#exploreART: il labirinto di A. Pomodoro e i bambini. Un progetto di fruizione condivisa con percorsi sensoriali partecipati

The contribution presents a research project conducted by Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro to formulate, design and create, together with children and teachers, and to evaluate – with the help of the University – a different approach to the experience of contemporary art. This project has been implemented thanks to co-funding provided by Fondazione Cariplo. The initial hypothesis, after many years of experimentation on the part of Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro in the field of art education, and in the various temporary and permanent exhibitions organized by the foundation, was to explore a series of new possibilities that underline the value of participation, in which the soundscape can also become part of a meaningful experience

Pattern of care and effectiveness of treatment for glioblastoma patients in the real world: Results from a prospective population-based registry. Could survival differ in a high-volume center?

BACKGROUND: As yet, no population-based prospective studies have been conducted to investigate the incidence and clinical outcome of glioblastoma (GBM) or the diffusion and impact of the current standard therapeutic approach in newly diagnosed patients younger than aged 70 years. METHODS: Data on all new cases of primary brain tumors observed from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2010, in adults residing within the Emilia-Romagna region were recorded in a prospective registry in the Project of Emilia Romagna on Neuro-Oncology (PERNO). Based on the data from this registry, a prospective evaluation was made of the treatment efficacy and outcome in GBM patients. RESULTS: Two hundred sixty-seven GBM patients (median age, 64 y; range, 29-84 y) were enrolled. The median overall survival (OS) was 10.7 months (95% CI, 9.2-12.4). The 139 patients 64aged 70 years who were given standard temozolomide treatment concomitant with and adjuvant to radiotherapy had a median OS of 16.4 months (95% CI, 14.0-18.5). With multivariate analysis, OS correlated significantly with KPS (HR = 0.458; 95% CI, 0.248-0.847; P = .0127), MGMT methylation status (HR = 0.612; 95% CI, 0.388-0.966; P = .0350), and treatment received in a high versus low-volume center (HR = 0.56; 95% CI, 0.328-0.986; P = .0446). CONCLUSIONS: The median OS following standard temozolomide treatment concurrent with and adjuvant to radiotherapy given to (72.8% of) patients aged 6470 years is consistent with findings reported from randomized phase III trials. The volume and expertise of the treatment center should be further investigated as a prognostic factor

Rapport entre karst et glaciers durant les glaciations dans les vallées préalpines du Sud des Alpes

