University of Udine
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Agent-Based Healthcare Chatbots for Regional System Services: A Case Study in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region
Get PDFThis paper presents an agent-based model for interacting with regional healthcare system services in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia (FVG) region. The model is designed to streamline and automate tasks traditionally managed through human intervention. We showcase its implementation on three key applications: booking medical appointments, identifying available emergency rooms, and performing question-and-answer (Q&A) interactions on medication leaflets. The system leverages autonomous agents to provide real-time responses, aiming to improve the overall performance of healthcare services
Enhancing classroom resources in multilingual schools: Experiences and perspectives from Italian teachers
Get PDFItalian schools have recently experienced a steady increase in linguistic and cultural diversity, which is specifically due to the presence of students with a migration background. In the 2020/2021 school year, the number of such students reached 856,388, with the Friuli
Venezia Giulia region exhibiting a higher-than-average incidence of 13.0%. This contribution presents us with some insights for transforming plurilingualism in the classrooms into a valuable resource. The essential role of teachers is emphasised, together with a growing need for specific on-the-job linguistic training, in order to be able to take full advantage of the potential for plurilingualism. A number of recent field experiences, together with their theoretical framework and expected impact are explored, advocating for a holistic, plurilingual, and inclusive Italian school
‘Nuclear weapons are our best friends’: A Discourse-Historical Analysis of the Cold War Era Rhetoric of Nuclear Militarism
No full textThis contribution focuses on a case study involving two prominent conservative activists – Phyllis Schlafly and Chester Ward – who authored an extended election brochure, The Gravediggers (1964), in a bid to boost the 1964 election campaign of the Republican candidate Barry Goldwater. The main author of The Gravediggers, Schlafly was concerned with what she saw as the erosion of American nuclear capacity and the weakening of the nation’s security in the Cold War era of the 1960s. As a religious, anti-Communist and (later) anti-feminist activist, Schlafly was adamant that the Democratic Kennedy-Johnson Administration’s defence policy
and its disarmament mindset were making America vulnerable to nuclear attack and complete annihilation by the Soviet Union. She sought to protect America’s nuclear superiority by producing campaign literature that exhorted her conservative readers to vote for Barry Goldwater, who stood for the policy of nuclear superiority and strong strategic defence.
Schlafly’s powerful rhetorical style has been described as “militaristic” (Calahane 2022) and “bellicose” (Critchlow 2015). Using the Discourse-Historical Approach (Wodak 2015), the study combines linguistic analyses with historical and sociological methodologies in a bid to shed light on The Gravediggers as a pro-nuclear text representative of a sample of larger conservative defence literature of the period under investigation. The main focus of the investigation is on the role of argumentation strategies realised mainly as topoi of danger/threat, history, evil and (impeded access to) the people’s democratic participation, that Schlafly and Ward made use of to argue against the policy of nuclear disarmament and in favour of maintaining a confrontational attitude towards the USSR
Le ragioni di una ricerca
No full textSi espongono le ragioni che hanno condotto alla ricerca connessa con il progetto Prin2022 Relativo a Diversamente mendicanti
Hysterectomy or not for borderline ovarian tumor in menopause?
No full textBackground: The role of hysterectomy for borderline ovarian tumor (BOT) among postmenopausal women is still unclear. Objective(s): To assess the impact of hysterectomy on survival outcomes in postmenopausal women with BOT. Study design: This study was a national, multicenter, observational, retrospective, cohort study including all consecutive eligible postmenopausal patients who underwent primary surgery for BOT in 20 Italian centers from January 2005 to December 2017. Patients were divided into two groups: hysterectomy group vs no-hysterectomy group. Primary outcome was disease-free survival (DFS) at 5 years of follow-up; secondary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) at 5 years of follow-up, hazard ratio (HR) for recurrence, death of any cause and death due to BOT, peri-operative complications rates. Results: 483 patients were included, 144 (29.8 %) women in the no-hysterectomy group and 339 (70.2 %) in the hysterectomy group. Recurrences were significantly more common in the no-hysterectomy group compared to hysterectomy one (8.3 % vs 2.7 %; p = 0.012). The 5-year DFS rate was lower in the no-hysterectomy group than that in the hysterectomy one [92.4 % vs 98.5 %; p = 0.007]. At univariate analyses, women who underwent hysterectomy showed HR of 0.312 (95 %CI:0.131–0.740; p = 0.008) for recurrence. At multivariate analysis, hysterectomy was found to be an independent protective factor for recurrence (HR: 0.253, 95 %CI:0.103–0.618, p < 0.003). Conclusions: In postmenopausal women with BOT, hysterectomy is associated with a decreased risk of recurrence, while it does not affect the risk of death from any cause or death due to the disease. Based on these findings, hysterectomy should be routinely integrated into the surgical staging of BOT in postmenopausal women
The Arousal Modulation Model Questionnaire (AMMQ): Development, validation, and transdiagnostic applications
