Psychosomatic syndromes are associated with IL-6 pro-inflammatory cytokine in heart failure patients

Psychosomatic syndromes have emerged as an important source of comorbidity in cardiac patients and have been associated with increased risk for adverse outcomes in patients with heart failure (HF). Understanding of the mechanisms underlying this connection is limited, however immune activity represents a possible pathway. While there have been numerous studies connecting immune activity to psychosomatic psychopathology, there is a lack of research on patients with HF. We examined forty-one consecutive outpatients affected by HF. We assessed psychosomatic psychopathology using the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15). The Psychosocial Index (PSI) was used for assessing stress and psychosocial dimensions. Depression was evaluated with Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Circulating levels of proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-alpha were ascertained. Univariate and multivariable regression models were used to test for associations between inflammatory cytokines and psychosomatic psychopathology (i.e., DCPR syndromes, PHQ-15) and psychological dimensions (i.e., BDI-II, PSI). A significant positive correlation was found between IL-6 levels and psychosomatic psychopathology even when controlling for any confounding variables (i.e., Body-mass index (BMI), New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, statin use, aspirin use, beta blockers use, age, and gender). In contrast, the associations between TNF-alpha levels were non-significant. These findings can contribute to research in support of a psychoneuroimmune connection between psychosomatic psychopathology and HF. Findings also suggest the possibility that elevated IL-6 levels are more relevant for the pathogenesis of psychosomatic syndromes than for depression in patients with HF

Humanoid Robots and the Future of Education: Pepper and NAO. Robot umanoidi e il futuro dell'istruzione: Pepper e NAO

Pepper e NAO sono robot umanoidi versatili e ad alte prestazioni che si dimostrano piattaforme ideali per l'interazione uomo-macchina, il cognitive computing e la navigazione autonoma. Questi robot sono particolarmente efficaci nell'istruzione, creando legami empatici con i bambini e promuovendo lo sviluppo di abilità fisiche, intellettuali, sociali ed emotive. Sono stati impiegati con successo in programmi educativi individualizzati per studenti con disabilità, tra cui l'autismo, e per migliorare la socializzazione e l'autostima nei bambini. Oltre alle loro capacità di interazione, Pepper e NAO sono pacchetti di sviluppo completi, integrando computer, fotocamere, sensori e motori, il che li rende strumenti accessibili per l'educazione e la ricerca. Attraverso il loro hardware e software specializzato, questi robot fungono da agenti autonomi che supportano l'apprendimento in ambienti didattici, lavorando su argomenti complessi e interagendo efficacemente con studenti e insegnanti.Pepper and NAO are versatile and high-performance humanoid robots that prove to be ideal platforms for human-machine interaction, cognitive computing, and autonomous navigation. These robots are particularly effective in education, establishing empathetic connections with children and fostering the development of physical, intellectual, social, and emotional skills. They have been successfully employed in individualized educational programs for students with disabilities, including autism, enhancing socialization and self-esteem in children. Beyond their interaction capabilities, Pepper and NAO are comprehensive development packages, integrating computers, cameras, sensors, and motors, making them accessible tools for education and research. Through their specialized hardware and software, these robots act as autonomous agents supporting learning in educational environments, engaging in complex topics and effectively interacting with students and teachers

Innovating school-based health education through serious games: the challenge of obesity prevention

The contribution presents a pilot project of a transdisciplinary research on game-based obesity prevention at school, currently exploring the potential of digital health to innovate health education (Perla, Massaro, 2021; Ascione, Massaro, 2022). As overweight and obesity among children represent one of the major public health challenges, this project will test a serious game on education to healthy eating designed using a social robot with aims of food literacy and wellbeing

Social robot-based nutritional education for children’s engagement on healthy lifestyles

With the growing interest in integrating innovative technologies in educational settings (Belpaeme et al., 2018), the potential of robots as educational tools has gained attention. This transdisciplinary research aims at exploring the pos- sibility of using a robot as a tutor to engage students on nutritional knowledge and innovate nutritional education at school. The results of a within-subjects field experiment that compared the robot Pepper acting as a teacher to a human teacher are presented

Healthy Pepper: Nutritional Education through Social Robotics and Storytelling

Childhood overweight and obesity represent an alarming problem worldwide with strong consequences both at health and social levels. Learning based on storytelling is an effective approach to enhancing children's knowledge and correct behaviors, especially when it is conveyed by engaging novel technologies. Among these technologies, social robots have a special appeal for educational purposes. The paper presents a pilot project in which the social robot Pepper is used as an educational storyteller in the context of nutrition. To investigate the appropriateness of the approach, a preliminary study was performed to compare the effects of Pepper vs a human storyteller. Results are interesting in terms of engagement, user experience, trust, and learning of relevant concepts, suggesting that the proposed approach can be effective in this domain

Measures for reducing the vehicle fleet of Komunala Nova Gorica company, with an estimation of cost-cuts and related improvements

Magistrsko delo obravnava možnosti za zmanjševanje voznega parka podjetja Komunala Nova Gorica d.d. in ima dva cilja. Primarni cilj je zniževanje stroškov odvoza odpadkov, posredni cilj pa je povečevanje deleža ločeno zbranih odpadkov, saj je delež ločeno zbranih odpadkov glede na prihajajoče uredbe prenizek. Med ukrepi, s katerimi želimo doseči navedena cilja, najprej obravnavamo spremembo kontejnerskih mest v ekološke otoke in navodila za pravilno izvajanje del v enoti za zbiranje in odvoz odpadkov. V osrednjem delu pa se posvetimo izboljševanju transportnih poti, ki jih ob primerni izvedbi omogoča uporaba navigacijskih naprav. Na podlagi analiz stanja pred ukrepi in po njih so ovrednoteni učinki obravnavanih ukrepov. Rezultat je zmanjšanje števila potrebnih smetarskih vozil za odvoz mešanih odpadkov v podjetju Komunala Nova Gorica d.d. in povečan delež ločeno zbranih odpadkov v občinah, v katerih deluje to podjetje.The thesis suggests several ways to achieve the decrease of the vehicle fleet of the company Komunala Nova Gorica d.d., and has two objectives. The primary objective is cost reduction concerning waste disposal. The second objective is to increase separate waste collection since the amount of the latter proves to be inadequate concerning the coming regulations. In order to achieve the aforementioned goals, it is crucial to first address the turning of the waste collection points into ecological islands. In addition, we provide the instructions for the effective implementation of waste collection and disposal. The central part of the thesis focuses on transport routes and their improved planning considering the use of the navigation devices. We analyse the conditions before taking any measures and after their introduction in order to evaluate the effect of the measures taken. The result is the decreased number of the waste collection vehicles that are used for mixed municipal waste disposal in the company Komunala Nova Gorica d.d. Furthermore, the proposed measures resulted in the increase of separate waste collection in the municipality of the company