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PubblicazioneParticle-laden flows( 2025)Particle-laden flows are encountered in countless technological applications and natural processes, thus playing a pivotal role in the field of multiphase flow. What is fascinating about particle-laden flows is their marked multiscale nature, which is accompanied by a variety of small-scale phenomena that govern the macroscopic flow behavior. Because of this, modeling, measuring and simulating the dynamics of the particles and their interaction with the flow has always posed formidable challenges to the scientific community. Despite these challenges, the combined efforts of the community have led to significant progress in the understanding of the fundamental aspects, which we survey in this synoptic review. In particular, we explore the different features of particle–fluid interaction and their dependence on the particle and flow properties. Starting from the case of a single particle interacting with the flow, we discuss situations of increasing complexity like particle–particle interactions and collective particle dynamics. Situations in which particles evolve in complex flows, in particular turbulent ones, or inside complex fluids, e.g. non-Newtonian ones, are also discussed. The review ends by providing an outlook on the future directions that are expected to drive research in the coming years and the open issues that must be addressed to ensure further progress of the knowledge.
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PubblicazioneGenomic modifiers of neurological resilience in a Niemann-Pick C family( 2025)Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease, caused by NPC1 or NPC2 variants, disrupts cholesterol and glycolipid trafficking, leading to diverse clinical manifestations. To understand the genetic basis of neurological resilience, we analyzed an NPC family with variable phenotypes, identifying loss-of-function variants in CCDC115, SLC4A5, DEPDC5, ETFDH, SNRNP200, and DOCK1 that co-segregated with milder neurological involvement. Using yeast models, we successfully predicted NPC-like severity based on orthologous gene variants. RNA-seq revealed a positive correlation between mitochondrial transcripts and cellular fitness. Modeling NPC in yeast lacking the SLC4A5 ortholog, bor1, enhanced cellular fitness, improved mitochondrial function, and reduced sterol accumulation. Our findings identify potential modifiers and biomarkers of NPC severity, highlighting mitochondrial pathways and SLC4A5 as a therapeutic target. Impact statement Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease is a progressive neurovisceral lysosomal storage disorder. Here, we identified genomic modifiers of neurological resilience in an NPC family, with SLC4A5 emerging as a key biomarker and therapeutic target. Additionally, our study highlighted mitochondrial transcripts and metabolites as potential biomarkers of severity.
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PubblicazionemHealth Apps Available in Italy to Support Health Care Professionals in Antimicrobial Stewardship Implementation: Systematic Search in App Stores and Content Analysis( 2025)Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major challenge of the 21st century. Digital technologies are now an increasingly effective means of supporting optimal health care delivery and public health. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the apps available to support health care professionals in the fight against AMR. Methods: A total of 4 independent researchers conducted a systematic search of the App Store and Google Play Store using the following keywords: "antimicrobial resistance," "antibiotic resistance," "antimicrobial stewardship," "antibiotic stewardship," "antibiotic guide," "antibiotic therapy," and "antimicrobial therapy." The same keywords were also searched in Italian. The apps whose contents were in languages other than Italian or English, or apps which were games, or had multimedia or paid content and advertising, or apps for only specific pathologies were not considered. A set of basic information was collected for all apps found. After downloading the apps, they were evaluated using an 86-item checklist containing expert-validated criteria aggregated in the domains of pathogens and etiological agents, diagnosis and therapy support, AMR, dashboard function, antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), notes and recordings, network, and technical characteristics of the app. Results: First, 115 apps were identified: 31 apps for Android and 84 apps for iOS. By applying the exclusion criteria, 31 apps were excluded (16 for Android and 15 for iOS) for the following reasons: not available in Italian or English (6 apps), not freely available (14 apps), required registration (5 apps), and games (6 apps). The remaining 84 eligible apps (15 for Android and 69 for iOS) were downloaded, installed, and further analyzed using the same criteria, excluding 57 apps (48 for iOS and 9 for Android) for the following reasons: required further registration (16 apps), language other than Italian or English (17 apps), pathology specific (5 apps), paid content (8 apps), specific to veterinarians (4 apps), recreational apps (2 apps), referred to only scientific articles (1 app), no longer available (1 app), and not health care objectives (3 apps). The remaining 27 apps (6 for Android and 21 for iOS) were selected for in-depth analysis. Of the 27 apps that met the inclusion criteria, most apps did not fulfill the desirable aspects and only 2 of them achieved a fulfillment score of 36%. The highest scores were achieved for support for diagnosis and therapy (37%) and technical characteristics of the app (23%). Lower scores were achieved for AMS (8%), pathogens and etiological agents (4%), notes and records (3%), network (2%), AMR (1%), and dashboard function (1%). Conclusions: None of the apps examined successfully provided the desired features and functions. To better engage of prescribers in the fight against AMR, the development of an app that meets the requirements is needed.
