49 research outputs found
Il generale Giovanni Battista Serpi nel Risorgimento
No full textLa ricostruzione delle vicende risorgimentali si concentra spesso sulla narrazione degli eventi, tralasciando i volti e le voci dei personaggi che hanno contribuito, con la loro azione e il loro pensiero, alla storia nazionale del XIX secolo.
Questo è il caso del generale dei Carabinieri Giovanni Battista Serpi Diana che, dal Monreale in Sardegna, vive in prima persona gli avvenimenti risorgimentali e partecipa alla costruzione del nuovo stato unitario
Digital communication strategies during the pandemic crisis: lessons from Amazon company
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic provides an illustration of how chaotic changes to large systems are caused by small, seemingly insignificant environmental events such as the initial case(s) of COVID-19 in China. From this small starting point for the pandemic, there have been (and continue to be) millions of lives lost and trillions of dollars spent trying to alleviate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. World government and corporate leaders are striving to deal with this pandemic, but uncertainty is felt across the globe.Unprecedented strategies (e.g., the United States government’s multi-trillion-dollar stimulus package (s)) have been used to halt the spread of COVID-19. These small events cascade throughout larger and larger systems leading to unforeseeable consequences. Organizations must experiment and make decisions on how to react. Decisions must be made and implemented to see what the effects of these decisions are.The chapters in this volume provide important insights for all organizations during this time of crisis. The chapters express bottom-up and top-down approaches to a crisis-initiating environmental change by organizations. The chapters provide insight into the way organizations perceive the effect of COVID-19 as 1) a permanent or transitory change in the organization’s environment; and 2) as a crisis or opportunity. Taken together, the chapters provide both scientists and practitioners with a starting point for understanding the impact of COVID-19 on organizational theory and on management practice for readers
Impact Indexes Comparison Study Using Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) on Innovative Cement Bound Granular Material Pavement Layers
No full textIn the last decades, the need to perform experiments with innovative
new materials to be used in civil engineering and replace Portland Cement (PC)
by embracing the concept of circular economy and environmentally sustainable
engineering. PC production is responsible each year of 8% of the total CO2 emitted
into the atmosphere, for this reason, it is vital to find valid alternatives to PC.
Such innovative materials must not only have good mechanical and physical performances
if comparedwith PC but also be obtainedwith very lowCO2 emissions.
In this research innovative mix designs for road Cement Bound Granular Material
(CBGM) layers were analyzed to evaluate the environmental impact, in which PC
was partially replaced with Anhydrous Calcium Sulphate (ACS), a by-product of
the hydrofluoric acid industrial production process. This paper analyzes the Environmental
Product Declarations (EPD) of two main mixes, one with 3% of ACS
and 2% of cement and the other one with 4% ACS and only 1% of cement. The
selected mixes had already been studied from a mechanical and physical point of
view. Laboratory and in situ tests ensured good mechanical and physical performances.
This paper wanted to analyze the environmental impacts of such mixes
using the EPD of each material forming the CBGM layers. For comparison, two
reference mixes one with only 5% of PC and the other with 5% of Green Cement
(GC) were also analyzed. The research aims to compare the blends and evaluate
themix design with less environmental impacts. Twelve mix designs were considered,
varying the type of hydraulic binders, that is PC, GC, and ACS and also the
type of aggregates divided into Natural Aggregate (NA) and Recycled Aggregate
(RA). The best design solution for the Global Warming Potential (GWP), which
is one of the EPD parameters, was the mix incorporating 1% GC, 4% ACS and
only RA
Value Co-Destruction: a Text-Mining-Based Mixed Method Study on Social Media Interactions
No full textTo better understand how big data interconnects firms and customers, we analyse the role of customers’ emotions in the process of value co-destruction in a social media context. We perform a text mining based algorithm capable of identifying anger, expectation, disgust, fear, and sadness in peaks of problematic social interactions. The developed algorithm associated with an in-depth qualitative analysis shows how to employ unstructured big data to understand
the role of negative emotions in the process of value co-destruction
Osteoarthritis in Axial Skeleton in Geriatric Patients
No full textWith the increase in life expectancy, spinal diseases are becoming more common during clinical practice, with high medical and socioeconomic impact. Spine pathologies in the elderly encompass a wide group, with the majority represented by degenerative changes that can virtually affect every element of the column and can be associated with pain and neural structures compression, with high impact on the quality of life.
