University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

About: University of Modena and Reggio Emilia is a education organization based out in Modena, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Transplantation. The organization has 8179 authors who have published 22418 publications receiving 671337 citations. The organization is also known as: Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia & Universita degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Cardiac Diseases. An Urgent Need for Integrated Care.

Abstract: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a global health issue with high social and economic costs. Concomitant chronic cardiac disorders are frequent in patients with COPD, likely owing to shared risk factors (e.g., aging, cigarette smoke, inactivity, persistent low-grade pulmonary and systemic inflammation) and add to the overall morbidity and mortality of patients with COPD. The prevalence and incidence of cardiac comorbidities are higher in patients with COPD than in matched control subjects, although estimates of prevalence vary widely. Furthermore, cardiac diseases contribute to disease severity in patients with COPD, being a common cause of hospitalization and a frequent cause of death. The differential diagnosis may be challenging, especially in older and smoking subjects complaining of unspecific symptoms, such as dyspnea and fatigue. The therapeutic management of patients with cardiac and pulmonary comorbidities may be similarly challenging: bronchodilators may have cardiac side effects, and, vice versa, some cardiac medications should be used with caution in patients with lung disease. The aim of this review is to summarize the evidence of the relationship between COPD and the three most frequent and important cardiac comorbidities in patients with COPD: ischemic heart disease, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation. We have chosen a practical approach, first summarizing relevant epidemiological and clinical data, then discussing the diagnostic and screening procedures, and finally evaluating the impact of lung-heart comorbidities on the therapeutic management of patients with COPD and heart diseases.

Menopause-related blood pressure increase and its relationship to age and body mass index: the SIMONA epidemiological study.

Abstract: BackgroundMenopause is commonly associated with some blood pressure (BP) rise, but cross-sectional or longitudinal studies completed so far were often too small and were unable to indicate whether this BP increase is really dependent on menopause, or was caused by age or changes in body mass index (

Chlorination disadvantages and alternative routes for biofouling control in reverse osmosis desalination

Abstract: With an ever-increasing human population, access to clean water for human use is a growing concern across the world. Seawater desalination to produce usable water is essential to meet future clean water demand. Desalination processes, such as reverse osmosis and multi-stage flash have been implemented worldwide. Reverse osmosis is the most effective technology, which uses a semipermeable membrane to produce clean water under an applied pressure. However, membrane biofouling is the main issue faced by such plants, which requires continuous cleaning or regular replacement of the membranes. Chlorination is the most commonly used disinfection process to pretreat the water to reduce biofouling. Although chlorination is widely used, it has several disadvantages, such as formation of disinfection by-products and being ineffective against some types of microbes. This review aims to discuss the adverse effect of chlorination on reverse osmosis membranes and to identify other possible alternatives of chlorination to reduce biofouling of the membranes. Reverse osmosis membrane degradation and mitigation of chlorines effects, along with newly emerging disinfection technologies, are discussed, providing insight to both academic institutions and industries for the design of improved reverse osmosis systems.