Karst and glaciations in the Southern pre-alpine valleys. At least 13 glaciations occurred during the last 2.6 Ma in the Southern prealpine valleys. The glaciers scouring alpine and pre-alpine valleys had all the same feature, being valley temperated glaciers. Their tracks and feeding areas were always the same, just like the penological contents of their deposits. Contrary to previous assumptions until a few years ago, the origin of these valleys and of the lakes occupying the floor of some of them (Orta, Maggiore, Como, lseo, Garda Lakes ) is due to fluvial erosion related to Messinian marine regression. The valley slopes modelling is Messinian in age, too, while most caves are older. As a general rule, glaciers worked on valley slopes just as a remodelling agent, while their effects were greater on valley floors. The karstic evolution began as soon as the area was lifted above sea level (upper Oligocene -lower Miocene), in a palaeogeographical environment quite different from the present one, although the main valley floors were already working as a base level. During Messinian age, the excavation of deep canyons along pre-existing valleys caused a dramatic lowering of the base level, followed by a complete re-arrangement of the karstic networks, which got deeper and deeper. The Pliocene marine transgression caused a new re-arrangement, the karst network getting mostly drowned under sea level. During these periods, the climate was hot-wet tropical, characterized by a great amount of water circulating during the wet season. At the same time, tectonic upliftings were at work, causing breaking up of the karst networks and a continuous rearrangement of the underground drainage system. In any case, karstic networks were already well developed long before the beginning of Plio-Quaternary glaciations. During glaciations, karst systems in pre-alpine valleys could have been submitted to different drainage conditions, being : a) isolated, without any glacial water flowing ; b) flooded, connected to the glacier water-filled zone ; c) active, scoured by a stream sinking at glacier sides or in a sub-glacial position. The stream could flow to the flooded zone (b), or scour all the unflooded system long down to the resurgence zone, the latter being generally located in a sub-glacier position. The glacier/karst system is a very dynamic one : it could get active, flooded or isolated depending on endo-and sub-glacial drainage variations. Furthermore, glaciers show different influences on karstic networks, thus working with a different effect during their advance, fluctuations, covering and recession phases. Many authors believe, or believed, the development of most surface and underground karst in the Alps is due to glaciations, with the last one held to be mostly responsible for this. Whatever the role of glaciers on karstic systems, in pre-alpine valleys caves, we do not have evidence either of development of new caves or of remarkable changes in their features during glaciations. It is of course possible some pits or galleries could have developed during Plio-Quaternary glaciations, but as a general rule glaciers do not seem to have affected karstic systems in the Southern pre-alpine valleys with any remarkable speleogenetic effects : the glaciers effects on them is generally restricted to the transport of great amounts of debris and sediments into caves. The spotting of boulders and pebbles trapped between roof stalactites shows that several phases of in-and out-filling of galleries occurred with no remarkable changing in pre-dating features , including cave decorations. The presence of suspended karst systems does not prove a glacial origin of the valleys, since most of them pre-date any Plio-Quaternary glaciation, as shown by calcite cave deposits older than 1,5 Ma. The sediments driven into caves might have caused a partial or total occlusion of most galleries, with a remarkable re-arrangement of the underground drainage system. In caves submitted to periglacial conditions all glaciations long, we can find deposits coming from weathered surface sediments, sharp-edged gelifractbn debris and, more rarely, alluvial deposits whose origin is not related to the circulation of the glacial meltwater. In caves lower than or close to the glaciers limit we generally find large amounts of glacier-related deposits, often partly or totally occluding cave galleries. These sediments may be directly related to glaciers, i.e. carried into caves by glacial meltwaters, resulting from surface glacial deposit erosion. They generally show 3 dominant fades : A) lacustrine deposits B) alluvial deposits and C) debris flow deposits fades. The only way of testing the soundness of the forementioned hypothesis is to study the main characters and spreading of cave sediments, since they are the only real data on connection of glaciers to endokarst networks.Bini Alfredo, Tognini Paola, Zuccoli Luisa. Rapport entre karst et glaciers durant les glaciations dans les vallées préalpines du Sud des Alpes. In: Karstologia : revue de karstologie et de spéléologie physique, n°32, 2e semestre 1998. Grottes ornées de Bornéo (E Kalimantan) et Grotte de Blue Lagoon (Afrique du Sud) pp. 7-26

Stampa studentesca e Digital Library: l\u2019esperienza dell\u2019Universit\ue0 di Bologna

Viene presentato il progetto di digitalizzazione delle riviste dell'Archivio storico dell'Universit\ue0 di Bologna. Esso ha riguardato soprattutto la collezione di numeri unici studenteschi databili dalla fine dell'Ottocento alla prima met\ue0 del Novecento. Oltre al lavoro di digitalizzazione condotto secondo gli standard ICCD, il progetto ha compreso la messa in rete dell'intera collezione digitalizzata sul sito della Digital Library dell'Ateneo di Bologna e sull'edicola digitale del sito dell'Archivio storico (http://db.archiviostorico.unibo.it/it-it/edicola-degli-studenti/elenco-delle-riviste.aspx?idC=61686&LN=it-IT#)

Measurement of sorafenib plasma concentration by high-performance liquid chromatography in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: is it useful the application in clinical practice? A pilot study

