University of Palermo

Unravelling the magma source and plumbing systems beneath the submarine volcanoes of Bransfield Strait (Antarctica) with stable and noble gas isotopes

Abstract Oxygen and hydrogen isotope geochemistry, together with helium, neon and argon isotope systematics, are powerful tools for tracing magma sources and magma plumbing system processes beneath volcanic systems. Characterising them is crucial for understanding volcanic system...

Continuous Learning as a Key to Career Sustainability: A Moderated Mediation Model

Contemporary career sustainability increasingly depends on workers’ capacity to continuously develop their competencies and on organizations’ ability to support this process. Drawing on the sustainable career framework and Conservation of Resources theory, this study examines how...

Extracellular vesicles in targeted drug delivery: from biological functions to surface engineering

Abstract Achieving precise and efficient targeting represents a major challenge in drug delivery to overcome the limitations of conventional therapies. Surface functionalization of extracellular vesicles (EVs)-nanosized membranous particles released by all cell types- has emerged...

Plant Behaviour, Adaptive Plasticity and Evolution: Reassessing the Debate on Plant Intelligence

In recent decades, plant sciences have profoundly transformed our philosophical understanding of plants, moving beyond the traditional view of the plant organism as a passive, mechanical entity devoid of agency. Contemporary research into plant physiology, chemical communication...

Approach to Biliary Complications After Liver Transplantation: Current Evidence and the Emerging Role of Therapeutic Endoscopic Ultrasound

Background: Biliary complications represent the most frequent and clinically relevant adverse events after liver transplantation, contributing substantially to morbidity, graft dysfunction, and reduced patient survival. Methods: We performed a review of current evidence to explor...

Comparative analysis of alcohol consumption patterns and binge drinking behaviours among working populations: implications for occupational health and workplace safety

BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption and binge drinking (BD) are major public health concerns with clear implications for occupational health and workplace safety, particularly in physically demanding or safety-sensitive jobs. However, differences in alcohol-related risk across occupa...

Beyond antibiotic duration in acute cholangitis: system-level determinants after biliary drainage

The COBRA trial addresses whether antibiotic exposure can be safely reduced after adequate biliary drainage in acute cholangitis. We argue that antibiotic duration should be interpreted within the broader care pathway in which treatment is delivered, because source control, devic...

A physics-informed neural network approach to diffusion and auto-oxidation in Fricke gel dosimeters

Precise dose quantification is critical for advanced radiation-based medical applications, particularly in emerging high dose-rate and mini-beam therapies. Fricke gels (FGs) are promising tissue-equivalent dosimeters based on the radiation-induced oxidation of \(Fe^{2+}\) to \(Fe...

Inter- and intraspecific niche differences of four co-occurring Baetidae (Insecta: Ephemeroptera) in a mountain stream

Abstract Quantifying niche occupation and breadth among co-occurring aquatic species is a key challenge in ecology, especially in alpine streams where environmental variability can mask or reduce the effects of competition. This study investigated the niche position, breadth and...

Clinical usability of an explainable AI decision support tool and evaluation of multimodal models in NSCLC

Abstract Despite a decade in, immunotherapy (IO) treatment selection in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains largely guided by subgroup analyses and imperfect programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and clinical scores. To our knowledge, I 3 LUNG ( NCT05537922 ) is currently the...

Future Generations' Perceptions and Evaluations of Financial Intermediaries: A Multivariate Analysis in the Digital and Sustainable Era

ABSTRACT The rapid digital transformation of financial services, increasing regulatory pressure and the growing strategic relevance of sustainability are reshaping financial intermediaries and how they are perceived by younger generations. In this context, traditional monetary co...

A Remarkably Similar Oxygen Electronic Structure in CO-Treated CeO2 and Gd-Doped CeO2 Is Revealed by X-ray Raman Spectroscopy

Abstract CeO2 is a key material for catalytic and electrochemical applications due to its ability to store and release oxygen, linked to the formation of oxygen vacancies and the reversible reduction of Ce4+ cations to Ce3+. In this study, the oxygen K-edge was investigated in bu...

Comparative Genome Mining of Jiangella sp. GA3 from Turtle-Ingested Plastic Reveals Conserved Biosynthetic Gene Clusters

Rare actinobacteria are promising sources of specialized metabolites, yet genome mining still prioritizes genomes encoding many biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) rather than clusters that are distant from characterized chemistry. Here, we describe the isolation of a novel Jiangel...

Thermalassessment of the operational conditions for the determination of the pre-heating strategy for the DONES Target Assembly

The European Roadmap to the realisation of fusion energy foresees the construction of the DEMO Oriented NEutron Source (DONES). It is a 5 MW accelerator-based neutron source capable of producing, by Li(d,n) stripping reactions, a neutron flux of ∼ 5 ∙ 10 14 neutrons/(cm 2 s) with...

An innovation-oriented multi-criteria framework for prioritizing return management strategies in e-commerce: an AHP-TOPSIS approach with VIKOR-based robustness analysis

Purpose This study investigates the main barriers affecting return management (RM) in e-commerce, where the rapid growth in product returns, further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has made reverse logistics an increasingly complex managerial challenge. The study aims to de...

Personalized Sequential Nephron Blockade for Diuretic Resistance in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure: A Narrative Review for the Cardiorenal Clinician

Heart failure affects more than 64 million people worldwide, and admissions for acute decompensation account for a substantial proportion of cardiovascular healthcare expenditure. Achieving complete decongestion remains the principal objective of inpatient management, yet many pa...

A bifurcation phenomenon for the critical Laplace and p-Laplace equation in the ball: part 2

Abstract In this paper we continue the discussion started in [12] concerning a bifurcation phenomenon for radial solutions of the following nonlinear eigenvalue problem: $$\begin{aligned} {\left\{ \begin{array}{ll} \Delta _p u(x) + \lambda {\mathcal {K}}(|x|) \,u(x) \, |u(x)|^{q-...

Smartphone-Based Automated Quantification of Bulbar Conjunctival Hyperemia Using Vessel Density Mapping

Purpose: To develop a smartphone application (Conjunctiva VD) that objectively quantifies bulbar conjunctival hyperemia by estimating the conjunctival vessel density (VD) within a user-defined region of interest (ROI). Methods: A total of 100 conjunctival images from 2 public dat...

Mesenteric Panniculitis and the Gut–Mesentery–Metabolic Axis: A Hypothesis-Generating Narrative Review

Mesenteric panniculitis (MP) is an uncommon inflammatory disorder of mesenteric adipose tissue. Its pathophysiology remains unclear. Gut dysbiosis, intestinal barrier dysfunction, metabolic endotoxemia, glycemic variability (GV), and vascular dysfunction have been implicated in i...

Honeydew microbial ecology: A neglected frontier in multitrophic networks

Abstract Honeydew, the sugary excretion produced by sap-feeding Hemiptera, is one of the most common carbohydrate resources in many plant-based food webs. Honeydew supports a wide range of organisms, including ants, pollinators, (hyper-)parasitoids wasps, predatory insects, and m...