1,720,959 research outputs found
Long-term care insurance in Italy: medico-legal and socio-economic profiles
Get PDFLong-term care insurance (LTCI) plays a crucial role in providing substantial aid in non-self-sufficient situations and complementing existing state protection mechanisms. With an aging population and increasing demand for healthcare services LTC policies have become indispensable. While individual LTCI policies face adoption challenges, group insurances offer a more streamlined alternative. However, realizing the full potential of these insurances necessitates targeted legislative intervention to improve accessibility and ensure sustainability. This article explores the evolution of LTCI policies in Italy, offering an overview of the current landscape and highlighting the socio-economic and medico-legal factors shaping the present scenario. By providing this analysis, we seek to offer insights into the dynamic evolution of LTCI policies and the crucial role of legislative measures in enhancing their effectiveness and accessibility
A wound index for hip and knee arthroplasty outcomes: a pilot investigation
No full textBackground: Post-arthroplasty infections pose a challenge in surgery, often necessitating pro-longed antibiotic treatment, implant failure, and revision surgery. To optimize patient outcomes and resource allocation, the present study aimed at test whether the implementation of the ASEPSIS score (i.e., a prognostic indicator based on postoperative variables) would emerge as an effective index to foresee future post-arthroplasty infections and to guide targeted interventions. Methods: We conducted an evaluation of hip and knee replacement patients' progress during their hospital stay, utilizing the ASEPSIS score. Subsequently, we conducted telephone interviews to evaluate the outcomes of their surgical wounds. Results: A robust correlation was observed between this score and the incidence of post-operative infections. Notably, individuals with a lower score exhibited a reduced likelihood of infection, whereas those identified as high-risk were more predisposed to develop infections within 90 days of surgery. Conclusions: While these findings are preliminary, they demonstrate significant promise. As we progress with subsequent studies, employing the validated assessment method from this pilot study, we anticipate further validation of the ASEPSIS score and its potential integration into standard clinical practice
Serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate, psychosocial factors and musculoskeletal pain in workers
Get PDFBackground The serum level of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S) has been suggested as a biological marker of stress. Aims To assess the association between serum DHEA-S, psychosocial factors and musculoskeletal (MS) pain in university workers. Methods The study population included voluntary workers at the scientific departments of the University of Trieste (Italy) who underwent periodical health surveillance from January 2011 to June 2012. DHEA-S level was analysed in serum. The assessment tools included the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and a modified Nordic musculoskeletal symptoms questionnaire. The relation between DHEA-S, individual characteristics, pain perception and psychological factors was assessed by means of multivariable linear regression analysis. Results There were 189 study participants. The study population was characterized by high reward and low effort. Pain perception in the neck, shoulder, upper limbs, upper back and lower back was reported by 42, 32, 19, 29 and 43% of people, respectively. In multivariable regression analysis, gender, age and pain perception in the shoulder and upper limbs were significantly related to serum DHEA-S. Effort and overcommitment were related to shoulder and neck pain but not to DHEA-S. The GHQ score was associated with pain perception in different body sites and inversely to DHEA-S but significance was lost in multivariable regression analysis. Conclusions DHEA-S was associated with age, gender and perception of MS pain, while effort-reward imbalance dimensions and GHQ score failed to reach the statistical significance in multivariable regression analysis
Life and health rights for italy’s disabled without caregivers
Get PDFBackground. Individuals with severe disabilities face significant challenges when left without parental or familial support. Italian Law 112 of 2016, commonly referred to as the “After Us” law, was introduced to address these issues by ensuring long-term care and economic security for disabled individuals. Eight years after its enactment, there is a need to assess the law’s effectiveness and whether the allocated resources meet the needs of the intended beneficiaries. Methods. This study provides a detailed examination of the “After Us” law, focusing on key protective measures designed to prevent the institutionalization of disabled individuals and support independent living. The analysis includes a review of co-housing options, accessible living facilities, and training programs aimed at fostering autonomy. Additionally, a thorough investigation into the law’s application is conducted, incorporating an analysis of relevant decrees, state funding mechanisms, regional implementation strategies, and the financial audit conducted by the Court of Auditors. Results. The analysis reveals both the strengths and limitations of the “After Us” law. While the law provides essential protective measures, such as housing options and independent living support, regional disparities in implementation and varying levels of state funding have affected its overall impact. Furthermore, the financial review suggests that the allocated funds may not be sufficient to ensure the law’s full and equitable application across Italy. Conclusions. The study underscores the importance of consistent and comprehensive social policies in safeguarding the welfare of individuals with severe disabilities. While the “After Us” law represents a significant step forward, uniform implementation across Italy remains a challenge. Additionally, comparisons with similar regulations in other European countries suggest that further improvements are necessary to ensure long-term care and economic security for disabled individuals throughout the European Union
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe 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
Get PDF“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
Get PDFWe 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
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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