1,721,046 research outputs found
Population risk assessment to the atmospheric particulate in Terni area by hight spatial resolution mapping of the sources contribution
Full text linkPM exposure causes various health problems including premature death in people with heart or lung disease, no fatal heart attack, irregular heartbeat, aggravated asthma, decreased lung function, increased respiratory symptoms such as irritation of airways, coughing, or difficulty in breathing. Terni is one of the most polluted urban and industrial areas in Central Italy. Terni is situated in an intramountain depression and is characterized by the presence of urban and industrial PM emission sources such as vehicular traffic, domestic heating, a power plant for waste treatment and a steel plant. The geomorphological and meteorological conditions limit the dispersion and enhance the accumulation of the atmospheric pollutants. Population is exposed for long period to PM and its components, mainly metals Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn. Terni is an ideal area to study inhalation risk assessment by PM e its components correlated to sources contribution by the spatial variability.
PM concentration and its elemental composition (soluble and insoluble fraction) were measured for the entire year through the acquisition of high spatially resolved data (23 sampling stations in Terni area). Data were elaborated to calculate inhalation risk assessment through accredited algorithms of EPA methodologies for carcinogenic and no carcinogenic metals and for their correlation between different sources and population risks. Risk maps related to the whole urban and industrial area were obtained for children and adult population.Data show risks for the resident population of adults and children exposed for long period to carcinogenic and no carcinogenic metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) contained in particulate matter and a correlation with main emissive sources (vehicular traffic, domestic heating and industrial emission sources). The results permitted to correlate the concentrations measured with exposure risk (adults and children) to atmospheric pollution in Terni area. They proved the efficiency of the new experimental procedure elaborated for inhalation risk assessment of the spatial variability of PM10 components (carcinogenic and no carcinogenic metals) through the acquisition of spatially resolved annual data and the correlation between main emission sources
Monitoraggio terapeutico degli azoli e sviluppo di resistenza antifungina in una popolazione adulta affetta da Fibrosi Cistica con infezione delle vie aeree da funghi filamentosi
Full text linkIntroduzione. La peculiare suscettibilità alle infezioni croniche delle vie aeree da parte di una moltitudine di patogeni rappresenta uno dei segni distintivi della Fibrosi Cistica (FC). Negli ultimi anni sempre più attenzione è stata dedicata al ruolo della colonizzazione da funghi filamentosi, Aspergillus spp. e non-Aspergillus (NAFF). I triazoli rappresentano frequentemente la terapia di prima scelta nel trattamento di queste infezioni. Tuttavia, il loro utilizzo implica necessariamente il ricorso al monitoraggio terapeutico farmacologico (TDM), a causa di una farmacocinetica estremamente variabile e della recente comparsa, a livello mondiale, di farmacoresistenza agli azoli.
Obiettivi. Analizzare l’utilizzo del TDM nella gestione clinica real-life di una popolazione adulta affetta da FC in terapia con azoli, identificare i fattori di rischio associati al riscontro di livelli plasmatici sub-terapeutici e valutare lo sviluppo di resistenza antifungina da parte delle specie isolate.
Metodi. È stata effettuata un’analisi retrospettiva longitudinale su di un’ampia casistica monocentrica inglese, selezionando tutti i pazienti adulti in trattamento con azoli nel periodo incluso tra il 2018 ed il 2019. Per ciascun paziente reclutato sono stati raccolti i dati relativi a: caratteristiche demografiche e indici di controllo della malattia, risultati degli esami microbiologici, terapia antifungina in atto e relativa indicazione, frequenza e risultati del TDM. Analisi di regressione logistica multivariata sono state effettuate per identificare i fattori di rischio associati al riscontro di livelli plasmatici sub-terapeutici e per indagare in merito all’eventuale associazione tra TDM sub-terapeutici e sviluppo di ceppi resistenti agli azoli. La probabilità di sviluppare resistenza antifungina nel periodo di osservazione è stata valutata mediante regressione univariata di Cox.
