177,724 research outputs found
Sounding bodies: Exploring sonification to promote physical contact
No full textIn this paper, we investigate the impact of sonification on the willingness for physical contact. For this purpose, we introduce a novel system designed to explore this impact within a performative art setting. It consists of a MIDI controller which detects physical contact between two dancers and transforms it into sounds. We use it in a preliminary experiment aimed at investigating whether sonification of physical contact in contact dance improvisations influences participants' behavior and their experience. Three sonification strategies are explored with 10 participants performing improvisations with the professional dancer. Questionnaires, interviews and quantification of touches were utilized to compare experimental conditions. The results suggest that sonification of the physical contact influence participants' behavior and experiences, although this effect may depend on type of sonification
New italian law about end of life. Self-determination and shared care pathway
No full textIl Parlamento italiano ha recentemente approvato la legge n. 219 del 22 dicembre 2017 dal titolo “Norme in materia di consenso informato e di disposizioni anticipate di trattamento”. Il lavoro si propone di evidenziare gli aspetti chiave della nuova normativa, esplicitare il ruolo delle direttive anticipate di trattamento e fornire chiare linee operative per il personale sanitario. L’analisi della legge è stata compiuta sulla base del contesto legislativo e deontologico italiano, nonché delle pronunce giurisprudenziali in materia.
Gli autori hanno discusso le nuove regole e le principali problematiche etiche anche in relazione alla Convenzione sui Diritti dell’Uomo e la Biomedicina (Convenzione di Oviedo). La nuova legislazione affronta problematiche sinora contante alle sole sentenze giurisprudenziali, come il consenso all’atto medico, il rifiuto/revoca del trattamento medico (compresa la nutrizione e l’idratazione artificiale), il contenuto dell’informazione medica e le modalità della relativa comunicazione, la responsabilità legale del medico e, infine, il valore delle direttive di pianificazione anticipata alle cure. Secondo l’opinione degli autori, questa legge fornisce regole essenziali al fine di tutelare esplicitamente l’autonomia dei pazienti eliminando l’incertezza giuridica su temi centrali (come, per es., rifiuto dei trattamenti salvavita), che negli anni sono stati oggetto di pronunciamenti diversi e contradditori da parte dei tribunali italiani. Tuttavia, le direttive anticipate dovrebbero essere considerate come strumenti dinamici idonei a favorire la relazione tra medici e persone assistite nonché come parte integrante di una preventiva pianificazione condivisa. L’educazione degli operatori della salute e della popolazione sulle problematiche di fine vita rappresenta la base per la corretta attuazione di questa normativa.The Italian Parliament has recently approved the Law n. 219/2017 concerning "Rules on informed consent and advance directives". The manuscript points out the main key points of the new law, in order to clarify the role of the advance directives and to provide clear operational guidelines for healthcare personnel. Taking into consideration the Italian deontological and juridical context, along with the main jurisprudential judgements, the law has been analysed. The Authors discussed the new rules and the bioethical issues also in relation to the provisions stated by the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Convention of Oviedo). The new law deals with relevant issues that were confined to jurisprudential rulings so far, such as the informed consent, the withdrawal/withholding of medical treatment (including artificial nutrition and hydration), the content of medical information, including the modalities, the medical responsibility and, finally, the value of advance directives. In the Authors' opinion this law provides essential rules to expressly strengthen the patients' autonomy, eliminating the juridical uncertainty on many central issues (such us, for example, the refusal of life-sustainment treatments) that have been the subject of contradictory judgments ruled by the Italian Courts. Nevertheless, advance directives should be regarded as a dynamic tools of relationship between physicians and assisted person and, thus, as an essential integrant part of the advance care planning. The education of health professionals and citizens about end of life issues is the basis for the successful implementation of this legislation
Multifunctional 3D-printed composites based on biopolymeric matrices and tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum) waste for contextual fertilizer release and Cu(II) ions removal
No full textThe production of tomatoes faces significant challenges, including the high amount of waste generated during the harvest stage and copper-contaminated soil due to pesticide use. To address these issues and to promote a more sustainable agriculture, innovative biodegradable green composites for contextual controlled soil fertilization and Cu removal were produced by 3D-printing technology. These composites were made by incorporating NPK fertilizer flour and tomato plant waste particles (SLP) into three different biodegradable polymeric matrices: polylactic acid (PLA); a commercial blend of biodegradable co-polyesters (Mater-Bi (R), MB) and their blend (MB/PLA, 50:50). Rheological characterization suggested the potential processability of all of the composites by FDM. Morphological analysis of printed samples confirmed the good dispersion of both filler and fertilizer, which also acted as reinforcement for MB and MB/PLA composites. SLP and NPK moduli were evaluated by powder nanoindentation and, for almost composites, the theoretical Halpin-Tsai model satisfactorily fitted the actual tensile moduli. The decrease in NPK fertilizer release rate and the increase in Cu(II) removal efficiency were achieved using whole 3D-printed composites. By selecting the appropriate matrix and incorporating SLP particles, it was possible to tune the NPK release rate and achieve copper absorption efficiency. Notably, MB samples containing SLP particles displayed the fastest release and the highest Cu(II) removal efficiency
Differential estrogen and antiestrogen responsiveness of the uterus during development in the fetal, neonatal and immature guinea pig.
