186,811 research outputs found
Social media as taste re-mediators: emerging patterns of food taste on TripAdvisor
No full textThe current contribution provides insight into the transformations occurring in food taste and in gastronomy standards, where social media contributes to assess eating out in situations of mobility. The coalition between food and new media has brought about new priorities and standards in taste, relying less on proper gastronomic expertise than on media dynamics and ‘metamorphic’ claims of social distinction in these times of cultural omnivorousness. On this basis, the paper looks into emerging taste patterns, outlined by the widespread practice of sharing restaurant reviews on travel social media. It addresses both eating out and social media as an open set of social practices that, though highly dynamic and internally differentiated, speak for collective and socially organized patterns of behaviors, so as to become entry points to grasp broader social dynamics dwelling in connectivity, gastronomy, food consumption. To this aim, the study analyses TripAdvisor’s reviews of the restaurants in the Italian region Aosta Valley in a time span of 25 months. The analysis highlights the process of food taste “re-mediation” played by social media and the emergence of a culinary capital based on plastic habitus and a plural socialization to food that ranges from TV foodtainment to digital narratives, to new patterns of aware eating
UNITÀ DI TERAPIA INTERMEDIA RESPIRATORIA (UTIR) O SEMINTENSIVA RESPIRATORIA (UTSIR)
No full textLa presente raccolta di “Argomenti di Anestesia e Rianimazione”, proposta da numerosi, giovani e meno giovani collaboratori, esperti dei singoli settori e coordinata dal prof. Giovanni Rosa e dal dr. Federico Bilotta, è stata concepita come libro di testo per le professioni mediche: infermieri, fisioterapisti e tecnici di circolazione extracorporea. L’obiettivo del libro è quello della concisione, della praticità e soprattutto della agevole consultazione, in modo che le informazioni chiave siano facilmente accessibili. Il testo si compone di tre distinte sezioni nelle quali vengono affrontati in successione la farmacologia, l’anestesia e la terapia intensiva. Nella prima sezione vengono affrontate le problematiche connesse all’impiego dei farmaci facendo particolare riferimento, anche ricorrendo ad esemplificazioni schematiche, alle vie di somministrazione, al loro assorbimento, ai meccanismi d’azione, alla loro eliminazione. Nella seconda parte, quella relativa all’anestesia, gli AA hanno focalizzato la trattazione sulle tecniche e i sui farmaci impiegati nella conduzione sia dell’anestesia generale che di quella loco-regionale, in ambito pediatrico, neonatale e in età adulta. Sono state altresì, affrontate le problematiche connesse con la ventilazione polmonare meccanica, il monitoraggio del paziente e le modalità di controllo del dolore postoperatorio. Nella sezione dedicata alla terapia intensiva sono stati selezionati alcuni argomenti di carattere generale, quali: l’organizzazione della terapia intensiva, le infezioni in terapia intensiva, la nutrizione artificiale, l’equilibrio idro-elettrolitico ed acido-base, la riabilitazione respiratoria in terapia intensiva post-operatoria e la prognosi dei pazienti ricoverati in terapia intensiva, accanto ad argomenti ad indirizzo cerebro-vascolare ed ai traumi, cranici e spinali. Tra gli argomenti di terapia intensiva si osserva una predilezione per quelli più specificamente di neurorianimazione, tuttavia la selezione degli argomenti trattati e la loro esposizione ha tenuto in debito conto gli obiettivi di fornire agli studenti dei corsi di formazione per le professioni mediche un testo pratico, di facile consultazione, esposto in forma chiara e facilmente accessibile
Dimensionality reduction for large spatio-temporal datasets based on SVD
No full textMany models for spatio-temporal measurements Z(s; t) can be written as a sum of a systematic component and a residual component: Z = M + E. The approach presented here incorporates two Singular Value Decompositions (SVD). The first SVD is applied to the space-time data matrix Z with cross-validation to choose the number of
