51 research outputs found
The Clinical Characteristics of Bloodstream Infections Due to Candida spp. in Patients Hospitalized in Intensive Care Units during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: The Results of a Multicenter Study
No full textCandidemia is a serious health threat. Whether this infection has a greater incidence and a higher mortality rate in patients with COVID-19 is still debated. In this multicenter, retrospective, observational study, we aimed to identify the clinical characteristics associated with the 30-day mortality in critically ill patients with candidemia and to define the differences in candidemic patients with and without COVID-19. Over a three-year period (2019-2021), we identified 53 critically ill patients with candidemia, 18 of whom (34%) had COVID-19 and were hospitalized in four ICUs. The most frequent comorbidities were cardiovascular (42%), neurological (17%), chronic pulmonary diseases, chronic kidney failure, and solid tumors (13% each). A significantly higher proportion of COVID-19 patients had pneumonia, ARDS, septic shock, and were undergoing an ECMO procedure. On the contrary, non-COVID-19 patients had undergone previous surgeries and had used TPN more frequently. The mortality rate in the overall population was 43%: 39% and 46% in the COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients, respectively. The independent risk factors associated with a higher mortality were CVVH (HR 29.08 [CI 95% 3.37-250]) and a Charlson's score of > 3 (HR 9.346 [CI 95% 1.054-82.861]). In conclusion, we demonstrated that candidemia still has a high mortality rate in patients admitted to ICUs, irrespective of infection due to SARS-CoV-2
Wi-Fi channel frequency response database for contactless human activity recognition
No full textThis database collects the channel frequency response (CFR) vectors captured through the Nexmon CSI extraction tool from an Asus RT-AC86U IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi router working with a total bandwidth of 80 MHz. The dataset is collected in three different environments, i.e., a bedroom, a living room and a University laboratory, while one person performs one among seven activities of interest within the room. The CFR data for the empty room (E) is also provided.
We obtained data from three volunteers (a male, and two females) while they were walking (W) or running (R) around, jumping (J) in place, sitting (L) or standing (S) somewhere in the room, sitting down and standing up (C) continuously, and doing arm gym (H).
Each CFR sample results in complex-valued channel information from 242 data sub-channels for each transmit-receive antennas pair. In our experiments, with one transmitter antenna and four at the monitoring device, each sample corresponds to four vectors of 242 complex values. Although the total number of sub-channels at 80 MHz is 256, each antenna vector has 242 components as the CFR is only provided for data sub-channels, namely sub-channels whose indexes are {-122, ..., -2} and {2, ..., 122}, i.e., no CFR value is provided for the control sub-channels. For more information about the setup, please, refer to the related publication.
This dataset was used to design and assess the performance of SHARP presented in the article ''SHARP: Environment and Person Independent Activity Recognition with Commodity IEEE 802.11 Access Points'' by Francesca Meneghello, Domenico Garlisi, Nicolò Dal Fabbro, Ilenia Tinnirello, Michele Rossi.
The Python source code is available at https://github.com/signetlabdei/SHARP.
If you use this dataset, please cite our paper: @misc{meneghello2022SHARP,
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.09924},
author = {Meneghello, Francesca and Garlisi, Domenico and Fabbro, Nicolò Dal and Tinnirello, Ilenia and Rossi, Michele},
title = {Environment and Person Independent Activity Recognition with a Commodity IEEE 802.11ac Access Point},
publisher = {arXiv},
year = {2021}
Positively charged polymers modulate the fate of human mesenchymal stromal cells via ephrinB2/EphB4 signaling
No full textAbstractUnderstanding the mechanisms by which mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) interact with the physical properties (e.g. topography, charge, ζ-potential, and contact angle) of polymeric surfaces is essential to design new biomaterials capable of regulating stem cell behavior. The present study investigated the ability of two polymers (pHM1 and pHM3) with different positive surface charge densities to modulate the differentiation of MSCs into osteoblast-like phenotype via cell-cell ephrinB2/EphB4 signaling. Although pHM1 promoted the phosphorylation of EphB4, leading to cell differentiation, pHM3, characterized by a high positive surface charge density, had no significant effect on EphB4 activation or MSCs differentiation. When the MSCs were cultured on pHM1 in the presence of a forward signaling blocking peptide, the osteoblast differentiation was compromised. Our results demonstrated that the ephrinB2/EphB4 interaction was required for MSCs differentiation into an osteoblast-like phenotype and that the presence of a high positive surface charge density altered this interaction
L’ambiguo caso dell’a parte ne "El retablo de las maravillas" di Cervantes
