Volker Pantenburg: Farocki/Godard: Film as Theory

Wiedergelese

Analysis and Valuation of Hospital Foodservice Quality-the Perugia case-study

The hospital catering is characterized for the necessity to satisfy the nutritional and dietetic principles, and the several therapeutic requirements of the patient.The main problem is to coordinate the production with the always various number of the requirements. On the other hand,emerging of competition forms in the sanitary field,based on the possibility of chosen of the structure cure from the customer and on the prices and tariffs system,has open new spaces for the recovery of a strategic perspective of the public sanitary companies respect private sector. Always mainly,the hospital companies must centralize own ttention so is minimal the difference between planned quality, distributed quality and perceived quality. The present work offers,through a public opinion pull on a specific case, a first attempt to tie the satisfaction or not satisfaction of a consumer regarding the sanitary service,on the base of some qualitatative variable. The innovation of this work consist of a index series created from the hospital documents and patient judgment (questionnaire) to establish a gap between planned and perceived quality

Reproduction and Population Structure in Temperate and Tropical Corals in Relation to Environmental Parameters

In the marine realm, two of the main stressors causing significant changes are ocean warming and acidification. Of particular concern are organisms reliant on the generation of calcium carbonate, such as corals. Reproduction and population structure are strongly related to environmental parameters and may be indicators for stability or decline of coral populations. Part of my research focused on the reproductive cycle of the Mediterranean non-zooxanthellate coral Caryophyllia inornata in relation to seasonal variations of seawater temperature and photoperiod. Moreover, an unusual embryogenesis was found in females, males and inactive individuals during the entire year, indicating a possible agamic origin of embryos. This was a pilot study for a broader investigation along a wide latitudinal gradient of temperature and solar radiation. Reproductive traits of this coral do not vary along the gradient as observed for another non-zooxanthellate species, Leptopsammia pruvoti, indicating that these species could be quite tolerant to environmental changes, probably due to the lack of symbiosis with the zooxanthellae. A study on the spermatogenesis of the zooxanthellate coral Balanophyllia europaea living along a natural pCO2 gradient showed no significant variations with low pH. We hypothesized that high CO2 levels probably enhance zooxanthellae photosynthesis, leading to an increase of the available energy for gonadal development. The ability to reproduce in particular conditions is related to population structure, providing information on coral responses to the environment. I investigated the population structure of the tropical coral Montastraea cavernosa along a depth gradient in Bermuda. Deeper populations were characterized by smaller but more numerous colonies compared to shallow ones, with no variation in the percent cover among depths. Thus, mesophotic populations of M. cavernosa in Bermuda seem quite stable, indicating that these reefs may serve as a source of propagules to maintain shallower reefs and help guide future management and conservation strategies

Label information and consumer behaviour: evidence on drinking milk sector

AbstractThe purpose of the research is to evaluate the impact of different kinds of information disclosures of milk labels, investigating the interest among consumers based on their consumption behaviours and characteristics. In this research, all the actions which lead to a healthiness, become expressions of a production process, among which consumers' food choices, purchase, preparation, and also self-production. Therefore, in the "health creation" production process, information and knowledge about food become "investments". In this context, label disclosures become a tangible expression of this kind of "investment". The research question is: what impact do purchase preferences and consumers' characteristics have on their interest towards the label information provided? Several information disclosures, both mandatory and voluntary, are investigated. Therefore, some choice attributes will be analysed as indicators of the consumer's behaviour in relation to his investment in food information. The methodology used for the analysis is an Ordered Logit. The analysis of the consumer's behaviour has been performed by transposing Ménard's analysis of firm corporate governance (Ménard, Agribus. 34:142–160, 2018) to the consumer as producer of welfare equity. The reduction of information asymmetry is a cost for the producer, and this research may be able to measure how much it would be convenient to invest in this reduction, based on the analysis of the consumer's behaviour toward his personal investment in food information acquisition

Strategies of Diversification and Brand Extension in SME Food Companies: Which Factors Might Affect the Impact of Consumers’ Preferences

The purpose of the research is to evaluate the brand extension strategy of SMEs food companies, through the analysis of the consumers' response. The research analysed the case study of a food processing cooperative, “Gruppo Grifo Agroalimentare”, which diversified its production through the acquisition of new SMEs companies. Through an hypothetical brand extension of the products, the goal is to study which factors would affect the acceptance and the purchasing of the extension. The results drive allow the SMEs food companies to know the needs of new consumers and to be able to meet these needs, both in terms of distribution and in terms of offer

