Making cheese with caprifig sap in Apulia, Italy: possible rebirth of an ancient tradition

Abstract Background and objectives Making cheese by coagulating milk with extracts or parts of plants is a tradition of many countries facing the Mediterranean basin. Such cheeses were historically produced from sheep and goat milk and represent an important cultural heritage. In the European Union (EU), nowadays, their production is allowed only after legal validation of the manufacturing process under the hygienic point of view. Unfortunately, validation has been possible only for a few Protected Designation of Origin cheeses, but other dairy products exist for which it has not been carried out. It is the case of the caprifig sap cheeses produced in the "Murgia" highplain, Apulia region, Southern Italy. In this rural marginal area, three cheeses have been historically made by this coagulant: milk sap ricotta, Pampanella, and Cacioricotta. Due to the above legal concerns, they have become very rare and, if no action is taken, they will disappear very soon. The main purpose of the present work was to make a survey about the status of preservation of their processing methods and to document them before it is too late. A second aim was to perform a first summary investigation about their safety and compositional and sensory characteristics. Methods A series of face-to-face interviews was conducted to owners and cheesemakers of sheep and goat farms laying in the Murgia Hills territory. Cheese samples were prepared at three different rural dairies and subjected to chemical, microbiological, and sensory analyses. Results and conclusions The survey confirmed that caprifig sap cheeses are still occasionally produced for family consumption, mainly from goat milk in the southern part of the highplain. They have the common characteristic of deriving from milk subjected to strong heat treatment and containing both casein and whey proteins. The manufacturing procedures were observed, and two different methods of preparing and using caprifig sap were documented. The cheesemaking process was analyzed and discussed under a technological point of view, and geo-sociological connections were hypothesized. The three cheeses presented significant sensory differences and proved to potentially match the EU hygienic standards if the post-vat operations are performed under correct conditions. Overall, the study gave a contribution for the hygienic validation of the manufacturing process in view of a possible rebirth

A case of hemorrhagic shock due to massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding: from the differential diagnosis to the correct management

Upper Gastro-Intestinal Bleeding (UGIB) spans from minor bleeding to life-threatening events. Identification of early signs of shock, proper management of hemodynamically unstable patients, and correct risk stratification are essential for an appropriate diagnostic workup and therapy. This case reports a young man admitted to the emergency department with haematemesis. His medical history was unremarkable, without any risk factors for gastrointestinal bleeding. A few hours after admission, further episodes of haematemesis occurred, and the patient's condition rapidly deteriorated to irreversible shock. A contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT) revealed morphological features of chronic liver disease and oesophagal varices. The patient underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, confirming oesophagal varices with massive bleeding. Although promptly applied, endoscopic hemostasis was ineffective, and the patient died twenty-four hours after admission. Based on this case, we reviewed the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for patients with massive UGIB and provided a practical approach to this life-threatening emergency

Predicting in-hospital mortality in patients admitted from the emergency department for pulmonary embolism: Incidence and prognostic value of deep vein thrombosis. A retrospective study

Background Pulmonary embolism (PE) is one of the most common causes of death from cardiovascular disease. Although deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is the leading cause of PE, its prognostic role is unclear. This study investigated the incidence and prognostic value of DVT in predicting in-hospital mortality (IHM) in patients admitted from the emergency department (ED) for PE.Methods This retrospective cohort study was conducted in the ED of a third-level university hospital. Patients over 18 years admitted for PE between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2022 were included.Results Five hundred and thirty patients (mean age 73.13 years, 6% IHM) were included. 69.1% of cases had DVT (36.4% unilateral femoral vein, 3.6% bilateral, 39.1% unilateral popliteal vein, 2.8% bilateral, 45.7% distal vein thrombosis and 7.4% iliocaval involvement). Patients who died in hospital had a higher Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index (PESI) (138.6 vs. 99.65, p < 0.001), European Society of Cardiology risk class (15.6% vs. 1%, intermediate-high in 50% vs. 6.4%, p < 0.001) and more DVT involving the iliac-caval vein axis (18.8% vs. 6.6%, p = 0.011). PESI class >II, right ventricular dysfunction, increased blood markers of myocardial damage and involvement of the iliocaval venous axis were independent predictors of IHM on multivariate analysis.Conclusions Although further studies are needed to confirm the prognostic role of DVT at PE, involvement of the iliocaval venous axis should considered to be a sign of a higher risk of IHM and may be a key factor in prognostic stratification

