58 research outputs found
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
A FUZZY-BASED DISTANCE TO IMPROVE EMPIRICAL METHODS FOR MENU CLUSTERING
No full textAn effective menu organization is fundamental to obtain usable applications. A common practice to achieve this is to adopt empirical methods in the menu design phase, by requesting a number of intended final users to provide their ideal tasks arrangements. However, to improve the effectiveness of this approach, it is necessary to filter results, by identifying and discarding data coming from subjects whose mental models are too weak on the considered domain. To this aim, in the paper, we propose a formal tool suited to support menu designers, which is based on a fuzzy-based distance we defined. This measure can be easily calculated on the empirical datasets, thanks to a specifically conceived supporting application we developed. As a result, by exploiting the proposed solution, menu designers can rely on a formal tool to evaluate significance of empirical data, thus leading towards more effective menu clustering
Per un lessico intellettuale di Elsa Morante
Get PDFLa 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
Multivariate normal tissue complication probability modeling of gastrointestinal toxicity after external beam radiotherapy for localized prostate cancer
Get PDFThe risk of radio-induced gastrointestinal (GI) complications is affected by several factors other than the dose to the rectum such as patient characteristics, hormonal or antihypertensive therapy, and acute rectal toxicity. Purpose of this work is to study clinical and dosimetric parameters impacting on late GI toxicity after prostate external beam radiotherapy (RT) and to establish multivariate normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) model for radiation-induced GI complications.
METHODS:
A total of 57 men who had undergone definitive RT for prostate cancer were evaluated for GI events classified using the RTOG/EORTC scoring system. Their median age was 73 years (range 53-85). The patients were assessed for GI toxicity before, during, and periodically after RT completion. Several clinical variables along with rectum dose-volume parameters (Vx) were collected and their correlation to GI toxicity was analyzed by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (Rs). Multivariate logistic regression method using resampling techniques was applied to select model order and parameters for NTCP modeling. Model performance was evaluated through the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).
RESULTS:
At a median follow-up of 30 months, 37% (21/57) patients developed G1-2 acute GI events while 33% (19/57) were diagnosed with G1-2 late GI events. An NTCP model for late mild/moderate GI toxicity based on three variables including V65 (OR = 1.03), antihypertensive and/or anticoagulant (AH/AC) drugs (OR = 0.24), and acute GI toxicity (OR = 4.3) was selected as the most predictive model (Rs = 0.47, p < 0.001; AUC = 0.79). This three-variable model outperforms the logistic model based on V65 only (Rs = 0.28, p < 0.001; AUC = 0.69).
CONCLUSIONS:
We propose a logistic NTCP model for late GI toxicity considering not only rectal irradiation dose but also clinical patient-specific factors. Accordingly, the risk of G1-2 late GI increases as V65 increases, it is higher for patients experiencing previous acute toxicity and it is lower for patients who take AH/AC drugs. The developed NTCP model could represent a potentially useful tool to be used in prospective trial and for comparison among different RT techniques
Validation of Left Atrial Volume Estimation by Left Atrial Diameter from the Parasternal Long-Axis
No full textMeasurement of left atrial (LA) volume (LAV) is recommended for quantification of LA size. Only LA anteroposterior diameter (LAd) is available in a number of large cohorts, trials, or registries. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether LAV may be reasonably estimated from LAd
ASO Author Reflections: Risk Factors for Anastomotic Leakage in Advanced Ovarian Cancer Surgery-What We Know and Future Perspectives
No full textN/
Redevelopment after the Abruzzo event
Get PDFNatural disasters raise quite a number of interdisciplinary issues concerning regional economic growth and local development, as well as public finance and sustainability, to mention only a few of them. These issues deserve special attention in our globalized world, given the expectation of a growing impact of climate-related disasters: no surprise that disaster management stands as a new discipline aimed at bridging the gap between theory and practice, so as to prevent natural disasters in the first place; afterwards, considerable efforts are required to accelerate business recovery, quickly restore vital energies, and hopefully carry out specific improvement projects as a sort of compensation for the (both personal and economic) losses suffered. Interesting lessons can be learned from natural disasters and can be shared as a payback to those who helped upon their occurrence. Actually, cooperation calls for cross-cultural activities that are likely to benefit from direct experience made by impacted scholars and practitioners: a case in point has to do with the earthquake that devastated L’Aquila and its environs on April 6, 2009 causing more than 300 deaths, apart from extensive damage in the Abruzzo region, in Central Italy; the Abruzzo event – as this natural disaster is currently referred to – fuels the debate on redevelopment problems to be faced under similar circumstances, that may obliterate the economic environment and attractiveness of an area in a few moments. Due to the huge amount of money needed to undertake appropriate strategies, finance plays a key role and useful insights can be gained by exploring the process of financial innovation. A supporting argument deals with the recourse to micro-finance in order to make the business and economic scenario revive after a natural disaster: micro-credit might be resorted to even within the framework of new financial engineering instruments, such as Urban Development Funds, recently promoted by the European Investment Bank; they include JESSICA (Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas) and JEREMIE (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises), to be properly considered as strategic tools in sight of redeveloping L’Aquila and its surrounding boroughs.
- …
