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► The result of a design procedure aimed at achieving zero energy balance in the residential sector is presented. ► With special regard to the Mediterranean climate, a new housing ...development is described and used for energy investigation. ► High performing and zero energy balance buildings cannot be reached by technology alone, but by the search of an integrated design combining passive tools with RES micro-generation. ► Zero energy balance and zero local CO2 emission houses in the Mediterranean climate are highly feasible.
Zero energy balance (ZEB) is an essential and paramount topic in building design. The paper addresses this important research area with special regard to the Mediterranean climate.
To deal with ZEB in architecture, a final design proposal for a new housing development in the peri-urban context of Tricase – a town located in the south of Italy – is presented and used for energy investigation. With reference to this pilot case study, the paper highlights that high performing and zero energy balance buildings cannot be reached by technology alone, but by the search for an integrated design combining passive tools (high thermal mass brick wall structures – as an evolution of the traditional stone construction of the region, high reflective materials, solar shading devices, ventilation strategies, etc.) with solar and wind energy micro-generation.
Results show that zero energy balance and zero local CO2 emission houses in the Mediterranean climate present high levels of feasibility, which can be simply achieved by energy-efficient solutions using local materials and traditional construction processes, thus resulting into high quality performing buildings within recognisable urban environments.
Tests of a dual-readout fiber calorimeter with SiPM light sensors Antonello, M.; Caccia, M.; Cascella, M. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
08/2018, Letnik:
899, Številka:
C
Journal Article
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In this paper, we describe the first tests of a dual-readout fiber calorimeter in which silicon photomultipliers are used to sense the (scintillation and Čerenkov) light signals. The main challenge ...in this detector is implementing a design that minimizes the optical crosstalk between the two types of fibers, which are located very close to each other and carry light signals that differ in intensity by about a factor of 60. The experimental data, which were obtained with beams of high-energy electrons and muons as well as in lab tests, illustrate to what extent this challenge was met. The Čerenkov light yield, a limiting factor for the energy resolution of this type of calorimeter, was measured to be about twice that of the previously tested configurations based on photomultiplier tubes. The lateral profiles of electromagnetic showers were measured on a scale of millimeters from the shower axis and significant differences were found between the profiles measured with the scintillating and the Čerenkov fibers.
A magnetic spectrometer has been developed for the AWAKE experiment at CERN in order to measure the energy distribution of bunches of electrons accelerated in wakefields generated by proton bunches ...in plasma. AWAKE is a proof-of-principle experiment for proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration, using proton bunches from the SPS. Electron bunches are accelerated to O(1GeV) in a rubidium plasma cell and then separated from the proton bunches via a dipole magnet. The dipole magnet also induces an energy-dependent spatial horizontal spread on the electron bunch which then impacts on a scintillator screen. The scintillation photons emitted are transported via three highly-reflective mirrors to an intensified CCD camera, housed in a dark room, which passes the images to the CERN controls system for storage and further analysis. Given the known magnetic field and determination of the efficiencies of the system, the spatial spread of the scintillation photons can be converted to an electron energy distribution. A lamp attached on a rail in front of the scintillator is used to calibrate the optical system, with calibration of the scintillator screen’s response to electrons carried out at the CLEAR facility at CERN. In this article, the design of the AWAKE spectrometer is presented, along with the calibrations carried out and expected performance such that the energy distribution of accelerated electrons can be measured.
Hadron detection with a dual-readout fiber calorimeter Lee, S.; Cardini, A.; Cascella, M. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
09/2017, Letnik:
866, Številka:
C
Journal Article
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In this paper, we describe measurements of the response functions of a fiber-based dual-readout calorimeter for pions, protons and multiparticle “jets” with energies in the range from 20 to 180 GeV. ...The calorimeter uses lead as absorber material and has a total mass of 1350 kg. It is complemented by leakage counters made of scintillating plastic, with a total mass of 500 kg. The effects of these leakage counters on the calorimeter performance are studied as well. In a separate section, we investigate and compare different methods to measure the energy resolution of a calorimeter. Using only the signals provided by the calorimeter, we demonstrate that our dual-readout calorimeter, calibrated with electrons, is able to reconstruct the energy of proton and pion beam particles to within a few percent at all energies. The fractional widths of the signal distributions for these particles (σ∕E) scale with the beam energy as 30%∕E, without any additional contributing terms.
Objective: To examine the applications of acupuncture for cancer pain management and the underlying molecular mechanisms. Materials and Methods: This narrative review was performed by collecting ...clinical trials, basic research, and reviews on acupuncture for cancer pain treatment. Articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals were included. Manuscripts not written in the English language were excluded. We researched PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases using keywords or combinations of the keywords: “cancer pain” and “acupuncture”. Articles published between 1 January 1989 and 8 August 2022 were selected. We further screened articles from peer-reviewed scientific journals that were written in English. We searched for relevant articles based on the title and abstract of the retrieved scientific outcome. The articles that potentially fit our aim were finally discussed. Results: An amount of 1318 articles were included in the initial search. After the remotion of 200 manuscripts before the screening and the exclusion of non-pertinent 50 articles, and 30 review papers, as well as letters (n=27), proceeding papers (n=24), and other papers (n=72), 915 articles were selected and discussed in the review. For narrative aims, we divided the discussion into two paragraphs “Acupuncture-induced Analgesic Mechanisms in Cancer Pain” and “Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture in Cancer Pain Treatment”. Conclusions: Given that cancer pain management requires a multimodal approach that involves a combination of pharmacological approaches with non-pharmacological strategies, acupuncture has interesting potential applications.
