The Fascist University Group of Turin and the youth's art commissions. The case history of the first documentary exhibition of goliardic life (1933)

Lo scopo della ricerca è di tracciare un primo bilancio in merito alla commissione e alla produzione di opere di contenuto artistico da parte del Gruppo Universitario Fascista di Torino (GUF). Queste iniziative sono connesse alla decorazione di edifici e specialmente all’organizzazione di mostre, a livello locale (1928-33) e poi per i Littoriali dell’arte , promossi dal Partito Nazionale Fascista (1934-39). La scelta della Prima Mostra documentaria di vita goliardica come caso di studio esemplificativo è dovuta alla natura dei materiali esposti: i documenti - gonfaloni, pergamene, foto... - inviati da tutta Italia, sono inseriti in un allestimento con opere scultoree e pittoriche prodotte dagli studenti dell’Università, del Politecnico e dell’Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti.The purpose of the research is to do an initial analysis of the Fascist University Group of Turin (GUF) in the fields of patronage and production of art pieces. These works are connected to the decoration of buildings and the organization of exhibitions, at a local level (1928-33) and then for Littoriali della Cultura e dell’Arte , promoted by the National Fascist Party (1934-39). The choice of the First Documentary Exhibition of Goliardic Life as an exemplifying case history is due to the na- ture of the materials showed: the documents - gonfalons, parchments, photos... - sent from all over Italy are inserted in a set-up enriched by sculptures and paintings made by students of the University, the Polytechnic University and the Academy of Fine Arts

Practical approach on frail older patients attended for acute heart failure

Acute heart failure (AHF) is a multi-organ dysfunction syndrome. In addition to known cardiac dysfunction, non-cardiac comorbidity, frailty and disability are independent risk factors of mortality, morbidity, cognitive and functional decline, and risk of institutionalization. Frailty, a treatable and potential reversible syndrome very common in older patients with AHF, increases the risk of disability and other adverse health outcomes. This position paper highlights the need to identify frailty in order to improve prognosis, the risk-benefits of invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, and the definition of older-person-centered and integrated care plans

Development of a nutritional index to evaluate the effectiveness of total parenteral nutrition during the early postoperative period after pancreaticoduodenectomy

Background: Malnutrition leads to adverse effects on the short- and long-term prognosis in patients with periampullary diseases who underwent surgery. Nutritional risk indicators based on albumin and body weight have been developed to evaluate nutritional status and nutritional therapy efficacy, but no standard objective measurement has been devised to evaluate nutritional status during the early period after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). Therefore, this study aimed to assess the efficacy of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) during the early postoperative period after PD. Methods: We analyzed 28 patients with a periampullary disease - Common bile duct cancer, Ampulla of Vater cancer, pancreatic head cancer, neuroendocrine tumor, chronic pancreatitis - who have undergone PD from Jan. 1, 2012 to Dec. 31, 2016. For all the patients, TPN was administered from postoperative day (POD) 1 at 25Kcal/kg ideal body weight. Various nutritional indicators were measured such as Body mass index, nutritional risk index, protein, albumin, prealbumin, C-reactive protein. The volume of skeletal muscle area, muscle density, visceral and subcutaneous fat areas were assessed two times, preoperatively and on POD 7 by CT scan at the 3rd lumbar spine (L3) level. Results: Average age of the 28 study subjects (18 males and10 females) was 63.5±9.7 years. Although there is no difference in BMI between preoperative result and POD 7, protein, albumin, and prealbumin levels were significantly lower POD 7 the preoperative (p<0.001), but CRP was higher (P<0.001), and prealbumin and CRP levels were negatively correlated (R=-0.682, p<0.01). Muscle mass increased postoperatively (p=0.02), but the amount of visceral fat decreased (p=0.00). Based on CRP, and muscle density results, muscle, visceral and subcutaneous fat masses did not change after PD. Conclusions: In order to evaluate the nutritional status accurately after the hepato-biliary radical surgery, we suggest the muscle and fat mass measurement that can adjust the degree of inflammation during the early postoperative period.open석

