582 research outputs found
EVIDANCE: a mobile application for orchestrating multiple services ecologies
No full textIn this paper, we introduce some preliminary considerations on the design of interactive system in a service based-economy. The discussion is supported by an early design exploration of a mobile application aimed to support people in orchestrating multiple services ecologies in their everyday life
What We Can Learn from Service Design in order to Design Services
No full textService Design emerged as distinct discipline in the late ‘80s to specifically address the peculiar challenges of a post-industrial society in moving toward a more pervasive offer of services with respect to products. The central tenet of this discipline is that services are radically different from products and a different mindset is necessary for designing them. Its aim was to develop theoretical basis as well as practical methods to design the intermix of processes, artifacts exchanges and user experience which are going on in delivering services. We believe that several of the concepts investigated in the past 20 years of research in Service Design might be fruitfully applied to design the user experience with Service-Oriented Applications for Future Internet. In this paper, we briefly introduce Service Design and we link the key concepts to the challenges posed by Service-Oriented Computing. We will then exemplify some concepts within a simple scenario
Materia oscura
No full textAnalisi testuale del film documentario "Materia oscura" di Massimo D'Anolfi e Martina Parent
Prologo mitico in laguna
No full textRilettura analitica del prologo mitico del film di Pier Paolo Pasolini "Medea" (1970
An Investigation on Acceptance and Rejection of Public Displays in a Knowledge Company
No full textA field study on the dynamics of acceptance and rejection of public displays in a knowledge work environment is presented. This study has been conducted on the premises of a research center that employs more than 400 people. We report the motivations for the deployment of a public display infrastructure by the Communication Office, and present the results of the field study conducted 18 months after the initial installations. The results showed that there were several limitations for addressing the information needs of employees through the public displays. The main reasons being they were not properly situated in the everyday lifecycle of the institute, and the visual layout was somehow confusing and often ineffective. However, one of the main design goals was the address the need to propose a new corporate identity after a recent company restructuring. This was communicated more effectively even if not generally accepted. Starting from these results, we proposed two main design strategies to make the deployment of public display systems more effective in terms of perceived usefulness and acceptance: (1) seamless integration of the public display into the everyday life of the community and (2) active involvement of the members of the community in the creation and diffusion of content
"Luckily, I don't need it": elderly and the use of artifacts for time management
No full textIn this paper, we describe the artifacts and the practices that a group of elderly people use to plan future events and remembering information about future event at the proper time. The role of such artifacts in the construction of a narrative and emotional account of elderly life is discussed. A particular attention is given to the description of the values that mediate the use of time-scheduling artifacts. By taking into consideration the whole complexity of time management ecology, we finally suggest a number of design opportunities
Identifying berry antioxidants that help fight cancer
No full textAuthor institution (Giusti): Department of Food Science and Technology, The Ohio State Universit
Benign thyroid nodule unresponsive to radiofrequency ablation treated with laser ablation: a case report
No full textAbstract Background Radiofrequency ablation and laser ablation are safe and effective techniques for reducing thyroid nodule volume, neck symptoms, and cosmetic complaints. Therapeutic success is defined as a nodule reduction > 50% between 6 and 12 months after the procedure, but a percentage of nodules inexplicably do not respond to thermal ablation. Case presentation We describe the case of a young Caucasian woman with a solid benign thyroid nodule who refused surgery and who had undergone radiofrequency ablation in 2013. The nodule did not respond in terms of either volume reduction or improvement in neck symptoms. After 2 years, given the patient’s continued refusal of thyroidectomy, we proposed laser ablation. The nodule displayed a significant volume reduction (− 50% from radiofrequency ablation baseline volume, − 57% from laser ablation baseline), and the patient reported a significant improvement in neck symptoms (from 6/10 to 1/10 on a visual analogue scale). Conclusions We conjecture that some benign thyroid nodules may be intrinsically resistant to necrosis when one specific ablation technique is used, but may respond to another technique. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description of the effect of performing a different percutaneous ablation technique in a nodule that does not respond to radiofrequency ablation
Quality of Life in Patients Treated with Percutaneous Laser Ablation for Non-Functioning Benign Thyroid Nodules: A Prospective Single-Center Study
No full textObjective: While many studies have reported that laser ablation (LA) for benign non-fuctioning thyroid nodules is efficacious in reducing nodular volume and neck symptoms, none have described changes in quality of life (QoL). The purpose of this study was to report post-LA changes in QoL in our cohort of patients. Materials and Methods: Fourteen patients with benign thyroid nodules were involved in a prospective, single-center study and underwent a single session of LA. We evaluated the following: changes in nodule volume, thyroid function, and autoimmunity; adverse events during and after LA; changes in neck discomfort by means of a visual analogic scale (VAS) at one week and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months; and changes in QoL through the 13-scale Thyroid-specific Patient Reported Outcome (ThyPRO) questionnaire at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months. ThyPRO is a validated questionnaire for thyroid diseases, which consists of 13 scales with multiple-choice answers. They investigate several aspects of life that may be impaired by goiter-related compression symptoms, by esthetic alterations and by hypo- or hyperthyroidism. Results: Nodule volume decrease was -37 ± 23%, -55 ± 22%, -53 ± 25%, -58 ± 25% (p < 0.01 vs. baseline) at the first, third, sixth, and twelfth month, respectively. No hypothyroidism or positivization of autoimmunity was observed. There were no major complications during or after LA. After LA, VAS scores improved significantly from 1 week onwards in 100% of patients, while a significant improvement was seen in the goiter symptoms score after one month, and in the general score and mean values of ThyPRO after six months. Scores on the other ThyPRO scales did not change significantly. Conclusion: Laser ablation is safe and effective in reducing nodule volume and neck symptoms; this is confirmed by improvements in the goiter scale, general score, and mean values of ThyPRO and in the VAS score
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