Links Between Painting and Neurology: The Example of Dementia.

Art is a system of human communication arising from symbolic cognition, conveying ideas, experiences, and feelings. The goal of this review is to describe the link between painting and dementia. Individuals with neurodegenerative diseases inevitably experience cognitive dysfunction that has the potential to limit and impair the artist's ability to realize their creative and expressive intentions through painting. The strategy to advance our understanding of the neural bases for art is to map locations and nature of neural damage to changes onto artistic production

Immunomodulating Therapies in Acute Myocarditis and Recurrent/Acute Pericarditis

The field of inflammatory disease of the heart or "cardio-immunology " is rapidly evolving due to the wider use of non-invasive diagnostic tools able to detect and monitor myocardial inflammation. In acute myocarditis, recent data on the use of immunomodulating therapies have been reported both in the setting of systemic autoimmune disorders and in the setting of isolated forms, especially in patients with specific histology (e.g., eosinophilic myocarditis) or with an arrhythmicburden. A role for immunosuppressive therapies has been also shown in severe cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a condition that can be associated with cardiac injury and acute myocarditis. Furthermore, ongoing clinical trials are assessing the role of high dosage methylprednisolone in the context of acute myocarditis complicated by heart failure or fulminant presentation or the role of anakinra to treat patients with acute myocarditis excluding patients with hemodynamically unstable conditions. In addition, the explosion of immune-mediated therapies in oncology has introduced new pathophysiological entities, such as immune-checkpoint inhibitor-associated myocarditis and new basic research models to understand the interaction between the cardiac and immune systems. Here we provide a broad overview of evolving areas in cardio-immunology. We summarize the use of new imaging tools in combination with endomyocardial biopsy and laboratory parameters such as high sensitivity troponin to monitor the response to immunomodulating therapies based on recent evidence and clinical experience. Concerning pericarditis, the normal composition of pericardial fluid has been recently elucidated, allowing to assess the actual presence of inflammation; indeed, normal pericardial fluid is rich in nucleated cells, protein, albumin, LDH, at levels consistent with inflammatory exudates in other biological fluids. Importantly, recent findings showed how innate immunity plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of recurrent pericarditis with raised C-reactive protein, with inflammasome and IL-1 overproduction as drivers for systemic inflammatory response. In the era of tailored medicine, anti-IL-1 agents such as anakinra and rilonacept have been demonstrated highly effective in patients with recurrent pericarditis associated with an inflammatory phenotype.Peer reviewe

Computational Analysis of Historical Documents: An Application to Italian War Bulletins in World War I and II

World War (WW) I and II represent crucial landmarks in the history on mankind: They have affected the destiny of whole generations and their consequences are still alive throughout Europe. In this paper we present an ongoing project to carry out a computational analysis of Italian war bulletins in WWI and WWII, by applying state-of-the-art tools for NLP and Information Extraction. The annotated texts and extracted information will be explored with a dedicated Web interface, allowing for multidimensional access and exploration of historical events through space and time

Ethnobotanical remarks on Central and Southern Italy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The present paper is a brief survey on the ethnobotanical works published by the Authors since 1981, concerning the research carried out in some southern and central Italian regions. Before Roman domination these territories were first inhabited by local people, while the southern areas were colonized by the Greeks. These different cultural contributions left certain traces, both in the toponyms and in the vernacular names of the plants and, more generally, in the culture as a whole.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Field data were collected through open interviews, mainly of farmers, shepherds and elderly people, born or living in these areas for a long time. Voucher specimens of collected plants are preserved in the respective herbaria of the Authors and in the herbarium of "Roma Tre" University. Important contributions have been made by several students native to the areas under consideration. A comparative analysis with local specific ethnobotanical literature was carried out.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The paper reports several examples concerning human and veterinary popular medicine and in addition some anti-parasitic, nutraceutic, dye and miscellaneous uses are also described. Moreover vernacular names and toponyms are cited. Eight regions of central and southern Italy (particularly Latium, Abruzzo, Marche and Basilicata) were investigated and the data obtained are presented in 32 papers. Most of the species of ethnobotanical interest have been listed in Latium (368 species), Marche (274) and Abruzzo (203). The paper also highlights particularly interesting aspects or uses not previously described in the specific ethnobotanical literature.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Phyto-therapy in central and southern Italy is nowadays practised by a few elderly people who resort to medicinal plants only for mild complaints (on the contrary food uses are still commonly practised). Nowadays therapeutic uses, unlike in the past, are less closely or not at all linked to ritual aspects. Several plants deserve to be taken into consideration not only from the anthropological or cultural point of view, but also for further phyto-chemical investigation. Our studies, as well as those of other authors, try to provide an original picture of the local ethno-biodiversity.</p

Personalizing Cancer Pain Therapy: Insights from the Rational Use of Analgesics (RUA) Group

Introduction: A previous Delphi survey from the Rational Use of Analgesics (RUA) project involving Italian palliative care specialists revealed some discrepancies between current guidelines and clinical practice with a lack of consensus on items regarding the use of strong opioids in treating cancer pain. Those results represented the basis for a new Delphi study addressing a better approach to pain treatment in patients with cancer. Methods: The study consisted of a two-round multidisciplinary Delphi study. Specialists rated their agreement with a set of 17 statements using a 5-point Likert scale (0 = totally disagree and 4 = totally agree). Consensus on a statement was achieved if the median consensus score (MCS) (expressed as value at which at least 50% of participants agreed) was at least 4 and the interquartile range (IQR) was 3–4. Results: This survey included input from 186 palliative care specialists representing all Italian territory. Consensus was reached on seven statements. More than 70% of participants agreed with the use of low dose of strong opioids in moderate pain treatment and valued transdermal route as an effective option when the oral route is not available. There was strong consensus on the importance of knowing opioid pharmacokinetics for therapy personalization and on identifying immediate-release opioids as key for tailoring therapy to patients’ needs. Limited agreement was reached on items regarding breakthrough pain and the management of opioid-induced bowel dysfunction. Conclusion: These findings may assist clinicians in applying clinical evidence to routine care settings and call for a reappraisal of current pain treatment recommendations with the final aim of optimizing the clinical use of strong opioids in patients with cancer

