showing 36 of ~574560 from 574555 documents
Factores asociados al estrés prenatal y la ansiedad en gestantes durante el COVID-19 en España
2022
AIM OF THE STUDY To describe prenatal stress and state anxiety levels in pregnant women living in Spain during the lockdown of the first wave of COVID-19 and its relation with obstetric factors, perception of health care, and concerns about the socio-sanitary situation. METHODS The present study is an observational, correlational, and cross-sectional quantitative study. The participants in the study were pregnant women recruited through non-probabilistic convenience and snowball sampling during the lockdown. A web link was provided to an online questionnaire designed for this research, which collected socio-demographic and obstetric variables, perceptions of health care received during the …
Metabolic signatures across the full spectrum of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
2022
Funder: European Commission
A new perspective of innovation toward a non-contact society - Amazon's initiative in pioneering growing seamless switching
2022
This paper elucidates the inside of the black box of Amazon's unique research and development (R&D) dynamism that made it the world's top R&D leader by transforming “routine or periodic alterations” into “significant improvement” during the R&D process. This dynamism also succeeded in transforming the COVID-19 pandemic period into a springboard for new innovation, leading to Amazon's notable growth notwithstanding the pandemic. An empirical analysis using a techno-economic approach focusing on Amazon's endeavor to develop a series of advanced digital fashions (ADFs) and online-based luxury brands (neo-luxury) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted. Amazon became a global appa…
Grynfeltt-Lesshaft hernia Personal experience of nine cases and a review of the literature
2022
L’ernia lombare di Grynfeltt, dall’ autore che per primo l’ha descritta nel 1866, fra tutte le ernie della parete addominale è la più rara, rappresenta infatti secondo i dati della letteratura più recente solo il 2% di tutte le ernie. Di queste circa il 20% è congenita, secondaria principalmente a difetti di sviluppo embrionale mentre l’80% sono difetti acquisiti. Gli interventi chirurgici, le ferite penetranti e le infezioni rappresentano fattori di rischio per lo sviluppo di ernie lombari secondarie e pertanto iatrogene. In letteratura è riportata una prevalenza dell’ernia a sinistra mentre eccezionale è l’osservazione di una ernia di Grynfeltt bilaterale. La recente osservazione di una v…
Firms’ investment, indebtedness and financial constraints: Size does matter
2022
Abstract This paper provides evidence of the importance of size in explaining the impact of financing conditions on firms´ investment rate. The study makes two main contributions: a) it allows the relationship between indebtedness and firms´ investment to be non-linear; and b) it contrasts whether the impact of indebtedness and the degree of financial restriction differ depending on the size of the company (SME vs large). Results show that while in SMEs indebtedness has a negative impact on investment, there is a threshold beyond which this effect is even larger (based on a debt/assets ratio of 59%). However, in large companies the impact of indebtedness is positive although there is also a…
High content and dispersion of Gd in bimodal porous silica: T2 contrast agents under ultra-high magnetic fields
2022
Silica-based UVM-7-type bimodal mesoporous materials with high gadolinium content (∞ ≥ Si/Gd ≥ 13) have been synthesized through a one-pot surfactant-assisted procedure from hydroalcoholic solution using a cationic surfactant as template, and starting from atrane complexes of Gd and Si as inorganic precursors. The novel synthetic pathway developed in the study preserves the UVM-7-type architecture while optimizing the dispersion of the Gd-guest species at the nanoscale and even at atomic level. It has been determined that the number of Gd atoms forming clusters is always less than 10. The behaviour under exposure to ultra-high magnetic fields reveals a significant increase in the transversa…
The association between appendicitis severity and patient age with appendiceal neoplasm histology—a population-based study
2022
Abstract Purpose Recent studies have reported alarming appendiceal tumor rates associated with complicated acute appendicitis, especially in patients presenting with a periappendicular abscess. However, the data on histology of appendiceal tumors among acute appendicitis patients is limited, especially in patient cohorts differentiating between uncomplicated and complicated acute appendicitis. We have previously reported the association of increased appendiceal tumor prevalence with complicated acute appendicitis in this population-based study. The objective of this secondary analysis was to evaluate the association of both appendicitis severity and patient age with appendiceal tumor histol…
Being an ethnic minority nursing student - A meta synthesis.
