Ricca IT, an innovative people-centred business approach

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22 Novembre 2022

Established in 1998 in Ragusa from the family business operating in another sector, Ricca IT is a highly specialised company in the data centre and cyber security sector. This all-Italian excellence has succeeded in asserting its leadership in the reference market thanks to the strategic management of a far-sighted entrepreneur, Stefano Ricca, who joined the company in 1990 and has been at the helm since 2016, with the intention of imprinting a new and revolutionary concept of enterprise, while preserving the same entrepreneurial passion that has always characterised his family’s work.

by Roberta Imbimbo

Dr Ricca, with what mission was Ricca IT born?

Initially active in the mechanical and agricultural sectors, when I joined the company, Ricca IT expanded its range of action to other strategic activities, focusing its core business on the Information Technology market and more specifically on IT infrastructure management. Today, Ricca IT is a System Integrator capable of providing solutions for the creation, improvement and implementation of data centres and cyber security, in order to protect IT infrastructures from the risks posed by web threats. It has also recently distinguished itself for the installation of Supercomputing Centres of crucial importance for the country. With four operating sites (Ragusa, Catania, Bari, and Naples), the company is active throughout the country, becoming an important reference point for hundreds of companies operating in the automotive, healthcare, university, and large organised distribution sectors: small and large realities, especially in Central and Southern Italy, where Ricca IT has managed to penetrate larger market shares despite the area’s well-known serious infrastructural deficiencies.

What is the secret of your success? Why is your vision considered so revolutionary?

In a world that runs fast in pursuit of digital innovations, profit maximisation and increased turnover, Ricca IT shifts its focus to the centrality of the individual, pursuing as a priority the integral care of human capital, helping each worker and his or her family to find the right human and professional fit within a harmonious and stimulating working environment. The people who orbit our corporate world – employees, stakeholders, customers and suppliers – are in fact not seen as individuals to be exploited, in this case employees to be squeezed, but as valuable resources with whom to undertake a path of fruitful collaboration leading to the well-being and satisfaction of all parties involved in the work process. Thanks to an innovative vision and a strategic and ethical management of human resources, over time we have managed to generate value not only on a relational level, but also on an environmental and economic level. Peculiarities that have allowed us to improve our brand reputation in the reference market and to grow significantly in terms of geographical expansion (the Rome office will be inaugurated in December), size (the number of employees has increased from sixteen to sixty since 2016), and turnover, which will reach around EUR 15 million in 2021. The profit is always reinvested in innovation and development, but above all in welfare policies because, if we believe that man should be at the centre of our business, every link in our human chain must be adequately supported. In conclusion, to win the challenges of the future and continue to be competitive and productive, we need not only advanced technologies and digitised processes, but management models centred on the value of people, so that the dignity and inviolability of every worker is safeguarded.

For more info: https://www.ricca-it.com/it/

IN VITRO FERTILISATION: HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT TECHNIQUE FOR MAXIMUM SUCCESS

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Imbimbo

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22 Novembre 2022

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Assisted reproductive techniques (ART), in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), have been very successful in overcoming the many underlying causes of female and male infertility. It is estimated that at least ten million children have been born worldwide using these techniques. In Italy, where between 70,000 and 80,000 procedures are performed each year, the success rate ranges between 17% and 18% for each embryo transfer and reaches 28% after repeated transfers. “Medicine has reached important milestones in this field: today there are in fact very high success rates and fewer risks for women thanks to the techniques of genetic analysis of the blastocyst (PGT-A), the new tests on endometrial receptivity, the possibility of selecting embryos before a transfer, and the possibility of performing heterologous fertilisation in Italy too,’ says Prof. Ermanno Greco, President of the Italian Society for Reproduction and Director of the Reproductive Medicine Department at the Villa Mafalda Clinic in Rome.

by Roberta Imbimbo

Prof. Greco, in recent years the selection of embryos to be transferred into the uterus has emerged as a fundamental requirement for the success of assisted fertilisation techniques. What can you tell us about this?

In most centres, the selection of embryos to be transferred into the uterus is based on their morphology, i.e. priority is given to transferring the best quality embryos. However, the evaluation of embryo morphology does not guarantee the success of the operation as there is no correlation between morphological quality and genetic health; in simpler terms, even a beautiful embryo may be unhealthy and vice versa. The in vitro fertilisation technique with morphological selection of embryos is certainly not the most appropriate means of ensuring the right success rates for all those couples who have a higher risk of producing chromosomally abnormal oocytes and embryos, such as women over 35/36 years of age, women with a history of polyabortion, couples with repeated failed attempts, and in cases of severe male infertility. It can be adopted, on the other hand, in young couples with a good ovarian reserve because, in these cases, oocyte genetic alterations are not high. Several international studies have shown that in this group of patients, under optimal laboratory conditions, the success rate of in vitro fertilisation after transfer of a single blastocyst (the day 5 embryo) is 30%, but rises to 40% after transfer of any remaining frozen embryos, 55% after a second ovarian stimulation, and 62% after the third stimulation.