Pharmacokinetics and dose-finding studies on sorafenib were conducted on heterogeneous groups of patients with solid tumors. Portal hypertension, gut motility impairment and altered bile enterohepatic circulation may explain different sorafenib toxicological profile in cirrhotic patients. This study evaluated sorafenib plasma concentration in a homogeneous group of cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Sorafenib concentrations were determined by liquid chromatography in 12 consecutive patients. Data have been evaluated by the generalized estimating equations method (p value statistical level was set at alpha = 0.05). (1) There were not significant differences between sorafenib concentrations in patients who tolerate the full dose versus patients with reduced dose due to toxicity; (2) the average sorafenib concentrations measured 3 h after the morning dosing were lower than those measured 12 h after the evening dosing (p = 0.005); (3) sorafenib concentrations decrease overtime (p < 10(-4)); (4) it has been found an association between the development of severe adverse reactions and sorafenib concentrations (p < 10(-5)). The relationship between dose and concentration of sorafenib in HCC patients is poor and not clinically predictable, confirming the variability both in the maximum tolerated dose and in plasma concentrations. Several factors may influence the pharmacokinetics in patients with liver disease. This may explain the inter-patient variability of concentrations and the lack of differences in concentration at different dosages. It could be interesting to extend the series of HCC patients to enhance information on the kinetics of the drug; furthermore, to establish a threshold of plasma sorafenib concentrations to predict severe adverse reactions would be clinically useful

Idiopathic chronic urticaria and thyroid autoimmunity: Experience of a single center

Urticaria is one of the most frequent dermatosis, being its prevalence in general population estimated about 20%. This prospective case-control study was aimed at determining the prevalence of thyroid autoimmune disorders in a cohort of patients with chronic urticaria (CU), all living within an area with mild-to-moderate iodine deficiency. Fifty four consecutive patients affected by CU were recruited and compared to 108 healthy controls. Assessment of the thyroid function included measurement of serum concentrations of TSH, FT3, FT4, anti-thyreoglobulin (anti-TG) and anti-peroxidase (anti-TPO) antibodies. Ultrasound scan of the thyroid gland was performed in all subjects using a 7.5 MHz linear transducer. All subjects were followed up for 6 months. The prevalence of thyroid antibodies was significantly higher in our cohort of patients with CU than in controls (22% vs. 6.5 %). Hashimoto's thyroiditis was also more frequent in patients than controls (18.5% vs. 1.8%). These frequencies do not differ from those previously reported by some other authors and confirm the association between CU and thyroid autoimmunity also in the area of iodine deficiency. However, presence of antibodies or thyroiditis does not seem to influence clinical course of CU. These results suggest that screening for thyroid function may be useful in all the patients with CU

Intra-Operative Electron Radiation Therapy (IOERT) Anticipated Boost in Breast Cancer Treatment: An Italian Multicenter Experience

In breast cancer, the use of a boost to the tumor bed can improve local control. The aim of this research is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the boost with intra-operative electron radiotherapy (IOERT) in patients with early-stage breast cancer undergoing conservative surgery and postoperative whole breast irradiation (WBI). The present retrospective multicenter large data were collected between January 2011 and March 2018 in 8 Italian Radiation Oncology Departments. Acute and late toxicity, objective (obj) and subjective (subj) cosmetic outcomes, in-field local control (LC), out-field LC, disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated. Overall, 797 patients were enrolled. IOERT-boost was performed in all patients during surgery, followed by WBI. Acute toxicity (&ge;G2) occurred in 179 patients (22.46%); one patient developed surgical wound infection (G3). No patients reported late toxicity &ge; G2. Obj-cosmetic result was excellent in 45%, good in 35%, fair in 20% and poor in 0% of cases. Subj-cosmetic result was excellent in 10%, good in 20%, fair in 69% and poor in 0.3% of cases. Median follow-up was 57 months (range 12&ndash;109 months). At 5 years, in-field LC was 99.2% (95% CI: 98&ndash;99.7); out-field LC 98.9% (95% CI: 97.4&ndash;99.6); DFS 96.2% (95% CI: 94.2&ndash;97.6); OS 98.6% (95% CI: 97.2&ndash;99.3). In conclusion, IOERT-boost appears to be safe, providing excellent local control for early-stage breast cancer. The safety and long-term efficacy&nbsp;should encourage use of this treatment, with the potential to reduce local recurrence