When investigating these pathologies, a multimodality approach is needed, encompassing traditional radiography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging, as main imaging techniques. Every method, in fact, can give complementary information and has its own limits. However, it is important to keep in mind that the spine is a dynamic biomechanical structure, whereas the majority of images are obtained in static conditions or in the absence of axial load, possibly reducing the accuracy of the study
Study on the Mechanical Behavior and Environmental Product Declarations of Road Base Layers Incorporating Anhydrous Calcium Sulphate
No full textThe adoption of circular economy principles and environmentally sustainable engineering is becoming increasingly prominent in civil engineering. Portland cement (PC) production alone is responsible for 8% of total annual CO2 emissions. Novel materials should possess good mechanical and physical properties while reducing CO2 emissions. This study analysed different mix designs for cement bound granular material (CBGM) road layers, partially replacing PC with anhydrous calcium sulphate (ACS), an industrial by-product. The objectives of the study include assessing mechanical performance through laboratory tests and analysing Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for each mix design. Two mix designs were examined: one with 3% ACS and 2% cement, and the other mix with 4% ACS and only 1% cement. Hydraulic binders used in the mixes included PC, Green Cement (GC), and ACS, with variations of aggregate types, natural and recycled. Innovative mix designs demonstrate comparable strengths to traditional CBGM layers. This paper aimed to analyse the environmental impacts using EPDs, comparing innovative mixes to those with 5% PC and 5% GC to identify environmentally friendly mixes with appropriate mechanical responses
Ultrasound-guided Musculoskeletal Interventional Procedures Around the Hip: A Practical Guide
No full textSeveral studies have shown that ultrasound guidance may contribute to improved safety, effectiveness and accuracy of musculoskeletal interventional procedures performed around the hip if compared to those performed with a landmark-guided technique. Different approaches and injectates can be used for treating hip musculoskeletal disorders. These procedures may involve injections in the hip joint, periarticular bursae, tendons, and peripheral nerves. Intra-articular hip injections are mostly used as a conservative approach for treating patients affected by hip osteoarthritis. Ultrasound-guided injection of the iliopsoas bursa is performed in patients with bursitis and/or tendinopathy, to treat those with painful prosthesis due to iliopsoas impingement, or when the lidocaine test is indicated to identify the iliopsoas as a source of pain. Ultrasound-guided interventions are routinely used in patients with greater trochanteric pain syndrome having as target the gluteus medius/minimus tendons and/or the trochanteric bursae. Ultrasound-guided fenestration and platelet-rich plasma injection are applied in patients with hamstring tendinopathy with good clinical outcomes. Last but not least, ultrasound-guided perineural injections can be used for peripheral neuropathies or blocks of the sciatic, lateral femoral cutaneous, and pudendal nerves. In this paper, we discuss the evidence and technical tips for musculoskeletal interventional procedures performed around the hip, highlighting the added value of ultrasound as an imaging guidance modality
Shoulder ultrasound: current concepts and future perspectives
No full textUltrasonography is an established and effective imaging technique that can be used to evaluate articular and periarticular structures around the shoulder. It has been shown to be useful in a wide range of rotator cuff diseases (e.g. tendon tears, rotator cuff calcific tendinopathy and bursitis) as well as non-rotator cuff abnormalities (instability, synovial joint diseases and nerve entrapment syndrome). A scanning protocol is highly recommended to reduce the rate of operators' errors by following a standardized scheme including a list of main structures. Shoulder ultrasound has several advantages: it is a relatively cheap and widely available technique, free from ionizing radiation, that can reach excellent diagnostic accuracy even compared to magnetic resonance imaging. Moreover, it is the only imaging technique that allows dynamic evaluation of musculoskeletal structures, which is important for the evaluation of impingement. Also, due to the shoulder's superficial anatomical position, ultrasound can also be helpful in guiding interventional percutaneous procedures, both for diagnostic (e.g. magnetic resonance arthrography) and therapeutic purposes (e.g. percutaneous treatment of calcific tendonitis). Contrast-enhanced ultrasound and speckle tracking offer complimentary evaluations of shoulder anatomy and biomechanics. Moreover, the advent of ultra-high-frequency US, with probes up to 70 MHz allowing for a resolution as low as 30 mu m, is a promising tool for further evaluation of the shoulder anatomy, and diagnostic and therapeutic strategies
The use of artificial intelligence in musculoskeletal ultrasound: a systematic review of the literature
No full textPurpose: To systematically review the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in musculoskeletal (MSK) ultrasound (US) with an emphasis on AI algorithm categories and validation strategies. Material and methods: An electronic literature search was conducted for articles published up to January 2024. Inclusion criteria were the use of AI in MSK US, involvement of humans, English language, and ethics committee approval. Results: Out of 269 identified papers, 16 studies published between 2020 and 2023 were included. The research was aimed at predicting diagnosis and/or segmentation in a total of 11 (69%) out of 16 studies. A total of 11 (69%) studies used deep learning (DL)-based algorithms, three (19%) studies employed conventional machine learning (ML)-based algorithms, and two (12%) studies employed both conventional ML- and DL-based algorithms. Six (38%) studies used cross-validation techniques with K-fold cross-validation being the most frequently employed (n = 4, 25%). Clinical validation with separate internal test datasets was reported in nine (56%) papers. No external clinical validation was reported. Conclusion: AI is a topic of increasing interest in MSK US research. In future studies, attention should be paid to the use of validation strategies, particularly regarding independent clinical validation performed on external datasets