Today it is possible to increase these percentages if embryo selection takes place not only taking into account the morphological characteristics of the embryo but also morphokinetic ones. Is this correct?

Absolutely yes! Today, the most advanced laboratories have an innovative instrument, called Embryoscope, equipped with an artificial intelligence algorithm (Kidscore, IDAscore) for embryo selection. Time lapse technology and artificial intelligence are a real revolution in the world of reproductive medicine, as they are able to improve the success of IVF/Icsi programmes. It has recently been discovered that the speed of embryo development, the so-called morphokinetics that can be analysed with time lapse technology, especially when coupled with artificial intelligence-based analysis systems, allows a better selection of the embryo to be transferred into the uterus, with a positive impact on success and pregnancy rates.

Even with the new genetic techniques, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), which make it possible to assess the genetic quality of the embryo, do the percentages of carrying babies increase?

Absolutely: 60-70% of women get pregnant from the first attempt. Several scientific studies have clarified that the embryos’ ability to nestle in the uterus depends on two critical factors: 70% on their genetic chromosomal normality and 30% on the uterine tissue’s ability to be receptive and thus to produce certain molecules essential for implantation. The genetic health of the embryo, on the other hand, is determined 80% by the genetic quality of the oocytes and 20% by that of the spermatozoa. Unfortunately, all women, even the youngest, always have a proportion of their oocytes that is not chromosomally healthy; this proportion increases with increasing maternal age: under 30 it is about 30% but after 35 it is at least 50-60%. It is clear that if the in vitro-formed embryo is derived from a diseased oocyte, it is also diseased, and therefore unable to give birth to a viable pregnancy. The recent technique of chromosomal analysis using NGS (Next Generation Sequencing) makes it possible to assess, unlike previous methods, not only all the embryo’s chromosomes, but also the mitochondrial DNA, i.e. the powerhouse that plays a fundamental role in embryonic and then foetal development. The advantages for those carrying out pre-implantation diagnosis are therefore many: both preventive (reduction in the failure rate), therapeutic (reduction in the risk of miscarriage) and ameliorative (increase in success rates). The success of pre-implantation diagnosis also depends on the number of oocytes produced during ovarian stimulation, which can be ascertained in advance by subjecting the woman to two examinations with daily responses: the ultrasound count of antral follicles and the AMH (Antimullerian Hormone) assay. Women who have a low ovarian reserve can still resort to a special type of hormone stimulation protocol called ‘DUOSTIM’: it consists of doing two stimulation protocols in the same month to reach an adequate number of oocytes for the technique.

But the achievements in this field do not end there.

Exactly. In fact, it has been shown that severe male infertility can have a further negative impact on success rates. Two techniques have proved to be crucial here: high-magnification sperm selection (IMSI) and sperm selection with intact, non-fragmented DNA (MACS). Thanks to all these successes, as well as the possibility of resorting to heterologous fertilisation also in Italy – Constitutional Court ruling no. 162/2014 has established that the ban on heterologous assisted fertilisation is unconstitutional – it is no longer admissible for a couple to travel abroad to realise their dream of bringing a child into the world. In fact, our centre’s success rates are quite similar to those of other European countries!

Prof.Ermanno Greco Medicina e Biologia Della Riproduzione • Clinica Villa Mafalda Roma – Tel. 06 86094776-0686094797 – segreteriavillamafalda@icsiroma.it

The importance of proper risk management

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Imbimbo

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15 Novembre 2022

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The Chiodaroli family, active in various capacities in the world of insurance since as far back as 1938, founded Chiodaroli Assicuratori in 1971, a company highly specialised in insurance consultancy, and since 2000 also in brokerage, capable of supplying and managing insurance programmes for companies of all sizes, belonging to the most varied sectors. Over time, however, the Salò-based company has broadened its core business to include other strategic activities, creating a second division, KIRM, separate and independent from the first, which deals with Risk Management, i.e. consultancy in the area of corporate risk management. Sebastiano Chiodaroli, CEO of this all-Italian excellence, explains in this long interview how it is possible today to transform a risk from a ‘potential loss’ into a real ‘business opportunity’.

by Roberta Imbimbo

Dr Chiodaroli, how important is the activity of complete and integrated business risk management today?

