2,238 research outputs found
Randomized trial on adjuvant treatment with FOLFIRI followed by docetaxel and cisplatin versus 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid for radically resected gastric cancer
No full textSome trial have demonstrated a benefit of adjuvant fluoropirimidine with or without platinum compounds compared with surgery alone. ITACA-S study was designed to evaluate whether a sequential treatment of FOLFIRI [irinotecan plus 5-fluorouracil/folinic acid (5-FU/LV)] followed by docetaxel plus cisplatin improves disease-free survival in comparison with 5-FU/LV in patients with radically resected gastric cancer
210Po in the Gessoso Solfifera Formation of Perticara Mine
No full textThe Perticara sulphur mine is a historically important mine located in the province of Rimini (Italy), known for the large crystals of sulfur that were extracted there, and for the abundance of ore. The mine was developed in the Gessoso-Solfifera Formation, a rock succession mainly formed by gypsum and limestone that is well preserved in the western Romagna Apennines area (Roveri et al., 2003). The Gessoso-Solfifera Formation comprises primary and clastic, resedimented evaporites with interbedded organic-rich shales, which were deposited during the evaporitic and post-evaporitic stages of the Messinian salinity crisis (Roveri et al., 2003). The Perticara mine was active for a few centuries until the mid-twentieth century. In 2016 the mine was re-explored by the Federazione Speleologica Regionale Emilia Romagna and starting from this data various environmental matrices (rocks, minerals, water, air) were sampled over time. Samples of natural epsomite crystals (general formula Mg(SO4)·7H2O), that extensively grow on rock walls and blocks with a fibrous habit, were collected and morphologically and chemically investigated using SEM-EDS, XRPD, ICP-AES and alpha spectrometry measurements.
Most of the fibres are of inhalable size and can be potentially adsorbed from all parts of the respiratory tract. Their solubility and the presence of significant amounts of toxic elements (As, Co, Fe, Mn, Ni, Sr, Ti, Zn) and radioactive isotope 210Po (and to a less extent 228Th) make the inhalation of these fibres potentially hazardous to human health. These preliminary results were recently published by Giordani et al. (2022). Moreover, a significant concentration of 222Rn (238U decay series), as well as CO2 and CO in the air of the mine, could play an important role in the accumulation of 210Po in epsomite, while very few amounts of 210Po were detected in the water springs and pools inside the mine or in host rocks, but further investigation is needed.
Giordani M., Meli M.A., Roselli C., Betti M., Peruzzi F., Taussi M., Valentini L., Fagiolino I. & Mattioli M. (2022) - Could soluble minerals be hazardous to human health? Evidence from fibrous epsomite. Environ. Res., 206, 112579.
Roveri M., Manzi V., Lucchi F.R. & Rogledi S. (2003) - Sedimentary and tectonic evolution of the Vena del Gesso basin (Northern Apennines, Italy): implications for the onset of the Messinian salinity crisis. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 115(4), 387-405
Simulation and measurement of quasi-optical multipliers
No full textThe lumped-element finite-difference time-domain method is used to analyze quasi-optical multipliers based on diode loaded slot antennas. The method is validated firstly for a passive microstrip-fed structure then for the diode loaded case in both small- and large-signal regimes. The diode model is separately validated using a series diode mounted on a microstrip line. Input return loss and radiation patterns show good agreement with measurements and the concept of effective conversion loss is introduced and results show reasonable agreement between measurement and simulation. A new diode arrangement is introduced where dual offset diodes are placed in the slot instead of the conventional central diode. The diode position can then act as an extra design parameter. The performance of the two structures has been compared; currently best performance is still obtained for the central-diode structure. Finally, a fully quasi-optical structure is simulated with plane-wave excitation. Central and dual-diode structures are again compared and the diode position and input plane-wave field strengths are optimized. Slot voltage distributions, radiation patterns, and effective quasi-optical conversion losses are presente
An ABC of Citizenship, vol. 2
No full textE' il primo di due fascicoli monografici che raccoglie i lavori e le intuizioni nate anche in sinergia con alcune associazioni del territorio pugliese: creare degli Abbecedari della cittadinanza, legati a grappoli di eventi, capaci di coinvolgere territori, scuole e in generale agenzie educative. L'esperienza ha a sua volta sollecitato docenti e ricercatori universitari italiani e stranieri, che hanno inviato i loro contributi. La molteplicità di materiale e l'interesse del percorso teorico-pratico ci ha appunto convinto a dividere quanto giunto in redazione in due fascicoli, che raccolgono saggi legati a 21 sezioni, una per ogni lettera dell'alfabeto di questo ideale abbecedario comunitario: dalla A di amicizia alla Z di Zero povertà. Con contributi anche di tipo internazionale: B. Weber, W. Kohan, E. Cejva
Community-based
No full textThis issue of Logoi has at least three roots and three reasons. The first one is to start a reflection on the so-called Community-based participatory research (CBPR). This dossier is opened by a paper of Meredith Minkler (University of Berkeley) who is one of the founders of the method CBPR and of reflection on it.
This scenario is also linked to the two articles that we present in the section called Research Communities and ABCs, papers which on the one hand refer to the CBPR, but on the other side cross in particular another of our interests: the Abc method. In fact, Logoi is a partner of the research project called An ABC of Democratic Citizenship. “Community-Based Participatory Research” through Sciences & Humanities (University of Bari). The project is presented in this section. While another focus is on Latin America. You can read the contribution of Adriana Fresquet (Río
de Janeiro), Abecedarios audiovisuais comunitarios: de Perú para el mundo.
