From marketing to "societing". Reading ethnographic material through the use of digital matrix and Semiometrie

Any field of knowledge, from religion, psychology to economics has produced a vast literature on Happiness. The media,or example, frequently pose the question on how comes that depression is more likely to happen in Western countries than in poorer areas of the world.People were asked to take photos that describe the happy occasion, so they kept a camera all along their journey/activities. The opportunity to collect visuals has strongly enriched the research but also gave people the opportunity to make of the diary a more personal, experimental and creative experience. It is possible to build a model for estimating the coordinates for the words unmapped on Semiometrie and using these coordinates to classify stories into the qualitative classification designed by FCL. We can also classify a respondent (a customer) using his/her happiness story into Semiometrie, and therefore also into a specific profile for a direct marketing campaign

PCR-Restriction Enzyme Analysis for Detection of Candida DNA in Blood from Febrile Patients with Hematological Malignancies

Blood samples were drawn daily from 72 patients who had hematological malignancies, neutropenia, and fever and who had failed to respond to broad-spectrum antibiotics. Each sample was used for conventional fungal blood cultures and for detection and identification of Candida DNA by a PCR method with subsequent restriction enzyme analysis (REA) recently developed in our laboratory. The PCR method was able to detect five CFU of Candida spp. per ml of blood, and subsequent REA of the amplicons allowed the identification of the Candida species most commonly implicated in cases of candidiasis. Thirty-one patients were PCR-REA positive, and four of these patients were also culture positive. The ultimate diagnosis for 13 of these patients and 1 patient who was PCR-REA negative was disseminated candidiasis (confirmed by clinical data, multiple cultures, histology, autopsy, and/or ultrasonographic evidence of hepatosplenic candidiasis). The molecular method is significantly more sensitive than conventional fungal blood cultures and has a high negative predictive value (97.5%) for the development of disseminated candidiasis in neutropenic patients

Leggere le tendenze. Nuovi percorsi di ricerca per il marketing.

Il libro raccoglie i contributi di alcuni tra i pi\uf9 affermati professionisti e studiosi italiani nel settore dell'analisi delle tendenze. L\u2019approccio qualitativo all\u2019analisi dei trend rappresenta oggi uno dei settori pi\uf9 interessanti della ricerca sui comportamenti . E\u2019 un campo in cui le scienze umane, in primo luogo sociologia, psicologia e semiotica, ma anche antropologia ed etnografia, forniscono una grande ricchezza di strumenti e stanno mettendo alla prova i loro metodi, in un affiancamento agli approcci quantitativi sempre pi\uf9 abituale. Un percorso di ricerca e di consulenza in costante dialogo con il marketing, che si presenta oggi come il pi\uf9 potente attrattore delle scienze umane applicate

Effects of Lipid Lowering Therapy Optimization by PCSK9 Inhibitors on Circulating CD34+ Cells and Pulse Wave Velocity in Familial Hypercholesterolemia Subjects without Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: Real-World Data from Two Lipid Units

Background: Circulating CD34+ progenitor cells (CD34+CPCs) are characterized by pronounced tissue regeneration activity. Dyslipidemic subjects seemed to have reduced CD34+CPCs, and statin therapy appeared to restore their levels. We aimed to evaluate the effects of PCSK9 inhibitors (PCSK9-i) on CD34+CPCs and pulse wave velocity (PWV) in a cohort of heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) subjects. Methods: We determined CD34+ cell count and its change after PCSK9-i in 30 selected HeFH subjects and 30 healthy controls. Lipid profile and PWV were evaluated at baseline (T0), 6 months after intensive lipid lowering strategy (statin plus ezetimibe, T1), and after 6 months of optimized therapy with PCSK9-i (T2); CD34+ cell count was reported at T1 and T2. Results: At T1, the median value of CD34+ cells was not significantly different between HeFH subjects and controls, and the same result was obtained at T2. PWV was significantly reduced at T1 (ΔPWV − 14.8%, p p p p p p p < 0.001). Conclusion: PCSK9-i exhibited favorable effects on CD34 + CPCs as was on PWV values in a cohort of FH subjects. Our preliminary findings suggest a possible positive role of this novel lipid-lowering strategy on vascular homeostasis

Deep brain stimulation for intractabile epilepsy

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is currently considered a promising neuromodulation therapy for refractory epilepsy not suitable for resective surgery. Several anatomical targets and different stimulation approaches have been proposed in order to obtain satisfactory seizures reduction. As expected, according with different patterns of neural pathways involvement, the efficacy of each anatomical target stimulation in reducing seizure frequency varies among the different epileptic syndromes

PCSK9 Plasma Levels Are Associated with Mechanical Vascular Impairment in Familial Hypercholesterolemia Subjects without a History of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: Results of Six-Month Add-On PCSK9 Inhibitor Therapy

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type-9 (PCSK9) is a key regulator of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) metabolism involved in the degradation of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) through complex mechanisms. The PCSK9 plasma levels change according to lipid lowering therapy (LLT). Few data exist regarding the role of PCSK9 in vascular damage. We aimed to evaluate the impact of PCSK9 plasma levels on pulse wave velocity (PWV) and the effect of PCSK9 inhibitors (PCSK9-i) on circulating PCSK9 and PWV in a cohort of heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) subjects. In a previous step, HeFH patients were enrolled and LLT was prescribed according to guidelines. Biochemical analyses and PWV assessment were performed at baseline (T0), after 6 months of high-efficacy statin plus ezetimibe (T1) and after 6 months of PCSK9-i (T2). The PCSK9 levels were evaluated in 26 selected HeFH subjects at the three time points and 26 healthy subjects served as controls for the reference value for PCSK9 plasma levels. The PWV values decreased at each time point in HeFH subjects after LLT starting (8.61 &plusmn; 2.4 m/s, &minus;8.7%; p &lt; 0.001 vs. baseline at T1, and 7.9 &plusmn; 2.1 m/s, &minus;9.3%; p &lt; 0.001 vs. both T1 and baseline) and it was correlated to PCSK9 (r = 0.411, p = 0.03). The PCSK9 levels increased on statin/EZE therapy (+42.8% at T1) while it decreased after PCSK9-i was started (&minus;34.4% at T2). We noted a significant relationship between PCSK9 levels and PWV changes at T1 and T2. In conclusion, PCSK9 levels were associated with baseline PWV values in HeFH subjects; moreover, we found that PCSK9 level variations seemed to be correlated with PWV changes on LLT. A longer observation time and wider sample size are needed to assess the potential role of PCSK9 plasma levels on the vascular function and remodelling, and to clarify the effects of PCSK9-i in these pathways

L’impresa significante

Since 2008, a research team of Management Department (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice) has been conducting various action-research projects to support the strategy reconsideration of many businesses, with the supervision of the author of the present paper. These experiences lead to the Significant Business Manifesto, which aspires to imagine a new entrepreneurial model for all the Italian businesses, but inspiring even for the single one. The proposed model is structured on gradually more actionable levels: vision, mission, strategy, and business model. Such levels should characterize the ideal type of Italian business and should guide the related questions which every actual business needs to answer