How to measure respiratory mechanics during controlled mechanical ventilation

Bedside measurement of respiratory mechanics allows to closely monitor the lung function in critically ill patients. The two fundamental parameters describing the respiratory system mechanics are resistance and compliance. Resistance of the respiratory system describes the opposition to gas flow during inspiration. During volume-controlled ventilation, resistance can be calculated as the ratio between the peak to plateau pressure drop and the resulting flow rate. Compliance describes the elastic property of the respiratory system, comprising the lung and the chest wall. It is the ratio between a change in volume (i.e. tidal volume) and the corresponding change in pressure, calculated as the difference between plateau pressure and total positive end-expiratory pressure, measured by end-inspiratory and end-expiratory manual occlusion, respectively. In this review, we describe how to measure respiratory mechanics at the bedside, starting from the physiological background of the equation of motion of the respiratory system. (Intensive care

L’olio del Granduca, le galline per il Patriarca e l’ingenuo Polacco:nuove lettere per l’epistolario di e su Paolo Paruta (1595-1602)

The analysis of several unpublished letters by or to Paolo Paruta (1540-1598) could be very useful to revalue this underrated Venetian political writer, author of the dialogue Perfettione della Vita Politica ('About Perfection of Political Life’) and Ambassador for the Republic of Venice at the Papal Court (1592-1595). In fact, these letters shed some light on the daily life of Paruta’s political praxis: his travels, his duties as ambassador, his relationships with foreign sovereigns and with Venetian fellow citizens, his growing reputation; thanks to them, we could understand why Ugo Foscolo wanted Paruta to be studied in university courses as politico pratico. Some other letters (such as the one about the dedication of Discorsi Politici’s first edition, 1599), written by Paruta’s brother and sons, proof the hard economical situation of the ambassador’s heirs after Paolo’s death. In the last part of the essay there’s an analysis of a passage of a letter by Polish political writer Krzysztof Warszewicki about the project of a Latin translation of Paruta’s political work: then comes a comparison between Warszewicki’s and Paruta’s political thought

Le nere "sottanine" e la "congiura del silenzio": lingua e immagini nelle polemiche giornalistiche sul "Gruppo Femminile Calcistico" milanese (1933)

L’articolo indaga le modalità verbali e iconografiche usate dai giornali sportivi dell’epoca per raccontare la vicenda del Gruppo Femminile Calcistico (GFC), un gruppo di coraggiose ragazze che nella Milano fascista del 1933 tentò di organizzare la prima società calcistica femminile in Italia.Dopo una prima parte dedicata al mondo delle “tifose” (supporters ancora passive del calcio maschile dell’epoca) [2], l’articolo presenta l’analisi di una serie di lettere ai giornali sportive dell’epoca, grazie alle quali la portavoce del GFC ebbe modo di difendere le ragioni del il neonato gruppo [3], grazie anche al supporto di un apposito testo programmatico (il “programma”) [4]. Vengono poi analizzati due diversi approcci da parte degli inviati (maschili) di due giornali sportivi dell’epoca (La Gazzetta dello Sport e Il Calcio Illustrato) [5], soffermandosi poi sulle interessantissime interviste alle calciatrici proposte dal secondo [6]. Si passa quindi all’analisi intertestuale dell’articolo autobiografico di una cestista milanese (sfruttata probabilmente dal regime in chiave anti-GFC) [7], per poi concludere con un piccolo studio sulla rappresentazione visiva (fotografie, vignette e relative didascalie) della donna sportiva in Italia in quell’epoca [8].  The essay analyses the verbal and iconographical tools used by sport magazines to tell their audience about GFC (Gruppo Femminile Calcistico, ‘Women Football Club’), a group of brave girls who tried to organize, in 1933 Fascist-Milan, the first female football club in Italy.After a first part about the social phenomenon of tifose (‘female supporters’ of contemporary male football, not yet active players) [2], the essay analyses some letters written to sport magazines by the mouthpiece of GFC: she wrote them in order to stand up for the new-born group [3], quoting  GFC’s manifesto, called programma [4]. Then the analysis of the different ways sport journalists of La Gazzetta dello Sport and of Il Calcio Illustrato used to write about GFC’s matches [5] comes; the second journalist conducted some interesting Il Calcio Illustrato interviews with the female players [6]. Intertextuality would be very useful to understand a contemporary autobiographical article by a female basketball player: she was most likely exploited by the Fascist regime against GFC [7]. The last part of the essays is about the iconographical representation (photos and captions, cartoon and captions) of the sport woman in 1930s’ Italy [8].

