University of Verona
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La National Security Strategy statunitense 2025. Politica interna e ordine globale fra interesse nazionale, aree geografiche e "bilateralismo remunerativo"
No full textNell’attuale vivace, ma delicato, dibattito sul (ri)posizionamento degli Stati Uniti d’America nello scacchiere internazionale, il punto di partenza obbligato è evidentemente la pubblicazione della National Security Strategy 2025 (d’ora in avanti, NSS), pubblicata il 4 dicembre 2025. Attraverso tale documento, l’attuale amministrazione statunitense ha reso nota al mondo la propria “visione”, nonché la scala delle priorità, in politica estera, efficacemente riassunte nel seguente periodo: «The purpose of foreign policy is the protection of core national interests; that is the sole focus of this strategy»
Collision prediction using plan learning in mixed human–robot work cells
No full textIn mixed human-robot work cells the emphasis is traditionally on collision avoidance to circumvent injuries and production down times. In this paper we discuss how long in advance a collision can be predicted given the behavior of a robotic arm and the current occupancy of both the robot and the human. The behavior of the robot is a sequence of predefined operations that constitute its plan, each one with a given trajectory. However, we do not know the exact trajectory or the plan a priori. Under the assumption that the plan has a cyclic character, we propose an approach to learn it in real time from state samples and use the resulting model to estimate the time before a collision. The pose of the human is obtained by a multi-camera inference application based on neural networks at the edge to preserve privacy and enforce scalability. The occupancy of the manipulator and of the human are modeled through the composition of segments which overcomes the traditional ``virtual cage'' and can be adapted to different human beings and robots. The system has been implemented in a real factory scenario to demonstrate its readiness regarding both industrial constraints and computational complexity
Autoimmune and paraneoplastic disorders of the nervous system
No full textThe aim of this PhD thesis is to investigate different clinical, radiological and biomarker aspects of the heterogeneous group of autoimmune and paraneoplastic disorders of the nervous system.
After a brief overview of these conditions, including paraneoplastic neurological syndromes and complications of cancer immunotherapy, and autoimmune encephalitides, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody-associated disease (MOGAD), we will focus on specific topics that were investigated in this PhD project.
In the first part, we will be focusing on the characterization of rare presentations of immune-related adverse events of cancer immunotherapy, including cerebellar involvement and movement disorders. Article 1 and Article 2 provide a characterization of these rare conditions through an extensive systematic review of the literature. We observed that some specific features such as subacute onset, inflammatory cerebrospinal fluid and negative imaging were supportive of the diagnosis, which largely relies on clinical evaluation.
Regarding paraneoplastic neurological syndromes, Article 3 and Article 4 are focused on the definition of paraneoplastic neurological syndromes in two “low-risk antibodies”, aquaporin-4 (AQP4) and MOG. Our results suggested that MOGAD is not associated with neoplasms, thus cancer screening is not necessary in this condition, whereas, in AQP4+NMOSD, cancer can occur beyond the typical associations (longitudinally extensive myelitis and adenocarcinoma) suggested in the diagnostic criteria for paraneoplastic neurological syndromes, prompting a more extensive cancer screening.
In the second part, in Article 5 and Article 6, we investigated the spectrum of differential diagnoses of autoimmune encephalitides and NMOSD, and the factors that were associated with misdiagnosis.
In the third part, we will be discussing the characterization of clinical features of AQP4+NMOSD and MOGAD and the role of biomarkers in seronegative NMOSD.
In Article 7, we will provide a characterization of clinical and radiological features of cerebellar involvement during AQP4+NMOSD attacks.
In Article 8, we will discuss a study aiming to characterize peripheral nervous system involvement in patients with MOGAD. In this study we investigated samples obtained from patients that underwent sural nerve biopsy to identify those harboring MOG antibodies. We observed that a minority of cases were MOG positive either with combined peripheral and central demyelination or with isolated peripheral nerve involvement only.
In Article 9, we aimed to investigate the role of a profile of serum biomarkers in discriminating seronegative versus AQP4+NMOSD. We observed that markers of axonal damage were similar in the two groups, but seronegative NMOSD had lower concentration of markers of astrocytopathy and neuronal death. The signature we identified can be useful for the differential diagnosis and for our understanding of the disease.
