113 research outputs found
Pacelli – Nuntiaturberichte 1917-29
No full textIn der „Kritischen Online-Edition der Nuntiaturberichte Eugenio Pacellis (1917-1929)“ werden die Nuntiaturberichte, die Eugenio Pacelli, der spätere Papst Pius XII., als Nuntius in München (1917-1924) und Berlin (1920-1929) an die Römische Kurie sandte, gemeinsam mit ihren Anlagen erfasst, kritisch ediert, kommentiert und ausgewertet
ASSESSMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OBESITY AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN ADOLESCENTS: A POPULATION BASED STUDY
No full textBackground: Obesity is one of the most chronic disorders in childhood and its prevalence continues to increase rapidly. Although there is a growing awareness of the long-term health
implications of obesity in children and adolescents, the more widespread psychosocial effects of childhood obesity often go unaddressed by paediatricians. The negative effects of
childhood obesity on Quality of Life (QOL) have been shown in clinical samples, but, so far, a limited number of population based studies assessing HRQOL in juvenile obesity have been
performed, most of them reporting lower general and physical health in obese children as compared to normal weight controls.
Objective: to explore the association between HRQOL and BMI in a school-based adolescents population using the Italian EQ-5D Child version (in validation stage) as a generic measures for HRQOL.
Methods: We included for the 1st time the Italian EQ-5D Child version questionnaire inside a cross-sectional regional nutritional surveillance study aimed to assess eating habits in a
children population. Data on nutritional habits, HRQOL and BMI (calculated from measured weight and height) were collected referring to a subsample of 13-years old children.
Results: Overweight and obesity impacts on Health Related Quality of Life. Analysis results suggest that Body Mass Index (BMI) is linked to the assessments of physical domain of general HRQOL. Particularly, in mobility domain and everyday activities adolescent
classified as at risk of overweight, overweight and obese reported worse perceived health than normal and underweight subjects
Asprilio Pacelli in Poland : compositions, techniques, reception
No full textAsprilio Pacelli (post 1560-1623) was the longest active Italian chapel master at the Polish royal court. His artistic personality obviously may have influenced the generation of Polish composers born ca. 1600 (such as Adam Jarzębski or Franciszek Lilius), whose education might have started under the chapel master’s wing, as well as those working contemporaneously alongside him, such as Mikołaj Zieleński. The article concentrates on the types of music Pacelli composed in Poland, compared with his earlier output. Although he generally maintained stylistic traits used before his arrival at the Polish royal court, he introduced some important innovations after he had settled in Poland. He distinguished himself as the author of motets and psalms for one chorus, motets and masses for two-five choirs, spiritual madrigals and religious songs. The most intriguing part of his music embraces compositions with elements of the concertato technique as the origin of this new technique in the Commonwealth is still vague and unclear, due to the lack of musical sources. Moreover, German reissues of Pacelli’s Italian publications confirm considerable interest in his music in German-speaking countries after 1607
Per un lessico intellettuale di Elsa Morante
No full textLa ricerca e la scelta minuziosa della parola giusta dominano il mondo creativo di Elsa Morante e risultano dallo spoglio dei manoscritti: sono famose le sue liste di parole, che testimoniano di un continuo lavorio per l’individuazione della più opportuna, che meglio si adatti ad un determinato contesto.
Da lettrice che avverte, da studiosa di letteratura aperta ad alcuni settori della linguistica che verifica, leggendo e rileggendo con strumenti adeguati, rimandi da un’opera all’altra e nota punti di contatto, costanti, ritorni con nuove valenze o le stesse del passato, ho deciso di affrontare il presente lavoro, Per un Lessico intellettuale di Elsa Morante, suddiviso in varie parti tra loro correlate: l’Introduzione che informa sulle motivazioni che hanno condotto alla sua formulazione, sulla metodologia seguita e sulle opere selezionate per l’analisi lessicografica; segue la Prima parte, Spunti per un’analisi critica, che offre la sezione critica della Seconda, ovvero quella del lessico vero e proprio con lemmi e relative schede, redatto tenendo in considerazione le norme del Centro per il Lessico Intellettuale Europeo. In questa Seconda parte, intitolata Lessico, di ciascun lemma vengono forniti i contesti significativi (schede-contesto) dell’ampiezza necessaria per renderli autonomamente intelligibili così da creare una voce del Lessico. Il Lessico non comprende tutte le parole presenti nelle opere da me vagliate, ma solo quelle ritenute più rappresentative della produzione creativa della scrittrice. Alla Terza parte, Index locorum, spetta il compito di offrire i risultati dello spoglio integrale di ciascun lemma inserito nel Lessico, condotto col ricorso al calcolatore elettronico; nasce per favorire un’analisi più obiettiva, per verifica del lavoro qui proposto da parte di qualsiasi studioso ne sia interessato, per mostrare le scelte operate (e avallarle o metterle in discussione), le occorrenze entrate nel Lessico come esempi più significativi di una data voce, le occorrenze scartate. Segue la Bibliografia, comprendente i testi utili allo sviluppo del mio studio, con informazioni sulle opere di Elsa Morante e l’elenco di libri, saggi e articoli sull’autrice e non, citati o consultati.
