University of Palermo

About: University of Palermo is a education organization based out in Palermo, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 15621 authors who have published 40250 publications receiving 964384 citations. The organization is also known as: Università degli Studi di Palermo & Universita degli Studi di Palermo.

Electrodialysis Applications in Wastewater Treatment for Environmental Protection and Resources Recovery: A Systematic Review on Progress and Perspectives

Abstract: This paper presents a comprehensive review of studies on electrodialysis (ED) applications in wastewater treatment, outlining the current status and the future prospect. ED is a membrane process of separation under the action of an electric field, where ions are selectively transported across ion-exchange membranes. ED of both conventional or unconventional fashion has been tested to treat several waste or spent aqueous solutions, including effluents from various industrial processes, municipal wastewater or salt water treatment plants, and animal farms. Properties such as selectivity, high separation efficiency, and chemical-free treatment make ED methods adequate for desalination and other treatments with significant environmental benefits. ED technologies can be used in operations of concentration, dilution, desalination, regeneration, and valorisation to reclaim wastewater and recover water and/or other products, e.g., heavy metal ions, salts, acids/bases, nutrients, and organics, or electrical energy. Intense research activity has been directed towards developing enhanced or novel systems, showing that zero or minimal liquid discharge approaches can be techno-economically affordable and competitive. Despite few real plants having been installed, recent developments are opening new routes for the large-scale use of ED techniques in a plethora of treatment processes for wastewater.

Cut-off points of the visceral adiposity index (VAI) identifying a visceral adipose dysfunction associated with cardiometabolic risk in a Caucasian Sicilian population.

Abstract: Background: The Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI) is a sex-specific mathematical index, based on Waist Circumference (WC), Body Mass Index (BMI), triglycerides (TG) and HDL cholesterol (HDL) levels, indirectly expressing visceral adipose function and insulin sensitivity. Our aim was to find the optimal cut-off points of VAI identifying a visceral adipose dysfunction (VAD) associated with cardiometabolic risk in a Caucasian Sicilian population. Methods: Medical check-up data of 1,764 Primary Care patients (PC patients) were retrospectively and crosssectionally examined using a receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve to determine appropriate stratified-forage cut-off of VAI, for the identification of PC patients with Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) according to the NCEP-ATP III criteria. The PC patients with higher VAI scores were subdivided into three groups according to VAI tertiles (i.e. PC patients with mild VAD, moderate VAD or severe VAD). Finally, VAD classes were compared to classical cardioand cerebrovascular risk factors as independent predictors of coronary heart disease and/or myocardial infarction, transient ischemic attack and/or ischemic stroke. Results: Moderate and severe VADs proved to be independently associated with cardiovascular events [(OR: 5.35; 95% CI: 1.92-14.87; p = 0.001) and (OR: 7.46; 95% CI: 2.64-21.05; p < 0.001) respectively]. Mild, moderate and severe VADs were found to be independently associated with cerebrovascular events [(OR: 2.73; 95% CI: 1.12-6.65; p = 0.027), (OR: 4.20; 95% CI: 1.86-9.45; p = 0.001) and (OR: 5.10; 95% CI: 2.14-12.17; p < 0.001) respectively]. Conclusions: Our study suggests that among Caucasian Sicilian subjects there are clear cut-off points of VAI able to identify a VAD strongly associated with cardiometabolic risk.

Effects of Coenzyme Q10 on Statin-Induced Myopathy: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract: Objective To evaluate the efficacy of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) supplementation on statin-induced myopathy. Participants and Methods We searched the MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and EMBASE databases (November 1, 1987, to May 1, 2014) to identify randomized controlled trials investigating the impact of CoQ10 on muscle pain and plasma creatine kinase (CK) activity as 2 measures of statin-induced myalgia. Two independent reviewers extracted data on study characteristics, methods, and outcomes. Results We included 6 studies with 302 patients receiving statin therapy: 5 studies with 226 participants evaluated the effect of CoQ10 supplementation on plasma CK activity, and 5 studies (4 used in the CK analysis and 1 other study) with 253 participants were included to assess the effect of CoQ10 supplementation on muscle pain. Compared with the control group, plasma CK activity was increased after CoQ10 supplementation, but this change was not significant (mean difference, 11.69 U/L [to convert to μkat/L, multiply by 0.0167]; 95% CI, –14.25 to 37.63 U/L; P =.38). Likewise, CoQ10 supplementation had no significant effect on muscle pain despite a trend toward a decrease (standardized mean difference, –0.53; 95% CI, –1.33 to 0.28; P =.20). No dose-effect association between changes in plasma CK activity (slope, –0.001; 95% CI, –0.004 to 0.001; P =.33) or in the indices of muscle pain (slope, 0.002; 95% CI, –0.005 to 0.010; P =.67) and administered doses of CoQ10 were observed. Conclusion The results of this meta-analysis of available randomized controlled trials do not suggest any significant benefit of CoQ10 supplementation in improving statin-induced myopathy. Larger, well-designed trials are necessary to confirm the findings from this meta-analysis.