In conclusion, this PhD project investigated different aspects of autoimmune and paraneoplastic disorders of the nervous system, including the characterization of rare clinical presentations and the investigation of potential biomarkers
Preface
No full textSi tratta della Prefazione ad un volume collettaneo dedicato alla morfogenesi discontinua. Illustra il metodo della ricerca e presenta il contenuto di ciascun capitolo
Assessing Body Composition in Paralympians: Accuracy of Different Measurement Methods Compared with Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry
Full text linkBackground: Paralympic athletes represent a highly heterogeneous athletic population, which poses unique challenges for body composition assessment. This study evaluated the accuracy of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA), Air Displacement Plethysmography (ADP), and a set of skinfold equations in estimating relative fat mass (%FM) in Paralympians, using Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA) as reference method. Methods: Sixty-six male and sixty-seven female Paralympians underwent body composition assessments on the same day. The %FM estimated using BIA, ADP, and six existing skinfold equations was compared with %FM measured by DXA (%FM_DXA). Accuracy and agreement between the methods were evaluated using two-tailed paired-sample t-tests, concordance correlation coefficients, reduced major axis regression, and Bland-Altman analysis. Linear regression analyses with the %FM_DXA as dependent variable and anthropometric measurements as independent variable were also carried out. Results: BIA, ADP, and skinfold equations exhibited poor agreement with DXA and significantly underestimated %FM_DXA, with systematic biases ranging from -1.8% to -10.7% in both men and women. In both groups, skinfold sums showed strong correlations with %FM_DXA (r > 0.7), with the nine-skinfold model providing the best prediction (adjusted R2 approximately 0.8). Conclusions: The results of this study indicate a lack of transferability of available methods for assessing body composition (skinfold equations, BIA, and ADP) in estimating %FM_DXA in both male and female Paralympians, as these methods proved inaccurate. Future research is needed to further investigate the accuracy of methods for assessing body composition in this population, taking into account the specific impairment and health condition of the athletes
A markerless platform for automatic assessment of gait based on Human Pose Estimation: A proof of concept
Full text linkInstrumental and observational gait analysis are time-consuming and call for adequate operator training. The instrumental analysis calls for dedicated spaces, whilst observational analysis remains strongly operator dependant and subtle information may be missed, despite standardized tools can be adopted by clinicians (i.e., tables with specific features to be looked for in people walking). Markerless motion capture systems, such as pose estimation software based on convolutional neural networks and machine learning algorithms, may overcome the limitations of both the described approaches. This article presents a Markerless Automatic video-based platform for Gait Analysis (MaGA) that, given a predefined clinical tool and starting from the video recording of a person walking, computes the joint kinematics, identifies gait cycle sub-phases, perform a feature extraction and disentangles pathological from physiological walking via support vector machine algorithms, with linear and non-linear kernels. Results reported linear and non-linear models performances in classifying and predicting severity of gait alterations at hip and knee joints, according to the Ranchos Los Amigos scale. The Mean Absolute Error ranged between 0.04 and 0.70 for linear models and was generally lower than 0.50 for non-linear models. F1-scores are generally above 0.70, with a few exceptions. The analysis of three example cases demonstrate the effectiveness of the method in evaluating sagittal hip and knee kinematics, highlighting agreements and a few discrepancies with expert evaluations taken as ground truth. The proposed platform has the potential to be customized for the automatic assessment of individuals' gait based on various clinical evaluation tools, thereby addressing the common limitations associated with them. Future plans include conducting comprehensive technical and clinical trials to assess the platform's sensitivity under varying data collection conditions. Additionally, efforts will be made to establish a broader reference dataset, encompassing individuals with diverse disorders and varying levels of pathology severity
Advanced intrapartum midwifery practice: a scoping review