Materials Cloud, a platform for open computational science

Materials Cloud is a platform designed to enable open and seamless sharing of resources for computational science, driven by applications in materials modelling. It hosts 1) archival and dissemination services for raw and curated data, together with their provenance graph, 2) modelling services and virtual machines, 3) tools for data analytics, and pre-/post-processing, and 4) educational materials. Data is citable and archived persistently, providing a comprehensive embodiment of the FAIR principles that extends to computational workflows. Materials Cloud leverages the AiiDA framework to record the provenance of entire simulation pipelines (calculations performed, codes used, data generated) in the form of graphs that allow to retrace and reproduce any computed result. When an AiiDA database is shared on Materials Cloud, peers can browse the interconnected record of simulations, download individual files or the full database, and start their research from the results of the original authors. The infrastructure is agnostic to the specific simulation codes used and can support diverse applications in computational science that transcend its initial materials domain.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figure

Amiloidose nodular com lesão corimbiforme

Amyloidosis is part of a group of deposition diseases. Nodular amyloidosis is a rare form of primary cutaneous amyloidosis. It affects men and women, usually over the age of 60 years. Presenting manifestation of the disease are yellowish-erythematous or brownish nodules or plaques in single or multiple infiltrates. Systemic evaluation should be performed to rule out involvement of other organs. Follow-up of the patient is important because the condition may progress to systemic amyloidosis. We report a case of nodular amyloidosis in which the lesion had a corymbiform aspect without systemic involvement and no recurrence after two years of follow-up

Influenza vaccination coverage among medical residents: An Italian multicenter survey

Although influenza vaccination is recognized to be safe and effective, recent studies have confirmed that immunization coverage among health care workers remain generally low, especially among medical residents (MRs). Aim of the present multicenter study was to investigate attitudes and determinants associated with acceptance of influenza vaccination among Italian MRs. A survey was performed in 2012 on MRs attending post-graduate schools of 18 Italian Universities. Each participant was interviewed via an anonymous, self-administered, web-based questionnaire including questions on attitudes regarding influenza vaccination. A total of 2506 MRs were recruited in the survey and 299 (11.9%) of these stated they had accepted influenza vaccination in 2011-2012 season. Vaccinated MRs were older (P = 0.006), working in clinical settings (P = 0.048), and vaccinated in the 2 previous seasons (P < 0.001 in both seasons). Moreover, MRs who had recommended influenza vaccination to their patients were significantly more compliant with influenza vaccination uptake in 2011-2012 season (P < 0.001). "To avoid spreading influenza among patients" was recognized as the main reason for accepting vaccination by less than 15% of vaccinated MRs. Italian MRs seem to have a very low compliance with influenza vaccination and they seem to accept influenza vaccination as a habit that is unrelated to professional and ethical responsibility. Otherwise, residents who refuse vaccination in the previous seasons usually maintain their behaviors. Promoting correct attitudes and good practice in order to improve the influenza immunization rates of MRs could represent a decisive goal for increasing immunization coverage among health care workers of the future. © 2014 Landes Bioscience

Altimetry for the future: Building on 25 years of progress

In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the ‘‘Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion

IN "POLPO ... SITION" E ALTRI BREVI RACCONTI

Assalito dalla felicità corsi al mare, guardai l’acqua e fui preso da una forza, non mia, non umana che mi trascinò in acqua. Lì venni rapito da fantastiche sensazioni, l’adrenalina salì a mille, vidi un enorme creatura che suscitò in me delle emozioni mai provate prima, si era avvicinata talmente tanto che stava per toccarmi e, appena lo fece, il mio corpo si illuminò magicamente, le mie mani iniziarono pian piano ad assottigliarsi, il mio petto diventava sempre più piccolo e tondo e da lì a poco, ero diventato un polpo

Proceedings of the Fifth Italian Conference on Computational Linguistics CLiC-it 2018

On behalf of the Program Committee, a very warm welcome to the Fifth Italian Conference on Computational Linguistics (CLiC-­‐it 2018). This edition of the conference is held in Torino. The conference is locally organised by the University of Torino and hosted into its prestigious main lecture hall “Cavallerizza Reale”. The CLiC-­‐it conference series is an initiative of the Italian Association for Computational Linguistics (AILC) which, after five years of activity, has clearly established itself as the premier national forum for research and development in the fields of Computational Linguistics and Natural Language Processing, where leading researchers and practitioners from academia and industry meet to share their research results, experiences, and challenges

EVALITA Evaluation of NLP and Speech Tools for Italian - December 17th, 2020

Welcome to EVALITA 2020! EVALITA is the evaluation campaign of Natural Language Processing and Speech Tools for Italian. EVALITA is an initiative of the Italian Association for Computational Linguistics (AILC, http://www.ai-lc.it) and it is endorsed by the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence (AIxIA, http://www.aixia.it) and the Italian Association for Speech Sciences (AISV, http://www.aisv.it)