In order to survive and gain a competitive advantage in an increasingly dynamic and evolving market, companies today are required to be able to renew their strategies, organisation and technologies. However, this drive for innovation and renewal may not be effective if it is not adequately accompanied by a strategy aimed at systematically and consciously managing all the risks associated with a given business activity. Risk management – where ‘management’ means the correct identification, mapping, assessment and indication of the most effective countermeasure to transform risk from a potential loss into a business opportunity – is therefore of strategic importance for businesses of all sizes. Today, there are extremely sophisticated and efficient strategies and tools that can preserve an organisation’s ability to generate value over time.

Why is it extremely important for companies to rely on experienced professionals in this area?

Risk Management, within companies and organisations, is an increasingly fundamental element, and managing it correctly is particularly complex, since it requires an articulated and complete vision of how to identify, measure, treat and monitor all the risks that a company is required to assume in order to be competitive. It also requires the ability to monitor corporate performance predominantly, if not exclusively, from a risk perspective. The company is in fact an ‘entity made of risks’. All too often today, such risks are taken simplistically, with the glare of a profit and with the illusion that greater risks must be taken in order to achieve higher expected returns. In reality, however, risks should only be taken up to the point where they generate positivity; identifying the level beyond which they become a potential loss is precisely the task of a professional risk manager. Thanks to strategic partnerships, which allow us to be operational throughout the country, and thanks to a team of highly qualified professionals, all with European Risk Management Professional Certification, today we are absolutely able to offer complete and reliable consultancy in the subjects that constitute the four fundamental pillars of the ISO 31000 Standard, a business management tool based on the ‘risk-based’ approach, which is extremely effective in helping organisations achieve their business objectives, improve the identification of threats to their business continuity, and effectively use the most appropriate resources for the correct handling of each risk.

For more info (www.kirm.it – sebastiano@chiodaroli.com)

The new challenges of digital health

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Imbimbo

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8 Novembre 2022

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Founded in Riccione back in 1996, I- Tel is an innovative SME that develops technological solutions for multi-channel communication, to automate and optimise the information and communication flows of the Public Administration, healthcare facilities and private Italian companies with the aim of offering citizens increasingly advanced services. This all-Italian excellence, which belongs to Maps Group and has recently become a Benefit Company, has devised Sm@rtHealth®, the multichannel digital platform designed to facilitate access to health and healthcare services for chronic patients, as Stefania Mancini, co-founder of I-Tel, states in this lengthy interview.

BY Roberta Imbimbo

Dr. Mancini, what is the mission of I-Tel?

In the era of digital transformation and artificial intelligence, our mission is to simplify people’s lives and work through the use of the latest automated technologies. For more than 20 years, we have been helping our customers (PAs, healthcare facilities and private companies) to digitise their operational processes to guarantee users an increasingly effective and fast service. In the healthcare sector, the one in which we operate most assiduously, we have created Sm@rtHealth®, a sophisticated multi-channel platform that enables healthcare facilities to optimise and automate their interaction processes with patients, to manage bookings and appointments, to activate recall systems to reduce unsuccessful visits, and to authorise electronic payments. Today, more than ever, we believe in the importance of Telemedicine and home monitoring, which represent a necessary organisational model for simplified management of chronically ill or multi-pathological patients confined to their homes and prevented from exhausting hospital transfers. Thanks to the multi-channel communication with patients, healthcare facilities can follow diabetic, cardiac and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Bpco) patients in a capillary manner, providing them with adequate and effective care.

Many goals have been achieved in all these years of activity. Future goals?

Since last April, I-Tel has become a Benefit Company, a very important milestone for those of us who believe in the importance of a more sustainable future. It is no coincidence that one of our priority objectives is to work under the banner of sustainability, making corporate social and environmental responsibility our main ethical value. The desire to harmonise economic growth objectives with social and environmental policies has driven I-Tel to adopt an innovative business model since its foundation and to pursue three goals of Agenda 2030 in particular goal number 5, the achievement of equal opportunities between women and men, helping women to become more and more empowered, as we firmly believe that gender inequality is one of the biggest obstacles to a country’s sustainable development and economic growth goal number 8, to guarantee those who work for us and with us, decent and fair work and an inclusive and flexible environment; and finally goal number 9, to build a resilient healthcare infrastructure, promoting the use of innovative technology (telemedicine being just one example) to ensure a better and fairer approach to caring for people. Having recently joined Maps Group, a prestigious group quoted on the stock exchange, our challenge for the future will be to become one of the most important references in Italy for the management of sofwtare in healthcare, and to play an increasingly prestigious role in a constantly evolving market, on the strength of the experience and competence we have acquired over all these years.