Non si presenta in queste pagine un’analisi lessicografica dell’intera produzione artistica di Elsa Morante. Mi sono proposta uno scopo circoscritto a tre opere: Lettere ad Antonio, Alibi e Aracoeli, intendendo valorizzare tre testi che rispetto a Menzogna e sortilegio, L’isola di Arturo, Il Mondo salvato dai ragazzini e La Storia sono stati trascurati e non sempre analizzati con la dovuta attenzione.
Critica letteraria, semantica lessicale o lessicologia, lessicografia costituiscono i percorsi utili alla creazione di Per un lessico intellettuale di Elsa Morante, permettono formulazioni più certe sull’attività, pensiero e linguaggio della scrittrice, sullo studio dei significati e dei sensi della sua ‘lingua individuale’ e degli imprescindibili fattori storico-culturali in cui essa si inserisce. Storia letteraria e linguistica dunque, come vuole il padre della critica stilistica Leo Sptizer, per meglio comprendere l’autore studiato.
Nel Lessico, i lemmi si succedono in ordine alfabetico. Perché il lavoro complessivo crei un’intersezione delle varie parti per generare un organismo completo, va evidenziato che sono stati individuati percorsi per una più agile lettura del Lessico ─ poi approfonditi nella Prima parte, ovvero nella sezione critica ─ incentrati su delle voci significative, ciascuna delle quali si pone al centro di costellazioni terminologiche e quindi concettuali. È possibile creare insiemi di termini e concetti interdipendenti, da esaminare in connessione, per giungere ad una veduta complessiva degli esempi addotti ad esplicazione della terminologia morantiana.
Tramite un’analisi sistematica sono state individuate alcune parole significative, chiamate ‘parole-guida’, ciascuna delle quali si pone a capo di un gruppo o insieme o ─ per usare una di quelle parole tratte dall’astronomia che compaiono nell’opera della Morante ─ “costellazione” di parole, costellazione terminologica come già detto, contenente un numero di parole che nell’opera della Morante sono alla parola-guida legate per affinità tematica.
Come fosse un gioco di scatole cinesi, all’interno di ciascuna costellazione terminologica sono stati creati dei sottoinsiemi. Ogni sottoinsieme possiede a sua volta una parola-guida, resa graficamente in carattere minore, e contiene termini imparentati tematicamente ad essa e alla parola-guida che tutto contiene.
La chiave interpretativa offerta e le soluzioni trovate, già presenti nella Seconda parte, Lessico, nella selezione delle schede-contesto, cioè nella scelta degli esempi utili alla costruzione delle voci, verranno approfondite in Spunti per un’analisi critica, sezione con intento esplicativo, d’approfondimento delle parole-lemma e del loro inserimento nell’ambito culturale e storico della Morante, ovvero nella sezione propriamente di critica letteraria che sulla parte lessicale fonda le proprie analisi e ipotesi.
Se consideriamo diacronicamente l’opera complessiva della Morante da un lato appare chiara – come alcuni approcci linguistici ad essa hanno dimostrato – la metamorfosi oltre che necessariamente tematica, stilistica (variazione dei registri, la presenza o assenza di pluringuismo ecc.) dall’altro lato meno evidente ma altrettanto determinante ai fini di una migliore conoscenza dell’opera e dell’autrice l’esistenza di un nucleo che nel sistema lessicale morantiano si mantiene saldo e stabile dagli inizi alla fine della sua carriera artistica. Certamente col passare del tempo si aggiungeranno nuovi lessemi che non andranno ad intaccare i precedenti, i quali a loro volta possono diventare polisemi o aggiungere nuovi sensi accanto a quelli originari.
