Sapienza University of Rome

About: Sapienza University of Rome is a education organization based out in Rome, Lazio, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 62002 authors who have published 155468 publications receiving 4397244 citations. The organization is also known as: La Sapienza & Università La Sapienza di Roma.

Evaluation of techniques for the quantification of myocardial scar of differing etiology using cardiac magnetic resonance

Abstract: Objectives The aim of this study was to compare the reproducibility of 7 late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) quantification techniques across 3 conditions in which LGE is known to be important: acute myocardial infarction (AMI), chronic myocardial infarction (CMI), and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) Background LGE by cardiac magnetic resonance is the gold-standard technique for assessing myocardial scar No consensus exists on the best method for its quantification, and research in this area is scant Techniques include manual quantification, thresholding by 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 SDs above remote myocardium, and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) technique To date, LGE has been linked to outcome in 3 conditions: AMI, CMI, and HCM Methods Sixty patients with 3 LGE etiologies (AMI, n = 20; CMI, n = 20; HCM, n = 20) were scanned for LGE LGE volume was quantified using the 7 techniques Mean LGE volume, interobserver and intraobserver reproducibility, and impact on sample size were assessed Results LGE volume varied significantly with the quantification method used There was no statistically significant difference between LGE volume by the FWHM, manual, and 6-SD or 5-SD techniques The 2-SD technique generated LGE volumes up to 2 times higher than the FWHM, 6-SD, and manual techniques The reproducibility of all techniques was worse in HCM than AMI or CMI The FWHM technique was the most reproducible in all 3 conditions compared with any other method (p Conclusions Regardless of the disease under study, the FWHM technique for LGE quantification gives LGE volume mean results similar to manual quantification and is statistically the most reproducible, reducing required sample sizes by up to one-half

A bottom-up approach to residential load modeling

Abstract: A model of electric residential end-use is proposed for establishing the load diagram of an area by a process of synthesis. The model follows a "bottom-up" approach, allowing construction of the relative load shape of the area, starting from knowledge of its most relevant socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, unitary energy consumption and the load profiles of individual household appliances. Several probability functions have been introduced in order to cover the close relationship existing between the demand of residential customers and the psychological and behavioral factors typical of the household; the model makes frequent use of the latter through a Monte Carlo extraction process. The model has been applied for the simulation of a residential area where field measurements of power demand had been made at 15-minute intervals and a combined mail survey had been conducted to investigate household energy usage. The paper reports the results of a comparison between recorded and predicted load profiles. >