Professionalism in nursing: difference between theoretical learning and clinical activity]

There still seems to exist some dichotomy in nursing education between theoretical achievements and clinical practice, a key moment to verify applied knowledge and put it into practice. The aim with the present study is to compare activities considered professionalizing at a theoretical level with activities being performed during clinical practice. The instrument utilised to collect data was a questionnaire on nurse-professionalism using a Likert scale. The subject participating in the study were 3rd year nursing students from three universities in Rome. The results clearly shows how the theoretical preparation of nurse students is in contrast with clinical practice performance. The only nursing area where theory and practice seem to correspond is that of individualised nursing care, the biggest gap between theory and practice was found concerning research activities.     

A parallel decoding algorithm for LZ2 data compression

The LZ2 compression method is hardly parallelizable since it is known to be P-complete. In spite of such negative result, we show in this paper that the decoding process can be parallelized efficiently on an EREW PRAM model of computation with O(n/log(n)) processors and O(log² n) time, where n is the length of the output string.     

miR-200c-3p Regulates Epitelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Epicardial Mesothelial Cells by Targeting Epicardial Follistatin-Related Protein 1

Recent findings suggest that epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), a key step during heart development, is involved in cardiac tissue repair following myocardial infarction (MI). MicroRNAs (miRNAs) act as key regulators in EMT processes; however, the mechanisms by which miRNAs target epicardial EMT remain largely unknown. Here, by using an in vitro model of epicardial EMT, we investigated the role of miRNAs as regulators of this process and their potential targets. EMT was induced in murine epicardial-mesothelial cells (EMCs) through TGF β1 treatment for 48, 72, and 96 h as indicated by the expression of EMT-related genes by qRT-PCR, WB, and immunofluorescence. Further, enhanced expression of stemness genes was also detected. Among several EMT-related miRNAs, miR-200c-3p expression resulted as the most strongly suppressed. Interestingly, we also found a significant upregulation of Follistatin-related protein 1 (FSTL1), a miR-200c predicted target already identified as a potent cardiogenic factor produced by epicardial cells that promotes regeneration following MI. Dual-luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that miR-200c-3p directly targeted the 3′-untranslated region of FSTL1 in EMCs. Consistently, WB analysis showed that knockdown of miR-200c-3p significantly increased FSTL1 expression, whereas overexpression of miR-200c-3p counteracted TGF β1-mediated FSTL1 upregulation. Importantly, FSTL1 silencing maintained epithelial features in EMCs, despite EMT induction by TGF β1, and attenuated EMT-associated traits, including migration and stemness. In conclusion, epicardial FSTL1, an important cardiogenic factor in its secreted form, induces EMT, stemness, and migration of EMCs in a miR-200c-3p dependent pathway.     

Construction and distribution of materialized views in Non-binary data space

Innovations in Systems and Software Engineering - Materialized views are heavily used to speed up the query response time of any data centric application. In the literature, the construction and...     

Verifiability in Systems and Data Engineering: Preface by the Special Issue Editors

Innovations in Systems and Software Engineering -     

Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) bottoming with Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs)

This paper describes a specific thermodynamic analysis in order to efficiently match a vapour cycle to that of a stationary Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). Three different working fluids are considered to represent the main classes of fluids, with reference to the shape of the vapour lines in the T–s diagram: overhanging, nearly isoentropic and bell shaped. First a parametric analysis is conducted in order to determine optimal evaporating pressures for each fluid. After which three different cycles setups are considered: a simple cycle with the use of only engine exhaust gases as a thermal source, a simple cycle with the use of exhaust gases and engine cooling water and a regenerated cycle.     

Assessment of poly(L-lactide) as an environmentally benign CO2 capture and storage adsorbent

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) in conjunction with an increasing use of renewables provides a clean pathway to sustainable development and climate change mitigation. In selecting a low temperature CCS adsorbent, parameters such as selectivity, regeneration energy, and economicity play a crucial role. Poly(L-lactide) (PLA) is one of the most promising materials in science and engineering, not only because it is a green polymer progressively replacing petrobased plastics, but also for its carbon dioxide (CO₂)-philic nature that makes it a suitable candidate for greenhouse gas capture and climate change mitigation. Literature data point to PLA as a valid CCS candidate, although no direct gaseous CO₂ adsorption investigation or with mild preparation/regenerative energy was reported. In the present experimental work, a deeper investigation of the adsorption/desorption properties of PLA in presence of gaseous CO₂ at room temperature was undertaken by means of a home-made Sievert-type apparatus. The effects of pressure (0–15 bar), morphology (commercial pellets, powder, and flakes), and regenerative energy (303 and 333 K) were investigated. PLA samples were also characterized by helium picnometry to obtain skeletal density and by XRD and SEM to obtain morphological and structural information. Results show that PLA represents a valid and ecological alternative among the materials for the capture of CO₂. The PLA absorption capacity reaches 16 wt% at 15 bar and 303 K, and is closely linked to the thermal treatment, morphology, and crystalline structure of the material.     

