Technophobia and Technophilia in the Media, Art and Visual Culture

The volume collects most of the speeches presented at the conference \u201cTechnophobia and Technophilia in the Media, Art and Visual Culture\u201d held at the University of Genoa in May 2018. The conference was organized by some scholars and students of the Doctoral School in Digital Humanities of the same University particularly interested in investigating the political, cultural and \u201csentimental\u201d impact of technology. So, \u201cphilia\u201d and \u201cphobia\u201d appeared immediately as two crucial concepts in order to test both the cultural and ideological perception of technology in our society, and the emotional \u201ctemperature\u201d of the relationship between human beings and technical devices, tools and environment. But, at the same time, a question was also posed in regard to the feelings toward technology itself, seen as symptoms of an incomplete neutralization of technology. This condition, it seems, is in fact to be the destiny, or the final accomplishment, of our \u201ctransparent society\u201d

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Cross-Over Study to Evaluate the Efficacy of AqualiefTM Mucoadhesive Tablets in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Who Developed Radiation-Induced Xerostomia

Xerostomia, the subjective complaint of dry mouth, is caused by therapeutic interventions or diseases. Nowadays, radiotherapy (RT) in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) stands out as one of the most important causes of xerostomia. Currently available therapies for the treatment of xerostomia are still less than optimal and xerostomia still represents an unmet clinical need. In this article, we present the results of a prospective clinical study with a new product, AqualiefTM, in patients treated with curative RT with or without chemotherapy for HNC. AqualiefTM is based on two main ingredients, carnosine and karkadé, which have acid buffering and antioxidant properties. The study was performed on 30 patients, with 4 of the patients being lost during the study period. Each patient received randomly one of the two treatments, AqualiefTM or placebo, for 8 days. After a 10-day wash-out period, each patient received the other treatment for a further 8 days. The results show that AqualiefTM stimulated salivation in these patients and reduced the pH drop that was observed in an equivalent placebo-treated population of patients. Moreover, no serious, treatment-related adverse events were observed. AqualiefTM has shown positive results, although with limitations due to unsuccessful trial accrual. Therefore, it may be further investigated as a tool for the treatment of RT-related xerostomia