2022
Background Our society is characterized by a general globalization and has become more culturally diverse. This diversity is mirrored in nursing education. Purpose The purpose of the meta-synthesis is to identify and synthesize data from primary, qualitative studies of ethnic minority nursing students' experiences in a nursing program. Method Electronic databases, Medline, Embase, and CINAHL, were searched for studies published in English or Nordic languages from 1980 to February 2020. Results The search generated 1070 unique citations, of which 19 articles met the inclusion criteria. The included studies had a total sample size of 255 students, age range 19–50 years. The participants origi…
Joining by forming technologies: current solutions and future trends
2022
AbstractThe progressively more demanding needs of emissions and costs reduction in the transportation industry are pushing engineers towards the use of increasingly lightweight structures. This goal can be achieved only if dissimilar and/or new materials, including polymers and composites, are joined together to create complex structures. Conventional fusion welding processes have often been proven inadequate to this task because of the high heat input reducing the joint mechanical properties or even making the joining process impossible. Joining by forming technologies take advantage on the plastic deformation to create sound joints out of even very dissimilar materials. Over the last 25 y…
Closure to “Testing the Stage-Discharge Relationship in Sloping SMBF Flumes” by Francesco Giuseppe Carollo and Vincenzo Pampalone
2022
This is the closure to the discussions on the paper "Testing the Stage-Discharge Relationship in Sloping SMBF Flumes".
Explaining the willingness of consumers to bring their own reusable coffee cups under the condition of monetary incentives
2022
An increasing number of hospitality firms attempt to foster sustainable practices among their customers. Amongst these, incentives for customers to bring their own reusable products stand out. In this study, we first analyse whether consumers are willing to bring a reusable coffee cup (RCC) under the condition of a monetary incentive (qualitative decision) and the minimum discount required for individuals to be willing to use an RCC (quantitative decision). Second, we analyse the explanatory factors impacting these two decisions. Several factors are proposed to explain an individual's willingness to bring an RCC including their environmental knowledge and involvement, and personal restricti…
China’s Contribution to the Economic Potential of the 16+1 Platform: Developments Prior to the Global Pandemic
2022
PURPOSE: The 16+1 platform, first introduced by China in 2012, provides a framework for Central and Eastern (CE) European countries to benefit from economic cooperation with China. This paper seeks to ascertain which countries have benefitted the most and under what conditions.
Prenatal arsenic exposure, arsenic methylation efficiency, and neuropsychological development among preschool children in a Spanish birth cohort.
2022
Abstract Background Prenatal arsenic (As) exposure could negatively affect child neuropsychological development, but the current evidence is inconclusive. Objectives To explore the relationship between prenatal urinary total As (TAs) concentrations, the As species and the methylation efficiency, and child neuropsychological development in a Spanish birth cohort. We also studied the effect modification produced by sex and several nutrients and elements. Materials and methods Study subjects were 807 mother–child pairs participating in the INMA (Childhood and Environment) Project. Urinary TAs and its metabolites, monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), inorganic As (iAs) and …
Economic sustainability of hydrothermal liquefaction of sewage sludge: From a conceptual analysis to a practical verification
2022
Introduction: Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) could be a promising technology to produce biocrude from wet biomass. A conceptual analysis on the HTL of microalgae assisted by the use of solar heat demonstrated that even if microalgae are one of the most productive and investigated feedstock, their high cost hinders the economic sustainability of the process1. To overcome this issue a zero-cost wet waste biomass like sewage sludge (SS) could be adopted with comparable efficiency. Furthermore, the use of a proper catalyst, promoting the in-situ upgrading of the biocrude, still represents a big challenging opportunity for industrial HTL development. Aim: The outcomes of the conceptual analysis…
Life care annuities to help couples cope with the cost of long-term care
2022
This paper examines the possibility of including cash-for-care benefits in life care annuities (LCAs) to help retired couples cope with the cost of long-term care (LTC). It aims to assess how much it would cost to add an extra stream of payments to annuities for couples should either or both require LTC. We present an actuarial method based on array calculus to value this type of LCA. The impact of introducing the LTC contingency on the annuity is assessed by comparing the initial benefits in both cases. The difference in the initial benefit arises due to the annuity factors used to compute the benefits. We also analyse how willing couples would be to choose this type of LCA. Using Australi…
The incidence of psychotic disorders among migrants and minority ethnic groups in Europe: findings from the multinational EU-GEI study
2022
AbstractBackgroundIn Europe, the incidence of psychotic disorder is high in certain migrant and minority ethnic groups (hence: ‘minorities’). However, it is unknown how the incidence pattern for these groups varies within this continent. Our objective was to compare, across sites in France, Italy, Spain, the UK and the Netherlands, the incidence rates for minorities and the incidence rate ratios (IRRs, minorities v. the local reference population).MethodsThe European Network of National Schizophrenia Networks Studying Gene–Environment Interactions (EU-GEI) study was conducted between 2010 and 2015. We analyzed data on incident cases of non-organic psychosis (International Classification of …
Malignant transformation of oral leukoplakia in oral squamous cell carcinoma: a case report.
