AN AUTOMATED METHOD FOR THE ESTIMATE OF VERTICAL JUMP POWER THROUGH INERTIAL MEASUREMENT UNITS

Vertical jump performance analysis allows for assessing the ability of the lower limb to generate mechanical power. The analysis performed with inertial measurement units (IMUs) is affected by inertial effects of wobbling masses. To compensate for them, an automated method was developed to estimate peak and mean concentric power based on anthropometric and time-frequency features. IMU data of 47 countermovement- (CMJ) and 50 squat- jumps (SJ) performed by 17 participants were used. Force platform data were used to obtain reference power values. Features were chosen according to the best subset regression method, devising a multiple linear regression for each estimated power parameter and jump. The regressions explained 88% and 96% variation, for CMJ peak and average power respectively, while explaining 75% and 74% of the variation for the SJ

Bellezza, armonia, complessità. Per un'interpretazione di Carlo Michelstaedter

2012 - 2013Scopo della ricerca è di interpretare criticamente il pensiero michelstaedteriano alla luce di tre plessi tematici: bellezza, armonia, complessità. Se negli scritti di Carlo Michelstaedter si evidenzia la stretta correlazione tra “quotidianità” e “opera”, significa che il concetto fondante di persuasione non è solo una mera teoresi, ma diventa proprio una “pratica di vita” a cui l’uomo deve ambire, seppur costretto, per sua volontà anche, nelle maglie rettoriche. Il richiamo ad altri pensatori contemporanei e non di Michelstaedter è essenziale per dimostrare la dinamicità e l’ecletticità del suo pensiero, anche alla luce dell’idea errata secondo cui il Goriziano appartiene alla schiera degli “inattuali”. Michelstaedter, al contrario, oltre a conoscere a fondo le problematicità e i problemi del Novecento, ha anche uno sguardo profetico e anticipatore sulla realtà storico-culturale – che va ben al di là del 1910: anno della sua morte. [a cura dell'autore]XII n.s

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in Psoriatic Arthritis Treated with Sequential, Multiple Anti-TNF-α Agents: A Case Report

Data obtained by large observational studies and meta-analysis indicate the absence of an increased risk of lymphoma related to therapy with anti-TNF-α, but there is limited information in literature about the safety of sequential, multiple biological agents therapy for a time longer than three years. We hereby present a case of psoriatic arthritis developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma after a six-year history of poorly effective therapy with different anti-TNF-α

A functional calibration protocol for ankle plantar-dorsiflexion estimate using magnetic and inertial measurement units: Repeatability and reliability assessment

The ankle joint complex presents a tangled functional anatomy, which understanding is fundamental to effectively estimate its kinematics on the sagittal plane. Protocols based on the use of magnetic and inertial measurement units (MIMUs) currently do not take in due account this factor. To this aim, a joint coordinate system for the ankle joint complex is proposed, along with a protocol to perform its anatomical calibration using MIMUs, consisting in a combination of anatomical functional calibrations of the tibiotalar axis and static acquisitions. Protocol repeatability and reliability were tested according to the metrics proposed in Schwartz et al. (2004) involving three different operators performing the protocol three times on ten participants, undergoing instrumented gait analysis through both stereophotogrammetry and MIMUs. Instrumental reliability was evaluated comparing the MIMU-derived kinematic traces with the stereophotogrammetric ones, obtained with the same protocol, through the linear fit method. A total of 270 gait cycles were considered. Results showed that the protocol was repeatable and reliable for what concerned the operators (0.4 +/- 0.4 deg and 0.8 +/- 0.5 deg, respectively). Instrumental reliability analysis showed a mean RMSD of 3.0 +/- 1.3 deg, a mean offset of 9.4 +/- 8.4 deg and a mean linear relationship strength of R2 = 0.88 +/- 0.08. With due caution, the protocol can be considered both repeatable and reliable. Further studies should pay attention to the other ankle degrees of freedom as well as on the angular convention to compute them

TURVALLISESTI MAAILMAAN Yhteispäivystyksen hoitohenkilökunnan osaamisen kehittäminen matkasynnytysvalmiuteen

