Mythopoiesis And Collective Imagination In Videogames

As videogames become more and more popular, their ability to generate and communicate mythologies (mythopoiesis) appears clearer. Pokémon, The Legend of Zelda, and Halo are just a few of the specific transmedial storyworlds created through (relatively few) years of reiteration. At the same time, recent examples of massively diffused products also picture remediations of heritage, folk tales, architecture, and other cultural elements, reaching users of any background. Franchises like Assassin’s Creed, God of War, or Final Fantasy take large inspiration from various cultural heritages. By doing so, video-ludic remediations add to previously shared imaginary some peculiar interactive (ergodic) features: since video games have specific features that imply interaction by (and with) the user, the remediated cultural elements acquire properties that were not present in any previous representation. The interest of this study is to enlighten how it is possible for blockbuster videogames to build over previous archetypes and imaginaries, creating common knowledge about certain cultural objects, myths, and figures, among players on a global scale. The main focus of this research will be Japanese cultural heritage representation in recent popular videogames such as Nioh, Ghost of Tsushima, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. In a comparative analysis of these products, the study will try to underline the common elements of blockbuster remediations, while exploring the emerging interactive (ergodic) features that the mentioned videogames add to previously shared imaginary of portrayed cultural elements. Any emerging evidence will then serve to build a tentative framework or method to remediate and represent any given cultural element in future videogame projects that aim to properly communicate heritage on a large scale such as the global digital game market

Development of light and highly radiation transparent cryostats for FCC detector magnets:First analyses of insulation materials

For both versions of the Future Circular Collider, the electron-positron FCC ee$^+$, requiring a 2 T/4 m bore solenoid for particles spectrometry, and the hadron-hadron FCC hh, CERN is developing an innovative design for the detector solenoids, to enable their positioning inside the calorimeters directly surrounding the inner tracker. For this to happen, the cryostat design has to be optimized to achieve minimum radiation length. The novel design consists of a sandwich of thin inner and outer metallic shells for vacuum tightness, supported by an insulating material with sufficient mechanical resistance paired with lowest thermal conductivity, like Cryogel, a flexible aerogel structure (density 0.16 g/cm$^3$), or glass spheres (e.g. type K1 manufactured by 3M, with 65 μm diameter and density of 0.125 g/cm$^3$). These materials would allow constructing a 4 m bore, 6 m long cryostat with a 250 mm total thickness, a heat load less than 400 W on the cold mass and 10 kW on the thermal shield. In this paper, design options are discussed and methods for qualifying the materials presented

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: From #37 to #44

In this contribution, Italian new data concerning the distribution of the Annex I Habitats 3150, 3170*, 3260, 4090, 91L0, 91M0, 9340 are reported. In detail, 20 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 30 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Campania, Lazio, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany, and Umbria

Outcomes of Patients with Asymptomatic Aortic Stenosis Followed Up in Heart Valve Clinics