No full textTrauma emerges as a significant etiological factor associated with a wide range of psychopathologies, including anxiety, mood disorders, impulse dysregulation, psychosis, substance dependence, personality disorders, conduct issues, and suicidal behavior. Furthermore, trauma plays a central role in somatoform and alexithymic disorders, eating disorders, and self-injurious behaviors. Additionally, trauma is linked to the development of various physical health conditions such as cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, endocrine, and inflammatory diseases, as well as cancer. Thus, the negative health consequences of trauma extend beyond PTSD and often manifest in personalized, polysymptomatic, and polysyndromic ways, suggesting the utility of adopting transdiagnostic approaches. This study focuses on validating the Arousal Modulation Model Questionnaire (AMMQ), grounded in Ogden and Minton's Arousal Modulation Model originating from Siegel's concept of the Window of Tolerance. The validation process encompasses multiple facets of questionnaire validation, including construct validity, reliability, and other psychometric properties. Participants included a sample of 304 individuals recruited for this study, with a mean age of 39.36 years (SD = 12.88). Although participants may have experienced one or more traumatic events in their lives, they were currently not under the care of the National Health Service Psychiatry Centers. Construct validity of the AMMQ was assessed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Initial exploratory factor analysis revealed a coherent factor structure consistent with theoretical expectations derived from the Arousal Modulation Model, yielding four distinct factors: "Optimal Arousal Zone" (OAZ, 7 items), "Fight/Flight" (FF, 4 items), Freeze (Fr, 6 items), and "Feigned Death" (FD, 5 items). Subsequent confirmatory factor analysis supported this structure, demonstrating excellent model fit (χ2(203) = 381.738, p < 0.001; CFI = 0.94; TLI = 0.93; RMSEA = 0.05; SRMR = 0.05). Internal consistency was high, with a mean categorical omega (ω) of 0.83 across all subscales, supporting the reliability of the AMMQ. Convergent validity was assessed by examining the associations between each AMMQ subscale and a set of established external measures. The Optimal Arousal Zone (OAZ) subscale showed strong positive correlations with all dimensions of psychological well-being (PWB-SF) and negative correlations with emotional distress (DASS-21), dissociation (DES-II). Conversely, all three dysregulation subscales—Fight-or-Flight (FF), Freeze (Fr), and Feigned Death (FD)—were positively associated with anxiety, depression, stress, and dissociation, as well as with increased autonomic reactivity measured by the BPQ-22 (all p < 0.001). The AMMQ test-retest reliability was also good (0.83). Overall, the validation results suggest that the Arousal Modulation Model Questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing arousal modulation processes within the context of stress reactivity. Its good psychometric properties make it a valuable tool for clinicians and researchers working in trauma-informed assessment and intervention. Finally, robust correlations between all AMMQ factors and the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation - Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) scales (all p < 0.001) bolster its efficacy for transdiagnostic screening in psychotherapy, clinical research, and various psychological well-being interventions (e.g., mindfulness-based approaches)
Policyholders' subjective beliefs: approaching new drivers of insurance ESG reputational risk
No full textFirms, insurance companies, pension funds, and broadly speaking the international community focus already their engagement activities on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues since it can create long-term shareholder value, by determining the future performance of markets. Indeed ESG criteria adoption has multiple positive dimensions and outcomes, meanwhile, the analysis of the risks related to sustainability is already uncommon. In this paper, we provide a formal theoretical valuation system on ESG reputation, i.e., the reputation or the gain in confidence produced by possession of a positive reputation compared to the lack of one when the ESG criteria are integrated into the business analysis. In particular, we model the ESG reputational risk by means of the paradigms of behavioural finance. We define the ESG reputational risk by subjective probabilities framed in a probability function based on preferences set of the potential trustees, such as actors or objects in whom others may seek to place trust. Furthermore, we compute the sustainability premium or discount, which measures the economic impact of the good or bad reputation due to ESG investments. One of the approach’s main features is the flexibility coming from the opportunity to assign a given analytical form of the utility function describing the trustor’s preferences. From an operational point of view, our results should encourage the firms and other institutions to accurately evaluate the reputational risks related to ESG investments
Artificial intelligence in prostate cancer
Get PDFProstate cancer (PCa) ranks as the second most prevalent malignancy among men worldwide. Early diagnosis, personalized treatment, and prognosis prediction of PCa play a crucial role in improving patients survival rates. The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly the utilization of deep learning (DL) algorithms, has brought about substantial progress in assisting the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis prediction of PCa. The introduction of the foundation model has revolutionized the application of AI in medical treatment and facilitated its integration into clinical practice. This review emphasizes the clinical application of AI in PCa by discussing recent advancements from both pathological and imaging perspectives. Furthermore, it explores the current challenges faced by AI in clinical applications while also considering future developments, aiming to provide a valuable point of reference for the integration of AI and clinical applications