1,720,996 research outputs found
Data-driven methods for qualitative and quantitative characterisation of coastal aquifers
Get PDFThis research investigates a set of data-driven methods for characterising coastal aquifers
under data scarcity using available short hydrogeological time series and chemical
surveys. Correlation between groundwater levels and climate indexes and time series
analyses, with particular attention to the autocorrelation and cross-correlation functions,
wavelet analyses and seasonal and trend decomposition, are extensively analysed
using precipitation and groundwater level recordings to define the hydrodynamic
mechanism of an aquifer system in response to climate factors. These methods rely
on the hypothesis that the aquifer system is considered as a filter that modifies, retains,
or attenuates the input signal, i.e., precipitation, into an output signal, such as spring
discharge, groundwater level, river flow rate or other physical or chemical parameters.
They can provide valuable insights into various aspects, encompassing the nature of
the aquifer, the influence of climatic conditions, and significant abstractions.
Multivariate statistical analysis is instead a valuable approach handling multiple geochemical
and physical parameters to reveal spatial and temporal variations in groundwater
quality, identify key hydrochemical processes, and assess how they change over
time. Together with the Hydrogeochemical Facies Evolution-Diagram, these techniques
allow to explore the salinisation process at the case study. Through Geostatistic, instead,
the salinisation process and nitrate pollution are investigated in space and compared
in time, allowing the identification of the areas more vulnerable.
A part of the Thesis is dedicated to a comprehensive assessment of climate change
projections and bias-correction techniques, employing historical and regional climate
data, to discuss the potential impacts of weather projections on a coastal aquifer.
The Thesis focuses on the complex coastal karst aquifer of Salento in Southern Italy,
which presents numerous challenges, including geomorphological complexity, regional
size, limited surface water resources, and significant water withdrawals for various human
activities. The primary objective of this research is to investigate the hydrodynamic
mechanism of such aquifer and discuss the potential problematics to which groundwater
resources are exposed due to climate change and human pressure. The scope
is to raise awareness among water utilities and political stakeholders in actuating mitigative
actions and restrictions on the use of groundwater and exploring alternative
measures to supply water demand. The study encourages for the establishment and
consistent implementation of a comprehensive and strategic monitoring plan encompassing
groundwater levels, water quality parameters, and other relevant variables
aimed at ensuring the long-term sustainability and availability of groundwater resources
for current and future generations
The use of linguistic metaphors in General Practice. Awareness and perceived usefulness in a Primary Care group
No full textAim and background. In the field of General Practice (GP), metaphors have been studied as communication strategies that have an impact on the quality of care, especially if expressed by patients, and less by physicians. There are no studies on the reflection of physicians on their deliberate use of metaphors. The actual debate is divided: are metaphors useful or dangerous tools? Our research question was to understand the representation of the use of metaphors by physicians, nurses and administrative assistants of a Primary Care Group (PCG).
Material & method. We chose the methodology of the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), and followed the case study strategy, purposefully selecting a PCG in Northern Italy. Ten physicians, 3 administrative assistants, and 2 nurses (10 females, 5 males) were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were focused on the use of metaphors from participants and patients, and on the use of metaphors in their professional education.
Results. According to participants, the representations of metaphors were different if the expressions came from the physicians or the patients. The recognition of metaphors also varied for each participant. Advantages and threats were indicated on the clinical use of these expressions. Moreover, metaphors were used unconsciously to explain some concepts, such as patient education, the effects of clinical language on patients, and the professional identity.
Conclusions. Metaphor was represented as an epistemological, relational, and ontological phenomenon. Because of the qualitative impact of these expressions in GP, we believe that it could be useful for students/health-professionals to learn to recognize and to use metaphors consciously, by creating curricula specifically designed for this aim
Educare i pazienti alla pazienza
No full textIntroduzione. I pazienti che seguono percorsi diagnostico-terapeutici complessi necessitano di imparare a essere “pazienti” (Hassani, 2017). La pazienza, intesa come disposizione alla tolleranza, all’accettazione, alla costanza, è una competenza fondamentale nella comunicazione sanitaria, poiché anche i curanti sono chiamati a scegliere pazientemente le parole “giuste” per interagire coi malati (Arroliga, 2002). Un modo per sviluppare tale competenza è l’utilizzo di metafore (Smouth, 2012), poiché facilitano la comprensione di un concetto/esperienza. Le metafore dei curanti, in particolare, possono sia motivare che demoralizzare i pazienti (“il corpo malato è una macchina rotta”) (Reisfield, 2012). Pertanto, un uso consapevole diventa fondamentale. Obiettivo/Metodologia. Abbiamo esplorato l’uso consapevole delle metafore in un Gruppo di Cure Primarie (10 medici, 2 infermieri, 3 segretarie: 10 donne, 5 uomini) attraverso 15 interviste semi-strutturate, analizzate secondo l’Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, 2009) e trattate come studio di caso. Risultati. Gli intervistati evidenziano la necessità di avere pazienza nel decostruire le metafore che portano i pazienti, così come nell’adottare un linguaggio non clinico che sia loro più “familiare”. L’uso consapevole delle metafore può accompagnare i pazienti ad accettare un intervento chirurgico, comprendere referti specialistici e imparare a utilizzare dispositivi elettronici, mentre quello non consapevole può spaventarli/confonderli. Discussione. In letteratura, i pazienti usano le metafore per descrivere la pazienza necessaria per affrontare cambiamenti o situazioni irreversibili (Richardson, 2009). Nell’immaginario collettivo, essa è rappresentata come: risorsa (“avere una pazienza infinita”), qualità personale spesso legata al sacro (“avere la pazienza di Giobbe / un santo”), mezzo per affrontare gli eventi (“armarsi di pazienza”), e funzione educativa (“con la pazienza s’acquista scienza”). Conclusioni. L’uso consapevole delle metafore è uno strumento considerevole nella comunicazione sanitaria, che potrebbe essere appreso nella formazione di base e post-base. Ulteriore ricerca è auspicabile sugli effetti della comunicazione che utilizza le metafore in generale e, in particolare, per lavorare sulla pazienza