For more info (https://www.i-tel.it)

The nullity of marriage

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Imbimbo

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8 Novembre 2022

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Until 1993, the Church’s legal system excluded any intervention by State bodies in matrimonial cases; its competence to deal with them was exclusive. This exclusion concerned jurisdiction and not competence, inasmuch as jurisdiction marked the external limits of a State’s jurisdictional power with respect to the powers of Ecclesiastical Tribunals, to which the Church had conferred its function in order to express it in those cases for which State Tribunals were deficient. The Constitutional Court ruling of 1993, however, changed the orientation of the Church’s exclusive jurisdiction followed until then, as Luciano Smaldino, a Rotal Lawyer qualified to practice before the Roman Rota and the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signatura, explains in this long interview.

by Roberta Imbimbo

Lawyer Smaldino, what did the Constitutional Court ruling of 1993 establish?

The Constitutional Court, in its 1993 judgment, had stated that, since marriage was governed by canon law, to which civil effects were linked, only the ecclesiastical judge could pronounce on validity or invalidity, whereas the civil judge had to pronounce not only on the validity of the transcription, as had been the case until then, but also on the validity or invalidity of the marriage celebrated by concordat rite. This changed the orientation of the exclusive jurisdiction of the Church followed until then, because, from that moment on, the jurisdiction over the marriage act also became a matter for the civil court. And, as the Holy See was and is the holder of legal personality under international law, comparable to that of sovereign States, it followed that it enjoyed jurisdictional immunity and, as such, could continue to iuris-decide on the validity or invalidity of marriages celebrated by its faithful with a concordat rite.

Today, how can the nullity of a marriage be obtained?

Today, the parties to a divorce case may ask the civil court for a declaration of the nullity of the marriage bond, provided that they expressly request it, otherwise, they will not form a judgement on the point. And if they do not do so, it will be the Church court that will give rise to such a judgement: either because the Court of Appeal, in the course of the deliberation proceedings, will have ascertained that the question of the existence or non-existence (i.e. nullity) of the marriage bond had never been raised in the divorce proceedings in progress, or because the ecclesiastical judgement on the nullity issue was concluded before the civil judgement (the so-called criterion of prevention). It is regrettable to observe how even today, 29 years after the reservation of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction to ascertain the nullity of a marriage (i.e. a marriage celebrated with a concordat rite), Italian Catholic citizens, members of the European Union, in order to have the enforceability of the nullity recognised in the civil court, must also submit their case to a different judicial order (the Italian one), with the consequent loss of time and money. When, on the other hand, under the EU Regulation (so-called Brussels 2), judgments in matrimonial matters issued by other States of the Union become automatically enforceable, without the need for other vague judgments by the receiving State, namely the Italian State which is part of the Union. My more than thirty years’ experience as a civil lawyer at the Courts of Bari, Bologna, Naples, Palermo, Milan and at the Roman Rota leads me to affirm that today, psychoanalysis is increasingly present in the matrimonial-canonical process, an important therapeutic tool for the spouses and propaedeutic for the judges themselves in approaching a procedural truth that is as close as possible to that true reality which is the justifying soul of the process.

For further information (https://www.avvocatolucianosmaldino.it)

Tecnoconsult Engineering Construction

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Imbimbo

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2 Novembre 2022

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Founded in 1986 and now in its second generation, Tecnoconsult Engineering Construction is a multidisciplinary engineering company providing services to both the oil and gas and renewables industries covering offshore and onshore, upstream and midstream engineering. Talking to us about this all-Italian excellence is Tommaso Pierangeli, who now leads the company together with his sister Francesca.

Dr Pierangeli, what does Offshore Wind Energy consist of?

In the world, for years, the new frontier of wind energy has been offshore, defined as Offshore Wind Energy. It is nothing more than the ‘offshore’ version of the more common onshore wind farms. Offshore installations are called those formations consisting of dozens of wind turbines implanted off the shores of seas, oceans. Offshore turbines can also be installed in marine locations far from the coast, exploiting the winds in open seas, using the same construction technologies as oil and gas platforms. When sea depths become significant, turbines are used on floating platforms, using a three-point anchoring system with steel cables anchored to the seabed.

What advantages does this technology offer?

