University of Bari Aldo Moro
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Lessico delle religioni
No full textIl Lessico delle religioni si propone di evidenziare concetti fondamentali propri delle tre religioni monoteistiche in chiave comparat
Laparoscopic Microwave Ablation and Salvage Liver Transplantation in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Get PDFBackground/Objectives: Salvage liver transplantation (SLT) is a well-established option for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence after liver resection. Laparoscopic microwave ablation (L-MWA) represents another curative strategy for early-stage HCC. However, its role within this therapeutic framework remains unexplored. Methods: Between 2014 and 2023, we treated 1341 patients with HCC using L-MWA. From this cohort, patients with Child-Pugh class A liver function, HCC within the Milan criteria, no contraindications to transplantation, and ≥12 months of follow-up were selected. SLT failure was defined as non-transplantable recurrence or death, resulting in the loss of a potentially curative therapeutic opportunity. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS); secondary endpoints included predictors of survival and SLT failure. Results: A total of 341 patients met the inclusion criteria. Five-year OS was 62%. Independent predictors of poorer survival included the presence of cardiac disease or oesophageal varices, a Child-Pugh score of 6, tumour size, and elevated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels. Treatment was successful in 255 patients (74.8%): 102 (29.9%) underwent SLT, 67 (19.6%) received alternative therapies, and 93 (27.3%) remained recurrence-free. Treatment failure occurred in 86 patients (25.2%) due to non-transplantable recurrence or death. Independent predictors of failure included older age, non-HBV aetiology, and elevated AFP levels. Five-year OS rates were 79% in the success group and 22% in the failure group (p < 0.001). Conclusions: A combined L-MWA and SLT strategy is safe and effective, yielding a 62% 5-year OS rate. This approach supports more efficient graft use with a consequent increase in the population transplant benefit. Improved selection may further reduce failure rates
The Oral–Gut Microbiota Axis Across the Lifespan: New Insights on a Forgotten Interaction
No full textThe oral–gut microbiota axis is a relatively new field of research. Although most studies have focused separately on the oral and gut microbiota, emerging evidence has highlighted that the two microbiota are interconnected and may influence each other through various mechanisms shaping systemic health. The aim of this review is therefore to provide an overview of the interactions between oral and gut microbiota, and the influence of diet and related metabolites on this axis. Pathogenic oral bacteria, such as Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum, can migrate to the gut through the enteral route, particularly in individuals with weakened gastrointestinal defenses or conditions like gastroesophageal reflux disease, contributing to disorders like inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. Bile acids, altered by gut microbes, also play a significant role in modulating these microbiota interactions and inflammatory responses. Oral bacteria can also spread via the bloodstream, promoting systemic inflammation and worsening some conditions like cardiovascular disease. Translocation of microorganisms can also take place from the gut to the oral cavity through fecal–oral transmission, especially within poor sanitary conditions. Some metabolites including short-chain fatty acids, trimethylamine N-oxide, indole and its derivatives, bile acids, and lipopolysaccharides produced by both oral and gut microbes seem to play central roles in mediating oral–gut interactions. The complex interplay between oral and gut microbiota underscores their crucial role in maintaining systemic health and highlights the potential consequences of dysbiosis at both the oral and gastrointestinal level. Some dietary patterns and nutritional compounds including probiotics and prebiotics seem to exert beneficial effects both on oral and gut microbiota eubiosis. A better understanding of these microbial interactions could therefore pave the way for the prevention and management of systemic conditions, improving overall health outcomes
A Machine Learning Framework for Soft Skills Assessment: Leveraging Serious Games in Higher Education
No full textThis study explores the use of serious games combined with machine learning techniques to evaluate student efficiency and determine appropriate degree programs. The main research question addressed is: How can predictive machine learning algorithms, applied to soft skills data collected through serious games, identify the most suitable study path for each student, thereby improving academic orientation and enhancing the likelihood of educational success? The research involved 211 university students from a single university in Italy, focusing on the application of predictive algorithms based on participants' soft skills and academic performance (GPA). The study employs logistic regression models to classify students into three degree programs: Economic Business Administration (EBA), Sports and Motor Activity Sciences (SMAS), and Modern Literature (ML). Subsequent analysis using ANOVA Kruskal-Wallis identified significant differences in predictive results across various demographic and behavioral subgroups.