L’ESTATE DELLA "PORTIERA": POLEMICHE SUL LINGUAGGIO DI GENERE PER IL CALCIO FEMMINILE

La straordinaria impresa dell’Italia al Mondiale Femminile di Francia 2019 non solo è stata un successo mediatico, ma pure generato una polemica linguistica fra i parlanti italofoni circa l’uso di alcune forme femminili innovative per i ruoli calcistici, quali ad es. portiera (al posto di portiere), e difensora/difenditrice (al posto di difensore). Durante l’estate del 2019, media basati su Internet quali giornali on-line, blog e Twitter sono stati il terreno di scontro di un nuovo capitolo della polemica sul linguaggio di genere: coloro che sostenevano le forme innovative (blogger femministe, giornalisti, linguisti) hanno incontrato la resistenza di un’ampia fetta dei parlanti italiani, che hanno espresso attraverso tweets e commenti i loro dubbi. The exploit of Italy National Team at 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was not only a media success but it also gave birth to a linguistic controversy among Italian speakers about the use of some innovative female terms for football positions, such as portiera (instead of portiere) 'goalkeeper', and difensora/difenditrice (instead of difensore) 'defender'. During the summer of 2019, Internet-based media such as online newspapers, blogs, and Twitter were the battlefield of a new chapter of the gender language controversy: innovators such as feminist bloggers, journalists, and linguists met the resistance of a wide part of Italian speakers, who expressed their doubts throughout tweets and online comments

Polemiche a distanza fra Firenze e Venezia. Sulla perduta «Risposta» di Paolo Paruta alla «Lettera XXX» dello pseudo-Dante a Guido da Polenta (secondo XVI sec.)

Il saggio presenta tutti i dati disponibili utili al ritrovamento di un testo per ora fantasma, quale la Risposta di Paolo Paruta (Venezia, 1540 - 1598) alla Lettera XXX dello pseudo-Dante, falso d'autore editando il quale nel 1547 il fiorentino Anton Francesco Doni scatenò una violenta polemica politica anti-veneziana. Nuove ricerche dimostrano come nella celebre biblioteca padovana di Gian Vincenzo Pinelli fosse conservata una copia della Risposta. Paruta e Pinelli, infatti, condividevano molti interessi e conoscenze negli ambienti della Padova e della Venezia del Secondo Cinquecento

Why reintroducing military conscription in Europe would be counterproductive

The reintroduction of military conscription has frequently been proposed as a way to instil national values in younger citizens. These arguments have gained added significance in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Drawing on new research, Vincenzo Bove, Riccardo Di Leo and Marco Giani argue that many of the proposed benefits of conscription are difficult to identify empirically. Indeed, far from fostering cohesion among citizens, conscription appears to be linked to a decline in institutional trust

COVID-19 lockdowns have increased support for incumbent parties and trust in government

Making use of cross-country European survey data that was fielded both before and after Covid-19 lockdowns were implemented, André Blais, Damien Bol, Marco Giani and Peter Loewen find that support for the incumbent leader, support for government in general, and trust in democracy have all increased in the short term

A simple phenotypic method for screening of MCR-1-mediated colistin resistance

Objectives: To evaluate a novel method, the colistin-MAC test, for phenotypic screening of acquired colistin resistance mediated by transferable mcr-1 resistance determinants, based on colistin MIC reduction in the presence of dipicolinic acid (DPA). Methods: The colistin-MAC test consists in a broth microdilution method, in which colistin MIC is tested in the absence or presence of DPA (900 \u3bcg/mL). Overall, 74 colistin-resistant strains of Enterobacteriaceae (65 Escherichia coli and nine other species), including 61 strains carrying mcr-1-like genes and 13 strains negative for mcr genes, were evaluated with the colistin-MAC test. The presence of mcr-1-like and mcr-2-like genes was assessed by real-time PCR and end-point PCR. For 20 strains, whole-genome sequencing data were also available. Results: A 658-fold reduction of colistin MIC in the presence of DPA was observed with 59 mcr-1-positive strains, including 53 E. coli of clinical origin, three E. coli transconjugants carrying MCR-1-encoding plasmids, one Enterobacter cloacae complex and two Citrobacter spp. Colistin MICs were unchanged, increased or at most reduced by twofold with the 13 mcr-negative colistin-resistant strains (nine E. coli and four Klebsiella pneumoniae), but also with two mcr-1-like-positive K. pneumoniae strains. Conclusions: The colistin-MAC test could be a simple phenotypic test for presumptive identification of mcr-1-positive strains among isolates of colistin-resistant E. coli, based on a 658-fold reduction of colistin MIC in the presence of DPA. Evaluation of the test with a larger number of strains, species and mcr-type resistance determinants would be of interest