What are the motivations to use social media networks for information seeking and information sharing among Italian and Portuguese millennials?

The aim of this research was to understand the main motivations to use Social Media among Italian and Portuguese Millennials in two phases of the trip: information seeking and information sharing. Another objective of this research was to understand if the seeking of information would influence the willingness to share travel experiences, and if there would be differences or similarities in the motivations to use Social Media among these two cultural groups. This study follows a quantitative approach and data was collected using a questionnaire. A total of 300 responses were obtained. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, and multiple regression analysis. The results show that Italian and Portuguese Millennials behave in a similar way. The main motivations to use Social Media are usefulness, ease of use, perceived enjoyment and altruistic motivations. The study revealed that information seeking influences the willingness to share among these two cultural groups.O objetivo desta investigação foi compreender as principais motivações para utilizar as Redes Sociais entre Millennials italianos e portugueses em duas fases da viagem: procura de informação e partilha de informação. Outro objetivo desta investigação foi perceber se a procura de informação influenciaria a vontade de partilhar experiências de viagem, e se haveria diferenças ou semelhanças nas motivações para utilizar as Redes Sociais entre estes dois grupos culturais. Este estudo segue uma abordagem quantitativa e os dados foram recolhidos através de um questionário. Obteve-se um total de 300 respostas. Os dados foram analisados através de estatística descritiva, análise de componentes principais e análise de regressão múltipla. Os resultados mostram que os Millennials italianos e portugueses comportam-se de forma semelhante. As principais motivações para utilizar as redes sociais são a utilidade, a facilidade de utilização, a perceção de prazer e as motivações altruístas. O estudo revelou que a procura de informação influencia a vontade de partilhar entre estes dois grupos culturais

Randomised trial comparing biweekly oxaliplatin plus oral capecitabine versus oxaliplatin plus i.v. bolus fluorouracil/leucovorin in metastatic colorectal cancer patients: results of the Southern Italy Cooperative Oncology study 0401

Oxaliplatin combined with either fluorouracil/leucovorin (OXAFAFU) or capecitabine (OXXEL) has a demonstrated activity in metastatic colorectal cancer patients. We aimed at comparing these two regimens in terms of response rate (RR), safety, progression-free survival (PFS), and quality of life (QoL) of patients

Circular Economy and E-Waste: An Opportunity from RFID TAGs

In this work, a deep economic and technical analysis for the enhancement of e-waste hierarchy applied to the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags is presented. Nowadays, the RFID technology represents a valuable solution for many applications to improve the quality and efficiency of the supply chain, as well as for enhanced people or object identification and smart devices. This leads to massive usage of such devices that could represent a threat to the environment, since they are often considered as generic waste and no specific e-waste policy has been identified for RFID. For these reasons, the paper presents a study based on the desk research technique to propose several possibilities currently available for producers of different RFID devices in order to mitigate this problem at every e-waste hierarchy stage, i.e., ecological design and prevention, reuse, recycle, and disposal. Moreover, a cost/benefit analysis has been reported in order to highlight the economic advantages related to the RFID tags reuse, as well as environmental impact reduction. Results proved that passive RFID tags represent the major candidate for the e-waste hierarchy enhancement at every level, demonstrating that it is more convenient for the producer to consider an ecologically aware design and promote a take-back system for tags in order to take advantages from the solution proposed for the RFID e-waste hierarchy

\u201cWeekly docetaxel and gemcitabine as first line treatment for metastatic breast cancer: results of a multicenter phase II study\u201d

Objectives: We conducted a multicenter phase II study to evaluate the clinical effi cacy, toxicity, and dose intensity of a new weekly schedule of docetaxel and gemcitabine as fi rst-line treatment of metastatic breast cancer patients. Methods: We enrolled 58 patients, 52% of whom had received a previous anthracycline-containing chemotherapy. The treatment schedule was: docetaxel 35 mg/m 2 and gemcitabine 800 mg/m 2 i.v. on days 1, 8,15 every 28 days. Results: All patients were assessable for toxicity and 56 for effi cacy. Overall response rate was 64.3% with 16.1% of complete responses and 48.2% of partial responses. Median survival was 22.10 months (95% CI: 15.53\u201328.67) and median time to tumor progression was 13.6 months (95% CI: 10.71\u201316.49). The most common hematological toxicity was neutropenia (no febrile neutropenia), which occurred in 28 patients (48.3%) but grade 3\u20134 in only 8 patients (14%). Alopecia, the most common nonhematological toxicity, occurred in 20 (34.5%) patients, but only 5 patients (8.6%) experienced grade 3 alopecia. Conclusion: The activity of docetaxel and gemcitabine in metastatic breast cancer is confirmed. The promising results of the employed schedule,in agreement with other published studies, need to be further confirmed within a phase III study

Le peuplement moustérien du Proche-Orient

Localisation des sites Paléolithique moyen d’Israël ayant livré des restes humains Dans cet article, nous examinerons l’apport des fouilles effectuées sur le territoire israélienainsi que des études sur les fossiles humains du Levant. Au cours des trente dernières années, les découvertes en Israël de populations fossiles humaines a donné lieu à un débat important concernant le statut des Néanderthaliens dans cette région ainsi que leur rapport à l’Homme moderne. À partir d’une discussion des..