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PubblicazioneThe role of grey water footprint in urban wastewater management: from pollution to reuse( 2025)The grey water footprint (WFgrey), defined as the volume of freshwater required to dilute pollutants below ambient water quality standards, has gained increasing relevance as a qualitative indicator of wastewater impact on receiving water bodies (RWB). This study evaluates the WFgrey using real data from a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and its associated RWB over an eight-year period (2016–2023). A wide range of pollutants were considered, including organic compounds, solids, nutrients, and heavy metals. The analysis considered three scenarios: (a) untreated wastewater discharge, (b) treated effluent discharge, and (c) treated wastewater reuse for agricultural purposes. Results indicate that the WWTP significantly reduces pollutant loads, with scenario (b) showing an average 8-fold decrease in WFgrey compared to scenario (a). Ammonium (in scenario (a)) and phosphorus (in scenario (b)) emerged as the primary contributors to WFgrey, highlighting the limited phosphorus removal due to the absence of dedicated chemical or biological treatments. Lead was found to be the most impactful heavy metal in several instances, underlining the importance of monitoring low-concentrated contaminants. Ammonium and total nitrogen showed the highest removal efficiency, whereas phosphorus removal was relatively inefficient, reinforcing the need for future plant upgrades. Furthermore, the reuse scenario (c) demonstrated the potential of nutrientrich treated effluent for irrigation, particularly during dry summer months, offering dual benefits of pollution reduction and resource recovery. Overall, WFgrey proved to be a robust and accessible indicator for evaluating WWTP performance, identifying critical pollutants, guiding plant optimization, and supporting sustainable discharge and reuse strategies. Future developments should expand monitoring to emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, microplastics, and additional heavy metals to ensure comprehensive environmental protection.
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PubblicazioneProduction and characterization of bioaerogel particles from strawberries and their application as oil structuring ingredient in low-saturated fat cocoa spreads( 2025)Bioaerogels bear high potential in the development of fat-replacers, due to their oil-structuring capacity. However, current aerogel preparation from biopolymeric gels requires a complex and resource-intensive process, which might limit their adoption as oil-structuring food ingredients. A simpler and more sustainable process to produce bioaerogels could be based on their direct preparation from plant tissues rather than from biopolymeric gels. Similar to gels, also in plant tissues, water is embedded into a fibrous network, so water removal while preserving tissue structure can lead to porous materials with bioaerogel properties, avoiding biopolymer extraction, purification and sol-gel steps. This work aimed to demonstrate the potential of tissue-derived aerogels as fat-replacement ingredients in cocoa spreads. To this aim, strawberry pulp was subjected to water-to-ethanol exchange, wet milling, and supercritical-CO2-drying. This process resulted in bioaerogel particles with high mesopore volume (0.69 cm3 g−1), low density (0.03 g cm−3) and high surface area (233 m2 g−1). The particles showed an oil absorption capacity higher than 90%, leading to a self-standing material retaining 80% oil upon centrifugation. Strawberry bioaerogel particles were used to formulate low-saturated fat cocoa spreads. A bioaerogel particle amount as low as 0.2–0.4 g/100 gspread was enough to obtain spreads covering a wide range of rheological and spreadability properties. Preliminary techno-economic assessment demonstrated the technical and economic feasibility of the proposed process to produce bioaerogels from plant tissues intended as fat-replacement ingredients.