Scalaradial, a dialdehyde-containing marine metabolite that causes an unexpected noncovalent PLA2 Inactivation

Several marine terpenoids that contain at least one reactive aldehyde group, such as manoalide and its congeners, possess interesting anti-inflammatory activities that are mediated by the covalent inactivation of secretory phospholipase A(2) (sPLA(2)). Scalaradial, a 1,4-dialdehyde marine terpenoid that was isolated from the sponge Cacospongia mollior, is endowed with a relevant anti-inflammatory profile, both in vitro and in vivo, through selective sPLA(2) inhibition. Due to its peculiar dialdehyde structural feature, it has been proposed that scalaradial exerts its enzymatic inactivation by means of an irreversible covalent modification of its target. In the context of our on-going research on anti-PLA(2) natural products and their interaction at a molecular level, we studied scalaradial in an attempt to shed more light on the molecular mechanism of its PLA(2) inhibition. A detailed analysis of the reaction profile between scalaradial and bee venom PLA(2), a model sPLA(2) that shares a high structural homology with the human synovial enzyme, was performed by a combination of spectroscopic techniques, chemical reactions (selective modifications, biomimetic reactions), and classical protein chemistry (such as proteolytic digestion, HPLC and mass spectrometry), along with molecular modeling studies. Unexpectedly, our data clearly indicated the noncovalent forces to be the leading event in the PLA(2) inactivation process; thus, the covalent modification of the enzyme emerges as only a minor side event in the ligand-enzyme interaction. The overall picture might be useful in the design of SLD analogues as new potential anti-inflammatory compounds that target sPLA(2) enzymes.     

μ-EXAFS, μ-XRF, and μ-PL characterization of a multi-quantum-well electroabsorption modulated laser realized via selective area growth

In the past few years, strong efforts have been devoted to improving the frequency of optical-fiber communications. In particular, the use of a special kind of integrated optoelectronic device called an electroabsorption modulated laser (EML) allows communication at 10 Gb s(-1) or higher over long propagation spans (up to 80 km). Such devices are realized using the selective area growth (SAG) technique and are based on a multiple quantum well (MQW) distributed-feedback laser (DFB) monolithically integrated with a MQW electroabsorption modulator (EAM). Since the variation in the chemical composition between these two structures takes place on the micrometer scale, in order to study the spatial variation of the relevant parameters of the MQW EML structures, the X-ray microbeam available at the ESRF ID22 beamline is used. The effectiveness of the SAG technique in modulating the chemical composition of the quaternary alloy is proven by a micrometer-resolved X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) map. Here, reported micrometer-resolved extended X-ray absorption fine structure (μ-EXAFS) spectra represent the state of the art of μ-EXAFS achievable at third-generation synchrotron radiation sources. The results are in qualitative agreement with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and micrometer-resolved photoluminescence (μ-PL) data, but a technical improvement is still crucial in order to make μ-EXAFS really quantitative on such complex heterostructures.     

Changes in psychrotrophic microbial populations during milk creaming to produce Grana Trentino cheese

The aim of this study was to study the psychrotrophic microbiota developing during milk creaming of Grana Trentino cheese-making. 138 isolates from raw whole milk, cream and skim milk samples were screened by Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA PCR biotyping and representative strains of each biotype were characterised by partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing and enzymatic activity. Pseudomonadaceae were commonly isolated in cream samples while Streptococcaceae and Enterobacteriaceae in milk samples. Moraxellaceae and Flavobacteriaceae were found in both cream and milk samples.More than 80% of psychrotrophic isolates could grow at 37 °C. All Flavobacteriaceae and half of Pseudomonadaceae biotypes displayed proteolytic activity on milk agar even at low temperatures such as 10 °C. All Streptococcaceae and some of Enterobacteriaceae displayed acidifying activity and almost all Acinetobacter spp. (Moraxellaceae) displayed lipolytic activity towards tributyrin.Even if psychrotrophic bacteria is not the dominant microbial group in raw milk, their total number increases during creaming and becomes one of the most present group together with Lactic Acid Bacteria. Their enzymatic activities may be key players in determining milk quality for cheese making.