As an additional experiment, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was employed to further understand student efficiency. DEA used soft skills as inputs and GPA as the output to calculate efficiency scores, which were then analyzed for all groups. The results highlighted significant differences in efficiency scores among different courses, age groups, and genders, but not among different technology groups or daily screen time.
The findings demonstrate that serious games represent a breakthrough innovation in educational assessment, providing a highly effective platform for capturing soft skills through engaging behavioral scenarios that traditional methods cannot access. This game-based approach, when integrated with machine learning algorithms, successfully classifies students based on comprehensive competency profiles, offering a revolutionary advancement in personalized academic orientation. The serious games methodology proves superior to conventional assessment techniques by enabling real-time collection of rich behavioral data that reveals authentic student capabilities beyond academic performance metrics. Supplementary DEA analysis confirmed these findings. Despite limitations such as sample size and focus on specific devices, this study establishes serious games as a transformative educational technology that fundamentally enhances academic orientation strategies. Future research should explore larger and more diverse samples, integrate advanced technologies, and conduct longitudinal studies to further validate and enhance the serious games approach in educational contexts
Methodological advances in sea level rise vulnerability assessment: implications for sustainable coastal management in a climate change scenario
No full textSea level rise (SLR) is one of the most evident consequences of global warming. Low-lying coastal areas with mobile coastal systems are particularly exposed to sea level change (SLC), both transient (storm surges and tsunamis) and permanent (SLR), especially when coupled with vertical land movements (VLMs), determining local relative sea level rise (RSLR). In the last two decades, several studies have focused on the analysis of coastal processes linked with SLC, in particular regarding the expected SLR up to 2150 AD and beyond. In this study, starting from a critical analysis of methods exploited for the assessment of the vulnerability to RSLR and their suitability, a tailored approach for the impact assessment as an operative tool for the management of coastal areas in a changing climate is proposed. Our analysis was carried out through the evaluation of 49 selected studies, which were included in a specifically implemented database by searching in Scopus. Special focus was given to the methodological aspects for evaluating RSLR impacts as the vulnerability of the coastal areas of the Mediterranean region published in the last five years. This insight shows that the static approach represents the most popular method for the analysis and visualization of the expected coastal modifications, followed by the model-based approach. Furthermore, the evaluation of the suitability level of each accounted method highlighted that topographic and index-based methods are significant for regional analyses, whilst model-based approaches are strongly exploited for site-specific analyses. Based on the outcomes of this analysis, a multi-step procedure for coastal zone management is proposed
Archaeobotanical Data from the Italian Peninsula in the 1st Millennium CE
No full textThis dataset contains raw counts of archaeobotanical (macro-)remains from archaeological sites located in mainland Italy, dating from the 1st century BCE to the 11th century CE. The 195 carpological assemblages have been collected from a variety of published sources and reports and have been stored in a database with the relevant contextual and geographical metadata. The collection focuses on 40 plant taxa that were most commonly represented across the reviewed archaeobotanical reports, prioritising species with clear associations with agricultural activities and subsistence practices. This data may be used for statistical assessment of spatial and temporal differences in dietary patterns, agrarian strategies and crop distribution in the Italian peninsula between the Roman imperial period and the early medieval age
Sustainability strategy and financial performance in the insurance company
No full textInsurance companies are demonstrating increased sensitivity to environmental, social and
governance sustainability issues (ESG - Environmental, Social and Governance). Products in the
insurance sector are naturally attractive for social and environment goals as they respond to the
requirements of customer protection and the growing need for stability in society. For this reason,
activity in the insurance sector can contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
