Search results for "CNO"

Building a statistical surveillance dashboard for COVID-19 infection worldwide

2020

When a pandemic like the current novel coronavirus (COVID-19) breaks out, it is important that authorities, healthcare organizations and official decision makers, have in place an effective monitoring system to promptly analyze data, create new insights into problematic areas and generate actionable knowledge for fact-based decision making. The aim of this article is to describe an initial work focused on building a comprehensive statistical surveillance dashboard for the epidemic of COVID-19, which can be exploited also for future needs. We propose novel ways of exploring, analyzing and presenting data, using metrics that have not been used previously. We also show the steps necessary to b…

Plant-wide modelling in wastewater treatment: showcasing experiences using the Biological Nutrient Removal Model

2020

Abstract Plant-wide modelling can be considered an appropriate approach to represent the current complexity in water resource recovery facilities, reproducing all known phenomena in the different process units. Nonetheless, novel processes and new treatment schemes are still being developed and need to be fully incorporated in these models. This work presents a short chronological overview of some of the most relevant plant-wide models for wastewater treatment, as well as the authors' experience in plant-wide modelling using the general model BNRM (Biological Nutrient Removal Model), illustrating the key role of general models (also known as supermodels) in the field of wastewater treatment…

Caratterizzazione microstrutturale e meccanica di giunti friction skin-stringer (2024/t4-7075/t6) saldati a basso e alto apporto termico

2011

Cross-culturally approaching the cycling behaviour questionnaire (CBQ) : Evidence from 19 countries

2022

Given different advances in applied literature, risky and positive behaviours keep gaining ground as key contributors for riding safety outcomes. In this regard, the Cycling Behaviour Questionnaire (CBQ) represents one of the tools available to assess the core dimensions of cycling behaviour and their relationship with road safety outcomes from a behavioural perspective. Nevertheless, it has never been psychometrically approached through a cross-cultural perspective. Therefore, this study aimed to perform the cross-cultural validation of the CBQ, examining its psychometric properties, reliability indexes, validity insights and descriptive scores in 19 countries distributed across five regio…

Luminescent CdSe Quantum Dot Arrays for Rapid Sensing of Explosive Taggants

2022

Chemical sensors based on fluorescent quantum dots have attracted intense interest because of their excellent optical and electronic properties compared to the routinely employed fluorescent organic dyes. This study reports a CdSe QD-polymer-based luminescent chemosensor, which is based on an array containing either green-emitting or red-emitting CdSe QDs embedded in polycaprolactone as a polymer host matrix. We evaluate the sensing capability of the nanocomposites by exposing both sensors to vapors of explosive taggants, explosive-like molecules, and some common solvents. Both nanocomposites exhibit a very fast response time of <30 s. The limit of detection of the sensors for 3-nitrotoluen…

Stabilization of unilamellar catanionic vesicles induced by β-cyclodextrins: A strategy for a tunable drug delivery depot.

2018

The limited stability of catanionic vesicles has discouraged their wide use for encapsulation and controlled release of active substances. Their structure can easily break down to form lamellar phases, micelles or rearrange into multilamellar vesicles, as a consequence of small changes in their composition. However, despite the limited stability, catanionic vesicles possess an attractive architecture, which is able to efficiently encapsulate both hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules. Therefore, improving the stability of the vesicles, as well as the control on unilamellar structures, are prerequisites for their wider application range. This study focuses on the impact of β-cyclodextrins fo…

Buccal drug delivery: what's new and what does the future hold?

2014

The buccal mucosa is the stratified squamous epithelial tissue inside lining of the cheeks. It is a favorable site of drug absorption since the tissue is non-keratinized, relatively immobile and strongly supplied with blood by a dense capillary-vessel network; moreover, it is highly tolerant to allergens, resistant to potentially harmful agents and has a relatively low enzymatic activity. The tissue consents quick onset of effect, offers an easily accessible and generally well-accepted site for drug delivery, is a useful route of administration in patients in an unconscious state (e.g., when swallowing is impaired), and is suitable for retentive dosage forms of administration. Buccal mucosa…

Spray dried hyaluronic acid microparticles for adhesion controlled aggregation and potential stimulation of stem cells

2017

Spray-dried microparticles of a derivative of hyaluronic acid (HA) have been engineered to obtain a controlled aggregation with Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSCs) into 3D constructs. We demonstrated the utility of chemical functionalization of a native constituent of the extracellular matrix to improve processing performances and to control on stem cell adhesion and differentiation. Native hyaluronic acid (HA), cell adhesive peptides (RGD), transforming growth factor β3, dexamethasone are biological agents potentially suitable for chondrogenic stimulation of hMSCS. However unmodified HA suffers of drawbacks in terms of stability and versatility of processing. Functionalization strategies…

Hyaluronic acid and alpha-elastin based hydrogel for three dimensional culture of vascular endothelial cells

2018

Abstract The aim of this work was to demonstrate that employing a copolymer of hyaluronic acid and α-elastin (HA-EDA-g-α-elastin) is possible to produce a scaffold able to support the adhesion and growth of human vascular endothelial cells (HUVEC) thanks to its ability to incorporate and control the diffusion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). HA-EDA-g-α-elastin was crosslinked with low molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HALMW) to obtain a hydrogel that gives rise to the formation of three dimensional sponge after the freeze drying process. The physicochemical features the obtained material along with its ability to act as a support for the three dimensional culture of endothelial…

Development of a simple, biocompatible and cost-effective Inulin-Diethylenetriamine based siRNA delivery system

2015

Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) have the potential to be of therapeutic value for many human diseases. So far, however, a serious obstacle to their therapeutic use is represented by the absence of appropriate delivery systems able to protect them from degradation and to allow an efficient cellular uptake. In this work we developed a siRNA delivery system based on inulin (Inu), an abundant and natural polysaccharide. Inu was functionalized via the conjugation with diethylenetriamine (DETA) residues to form the complex Inu-DETA. We studied the size, surface charge and the shape of the Inu-DETA/siRNA complexes; additionally, the cytotoxicity, the silencing efficacy and the cell uptake-mechanis…