Catholic University of the Sacred Heart

About: Catholic University of the Sacred Heart is a education organization based out in Milan, Lombardia, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 13592 authors who have published 31048 publications receiving 853961 citations.

Network Structure and Innovation: The Leveraging of a Dual Network as a Distinctive Relational Capability

Abstract: This paper employs comparative longitudinal case study research to investigate why and how strong dyadic interfirm ties and two alternative network architectures (a ‘strong ties network’ and a ‘dual network’) impact the innovative capability of the lead firm in an alliance network. I answer these intrinsically cross-level research questions by examining how three design-intensive furnishings manufacturers managed their networks of joint-design alliances with consulting industrial design firms over more than 30 years. Initially, in order to explore the sample lead firms’ alliance behavior, I advance an operationalization of interorganizational tie strength. Next, I unveil the strengths of strong ties and the weaknesses of a strong ties network. Finally, I show that the ability to integrate a large periphery of heterogeneous weak ties and a core of strong ties is a distinctive lead firm’s relational capability, one that provides fertile ground for leading firms in knowledge-intensive alliance networks to gain competitive advantages whose sustainability is primarily based on the dynamic innovative capability resulting from leveraging a dual network architecture.

Outcome of coronavirus spectrum infections (SARS, MERS, COVID-19) during pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract: Objective The aim of this systematic review was to report pregnancy and perinatal outcomes of coronavirus spectrum infections, and particularly coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) disease because of severe acute respiratory syndrome–coronavirus-2 infection during pregnancy. Data Sources Medline, Embase, Cinahl, and Clinicaltrials.gov databases were searched electronically utilizing combinations of word variants for coronavirus or severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS or Middle East respiratory syndrome or MERS or COVID-19 and pregnancy. The search and selection criteria were restricted to English language. Study Eligibility Criteria Inclusion criteria were hospitalized pregnant women with a confirmed coronavirus related–illness, defined as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), or COVID-19. Study Appraisal and Synthesis Methods We used meta-analyses of proportions to combine data and reported pooled proportions, so that a pooled proportion may not coincide with the actual raw proportion in the results. The pregnancy outcomes observed included miscarriage, preterm birth, preeclampsia, preterm prelabor rupture of membranes, fetal growth restriction, and mode of delivery. The perinatal outcomes observed were fetal distress, Apgar score Results Nineteen studies including 79 hospitalized women were eligible for this systematic review: 41 pregnancies (51.9%) affected by COVID-19, 12 (15.2%) by MERS, and 26 (32.9%) by SARS. An overt diagnosis of pneumonia was made in 91.8%, and the most common symptoms were fever (82.6%), cough (57.1%), and dyspnea (27.0%). For all coronavirus infections, the pooled proportion of miscarriage was 64.7% (8/12; 95% confidence interval, 37.9-87.3), although reported only for women affected by SARS in two studies with no control group; the pooled proportion of preterm birth Conclusion In hospitalized mothers infected with coronavirus infections, including COVID-19, >90% of whom also had pneumonia, preterm birth is the most common adverse pregnancy outcome. COVID-19 infection was associated with higher rate (and pooled proportions) of preterm birth, preeclampsia, cesarean, and perinatal death. There have been no published cases of clinical evidence of vertical transmission. Evidence is accumulating rapidly, so these data may need to be updated soon. The findings from this study can guide and enhance prenatal counseling of women with COVID-19 infection occurring during pregnancy, although they should be interpreted with caution in view of the very small number of included cases.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Abstract: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive lung disease characterized by progressive lung scarring and the histological picture of usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP). It is associated with increasing cough and dyspnoea and impaired quality of life. IPF affects ∼3 million people worldwide, with incidence increasing dramatically with age. The diagnostic approach includes the exclusion of other interstitial lung diseases or overlapping conditions and depends on the identification of the UIP pattern, usually with high-resolution CT; lung biopsy might be required in some patients. The UIP pattern is predominantly bilateral, peripheral and with a basal distribution of reticular changes associated with traction bronchiectasis and clusters of subpleural cystic airspaces. The biological processes underlying IPF are thought to reflect an aberrant reparative response to repetitive alveolar epithelial injury in a genetically susceptible ageing individual, although many questions remain on how to define susceptibility. Substantial progress has been made in the understanding of the clinical management of IPF, with the availability of two pharmacotherapeutic agents, pirfenidone and nintedanib, that decrease physiological progression and likely improve progression-free survival. Current efforts are directed at identifying IPF early, potentially relying on combinations of biomarkers that include circulating factors, demographics and imaging data.

Restoring Natural Sensory Feedback in Real-Time Bidirectional Hand Prostheses

Abstract: Hand loss is a highly disabling event that markedly affects the quality of life. To achieve a close to natural replacement for the lost hand, the user should be provided with the rich sensations that we naturally perceive when grasping or manipulating an object. Ideal bidirectional hand prostheses should involve both a reliable decoding of the user's intentions and the delivery of nearly "natural" sensory feedback through remnant afferent pathways, simultaneously and in real time. However, current hand prostheses fail to achieve these requirements, particularly because they lack any sensory feedback. We show that by stimulating the median and ulnar nerve fascicles using transversal multichannel intrafascicular electrodes, according to the information provided by the artificial sensors from a hand prosthesis, physiologically appropriate (near-natural) sensory information can be provided to an amputee during the real-time decoding of different grasping tasks to control a dexterous hand prosthesis. This feedback enabled the participant to effectively modulate the grasping force of the prosthesis with no visual or auditory feedback. Three different force levels were distinguished and consistently used by the subject. The results also demonstrate that a high complexity of perception can be obtained, allowing the subject to identify the stiffness and shape of three different objects by exploiting different characteristics of the elicited sensations. This approach could improve the efficacy and "life-like" quality of hand prostheses, resulting in a keystone strategy for the near-natural replacement of missing hands.