Italian general election 2018: digital campaign strategies. Three case studies: Movimento 5 Stelle, PD and Lega

[EN] The advent of the Network Society has brought substantial transformations also in the politics, which, like other areas of society, is affected by important changes. The network, which regulates social relations, has become the place of political discussion and that is where the most substantial part of the electoral campaign for the 2018 general election took place. The object of our research is the observation of the political propaganda of the Movimento 5 Stelle, the Partito Democratico and the Lega (the three most voted parties in the Italian elections) through the institutional accounts of the political parties on Facebook. Once collected a research sample of 1,397 posts officially published online on the three monitored accounts, the aim of our analysis is to investigate the communication strategies of the parties in a phase of hybrid democracy crossed by a deep crisis of political representation. From our analysis it emerges how the three political forces, that refer to different electorates, organize their electoral propaganda, each according to their own strategyCalò, E.; Faggiano, MP.; Gallo, R.; Mongiardo, M. (2018). Italian general election 2018: digital campaign strategies. Three case studies: Movimento 5 Stelle, PD and Lega. En 2nd International Conference on Advanced Reserach Methods and Analytics (CARMA 2018). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 185-192. https://doi.org/10.4995/CARMA2018.2018.8343OCS18519

design and evaluation of electric solutions for public transport

Abstract This study deals with the design and the evaluation of technological solutions for the electrification of public transport in urban areas. A Decision Support System (DSS) developed by ENEA † within the Research program on Electric System (RSE) has been adopted in order to verify the technical feasibility of several electric architectures of single bus lines and compare the investment and management costs, as well as the external costs due to vehicle emissions and noises, of the feasible solutions with respect to the conventional alternatives (Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, and diesel). The DSS has been applied to several bus lines located in the south-west area of the city of Rome, Italy, and covering different types of service: peripheral lines, main lines connecting suburbs with the city center and secondary lines going to the main metro stations. Input data for the DSS derived both by simulation and by open database available from the public transport operator in Rome (ATAC). Results show that a suitable electric architecture can be found for each of these lines with lower or comparable total costs with respect to the traditional alternatives. Finally, a sensitivity analysis has been performed considering several scenarios in terms of discount rate of recharge stations and batteries, battery's duration, price of conventional fuels

Thermal scanning probe lithography

Thermal scanning probe lithography (tSPL) is a nanofabrication method for the chemical and physical nanopatterning of a large variety of materials and polymer resists with a lateral resolution of 10 nm and a depth resolution of 1 nm. In this Primer, we describe the working principles of tSPL and highlight the characteristics that make it a powerful tool to locally and directly modify material properties in ambient conditions. We introduce the main features of tSPL, which can pattern surfaces by locally delivering heat using nanosized thermal probes. We define the most critical patterning parameters in tSPL and describe post-patterning analysis of the obtained results. The main sources of reproducibility issues related to the probe and the sample as well as the limitations of the tSPL technique are discussed together with mitigation strategies. The applications of tSPL covered in this Primer include those in biomedicine, nanomagnetism and nanoelectronics; specifically, we cover the fabrication of chemical gradients, tissue-mimetic surfaces, spin wave devices and field-effect transistors based on two-dimensional materials. Finally, we provide an outlook on new strategies that can improve tSPL for future research and the fabrication of next-generation devices

Nursing workload and staff allocation in an Italian hospital: a quality improvement initiative based on nursing care score

Aim: To develop, implement, and evaluate a Nursing Care Score (NCS) system, built into the electronic health record, to optimize nursing workload and staff allocation. Design: A quality improvement (QI) initiative with a pre- and post-implementation design was conducted by an interprofessional team in the 33-bed cardio-thoracic unit of a 72-bed hospital in Palermo, Italy. Methods: A seven-phase process was used to develop, implement, and evaluate the NCS, which lists 53 nursing work tasks, each assigned a score from 1.5 to 5.0. The nurse-to-patient ratio on all shifts was determined by the NCS. Nurse satisfaction with both the existing system and the NCS workload system was assessed. Descriptive statistics and McNemar's test were used to analyze the data. Results: At pre-implementation, 92.5% of nurses reported that the existing system was not effective, 87.5% reported it did not enable them to provide adequate nursing care, and 20.0% believed that workload was fairly distributed. At post-implementation, 75.0% of nurses reported that the NCS system was effective (p = 0.0348), 85.0% reported that the NCS system enabled them to provide adequate care, and 85.0% believed that workload was fairly distributed. An NCS score of 65 ± 5 was found to distribute workload most fairly. Conclusion: An automatic electronic operating system to generate a daily workload report based on the NCS was successfully implemented and evaluated. The NCS provided relevant information to guide nurse managers in defining nurse-to-patient ratio and determining staff allocation. Nurses were satisfied with the NCS system. The steps used to develop, implement, and evaluate the NCS system may be transferable to other units and other hospitals

If Dante had known Phytoplankton. A comparison between literature and science through the didactics of metaphors.