Importance: The natural history and the management of patients with asymptomatic aortic stenosis (AS) have not been fully examined in the current era. Objective: To determine the clinical outcomes of patients with asymptomatic AS using data from the Heart Valve Clinic International Database. Design, Setting, and Participants: This registry was assembled by merging data from prospectively gathered institutional databases from 10 heart valve clinics in Europe, Canada, and the United States. Asymptomatic patients with an aortic valve area of 1.5 cm2 or less and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) greater than 50% at entry were considered for the present analysis. Data were collected from January 2001 to December 2014, and data were analyzed from January 2017 to July 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures: Natural history, need for aortic valve replacement (AVR), and survival of asymptomatic patients with moderate or severe AS at entry followed up in a heart valve clinic. Indications for AVR were based on current guideline recommendations. Results: Of the 1375 patients included in this analysis, 834 (60.7%) were male, and the mean (SD) age was 71 (13) years. A total of 861 patients (62.6%) had severe AS (aortic valve area less than 1.0 cm2). The mean (SD) overall survival during medical management (mean [SD] follow up, 27 [24] months) was 93% (1%), 86% (2%), and 75% (4%) at 2, 4, and 8 years, respectively. A total of 104 patients (7.6%) died under observation, including 57 patients (54.8%) from cardiovascular causes. The crude rate of sudden death was 0.65% over the duration of the study. A total of 542 patients (39.4%) underwent AVR, including 388 patients (71.6%) with severe AS at study entry and 154 (28.4%) with moderate AS at entry who progressed to severe AS. Those with severe AS at entry who underwent AVR did so at a mean (SD) of 14.4 (16.6) months and a median of 8.7 months. The mean (SD) 2-year and 4-year AVR-free survival rates for asymptomatic patients with severe AS at baseline were 54% (2%) and 32% (3%), respectively. In those undergoing AVR, the 30-day postprocedural mortality was 0.9%. In patients with severe AS at entry, peak aortic jet velocity (greater than 5 m/s) and LVEF (less than 60%) were associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality without AVR; these factors were also associated with postprocedural mortality in those patients with severe AS at baseline who underwent AVR (surgical AVR in 310 patients; transcatheter AVR in 78 patients). Conclusions and Relevance: In patients with asymptomatic AS followed up in heart valve centers, the risk of sudden death is low, and rates of overall survival are similar to those reported from previous series. Patients with severe AS at baseline and peak aortic jet velocity of 5.0 m/s or greater or LVEF less than 60% have increased risks of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality even after AVR. The potential benefit of early intervention should be considered in these high-risk patients

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #60 to #82

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 8 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 49 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Campania, Calabria, Marche, Piedmont, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria. Relevés and figures are provided as Supplementary material respectively 1 and 2. Copyright Antonio Morabito et al

Rapidly destructive osteoarthritis of the hip joint: a case series

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rapidly destructive arthrosis of the hip is a rare and incompletely understood disorder with scarce literature about variations in natural history within a population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A series of cases from North Wales with rapid progressive joint destruction and extensive subchondral bone loss in the femoral head and acetabulum are presented. Radiographic findings mimicked those of other disorders such as septic arthritis, rheumatoid and seronegative arthritis, primary osteonecrosis with secondary osteoarthritis, or neuropathic osteoarthropathy, but none of the patients had clinical, pathologic, or laboratory evidence of these entities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Rapid progression of hip pain and disability was a consistent clinical feature. The average duration of symptoms was 1.4 years. Radiographs obtained at various intervals before surgery (average 14 months) in 18 patients documented rapid hip destruction, involvement being unilateral in 13 cases. All patients underwent total hip arthroplasty, and osteoarthritis was confirmed at pathologic examination.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The authors postulate that these cases represent an uncommon subset of osteoarthritis and regular review, both clinically and radiologically, are required to assess speed of progression and prevent rapid loss of bone stock without the surgeon being aware. These cases are unsuitable for being placed on long waiting list due to technical difficulties in delayed surgery and compromised outcome following surgery.</p

Rapamycin treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis protocol for a phase II randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, clinical trial (RAP-ALS trial)

Introduction: Misfolded aggregated proteins and neuroinflammation significantly contribute to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) pathogenesis, hence representing therapeutic targets to modify disease expression. Rapamycin inhibits mechanistic target of Rapamycin (mTOR) pathway and enhances autophagy with demonstrated beneficial effects in neurodegeneration in cell line and animal models, improving phenotype in SQSTM1 zebrafish, in Drosophila model of ALS-TDP, and in the TDP43 mouse model, in which it reduced neuronal loss and TDP43 inclusions. Rapamycin also expands regulatory T lymphocytes (Treg) and increased Treg levels are associated with slow progression in ALS patients. Therefore, we planned a randomized clinical trial testing Rapamycin treatment in ALS patients. Methods: RAP-ALS is a phase II randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter (8 ALS centers in Italy), clinical trial. The primary aim is to assess whether Rapamycin administration increases Tregs number in treated patients compared with control arm. Secondary aims include the assessment of safety and tolerability of Rapamycin in patients with ALS; the minimum dosage to have Rapamycin in cerebrospinal fluid; changes in immunological (activation and homing of T, B, NK cell subpopulations) and inflammatory markers, and on mTOR downstream pathway (S6RP phosphorylation); clinical activity (ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised, survival, forced vital capacity); and quality of life (ALSAQ40 scale). Discussion: Rapamycin potentially targets mechanisms at play in ALS (i.e., autophagy and neuroinflammation), with promising preclinical studies. It is an already approved drug, with known pharmacokinetics, already available and therefore with significant possibility of rapid translation to daily clinics. Findings will provide reliable data for further potential trials. Ethics and dissemination: The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria of Modena and by the Ethics Committees of participating centers (Eudract n. 2016-002399-28) based on the Helsinki declaration

