The Cultural Heritage to improve skills and to create a bridge between school and museum

Cultural heritage education can provide information in different fields due to different ways one can use to approach them, depending on the context: given its nature, it can in fact represent both object of study, meaning and aim. This means that cultural heritage allows for a multidisciplinary approach, being related to several aspects of human life. This is a fundamental feature when it is employed in the school environment. Starting from these assumptions, we present the project Observing artwork as a form of education for learning and citizenship, started in the school year 2015/2016. This project has proposed a practice allowing for the use of cultural heritage within classrooms as a multidisciplinary learning tool, by means of the Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) method. VTS focus on the learner, placing him at the centre of the learning process. The student, by means of his knowledge and experiences, constructs the meaning of image represented by an artwork, cooperating with his classmates, aiming at learning to learn. Hence, it is a method that addresses the needs of the application of the constructivist theory in the learning environment. In order to bring cultural heritage inside classrooms, educational activities are carried out using digital resources, such as visual artworks repositories, and technological devices, like interactive whiteboards displaying pictures employed for the VTS practice

The emerging role of microRNAs in Alzheimer's disease

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA which have been shown to regulate gene expression. The alteration ofmiRNAs expression has been associated with several pathological processes, including neurodegeneration. In the search for easily accessible and non-invasive biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis and prognosis, circulating miRNAs are among the most promising candidates. Some of them have been consistently identified as AD-specific miRNAs and their targets also seem implicated in pathophysiological processes underlying AD. Here, we review the emerging role for miRNA in AD, giving an overview on general miRNAs biology, their implications in AD pathophysiology and their potential role as future biomarkers

Propranolol as first-line treatment for life-threatening diffuse infantile hepatic hemangioma: a case report

[No abstract available

Adrenergic Drugs Blockers or Enhancers for Cognitive Decline ? What to Choose for Alzheimer's Disease Patients?

The adrenergic system has an important role in normal central nervous system function as well as in brain disease. The locus coeruleus, the main source of norepinephrine in brain, is involved in the regulation of learning and memory, reinforcement of sleep-wake cycle and synaptic plasticity. In Alzheimer's disease, locus coeruleus degeneration is observed early in the course of the disease, years before the onset of clinical cognitive signs, with neurofibrillary detected at the stage of mild cognitive impairment, preceding amyloid deposition. Thus, in the last years, a great interest has grown in evaluating the possibility of central adrenergic system modulation as a therapeutic tool in Alzheimer's disease. However, evidences do not show univocal results, with some studies suggesting that adrenergic stimulation might be beneficial in Alzheimer's Disease and some others favoring adrenergic blockade. In this review, we summarize data from both hypothesis and describe the pathophysiological role of the adrenergic system in neurodegeneration

Repeated successful use of eltrombopag in chronic primary immune thrombocytopenia: description of an intriguing case.

Thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs) are used as effective alternative treatments in ITP patients unresponsive to first-/second-line therapies. TPO- RAs can also be used to normalize platelet count to safely perform invasive pro- cedures and chemotherapy, in case of malignancies. In few responsive patients, TPO-RAs can be suspended maintaining a sustained respons

Cognitive Function and Heart Failure: The Role of the Adrenergic System

Heart Failure (HF) and cognitive impairment (CI) represent two high incident diseases worldwide, with extremely elevated mortality and morbidity rates. Their prevalence is expected to further increase in the next years due to the aging population, thus they pose enormous clinical, social and economic challenges. Sympathetic nervous system hyperactivity is known to play a pivotal role in HF pathophysiology and progression. In fact, increased cardiac and circulating catecholamine levels are responsible for several molecular and structural abnormalities with detrimental effects on the failing heart. The proof of this latter concept is represented by the clinical success of .-Blocker therapy that is able to attenuate HF-related morbidity and mortality. Recently, adrenergic system alterations have been implied also in the pathogenesis of CI and dementia opening the window for new fascinating and promising therapeutic opportunities

Applicazione del laser scanner terrestre per la valutazione della condizione delle chiome in Quercus suber L.

The objective of this paper is to show the first results on the evaluation of the possible use of this technique for the estimation of crown condition in cork oak stands (Quercus suber L.). The results show that the TLS (Terrestrial laser Scanner) technology has good potential applications for the deciduous woodlands. The next objective will be to evaluate the performance of this approach in the estimation of the damage caused by insects

Risk assessment in ginecology and obstetrics in Sicily: an approach based on Wolff's Criteria

Objectives To apply Wolff’s Criteria to hospital discharge records (HDR) in order to detect adverse events worthy of further study. Methods Gynecology and Obstetrics Units of three Sicilian hospitals were considered and HDR regarding ordinary and day hospital admissions in 2008 were collected. A matched case-control study was designed, by random selection of 10 controls at maximum for each case. Matching was performed on the variables age and speciality of admission (gynecology or obstetrics). Results Out of a total of 7011 HDR examined, 114 cases were identified with Wolff’s Criteria. Multivariate analysis confirmed a statistically significant association with the origin of admission, diagnosis at the acceptance and length of stay: there was a decreased risk of Wolff’s event in patients having urgent admission compared to elective (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = [0.28-0.78]), an increased risk in patients reporting tumor (OR = 5:41, 95 % CI [1.89-15.47]) and other causes (OR = 2.16, 95% CI [1.10-4.24]) compared to delivery diagnosis at acceptance and in patients whose length of stay was more than 6 days (OR = 23.17, 95% CI = [12.56-42.7]) compared to less or equal than 3 days Conclusion Wolff’s Criteria can be applied for the analysis of clinical risk in hospitals with different structural characteristics, on condition that the HDR database is complete and good quality

Monitoring of blood serum amyloid (SAA) to predict outcome of first-line pembrolizumab (P) in patients (pts) with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (ANSCLC).

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