Hadron yields and the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter

This paper presents a brief review of the interpretation of measurements of hadron yields in hadronic interactions within the framework of thermal models, over a broad energy range (from SIS to LHC energies, $\sqrt{s_{NN}} \simeq$ 2.5 GeV -- 5 TeV). Recent experimental results and theoretical developments are reported, with an emphasis on topics discussed during the Quark Matter 2014 conference.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of the XXIV International Conference On Ultrarelativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (Quark Matter 2014). Accepted by NPA. Corrected label in figs. 2, 3,

Social media data in tourism planning: Analysing tourists satisfaction in space and time.

Social media are playing an increasingly important role as information resource in tourism both for customers (i.e. the tourists), who gather trustworthy information supporting the choice of destinations and services from peers, and for businesses, which can use the same information for improving their marketing strategies. The use of social media data can also offer new opportunities for decision- support in tourism planning. With improved understanding of the motivations of tourists and tailoring tourism service supply, decision making can be facilitated by emphasizing the strengths of tourist destinations for past and potential visitors. However, this kind of information about tourists perceptions and opinions is not always properly analysed by planners. Understanding the user satisfaction, which depend on factors related to both the location and the services that the local industry propose, may offers valuable information in tourism planning at regional and local level. In the light of the above premises, the goal of the study presented in this paper is to propose an integrated approach to investigate the relationships between tourists satisfaction, destination resources and tourism industry for supporting design and decision-making in regional tourism planning. The methodology developed in the study includes data collection from popular tourism social media platforms (i.e. Booking.com and TripAdvisor.com.com), and their integration with territorial and tourism data. Spatial and statistical analysis techniques are then applied to elicit insights from tourists perceptions on success factors which may be used in decision-making and planning support. The case study demonstrates the value of social media data and computational social science techniques in tourism planning. The paper concludes with a critical discussion on the potential of using such an approach in more general urban and regional planning setting

Le informazioni geografiche dei social network (SMGI) a supporto della pianificazione del turismo. L’esempio di Cagliari.

Il contributo propone una discussione sul possibile utilizzo delle informazioni geografiche provenienti dai social network nell’ambito della pianificazione del turismo su scala regionale e locale. Il crescente utilizzo dei social network da parte degli utenti in tutto il mondo ha fatto si che queste piattaforme, e soprattutto l’informazione derivante da esse, sia utile per i turisti, che possono facilmente ottenere dati adeguati sulle destinazioni e sui servizi offerti, grazie alle recensioni liberamente condivise dagli altri utenti, e per gli operatori turistici, i quali possono utilizzare queste informazioni per migliorare le proprie strategie di marketing e promozione. Questi dati, comunemente definiti Social Media Geographic Information (SMGI), possono inoltre offrire nuove opportunità per supportare le fasi decisionali nella pianificazione del turismo. Purtroppo la ricchezza di contenuti sulle percezioni e sulle opinioni degli utenti, resa disponibile dalle SMGI, non viene ancora adeguatamente utilizzata dai pianificatori per le analisi territoriali. Lo studio propone un nuovo approccio per analizzare, qualitativamente e quantitativamente, attraverso l’uso delle SMGI, le relazioni che insistono tra il gradimento dei turisti, le località geografiche e l’offerta turistica in Sardegna. La metodologia adottata include la raccolta di dati da Booking.com e TripAdvisor, la loro integrazione ed elaborazione con i dati ufficiali in ambiente GIS, e l’applicazione di tecniche di analisi di statistica spaziale per identificare e valutare i fattori che possono determinare il successo di una destinazione turistica. La metodologia viene applicata alla scala regionale, individuando le aree maggiormente apprezzate dai turisti, ed alla scala locale per la destinazione di Cagliari, per la quale vengono identificati e valutati i principali fattori che ne determinano il successo come destinazione turistica. I risultati ottenuti possono essere utilizzati come base conoscitiva per guidare ulteriori specifiche analisi e per sviluppare strategie di sviluppo sostenibile nell’ambito della pianificazione territoriale e del turismo tramite processi decisionali informati

