Summary
The aim of this study was to compare clinical sleep bruxism (SB) diagnosis with an instrumental diagnosis obtained with a device providing electromyography/electrocardiography (EMG/ECG) ...recordings. Forty‐five (N = 45) subjects (19 males and 26 females, mean age 28 ± 11 years) were selected among patients referring to the Gnathology Unit of the Dental School of the University of Torino. An expert clinician assessed the presence of SB based on the presence of one or more signs/symptoms (i.e. transient jaw muscle pain in the morning, muscle fatigue at awakening, presence of tooth wear, masseter hypertrophy). Furthermore, all participants underwent an instrumental recording at home with a portable device (Bruxoff®; OT Bioelettronica, Torino, Italy) allowing a simultaneous recording of EMG signals from both the masseter muscles as well as heart frequency. Statistical procedures were performed with the software Statistical Package for the Social Science v. 20.0 (SPSS 20.0®; IBM, Milan, Italy). Based on the EMG/ECG analysis, 26 subjects (11 males, 15 females, mean age 28 ± 10 years) were diagnosed as sleep bruxers, whilst 19 subjects (7 males, 12 females, mean age 30 ± 10 years) were diagnosed as non‐bruxers. The correlation between the clinical and EMG/ECG SB diagnoses was low (ϕ value = 0·250), with a 62·2% agreement (28/45 subjects) between the two approaches (kappa = 0·248). Assuming instrumental EMG/ECG diagnosis as the standard of reference for definite SB diagnosis in this investigation, the false‐positive and false‐negative rates were unacceptable for all clinical signs/symptoms. In conclusion, findings from clinical assessment are not related with SB diagnosis performed with a portable EMG/ECG recorder.
Robust biomarkers for anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) activity in the human brain are essential to increase the probability of successful drug development. The frequency analysis of ...electroencephalographic (EEG) activity, either spontaneous or evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS-EEG) can provide cortical readouts for AEDs. However, a systematic evaluation of the effect of AEDs on spontaneous oscillations and TMS-related spectral perturbation (TRSP) has not yet been provided. We studied the effects of Lamotrigine, Levetiracetam, and of a novel potassium channel opener (XEN1101) in two groups of healthy volunteers. Levetiracetam suppressed TRSP theta, alpha and beta power, whereas Lamotrigine decreased delta and theta but increased the alpha power. Finally, XEN1101 decreased TRSP delta, theta, alpha and beta power. Resting-state EEG showed a decrease of theta band power after Lamotrigine intake. Levetiracetam increased theta, beta and gamma power, while XEN1101 produced an increase of delta, theta, beta and gamma power. Spontaneous and TMS-related cortical oscillations represent a powerful tool to characterize the effect of AEDs on in vivo brain activity. Spectral fingerprints of specific AEDs should be further investigated to provide robust and objective biomarkers of biological effect in human clinical trials.
•Torrefaction of tomato peels was studied.•Temperature results more significant than residence time.•Up to 30% of the mass was lost with an energy densification increment of about 20%.•Torrefaction ...produces high carbon content fuel-like material.•Results suggest the application of a mild torrefaction.
The standardization is an important aspect for fuel products. Some residual biomass are highly heterogeneous making their energy use rather difficult. Torrefaction can represent an interesting process to improve the standardization and quality of the lignocellulosic biomass. In the present research torrefaction has been applied on tomato peels, an important Italian industry residue. Different residence times and torrefaction temperatures have been employed in a bench top torrefaction reactor. Proximate, ultimate, thermogravimetric and infrared analyses of raw and torrefied material have been performed to evaluate the influence of the process. From the mildest condition studied to the most severe one, mass yield, energy yield and energy densification vary in the ranges of 94.7–69.9%, 98.0–86.0% and 1.04–1.23 respectively. According to mass and energy yields, ultimate analysis and thermogravimetric profiles, temperature parameter results more significant than residence time. Torrefaction makes the material increasingly hydrophobic as torrefaction temperature increases. This results in a more biologically stable and standardized material suitable to be employed as fuel for energy application. The results of this paper provide useful indications and suggest a mild torrefaction.
In Italy 1.5 Tg dry matter of residues are estimated to be produced by the agri-food sector. Approximately 30% of them are represented by residues of wine industry sector: grape marc. Referring to ...its production, it is possible to evaluate about 10 Mg of grapes from each vineyard hectare that generate, as wine industry residue, 2.7 Mg of grape marc, corresponding to about 19 GJ in terms of energy content. This kind of biomass is heterogenous and composed of stalks, grape skins and seeds. In this paper, in order to investigate the possibility of an energy and industrial utilization, the physical-chemical characteristics of each single component of grape marc are examined. In addition, a mechanical extraction test on the seed was performed to evaluate the vegetable oil production and the characteristics of the cake. Results on grape marc components put in evidence some difference in terms of ash and chemical elements content, which represent, specifically for these materials, the most critical aspects to take into account in combustion heating systems.
► Physical-chemical characteristics of the single component of grape marc have been studied. ► We carried out analyzes on stalks, grape skins, seeds, oikcakes and extraction meals. ► We also evaluated the grapeseed oil production. ► There are some differences in terms of ash and some chemical element among grape marc components. ► The separation in different components can be useful for grape marc valorization.
