Ricerche di marketing e nuovi prodotti: il lancio di un'applicazione per il miglioramento della compliance.

La tesi che la sottoscritta propone è il report della ricerca di marketing svolta per la committenza composta da un eterogeneo gruppo di ricercatori (specializzati in ambito farmacologico e informatico) che per il prossimo futuro hanno manifestato l’intenzione di creare una loro impresa specializzata in applicazioni e dispositivi tecnologici per il miglioramento dello stile di vita dei malati. In particolare l’oggetto di questa ricerca è stato il lancio di un’applicazione per smartphone la cui funzione principale è quella di migliorare la compliance dei pazienti politrattati, ovvero migliorare il rispetto delle indicazioni terapeutiche e delle cure a cui sono sottoposti tali pazienti. La ricerca di marketing ha raggiunto l’obiettivo di individuare le probabilità di acquisto da parte dei soggetti in base ad alcune caratteristiche anagrafiche e alcuni aspetti legati all’ambito delle tecnologie ICT e dell’uso dei farmaci. Inoltre è stato individuato quello che sembra essere l’approccio comunicativo ottimale per riuscire a diffondere l’acquisto dell’’applicazione. Tale ricerca non è riuscita a coprire l’obiettivo di stima dell’orizzonte temporale di copertura dei costi poiché sarebbe stato necessario un campione ben più espanso, nonché sarebbero stati necessari i dati risultanti dal test di usabilità che però è ancora in fase di svolgimento. Per ottenere le informazioni necessarie si è deciso di operare un’analisi quantitativa sui dati ottenuti a mezzo di questionari somministrati con intervista face-to-face a pazienti di ambulatori di Medicina Generale e ai pazienti del reparto di Reumatologia: il campione nel complesso ammonta a 155 soggetti grazie ai quali abbiamo ottenuto le covariate necessarie per il computo della probabilità di acquisto. Poi si è passati ad un’analisi qualitativa su due tipologie di soggetti: i Medici di Medicina Generale e i Medici specialisti. Di entrambi abbiamo tentato di valutare l’opinione in merito all’utilità sia per i pazienti, che per loro stessi, dell’applicazione (rintracciando i tratti salienti del prodotto su cui puntare in comunicazione); provato a comprendere quale tipologia di pazienti secondo loro avrebbe avuto più bisogno di questo tipo di supporto; vagliare se sarebbero stati disposti a consigliare l’acquisto del prodotto al paziente. Alla fine della parte di rilevazione è stato possibile comprendere quindi le caratteristiche dei segmenti più interessanti in modo da calibrare la comunicazione dei medici su questo tipo di paziente. A livello comunicativo le scelte consigliate sono essenzialmente due: 1. una comunicazione diretta nei confronti dei Medici (sia di Medicina Generale, che specialisti in ambiti collegati alle malattie croniche) che li porti a conoscenza del prodotto e delle sue potenzialità; 2. una comunicazione diffusa attraverso il web sfruttando gli elementi del marketing virale non appena l’applicazione sarà lanciata La raccomandazione resta comunque quella di dedicare delle risorse ad un’ulteriore ricerca di marketing più strutturata che preveda solamente l’analisi quantitativa e si ponga come obiettivo la sola stima del mercato potenziale, da svolgere preferibilmente a fine dei trial sull’usabilità in modo da avere dei feed back sicuri da cui partire per impostare i questionari

Experimental study of the spatial distribution of quantum correlations in a confocal Optical Parametric Oscillator

We study experimentally the spatial distribution of quantum noise in the twin beams produced by a type II Optical Parametric Oscillator operating in a confocal cavity above threshold. The measured intensity correlations are at the same time below the standard quantum limit and not uniformly distributed inside the beams. We show that this feature is an unambiguous evidence for the multimode and nonclassical character of the quantum state generated by the device.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

OLD OR NEW WAVES IN CAPO GRAZIANO DECORATIVE STYLES?