A Qualitative Exploration of the Use of Contraband Cell Phones in Secured Facilities

Offenders accepting contraband cell phones in secured facilities violate state corrections law, and the possession of these cell phones is a form of risk taking behavior. When offenders continue this risky behavior, it affects their decision making in other domains where they are challenging authorities; and may impact the length of their incarceration. This qualitative phenomenological study examined the lived experience of ex-offenders who had contraband cell phones in secured correctional facilities in order to better understand their reasons for taking risks with contraband cell phones. The theoretical foundation for this study was Trimpop\u27s risk-homeostasis and risk-motivation theories that suggest an individual\u27s behaviors adapt to negotiate between perceived risk and desired risk in order to achieve satisfaction. The research question explored beliefs and perceptions of ex-offenders who chose to accept the risk of using contraband cell phones during their time in secured facilities. Data were collected anonymously through recorded telephone interviews with 8 male adult ex-offenders and analyzed using thematic content analysis. Findings indicated participants felt empowered by possession of cell phones in prison, and it was an acceptable risk to stay connected to family out of concern for loved ones. The study contributes to social change by providing those justice system administrators, and prison managers responsible for prison cell phone policies with more detailed information about the motivations and perspectives of offenders in respect to using contraband cell phones while imprisoned in secured facilities

Solution structure of folic acid. Molecular Mechanics and NMR investigation

he structure of folic acid in solution was investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and theoretical calculations. Dynamical information and geometrical constraints were obtained by carbon-13 relaxation study, homo-nuclear NOESY spectra and hetero-nuclear 1H–13C NOE experiments. This set of experimental data was used for the molecular mechanics and molecular dynamic calculations. The accuracy of the final structure was established by the RNMR factor, which was calculated comparing the experimental NOESY cross-peaks intensities and the corresponding values simulated by using the complete relaxation matrix analysis (CORMA) approac

WIDEBAND MATCHED VOLTERRA MODELING OF HIGH-POWER AMPLIFIERS FOR SATELLITE NAVIGATION AND COMMUNICATION PAYLOADS

The increasing demand in the communication and navigation satellite industry for i) greater throughput, ii) flexibility in terms of signal generation, iii) higher efficiency, iv) improved payload reconfigurability, has generated the need to develop more accurate simulation/emulation payload models. Inaccurate modelling of payload elements induces a non-negligible risk of over- or underdesigned elements as well as an incorrect prediction of the main KPIs derived from emulation/simulation tools. Therefore, assessing the accuracy of currently used models and possibly developing new, more accurate ones turns out to be an essential feature of new-generation system design tools to derive accurate performance metrics, to enable correct dimensioning of all system features, to better specify budget parameters (in particular equipment specifications), and to efficiently support engineers in payload design. In this respect, High-Power Amplifiers (HPAs) are very sensitive components within the overall payload architecture, because they are non-linear devices that behave differently depending on the input signal features such as occupied bandwidth, average power, Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR), etc.. Extensive measurement and characterization activities on such devices performed in Thales-Alenia Spacelaboratories on GNSS payloads suggested that the standard narrowband/memoryless model of an HPA (i.e., AM/AM and AM/PM characteristics) is not sufficiently representative to derive accurate results concerning (next generation) GNSS signals featuring bandwidth up to 100 MHz or more, especially in terms of the in-band and out-of-band distortions actually introduced by this element. Such inaccuracy, initially considered insignificant, turned out to be not negligible when the payload simulation model is used to define and optimize the specifications as well the on-board Navigation Signal Generation Unit (NSGU) design. These conclusions led us to carry out an extensive review of the state of art of wideband HPA models, in particular Wiener, Hammerstein and Volterra one, comparing their accuracy, efficiency and easiness of application to real-world devices. This analysis focuses on the Volterra model, which is usually considered too complicated and hard to be actually tailored to a specific device. In this study, both the issues were tackled: first, how to match the numerous parameters of the nonlinear model to the wideband Device Under Test (DUT) has been considered. Then, a way to reduce the number of significant parameters to be derived from the measurements activity has been defined, in order to guarantee a computationally manageable effort without sacrificing modelling accuracy. Starting from the lab characterization of a specific DUT operating in the L band, this paper reports a thorough comparison between the performance of a simplified matched Volterra model and the corresponding (memoryless) narrowband equivalent (with measured AM/AM and AM/PM curves). The following metrics were considered to perform the comparison: * Normalized Mean Square Error (NMSE), both in time and frequency domain, between the simulated HPA output and the result of the measurements after digitization of the corresponding signal at DUT output. * Power Spectral Density (PSD) deviation, in particular the spectral regrowth, between the simulated signal and the DUT output. The results obtained exhibit a remarkable agreement between the wideband model and the results measured on the DUT, as well as a remarkable improvement of the performance metrics of the matched Volterra wideband model as compared to those of the standard narrowband algorithm, with a manageable additional complexity