No full textProblem: There is no international consensus on advanced midwifery practice in intrapartum care. Background: Evidence suggests that advanced practice midwives improve maternal and neonatal clinical outcomes, access to care, resource efficiency and staff satisfaction. However, specific literature on advanced midwifery skills in intrapartum care is lacking. Aim: To map advanced midwifery skills in intrapartum care. Methods: A scoping review was conducted using electronic databases including Medline, Scopus, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Google from inception to April 2022, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. Findings: A systematic search of the literature identified 6932 studies, and 17 met inclusion criteria. The advanced intrapartum skills identified relate to perineal care, instrumental vaginal birth, breech vaginal birth, perineal repair, cesarean section, emergencies procedures, intrapartum ultrasound, counseling and mediation, labour techniques, advanced clinical assessment, intangible skills, external cephalic version. Discussion: Two main trends emerge: the skills practiced in midwifery-led units are oriented to promote and respect the physiology of childbirth and, in more under-resourced contexts, the development of midwifery follows an overlapping path with that of medical skills. The advancement of intrapartum practice involves the exercise of technological and emotional skills. The practice of counseling skills contributes to the professional development of the whole team. Conclusion: This review suggests the need to develop advanced skills in the area of birth physiology through the promotion of organisational models such as midwifery-led units. It is important to focus on how advanced profiles can be implemented and how advancement in practice affects maternal and neonatal outcomes
Mai più costrette a dimettersi
No full textIl 17 dicembre 2025, l’Assemblea regionale dell’Emilia-Romagna ha approvato un progetto di legge per il Parlamento nazionale ex art. 121 Cost. che propone misure dedicate al contrasto delle dimissioni motivate dalla difficoltà di conciliare vita e lavoro. Il progetto riapre la riflessione a livello nazionale sull’abbandono del lavoro da parte dei genitori proponendo regole ad hoc. I numeri delle dimissioni, più che raddoppiate negli ultimi dieci anni, confermano che è – ovviamente – un problema di madri, che porta con sé una certa idea di mercato del lavoro e un istituto, la convalida, da allineare all’idea di conciliazione vita e lavoro di cui la dir. 2019/1158 dell’Unione europea è l’espressione. Ricordando a chi fa ricerca giuridica gender sensitive l’importanza di ripensare gli istituti giuridici del passato per aggiornare la risposta del diritto alle attuali differenze di trattamento di natura discriminatoria tra donne e uomini nel lavoro e nel mercato
MADAM: Manuscript Annotated Dataset Based on Multispectral Imaging for Handwritten Text Enhancement and Restoration
No full textBook heritage calls scientists to specific challenges: the object is investigated in its “textual” and “material” features, with the two aspects interlaced, especially in the case of degraded manuscripts. The written text is often not readable directly, but only through the experience of expert philologists who try to recover it using visible traits and contextual information. Considering the recent advances in machine learning, it becomes possible to implement a computer-aided system to help philologists with the above challenging problem. To do that, it is fundamental to get annotated data, allowing the AI algorithms to learn how to recover the degraded information, aiding philologists in their work, but unfortunately, such a kind of dataset is not available yet. To fill this gap, this paper introduces a dataset with high-resolution images of historical Italian manuscripts, in different and severely degraded conditions, acquired through an optimized multispectral imaging setup in the UV-VIS-NIR. For each image patch of the multispectral stack both transcription and segmentation masks of the handwritten text are provided, making the overall built dataset a valuable resource for developing and testing AI algorithms for enhancement, detection, segmentation or restoring text
Innovation Adoption and Research Methods: The Risk of Misuse in Healthcare Management Studies
No full textInnovation adoption in the healthcare industry is a complex process driven by several variables. Laws frequently govern the implementation of healthcare innovations, making modifications more difficult. Both innovation and organizational manager qualities have an impact on the adoption of innovations in the healthcare industry. Numerous studies have sought to investigate the variables that influence and precede healthcare decision-makers to adopt new technologies. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, or UTAUT, and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2, or UTAUT2 [7-8], are two of the most popular research models used for this purpose. This study aims to find out how the two research models—UTAUT and UTAUT2—were really employed in the studies that make this claim. Thus, the purpose is to discuss how the UTAUT and UTAUT2 models have really been applied in research on the uptake of innovation in the healthcare industry, with a methodological perspective. Healthcare innovation adoption is a complex process with theoretical, cultural, and social implications. For innovation adoption in healthcare to be effective, it is essential to comprehend these implications. To the best of our knowledge, some systematic studies have been conducted on the topic, such as literature reviews or bibliometric analyses. Still, no work addresses how and whether UTAUT and UTUT2, as conceived by their creators, have been employed in studying innovation adoption in healthcare