IRIS Università degli Studi dell'Aquila
Not a member yet
68355 research outputs found
Sort by
Interplay between personal and professional growth in Italian medical education
Get PDFIntroduction: Generational change is impacting medical education and driving the adaptation and reform of teaching and clinical practice to successfully educate the next generation of physicians. Aim of the study was to establish undergraduates’ needs by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of their soft skills from the start of medicine school. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional study to evaluate the personalities and soft skills of first-, third-, and sixth-year undergraduates in medical school. Of the eligible participants (N = 333), 127 of them (38.1%) were evaluated for their soft skills. The assessment was based on psychological and behavioral assessments. Results: Results showed the strong need of the young to understand themselves and know how to improve their personal growth during academic study. Mediation statistical analyses showed significant direct and indirect effects of the factors (year level in medical school) and mediators (conscientiousness/extroversion and openness) on the soft skills indexes. Conscientiousness was a predictive factor for all soft skills examined: self-determination (β = 0.54), resilience (β = 0.48), empathy (β = 0.36), assertiveness (β = 0.24), social support (β = 0.18), and teamwork (β = 0.30). Openness was correlated and predictive for empathy (β = 0.19). The model of the multilayered construct of medical competence represents a fruitful framework and using the lens of Self-Determination theory, medical undergraduates could be engaged and buffered against the stressors of patient care. Discussion: In this scenario, the interaction with medical leaders is relevant, clinical trainers and medical undergraduates should model the professional learning; escalated clinical skills should build advanced knowledge in medicine
Predictive value of Shanghai score system in patients with drug-induced type 1 Brugada electrocardiographic pattern
Get PDFBackground The Shanghai score system was developed to enhance the risk stratification in Brugada Syndrome (BrS); however, its prognostic value in drug-induced type 1 BrS remains unclear. Methods This study involved 698 patients with drug-induced type 1 BrS, confirmed via pharmacologic challenge (flecainide or ajmaline), from 21 centers in Italy and Switzerland. Patients were classified according to the Shanghai score system: probable/definite BrS (score >= 3.5) and possible BrS (score < 3.5). The primary outcome was appropriate ICD therapy or sudden cardiac death (SCD)/sustained ventricular arrhythmias; the secondary outcome includes the identification of clinical predictors of primary outcome events. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were used. Results Our study population included 239 patients (34.2%) with probable/definite BrS and 459 (65.8%) patients with possible BrS. During a median follow-up of 57.4 months, 20 patients (2.9%) experienced the primary outcome. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a significantly lower event rate in possible BrS (0.11% over 10 years) compared to probable/definite BrS (0.42%). SCN5A pathogenic variants were a significant predictor of primary endpoint in the possible BrS group (OR: 12.5). Conclusions Shanghai score system for BrS diagnosis may be useful as a tool for risk stratification of life-threatening arrhythmias among patients with drug-induced type I BrS ECG. Identifying the SCN5A mutations is of pivotal importance for refining the risk stratification
Ultrastructural assessment of human periodontal ligament fibroblast interaction with bovine pericardium membranes: An in vitro study
Get PDFResearch towards regenerative dentistry focused on developing scaffold materials whose high performance induces cell adhesion support and guides tissue growth. An early study investigated the proliferation abilities and attachment of human periodontal ligament fibroblasts (HPLFs) on two bovine pericardium membranes with different thicknesses, 0.2 mm and 0.4 mm. Following those published results, we examined the ultrastructure of HPLFs in contact with these membranes. The HPLFs were cultured in standard conditions, exposed to the tested materials, and, after 24 hours, subjected to transmission electron microscopy preparation. The examined parameters included the quality and distribution of mitochondria, Golgi apparatus, and the nucleus. HPLFs exposed to membranes showed ultrastructural changes. The cellular compartments aimed at protein synthesis and metabolism increased compared with the control. Unpaired t-test and one-way ANOVA showed that HPLFs exposed to membranes displayed an increase in the number of mitochondria (89.23±7.44 vs. 66.90±9.58; T1 and control; p<0.05 and 84.05±14.01 vs. 66.90±9.58; T2 and control; p<0.05). The reported ultrastructural evidence suggests an active synthesis state of HPLFs, probably triggered by the bovine collagen membrane, showing an active role of this material in the biology of the regeneration process
Transfinite hypercentral iterated wreath product of integral domains
Get PDFStarting with an integral domain D of characteristic 0, we consider a class of iterated wreath product W_n of n copies of D. In order that W_n be transfinite hypercentral, it is necessary to restrict to the case of wreath products defined by way of numerical polynomials. We also associate to each of these groups a Lie ring, providing a correspondence preserving most of the structure. This construction generalizes a result of Sushchansky and Netreba (Algebra Discrete Math 122–132, 2005) which characterizes the Lie algebras associated to the Sylow p-subgroups of the symmetric group Sym(p^n). As an application, we explore the normalizer chain {N_i} starting from the canonical regular abelian subgroup T of W_n. Finally, we characterize the regular abelian normal subgroups of N_0 that are isomorphic to D^n