Realignment Course in Mathematics: design of an online valuable experience for students

[EN] Supporting students in the transition from secondary school to university is an important action to be taken in order to increase the number of people with tertiary education degrees; it has positive consequences on the citizens’ working perspective and on the national economic growth. To this purpose, in the academic year 2014/2015 the University of Turin started the Project Orient@mente, a platform of self-paced open online courses aimed to guide students in the choice of a scientific university program.  This paper focuses on the design of the Realignment Course in Mathematics, provided by the platform and aimed at the self-paced review and integration of knowledge that students are required to acquire during secondary school. Materials are created and structured according to the User Experience Design for Learning, with the aim of providing a valuable learning experience to students. Contents are delivered through an accessible learning management system integrated with an advanced computing environment and an automatic assessment system. Data from the usage of the activities and from the results of the online tests are analyzed in order to validate the design choices and the coherent structure of the course.http://ocs.editorial.upv.es/index.php/HEAD/HEAD18Barana, A.; Bogino, A.; Fioravera, M.; Floris, F.; Marchisio, M. (2018). Realignment Course in Mathematics: design of an online valuable experience for students. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1465-1473. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD18.2018.8226OCS1465147

Sharing system of learning resources for adaptive strategies of scholastic remedial intervention

[EN] This paper presents a model for school remedial, focusing on improving the digital materials sharing process for the diversification of tutoring strategies. The model involves the characterization of materials for automatic assessment shared within a community of tutors. The characterization expects materials to be linked with natural language descriptors explicating their intended instructional objectives. The possibility of implementing a recommendation system on the basis of natural language processing techniques is discussed taking in consideration an analysis of the application of the model within a local-scale project. Clustering techniques searching for materials that have the same educational purposes but involve the activation of different cognitive processes are proposed, in order to continuously extend the database of shared materials in favour of the effectiveness of ongoing tutoring actions. The results collected from questionnaires submitted to students, tutors, and teachers involved in the project are shown, and clustering data are discussed highlighting the feasibility of the application of the model.http://ocs.editorial.upv.es/index.php/HEAD/HEAD18Barana, A.; Di Caro, L.; Fioravera, M.; Floris, F.; Marchisio, M.; Rabellino, S. (2018). Sharing system of learning resources for adaptive strategies of scholastic remedial intervention. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1495-1503. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD18.2018.8232OCS1495150

Renal Function Outcomes in Metastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Carcinoma Patients Treated with Chemotherapy or Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: An Unexpected Scenario

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and platinum-based chemotherapy (CT) are effective therapeutic agents for the palliative treatment of metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC); the aim of our study was to investigate the acute and chronic renal toxicities in this setting. We collected data on 292 patients who received cisplatin (35%), carboplatin-based regimens (25%), or ICI monotherapy (40%). The primary and secondary outcomes were compared to the acute kidney injury (AKI) rate and the mean estimated GFR (eGFR) decay between groups, respectively, over a mean follow-up duration of 15 weeks. We observed 26 AKI events (8.9%), mostly stage I AKI (80.7%); 15% were stage II AKI, 3.8% were stage III, and none required renal replacement therapy or ICU admission. The AKI rates were 10.9%, 6.8%, and 8.9% for the cisplatin, carboplatin, and ICI groups, respectively, and no significant differences were observed between the groups (p = 0.3). A global mean eGFR decay of 2.2 mL/min was observed, while for the cisplatin, carboplatin, and ICI groups, the eGFR decay values were 2.3 mL/min, 1.1 mL/min, and 3.5 mL/min, respectively. No significant differences were observed between the groups. Cisplatin/carboplatin-based CT and ICIs resulted in a similar incidence of AKI and eGFR decay, suggesting the safety of their cautious use, even in CKD patients