0000000001198784
AUTHOR
D. Di Trapani
MMP-2, MMP-9 and activin A blood levels in patients with breast cancer or prostate cancer metastatic to the bone.
Background: The clinical significance of the circulating levels of activin A and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and -9 (MMP-9) was investigated in patients with breast cancer (BC) or prostate cancer (PC) with (M1) or without (M0) bone metastasis. Patients and Methods: MMP-2, MMP-9 and activin A blood concentrations were measured by enzyme immunoassays in 79 cancer patients and in 57 healthy blood donors (HS) who served as a control group. The diagnostic accuracy of these molecules to discriminate between M0 and M1 patients was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and compared to that of tumor markers CA15.3 or prostate-specific antigen (PSA). Results: Activin A…
LE EMISSIONI DI GAS CLIMALTERANTI DAI SISTEMI MBR
La salvaguardia dell’ambiente pone ad oggi delle nuove sfide nei confronti dei cambiamenti climatici. Invero, il fenomeno del climate change, i cui principali effetti portano ad un innalzamento delle temperature a seguito del rilascio di emissioni di gas climalteranti (i.e., anidride carbonica, CO2; metano, CH4; protossido di azoto, N2O), richiede degli interventi a breve, medio e lungo termine per limitare i sempre più crescenti danni ambientali. Gli impianti di depurazione contribuiscono anch’essi al fenomeno del climate change attraverso le emissioni di gas climalteranti (Global Water Research Coalition – GWRC, 2011; Law et al., 2012; Zhan et al., 2017).
How radical prostatectomy procedures have changed over the last 10 years in Italy: a comparative analysis based on more than 1500 patients participating in the MIRROR-SIU/LUNA and the Pros-IT CNR study
Purpose Therapeutic strategies for prostate cancer (PCa) have been evolving dramatically worldwide. The current article reports on the evolution of surgical management strategies for PCa in Italy. Methods The data from two independent Italian multicenter projects, the MIRROR-SIU/LUNA (started in 2007, holding data of 890 patients) and the Pros-IT-CNR project (started in 2014, with data of 692 patients), were compared. Differences in patients' characteristics were evaluated. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify characteristics associated with robot-assisted (RA) procedure, nerve sparing (NS) approach, and lymph node dissection (LND). Results The two cohorts did not …
A moving bed membrane bioreactor pilot plant for carbon and nutrient removal
The paper reports the main results of an experimental gathering campaign carried out on a moving bed membrane bioreactor pilot plant conceived for carbon and nutrients removal according to a University of Cape Town scheme. Organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus removal, biokinetic/stoichiometric constants, membrane fouling tendency and sludge dewaterability have been assessed during experiments. The achieved results showed that pilot plant was able to guarantee very high carbon removal, with average efficiency of 98%. In terms of nitrification, the system showed an excellent performance, with efficiencies higher than 98% for most of the experiments. This result might be related to the pres…
Greenhouse gas emissions from membrane bioreactors: analysis of a two-year survey on MBRs
The study aims at evaluating the nitrous oxide (N2O) emission from membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for wastewater treatment. With this regards two-years of experimental activities were performed. More specifically, the study investigates the N2O emissions considering multiple influential factors: i. configurations (i.e., sequential batch- SB-MBR; pre-denitrification - DN-MBR; University Cape Town, UCT-MBR and UCT moving bed biofilm reactor, UCT-MB-MBR); ii. wastewater composition (municipal or industrial); iii. Plant operational conditions (i.e., sludge retention time, SRT, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, C/N, hydraulic retention time, HRT); iv. and membrane modules. Among the overall analysed config…
Whatsapp messenger as a tool for the multidisciplinary management in everyday clinical practice
Introduction & Objectives Communication between doctors is traditionally conducted by written clinical charts. Mobile health is becoming an integral part of modern healthcare system, improving accessibility and quality of medical care. Recent papers suggest that an increasing number of doctors are using in their practice mobile tools to communicate clinical informations (1,2). The aim of our study was to verify the adoption of WhatsApp Messenger in everyday clinical practice to obtain a real-time multidisciplinary collaboration among medical centers located in different areas of the city. Material & Methods In January 2016 a WhatsApp Messenger group was created among 25 specialists:…
Greenhouse gas from moving bed based integrated fixed film activated sludge membrane bioreactors
The present paper reports the results of a nitrous oxide production investigation in a moving bed based integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) membrane bioreactor (MBR) pilot plant designed in accordance with the UCT layout for biological phosphorous removal. Samples of gas and liquid were collected in order to measure the gaseous, as well as the dissolved concentration of N2O. Furthermore, the gas flow rate from each reactor was measured and the gas flux was estimated. The results confirmed that the anoxic reactor represents the main source of nitrous oxide production. A significant production of N2O was, however, also found in the anaerobic reactor, thus indicating a probable occur…