Tämä opinnäytetyö on suunnattu Pohjois-Karjalan sairaanhoito ja sosiaalipalvelujen kuntayhtymän (PKSSK) yhteispäivystyksen hoitohenkilökunnalle. Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena on järjestää koulutusta yhteispäivystyksen hoitohenkilökunnalle. Koulutuksessa käydään läpi synnytyksen eri vaiheet ja avustaminen matkasynnytyksessä. Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena on, että jokaisella koulutukseen osallistuvalla olisi perusvalmiudet avustaessaan mahdollisessa matkasynnytyksessä. Opinnäytetyö sai alkunsa opinnäytetyön tekijän omasta kokemuksesta ja muun yhteispäivystyksen hoitohenkilökunnan kanssa käydyistä keskusteluista. Keskusteluissa tuli esille, että tiedot ja taidot ovat puutteelliset, jos he joutuisivat avustamaan synnytyksessä. Opinnäytetyö on toteutettu toimintatutkimuksena, ja opinnäytetyön tuotos on valokuvien kanssa tehty PowerPoint-esitys synnytyksen vaiheista. Opinnäytetyötä varten on kerätty anonyymisti tietoa koulutustarpeesta ja siitä, millaista koulutusta haluttiin järjestettäväksi. Kyselyyn vastasi kolmannes (n=32) yhteispäivystyksen hoitajista. Opinnäytetyö on ajankohtainen ja hyödyllinen, koska esimerkiksi synnytyssairaaloiden lakkauttamisen takia välimatkat synnytyssairaaloihin ovat pidentyneet ja matkasynnytykset lisääntyneet. Yhteispäivystyksessä täytyy olla valmius erilaisten yllättävien tilanteiden varalle ja yksi tällainen tilanne on matkasynnytyksessä avustaminen. Opinnäytetyön tuotos on vapaasti käytettävissä koko PKSSK:n alueella, koska se on lisätty PKSSK:n oppimateriaaleihin. Vastaavia opinnäytetöitä on tehty esimerkiksi ambulanssi henkilökunnalle, mutta niissä koulutusmateriaali on suunniteltu ambulanssissa tai kotona tapahtuvaa synnytystä varten.The thesis targets nursing staff of the emergency department at North Karelia Medical care and Social Services (PKSSK). The objective of the thesis is to help provide in out-of-hospital delivery to the staff. The training covers the different phases of the child-birth and assisting in an out-of-hospital delivery.The purpose of the thesis is to ensure that all participants will have the basic skills in assisting in an out-of-hospital delivery. The idea of this thesis rose from the personal experiences of the thesis author and from the discussions with other nursing staff members at the emergency department. It became evident that both skills and knowledge were considered as inadequate to assist in an ouf-ofhospital delivery. The thesis has been carried out as an action research, and the educational material will be performed as a PowerPoint presentation with photographs of the different steps of child birth. The information about what kind of education is needed at the emergency department was collected anonymously. The third (=32) of the nursing staff answered to the inquiry. The thesis is useful and current, because closing several maternity hospitals has increased the distances between hospitals and therefore also the out-of-hospital deliveries have increased. Emergency departments have to be prepared for different kinds of unexpected situations, out-of-hospital deliveries being one of them. The output of this bachelor’s thesis is freely available for use in every department in PKSSK and can be found in educational materials in PKSSK intranet. Similar theses have been made, for example, for paramedics, the difference being in focusing on child births in an ambulance or in one’s home

The Impact of School and After-School Friendship Networks on Adolescent Vaccination Behavior