Offshore wind power looks set to undergo considerable development in the coming years, especially in those areas favourably exposed to winds. With a view to the large-scale exploitation of wind energy, installing wind turbines on marine sites has undeniable advantages. There is plenty of space at sea. There is better wind quantity and quality, more continuous and more intense. There are fewer landscape constraints, and also fewer visual constraints, if one considers the possibility of installing such structures at even greater distances from the seashore. Moreover, considering that in many northern European countries such as Denmark, Germany or the Netherlands, in the windiest sites there are hardly any free areas for the construction of new land installations, the choice to go by sea is not only sensible but should definitely be taken.

What are the implications from an environmental point of view of an Offshore Wind Farm?

The offshore placement of large wind farms reduces the problems of aesthetic and noise impact, where wind turbines are located beyond the visible horizon line, as well as the problems related to the feared danger to birds (birds of prey and migratory birds in particular) compared to onshore wind farms. Some studies even claim that the creation of platforms and underwater mast and cable systems could, over time, create areas of restocking and biodiversity on the seabed, as is the case with oil rig stacks and anchorages. Offshore wind farms are a viable solution for densely populated coastal countries with strong urbanisation. Obviously, the issues that most cause discussion and put a strain on any feasibility project for a new wind farm are those related to the health and comfort of the community: I refer, for example, to the critical issues related to the safety of the area surrounding the wind turbines, as well as the safeguarding of the naval road network, or possible restrictions on fishing activities. These are all assessments that must be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis.

Why is this technology important for the future?

The exploitation of wind energy is one of those technologies with a low environmental impact, which may still have enormous potential in the coming years. Offshore wind power, hitherto known mainly in the seas of Northern Europe and America, seems to be undergoing considerable development, especially in particularly windy areas, given that due to the favourable wind conditions on the high seas, offshore wind power (with the same installed power) could produce up to 30% more energy than a similar onshore system. wind speed is on average higher offshore than on land. In addition, offshore turbines are designed to withstand wave motion and stand upright both in the wind and in the waves. Offshore wind farms, installed even at great distances from the seashore, could also limit that cultural impact that still raises the main suspicions and fears in the community: such as the visual impact, and the impact on the archaeological heritage, or on tourism.

On the other hand, the cost of cables and marine connections may be higher, in some cases, as may be the cost of installation and maintenance. Costs that can, however, be repaid by not having to build access roads, not having to litigate with local communities, and not having to carry out naturalistic repair or reforestation work. In addition, the offshore wind farm has the potential to accommodate many and much larger turbines, in order to capture the largest available wind resource and obtain large amounts of energy, clean and safe, even with a single wind farm than could ever be achieved on land.

What services does Tecnoconsult offer in this area?

TECNOCONSULT’s historical experience in the Offshore sector, and therefore its technical expertise in those industrial projects for the construction of structures and platforms to be built at sea, has given us access to such engineering studies, considering that the largest wind farms tend to be installed right at sea, far from the coasts, where it is possible to take advantage of the strong winds that blow without being slowed down by obstacles. To date, our company has extended its skills from design to permitting, including the environmental assessments necessary for the approval of strategic projects, seeking to respond to current market needs dictated by the geopolitical situation worldwide.

Although our company has always operated at an international level, the main achievements in this field are now taking place in our country, and this fills us with pride.

On the ministerial websites and those of the relevant Coast Guards of Sardinia, Sicily, Calabria and Emilia-Romagna, we have already seen the publication of no less than 3 Feasibility Studies for new OFFSHORE WIND PARKS to be built in Italy, and a final project, for which we are now awaiting the final go-ahead for implementation.

Find out more:

– Website: www.tecnoconsult.it

Technology Development and Commercial Dept.: commercial@tecnoconsult.it

The latest frontiers in the treatment of visual defects

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Imbimbo

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2 Novembre 2022

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Visual defects (nearsightedness, astigmatism and farsightedness) are becoming increasingly common, and refractive surgery now offers several cutting-edge techniques (excimer laser and femtosecond laser) to eliminate them definitively in a completely safe and painless manner. “Beyond the age of 40, however, when the patient’s defect exceeds the corrective possibilities of the laser, one must necessarily resort to intraocular refractive surgery with implantation of artificial lenses,” Dr. Domenico Berardi, a well-known ophthalmic surgeon from Parma, highly specialised in surgery of the anterior segment of the eye and one of the leading experts in Italy in the field of refractive surgery, asserts in this long interview.

by Roberta Imbimbo

Dr Berardi, how are visual defects corrected today?