No full textThis article outlines an attempt to find the possible reason at the base of the linguistic incoherence of the attribution of an aside in Cervantes’ masterpiece El retablo de las maravillas, a very interesting work which, through a subtle irony, shads a light on the importance of being Christian and legitimate child to be part of a society based on appearances and prejudices. The characters at issue are the governor and Capacho. At first, it seemed like this incoherence was due to a temporal reason. It was reasonable to consider that until a determined period it was assigned to one of them, regardless the language and the author, and from that moment on, to the other one. But that was not the case, indeed. A further and deeper analysis was needed to figure out what might be the reason for such an incoherence, and, apart from that a curious argument is: what character best fits the aside? As it will come out from this article, Nicholas Spadaccini, which is the author of a recent version of the Spanish masterpiece in question, contributed to corroborating my hypothesis, herein argued
Familiarity From Facial Appearance Leads to Hypoalgesia
No full textSocial context has been shown to influence pain perception. This study aimed to broaden this literature by investigating whether relevant social stimuli, such as faces with different levels of intrinsic (based on physical resemblance to known individuals) and episodic (acquired through a previous experience) familiarity, may lead to hypoalgesia. We hypothesized that familiarity, whether intrinsic or acquired through experience, would increase pain threshold and decrease pain intensity. Sixty-seven participants underwent pain induction (the cold pressor test) viewing previously seen faces (Episodic Group) or new faces (Non-episodic Group) that differed in the level of intrinsic familiarity (high vs low). Pain threshold was measured in seconds, while pain intensity was measured on a rating scale of 0 to 10. The results did not show an effect of episodic familiarity. However, compared to low, high intrinsic familiar faces had an attenuating effect on pain intensity, even after controlling for pain expectation. These results suggest that physical features conveying a higher feeling of familiarity induce a top-down hypoalgesic modulation, in line with the idea that familiarity may signal safety and that the presence of familiar others reduce perceived threat-related distress. This study provides further evidence on the social modulation of pain and contributes to the literature on first impressions' influence on social behavior. Perspective: Consistent with the idea that familiar others signal safety and reduce the sense of threat, facial features conveying familiarity induce a top-down hypoalgesic modulation. This knowledge may contribute to understanding differences in pain perception in experimental and clinical contexts.(R) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of United States Association for the Study of Pain, In
Self-adaptive Multi-purpose Modular Origami Structure
No full textAbstractA research line in architecture and interior design has been focused for years on the selection of materials with properties specifically tailored for light, thermal and acoustic comforts. An adaptive origami-based structure is here proposed in order to overcome the limited capability of a single material to adjust its response to environmental changes. Such structure is highly flexible, with applications ranging from indoor to outdoor environments. We focus on building facades, to show some results relevant to a small-scale prototype aimed to provide shading to the sunlight
Laser Doppler perfusion imaging in systemic sclerosis impaired response to cold stimulation involves digits and hand dorsum.
No full textObjectives. To assess by Laser Doppler perfusion imaging (LDPI) skin blood perfusion of hands in patients with SSc and primary RP (PRP) at baseline and after cold stimulation (CS). In SSc patients, the associations between skin perfusion and nailfold video capillaroscopy (NVC) patterns were also evaluated. Methods. Forty patients with SSc, 38 patients with PRP and 32 healthy controls were recruited. Skin blood flow of the hands was detected by Lisca Laser Doppler Perfusion Imager at baseline and after CS. Further laser Doppler scanning was performed for each hand at 0 (T 1), 3 (T 2), 7 (T 3) and 15 min (T 4). Results. Baseline mean perfusion is significantly (P < 0.000 l) lower in SSc patients than in healthy controls. In SSc patients, mean perfusion is reduced after CS (P < 0.0001) and skin flow recovery (significant difference between T 0 and T 4, P < 0.0001) is incomplete. In SSc patients with low vascular damage (early and active capillaroscopic groups), the abnormal microvascular response to CS involves only the digits, while the perfusion of hands dorsum is normal. With the progression of vascular damage (late capillaroscopic groups), the abnormal microvascular response to CS also appears in the hand dorsum skin. In PRP patients, baseline hand perfusion is very low and the skin flow recovery after CS is absent (P < 0.05). Conclusion. In early SSc, the thermoregulation of finger skin is impaired, but only in advanced stages of microangiopathy does the skin of the hand dorsum show a vasomotor control failure. © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved
Ethical consumption and the “Legal†consumer: exploring the feasibility of including a “legal†dimension to the concept of ethical consumption