Can metaphors enhance "togetherness" in Family Medicine? : A Phenomenological-Interpretative study in an Italian family practice
No full textIntroduction. Educating healthcare professionals to communication skills is a crucial issue in order to inform patients about the risks for their health, and to share together a safe decision-making (Hamilton & Wen-Ying, 2014). Family Medicine (FM) is the field where clinicians and nurses face with a wide-spectrum of pathologies, and are required to know the story of different patients (West, 2001) to sustain a respectful therapeutic alliance (Wonca-Europe, 2011). Using metaphors, when communicating with patients and other professionals (Gibbs, 2008), may improve “toghetherness” and cooperation or, conversely, generate disconnection and discontents. Aims. This qualitative case study aimed to understand the representation that a group of family physicians, nurses and administrative staff, working in an Italian family practice, have about metaphors and their use in healthcare professional communication. The goal of this poster is to investigate whether metaphors enhance or worsen cooperation in the therapeutic relationship, in order to improve undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing healthcare education. Participants. A family practice in Northern Italy was purposively sampled (case study). Fifteen participants (10 physicians, 2 nurses, 3 administrative staff) (10 female, 5 male) worked in the selected center, in the same family practice. Methods. We conducted 15 semi-structured interviews exploring participants’ experience of metaphors in clinical practice/ communication with patients and in their previous education. After a month, all the participants were involved in an unstructured interview, to gather further reflections on metaphors, and for member checking. Following the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith et al., 2009), we codified and organized data, finding similarities, differences, and relations among them. Six major categories emerged from the interviews. To improve trustiness, researchers discussed all the phases of the analysis, until agreement was achieved. Finally, results were confronted with the literature. Results. Metaphors are used by participants in their practice, sometimes deliberately. For example, metaphors are used to explain some diagnoses and therapies. Patients use metaphors too, especially when they describe their symptoms. Participants perceive that patients feel closer to them when involved in a clear explanation of therapies and diseases. Metaphors can contribute to make that explanation more understandable, and therefore they can promote closeness. Conversely, according to the participants, metaphors sometimes should be avoided because they may confuse the patient. Additionally, interviewees refer some metaphors may hurt the patient and create discontent (e.g. “the obese”). Discussion. Metaphors have revealed cues that can shape the therapeutic relationship, creating a stronger connection with the patient or, conversely, disconnection and discontent. From the interviews it emerged that participants not always are aware of their use of metaphors, when communicating with patients and other professionals. To enhance awareness about this issue, specific curricula could be designed, in order to help students/professionals reflect on metaphoric language as a strategy to promote “togetherness” in the clinical encounter. Further research is needed on the role of metaphors in promoting a sense of belongingness in general practice teams and, therefore, in shaping professional identity (Salling Olesen, 2007).
References
Wonca-Europe (2011). The European definition of General Practice/Family Medicine. Retrieved from: http://www.woncaeurope.org/sites/default/files/documents/Definition 3rd ed 2011 with revised wonca tree.pdf
Lakoff G. & Johnson M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hamilton H, & Wen-Ying S. (2014). The Routledge Handbook of Language and Health Communication. London-New York: Routledge.
Salling Olesen H. (2007). “Professional Identities, Subjectivity, and Learning. Be(com)ing a General Practitioner”. In West L., Alheit P., Anderson A. & Merrill B. (Eds.). Using biographical and life history approaches in the study of adult and lifelong learning: perspectives from across Europe. Frankfurt-Am-Main: Peter Lang Verlag.
Smith J., Flowers P. & Larkin M. (2009). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. London: SAGE.
West, L. (2001). Doctors on the edge. London: Free Association Book
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
Data Fusion Techniques for Processing Aerospace Remote Sensing Electro-Optical Data
No full textThis paper deals with data fusion between different resolution multispectral (MS) and panchromatic (Pan) images in order to obtain high spatial resolution MS images. A survey is provided about the state-of-the-art data fusion techniques and synthesized product's quality assessment criteria. Several fusion algorithms and quality indexes were implemented in a Toolbox with a graphical user interface developed in MATLAB environment, namely Fusion Tool Box (FTB), developed to obtain experimental results. The analysis performed through FTB on two different data sets was oriented to validate the theoretical analysis and to perform a quantitative comparison among fusion algorithms for several applications. Results allow a first level evaluation of advantages and drawbacks of the various techniques for specific applications
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
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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