A Finite Element workflow for the multiscale analysis of the aortic valve biomechanics was developed and applied to three physiological anatomies with the aim of describing the aortic valve ...interstitial cells biomechanical milieu in physiological conditions, capturing the effect of subject-specific and leaflet-specific anatomical features from the organ down to the cell scale. A mixed approach was used to transfer organ-scale information down to the cell-scale. Displacement data from the organ model were used to impose kinematic boundary conditions to the tissue model, while stress data from the latter were used to impose loading boundary conditions to the cell level. Peak of radial leaflet strains was correlated with leaflet extent variability at the organ scale, while circumferential leaflet strains varied over a narrow range of values regardless of leaflet extent. The dependency of leaflet biomechanics on the leaflet-specific anatomy observed at the organ length-scale is reflected, and to some extent emphasized, into the results obtained at the lower length-scales. At the tissue length-scale, the peak diastolic circumferential and radial stresses computed in the fibrosa correlated with the leaflet surface area. At the cell length-scale, the difference between the strains in two main directions, and between the respective relationships with the specific leaflet anatomy, was even more evident; cell strains in the radial direction varied over a relatively wide range (
0.36
-
0.87
) with a strong correlation with the organ length-scale radial strain (
R
2
=
0.95
); conversely, circumferential cell strains spanned a very narrow range (
0.75
-
0.88
) showing no correlation with the circumferential strain at the organ level (
R
2
=
0.02
). Within the proposed simulation framework, being able to account for the actual anatomical features of the aortic valve leaflets allowed to gain insight into their effect on the structural mechanics of the leaflets at all length-scales, down to the cell scale.
Vine is one of the most widespread crop cultivated in Italy. The management of these residues is linked to an additional cost for the operator and determines environmental issues mainly due to open ...field combustion. A better exploitation of these residues could be the use for thermal energy production in residential heating devices fuelled with pellet. In the present work vineyard pruning residues were collected, pelletised, then characterised according to the standard for solid biofuels. Combustion tests were performed in a 150 kWth boiler fuelled with pruning pellet and the related TSP, CO, NOx emissions were measured. In order to make a comparison with the open field combustion emissions of the vineyard pruning residues, simulation tests were conducted at lab scale. Open field emissions are up to 120 times for CO emission and 30 times for TSP more than the boiler emission. Results highlighted that by avoiding open field combustion and using this residual biomass for energy production, a significant reduction of environmental pollution together with an increase in renewable energy production can be obtained. The results can be useful as support for policy makers engaged in developing the strategy for the promotion of renewable energy and air quality improvement.
•Raw vineyard pruning residues and their pellet were characterised as solid biofuels.•Combustion tests with vineyard residues pellet were carried out on 150kWth boiler.•Open field combustion of vineyard residues were simulated at lab scale.•Open field combustion emits up to 120 times CO and 30 times TSP more than boiler.•In Italy open field vineyard pruning combustion can emit 137 kt CO and 13.7 kt TSP.
•EN ISO 17,225-2 requires information about the origin and source of the pellet.•Italian national legislation considers wood-based composite materials as waste.•Virgin wood and residues of wood ...processing industry were collected and analysed.•FT-NIRS coupled with PLS-DA has been evaluated as a suitable screening tool.•Variables selection enhances the classification performance.
The increasing concern regarding energy supply and the consequent rapid growth of the pellet market lead to the need to classify the product quality. To this aim, chemical-physical parameters and qualitative attributes are defined by the technical standards EN ISO 17,225 to classify the quality of biofuels, but, while the former can be determined by traditional chemical analysis, no methodologies have been set for the latter one. Hence, near-infrared spectroscopy was tested to obtain information about the origin and the source of the pellet, at the moment only declared by the producers and difficult to be achieved by conventional analysis. In fact, the great strength of the technique is based on the fact that biomass features could be read simultaneously with a rapid and cheap NIR measurement. Checking the presence of treated wood (e.g. residues from wood processing industry) especially in densified products, such as pellets and briquettes, is particular important since in several European countries, e.g. Italy, these materials are considered as waste. In this study more than a hundred samples of virgin and treated wood (residues from wood processing industries) were analysed by means of FT-NIR. Partial Least Square regression – Discriminant Analysis was used in order to classify samples between the two classes and different variables selection methods were tested in order to improve the classification performance of the models. The results obtained demonstrated that near infrared analysis coupled with multivariate analysis can be used in screening applications to classify virgin wood from glue-laminated wood and treated wood. In particular, the model for the discrimination of treated wood (except glue-laminated samples) from virgin wood performs 100% correct classification and the model for the discrimination between virgin wood and glue-laminated wood only has a 3.6% misclassification rate. The methodology can be considered as the first one able to provide information about the origin of the biomass in a rapid and cheap way.
West Nile virus (WNV), a mosquito-borne flavivirus in the Japanese encephalitis antigenic group, has caused sporadic outbreaks in humans, horses and birds throughout many of the warmer regions of ...Europe for at least 20 years. Occasional cases of West Nile encephalitis have also been associated with infected blood transfusions and organ donations. Currently, WNV appears to be expanding its geographical range in Europe and causing increasing numbers of epidemics/outbreaks associated with human morbidity and mortality. This brief review reports on the current epidemic situation regarding WNV in Europe, highlighting the clinical, diagnostic and preventive measures available for controlling this apparently emerging human pathogen.
Osteoporosis and other diseases of bone loss are a major public health problem. Here it is shown that the statins, drugs widely used for lowering serum cholesterol, also enhance new bone formation in ...vitro and in rodents. This effect was associated with increased expression of the bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) gene in bone cells. Lovastatin and simvastatin increased bone formation when injected subcutaneously over the calvaria of mice and increased cancellous bone volume when orally administered to rats. Thus, in appropriate doses, statins may have therapeutic applications for the treatment of osteoporosis.
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