Con questo lavoro si tenta di individuare e analizzare se non tutto, almeno in parte, proprio quel nucleo di lessemi.The careful search for and choice of the right word dominate the creative world of Elsa Morante and are evident from examination of her manuscripts: her lists of words are quite well-known, testifying to a continuous work for identifying the most appropriate one, best suited to a given context.
As a perceptive reader, as a discerning literary academic geared to certain areas of linguistics, by reading and rereading with appropriate tools, by cross-referencing from one work to another and noting the points of contact, constant and repetitive, coming back with new valences or the same as in the past, I decided to undertake this work, Per un Lessico intellettuale di Elsa Morante (For an intellectual Lexicon of Elsa Morante), divided into various interrelated parts: the Introduction that states the reasons which led to its formulation, the methods used and the works selected for lexicographical analysis; followed by Part One, Ideas for a critical analysis, which provides the critical section of Part Two, namely the actual lexicon proper with entries and related explanatory files, drawn up by taking into account the norms of the Centre for European Intellectual Lexicon. In this second part, entitled Lexicon, for each term are provided meaningful contexts (context-files) of sufficient amplitude in order to make them independently comprehensive so as to create an entry in the Lexicon. The Lexicon does not include all the words present in the works I examined, but only those considered most representative of the writer's creative output. Part Three, Index locorum, has the task of offering the results of the complete examination of each entry included in the Lexicon, conducted with the use of computer calculations; it was created to foster a more objective analysis, for verification of the work proposed here on the part of any scholar who may be interested, to show the choices made (and endorse or question them): the occurrences entered into the Lexicon as the most significant examples of a given item as well as the occurrences discarded. At the end is the Bibliography, including the texts useful for the development of my study, with information on the works of Elsa Morante and the list of books, essays and articles on the author and related topics, whether cited or only consulted.
A lexicographical analysis of the entire literary production of Elsa Morante does not appear in these pages. I have set myself a goal confined to three books: Letters to Antonio, Alibi and Aracoeli, with the intention of bringing forth these three texts, which, with respect to Menzogna e sortilegio (House Of Liars), L’isola di Arturo (Arturo's Island), Il Mondo salvato dai ragazzini (The World Saved by Children) and La Storia (History) have been neglected and not always analyzed with due attention.
Literary criticism, lexical semantics or lexicology, and lexicography lay the bases useful in creating For an intellectual Lexicon of Elsa Morante, allowing more certain formulations on the activity, thought and language of the writer, about the study of the meanings and nuances of her “individual language” and regarding the inexorable historical and cultural factors which influence it. Literary and linguistic history, therefore, as envisaged by the father of stylistic criticism, Leo Spitzer, to better understand the author studied.
In the Lexicon, the entries are in alphabetical order. So that the overall work creates an intersection of the various parts as to generate a complete organism, it should be noted that ways have been identified for a more flexible reading of the Lexicon ─ expanded upon further in Part One, namely the critical section ─ focused on certain significant terms, each of which is the focus of terminological and thus conceptual patterns. One can create interdependent sets of terms and concepts to examine interrelatedly in order to achieve a general view of the examples put forward to explain the Morantian terminology.
Through systematic analysis have been identified several significant words, called “guide-words”, each of which stands at the head of a group or set or ─ to use one of those words taken from astronomy which appear in the works of Morante ─ a "constellation" of words, a terminological constellation as mentioned above, containing a number of words which in the works of Morante are related to the guide-word through thematic affinity.
Like a Russian matryoshka doll, within each terminological constellation subsets are created. Each subset in turn has a guide-word, graphically expressed in smaller characters, and contains terms related to it thematically and to the overall word-guide containing everything.
The interpretative key provided and the solutions found, already included in Part Two, Lexicon, in the selection of the context-files, i.e. in the choice of examples useful for creating entries, will be expanded upon in Ideas for a critical analysis. This section has an explanatory intent, expanding upon the word-entries and their inclusion in the cultural and historical environment of Morante. Furthermore, the section of literary criticism itself bases its analyses and assumptions on the lexical sphere.