Let’s come to the third root/reason of this issue: the need to reflect, in many ways and with many languages, on the theme of community.
We therefore have some essays that either starting from some knowledge, disciplines, languages even extra-philosophical, or focusing on authors and specific themes, address the issue-community: Interdisciplinary issues (Simona Cohen - Tel-Aviv; et alii) and Particular issue
Exploring Italian olive oil consumers’ purchasing behaviour: Interactions between geographical indication and organic labels
No full textSince the first years of 90s, the European Union established two main quality schemes: geographical indications (GIs) and organic production (OP). Although, these two product categories still represent a small share of food market, quality certification schemes seems to sustain the food consumption pattern during the current economic crisis (ISMEA, 2014; ISMEAQualivita, 2017). There is a vast literature focusing on EU quality schemes applied to many food categories, including extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) (e.g.: Scarpa & Del Giudice 2004; Aprile et al., 2012; Cicia et al., 2013; Di Vita et al., 2013; Carlucci et al., 2014; Panico et al. 2014; Del Giudice et al., 2015; Chinnici et al., 2016; Roselli et al., 2016; Boncinelli et al., 2017; Cavallo & Piqueras-Fiszman, 2017). However, in most of these studies GIs and OP have been separately analysed, under the assumption of independence. This paper aims to prove if there are some synergies between GIs and OP labels on olive oil products. Differently from previous studies, in this research the two certifications (GIs and OP) for olive oil products are simultaneously analysed while the independence from each other is checked. To reach this objective, the Italian olive oil consumers’ purchasing behaviour has been investigated through a survey involving a national representative sample of primary olive oil purchaser for household members
Are there alternative ways to quantify the real benefit of novel agents in oncology? - The 'death pace'
No full textLa fretta che l'onestade ad ogn'atto dismaga». Un'eco ciceroniana in Purg. III 10-11
No full textIn Purg III 10-11 Dante recepisce una tradizione consolidatasi nella letteratura fisiognomica che risale ad un passo del de officiis di Cicerone
The role of sentinel node biopsy in breast cancer management: an overview
No full textRegional lymph nodes surgical management is an integral part of breast cancer therapy. One of the most important therapeutic problems is the risk of surgical treatment which is too wide or inadequate due to the lack of correct presurgical information on the conditions of regional lymph nodes. For melanoma the problem was solved combining surgical accuracy with the slightest surgical resection, using sentinel node biopsy. In breast cancer the removal of axillary nodes proved to be unnecessary in more than 50% of cases. The first international studies on the use of sentinel node biopsy in breast carcinoma for the identification of patients who do not need axillary clearance suggest the high accuracy of the technique. Some practical problems still exist, however, and the optimisation of the method is not yet complete. The use of sentinel node biopsy in breast cancer treatment might be able to provide distinctive clinical information, which can improve our knowledge about the disease?'s biological behaviour and about its treatment
Natural 210Po-rich fibrous epsomite: a human health issue?
No full textBiopersistent fibrous minerals are often investigated due to their possible hazard to human health because they can remain in the lungs for a long time. On the contrary, very scarce knowledge exists on the accurate chemical composition and the possible effect of particulates and fibres with higher solubility (in water and biological environments), such as sulphate minerals and other phases. Natural fibrous epsomite from Perticara Mine (Central Italy) was investigated through SEM-EDS, XRPD, ICP-AES and alpha spectrometry measurements with the aim of reducing this lack of knowledge on a fibrous sulphate mineral. A significant number of small fibres with inhalable size for humans were observed on the epsomite sample through morphological and morphometrical investigations. The resulting equivalent aerodynamic diameter (Dae) of epsomite fibres is 5.09 μm. Accordingly, we can assume that the fraction of measured fibres that can penetrate the respiratory tract is not negligible and that the epsomite fibres can easily penetrate and be deposited in the laryngeal and bronchial respiratory tract.
Chemical analysis revealed the presence of toxic elements (As, Co, Fe, Mn, Ni, Sr, Ti, Zn) and very high amounts of radioactive isotopes on epsomite crystals. In particular, a surprisingly high amount of 210Po (5.59 Bq/g) was detected. The first results of this study were recently published by Giordani et al. (2022). Due to the high solubility of epsomite under lung conditions (37°C and 100% relative humidity; Chipera & Vaniman, 2007), the inhaled fibres rapidly became a solution. Then, the entire load of hazardous elements could be quickly released into the lung environment and adsorbed from all parts of the respiratory tract, with consequent effects on human health. Epsomite is common in several natural and anthropic environments worldwide, such as caves, mines, geological outcrops, mineral springs, and efflorescence, and also has several medical and pharmaceutical applications (Ruiz-Agudo et al., 2008). For this reason, our findings suggest great caution in handling other natural epsomite samples. The present work can be considered a representative case study of the investigation of the interaction between soluble minerals and human health. These preliminary results can be the basis for further studies on the content of hazardous elements in building materials and on the toxic elements interaction with humans.
Chipera S.J. & Vaniman D.T. (2007) - Experimental stability of magnesium sulfate hydrates that may be present on Mars. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 71(1), 241-250.
Giordani M., Meli M.A., Roselli C., Betti M., Peruzzi F., Taussi M., Valentini L., Fagiolino I. & Mattioli M. (2022) - Could soluble minerals be hazardous to human health? Evidence from fibrous epsomite. Environ. Res., 206.
Ruiz-Agudo E., Putnis C.V. & Rodriguez-Navarro C. (2008) - Interaction between epsomite crystals and organic additives. Cryst. Growth Des., 8(8), 2665-2673
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