Six main decorative styles have been tentatively distinguished in the Early-Middle Bronze age Capo Graziano incised pottery of the Aeolian Islands. This experimental study focuses on the analysis of 68 bowls from the islands of Lipari, Filicudi, Salina and Stromboli and from Milazzo in Sicily. The clas-sification is based on motifs and styles, and integrates typology, technology, composition and decoration in their identification. The styles are linked to production centres showing different spatial and temporal va-riations and appear to reflect different dynamics: the expert “individual” craftsman, the design in fashion, the symbolic code or the fulfilment of specific functions. The evaluation of skill in application and varia-bility in the concept are measured in order to assess the social implications in the production of the pottery. This interim investigation will continue to refine the chronology and to establish the decorative styles in other Aeolian Islands. It is possible that schematic elements in the decorative styles, such as undulating lines and metopes, reflect the maritime and insular environment of the Aeolian Islands

Acquired Hemophilia in a Patient With Rheumatoid Arthritis: Case Report and Literature Review

Acquired hemophilia (AH) is a rare bleeding disorder caused by the spontaneous development of autoantibodies against coagulation factors, most commonly factor (F) VIII (acquired hemophilia A, AHA). The clinical manifestation of AHA includes mostly spontaneous hemorrhages into skin, mucous membranes, muscles, soft tissues, or joints. AHA should be suspected when a patient with no history of hemorrhages presents with bleeding and an unexplained prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time. The diagnosis is based on the clinical picture, the presence of low FVIII activity and evidence of FVIII inhibitor. In around half of patients, an underlying disorder (rheumatic diseases, malignancy, infections) or taking some drugs are associated with AHA; the remaining cases are idiopathic. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory condition, marked by swelling and tenderness of small joints; it is usually treated with steroid and immunosuppressive drugs such as methotrexate, TNF-alpha inhibitors, and other biologic therapies (abatacept, tocilizumab, rituximab).We presented a patient with rheumatoid arthritis who developed acquired hemophilia A with hemarthroses; starting from this case, we focused on the literature about AHA in rheumatic diseases. We found 35 cases, 15 in systemic lupus erythematosus and 12 in rheumatoid arthritis, while the remaining cases were reported in Sjögren's syndrome, polymyalgia rheumatica, systemic sclerosis, and psoriatic arthritis. Ecchymosis and cutaneous hematomas were the main clinical features while hemarthroses was quite a rare condition, shown in just three patients

San Vincenzo, Isola di Stromboli (Lipari, Prov. Di Messina) - Campagna 2014

Presentazione sintetica dei risultati della campagne di scavo effettuate nel 2014 nel sito archeologico di San Vincenzo a Strombol

Polarity studies of single polyelectrolyte layers in polyelectrolyte multilayers probed by steady state and life time doxorubicin fluorescence

Hypothesis: Polarity in polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) may vary from the inner to the top layers of the film as the charge compensation of the layers is more effective inside the PEMs than in outer layers. Doxorubicin hydrochloride (DX) is used here to sense polarity at the single polyelectrolyte level inside PEMS. Experimental: DX is complexed electrostatically to a polyanion, either polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) or polyacrylic acid (PAA) and assembled at selected positions in a multilayer of the polyanion and polyally lamine hydrochloride (PAH) as polycation. Local polarity in the layer domain is evaluated through changes in the intensity ratio of the first to second band of spectra of DX (I1/I2 ratio) by steady state flu orescence, and by Lifetime fluorescence. Findings: PAH/PSS multilayers, show a polarity similar to water with DX/PSS as top layer, decreasing to I1/ I2 ratios similar to organic solvents as the number of polyelectrolyte layers assembled on top increases. For PAH/PAA multilayers, polarity values reflect a more polar environment than water when DX/PAA is the top layer, remaining unaltered by the assembly of polyelectrolyte layers on top. Results show that different polar environments may be present in a PEM when considering polarity at the single layer level.Fil: Martinelli, Hernan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Física del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Física del Sur; Argentina. Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biomateriales; EspañaFil: Tasca, Elisamaria. Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biomateriales; España. Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; ItaliaFil: Andreozzi, Patrizia. Università degli Studi di Firenze; Dipartimento di Chimica “Ugo Schiff”; Italia. Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biomateriales; EspañaFil: Libertone, Sara. Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biomateriales; EspañaFil: Ritacco, Hernán Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Física del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Física del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Giustini, Mauro. Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; Italia. Università degli Studi di Firenze; Dipartimento di Chimica “Ugo Schiff” ; ItaliaFil: Moya, Sergio Enrique. Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biomateriales; España. Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; Itali

Sustainable Valorisation and Efficient Downstream Processing of Giant Reed by High-Pressure Carbon Dioxide Pretreatment

