1,721,162 research outputs found
Slow Travel Project for Enhancing Territories: Motivations and Directions
No full textEvery project should follow an idea, a theoretical and intentional framework
orienting the sense of its practical actions. Nevertheless, in many cases the
project comes before then the motivations. This can be a mistake, especially in cases
of regional projects affecting policies, people and territory.Giving priority to the idea
makes the project more effective and people and institutional stakeholders involved
more aware. This is the reason why the project VENTO, the proposal of a long
cycle-tourist path in Italy, is born firstly by elaborating its motivations and objectives
and, later, by designing the bike track. VENTO has the precise aim of regenerating
marginal areas thanks to the introduction of the paradigm of the slow travel: it is a
model of sustainable development with the shape of a cycle path. This paper analyses
motivations and goals of the project and explains in which sense VENTO can be
considered as a project of territory, as a way to increase local green jobs, as a political
manifesto, as a new deal for investing in infrastructures, as a proposal for travelling
and not for spending just few hours, as a vernacular opportunity, as a anti-fragility
policy. These ideas have sustained the process of realization of the project
Trombofilia ed esiti avversi della gravidanza
No full textLa trombofilia è una predisposizione congenita o acquisita a sviluppare trombi, soprattutto nel versante venoso. La gravidanza, a causa del fisiologico adattamento materno che coinvolge anche il sistema coagulatorio, rappresenta di per sé un fattore di rischio per la trombosi. Negli ultimi anni è stato molto discusso il potenziale ruolo della trombofilia congenita materna e fetale nella patogenesi di patologie della gravidanza quali ritardato accrescimento intrauterino (IUGR) o patologie ipertensive indotte dalla gravidanza. In queste condizioni cliniche una predisposizione a sviluppare trombi potrebbe coinvolgere la circolazione utero-placentare e predisporre ad una condizione di insufficienza placentare. I risultati di questi studi non sono sempre stati concordi, ma in alcuni è stata riportata un'associazione tra fattore V Leiden e/o mutazione G20210A del fattore II e pre-eclampsia, morte endouterina, aborti ripetuti e distacco di placenta. Meno chiara è l'eventuale associazione con IUGR e soprattutto ancora poco nota è l'eventuale associazione con la presenza di trombofilia congenita del feto. In base a questi studi di associazione, si è ipotizzato che una profilassi con eparina potrebbe ridurre il rischio di patologie della gravidanza in pazienti con trombofilia congenita. Finora non sono disponibili risultati di studi controllati ma solo pochi studi osservazionali. Inoltre, il potenziale ruolo della trombofilia fetale nella patogenesi di patologie della gravidanza non potrebbe essere prevenuto con la profilassi eparinica; infatti, l'eparina a basso peso molecolare non supera la barriera placentare e non riesce così ad esplicare la sua azione farmacologia sulla circolazione fetale
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe 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
Pathogenic mechanisms linking periodontal diseases with adverse pregnancy outcomes
No full textIn the last 2 decades, a large proportion of studies have focused on the relationship between maternal periodontal disease and poor obstetric outcomes. The aim of the present review is to summarize the current knowledge about human studies on the pathogenetic mechanisms linking periodontal diseases with adverse pregnancy outcomes. A search of the medical literature was conducted using NIH (National Institute of Health) Pubmed through April 2011. Articles were identified with the Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) and free text terms "small for gestational age (SGA)," "preeclampsia," "preterm labor," and "periodontal disease." Experimental human studies have shown that periodontal pathogens may disseminate toward placental and fetal tissues accompanied by an increase in inflammatory mediators in the placenta. As such, new inflammatory reactions within the placental tissues of the pregnant woman may occur, the physiological levels of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the amniotic fluid may increase and eventually lead to premature delivery. Although many data from clinical trials suggest that periodontal disease may increase the adverse pregnancy outcome, the exact pathogenetic mechanism involved remains controversial. The findings explain the potential link between periodontal infections and adverse pregnancy outcomes. First, periodontal bacteria can directly cause infections both of the uteroplacenta and the fetus; second, systemic inflammatory changes induced by periodontal diseases can activate responses at the maternal-fetal interface. Of note, associative studies have produced different results in different population groups and no conclusive evidence has still been produced for the potential role of preventive periodontal care to reduce the risk factors of preterm birth. © The Author(s) 2012
From Slow Tourism to Slow Travel: An Idea for Marginal Regions
No full textTourism represents a strategy that can be used to imagine the development
of marginal areas. But what type of tourism? Slow tourism is considered in literature
and by themain development policies ofmarginal areas as one of the forms of tourism
that best lends itself to the specific context of these territories. There are three factors
whose possible relationship and interaction will be studied: tourism, slowness, and
marginal areas. In this piece, the matter of marginal areas is not discussed, and it is
taken as fact. What is discussed is the combination of slowness and tourism, often
identified with the idea of “slow tourism”. The article proposes its own definition
of slow tourism, where slowness, as a conscious and alternative attitude, invests in
and modifies the economic sector of tourism. We therefore identify the attitudes
of slowness that bring meaning to a territorial project, useful to the development
(not only financial but also cultural and social) of marginal areas. From tourism, we
move on to travel, a free and discovery-based approach, in line with the lessons that
slowness can provide
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