Physics-Informed Neural Networks for Defect Detection and Thermal Diffusivity Evaluation in Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Using Pulsed Thermography
No full textCarbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) is widely used in various industrial applications. However, subsurface defects can compromise the performance and integrity of CFRP products. To enhance quality control and safety, nondestructive testing (NDT) methods, such as active infrared thermography (AIRT), are used for defect detection. In this study, we propose a physics-informed neural network (PINN) that combines experimental data with the priori physical knowledge expressed by Fourier's law of heat diffusion to process thermographic data. With the help of PINN, nonuniform backgrounds are estimated and removed from the original thermograms, highlighting the defect information. Subsequently, principal component thermography (PCT) is used to reduce dimensionality and extract features from the processed thermograms. In addition, PINN can estimate unknown physical parameters such as the material's thermal diffusivity. We demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method using experimental and simulated case studies based on pulsed thermography (PT)
High temperature melting of dense molecular hydrogen from machine-learning interatomic potentials trained on quantum Monte Carlo
No full textWe present results and discuss methods for computing the melting temperature ofdense molecular hydrogen using a machine learned model trained on quantum Monte Carlo data. In this newly trained model, we emphasize the importance of accurate total energies in the training. We integrate a two phase method for estimating the melting temperature with estimates from the Clausius–Clapeyron relation to provide a more accurate melting curve from the model. We make detailed predictions ofthe melting temperature, solid and liquid volumes, latent heat, and internal energy from 50 to 180 GPa for both classical hydrogen and quantum hydrogen. At pressures of roughly 173 GPa and 1635 K, we observe molecular dissociation in the liquid phase. We compare with previous simulations and experimental measurements
Special Weingarten surfaces with planar convex boundary
No full textIn this paper, we prove a Ros-Rosenberg theorem in the setting of Special Weingarten surfaces. We show that a compact, connected, embedded, Special Weingarten surface in R3+ with planar convex boundary is a topological disk under mild suitable assumptions
Ortega interprete di Hegel
No full textPer comprendere il ruolo speculativo hegeliano all’interno dell’itinerario riflessivo di Josè Ortega y Gasset, è necessario ricordare le modalità con cui Hegel è entrato a far parte della cultura filosofica spagnola novecentesca. In questo contesto riflessivo, però, senza alcuna pretesa di voler ricomporre tutto il variegato e complesso mosaico delle molteplici interpretazioni critiche spagnole su Hegel, si
metterà in luce un riverbero minimale del pensiero hegeliano all’interno del cammino speculativo di Ortega, cercando di fare emergere, attraverso lo sguardo cristallino del filosofo spagnolo, una particolare declinazione del concetto hegeliano di storia. Proprio quest’ultimo, infatti, si rivelerà essere alla base del ratio-vitalismo di Ortega, ovvero della concezione della vita «come ragione» che rappresenta la cifra del suo pensiero
In love with medical humanities! A survey on medical students’ opinions and satisfaction with an integrated elective course
Get PDFIntroduction: Internationally, the teaching of medical humanities (MH) in medical schools is often limited to elective courses. It is therefore important to understand students' views in order to increase their participation in these courses. Three elective courses in medical humanities have been activated at the University of L'Aquila, which constitute a single educational pathway for medical students: a course in Visual thinking strategies, a course in Narrative medicine and a course in Reflective practices. This study aims to investigate medical students' opinions and satisfaction with these three medical humanities courses. Materials and methods: We administered a questionnaire to all medical students who took a medical humanities course in the academic year 2023-2024 at the University of L'Aquila. The questionnaire aimed to assess students' opinions on the content and usefulness of the course and to gather suggestions for improving it. The data collected were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively, by using various qualitative analysis techniques. Results: Thirty-eight students took an MH course during the selected academic year and were recruited for the survey. The survey revealed higher course participation among female students. The courses proved to be important opportunities for students to compare themselves with their colleagues. The students were very satisfied with the three courses (especially the VTS and RP courses), considering them useful for their personal, professional and social growth. They reported improving their observational, reasoning and communication skills (VTS course), developing an empathic attitude towards patients (VTS and NM courses), and learning to work in groups (RP course). They appreciated more workshops than theoretical lectures and suggested increasing the chances to practice what they learnt, also in real life. Conclusions: Although some aspects can still be improved, medical humanities courses have been very successful among medical students due to their educational and social value