A Semantic Similarity Measure for Expressive Description Logics

A totally semantic measure is presented which is able to calculate a similarity value between concept descriptions and also between concept description and individual or between individuals expressed in an expressive description logic. It is applicable on symbolic descriptions although it uses a numeric approach for the calculus. Considering that Description Logics stand as the theoretic framework for the ontological knowledge representation and reasoning, the proposed measure can be effectively used for agglomerative and divisional clustering task applied to the semantic web domain.Comment: 13 pages, Appeared at CILC 2005, Convegno Italiano di Logica Computazionale also available at http://www.disp.uniroma2.it/CILC2005/downloads/papers/15.dAmato_CILC05.pd

Use of Natriuretic Peptides as a Guidance for Treating Patients with Chronic Heart Failure: Unresolved Issues and Novel Insights

Abstract: Serial measurements of natriuretic peptides (NPs), i.e. B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) or amino-terminal fragment of pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro BNP), may serve as an objective guide to modulate the intensity of drug treatment for individuals with chronic heart failure (CHF). However, considerable uncertainty remains about the alleged useful role of NP-guided therapy in this context. Particularly, which NP level should be assumed as optimal target level for therapy is still matter of debate. Actually, a too low predetermined cut off is encumbered with the risk of inducing a dose escalation perhaps not founded on solid rationale but provided with the potential of propitiating adverse medication effects that may be associated with higher doses. Conversely, a too high predetermined level for NP would entail a poor sensitivity, with the potential of excluding from higher doses of medications, that are proven to increase survival, just the patients who above all would have benefitted from this uptitration. Another much debated issue is constituted by possible age-related differences concerning the effects on clinical endpoints of NP-guided therapy. In addition, some Authors dispute about the possible advantages for the cardiovascular system arising from the functional activation of NPs in CHF patients, so denying that their increased levels have to be per se blamed for hemodynamic upheaval, especially in elder CHF patients. After outlining the main RCTs carried out so far, the Authors stress the above reported issues and discuss the sometime contradictory results of the RCTs exploring NPs use as a guidance for therapy

Expressive and instrumental parentification and interpersonal guilt according to Control Mastery Theory. An exploratory diadic study about the role of attachment.

openLa presente tesi ha come obiettivo la comprensione della relazione fra parentificazione stumentale ed emotiva e sensi di colpa interpersonali nell’ottica della Control Mastery Theory. Nel primo capitolo viene svolta un’analisi bibliografica ponendo l’attenzione il ruolo dell’attaccamento e delle caratteristiche delle relazioni romantiche. Il secondo capitolo presenta la ricerca sperimentale, oggetto di studio di questa tesi, effettuata su un campione di 140 persone maggiorenni italiane coinvolte in una relazione romantica eterosessuale da almeno due anni, viene presentato un modello di mediazione che conferma l’ipotesi di relazione fra parentificazione emotiva e sensi di colpa interpersonali mediato dall’attacamento insicuro, invece, non vi è correlazione significativa fra parentificazione strumentale ed attaccamento insicuro. Successivamente è stata eseguita l’Actor Partner Interdependance Model sulle 50 coppie valide del campione sopramenzionato per studiare la relazione che intercorre fra le esperienze di parentificazione stumentale e/o emotiva del soggetto preso in esame e del proprio partner sulla presenza e sulle caratteristiche dei sensi di colpa interpersonali sperimentati in età adulta

Messa a punto di un metodo molecolare per la quantificazione dei tassi di ingestione algale nel copepode Calanus helgolandicus

I copepodi costituiscono un ‘link’ diretto tra il fitoplancton (diatomee) e i consumatori superiori. La valutazione dei tassi di ingestione dei copepodi è un parametro fondamentale per determinare l’impatto delle fioriture algali su questi crostacei. I metodi basati sui conteggi cellulari dell’alga ingerita sono lunghi, soggetti ad errore e di difficile applicazione in situ. Nel presente lavoro di tesi è stato messo a punto un metodo molecolare per l’identificazione e quantificazione del DNA della diatomea Skeletonema marinoi nel copepode Calanus helgolandicus, utilizzando tecniche di estrazione e amplificazione del DNA ribosomiale 18S (rDNA) mediante real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR). La procedura sperimentale è stata suddivisa in una prima fase di selezione e ottimizzazione di 7 coppie di primer specifici per il rDNA 18S della S. marinoi, ed una seconda fase, in cui sono stati condotti esperimenti di alimentazione su femmine di C. helgolandicus incubate in S. marinoi. Con questo metodo è stato possibile calcolare il numero di cellule di S. marinoi ingerite dal C. helgolandicus, che risulta essere compreso tra 23-110 cell/cop/ora. In conclusione, questo studio permetterà di valutare i tassi di ingestione di C. helgolandicus durante una tipica fioritura primaverile di S. marinoi nel Nord Adriatico, per valutare l’effetto della diatomea sulla riproduzione del copepode in situ