No full textAfter 2-day estradiol treatments, wet weight increases in fetuses, newborns and immature guinea pigs by (means +/- SEM) 75 +/- 4%, 170 +/- 16% and 234 +/- 25%, respectively; while after 3-day tamoxifen treatments they are 83 +/- 11%, 157 +/- 35% and 127 +/- 9%, respectively. During the same periods, estradiol increases the uterine content of DNA while the effect of tamoxifen on uterine DNA decreases throughout development. Histologically, both estradiol and tamoxifen induce in the fetus an increase in the size of the stroma and myometrium. Estradiol or tamoxifen, respectively, increase the luminal epithelial cell height by (means +/- SEM) 95 +/- 2% and 67 +/- 2% in fetuses, 286 +/- 20% and 100 +/- 2% in newborns and 260 +/- 10% and 138 +/- 4% in immature animals. Luminal epithelial cell number increases in fetuses, newborns and immature animals by (means +/- SEM) 167 +/- 10%, 248 +/- 50% and 76 +/- 15%, respectively, after estradiol treatments and 160 +/- 20%, 69 +/- 15% and 17 +/- 5%, respectively, after tamoxifen treatments. Uterine epithelial growth invading the stroma was observed in both estradiol- and tamoxifen-treated fetuses. In neonatal or immature animals, estradiol increases the size and the number of endometrial glands, while tamoxifen has progressively less effects on endometrial glands and on the myometrium. It is concluded that: 1) the estradiol-induced uterotropic effect increases progressively in fetal, neonatal and immature animals; and 2) throughout development, tamoxifen has progressively weaker estrogenic properties than estradiol
Structure–property relationship and controlled drug release from multiphasic electrospun carvacrol-embedded polylactic acid/polyethylene glycol and polylactic acid/polyethylene oxide nanofiber mats
No full textElectrospinning technologies gained considerable interest over the last decade. In this study, it is proposed a systematic study of polylactic acid/polyethylene glycol (PLA/PEG) and polylactic acid/polyethylene oxide (PLA/PEO) electrospun blends at different concentrations. The effect of blend composition and PEG molecular weight on the morphological and mechanical properties of the mats was evaluated. Furthermore, the kinetic release of carvacrol as model drug in phosphate buffer saline at 37°C was studied and the data were then fitted using an exponential model. The scanning electron microscopy revealed that the morphology of the mats was strongly dependent on the relative ratio PLA:PEG, PLA:PEO and in the presence of carvacrol. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the mats as well as their carvacrol release rate were successfully tuned by changing the relative ratio of the blend components
Hydrolytic degradation of PLA/Posidonia Oceanica green composites: A simple model based on starting morpho-chemical properties
No full textIn this work, we studied the degradability of PLA-based biocomposites containing Posidonia Oceanica flour at different loading levels and aspect ratios. Hydrolytic tests were carried out in neutral (pH = 7.4) and alkaline (pH = 10) environment. Time-dependent evolution of some key features, including residual mass and solution uptake, was monitored, and correlated with the changes observed in both morphology and chemical structure of the matrix. The results pointed out that biocomposites degraded much faster than neat PLA in both conditions, up to lose 70% of their initial weight after 1000 h immersion. A complex mechanism was unveiled, evidencing the crucial role of the fillers, capable of both imparting degradation to PLA during processing with enhancement of hydrophilicity and offering preferential gateways for solution penetration through filler-matrix interface by capillarity and swelling-aided polymer cracking. Based on data collected, we propose a new model allowing to predict the triggering and final extent of degradation pathways by considering starting morphological and chemical features of composites via the use of a novel yet simple indicator of chemical stability, which we called morphochemical parameter
Long-term survival and development of fetal ventral spinal grafts into the motoneuron-depleted rat spinal cord: Role of donor age
No full textAppropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
No full textWe 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
Erratum to: Sub-gap defect density characterization of molybdenum oxide: An annealing study for solar cell applications (Nano Research, (2020), 13, 12, (3416-3424), 10.1007/s12274-020-3029-9)
No full textRef. [56] was unfortunately wrong, Instead of [56] Corless, R. M.; Gonnet, G. H.; Hare, D. E. G.; Jeffrey, D. J.; Knuth, D. E. On the Lambert W function. Adv. Comput. Math. 1996, 5, 329–359. It should be changed to Biswas, R. K.; Khan, P.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukhopadhyay, A. K.; Ghosh, J.; Muraleedharan, K. Study of short range structure of amorphous Silica from PDF using Ag radiation in laboratory XRD system, RAMAN and NEXAFS. J. Non. Cryst. Solids 2018, 488, 1–9. Some entries in Table 2 were unfortunately misprinted.Photovoltaic Materials and DevicesElectrical Sustainable Energ
Biodegradable Membrane with High Porosity and Hollow Structure Obtained via Electrospinning for Oil Spill Clean-up Application
No full textThe use of biodegradable polymers for the production of membranes to be used in wastewater treatment has attracted increasing interest considering the possibility of reducing the risk of second pollution. In this work, porous fibrous membranes based on polylactic acid and polyethylene oxide (PEO) blends were prepared. The solutions were electrospun using two approaches: (i) conventional coaxial electrospinning followed by leaching treatment (double-step, DS); (ii) coaxial wet electrospinning with in situ leaching (single-step, SS). By varying PEO type and processing method it was possible to control membranes structure and porosity. DS leaching treatment lead to surface porosity (i.e. shell leaching), while SS allowed obtaining hollow and porous fibers (i.e. with shell and core leaching). Process, properties and structure relationships of devices were analysed trough rheological, morphological, mechanical and surface characterizations. Furthermore, the influence of the different porous structures on oil sorption capacity and reusability of the membranes was evaluated. Results reveal that different porosities lead to a variation in membranes mechanical performance, in their wettability and, consequently, in their oil spill cleanup capacity. Membranes obtained with SS displayed higher performance in oil removal if compared to the DS ones, due to their hollow structure and higher surface area
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