Thanks to the continuous technological progress of instrumentation and operating techniques, today there are various types of surgery, all highly effective, for the treatment of visual defects: the choice of interventional method is obviously left to the specialist depending on the age of the patient and the type of defect. Generally, laser treatments can eliminate all refractive defects from the age of 24 and upwards. Several methods are available today (PRK, LASIK, SMILE), all of which are rapid, precise, safe and painless and allow for a very short post-op period (the patient generally returns to normal 24 hours after the operation).

What options does the surgeon have when laser is not possible?

Today, it is possible to use phakic intraocular lenses, also known as phakic IOLs (ICLs), which are lenses made of a biocompatible and flexible material called Collamer that are inserted into the eye while keeping the crystalline lens intact, in order to allow proper refraction.

These lenses are individually designed for each person, especially for the correction of high myopia and refractive defects. Once inserted, the lens remains in place permanently. The procedure is absolutely painless and the results are truly extraordinary! Over 40 years of age, when the presbyopia defect is added and thus the corrective possibilities of the excimer laser are exceeded, intraocular refractive surgery with implantation of high-tech multifocal artificial Intra Ocular Lens (IOL) is necessary to restore the refractive power of a natural lens.

You are one of Italy’s leading experts in Facorefractive surgery, which you have been practising for over 30 years. Can you tell us about it?

Phorefractive surgery involves replacing the natural crystalline lens, albeit still transparent, with an intraocular lens (artificial lens) of adequate power. This surgical technique, which is in fact the same as that used for cataract surgery, involves micro-incisions in the eye through which an ultrasound probe can be inserted that fragments the crystalline lens, thus allowing it to be removed. Through the same incision, an intraocular lens is then inserted to replace the natural crystalline lens. The operation, which can solve both the refractive problem and that of a possible cataract in a single surgical act, is absolutely painless and has no side effects (the intraocular lens causes neither allergy nor rejection and requires no special care). Recovery times are very short and the patient is able to return to work and drive the day after surgery.

(https://www.chirurgiaoculisticaparma.com)

DUEMME shines in the market for technological innovation and experience

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Imbimbo

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2 Novembre 2022

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Founded in 1975 by Giuseppe Manetti, now in its second generation, DUEMME is a joint-stock company operating in the field of non-destructive testing for third parties at the service of manufacturing companies operating nationally and internationally. Since 2009, the year in which it acquired its first linear accelerator, this historical excellence from Madignano (CR) has affirmed its leadership in its reference market, becoming a unique reality in its kind for the type of components tested and the quality of service provided, creating a significant technological and process gap with its direct competitors. Over time, the Manetti family has expanded the company’s core business to other strategic activities, diversifying its areas of interest by making significant investments to successfully enter other market segments.

by Roberta Imbimbo

Mr. Jacopo Manetti, what is the core business of the company founded by your father?

Founded back in 1975 as a company operating in the non-destructive testing sector for the inspection of methane pipelines and infrastructures, today DUEMME SPA is a company highly specialised in the execution of industrial radiographic and non-destructive testing in general, i.e. testing that allows an investigation of the component being inspected without damaging it. From its headquarters in Madignano (CR) – which covers an area of about 6,000 m2 where two different production sites and numerous bunkers owned and approved for performing radiographic examinations are located – it is able to operate throughout the national and international territory, in the Oil & Gas, Automotive, Aerospace, Medical, Electronics and Electrical Engineering, and Precision Mechanics sectors. The turning point came in 2009 with the purchase of the first linear energy accelerator, a latest-generation hardware factor that allows a broader spectrum of controls than the traditional method. The use of this state-of-the-art equipment has enabled the company to significantly increase its customer base, mostly manufacturing industries working with materials such as steel, cast iron, aluminium, light alloys and heavy alloys, whose products require surface or volumetric inspection.

What peculiarities distinguish us from our competitors?

Although it is a highly competitive market – in our country there are many companies operating in the field of non-destructive testing – DUEMME has managed to clearly differentiate itself from other players, thanks to the type of service provided, based precisely on the use of no less than three linear accelerators (3MeV, 6Mev and 9MeV) with a lifting capacity of 70 tonnes, capable of penetrating greater thicknesses of steel (up to 600 mm where traditional machines reach up to 100 mm) with the quality and definition required by the reference codes. More. In 2019, DUEMME has equipped itself with a tomographic system that, while operating at lower energies (up to a maximum of 450 KeV), is capable of carrying out non-destructive 3D volumetric inspection. With industrial computed tomography, DUEMME has therefore diversified its core business, increasing the range of services provided and investing in new infrastructures and new professionalism to successfully penetrate new market segments (every year, part of the profits made are reinvested in new technologies and staff training to keep the quality of the service offered high). The gamble made in 2009 to invest in innovative technology and the obtainment of important certifications, allow DUEMME to operate today, guaranteeing a quality service with a timeframe that is congruous with the requests of its clients, dealing with a high level clientele.

