1,721,010 research outputs found
Commentary: Evolutionary medicine and psychiatry, today and tomorrow
Full text linkThis special issue of Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews dedicated to Evolutionary Medicine is particularly relevant, in my opinion, for several reasons. Before delving into the substance of the matter, I would like to thank my colleague and friend, Professor Stefano Parmigiani, for inviting me to comment on this special issue. I admire Stefano as a man, for his honesty, empathy, and sense of humor, and as a researcher, for the depth of his knowledge, both specialized and, thanks to his open-mindedness, transversal
Exchanges and interactions between Padua and Vienna medical schools in the XIX century
No full textIt is well known that Padua Medical School, Italy, played a fundamental role in shaping modern medicine. Its golden age lasted from the late XV to the late XVIII century, thanks in particular to its extraordinary anatomical school. One of the last fundamental achievements of the Padua Medical School was the founding of the anatomo-clinical method and organ pathology by Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Professor of Theoretical Medicine in Padua from 1711 and 1715 and of Anatomy from 1715 to his death. This method, which dramatically changed the course of medical diagnosis and therapy, was immediately developed by the so-called Anatomo-Clinical School of Paris. Figures such as Jean-Nicolas Corvisart and René Laennec improved this new approach in the clinical setting with the method of auscultation and the introduction of the stethoscope. However, organ pathology probably found its most important modern expression in the so-called Viennese School of Medicine, thanks to figures such as Karl von Rokitansky, Joseph Skoda and Theodor Billroth. In that period, this school was described by the anatomist Rudolf Virchow as “the Mecca of medicine.” As is well known, Padua and Venice fell under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire between the end of the XVIII and the beginning of the second half of the XIX century. The most important influences and changes at the University of Padua were introduced by the Viennese School during the so-called Third Austrian Domination (1813–1866), with improvements of medical curriculum, the founding of new specialist medical institutes and a general advancement of medical science, inspired by the technical–practical approach typical of this school. In particular, the new chair and Institute of Pathological Anatomy was founded by Lodovico Brunetti, pupil of Rokitansky, who influenced his appointment at Padua. In this way, we can advance that, at the end, the Morgagni method came back to Padua through the leading role of the Vienna Medical School, which deeply influenced the University of Padua during the different phases of Austrian domination in north Italy
Lodovico Brunetti, the Unknown Father of Modern Crematorium
No full textThe cremation has been documented since prehistoric times and it was a common funerary custom until the advent of Catholicism. Falling into disuse, during XVII–XVIII centuries there were new movements to bring it back according to modern criteria, mainly due to hygienic reasons and cemeteries overcrowding. This also led to the prototyping of new crematory ovens to improve the ancient open-air pyre. Lodovico Brunetti was the first to carry out a crematory experimental research in the modern countries. Since Brunetti's studies were based on the study of ancient cremations, a comparison with a modern experience of reconstruction of archaeological cremation is presented to evaluate the validity of his crematorium oven. Furthermore, the social and religious aspects related to Brunetti's inventions and the revitalization of cremation shows how tools and technologies and also the cultural environment have evolved over the years, effectively accepting the cremation practice as an alternative to inhumation
Mythology and rational explanation in the history of medicine the case of molar pregnancy
No full textobjective: To analyse own set of molar pregnancies and to develop clinically relevant procedures. Type of study: Historical article based on the analysis of Greek classic medicine. settings: History of Medicine Unit; Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies; Sapienza-University of Rome, Italy; Unit of Medical Humanities; Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences and Public Health; University of Padua, Italy. introduction: Molar pregnancy is a specific kind of gestational trophoblastic disease which originates from the placenta. There are two types of molar pregnancy, complete and partial. Complete molar pregnancy derives from a defect in maternal eggs, while an incomplete one derives from a defecting fertilization by paternal sperm. Historical analysis: Molar pregnancy drawn the attention of ancient physicians from the classic period and they widely discussed maternal and paternal roles in causing this condition. Classic doctors drawn from mythology several suggestions and ideas, which indicates that the issue of normal and abnormal conception was a crucial problem since the most ancient past Conclusion: Current scientific studies on molar pregnancy are free from ancient prejudices about male and female “nature” and their reciprocal role in embryogenesis. However, an awareness of the cultural biases that could drive scientific researches, might be useful for scientists and physicians even today
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
Variations on the Author
Full text link“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
Full text linkWe 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
Fabrici and the functional power of the image
No full textHieronymus Fabricius ab Acquapendente, famous anatomist of the medical school of Padua, Italy, marked a further step not only in the morphological studies, but also in anatomical illustration and physiology. His researches were inspired by the work of Aristotle which was focused on the understanding of biological “functions” in an anatomo-comparative way. The anatomo-comparative approach of Fabrici allowed him to discover several specific features of human anatomy. His focusing on function marked the transition from a descriptive to a functional anatomy, paving the way to the birth of human physiology in the following century. To enhance the teaching and learning of anatomy, Fabrici realized the importance of the “dimension” and “color” of anatomical illustrations and introduced for first full-scale and colour painted plates. In this way, the images were closer to representing “living” parts, than previous black & white and low scale images. Moreover, Fabrici was the first to create an “anatomo-phisiological” image, namely the one representing the valves in the veins. His work was a fundamental inspiration for his students, in particular Gaspard Bauhin and William Harvey
Tullio Terni (1888-1946): The life of a neurocardioanatomist with a tragic epilogue.
Full text linkTullio Terni (1888–1946) was a pioneer of neuroanatomy at the University of Padua. He gave milestone contributions in the knowledge of cardiac innervationwith the discovery of the “Terni column”, a preganglionic autonomous nervous center. Due to “racial laws” introduced in Italy in 1938 by the Fascist government, he, being Jewish, was expelled from the University of Padua like many others from Italian universities. At the end of the 2nd World War, he was reinstated to his chair of Anatomy, however, having belonged to the Fascist party, hewas dismissed from the Lincei Academy. It was a paradox that deteriorated his depression up to the suicide
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