Design and Implementation of an Instrumented Cane for Gait Recognition

Independent mobility is an important aspect of an individual's life and must sometimes be augmented by use of an assistive device such as a wheeled walker or cane following a fall, injury, or functional decline. Physical therapists perform functional gait assessments to gauge the probability of an individual experiencing a fall and often recommend use of a walker, cane, or walking stick to decrease fall risk. Our team has developed a clinical assessment tool centered on a standard walking cane embedded system that can enhance a therapist's observation-based gait assessment with use of additional objective and quantitative data. This system can be utilized to detect timing and speed of cane placement, angular acceleration of the cane, and amounts of weight borne on the cane. This system is designed to assist physical therapists at the basic level in collection of objective data during gait analysis, to facilitate appropriate assistive gait device prescription, to provide patients and therapists feedback during gait training, and to reduce wrist and shoulder injuries with cane usage. However, more importantly, using the plethora of objective data that can be obtained from this cane, automated gait analysis and gait pattern classification can be performed to understand a patient's walking performance

Paradigm Shift in Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease: Zinc Therapy Now a Conscientious Choice for Care of Individual Patients

Breakthrough in treatment of Alzheimer's disease with a shift from irrational dangerous chelation therapy to rational safe evidence based oral zinc therapy. Evidence based medicine: After synthesizing the best available clinical evidence I conclude that oral zinc therapy is a conscientious choice for treatment of free copper toxicosis in individual patients with Alzheimer's disease. Hypothesis 1: Age related free copper toxicosis is a causal factor in pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. There are 2 neurodegenerative diseases with abnormalities in copper metabolism: (a) the juvenile form with degeneration in the basal ganglia (Wilson's disease) and (b) the age related form with cortical neurodegeneration (Alzheimer's disease). Initially the hypothesis has been that neurodegeneration was caused by accumulation of copper in the brain but later experiences with treatment of Wilson's disease led to the conviction that free plasma copper is the toxic form of copper: it catalyzes amyloid formation thereby generating oxidative stress, free radicals and degeneration of cortical neurons. Hypothesis 2: Oral zinc therapy is an effective and safe treatment of free copper toxicosis in Alzheimer's disease. Proposed dosage: 50 mg elementary zinc/day. Warning: Chelation therapy is irrational and dangerous in treatment of copper toxicosis in Alzheimer's disease

Small vessel disease and biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction after ischaemic stroke

Abstract Introduction: Although pathogenesis of small vessel disease is poorly understood, increasing evidence suggests that endothelial dysfunction may have a relevant role in development and progression of small vessel disease. In this crosssectional study, we investigated the associations between imaging signs of small vessel disease and blood biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction at two different time points in a population of ischaemic stroke patients. Patients and methods: In stroke patients treated with intravenous thrombolysis, we analysed blood levels of von Willebrand factor, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor. Three reviewers independently assessed small vessel disease features using computed tomography. At baseline and 90 days after the index stroke, we tested the associations between single and combined small vessel disease features and levels of blood biomarkers using linear regression analysis adjusting for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, smoke. Results: A total of 263 patients were available for the analysis. Mean age (SD) was 69 (13) years, 154 (59%) patients were male.We did not find any relation between small vessel disease and endothelial dysfunction at baseline. At 90 days, leukoaraiosis was independently associated with intercellular adhesionmolecule-1 (b¼0.21; p¼0.016) and vascular cell adhesionmolecule- 1 (b¼0.22; p¼0.009), and lacunes were associated with vascular endothelial growth factor levels (b¼0.21; p¼0.009) whereas global small vessel disease burden was associated with vascular endothelial growth factor (b¼0.26; p¼0.006). Discussion: Leukoaraiosis and lacunes were associated with endothelial dysfunction, which could play a key role in pathogenesis of small vessel disease

Caregiver's distress related to the patient's neuropsychiatric symptoms as a function of the care-setting

[Abstract] Prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) and correlation between its intensity and caregiver distress were evaluated as a function of the care-setting in a cross-sectional study including 72 patient-caregiver dyads. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory and the Caregiver Distress Scale were administered. The most prevalent symptoms were: in the formal care-setting, agitation/aggression and depression/dysphoria (42.4%), and in the informal care-setting, aberrant motor behavior (59.0%). While changes in appetite and eating behaviors, depression/dysphoria and irritability/lability were more prevalent in the formal care-setting (p < .0001, p = .011, p = .021), aberrant motor behavior was more prevalent in the informal care-setting (p = .007). NPS were positively correlated with caregiver distress. High patients' scores in hallucinations, sleep and night-time disturbances, anxiety, and aberrant motor behavior were the best predictors of professional caregiver's distress. Agitation/aggression, delusions, disinhibition, apathy/indifference, depression/dysphoria, and elation/euphoria were the best predictors of informal caregiver's distress. Findings may have important clinical implications