Psychological and social characteristics of individuals are important determinants of their health choices and behaviors. Social networks represent "pipes" through which information and opinions circulate and spread out in the social circle surrounding individuals, influencing their propensity toward important health care interventions. This paper aims to explore the relationship between students' vaccination health choices and their social networks. We administered a questionnaire to students to collect data on individual students' demographics, knowledge, and attitudes about vaccinations, as well as their social networks. Forty-nine pupils belonging to 4 classrooms in an Italian secondary school were enrolled in the study. We applied a logistic regression quadratic assignment procedure (LR-QAP) by regressing students' positive responsive behavior similarity as a dependent variable. LRQAP findings indicate that students' vaccination behavior similarity is significantly associated with after-school social ties and related social mechanisms, suggesting that pupils are more likely to share information and knowledge about health behaviors through social relationships maintained after school hours rather than through those established during the school day. Moreover, we found that vaccination behaviors are more similar for those students having the same ethnicity as well as for those belonging to the same class. Our findings may help policymakers in implementing effective vaccination strategies

Beyond cat scratch disease: a case report of bartonella infection mimicking vasculitic disorder

Cat scratch disease (CSD) is a bacterial disease caused by Bartonella henselae and it is mainly characterized by self-limiting lymphadenopathy in the draining site of a cat scratch or bite. We report a patient with history of fever, swelling lymph nodes, vasculitic-like skin lesions, and positivity of Bartonella serology initially considered as expression of a disimmune disease

Accurate dust temperature and star formation rate in the most luminous z>6z>6 quasar in the HYPerluminous quasars at the Epoch of ReionizatION (HYPERION) sample

We present ALMA Band 9 continuum observation of the ultraluminous quasi-stellar object (QSO) SDSS J0100+2802, providing a $\sim 10\sigma$ detection at $\sim 670$ GHz. SDSS J0100+2802 is the brightest QSO with the most massive super massive black hole (SMBH) known at $z>6$, and we study its dust spectral energy distribution in order to determine the dust properties and the star formation rate (SFR) of its host-galaxy. We obtain the most accurate estimate so far of the temperature, mass and emissivity index of the dust, having $T_{\rm dust}=48.4\pm2.3$ K, $M_{\rm dust}=(2.29\pm0.83)\times 10^7$ M$_\odot$, $\beta=2.63\pm 0.23$. This allows us to measure the SFR with the smallest statistical error for this QSO, SFR$=265\pm 32\ \rm M_\odot yr^{-1}$. Our results enable us to evaluate the relative growth of the SMBH and host galaxy of J0100+2802, finding that the SMBH is dominating the process of BH-galaxy growth in this QSO at $z=6.327$, when the Universe was $865$ Myr old. Such unprecedented constraints on the host galaxy SFR and dust temperature can only be obtained through high frequency observations, and highlight the importance of ALMA Band 9 to obtain a robust overview of the build-up of the first quasars' host galaxies at $z>6$.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Validation of the 3-variable prognostic score (3-PS) in mCRPC patients treated with 223 Radium-dichloride: a national multicenter study

Objective: Radium-223 (223Ra) has been approved for treatment in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostatic cancer (mCRPC) and bone metastasis. This α-emitting radionuclide has a beneficial effect on pain and is also capable to increase overall survival (OS). Several studies evaluated the prognostic value of different biomarkers at baseline, such as serum values, imaging parameters or pain. To date, however, clinicians lack a validated and simple system to assess which patients will most likely benefit from 223Ra treatment. The 3-variable prognostic score (3-PS), proposed in a single-center study in 2017 classifies patients in five prognostic groups with a specific OS. This study aims to validate the 3-PS in a larger multicenter population. Methods: Four hundred and thirty mCRPC patients treated with 223Ra from six different centers were analyzed. The 3-PS score consists of the collection of baseline hemoglobin, prostatic specific antigen and Eastern cooperative oncology group performance status and was initially applied to the whole population (total group). The score was then validated on the 338 patient's subgroup (clean group) obtained by subtracting the 92 patients enrolled for the original study of the 3-PS score. This purified group served as further validation evidence. Results: Statistical analysis showed that the 3-PS score was valid on the total group as well as in the clean group as the AUC estimated (0.74) falls within the CI of the AUC calculated on the validation sample (95% CI 0.66-0.82). Conclusion: This study confirms the validity of the 3-PS score for mCRPC patients. This score is simple, noninvasive and affordable and can be easily used to select patients that will most probably complete 223Ra treatment. In addition, this tool provides an exact estimate of life expectancy in terms of OS