1,721,051 research outputs found
Il ruolo della modulazione del sistema immunitario in seguito alla rottura della placca aterosclerotica durante IMA
Full text linkL’aterosclerosi, a lungo considerata una patologia essenzialmente legata all’ accumulo di lipidi all’interno della tonaca intima, oggi è riconosciuta come un processo degenerativo infiammatorio cronico ad eziologia multifattoriale che, pur manifestandosi clinicamente nell’adulto, trova prodromi sin dalla giovane età. Il nostro studio, condotto sui pazienti arruolati dopo infarto STEMI e sottoposti a intervento di angioplastica coronarica primaria, è finalizzato a valutare il ruolo della modulazione del sistema immunitario in seguito alla rottura della placca aterosclerotica durante l’infarto. Lo studio ancora in corso, ha evidenziato una presenza massiva dell’ IFN-γ, dell’IL-17 e dell’IL- 21 nelle coronarie affette dalla lesione rispetto a quelle esenti e alle arterie periferiche. Gli elevati livelli di citochine osservati nelle arterie danneggiate non sono dovuti all'aumento del numero delle cellule leucocitarie presenti, ma sono riconducibile all’attivazione cellulare delle stesse e all’espressione del loro pattern citochinico. Nella fase acuta dell’infarto inoltre, i livelli sierici dei fattori proinfiammatori come IL-6 e antiinfiammatori come IL-10 sono aumentati, tuttavia, l'aumento di IL-6 è sensibilmente superiore a quello di IL-10. Dopo un mese dalla lesione i livelli sierici di IL-6 e IL-10 osservati risultano bilanciati. A nostro avviso, l’attivazione prevalente dei fattori proinfiammatori è rilevante nella progressione della lesione e nello sviluppo di complicanze associate all’infarto miocardico acuto.Atherosclerosis, once considered a disease mainly linked to accumulation of lipids within the inner tunic, is now recognized as a chronic inflammatory degenerative process with a multifactorial etiology that, even if occurs clinically in adults, shows prognostic signs at an early age. Our study, performed on patients enrolled after acute myocardial infarction with ST elevation (STEMI) undergoing primary coronary angioplasty, aims to assess the role of the immune system modulation during the atherosclerotic plaque rupture due to myocardial infarction. Preliminary data, showed a massive presence of IFN-γ, IL-17 and IL-21 in coronary arteries affected by lesion compared to those exempt and to peripheral arteries. The high levels of cytokines observed in damaged arteries are not due to the increase in the number of leukocyte cells present, but are due to activation of the same cell and expression of their cytokine pattern. Moreover, in the acute myocardial infarction the serum levels of pro-inflammatory factors such as IL-6 and anti-inflammatory such as IL-10 increased. However, the increase of IL-6 was significantly higher than that of IL-10. After a month of the injury, the observed serum levels of IL-6 and IL-10 are balanced. In our view, the main activity of pro-inflammatory factors is relevant in the progression of the lesion and in the development of complications associated with acute myocardial infarction
Designing process-centric blockchain-based architectures: A case study in e-voting as a service
No full textThis article aims at introducing a new process-centric, trusted, configurable and multipurpose electronic voting service based on the blockchain infrastructure. The objective is to design an e-voting service using blockchain able to automatically translate service configuration defined by the end-user into a cloud-based deployable bundle, automating business logic definition, blockchain configuration, and cloud service provider selection. The architecture includes process mining by design in order to optimize process performance and configuration. The article depicts all the components of the architecture and discusses the impact of the proposed solution
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Evaluating Trace Encoding Methods in Process Mining
Full text linkEncoding methods affect the performance of process mining tasks but little work in the literature focused on quantifying their impact. In this paper, we compare 10 different encoding methods from three different families (trace replay and alignment, graph embeddings, and word embeddings) using measures to evaluate the overlaps in the feature space, the accuracy obtained, and the computational resources (time) consumed with a classification task. Across hundreds of event logs representing four variations of five scenarios and five anomalies, it was possible to identify the edge2vec method as the most accurate and effective in reducing class overlapping in the feature space
Contactless Authentication for Wearable Devices Using RFID
No full textTechnological advancements are strongly integrated into our daily lives and an increasing trend prompts the usage of smart healthcare devices for health management. Health providers are beginning to use wearable devices as equipment that can support remote care services. As a result, an accurate, robust, lightweight, and convenient authentication system for smart healthcare devices is urgently required. Considering RFID technology, we present a contactless authentication mechanism that secures a smartwatch at the hardware level. When the authorized person uses the smartwatch, then power is 'ON' otherwise 'OFF'. Thanks to our method the answer to the question 'Am I authorized to use the wearable medical sensor?' and 'Am I really the person who is proceeding?' is directly enforced by the system. This study significantly improved the usability and security of the authentication process
Standard per i learning objects: interoperabilità e integrazione nella didattica a distanza
No full textL’evoluzione delle tecnologie per la formazione a distanza a partire dal Computer Based Training per arrivare agli attuali Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) e Managed Learning Environment (MLE) ha portato in primo piano la necessità di standard settoriali per la formazione a distanza che affrontino i problemi relativi all’obsolescenza e alla personalizzazione dei contenuti, nonchè quelli di organizzazione e navigazione intelligente dei contenuti stesso. In questo articolo si elencano le principali aree in cui è in corso il lavoro di produzione e verifica di standard settoriali per la formazione a distanza, e si descrive un’esperienza di ricerca congiunta nel settore
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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