This work investigated the catalytic high-pressure CO2 pretreatment of giant reed. CO2 is a renewable resource; its use does not generate chemical wastes and it can be easily removed and recycled. The effect of the addition of low concentrations of FeCl3 (0.16 wt%) and PEG 400 (1.0 wt%) on the hemicellulose hydrolysis to xylose and xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) is reported for the first time. Under the optimised pretreatment conditions, the xylan conversion of 82 mol% and xylose and XOS yields of 43 and 20 mol% were achieved, respectively. The solid residues obtained from different pretreatments were used as the substrate for the enzymatic hydrolysis to give glucose. The total glucose yield achieved under the optimised two-step process was 67.8 mol% with respect to the glucan units in the biomass. The results demonstrated that PEG-assisted FeCl3-catalysed scCO(2) pretreatment can produce xylose- or XOS-rich hydrolysates and improve the enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass

Exploitation of wasted bread as substrate for polyhydroxyalkanoates production through the use of Haloferax mediterranei and seawater

The use of the halophile microorganism Haloferax mediterranei, able to synthesize poly(hydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), is considered as a promising tool for the industrial production of bioplastic through bioprocessing. A consistent supplementation of the growth substrate in carbohydrates and minerals is overall necessary to allow its PHBV production. In this work, wasted bread was used as substrate for bioplastic production by microbial fermentation. Instead of the consistent and expensive minerals supplement required for Hfx. mediterranei DSM1411 growth, microfiltered seawater was added to the wasted bread-derived substrate. The suitable ratio of wasted bread homogenate and seawater, corresponding to 40:60, was selected. The addition of proteases and amylase to the bread homogenate promoted the microbial growth but it did not correspond to the increase of bioplastic production by the microorganism, that reach, under the experimental conditions, 1.53 g/L. An extraction procedure of the PHBV from cells, based on repeated washing with water, followed or not by a purification through ethanol precipitation, was applied instead of the conventional extraction with chloroform. Yield of PHBV obtained using the different extraction methods were 21.6 ± 3.6 (standard extraction/purification procedure with CHCl3:H2O mixture), 24.8 ± 3.0 (water-based extraction), and 19.8 ± 3.3 mg PHAs/g of wasted bread (water-based extraction followed by ethanol purification). Slightly higher hydroxyvalerate content (12.95 vs 10.78%, w/w) was found in PHBV obtained through the water-based extraction compared to the conventional one, moreover, the former was characterized by purity of 100% (w/w). Results demonstrated the suitability of wasted bread, supplemented with seawater, to be used as substrate for bioplastic production through fermentation. Results moreover demonstrated that a solvent-free extraction, exclusively based on osmotic shock, could be used to recover the bioplastic from cells

Detection and genotyping of human Papillomavirus in urine samples from unvaccinated male and female adolescents in Italy

The introduction of vaccination against Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in adolescent girls in 2006 has focused virological surveillance on this age group. As few studies have evaluated HPV infections in young populations, further data are needed in order to improve and extend prophylactic policy and to monitor epidemiological changes. The present study aimed at evaluating overall and type-specific HPV prevalence in both female and male adolescents in Italy. HPV DNA detection and genotyping was performed on urine samples collected from 870 unvaccinated adolescents (369 females, 501 males, 11-18 years of age) in five cities in Italy. Following DNA extraction by means of a commercial kit (NucliSENS®-miniMAG®, bioMérieux), the L1 gene fragment was PCR amplified and genotyped by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. HPV DNA was detected in 1.5% of all samples, and in 3% and 0.4% of samples from females and males, respectively. In approximately 70% of HPV DNA positive adolescents, the infection was due to a single genotype, with 88.9% of genotypes belonging to the HR-clade. The only two HPV-positive boys (14 and 18 years old) had HPV-70 genotype. Only one of the 11 HPV-infected girls was in the 11-14 age-group. HPV prevalence was 4.2% in girls aged 15-18 years and 60% of infections were due to vaccine types HPV-16 or HPV-6/-11. This is one of the few studies, the first conducted in Italy, on HPV infection in adolescents. Urine testing is the easier way of detecting HPV infection in younger populations. Our data revealed a very low HPV prevalence, and no infections were observed in the 12-year-old vaccine target population. The majority of infections were seen in females aged 15-18 years. Overall, more than 50% and 30% of the potentially persistent HPV infections detected in this group could have been prevented by the quadrivalent and the bivalent vaccines, respectively