1,720,974 research outputs found
Oral treament with the melatonin agonist agomelatine lowers the intraoculare pressure of glaucoma patients
No full textPURPOSE: Agomelatine is an agonist of melatonin that is used in the treatment of major depressive disorders. It has also shown an ability to decrease IOP in experiment animals and in normal human subjects. This pilot study addresses for the first time agomelatine effects on the IOP of patients affected by POAG.
METHODS:Ten patients affected by hypertensive POAG treated by multiple hypotensive topical drugs and under further treatment with agomelatine (25 mg day(-1) per os) for psychiatric problems, were enrolled. IOP tonometric values were measured at enrolment and after 15 and 30 days of agomelatine supplementation.
RESULTS:Agomelatine given orally showed a significant hypotonising effect, stably decreasing IOP by roughly 30% of the enrolment value after 15 and 30 days of treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: The hypotonising effect of oral systemic agomelatine at 25 mg day(-1) was able to further decrease IOP in both eyes of all enrolled POAG patients in which multiple drug treatment with anti-glaucoma eye drops had no further effect
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation: A Roadmap about Good Clinical Practice and Patient Care
Get PDFThe latest research achievements in the field of stem cells led in 2016 to the publication of “Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation” by the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). Updating the topics covered in previous publications, the new recommendations offer interesting ethical and scientific insights. Under the common principles of research integrity, protection of patient’s welfare, respect for the research subjects, transparency and social justice, the centrality of good clinical practice, and informed consent in research and translational medicine is supported. The guidelines implement the abovementioned publications, requiring rigor in all areas of research, promoting the validity of the scientific activity results and emphasizing the need for an accurate and efficient public communication. This paper aims to analyze the aforementioned guidelines in order to provide a valid interpretive tool for experts. In particular, a research activity focused on the bioethical, scientific, and social implications of the new recommendations is carried out in order to provide food for thought. Finally, as an emerging issue of potential impact of current guidelines, an overview on implications of compensation for egg donation is offered
Information, Sharing, and Self-Determination: Understanding the Current Challenges for the Improvement of Pediatric Care Pathways
Get PDFDespite the considerable progress of medical science over the years, pediatric patients can still be affected by serious illnesses that, regardless of age, lead to experiencing all the clinical, psychological, ethical and spiritual problems related to incurable diseases and death. The interaction between the peculiarities of individuals, and the clinical conditions presented define a changing and complex profile of health needs, which requires organized, dynamic and multidimensional responses. The approach to the pediatric patient must consider its biological, psychological, relational and clinical characteristics. Such aspects in fact determine and modulate the type and quantity of the needs presented, conditioning the actions to be taken and the organizational models to be implemented. In accordance with some international regulations, it is essential that healthcare professionals provide adequate information to the patient’s understanding in order to enhance participation in the decision-making process regardless of the possibility of expressing consent or dissent to the treatment. Frequently, the sharing of decisions on the care path not only fails to involve children, but often lacks rigorously designed interventions for parental involvement. Therefore, the development of care models that focus on the needs of the pediatric population is crucial. The present paper aims to analyze the problems of information quality and sharing in pediatric care pathways in order to promote shared decision-making and improve the knowledge of the professionals involved. As a secondary objective, the study will provide useful insights for the prevention of decision-making conflicts frequently at the basis of the dispute in the pediatric field
Key performance indicators in claims management: definition of a set of indicators for the evaluation of the medico-legal activity
Get PDFBackground: In recent decades, in the field of healthcare, awareness of the problems inherent to the quality has steadily increased. Currently, the evaluation of healthcare activities is one of the ways in which health systems regulate internal relationships and define strategic decisions.
Objective: The study aims to describe in detail the entire process of developing a group of Key Performance Indicators for monitoring and implementing the management of litigation due to medical liability. Particularly, the objective is to centralize and standardize the indicators to provide scientifically reliable data on claims management to hospital professionals responsible for strategic choices.
Methods: The study was conducted to analyze data relating to the claims management at Umberto I General Hospital in Rome from 2012 to 2018. All claims reported were classified according to a selection of the categories coded in the International Classification for Patient Safety system, the economic features, and the chronological references of the main management extrajudicial and judicial phases. The Process Analysis Method was followed to develop significant indicators for measuring the performance and the quality of claims management.
Results and conclusion: The results obtained demonstrate how the assessment of performance in claims management can potentially lead to greater risk control with significant repercussions in terms of reduction of disputes, speed in settling claims, reduction of management times, planning of loss prevention measures, and implementation of quality of care
Deep Learning Gain and Tilt Adaptive Digital Twin Modeling of Optical Line Systems for Accurate OSNR Predictions
Get PDFWe propose a deep learning algorithm trained on varied spectral loads and EDFA working points to generate a digital twin of an optical line system able to optimize line control and to enhance OSNR predictions
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“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
Mobbing: inquadramento del fenomeno ed indennizzo Inail
No full textLa normativa generale (art. 1900 c.c.) e quella speciale (art. 10 del d.P.R. n. 1124/1965) escludono
che il risarcimento possa essere posto a carico dell’assicuratore quando il danno sia cagionato con
dolo della parte. La condotta di mobbing ha sicuramente carattere doloso: infatti si riscontra una
volontà del soggetto agente di porre in essere la condotta vessatoria. Anche qualora il comportamento
datoriale non sia posto in essere con la precisa volontà di causare un danno biologico nel
sottoposto comunque può riscontrarsi l’elemento doloso. La Cassazione ha, infatti, chiarito che il
dolo sussiste non solo quando l’azione è sorretta da coscienza e volontà ma anche quando si agisce
accettando il rischio che dalla propria condotta possa derivare un evento lesivo, trattandosi in
questo caso di dolo eventuale.
Dunque, a parere di chi scrive, risulta pienamente condivisibile la dottrina secondo la quale nei casi
di mobbing, sussistendo una condotta dolosa, dovrebbe essere il datore ad essere gravato dell’intero
risarcimento del danno biologico poiché l’elemento soggettivo del dolo è atto ad escludere la
responsabilità dell’Ente assicurativo
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe 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
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