Solar Photovoltaic Optimal Tilt Angles in Public Building

Abstract The reduction of the consumption of fossil fuels that cause climate change and the encouragement of the use of cleaner renewable sources, appears to be a fundamental objective for achieving the climate aims agreed in Paris. Moreover, the sustainability of the implementation of solutions for energy efficiency in public administration buildings has played a fundamental role in recent years, strengthened also by the regulatory context of energy and environmental policies of European countries. The research fits into this context and it intends to promote a methodology that is able to evaluate the economic and environmental performance of a photovoltaic system applied in a school located in Italy when only the roof inclination angle changes. The economic and environmental performances are evaluated respectively through Life Cycle Cost Analysis and the avoided CO2 emissions. The results show that although the case study does not present the optimal roof inclination angle, there are economic and environmental advantages. Furthermore, the research notes that, considering the characteristics of the photovoltaic system concerned, the optimal roof inclination angle is equal to 40 degrees from an economic and environmental point of view. This methodology could easily support the decision-making process of designers and administrators to make the energy upgrading choices for the promotion of renewable sources. It was applied to a case study, that is a school located in Italy, in the Abruzzo region, in the province of L'Aquila, but it could be easily replicated in other existing public buildings in different locations

Increased versus stable doses of inhaled corticosteroids for exacerbations of chronic asthma in adults and children.

BACKGROUND: People with asthma may experience exacerbations or "attacks" during which their symptoms worsen and additional treatment is required. Written action plans may advocate doubling the dose of inhaled steroids in the early stages of an asthma exacerbation to reduce the severity of the attack and to prevent the need for oral steroids or hospital admission. OBJECTIVES: To compare the clinical effectiveness and safety of increased versus stable doses of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) as part of a patient-initiated action plan for home management of exacerbations in children and adults with persistent asthma. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Airways Group Specialised Register, which is derived from searches of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) to March 2016. We handsearched respiratory journals and meeting abstracts. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared increased versus stable doses of ICS for home management of asthma exacerbations. We included studies of children or adults with persistent asthma who were receiving daily maintenance ICS. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently selected trials, assessed quality and extracted data. We contacted authors of RCTs for additional information. MAIN RESULTS: This review update added three new studies including 419 participants to the review. In total, we identified eight RCTs, most of which were at low risk of bias, involving 1669 participants with mild to moderate asthma. We included three paediatric (n = 422) and five adult (n = 1247) studies; six were parallel-group trials and two had a cross-over design. All but one study followed participants for six months to one year. Allowed maintenance doses of ICS varied in adult and paediatric studies, as did use of concomitant medications and doses of ICS initiated during exacerbations. Investigators gave participants a study inhaler containing additional ICS or placebo to be started as part of an action plan for treatment of exacerbations.The odds of treatment failure, defined as the need for oral corticosteroids, were not significantly reduced among those randomised to increased ICS compared with those taking their usual stable maintenance dose (odds ratio (OR) 0.89, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.68 to 1.18; participants = 1520; studies = 7). When we analysed only people who actually took their study inhaler for an exacerbation, we found much variation between study results but the evidence did not show a significant benefit of increasing ICS dose (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.54 to 1.30; participants = 766; studies = 7). The odds of having an unscheduled physician visit (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.66 to 1.41; participants = 931; studies = 3) or acute visit (Peto OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.24 to 3.98; participants = 450; studies = 3) were not significantly reduced by an increased versus stable dose of ICS, and evidence was insufficient to permit assessment of impact on the duration of exacerbation; our ability to draw conclusions from these outcomes was limited by the number of studies reporting these events and by the number of events included in the analyses. The odds of serious events (OR 1.69, 95% CI 0.77 to 3.71; participants = 394; studies = 2) and non-serious events, such as oral irritation, headaches and changes in appetite (OR 2.15, 95% CI 0.68 to 6.73; participants = 142; studies = 2), were neither increased nor decreased significantly by increased versus stable doses of ICS during an exacerbation. Too few studies are available to allow firm conclusions on the basis of subgroup analyses conducted to investigate the impact of age, time to treatment initiation, doses used, smoking history and the fold increase of ICS on the magnitude of effect; yet, effect size appears similar in children and adults. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Current evidence does not support increasing the dose of ICS as part of a self initiated action plan to treat exacerbations in adults and children with mild to moderate asthma. Increased ICS dose is not associated with a statistically significant reduction in the odds of requiring rescue oral corticosteroids for the exacerbation, or of having adverse events, compared with a stable ICS dose. Wide confidence intervals for several outcomes mean we cannot rule out possible benefits of this approach

The Mousterian Populations of the Near East

Localization of Middle Palaeolithic sites in Israel with human remains This article deals with the contribution of archeological excavations in Israel, as well as of studies of human fossils in the Near East. Over the last thirty years, discoveries of human fossil remains in Israel have given rise to a major debate concerning the status of Neanderthals in this region and their relationship to modern Man. After describing these discoveries of human fossil remains in Israel, I will present the..

Profili epidemiologici nell'ambito della biometeorologia e della bioclimatologia medica

In questo contributo saranno proposti diversi profili epidemiologici per differenti eventi biometeorologici a carattere estremo. Sono inoltre presi in considerazione i soggetti a rischio ed i molteplici fattori di protezione. Inoltre sono analizzati nel dettaglio le origini e il successivo sviluppo delle diverse politiche d\u2019igiene e sanit\ue0 pubblica applicate dai singoli Paesi. Nell\u2019 intervento ci si sofferma su talune valutazioni epidemiologiche desunte dall\u2019International Disaster Database del CRED (Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters), proponendosi di stimare in modo dettagliato l\u2019esatta dimensione dei fenomeni, in termini quantitativi, con riferimento a diversi indicatori epidemiologici, in particolare sugli indicatori di mortalit\ue0 e morbilit\ue0 legate agli eventi meteorologici