www.duemme.net

Blockchain technology in certification processes

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Imbimbo

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26 Ottobre 2022

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Founded in 2013 by Ing. Rodolfo Trippodo, after more than 30 years’ experience at the head of a major certification body, IQC is a company specialising in highly professional consultancy activities to support production and service companies, both public and private, to provide them with a contribution in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of services and production processes with a view to continuous improvement. Mr Giuseppe Adduce, who had shared experience with Mr Trippodo within the same certification body, instead set up Pomiager, an Information Technology company that has been offering innovative IT solutions to companies of all sizes since 2014, with the aim of simplifying their digital transformation path to make them more and more 4.0 enterprises. Although IQC and Pomiager were born as two legally separate entities, since their foundation they have been united by a single goal, namely to provide the market with highly digitally integrated consulting services aimed at tracking the performance of organisations and the skills of people in order to preserve the value chain in all economic and social transactions. And today, with IQC having acquired the ownership of Pomiager, this highly innovative group is able to fully express its distinctive vocation on the market, distinguishing itself from other players by the type of service it offers, providing Integrated Business Services and thus fostering the integration of IoT and IoC for the intelligent, sustainable and inclusive growth of its customers (all those medium-sized companies that see in IQC’s innovative tools a prospect for development). Illustrating the distinctive traits of this all-Italian excellence are Managing Director Daniela Gabellini and Research and Innovation Director Giuseppe Adduce.

by Roberta Imbimbo

Dr Gabellini, today IQC has a strong identity on the market. What peculiarities distinguish it from its competitors?

In addition to the experience and professionalism gained over many years of activity, IQC has managed to differentiate itself from other players thanks to a strategic vision and a highly innovative business approach, always careful to proactively anticipate the new needs of a constantly evolving market. This is also thanks to the considerable investments in Research & Development activities: founded as an innovative start-up, the company continues to invest resources in research, development, technology and innovation to support companies with increasingly cutting-edge services, thus making them more competitive in their target market. To this end, IQC has developed PDT (Performance Digital Traceability), a highly innovative digital solution, based on Blockchain technology, for tracking the performance of organisations, processes, services and products. In simplest terms, PDT is a secure and unalterable certification of an organisation’s excellence that does not find expression in mandatory or voluntary regulations and of a given company’s business continuity capability in Industry 4.0. Its evolution, PDT Green Line, on the other hand, is aimed at organisations wishing to demonstrate the credibility and reliability of their actions in the context of ecological transition strategies for sustainable development. PDT Green therefore makes the digital certification process simpler and smoother for those who manufacture or use products or services that reduce environmental impact, for impact studies and eco-design activities, and for those who adopt Minimum Environmental Policies or Criteria in the context of tenders. Finally, C-Box is the digital badging platform, compliant with 1EdTech standards, for the traceability of knowledge acquired in all educational and experiential contexts. All these digital solutions meet needs that are fully in line with the guidelines and orientations of the PNRR on digital and ecological transition.

Dr Adduce, Blockchain is therefore the distinctive element of your proposal. What is the added value of this innovative technology in advanced certification processes?

After several in-depth studies, we found that Blockchain offered numerous advantages in terms of security, transparency and data immutability. The use of this highly innovative technology, which has made us the leader in Italy in the reference market, has in fact profoundly revolutionised certification processes, making the data declared by a given organisation increasingly transparent and unchangeable. Armed with highly specialised know-how, we have therefore managed to create dynamic certifications by directly linking the blockchain to the company system. This allowed us, for example, to do a cyber security analysis, to protect data by making it secure and unchangeable by malware by applying a decentralised digital identity model based on blockchain technology. Indeed, Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) opens the door to the use of modern cryptographic tools capable of achieving levels of privacy hitherto unseen in digital identity, as well as guaranteeing the Internet of Value (IoV) via the WEB3. The new frontier is also represented by NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), digital certificates based on blockchain technology designed to uniquely, irreplaceably and non-replicably identify the ownership of a given digital product. In the age of digital information, the application of these cutting-edge technologies also guarantees the certainty of the information source: our C-Box and PDT certificates guarantee the security of what is represented and conveyed online on all the technological platforms available today, and thus represent an important investment for companies aiming to strengthen their brand reputation with their stakeholders. They represent the new frontiers for the promotion of an organisation’s identity, guaranteeing the quality of its products, processes, services and the skills of its resources, and the real challenge of the future will be to be able to securely make economic transactions through a digital currency. An ambitious challenge that will see IQC at the forefront!