If we consider the whole range of Morante’s works diachronically, on one hand it appears clear - as some linguistic approaches to it have shown – that the metamorphosis beyond being necessarily thematic is stylistic (variation in register, the presence or absence of multilingualism, etc.) On the other hand, less obvious but equally essential for a better understanding of the work and of the author, is the existence of a core which in the Morantian lexical system keeps itself solid and stable from the beginning to the end of her career. Certainly over time new lexemes will come to be added that will not affect the preceding ones, which in turn may become polysemes or add new meaning alongside the original ones.
With this work an attempt is made to identify and analyze, if not all, at least a part of, that very core of lexemes
Malnutrition and postoperative complications in abdominal surgery
No full textWe read with great interest the article by Hennessey et al 1 who studied retrospectively the relationship between preoperative serum albumin and surgical site infection(SSI) in a heterogeneous population of 524 patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery.A total of 105 patients developed SSI and among them hypoalbuminemia (>30 mg/dL) was significantly associated, both at univariate and multivariate analysis, with the development of SSI, deeper SSI and prolonged inpatient stay. It is well known that malnutrition is a significant risk factor of postoperative complications in major abdominal surgery. Disclosure: The authors declare that they have nothing to disclose. DOI: 10.1097/SLA.0b013e3182306457
However, in the last 3 decades we have assisted to an impressive improvement of anaesthetic and surgical techniques and in an amelioration of postoperative patient management that have led to a reduction of postoperative morbidity and mortality.
At the same time, some recent evidence suggests that being overweight and obesity, rather than malnutrition, are significant risk factors of postoperative complications in major abdominal surgery.
Indeed, in 2008 we published the results of a prospective study that evaluated the incidence of mortality and major and minor postoperative complications in patients who underwent surgery for gastric cancer between 2000 and 2006. In this study, we stratified patients according to the preoperative percentage weight loss (0%–5%, 5.1%–10%, >10%) and serumalbumin levels < 3.0 g/dL; 3.0–3.4 g/dL; ≥ 3.5 g/dL). Interestingly, the rate of major infectious, major non-infectious and minor infectious (as SSI) postoperative complications was similar in patients with serum albumin 8.1%, respectively); between 3.0 and 3.4 (8.8%, 13.3%, 17.7%, respectively) or ≥ 3.5 g/dL (10.5%, 7.9%, 8.7%, respectively). It is difficult to explain the difference between our study and that of Hennessey et al Indeed, the study of Hennessey et al was retrospective and it is unknown if the surgeons or the attending doctors who made the diagnosis of SSI in each case were blinded to the status of serum albumin. In addition, the population studied by Hennessey et al was extremely heterogeneous, including patients who underwent elective or urgent operations on the gastrointestinal tract including stomach, duodenum, gallbladder, small intestine and colon and rectum, whereas we studied only patients undergoing gastric surgery. It has been shown that malnutrition does not re-enter in the risk factors predictive of postoperative morbidity in surgery for malignant gastric tumors.
It seems that role of hypoalbuminemia in the development of SSI varies according to the type of disease, to the type of surgery and to the characteristics of patients
CD "Helper and Protector" – Italian Maestri in Poland
No full textA new CD of The Sixteen ensemble with pieces by Luca Marenzio, Asprillo Pacelli, and Vincenzo Bertolusi was recorded under Eamonn Dougan. The part of the program of the CD was based on the edition of Asprilio Pacelli, Sacrae cantiones, prepared by Barbara Przybyszewska-Jarmińska(PI at the HERA MusMig project). Links: Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences The Sixteen Ensembl
Subcutaneous abscess as a side-effect of cetuximab therapy
No full textCetuximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody against epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), is used to treat colorectal cancer and head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC) [2]. Common adverse events associated with cetuximab treatment are paronychia, diarrhea, and nausea, but most frequently acneiform eruption (>90%, with 20% grade 3/4 severity) [1].
A 68-year-old man with tonsil SCC (cT4aN1Mo according to the TNM classification) underwent radio-chemotherapy with cetuximab and hyperfractionated radiotherapy. Cetuximab was infused intravenously according to the traditional protocol, which consists of a loading dose of 400/m2 (total dose 780 mg) over 2 h, followed by 250/m2 (total dose 485-585 mg) weekly for 7 weeks.
Dermatological examination showed grade 3 skin and mucous membrane toxicities (according to the National Cancer Institute–CTCAE criteria) [2] with confluent oral pseudomembranous ulcers, widespread folliculitis with erythema on the face and upper trunk, and bleeding induced by minor trauma.
