Bilateral Pneumothorax and Subcutaneous Emphysema following Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography with Sphincterectomy

Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) is a valuable diagnostic and therapeutic procedure in the management of pancreatic and extrahepatic biliary tract diseases. Although rare, it is related to several complications including retroperitoneal duodenal perforation. The perforation results in air accumulation in the retroperitoneal, pleural or subcutaneous space. We present a case of 63-year-old female with massive bilateral pneumothorax and subcutaneous emphysema following therapeutic ERCP

Multi-modes approach to modelling of vortex-induced vibration

Acknowledgements A.P. would like to acknowledge the support of the National Subsea Research Institute (NSRI) UK. E.P. and M.W. are grateful for partial support provided by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) by the PRIN funded program 2010/11 N.2010MBJK5BPeer reviewedPostprin

Artighetsprincipen i svenskan och kroatiskan : en metalingvistisk undersökning av åldersgruppen 18-35 år

I denna studie forskas artighetsprincipen i svenskan och kroatiskan för att studera om de kulturella skillnaderna mellan svenskarna och kroaterna återspeglas i språk. Eventuella skillnader i användning av artighetsprincipen mellan svenskan och kroatiskan måste hållas i minnet i interkulturell kommunikation. Undersökningen byggs på Geoffrey Leechs teori om artighetsprincipen, vilken innefattar sex maximer som används för att minimera antalet oartiga uttryck och maximera antalet artiga uttryck: taktmaximen, generositetsmaximen, godkännandesmaximen, ödmjukhetsmaximen, enighetsmaximen och sympatimaximen. Undersökningen genomfördes via enkäten som forskades användning av ödmjukhetsmaximen och attityder till användning av ödmjukhetsmaximen och taktmaximen

Programma d’intervento educativo per la promozione dell’aderenza terapeutica, controllo della patologia e funzione polmonare nei pazienti asmatici nel setting della farmacia di comunità

The present PhD project, which originated in collaboration with the Italian Society of Clinical Pharmacy (SIFAC), aimed to develop and test the effect of an educational intervention delivered by pharmacists on adherence to treatment, disease control and lung function in patients with asthma. The thesis reports a) the data of the study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the educational intervention program and b) the results of the validation process of the Italian version of the Test of Adherence to Inhalers (TAI test). a) The lack of therapeutic adherence represents one of the most important and relevant problems in clinical practice, especially in the treatment of chronic diseases. It is estimated that more than 50% of asthmatic patients do not take the prescribed medication as indicated by the physician: most of these subjects use inhalation therapy incorrectly or abandon it because they do not feel the need. Besides, understanding the indications and posology of the therapy plays a fundamental role in adhering to the therapy. Patients who do not fully understand the indications, perceive the therapy as less effective and safe. In addition to that, despite the indisputable positive effects of the education and training on the correct use of the medical device in chronic inhalation therapy, more than one in four patients do not receive instructions on the use of prescribed inhalers. Given the above, and since numerous studies have highlighted the crucial role of pharmacists in promoting therapeutic adherence in the management of respiratory diseases, this research project intended to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention program, conducted by clinical pharmacists, guided by patient profiling using cognitive questionnaires and analytical tools. Overall, 34 Italian community pharmacies participated in the multicentric, prospective comparative study (intervention group: 23 pharmacies; control group: 11 pharmacies) and 242 subjects were enrolled (167 in the intervention group, 75 in the control group). Adherence to inhalation therapy (TAI test), asthma control (Asthma Control Test, ACT) and lung function (% FEV1 and% PEF ideal) were assessed in the enrolled subjects, at time zero and again after 2 months. The educational intervention at baseline was based on TAI results and administered by specifically trained pharmacists. Significant improvement in TAI score, ACT and lung function parameters (p-value <0.001) was detected between time zero and the follow-up visit in patients belonging to the intervention group. Patients with ACT ≥20 at time zero maintained greater proportion of disease control in the intervention group than in the control arm (95% vs 79.5%, p = 0.004). From the results obtained, it was possible to verify that the administration of targeted educational interventions guided by the results of the TAI questionnaire, conducted by trained clinical pharmacists, can help improve adherence to inhalation therapy and promote asthma control. b) Several approaches are available to assess the level of adherence. The TAI Test (Test of Adherence to Inhalers), is the only tailored tool which is able to evaluate the adherence to inhalers in patients with asthma. The questionnaire has been originally developed in Spain. To date, the Italian version of the TAI Test questionnaire has not been validated yet. Through the data of my PhD research project, it has been possible to describe the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the TAI test in terms of validity and reliability. The validation process involved more than 80 patients in two different rounds: at baseline and after two months. At each visit, patients were administered the Italian version of TAI. The results of our study confirm that the Italian version of the TAI is a valid and reliable tool to identify and monitor non-adherence

Pavle je Pavel, a ni bil Savel, tudi ni Peter in Pavel ne Peter ali Pavel ne pavliha

This article dedicated to Pavle Merkù discusses the vocabulary and phraseology connected with the name Pavel ‘Paul’. The article’s title provides a more rhetorical answer to the question of whether the saying Nomen est omen also applies to Pavle Merkù with regard to this name, vocabulary, and phraseology.članku, posvečenem Pavletu Merkuju, avtor obravnava besedje in frazeologijo, povezano z imenom Pavel. V naslovu članka pa bolj retorično odgovorja na vprašanje, ali rek Nomen est omen glede na to ime ter besedje in frazeologijo velja za jubilanta

Comparison of quality management systems in high added value production company and construction company

This diploma thesis deals with quality management systems in conformity with ISO 9001:2008. In the first part, we briefly describe the development of management systems from their initial phase (organization of labour division) to the quality management systems as we know them today. A brief description of the areas which are important for the establishment and the maintenance of a certified or of an uncertified quality management system will follow. In the second part, the quality management system of an electrical engineering company is presented first, followed by the presentation of a chosen construction company. Finally, a comparison of both quality management systems is made based on the quality manuals prepared by the companies. The findings show that considerable differences in quality management occur especially at the implementation stage: the scope of the certification with respect to the scope of the work, the number of connections between the processes and their documentation, especially in the documents of the second and lower stages