2022
Amaya, A., Michelon, C. (eds.) (2020), The faces of virtue in law. Routledge
2022
The book, edited by Amalia Amaya and Claudio Michelon, brings together the most significant voices of the Aretaic theory to operate an interesting reconstruction of new topics in the field of philosophy of law which are typically overlooked by traditional legal theory. This approach allows the exploration of new interpretative lines that may suggest further developments for the theory of virtue. Reading this book could therefore be a valid and interesting tool for all those who study the legal decision-making process from a philosophical perspective, but also for all jurists who deal, in a broader sense, with the legal practice.
Global change in hepatitis C virus prevalence and cascade of care between 2015 and 2020
2022
Background Since the release of the first global hepatitis elimination targets in 2016, and until the COVID-19 pandemic started in early 2020, many countries and territories were making progress toward hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination. This study aims to evaluate HCV burden in 2020, and forecast HCV burden by 2030 given current trends. Methods This analysis includes a literature review, Delphi process, and mathematical modelling to estimate HCV prevalence (viraemic infection, defined as HCV RNA-positive cases) and the cascade of care among people of all ages (age =0 years from birth) for the period between Jan 1, 2015, and Dec 31, 2030. Epidemiological data were collected from published …
Almond shell reuse: a viable non-conventional aggregate for sustainable building materials
2022
Bio-based or green architecture is a new way of designing and building in line with the European Green Deal and in light of the Circular Economy principles. The main green approach directs the whole construction life cycle to be eco-sustainable and environmentally friendly from the beginning to the end of the building process. Beyond the use of eco sustainable and highly performing structural materials, new technologies able of reduce the environmental impact of buildings must be used. This paper is aimed at reviewing the possible reuse of bio- wastes of agricultural origin whose massive production generates a number of issues for their treatment and disposal. In particular, this study will…
Appropriateness criteria for the use of cardiac computed tomography, SIC-SIRM part 2: Acute chest pain evaluation; Stent and coronary artery bypass g…
2022
In the past 20 years, cardiac computed tomography (CCT) has become a pivotal technique for the noninvasive diagnostic workup of coronary and cardiac diseases. Continuous technical and methodological improvements, combined with fast growing scientific evidence, have progressively expanded the clinical role of CCT. Randomized clinical trials documented the value of CCT in increasing the cost-effectiveness of the management of patients with acute chest pain presenting in the emergency department, also during the pandemic. Beyond the evaluation of stents and surgical graft patency, the anatomical and functional coronary imaging have the potential to guide treatment decision-making and planning …
Sustained seizure freedom with adjunctive brivaracetam in patients with focal onset seizures
2022
The maintenance of seizure control over time is a clinical priority in patients with epilepsy. The aim of this study was to assess the sustained seizure frequency reduction with adjunctive brivaracetam (BRV) in real-world practice. Patients with focal epilepsy prescribed add-on BRV were identified. Study outcomes included sustained seizure freedom and sustained seizure response, defined as a 100% and a ≥50% reduction in baseline seizure frequency that continued without interruption and without BRV withdrawal through the 12-month follow-up. Nine hundred ninety-four patients with a median age of 45 (interquartile range = 32-56) years were included. During the 1-year study period, sustained se…
Drivers, barriers and impacts of digitalisation in rural areas from the viewpoint of experts
2022
Abstract Context: The domain of rural areas, including rural communities, agriculture, and forestry, is going through a process of deep digital transformation. Digitalisation can have positive impacts on sustainability in terms of greater environmental control, and community prosperity. At the same time, it can also have disruptive effects, with the marginalisation of actors that cannot cope with the change. When developing a novel system for rural areas, requirements engineers should carefully consider the specific socio-economic characteristics of the domain, so that potential positive effects can be maximised, while mitigating negative impacts. Objective: The goal of this paper is to sup…
Effectiveness of early administration of a single dose of steroids and escin after loss of signal on electromyographic signal recovery during neuromo…
2022
Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a single early administration of dexamethasone and escin after loss of signal (LOS) during a neuromonitored total thyroidectomy. Methods: A retrospective analysis of results concerning consecutive patients undergoing total thyroidectomy was performed. Patients included in the study were divided into two groups: Group 1 for which a “wait and see” strategy was used; Group 2, receiving dexamethasone and escin immediately after LOS detection. Results: Overall 37 patients were included in Group 1 and 35 in Group 2. LOS recovery occurring in 29.7% of cases (n. 11) versus 65.7% (n. 23) respectively (p < 0.001). Postoperative fibrol…
Regional heterogeneity in the business environment: the case of Italy
2022
How do we evaluate the business environment of regional economies? This paper makes use of primary data from the World Bank’s Subnational Doing Business studies to analyze the capacity of Italian regions to facilitate entrepre- neurs in setting up and operating new businesses. By comparing data across locations and over time, we are able to identify best practices that may help policy makers in the implementation of reforms aiming at improving the business environ- ment of Italian regions and, as a result, of the country.