AgX-based hybrid coordination polymers: mechanochemical synthesis, structure and luminescence property characterization

Hybrid coordination polymers are interesting for their ability to converge the properties of both inorganic and organic systems in one single compound and recently attention has been focused on silver based hybrid coordination polymers due to their luminescence properties. We searched the CSD to establish the propensity of AgXL (X = Cl-, Br- and I-) with L as an organic ligand to form hybrid coordination polymers. About 800 AgXL structures are deposited in the CSD, with huge structural variability: indeed, it is possible to recognize some structural preferences based on the halide nature. The formation of an inorganic polymeric unit is favoured by iodide but it is also possible with the other halides. This research continues with the synthesis of AgX (X = I-, Br-) based coordination polymers with 2-, 3- and 4-picolylamine (n-pica) as ligands. By mechanochemical synthesis five new hybrid coordination polymers and one coordination polymer have been obtained and their structures determined. While [(AgI)(n-pica)](n) are not luminescent, [(AgBr)(n-pica)](n) emit and their profile depends on the crystallinity of the sample

Challenges in diagnosis and management of acute hepatic porphyrias: from an uncommon pediatric onset to innovative treatments and perspectives

Acute hepatic porphyrias (AHPs) are a family of four rare genetic diseases resulting from a deficiency in one of the enzymes involved in heme biosynthesis. AHP patients can experience potentially life-threatening acute attacks, characterized by severe abdominal pain, along with other signs and symptoms including nausea, mental confusion, hyponatraemia, hypertension, tachycardia and muscle weakness. Some patients also experience chronic manifestations and long-term complications, such as chronic pain syndrome, neuropathy and porphyria-associated kidney disease. Most symptomatic patients have only a few attacks in their lifetime; nevertheless, some experience frequent attacks that result in ongoing symptoms and a significant negative impact on their quality of life (QoL). Initial diagnosis of AHP can be made with a test for urinary porphobilinogen, -aminolaevulinic acid and porphyrins using a single random (spot) sample. However, diagnosis is frequently missed or delayed, often for years, because the clinical symptoms of AHP are non-specific and mimic other more common disorders. Delayed diagnosis is of concern as some commonly used medications can trigger or exacerbate acute attacks, and untreated attacks can become severe, potentially leading to permanent neurological damage or fatality. Other attack triggers include hormonal fluctuations in women, stress, alcohol and low-calorie diets, which should be avoided in patients where possible. For the management of attacks, intravenous hemin is approved, whereas new therapeutic approaches are currently being investigated as a baseline therapy for prevention of attacks and improvement of QoL. Among these, a novel siRNA-based agent, givosiran, has shown very promising results in a recently concluded Phase III trial and has been approved for the management of AHPs. Here, we propose a challenging case study-with a very unusual pediatric onset of variegate porphyria-as a starting point to summarize the main clinical aspects (namely, clinical manifestations, diagnostic challenges, and therapeutic management) of AHPs, with a focus on the latest therapeutic innovations

Femtosecond laser-assisted implantation of corneal stroma lenticule for keratoconus

PURPOSE: To review recent progress, challenges, and future perspectives of stromal keratophakia for the treatment of advanced keratoconus. METHODS: We systematically reviewed the literature in the PubMed database, last update June 30, 2020. No language restriction was applied. The authors checked the reference lists of the retrieved articles to identify any additional study of interest.RESULTS: Several techniques have been proposed for the treatment of keratoconus in order to avoid or delay keratoplasty. This was primarily due to the lack of accessibility to donor corneas in many countries. The ease and predictability of the more advanced femtosecond lasers used to correct ametropias by stromal lenticule extraction lead to hypothesize that generated refractive lenticules could be implanted into corneal stromal layers to restore volume and alter the refractive properties of the cornea in patients with corneal ectasias. At the same time, new techniques for preservation, customization, and cellular therapy of the corneal stromal have been developed, directing to the valorization of otherwise discarded byproducts such as donor corneas unsuitable for either lamellar of penetrating keratoplasty.CONCLUSIONS: Femtosecond laser-assisted stromal keratophakia could be a suitable therapeutic option for the treatment of corneal ectasias, especially in patients with advanced keratoconus, providing biomechanical support recovering the pachimetry to nearly normal value at the same time. The accuracy and predictability of the refractive outcome are yet a critical issue and the patient eligible for the procedure still has to be characterized