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    Gatti e scimmie

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    Scheda relativa all’opera letteraria “Gatti e scimmie” di Arnaldo Colasanti, pubblicata da Rizzoli, Milano, nel 2001

    Seeking an Optimal Renal Replacement Therapy for the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemic: The Case for On-Line Hemodiafiltration

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    The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) can be expected to increase dramatically in the foreseeable future, with suggestions that it has already reached epidemic proportions. The inadequate supply of donor organs, aggravated by an aging patient population, necessitates provision of sustainable dialysis treatment modalities. These treatment modalities must not only be of established clinical efficacy and effectiveness, but must simultaneously circumvent any potential treatment disparities due to geographical, social or other concurring factors. Home therapies might represent a partial solution to the complex issue of seeking optimal strategies to cope with the CKD epidemic. However, self-care renal replacement therapy (RRT), such as peritoneal dialysis (PD) and home therapies, can only be applied to a limited portion of the CKD population. Consequently, in preparation for coping with this CKD epidemic, specific large-scale plans need to be made that involve optimization of treatments already in use for the majority of the population requiring RRT, e.g. hemodialysis (HD). Extracorporeal chronic HD relies heavily on technology for its clinical success. Like the choice of the treatment modality and the complete medical approach to CKD patient care, the particular selection of the various components of the extracorporeal circuit has a significant impact on the well-being and survival of the patients. We present a medical-technological assessment of how best to treat vast numbers of dialysis patients under the financial restraints that are predicted to become even more severe as CKD entrenches itself as a more 'permanent epidemic: A treatment modality is proposed that optimally addresses - and resolves - the debilitating effects of uremia, as well as of key clinical conditions closely linked to it. This treatment modality successfully tackles the issues of patient well-being, efficacy, effectiveness, safety and patient-nursing staff convenience - all in relation to the overall costs incurred by payers of renal care. In short, optimal care needs to be provided with shrinking resources and without compromising the medical appropriateness of the therapy. Additionally, we believe ensuring improved quality of life is just as important as prolonging patient survival. Therefore, a balanced compromise between optimal and affordable technology is required in order to reach the targets of achieving good medical care and meeting the expectations of patients, their families, healthcare providers, and society as a whole. Under these premises, and focusing on the aforementioned targets, we believe that on-line hemodiafiltration (HDF) represents the most advanced and clinically appropriate RRT modality available to best cope with the CKD epidemic. Together with the guidance and recommendations of those taking care of CKD patients on dialysis therapy, the contribution of industry is indispensable for the availability of highly reliable and affordable solutions to the impending dilemma. As representatives of the academic-medical community and of industry, we present a joint case for the application of on-line HDF towards meeting the challenge of large-scale provision of dialysis under an increasingly restrictive financial climate. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The 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

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    “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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