephalosporins was associated with protection against negative outcomes. In conclusion, the increase in the resistance of uropathogens to commonly used antibiotics requires continuous monitoring, and recommendations for antibiotic choice need updating. In our epidemiological context, amoxicillin/clavulanate no longer seems to be the appropriate first-line therapy for children hospitalised for UTI, whereas third-generation cephalosporins continue to be useful. To further limit the emergence of resistance, every effort to reduce and rationalise antibiotic consumption must be implemented.

Bronchiolitis is the most common lower respiratory tract infection in infants. According to evidence-based guidelines, diagnosis is clinical, there is no need for routine use of laboratory or instrumental tests and therapy is primarily supportive, based on oxygen and adequate fluid supplementation. Nevertheless, unnecessary diagnostic tests and pharmacological treatments are still very common. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to evaluate how the management of bronchiolitis has changed in the last ten years in a Tertiary Care Center in Italy, assessing adherence to national guidelines. Considering the publication of the Italian inter-society consensus document in 2014, we compared patients admitted in the prior four epidemic seasons with patients admitted in the latter six epidemic seasons. The comparison between the two groups showed a significant reduction in the prescription of systemic corticosteroids (58.9% vs. 41.8%, p < 0.001), nebulized epinephrine (73.8% vs. 38.3%, p < 0.001) and antibiotics (59.5% vs. 42.3%, p < 0.001), together with a drastic decrease in the use of chest X-ray (92.2% vs. 54.4%, p < 0.001). On the contrary, the use of inhaled salbutamol remained substantially stable over time (39.4% vs. 37.6%, p = 0.505). Despite the encouraging results, further efforts are needed to limit the prescription of ineffective therapies like antibiotics and inhaled salbutamol.

Human Adenoviruses (HAdV) are known to be potentially associated with strong inflammatory responses and morbidity in pediatric patients. Although most of the primary infections are self-limiting, the severity of clinical presentation, the elevation of the white blood cell count and inflammatory markers often mimic a bacterial infection and lead to an inappropriate use of antibiotics. In infections caused by HAdV, rapid antigen detection kits are advisable but not employed routinely; costs and feasibility of rapid syndromic molecular diagnosis may limit its use in the in-hospital setting; lymphocyte cultures and two-sampled serology are time consuming and impractical when considering the use of antibiotics. In this review, we aim to describe the principal diagnostic tools and the immune response in HAdV infections and evaluate whether markers based on the response of the host may help early recognition of HAdV and avoid inappropriate antimicrobial prescriptions in acute airway infections.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common bacterial infections in children, and Escherichia coli is the main pathogen responsible. Several guidelines, including the recently updated Italian guidelines, recommend amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (AMC) as a first-line antibiotic therapy in children with febrile UTIs. Given the current increasing rates of antibiotic resistance worldwide, this study aimed to investigate the three-year trend in the resistance rate of E. coli isolated from pediatric urine cultures (UCs) in a metropolitan area of northern Italy. We conducted a retrospective review of E. coli-positive, non-repetitive UCs collected in children aged from 1 month to 14 years, regardless of a diagnosis of UTI, catheter colonization, urine contamination, or asymptomatic bacteriuria. During the study period, the rate of resistance to AMC significantly increased from 17.6% to 40.2% (p < 0.001). Ciprofloxacin doubled its resistance rate from 9.1% to 16.3% (p = 0.007). The prevalence of multidrug-resistant E. coli rose from 3.9% to 9.2% (p = 0.015). The rate of resistance to other considered antibiotics remained stable, as did the prevalence of extended spectrum beta-lactamases and extensively resistant E. coli among isolates. These findings call into question the use of AMC as a first-line therapy for pediatric UTIs in our population, despite the indications of recent Italian guidelines.

SARS-CoV-2 pandemic restrictions have deeply altered the common respiratory illnesses burden. The aim of this paper was to clarify how these measures may have influenced bronchiolitis epidemiology, exploring possible explanations. We studied 342 infants hospitalized for bronchiolitis at our center from four different epidemic seasons (October–April 2017–2018, 2018–2019, 2019–2020 and 2020–2021). March–April hospitalization rate, RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) infection, pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission and oxygen therapy administration data were compared among different seasons to outline any changes during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. In March–April, 30 (23.1%), 28 (24.6%) and 5 (5.1%) infants were hospitalized for bronchiolitis, respectively, in 2017–2018, 2018–2019 and 2019–2020, with a lower rate in March–April 2020 (p < 0.001). No hospitalizations for bronchiolitis occurred during the epidemic season of 2020–2021. No significant differences in RSV infections, oxygen therapy administration and PICU admissions across seasons were outlined. In conclusion, we report a severe decrease in hospitalizations for bronchiolitis at our center throughout the entire SARS-CoV-2 outbreak rather than only during the lockdown periods. This seems to suggest a pivotal role for the systematic implementation of cost-effective non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) such as compulsory face masks and hand hygiene, which were deployed for the entire pandemic, in reducing the circulation of infectious agents.

Starting from the four component-Dirac equation for free, ballistic electrons with finite mass, driven by a constant d.c. field, we derive a basic model of scalar quantum conductivity, capable of yielding simple analytic forms, also in the presence of magnetic and polarization effects. The classical Drude conductivity is recovered as a limit case. A quantum-mechanical evaluation is provided for parabolic and linear dispersion, as in graphene, recovering currently used expressions as particular cases. Numerical values are compared with the ones from the literature in the case of graphene under d.c. applied field. In particular, the effect of the sample length and field strength on the conductivity are highlighted.

The availability of high quality manufacturing for optical micro/nano patterned cavities paves the way to the development of scalable circuits and devices based on optomechanical (OM) interaction of sound and light in extremely small volumes. In this contribution, we propose a new study on OM cavities that can lead to precise control of their coupling with closely integrated waveguides, a necessary condition to enhance mode excitation and wave energy trapping, opening the possibility for many potential applications in wave guiding, filtering, confinement, and sensing. Moreover, in this way the need for bulky experimental setups and/or optical fiber coupling/excitation is avoided. At the same time, quality factors of mechanical and optical modes resonating in the cavity are optimized, together with their OM coupling coefficients: high confinement of both excitations is a prerequisite to enable their acousto-optic (AO) interaction. To this aim, the transversal size of the cavity has been parabolically tapered, with the additional benefit of separating the cavity and the integrated waveguide far from the coupling region. The finite-element method has been used to perform full-wave analysis, and an accurate discussion about the simulation setup needed to properly describe optical scattering and radiation has been provided.

This paper deals with the electrochemical characterization and the equivalent circuit modeling of screen-printed electrodes, modified by an epoxy composite and loaded with carbon nanotubes (CNTs), pristine and functionalized NH2, and graphene nanoplates (GNPs). The fabrication method is optimized in order to obtain a good dispersion even at high concentration, up to 10%, to increase the range of investigation. Due to the rising presence of filler on the surface, the cyclic voltammetric analysis shows an increasing of (i) electrochemical response and (ii) filler concentration as observed by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Epoxy/CNTs-NH2 and epoxy/GNPs, at 10% of concentration, show the best electrochemical behavior. Furthermore, epoxy/CNTs-NH2 show a lower percolation threshold than epoxy/CNT, probably due to the direct bond created by amino groups. Furthermore, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is used to obtain an electrical equivalent circuit (EEC). The EEC model is a remarkable evolution of previous circuits present in the literature, by inserting an accurate description of the capacitive/inductive/resistive characteristics, thus leading to an enhanced knowledge of phenomena that occur during electrochemical processes.