Digital Supply Chains: towards a Framework for Software Distribution

This paper assesses the effect of non-physicality of a digital product - software - on SCM practice. A number of in-depth, one-on-one interviews were held in 8 software companies that predominantly supply to enterprise customers on a global scale. The aim was to explore distribution challenges within software supply chains and how companies are addressing these challenges. The research has identified three different classes of software distribution models: One, which tends to rely on traditional physical infrastructures and paradigms, and two others that better exploit the properties of the digital products

A Multi-Criteria Approach to the Evaluation of Aviation e-marketplace portals

After a proliferation of logistics e-Marketplaces during the dot.com boom of 1998-2000, there has been a high rate of failure and survivals are developing much more slowly than expected. This is the case of aviation industry where a large number of B2B e-Marketplaces emerged according to the focus of aviation companies’ strategies on electronic B2B in the late 1990s. However, the current use of e-Marketplaces in the industry is low and many of them have ceased trading. The traditional e-Marketplaces model have been characterised by poor quality of portals and the lack of technical standards. Such an approach is unsustainable in today’s competitive scenario. Improvements in websites quality attributes may strongly contribute to simplify the website functionalities by users and speed-up communication with all supply chain parties. In such context, it appears of critical importance to develop models for the evaluation of e-Marketplaces web sites. This paper, after a discussion about the development of e-Marketplaces in the transport and logistics service industry and its application in the aviation industry, proposes a multi-criteria model for assessing e-Marketplaces portals that has been subsequently applied to three different types of aeronautic B2B e-Marketplaces

Assessing Aviation E-Marketplaces: a Mmulti-Criteria Approach.

After a proliferation of logistics e-Marketplaces during the dot.com boom of 1998-2000, there has been a high rate of failure and survivals are developing much more slowly than expected. This is the case in the aviation industry where a large number of B2B e-Marketplaces emerged according to the focus of aviation companies’ strategies on electronic B2B in the late 1990s. However, the current use of e-Marketplaces in the industry is low and many of them have ceased trading. The traditional e-Marketplaces model has been characterised by poor quality portals and a lack of technical standards. Such an approach is unsustainable in today’s competitive scenario. Improvements in website quality attributes may strongly contribute to the simplification of website functionality by users and speed up communication with all supply chain partners. In this context, it appears critical to develop models for the evaluation of e-Marketplace web sites. This chapter, after a discussion about the development of e-Marketplaces in the transport and logistics service industry and its application in the aviation industry, proposes a multi-criteria model for assessing different types of aeronautic B2B e-Marketplaces

Collection by trained pediatricians or parents of mid-turbinate nasal flocked swabs for the detection of influenza viruses in childhood

This study evaluated the efficiency of pediatric mid-turbinate nasal flocked swabs used by parents in 203 children aged 6 months to 5 years with signs and symptoms of respiratory disease. Two nasal samples were collected from each child in a randomised sequence: one by a trained pediatrician and one by a parent. The real-time polymerase chain reaction influenza virus detection rates were similar in the samples collected using the two methods (Cohen's kappa = 0.86), as were the cycle threshold values. In comparison with the pediatrician-collected samples, the sensitivity and specificity of the parental collections were respectively 89.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 77.8-100%) and 97.7% (95% CI: 95.5-100%), and the positive and negative predictive values were respectively 86.2% (95% CI: 73.7-95.1%) and 98.2% (95% CI: 96.4-100%). The children were significantly more satisfied with the parental collections (median values ± standard deviation, 1.59 ± 0.55 vs 3.51 ± 0.36; p < 0.0001). These findings show that mid-turbinate nasal flocked swabs specifically designed for infants and children can be used by parents without reducing the influenza virus detection rate. Moreover, the direct involvement of parents significantly increases patient acceptance, thus simplifying collection and suggesting that this novel swab design should be considered for epidemiological surveys and vaccine efficacy studies