Ricerc@Sapienza

Advancements in sample preparation for performing elemental analysis are coming from the dissemination of microwave-assisted procedures, but there is still room for improvements by looking for fast and easily applicable procedures. In the present study, the open-vessel digestion sample treatment (19–21 °C or 95 °C) was compared with closed-vessel microwave-assisted digestion (180 °C). Detection and quantification limits, accuracy, precision, residual carbon content, and residual acidity were quantified with certified and in-field hair samples.

A cheap and small device for sampling atmospheric particulate matter (PM) has been recently developed. It works at a very low flow rate (0.5 L min–1) and is able to collect the atmospheric aerosol on filters, allowing subsequent chemical analyses. The samplings have a long duration (1–2 months), and the devices can be used to make cheap networks over a territory. These very-low-volume samplers (VLVS) can be used to trace long-term concentration variations and to draw up concentration maps of PM and its chemical components.

The aim of the present work is the development of a fast and reliable analytical multiresidue method for the confirmation of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs residues in muscle, plasma and milk. The samples are extracted with organic solvent and purified with liquid-liquid extraction (LLE). The purified extract was analyzed by LC-HRMS.

No validated prognostic tool is available for predicting overall survival (OS) of patients with well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors (WDNETs). This study, conducted in three independent cohorts of patients from five different European countries, aimed to develop and validate a classification prognostic score for OS in patients with stage IV WDNETs.

BACKGROUND: The added value of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) in the follow-up of patients with stable pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remains undefined. METHODS: Idiopathic, heritable, and drug-induced PAH patients free from clinical worsening (CW) after 1 year of treatment were enrolled in derivation (n?=?80) and validation (n?=?80) cohorts at an interval of 6 years and followed for 3 years.

The estimation of the precipitable water vapor content (W) with high temporal and spatial resolution is of great interest in both meteorological and climatological studies. Several methodologies based on remote sensing techniques have been recently developed, in order to obtain accurate and frequent measurements of this atmospheric parameter. Among them, the relative low cost and easy deployment of sun-sky radiometers, or sun-photometers, operating in several international networks, allowed the development of automatic estimations of W from these instruments with high temporal resolution.