This project, conducted with Classical High School students, was developed under the "Alternating School and Work Experience" program (Italian Law n. 107/2015) between the "G. Palmieri" High School of Lecce and the Environmental Protection Agency of Puglia (ARPA), Department of Lecce, in Italy. In particular, this paper describes the “HABs’ world” allegorically, in terms of one of the most famous examples of Italian literature, the Divine Comedy. Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, occur when colonies of algae, simple photosynthetic organisms that live in the sea and freshwater, grow out of control while producing toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and birds. Since HABs can be defined as “bad”, based on their negative characteristics, some of these were compared to the sinful souls that Dante and Virgil encountered along their journey into Hell. It is argued that such integration of literary and scientific contexts in terms of ecological indicators helps students understand the relationship between the sustainability of human and environmental trajectories.Key words: Phytoplankton, Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs), The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri, ecological indicator

Parathyroid Carcinoma in the Setting of Tertiary Hyperparathyroidism: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Introduction. Parathyroid carcinoma is one of the rarest cancers in normal population, and it is extremely uncommon in the setting of tertiary hyperparathyroidism. Indeed, only 24 cases have been reported in the literature. Presentation of the Case. We report the case of parathyroid carcinoma in a 51-year-old man, with a history of end-stage renal disease due to a horseshoe kidney treated with haemodialysis since 2013. He came to our attention due to an increase in calcium and parathyroid hormone serum levels. Neck ultrasound (US) showed a solid hypodense mass, probably the right inferior parathyroid gland, with an estimated size of 25 × 15 × 13 mm; the 99mTc-sestamibi SPECT/CT scan revealed a large radiotracer activity area in the right cervical region, compatible with a hyperfunctioning right inferior parathyroid gland. So, a tertiary hyperparathyroidism diagnosis was made. In April 2018, resection of three parathyroid glands was performed. Histopathological examination demonstrated the right inferior parathyroid gland specimen to be a parathyroid carcinoma, due to the presence of multiple, full-thickness, capsular infiltration foci, and a venous vascular invasion focus. Discussion. Diagnosis of parathyroid carcinoma in tertiary hyperparathyroidism is remarkably complex because of the lack of clinical diagnostic criteria and, in many cases, is made postoperatively at histopathological examination. Conclusion. To date, radical surgery represents the mainstay of treatment, with a five- and ten-year survival rates overall acceptable

"Ospedale a Domicilio": competenze e conoscenze dell'infermiere (Esperienza dell'AOU Cittí della Salute e Scienza di Torino)

INTRODUZIONE: Nella sanitaÌ€ del futuro la "casa" diventa il nuovo setting di cura, al fine di consentire un miglioramento della qualitaÌ€ della vita, una diminuzione dello stress per il caregiver, una riduzione dei ricoveri in ospedale. Tra i vari modelli organiz- zativi , l'Ospedale a Domicilio (OAD) dell' Ospedale Le Molinette di Torino con i suoi trent'anni d' esperienza, è oggi l'unico modello di riferimento.OBIETTIVO: Conoscere le competenze e conoscenze del personale infermieristico e se le stesse possono rappresentare requisiti per una trasferibilitaÌ€ del modello in altre regioni. METODO: Studio di tipo quantitativo. Condotto in due momenti: il primo con la somministrazione di un questionario sull'au- tovalutazione delle competenze di P. Benner, la Nurse Competence Scale (NCS) al gruppo infermieristico dell'OAD; il secondo con una intervista strutturata al coordinatore di tale UnitaÌ€ Operativa. I dati sono stati elaborati utilizzando il programma excel, mettendo in relazione i dati Likert con quelli della NCS. DISCUSSIONE: I risultati evidenziano una realtaÌ€ costituita da professionisti competenti nel fronteggiare situazioni di instabilitaÌ€ clinica, sanno agire in autonomia. Sono attenti alla personalizzazione dell'assistenza, all'educazione terapeutica del paziente e del caregiver. Le criticitaÌ€: identificare le aree di cura del paziente che necessitano di ulteriore ricerca e sviluppo. CONCLUSIONI: Questo modello assistenziale puoÌ€ essere replicato e puoÌ€ essere apripista di una presa in carico del paziente unitaria e non dicotomica: paziente acuto o cronico. Parole Chiave: Competenze, conoscenze, ospedale a domicilio

Scaling social innovation : a cross-cultural comparative study of school-based mentoring interventions

Social innovation is increasingly recognised as a powerful vehicle to address unmet societal needs. Nonetheless, research into how contexts and agency interact to determine outcomes/risks of its scaling appears still limited. This study draws on structuration theory to fill some gaps. By comparing two school-based mentoring interventions, it first shows that comparable external catalysts can trigger diverging ambitions and paths to scale. Second, it finds that certain strategic/agentic choices (e.g., entrepreneurial, political, coalition-building skills; evaluation), combined with specific contextual features, help to achieve more rapidly a larger scale of expansion. Finally, it highlights which risks, in this field, more strongly relate to agentic and/or contextual factors, providing insights for research, policy and practice