smoothed singular vectors to use as temporal basis functions for modelling spatially varying temporal trend in the matrix M. The second SVD is applied to the spatio-temporal matrix E of residuals from the trend models fitted at each site; it represents spatially correlated
short time scale temporal processes. The remaining stochastic structure is explained by simple autoregressive models fit to the final residuals. The procedure is applied to 30 years of daily temperature data from Sicily
A spatio-temporal model based on the SVD to analyze large spatio-temporal datasets
No full textA common problem in the analysis of space-time data is to compress a large dataset in order to extract the underlying trends. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis is a useful tool for examining both the temporal and the spatial variation in atmospherical and physical process and a convenient method of performing this is the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). Many spatio-temporal models for measurements Z(s; t) at location s at time t, can be written as a sum of a systematic component and a residual component: Z = M+E, where Z, M and E are all T x N matrices. Our approach permits modeling of
incomplete data matrices using an "EM-like" iterative algorithm for the SVD. We model the trend, M, by linear combinations of smooth temporal basis functions derived from left (temporal) singular vectors of the SDV of Z with dimension of the model chosen by cross-validation. We further decompose by SVD the spatio-temporal residual matrix E computed as residuals from regressions at each site (column) of the observations on the smoothed temporal basis functions. Finally we fit an autoregressive model to the columns (time series) of residuals from the SVD of E. Our aim is to illustrate a simple model to characterize trends and model the variability in large spatio-temporal data matrices. The methodology is demostrated with a spatiotemporal dataset
A Spatio-temporal Model Based on the SVD to Analyze Daily Average Temperature Across the Sicily Region
No full textIntrathecal Baclofen in Patients With Persistent Vegetative State: 2 Hypotheses
No full textSarà M, Pistoia F, Mura E, Onorati P, Govoni S. Intrathecal baclofen in patients with persistent vegetative state: 2 hypotheses. Sporadic cases of recovery from persistent vegetative state (PVS) after administration of intrathecal baclofen (ITB) have been reported without giving any possible explanation for its paradoxical effect. We summarize our recent findings on 5 patients with PVS treated with ITB and make some speculations on the mechanisms responsible for the observed clinical improvement. The patients developed spasticity and were judged eligible for ITB therapy. Two weeks after pump implantation, patients began to show a clinical improvement that, at the end of the 6 months' follow-up, was stable in all but 1 patient, ranging from a mere increased alertness to a full recovery of consciousness, as revealed by changes of the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) score. Our findings suggest that ITB might favor a variable degree of clinical improvement. A proposal for a pharmacodynamic explanation of this effect has not been formally put forward. We hypothesize 2 possible mechanisms: first, a modulation confined to spinal cord segmental activities and to neuronal centripetal outputs reaching the cortex; and second, a modulation of sleep-wake cycles that, although present, may be dysregulated and interfere with alertness and awareness. Although our research is confined to a few subjects, it provides follow-up information by means of the CRS-R that is a validated standardized neurobehavioral instrument expressly designed for use in patients with PVS. Our observations indicate that further systematic investigation of the mechanisms and the putative clinical applications of ITB should be undertaken. © 2009 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
Effect of heliox on lung dynamic hyperinflation, dyspnea, and exercise endurance capacity in COPD patients.