and be used to support the goals of climate neutrality by 2050. This study investigates
sustainability-oriented management practices to determine whether they impact the financial
performance of insurance companies. An international sample of 167 insurance companies, over
the period 2018–2022, was analyzed to reveal whether investments in sustainability produce
returns in terms of an economic advantage. Results show that American insurance companies are
characterized by quality governance that is committed to environmental, social and governance
sustainability policies which is linked to good financial performance. These results are robust to
arbitrary heteroskedasticity and cluster correlation. Our findings add to the literature on Insurance Company by shedding light on the relationship between financial performance and
sustainabilit
Religiosità mediterranee: spazi, mobilità, conflittualità
No full textTra il X e il XII secolo, il Mediterraneo assunse il ruolo di crocevia di culture
e religioni che, pur in conflitto tra loro, condividevano un’eredità spirituale
e culturale comune. Le fonti del tempo mostrano quanto il fervore religioso
attraversasse questo spazio complesso, influenzandone le dinamiche poli-
tiche, sociali e culturali
Il sostegno pubblico alla cultura e al turismo tra concorrenza e sviluppo economico: prassi applicative e problematiche emergenti
No full textL’articolo evidenzia importanza e la necessità della cultura e del turismo sia dal punto di vista sociale che dal punto di vista economico. Questi due settori hanno sempre ricoperto un ruolo assolutamente non trascurabile. La cultura, per esempio, promuovendo conoscenza e creatività, favorisce la coesione sociale, la partecipazione, la cittadinanza attiva e la sua fruizione oltre ad accrescere spiritualmente le persone può contribuire ad accresce l’economia di uno Stato. Il turismo, invece, crea un forte legame con l’ambiente e un indotto economico di tutto rispetto. L’Unione ha prontamente compreso questa realtà considerando entrambi un volàno rilevante dal punto di vista socioeconomico. L'unione, per questo ha previsto piani di sviluppo per il turismo e la cultura improntati sulla resilienza, sulla competitività e sulla produttività, aumentando la loro fruizione.The article highlights the importance and necessity of culture and tourism from both a social and economic point of view. These two sectors have always played a not negligible role. Culture, for example, by promoting knowledge and creativity, promotes social cohesion, participation, active citizenship and its enjoyment, in addition to spiritually increasing people, can contribute to increasing the economy of a State. Tourism, on the other hand create a strong bond with the environment and a respectable economic spin-off. The Union has promptly understood this reality, considering both a significant driving force from a socio-economic point of view and for this reason has provided development plans for tourism and culture based on resilience, competitiveness and productivity, increasing their enjoyment
Mitigating climate change through soil carbon sequestration: a literature synthesis on agricultural LCAs
No full textMitigating climate change and ensuring food security are among the
greatest challenges for modern agricultural systems. Indeed, while the latter
largely contribute to the total global greenhouse gas emissions, they also
have the potential to mitigate the related climate change, mainly through
carbon sequestration. Especially improved soil management practices, such
as zero tillage, crop residue recycling, and application of organic matter,
can increase soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, thus leading to a
sequestration of carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere into the
soil. Additionally, those beneficial practices can enhance soil fertility and
agroecosystems’ productivity. All those practices will contribute to making
agricultural systems more sustainable, thereby favouring the green
transformation of all those sectors that depend upon agricultural products
and activities, such as the tourist one. Within the LCA community, no
consensus has been reached thus far on considering and quantifying SOC
sequestration in agricultural systems. However, accounting for soil carbon
sequestration could be particularly relevant for comparative LCAs between
conventional and organic farming systems to determine their
environmental profiles and the room for improvements. In line with this,
the present study aimed at comprehensively reviewing agricultural LCAs
adopting specific methods to measure SOC changes due to the application
of organic and conservative soil management practices. This allowed the
authors to stress the importance of carbon sequestration benefits from
agroecological practices and to identify and discuss both the advantagesand limitations of the most adopted methods and approaches for including SOC sequestration accounting into LCA