Per maggiori info (https://itaqua.it)

Polycystic ovary syndrome and infertility

By

Imbimbo

-

26 Ottobre 2022

0

Polycystic ovary syndrome affects about 5-10% of women of reproductive age and is the main cause of female infertility. Talking to us about the latest frontiers in the treatment of this very frequent pathology is Dr. Daniela Galliano, gynaecologist and expert in Reproductive Medicine, director of the IVI centre in Rome, an excellence in the national and international health scene which, since 1990 (year of its foundation) to date, has contributed to the birth of more than 250,000 children thanks to constant innovation and implementation of the most innovative assisted reproduction treatments.

by Roberta Imbimbo

Dr. Galliano, what is polycystic ovary syndrome? And how widespread is this pathology today?

Polycystic ovary syndrome affects about 10-13% of women of reproductive age and is one of the main causes of female infertility. It is characterised by an increase in the size of the ovaries, within which small follicular cysts form, leading to anovulation, ovulatory dysfunction and excessive levels of androgens, particularly testosterone and androstenedione. Symptoms can vary from woman to woman and among the most common are pelvic pain, even mild obesity, irregularity of the menstrual cycle, amenorrhoea, mood swings, hirsutism on the face and chest, hair loss or increased body weight with difficulty losing weight. These symptoms tend to worsen with time. This is why early diagnosis plays a fundamental role, both in order to avoid chronicisation of a condition that can have serious consequences, such as diabetes, cardiovascular problems, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and endometrial cancer, and in order to intervene with increasingly targeted and personalised treatments. The causes of this syndrome are still unknown, although scientific research tends to suggest that hereditary and/or environmental factors and, above all, an excess of insulin may play an important role. There is in fact a thin red thread linking extra kilos to this syndrome.

This last point is very interesting. Insulin resistance is thus one of the cornerstones of metabolic syndrome, which in turn is involved in the aetiopathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome, a frequent cause of anovulatory infertility. What should be done in such cases?

In recent years, we at IVI have placed increasing emphasis on the treatment of metabolic syndrome precisely because, as mentioned, it has important repercussions on the female reproductive axis. Several scientific studies have shown that obesity associated with it lengthens the time it takes to become pregnant and also has a negative impact on the outcome of medically assisted procreation techniques (PMA). Indeed, it may prolong the duration of ovulation induction, decrease the number of mature follicles and retrieved oocytes, and increase the rate of cycle cancellation. This is why it is first important to solve the metabolic problem (with a balanced diet with a low insulin index and sporting activity) and only then the reproductive one. Otherwise, the risk of failure would be high.

Healthcare and medical concept – doctor with patient in hospital

Once the metabolic problem is solved, what can happen? What are the possible scenarios?

Mainly because of the negative effect on the regularity of ovum release (amenorrhoea, oligomenorrhoea and other problems related to the punctuality of the menstrual cycle), women suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome may take longer to seek pregnancy; only when ovulation becomes regular is it possible to become pregnant. As mentioned, a good diet and constant exercise can help normalise the menstrual cycle and consequently increase the possibility of getting pregnant naturally. Other times, however, it is necessary to intervene with medication to stimulate ovulation and thus facilitate gestation. Obviously, there is a customised treatment that always depends on each patient’s medical history. Once ovulation is regularised, if the patient fails to get pregnant naturally, it is possible to resort to assisted reproduction treatment such as artificial insemination or in vitro fertilisation (IVF), depending on the case.

IVI in this field confirms itself as an excellence in the national and international health scene. More than 250,000 children have been born thanks to the most modern techniques in assisted reproduction.

Exactly! Present with more than 75 clinics in 7 countries around the world (Italy, Spain, Portugal, UK, USA, Panama and Brazil), thanks to the modernity of its diagnostic equipment and the high skills of its medical staff, IVI is one of the European centres with the best pregnancy rates. In fact, 9 out of 10 couples who consult us for infertility problems achieve their goal of becoming parents, after a complete and personalised course of treatment. In 2020 IVI opened a new clinic in Rome. This is a third-level facility, where all assisted fertilisation treatments can be carried out, including in vitro fertilisation (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and heterologous fertilisation, for which IVI can count on the world’s largest oocyte bank, confirming its position as one of the most avant-garde centres in the treatment of infertility.

For more info (https://ivitalia.it)

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