At the end of the 7th cycle, a tight, erythematous, painful abscess, 9-10 cm in diameter, arose on the patient's right buttock (figure 1). There was no fever, the patient was not diabetic nor immunocompromised, and all laboratory parameters were within normal ranges. Oral clarithromycin 1 g daily and chlorphenamine maleate 8 mg daily for 5 days did not result in significant improvement. Surgical drainage of the abscess on the 6th day yielded a culture positive for Staphylococcus aureus.
The response to cetuximab treatment was initially good, with a marked reduction of the primary tumor and involved lymph nodes on the imaging studies. However, a year after chemotherapy, the patient required further surgery due to tumor spread to other lymph nodes and the sphenoid sinus.
The EGFR family of receptor tyrosine kinases is at the beginning of a complex signal cascade that modulates cell proliferation, differentiation, migration and survival. It is overexpressed in several epithelial neoplasms, including head and neck SCC, non-small-cell lung, colon, prostate, ovarian and kidney cancers. EGFR blockade by target monoclonal antibodies (such as cetuximab) represents a novel strategy for cancer treatment.
Skin reactions associated with cetuximab are acne-like rash, cutaneous xerosis, paronychia, telangiectasia, itch, xerophthalmia, eyelash trichomegaly and residual hyperpigmentation. Acneiform rash is the commonest adverse event, with a characteristic distribution in seborrheic areas (face, V-shaped neckline, upper trunk). The skin lesions sometimes consist of erythematous follicular papules that may evolve into pustules. The pathogenesis of acneiform rash is unclear. EGF family receptors play important roles in protecting the hair follicle from immunomediated damage and in permitting the transition of hair and vellus hairs from the growth (anagen) to the involution phase (catagen). Consequently, EGFR inhibition keeps vellus hairs in the catagen phase for a long time, resulting in follicle damage. Abscess formation in our patient was probably due to a combination of cetuximab-induced folliculitis and S. aureus superinfection.
There is no standard treatment for the rash induced by EGFR-inhibitors, and there are different views on antibiotic prophylaxis in patients receiving cetuximab [1]. Its effectiveness has not been proven because the cause of the acneiform eruption is initially inflammatory, but is then frequently followed by superinfection. Moreover, the contradictory results of the few relevant trials [3, 4] do not warrant routine use of this approach. A recent uncontrolled open label follow-up study [5] reported a significant improvement of cetuximab-induced acneiform eruptions by topical therapy with nadifloxacin cream and prednicarbate cream. In another study [6], grades equal to or higher than the second were successfully treated with oral tetracyclines. However, no controlled studies on the interference between systemic therapy and tumor response to EGFR inhibitors are currently under way.
In our patient antibiotic prophylaxis would probably have prevented abscess formation, improving his condition and enabling a better management
ASO Author Reflections: Risk Factors for Anastomotic Leakage in Advanced Ovarian Cancer Surgery-What We Know and Future Perspectives
No full textN/
Impact of socioeconomic status and district of residence on cutaneous malignant melanoma prognosis: a survival study on incident cases between 1991 and 2011 in the province of Ferrara, northern Italy
No full textThe aim of this study was to analyse the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on the prognosis of patients with invasive malignant melanoma (MM) incident from 1991 to 2011 in the province of Ferrara, northern Italy. A total of 750 patients provided by the Area Vasta Emilia Centrale Cancer Registry were included in this retrospective cohort study. Prognosis was analysed in terms of overall survival and specific survival. The study determinants were the patients' SES and district of residence. The confounding effect of sex, age, period and TNM stage at diagnosis was evaluated. In the study population, neither overall survival nor specific survival showed significant differences among different layers of SES and districts of residence. The risk for death from MM was lower for the female sex [hazard risk (HR)=0.68, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.50-0.94] and for diagnoses made in the most recent period (2005-2011: HR=0.56, 95% CI: 0.36-0.89 with respect to 1991-1997). A worse prognosis was observed in patients older than 70 years at the time of diagnosis (HR=2.33, 95% CI: 1.39-3.91 with respect to the <40-year age group) and in patients with more than pT1 tumours (up to 20 times for pT4 tumours). SES and district of residence did not constitute prognostic factors for MM patients residing in the province of Ferrara. Homogeneity in MM staging, treatment and follow-up strategies due to the relatively small extent of the study area and the presence of a single university hospital of reference, as well as less marked social and economic differences among the study patients in comparison with other previously analysed populations, may account for this finding
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