No full textWe tested the hypothesis that heliox breathing, by reducing lung dynamic hyperinflation (DH) and dyspnea (Dys) sensation, may significantly improve exercise endurance capacity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [n = 12, forced expiratory volume in 1 s = 1.15 (SD 0.32) liters]. Each subject underwent two cycle ergometer high-intensity constant work rate exercises to exhaustion, one on room air and one on heliox (79% Re-21% O 2). Minute ventilation (V̇E), carbon dioxide output, heart rate, inspiratory capacity (IC), Dys, and arterial partial pressure of CO2 were measured. Exercise endurance time increased significantly with heliox [9.0 (SD 4.5) vs. 4.2 (SD 2.0) min; P < 0.001]. This was associated with a significant reduction in lung DH at isotime (Iso), as reflected by the increase in IC [1.97 (SD 0.40) vs. 1.77 (SD 0.41) liters; P < 0.001] and a decrease in Dys [6 (SD 1) vs. 8 (SD 1) score; P < 0.001]. Heliox induced a state of relative hyperventilation, as reflected by the increase in V̇E [38.3 (SD 7.7) vs. 35.5 (SD 8.8) l/min; P < 0.01] and V̇E/carbon dioxide output [36.3 (SD 6.0) vs. 33.9 (SD 5.6); P < 0.01] at peak exercise and by the reduction in arterial partial pressure of CO2 at Iso [44 (SD 6) vs. 48 (SD 6) Torr; P < 0.05] and at peak exercise [46 (SD 6) vs. 48 (SD 6) Torr; P < 0.05]. The reduction in Dys at Iso correlated significantly (R = -0.75; P < 0.01) with the increase in IC induced by heliox. The increment induced by heliox in exercise endurance time correlated significantly with resting increment in resting forced expiratory in 1 s (R = 0.88; P < 0.01), increase in IC at Iso (R = 0.70; P < 0.02), and reduction in Dys at Iso (R = -0.71; P < 0.01). In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heliox breathing improves high-intensity exercise endurance capacity by increasing maximal ventilatory capacity and by reducing lung DH and Dys
Mismatch of neurophysiological findings in partial recovery of consciousness: a case report.
No full textAIM:
Electroencephalography (EEG) and somatosensory potentials (SEP) are regarded as useful tools for exploring residual brain activity and providing information for recovery in patients with anoxic encephalopaty. However, the diagnoses of vegetative and minimally conscious states can only be made by means of repeated specific neurological examinations. In this respect, this study describes the case of a patient with mismatch of neurophysiological findings despite partial recovery to a minimally conscious state.
CASE REPORT:
A 52-year-old man was admitted to the Post-Coma Intensive and Rehabilitation Care Unit with a diagnosis of anoxic encephalopathy. EEG, according to Hockaday, was severely abnormal (Grade IVa). SEP showed bilateral loss of all cortical components. Four weeks after admission the Coma Recovery Scale Revised (CRS-R) score moved from 7/23 to 13/23.
CONCLUSIONS:
This patient persistently showed a mismatch of neurophysiological findings which did not anticipate the slight but discriminating improvement ascertained through the neurological examination. This observation confirms that electrophysiological evaluations can only be regarded as ancillary tools since level of consciousness may be reliably evaluated only by means of repeated specific neurological assessments. As this case-report suggests, neurophysiological findings may turn out to be inconclusive and misleading in relation to the assessment of consciousness and may lead to an underestimate of minimal signs of recovery across the grey-zone from the vegetative to the minimally conscious state
CAP-ONES: An emergency notification system for all
No full textIn this paper we present an ontology-based system for managing emergency alert notifications. Our purpose is to generate emergency alerts that are accessible to different kinds of people, paying special attention to more vulnerable collectives like impaired people. By adapting alerts to different devices and users we can allow Emergency Management Systems (EMS) to communicate with collectives like blind or deaf people whom otherwise will be unreachable by usual channels. Moreover, if we consider the constrains imposed by the nature of the emergency situations we can also improve the information transmission to cope with situational disabilities (e.g. smoke during a fire can cause low vision problems). We centered our system architecture on two characteristics: The first one is an ontology that codifies knowledge about accessibility, devices, disabilities, emergencies and media so the alert notification can be tailored according to different parameters; the second one is the use of an open standard like the CAP (Common Alerting Protocol) that enables our system to interoperate with other existing systems
CD4+ T-lymphocitopenia and Pneumocistis carinii pneumonia in a patient with miliary tuberculosis
No full textWe report a case of miliary tuberculosis (MTB) occurring after extracorporeal shock-wave lithotripsy in a 51-year-old man. The MTB was complicated by pancytopenia and CD4(+) T-lymphocytopenia, which was responsible for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. Hematological parameters returned to normal in response to antituberculous treatment
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