Modeling wave propagation in elastic solids via high-order accurate implicit-mesh discontinuous Galerkin methods
2022
A high-order accurate implicit-mesh discontinuous Galerkin framework for wave propagation in single-phase and bi-phase solids is presented. The framework belongs to the embedded-boundary techniques and its novelty regards the spatial discretization, which enables boundary and interface conditions to be enforced with high-order accuracy on curved embedded geometries. High-order accuracy is achieved via high-order quadrature rules for implicitly-defined domains and boundaries, whilst a cell-merging strategy addresses the presence of small cut cells. The framework is used to discretize the governing equations of elastodynamics, written using a first-order hyperbolic momentum-strain formulation…
Zooming into firm’s location, capabilities and innovation performance: does agglomeration foster incremental or radical innovation?
2022
[EN] This study answers the question on whether areas of agglomeration or high industry specialization constitute supportive prone-to-innovation environments for the generation of radical innovation. By drawing on the CIS distinction between incremental vs radical innovation, we disentangle the effect of industry specialization on the occurrence of radical innovations, a phenomenon mostly overlooked. By analysing a large dataset of 3,602 firms from CIS and other geographic datasets, results show that a firm's location in high industry specialization areas primarily trims incremental but not radical innovation. Firms' internal knowledge bases do matter more for radical innovation to occur, r…
Separation of palladium and silver from E-waste leachate : effect of nitric acid concentration on adsorption to Thiol scavenger
2022
The development of recovery techniques for metals present in low concentrations in E-waste, such as silver and palladium, is important from the aspect of the circular economy. Adsorption of palladium and silver was studied in detail in a batch process with silica-based Thiol scavenger from nitric acid leachate of waste printed circuit boards (PCBs). High adsorption efficiencies of Pd(II) and Ag(I), >97%, were reached in nitric acid concentrations below 3 mol L−1. At higher acid concentrations, adsorption efficiency of Ag(I) decreased drastically which enables the separation of Ag(I) and Pd(II) based on nitric acid concentration in sample solution. Pd(II) and Ag(I) followed pseudo 2nd order …
Sadzīvošana. Etnogrāfiskas pārdomas par attiecībām mūsdienu Latvijā
2022
Grāmata ir antropoloģisks vēstījums par cilvēku attiecībām mūsdienu Latvijā. Sadzīvošana vairs nav viennozīmīgi pozitīvs vārds un iezīmē attiecību pārrāvumu, piespiešanos uzturēt attiecības, kur to vairs nav. Grāmatas virsrakstā tas ir palicis kā atgādinājums par savstarpējo attiecību dabas maiņu mūsdienu dzīvē cerībā, ka ar laiku mēs varēsim sadzīvošanu reabilitēt un piešķirt tai sākotnējo vērtību - būt ciešā sadarbībā un labās attiecībās citam ar citu. Pirmā grāmatas daļa ir veltīta bērnu audzināšanas paradumiem un to maiņai. Otrā sadaļa pievēršas pāru attiecībām un ģimenei. Trešā sadaļa aptver kaimiņattiecības un cilvēku sadzīvi kopienā. Pēdējā sadaļa ir veltīta vecumam.