3D echocardiographic reference ranges for normal left ventricular volumes and strain: Results fromthe EACVI NORRE study

Aim To obtain the normal ranges for 3D echocardiography (3DE) measurement of left ventricular (LV) volumes, function, and strain from a large group of healthy volunteers. Methods and results A total of 440 (mean age: 45613 years) out of the 734 healthy subjects enrolled at 22 collaborating institutions of the Normal Reference Ranges for Echocardiography (NORRE) study had good-quality 3DE data sets that have been analysed with a vendor-independent software package allowing homogeneous measurements regardless of the echocardiographic machine used to acquire the data sets. Upper limits of LV end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes were larger in men (97 and 42 mL/m2) than in women (82 and 35 mL/m2; P<0.0001). Conversely, lower limits of LV ejection fraction were higher in women than in men (51% vs. 50%; P<0.01). Similarly, all strain components were higher in women than in men. Lower range was -18.6% in men and -19.5% in women for 3D longitudinal strain, -27.0% and -27.6% for 3D circumferential strain, -33.2% and -34.4% for 3D tangential strain and 38.8% and 40.7% for 3D radial strain, respectively. LV volumes decreased with age in both genders (P<0.0001), whereas LV ejection fraction increased with age only in men. Among 3DE LV strain components, the only one, which did not change with age was longitudinal strain. Conclusion The NORRE study provides applicable 3D echocardiographic reference ranges for LV function assessment. Our data highlight the importance of age- and gender-specific reference values for both LV volumes and strain. All rights reserved

The plants, rituals and spells that 'cured' helminthiasis in Sicily

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The author reports on the plants, rituals and spells used against worms and the so-called <it>scantu </it>(fright) in some areas of Sicily. The work is based on ethnobotanical research carried out, prevalently, between 2002-2006, in some areas of Eastern, South-Eastern, North-Central and South-Central Sicily.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This research is based on dialogue. Senior 'healers' were contacted; furthermore, doctors, teachers, farmers and in general 'experts' with herbs and 'magic' rituals. Information was collected about the way the plants of folk medicine are prepared. The interviewees were also invited to recite prayers and spells against helminthiasis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The author has highlighted the importance of how, in some parts of Sicily, some ailments like helminthiasis and other correlated pathologies like <it>scantu </it>are 'treated' and, especially within the rural social classes, by folk medicine remedies, herbal practises, particular prayers, rituals and spells.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>As regards health/illness, it should be noted that in the last ten years conventional medicine has provided very satisfactory results even resolving potentially mortal pathologies. However, in certain social classes, there is no real collaboration between conventional and folk medicine; so for some senior citizens, the 'healer' with his rituals and empirical and magical herbs is still the person to turn to for the 'cure' of particular ailments. Interest in these practises from ancestral heritage in an advanced country like Italy, is only relevant if the aim is to recoup a cultural identity which is already in decline.</p> <p>It is significant to report a piece: on 14 October 2007 the news on a well-known national Italian TV channel reported an interview with a 94 year-old man from Arbatax (Sardinia) referred to as a 'healer' because both his townspeople and others from all over the world go to him for his cures. He is not paid except in kind and has been known to cure St. Anthony's fire, burns, scalding and marine fungal infections, by smearing his saliva over the infected part and reciting 'special words'.</p

Survey on retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in Italy

This study aims to investigate the incidence and the relative risk factors of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and posterior-ROP (P-ROP): ROP in Zone I and posterior Zone II, as well as to analyze the occurrence of surgical treatment of ROP and to evaluate the short term outcome of the disease in Italy