2,677 research outputs found
La democrazia urbana ai tempi di Internet
No full textle relazioni tra lo spazio pubblico virtuale e lo spazio pubblico materiale delle relazioni faccia a faccia organizzate e supportate dalla società civile vengono esplorate a partire da alcuni case-studies. i dati dimostrano come ai fini di un'influenza sull epolicies locali le sfera pubblica virtuale debba necessariamente rimaterializzarsi in una dimensione fisica di prossimita
Dizziness in the elderly
No full textDizziness is largely a problem in the elderly, being the most common reason patients over the age of 75 years seek medical attention. The term is used to describe many sensations, including vertigo, disequilibrium and light-headedness. There are different causes of dizziness in older people such as cardiovascular, neurological or locomotor disease, deterioration in sensory organs, vestibular dysfunction and adverse drug effects. Distinctions between the effects of aging and borderline pathology on instability and falls are not always clear-cut. The elderly's greater risk of balance disorders stems from a higher likelihood of impairments or diseases affecting the physiological subsystems underlying the complex skill of balancing. Diagnosing a specific cause of dizziness or vertigo in older people can be a challenge, since the symptom descriptions are often vague and examination findings overlap among potential causes. Once a differential diagnosis is formulated, it is not clear what tests – if any – will add clinical value. Intervention needs to be tailored to each patient to obtain the maximum effect, designing different exercises for individuals with different kinds of deficiency. Vestibular dysfunction in the elderly can be treated effectively with vestibular rehabilitation, which comprises both a ‘generic’ type and more specific protocols. Moreover, all the following interventions may have a role: exercises designed specifically to improve muscle function and to address sarcopenia, visual deficit treatment, pacemakers, vitamin D supplementation, gradual withdrawal of psychotropic medication, multifaceted podiatry and hip protectors, cognitive behavioural interventions, home safety assessment and modification interventions. In many cases, a multifactorial approach could be the best solution, as the elderly are frequently affected by multiple deficiencies. There is strong scientific evidence that rehabilitation has a significant role for multisensory dizziness, vestibular hypofunction and locomotor pathologies. More research is needed to evaluate the benefit of rehabilitation for neurological causes and benign positional paroxysmal vertigo
Stroop effects from 3 to 10 years: the critical role of reading acquisition.
No full textWe studied 241 nursery and primary school 3- to 10-year old children with a discrete-trial version of the Stroop Test, including both a Color-Naming and (for the 6- to 10-year olds only) a Word-Reading task. The classic Stroop effect was present across all the ages, with an inverted U-shaped pattern: increasing from 3- to 7-year olds, then decreasing. Preschool children who were able to read showed a Stroop effect larger than same-age, unable to read children. The reverse Stroop effect was present across all the studied ages but the 6-year-olds, who instead displayed some facilitation in reading congruent vs. black words. Since the acquisition of reading skills turned out to be crucial for the Stroop effects, the present research may be useful to study developmental reading impairments by providing normative data
Surgical treatment of acoustic neuroma: Outcomes and indications
No full textAim Surgery for acoustic neuroma has developed over the years with a gradual improvement in outcome. The goal of surgery should be cure of the disease and a low morbidity, preserving facial nerve function – and hearing, too, whenever feasible (i.e. in small tumors). The most appropriate approach must be decided case by case. Background Results of microsurgery remain heterogeneous, however, probably due to the different amount of experience gained at different centers. Materials and Methods Surgical series reported in the recent literature (2012–2015) were critically reviewed, along with some older papers with particularly representative series. Results and conclusion Considering patients’ age, surgical morbidity of different approaches, tumor size and hearing, some principles can be identified on which to base surgical indications with a view to achieving the goals of curing the disease with a low morbidity, preserving facial nerve function and hearing, too, whenever feasible (i.e. in patients with small tumors). Different therapeutic approaches are discussed
Sporadic acoustic neuroma
No full textPurpose: To date, early diagnosis of vestibular schwannoma is becoming more and more frequent. This involves an increasing number of small tumors with good hearing. Hearing preservation is thus becoming the goal of each therapy of small acoustic neuroma. The aim of this review was to analyze the treatment options for sporadic vestibular schwannoma (observation, radiotherapy, surgery), in terms of long-term cure for the disease with minimal morbidity, in order to ascertain which treatment option offers the best function preservation rates, especially in terms of hearing. Method: Seven hundred and fifty recently published representative case series treated with various options, focusing on hearing preservation, were identified in the PubMed database, and then screened based on parameters preliminarily established. Results: From a critical analysis of the results, some critical issues emerged. As to begin, a proper comparison of hearing outcomes among the various options is impossible. Observation and radiotherapy seem to offer good short-term results, but most studies revealed a significant bias due to the lack of long-term follow up data. As for surgery, the results varied considerably due to differences in surgeons’ expertise, patient selection criteria, and other institutional factors. Conclusions: Hearing preservation, together with hearing rehabilitation in VS is the current most-debated topic in the therapy of sporadic VS. Thus, the need of long-term, high quality and homogenous data in order to analyze and compare the hearing functional outcome within the observation, radiotherapy, and surgery
Hearing preservation and growth of small vestibular schwannomas: preliminary outcomes from patients under observation
No full textChiara Lubich, Meditazioni: letteratura come relazione
No full textChiara Lubich (1920–2008), although the author of 32 books published in 26 countries (178 editions, 3.2 million copies), is better known for her social engagement, as reflected in numerous awards. She began to be regarded as a literary author only in the early 2000s, and primarily from a linguistic rather than literary perspective. This article focuses on her book Meditazioni (Meditations), reconstructs its genesis by tracing the writing process from the late 1950s to her death and the 2021 critical edition, and offers a literary analysis. This reveals Lubich as a forerunner of a new conception of literature: literature as relationship – not only between author and reader, but also among subject, inspiration, and the editorial process
Poor readers but compelled to read: stroop effects in developmental dyslexia
No full textWe studied a group of 24 children with dyslexia in second to fifth primary school grades by using a discrete-trial computerized version of the Stroop Color-Word Test. Since the classic Stroop effect depends on the interference of reading with color naming, one would expect these children to show no interference or, at least, less interference than normal readers. Children with dyslexia showed, however, a Stroop effect larger than normal readers of the same age. This suggests that reading, although difficult and slow, is an inescapable step that precedes naming both in poor and in normal readers
3D numerical simulations in complex near-field geological configurations during the Mw 6.3 L’Aquila earthquake
No full textSurface ground strains evaluated from weak motion records of dense seismograph arrays: the case of Parkway Valley, New Zealand
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