Personality, motivational, and social cognition predictors of leisure-time physical activity
2022
Objective The purpose of the present study was to investigate associations between personality traits of extraversion and neuroticism, autonomous motivation, and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) constructs and leisure-time physical activity. The study examined whether autonomous motivation and the TPB constructs mediate the association between personality traits and physical activity, and whether personality traits moderate the relationship of autonomous motivation and the TPB constructs with physical activity. Methods Middle-aged women (N = 441) completed self-report measures of personality traits, autonomous motivation, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control (PBC) a…
Geometric Optimal Control of the Generalized Lotka-Volterra Model with Applications Controlled Stability of Microbiota
2022
International audience; In this talk we present the Generalized Lotka–Volterra dynamics associated to themodel of C-difficile infection of the intestine microbiote and aiming to transfer the systemfrom an infected state to an healthy state. The control inputs are of two types : fecalinjection or bactericides which act as Dirac pulses and prebiotics or antibiotics which act ascontinuous controls. An uniform frame can be introduced using the tools from geometriccontrol to analyze the accessibility set as the orbit of a pseudo-semi group. Optimalcontrol can be considered in the frame of permanent control or sampled-data control. Thelater being adapted to the practical constraints of a finite s…
Development of stimulus-sensitive electrospun membranes based on novel biodegradable segmented polyurethane as triggered delivery system for doxorubi…
2022
In this work, redox-sensitive polyurethane urea (PUU) based electrospun membranes have been exploited to chemically tether a pH-sensitive doxorubicin derivative achieved by linking a lipoyl hydrazide to the drug via a hydrazone linkage. First, the lipoyl-hydrazone-doxorubicin derivative labelled as LA-Hy-Doxo has been syn- thesized and characterized. Then, the molecule has been tethered, via a thiol-disulfide exchange reaction, to the redox-sensitive PUU (PolyCEGS) electrospun membrane. The redox-sensitive PolyCEGS PUU has been produced by using PCL-PEG-PCL polyol and glutathione-tetramethyl ester (GSSG-OMe)4 as a chain extender. The LA-Hy- Doxo tethered electrospun membrane has showed a du…
Separation of halloysite/kaolinite mixtures in water controlled by sucrose addition: The influence of the attractive forces on the sedimentation beha…
2022
In this work, we propose an easy strategy for the separation of halloysite/kaolinite mixtures in sucrose aqueous solution. Preliminarily, we investigated the influence of the sucrose addition on the colloidal stability of kaolinite nanoplates and halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) dispersed in water. Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) measurements revealed that the HNTs aqueous mobility is dependent on the sucrose concentration, while the ζ-potential is negligibly affected by the addition of the carbohydrate in the aqueous solvent. On the other hand, any variations on the surface charge and dynamic behavior of kaolinite were detected in the presence of sucrose. The obtained ζ-potential and DLS results…
Accademia alla rovescia: lezioni di diritto per dirottare il verso del sapere
2022
In questo scritto parlerò di alcuni esperimenti educativi che ho condotto secondo la metodologia didattica che ho chiamato "accademia alla rovescia". Questo metodo si ispira all'educazione clinico-legale, ma ne mette in discussione alcuni presupposti, traendo spunto dalle teorie critiche del diritto e dall'approccio pedagogico di Paulo Freire, Danilo Dolci e dei Maestri di Strada. L'educazione clinico-legale si basa sull'apprendimento attraverso il fare e sull'esposizione dei discenti al diritto vivente in contesti autentici. Questi programmi, tuttavia, presuppongono che l'accademia detenga un primato, se non un monopolio epistemico. Il "metodo dell'accademia alla rovescia" parte da una "mi…
Recensione a BART HUELSENBECK, Figures in the Shadows. The Speech of Two Augustan-Age Declaimers, Arellius Fuscus and Papirius Fabianus, Berlin-Bosto…
2022
Review of the volume that is configured as an essay on the declamatory phenomenon as a whole, but above all as a reading entirely internal to the first corpus of declamatory texts by Seneca il Vecchio that has come down to us
EpCAM y obstrucción microvascular en pacientes con un IAMCEST: estudio con resonancia magnética cardiaca
2022
Resumen Introduccion y objetivos La obstruccion microvascular (OMV) se asocia negativamente con la estructura cardiaca y el pronostico de los pacientes tras un infarto agudo de miocardio con elevacion del segmento ST (IAMCEST). El factor epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM), implicado en la cohesion de las celulas epiteliales, esta poco estudiado en el contexto de la OMV. Por ello, el objetivo de este estudio es evaluar en una cohorte de pacientes con IAMCEST la asociacion entre la concentracion de EpCAM circulante con la extension de la OMV, determinada por resonancia magnetica cardiaca (RMC), y la funcion sistolica en fases cronicas. Metodos Se incluyo prospectivamente a 106 paciente…