No full textOver time, the concept of ethical consumption has gained increasing attention from scholars who have focused on studying environmental and social-related aspects of consumption such as the willingness of consumers to buy organic, Fair Trade products, or goods that do not promote exploitation of child labour. However, by looking at literature on ethical consumption it seems that research has neglected one area of consumption that should be taken into consideration, i.e. the extent to which consumers pay attention to the “legal†sustainability of their consumption choices. By “legal†sustainability the author refers to any consumption decision that is made by consumers and that can favour criminal organisations such as organised crime groups or any other criminal groups. The aim of this developmental paper, which represents a first step into this research, is to better understand whether it would be feasibile to add a “legal†dimension to the concept of ethical consumption.</p
Ethical consumption and the “Legal†consumer: exploring the feasibility of including a “legal†dimension to the concept of ethical consumption
No full textOver time, the concept of ethical consumption has gained increasing attention from scholars who have focused on studying environmental and social-related aspects of consumption such as the willingness of consumers to buy organic, Fair Trade products, or goods that do not promote exploitation of child labour. However, by looking at literature on ethical consumption it seems that research has neglected one area of consumption that should be taken into consideration, i.e. the extent to which consumers pay attention to the “legal†sustainability of their consumption choices. By “legal†sustainability the author refers to any consumption decision that is made by consumers and that can favour criminal organisations such as organised crime groups or any other criminal groups. The aim of this developmental paper, which represents a first step into this research, is to better understand whether it would be feasibile to add a “legal†dimension to the concept of ethical consumption.</p
Rights and interpretation: the ambiguous nature of things argument in the Italian constitutional jurisprudence and the subject of the legal recognition of homosexual unions
No full textPartiendo de la constatación que, en el actual discurso público, se denota un
empleo indiscriminado, incluso por parte de los juristas, de las expresiones “derechos”,
“derechos del hombre” y “derechos fundamentales”, la autora pretende
explicar este dato como un síntoma que evoca trazas de la argumentación de
la “naturaleza de las cosas” en los ordenamientos jurídicos actuales. Ya se trate
del derecho a la orientación sexual, o del derecho a la procreación medicamente
asistida sin límites, o del derecho a una muerte digna – tanto para nombrar
algunos de los temas más debatidos últimamente en muchos ordenamientos – el
lenguaje empleado esconde siempre una ambigüedad de fondo, ya que confunde
los derechos con los simples deseos subjetivos, que se demuestran, en cambio,
como impulso de una legítima lucha política por el reconocimiento de una normativa
que los tenga en cuenta como derechos.
En efecto, las controvertidas argumentaciones difundidas, tanto a nivel científico
como político, sobre los temas caracterizados por una fuerte connotación
ética, implican una concepción específica (del fundamento) de los derechos evocados,
que no siempre se explicita. En este ensayo, la autora pretende hacer
emerger dichas concepciones con el objetivo principal de indicar cómo el rechazo
difundido de la doctrina pura del derecho – por la necesidad de satisfacer las
pretensiones de justicia material, incluso contra los ordenamientos jurídicos
positivos– llevará inevitablemente a la revalorización de la argumentación ambigua
de la “naturaleza de las cosas”, aunque dicha revalorización se lleve a
cabo de forma oculta, ya que no conviene nombrarla explícitamente en los ordenamientos
modernos.
La autora afronta dichos temas partiendo del ferviente debate que se está llevando
a cabo sobre el tema del reconocimiento jurídico de la unión homosexual.The author observes that in public speech the use of expressions such as “rights”,
“human rights”, “fundamental rights”, is not always so precise: this fact could
be read as a symptom of the circulation of the “nature of things” argument in
modern legal orders. When we talk about the right to the sexual identity, or the
right to generate without limits, or the right to a “sweet death”, the language
employed always hides an ambiguity in the background, because it mistakes
rights for subjective wishes, which have to be considered as impulse of a legitimate
political struggle for the recognition of a rule which states them as rights.
In this essay the author intends to stand out the different conceptions (of the
foundation) of the rights evoked, with the purpose to show how the refusal of
the pure doctrine of law leads to a revaluation of the ambiguous argument of the
“nature of things”, although this revaluation often happens in secret, because
this argument is unacceptable in modern legal orders.
The author faces this subject through the analysis of the Italian constitutional
jurisprudence which concerns the legal recognition of homosexual unions
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