169,887 research outputs found
Geomorphology and age of large rock avalanches in Trentino (Italy): Castelpietra
No full textWithin a project aimed at understanding past catastrophic rock slope failure in the Trentino Province of Italy, we studied the Castelpietra landslide. Castelpietra encompasses a main blocky deposit, with an area of 1.2 km2, which is buried on the upper side by more recent rockfall debris. The release area is the Cengio Rosso rock wall, which is comprised of Dolomia Principale and overlying Calcari Grigi Group dolomitized limestones. 36Cl exposure dates from two boulders in the main blocky deposit indicate that the landslide occurred at 1060 ± 270 AD (950 ± 270 yr ago). The close coincidence in time of the Castelpietra event with several events that lie within a maximum distance of 20 km, including Kas at Marroche di Dro, Prà da Lago and Varini (at Lavini di Marco) landslides, strongly suggests a seismic trigger. Based on historical seismicity compilations, we have identified the “Middle Adige Earthquake” at 1046 AD as the most likely candidate. Its epicenter lies right in the middle of the spatial distribution of the discussed landslides
Coordination in multi-agent autonomous cognitive robotic systems
No full textIn Proc. of the Second International Cognitive Robotics Worksho
Suicide : a pharmacoepidemiological database study in the region Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy
No full textAims: The objective of this thesis is to examine the relationship between suicide and health care in Italy’s Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) region. First, it explores the correlation between suicide rates and antidepressant sales. Second, it analyses, at the individual level, the risk of suicide associated with the main suicidal risk factors, such as non-fatal self-harm, psychiatric disorders and somatic disorders. Third, it investigates the differences in suicide risk related to qualitative parameters in the use of antidepressants, such as adherence and treatment modifications. The overall aim is to help improve interventions to prevent suicide.Methods: All data were retrieved from the FVG Regional Social and Health Information System (SISSR), which links data using a unique anonymous key from different regional databases. Paper I analyses changes in individual-based data on antidepressant use and the rates of suicide during years 1997-2006. The other three papers are designed as case-control studies. All suicides that occurred in the region during years 2002-2008 (Paper II) and 2003-2013 (Paper III) were classified as cases, which were then age- and gender-matched to controls from the general population. In Paper IV, cases and controls from 2005 to 2014 must have had at least one prescription of antidepressant in the 730 days prior to the index date. Regression analysis was used to assess the association between suicide risk and its predictors.Results: In Paper I, suicide rates decreased by one-third in all genders and age groups. In parallel, both the number of individual users of antidepressant and the number of Defined Daily Doses per patient increased by 5-fold and 7-fold, respectively. In Paper II, the risk of suicide was highly increased by previous self-harm (OR = 53.1 for a single episode and OR = 98. for repeated episodes), as by psychiatric disorders (OR = 19.5). In Paper III, somatic disorders were strong predictors of suicide (OR = 2.9), particularly in case of comorbid disorders (OR from 2.6 to 9.8 when the number of disorders raised from 1 to ≥4) and in the elderly (OR = 4.3). No significant risk of suicide was found when medically-ill patients adhere to antidepressants. In Paper IV, none of the antidepressants compounds and classes was associated to suicide except SSRI (OR = 1.6). The association to suicide tended to decrease with adherence or current use of antidepressants. In all studies, on average only 10-20% of suicide cases adhere to antidepressants and 20-40% were currently using them at the time of death.Conclusions: Our findings support the hypothesis that treatment with antidepressant medication lowers the risk of suicide. The treatment at a proper dosage and for a proper length of time further decreased the risk, particularly in somatic-ill persons. Well-known risk factors, such as non-fatal self-harm and psychiatric and somatic disorders, were confirmed to highly increase the risk of suicide. Only a minority of suicides, however, had adhered to antidepressants or were under antidepressant treatment at the time of death.List of scientific papersI. Castelpietra G, Morsanutto A, Pascolo-Fabrici E, Isacsson G. Antidepressant use and suicide prevention: a prescription database study in the region Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2008, 118 (5):382-388. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.2008.01240.x II. Castelpietra G, Bovenzi M, Clagnan E, Barbone F, Balestrieri M, Isacsson G. Diagnoses and prescriptions of antidepressants in suicides: Register findings from the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Italy, 2002–2008. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice. 2016;20(2):121-4. https://doi.org/10.3109/13651501.2016.1149196 III. Castelpietra G, Gobbato M, Valent F, Bovenzi M, Barbone F, Clagnan E, Pascolo-Fabrici E, Balestrieri M, Isacsson G. Somatic disorders and antidepressant use in suicides: A population-based study from the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, Italy, 2003–2013. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2015, 79 (5):372-377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2015.09.007 IV. Castelpietra G, Gobbato M, Valent F, De Vido C, Balestrieri M, Isacsson G. Antidepressant use in suicides: A case-control study from the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Italy, 200 5-2014. [Submitted]</p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Antidepressant use in suicides: a case-control study from the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Italy, 2005–2014
No full textPurpose: To compare the use of antidepressant (AD) classes and compounds in individuals who committed suicide and in controls from the general population and to assess to what extent adherence and current use of different AD classes can affect the risk of committing suicide. Methods: Individual data on suicide, diagnoses and AD use in Friuli Venezia Giulia from 2005 to 2014 were obtained from the Regional Social and Health Information System. All suicides that had at least one prescription of AD in the 730 days before death (N = 876) were included as cases. Each case was matched with regard to age and sex with five controls from the general population. The association between suicide and AD use was assessed using conditional logistic regression analysis. Results: Almost 70% of all suicides occurring in the10-year period had been prescribed AD. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) accounted for more than the 90% of the prescriptions, with paroxetine the most prescribed AD. All AD compounds and classes were not associated with a higher suicide risk, with the exception of SSRI (OR = 1.6). A decreasing trend in suicide risk was observed when adherent subjects or current AD users were compared to the others. Conclusions: AD treatment is an important factor for preventing suicide, since the use of AD at adequate dosage and for a proper duration was associated with a lower suicide risk. The proper use of AD should be ascertained by physicians, particularly in a primary care context
Mitomycin C in highly myopic eyes - Author reply
No full textOphthalmology. 2005 Feb;112(2):208-18; discussion 219.
Mitomycin C modulation of corneal wound healing after photorefractive keratectomy in highly myopic eyes.
Gambato C, Ghirlando A, Moretto E, Busato F, Midena E.
SourceRefractive Surgery Service and Antimetabolite Therapy Research Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of topical mitomycin C in corneal wound healing (CWH) after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in highly myopic eyes.
DESIGN: Prospective, double-masked, randomized clinical trial.
PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-two eyes of 36 patients affected by high (>7 diopters) myopia.
METHODS: In each patient, one eye was randomly assigned to PRK with intraoperative topical 0.02% mitomycin C application, and the fellow eye was treated with a placebo. Postoperatively, mitomycin C-treated eyes received artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months), whereas the fellow eye was treated with fluorometholone sodium 2% and artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast sensitivity, manifest refraction, and biomicroscopy. Contrast sensitivity was determined using the Pelli-Robson chart. Corneal confocal microscopy documented CWH.
RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 18 months (range, 12-36). No side effects or toxic effects were documented. At 12-month follow-up examination, UCVAs (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) were 0.4+/-0.48 and 0.5+/-0.53 (P = .03) in mitomycin C-treated eyes and corticosteroid-treated eyes, respectively. At 1 year, corneal haze developed in 20% of corticosteroid-treated eyes, versus 0% of mitomycin C-treated eyes. At 12, 24, and 36 months, corneal confocal microscopy showed activated keratocytes and extracellular matrix significantly more evident in untreated eyes (Ps = 0.004, 0.024, and 0.046, respectively).
CONCLUSION: Topical intraoperative application of 0.02% mitomycin C can reduce haze formation in highly myopic eyes undergoing PRK.
Comment in
Ophthalmology. 2006 Feb;113(2):357; author reply 357-8
Communication and Coordination among heterogeneous Mid-size players: ART99
No full textMelbourne, Australi
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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