Skin-reducing mastectomy has been applied to several surgical techniques in which subcutaneous mastectomy is associated with various types of skin reduction, with preservation of a lower dermal flap ...to reinforce the inferior lateral seat of an implant. The aim of the study is to present a case series of patients with pendulous/ptotic and/or large-sized breasts treated for breast cancer at the Breast Surgery Unit of Istituto Nazionale Tumori IRCCS Fondazione "G. Pascale", Naples, Italy, with the superomedial pedicle skin-reducing mastectomy technique, two-stage reconstruction, and transaxillary video-assisted technique, when a postoperative radiotherapy was indicated. We verified its effectiveness by discussing its results, especially in patients who are candidates for postmastectomy radiotherapy.
A single-center retrospective study was performed between January 2020 and March 2021 on a prospectively filled database of conservative mastectomies. Of the 64 patients who underwent nipple/skin-sparing mastectomies in the mentioned period, 17 (mean age 46 years, range 30-62 years) were treated with superomedial pedicle skin-reducing mastectomy, with two-stage breast reconstruction through transaxillary video-assisted replacement expander with definitive prosthesis and contralateral symmetrization, selected for postmastectomy radiotherapy.
We had only three minor complications. No flap necrosis, no infections, no breast seromas, and no reconstructive failures were observed. During follow-up of the patients treated with video-assisted reconstruction, there were no cases of infection, hematoma, implant rupture, or suture dehiscence in the reconstructed breast.
Skin-reducing mastectomy with superomedial pedicle is a safe and reliable procedure to treat breast cancer in selected patients, i.e., those with pendulous/ptotic and or large-sized breasts. Particularly, in patients who undergo postmastectomy radiotherapy, the two-stage reconstruction with video-assisted transaxillary endoscopic approach can find its main indication, using incisions positioned far from the mammary region, offering numerous advantages.
In cancer patients undergoing surgery, tumor biology and anticancer treatments can increase the risk of perioperative bleeding and blood transfusions. Notably, blood transfusions can be potentially ...associated with an increased risk of life-threatening immune responses, acute lung injury, postoperative infections, and thromboembolism. Moreover, the link between perioperative transfusion and increased risk of cancer recurrence cannot be excluded. On the other hand, cancer patients have an increased risk of thromboembolism due to cancer itself and antineoplastic systemic treatments including chemotherapy and anti-angiogenic drugs. In this complex scenario, effective and safe strategies aimed at the prevention of blood transfusions are warranted. This narrative review addresses the efficacy, and the safety of the synthetic antifibrinolytic agent tranexamic acid (TXA) when used perioperatively in cancer surgery. Although in not oncologic surgery the use of TXA has been extensively studied, in the setting of cancer patients requiring surgery, the evidence is scarce. An overview of the ongoing clinical research is also provided. Keywords: tranexamic acid, cancer surgery, oncology, anemia, blood transfusion, anti-fibrinolytic
Previous studies have shown the efficacy of tapentadol (TP) for chronic cancer pain. We evaluated multiple effectiveness aspects of TP prolonged release on moderate-severe cancer-related pain, ...neuropathic pain (NeP), patient satisfaction, and quality of life.
An observational prospective study was conducted on 80 cancer patients. Opioid-naïve patients received a starting dose of prolonged-release TP 50 mg twice daily, and opioid-experienced patients were switched to TP, not to exceed 500 mg/day. Treatment response was evaluated at 3, 6, 30-40, and 60-70 days through response rate, numeric rating-scale scoring, survival analysis (time to event for response), pain-intensity difference, TP escalation-index percentage, and effects on NeP. The drug-sparing effect on concomitant therapies was evaluated.
Seventy of 80 patients (88%) were responders to treatment (95% CI 78%-94%). Compared to T
, pain-intensity reductions were statistically significant for all intervals (
<0.01), with better results at T
/T
. NeP was significantly reduced at T
(
<0.01). The probability of response was low at the initial stages and increased during the study. Pain-intensity differences decreased during the study, though without significance. Two patients (2.5%) left the study for TP-induced side effects. A significant improvement in quality of life was observed after 30-40 days (
<0.01). The majority of patients were "satisfied", "very satisfied", or "extremely satisfied" (T
-T
).
TP was effective in terms of drug-sparing effect, response rate, TP escalation-index percentage, and NeP management. By comparing data from the survival analysis with the response rate and time to response (numeric rating scale from T
to T
), we found that although TP induced a quick response, a longer period of therapy and higher doses were needed to improve the positive result.
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