Risultati. Sono stati selezionati 91 pazienti adulti in trattamento con triazoli nel periodo di studio. È stata riscontrata un’elevata frequenza di TDM sub-terapeutici in corso di trattamento con itraconazolo in capsule (59.6%) e voriconazolo (60.8%), il cui utilizzo è stato identificato come unico fattore di rischio significativo associato al riscontro di livelli plasmatici sub-terapeutici (P = 0.036). Si è registrata una rapida emergenza di specie fungine resistenti ai triazoli, in particolare tra i pazienti trattati per colonizzazione da NAFF e bronchite da Aspergillus, con una probabilità del 21.4% dei partecipanti di sviluppare resistenza antifungina al termine dei 2 anni di osservazione. Non è stata osservata alcuna associazione significativa tra la presenza di livelli sub-terapeutici e lo sviluppo di resistenza agli azoli.
Conclusioni. Il presente studio evidenzia un’elevata prevalenza di livelli sub-terapeutici in corso di trattamento antifungino con azoli tra pazienti adulti affetti da FC, in particolare tra coloro in terapia con itraconazolo in capsule e voriconazolo. Il rapido e preoccupante sviluppo di ceppi resistenti ai triazoli sottolinea la necessità di istituire un’efficace stewardship antifungina per questi pazienti. Ulteriori studi longitudinali sono necessari per comprendere gli effetti della resistenza antifungina sui principali outcome clinici in FC e le implicazioni dei livelli sub-terapeutici dei triazoli sullo sviluppo della farmacoresistenza
Validation of the IPSL Venus general circulation model with Venus Express data
Full text linkSeveral numerical models devoted to the simulation of Venus atmosphere have been developed. These models are useful instruments in the understanding of the mechanisms behind the observational features. However, before using their outputs to drive any conclusion about the dynamics and the structure of the atmosphere of Venus, we need to validate them. The process of validation passes by a comparison of the modelled and observational features. Among these numerical models, the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL) Venus GCM is the one with a more physical approach, being capable to solve the radiative transfer for each layer of the simulated atmosphere. Our study makes use of Venus Express data – in particular VIRTIS (Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer) and VeRa (Venus Express Radio Science Experiment) observations – in order to validate this model. This work will analyze the temperature and wind fields in the atmosphere of Venus between 50 and 90 km, that is the range covered by observations. In this range – covering from the upper troposphere to the upper mesosphere – two different regimes are found in the observational thermal field, above and below ~ 76 km, with temperatures increasing towards the pole and towards the equator, respectively. At cloud top level (~ 68 km), permanent cold features, the cold collars, encircle the warmer poles. Winds velocities reach their maximum values (~ 120 m/s) at cloud top, but are faster than the solid body through the entire range of altitudes, determining a condition called superrotation. Seasonal thermal tides are negligible in data, but those related to the diurnal cycle, are present and have a large impact, especially in the upper atmosphere. Venus modelling has always suffered from the strong dependence of the simulation by the initial conditions and the different dynamical cores. Winds far weaker than observed, as well as the inability to reproduce the complex polar vortexes and the subpolar cold regions, have been the major issues for all the numerical simulations for Venus. However, to simulate the fast rotation of the atmosphere and to properly model the thermal structure associated to the polar and subpolar regions, means to understand the physical conditions under which these characteristics develop. Thus, the first objective of our validation of the IPSL Venus GCM is to estimate the general characteristics of the modelled atmosphere and their resemblance of observations. A first, qualitative comparison, is fundamental in recognizing the main dynamical regions in Venus atmosphere. Being the main goal of this work, the validation of a model through its comparison with the thermal and winds field in observational data, we need to clarify the adopted ingredients and the state of the art of our knowledge of Venus. Thus, in chapter 1 we present the overall characteristics of Venus atmosphere, in terms of its composition, thermal structure and dynamics. In chapter 2 we discuss the Venus Express mission, with a focus on the VIRTIS and VeRa experiments and the datasets that we used in this analysis. In chapter 3 we describe the evolution and the present state of the major numerical models trying to simulate the atmosphere of Venus, with a particular emphasis on the IPSL Venus GCM. Chapter 4 and chapter 5 present our validation: the former concerns the analysis of the average temperature and wind fields, the latter is about the thermal tides affecting the temperature and wind fields. As a result, we recognize the capability of the model to reproduce the main observational feature and we propose future steps in order to overcome the major discrepancies that we found in our validation
Parasitic infection and human gut microbiota: new insights into the systematic of nematodes of potential use as therapy
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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
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
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe 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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