Ocular Manifestations of Rickettsiosis: 1. Mediterranean Spotted Fever: laboratory analysis and case reports

Rickettsiae are short, pleomorphic but usually rod-shaped or coccobacillary Gram-negative bacteria that grow strictly in eukaryotic cells (obligate intracellular parasites). They have the ability to multiply in one or more arthropods and to exist in natural reservoirs of one or several warm-blooded animal hosts, including humans. Rickettsiae are divided into 5 groups: 1) Spotted fever group, including R. rickettsii, R. conorii, and R. akari; 2) Typhus group, including R. prowazekii and R. typhi; 3) Scrub typhus (R. tsutsugamushi); 4) Q fever (Coxiella burnetii); 5) Neorickettsiosis

Corpus linguistics: resources and activities for EFL

This paper has a practical aim in that it intends to show how corpus linguistics can contribute to develop advanced language learners' communicative competence through some corpus-based search activities and subsequent analysis of the retrieved material. In particular, it illustrates how corpora can be exploited to study given language phenomena in order to show the connection between text and context in both cultural and functional-rethorical dimensions

Unexpected reversal of the enantioselectivity using chiral quinolylmethyl- and acridininyloxazokines as ligands for asymmetric palladium-catalyzed allylic alkylation

New chiral quinolylmethyloxazolines and acridininyloxazolines were prepared and assessed in the enantioselective palladium-catalyzed allylic substitution of 1,3-diphenylprop-2-enyl acetate with dimethyl malonate. The introduction of a benzo-fused substituent on the pyridine ring not containing the chiral backbone resulted in the switch of the expected chiral sense of enantioselection of the reaction. Enantiomeric excesses up to 78% were obtained

The Distribution of Affective Words in a Corpus of Newspaper Articles

AbstractThis paper explores the possibility of automatically measuring and comparing affectiveness features in texts from different domains and sub-domains. More specifically our main research question concerns the distribution of affective words within the various subgenres of a newspaper corpus along three affective parameters: Valence (V), pleasantness, Arousal (A), the intensity of the emotion, and Dominance (D), the degree of control exerted by the perceiver over the stimulus. The study is largely based on work by Warriner et al. (in press), who recently divulged a study reporting affective ratings for approximately 14,000 English lemmas in terms of V, A and D. 100,000 token samples of newspaper language from 10 subsections of the Guardian newspaper were analyzed for the presence of these lemmas and the average V, A and D values for each subsection were calculated. Crime and Travel were seen to be those with the most atypical values

Feminizing adrenocortical carcinoma with distant metastases: can surgery be considered?

Functioning adrenocortical carcinomas are rare diseases with dismal prognosis. A 41-yearold man presenting with gynecomastia had a giant feminizing adrenocortical carcinoma at stage IV. Although surgical resection was controversial, we removed the primary tumor to reduce the mass effects. He lived for 12 months with an acceptable quality of life. Gynecomastia may be the first sign of feminizing adrenal malignancies. Surgery may ameliorate the quality of life in selected patients with metastatic disease

Effect of different pastures on CLA content in milk and sheep cheese

It is known that milk composition included conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is affected by animal feeding system (Cabiddu et al., 2001). In Sardinia dairy sheep feeding is mainly based on pastures. Most of them are characterised by self-regenerating species, like annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaudin) and burr medic (Medicago polymorpha L.). Non conventional species belonging to the Compositae family such as (Chrysanthemum coronarium L.) seem interesting for sheep feeding when other herbages decrease in quality (late spring- early summer). It was observed that C. coronarium establishes rapidly, can be grazed early in the growing season and persist where other pasture species may disappear; for these reasons it can be considered a valuable source of food. Moreover a preliminary study with dairy sheep fed fresh forage of C. coronarium showed relatively high levels of CLA in milk (Molle G. pers. com.) The aim of the present work was to study the influence of different pastures on milk composition, with particular reference to CLA and its precursors

La Vergine Orante di Santa Maria di Tergu

All’interno della chiesa di Santa Maria di Tergu (SS), nel territorio dell’Anglona, in Sardegna è custodito il simulacro litico della Vergine Orante. Scolpito nella vulcanite rossa, il manufatto è derivato da un modello iconografico bizantino. Il lavoro svolto, in un’analisi storico artistica, propone di inserire la scultura della Vergine Orante di Santa Maria di Tergu, in quel clima di influssi artistici giunti in Sardegna, in particolar modo in questo caso nel Giudicato di Torres, con l’affermarsi dei gusti pisani e benedettini, capaci di guardare con grande interesse le tipologie iconografiche bizantine, per svincolarle dalle forme classiche orientali e arricchirle di una nuova libertà comunicativa. [ultima revisione Dicembre 2021

Influenza di diversi pre-trattamenti sulle cinetiche di disidratazione di olive

In this paper, the drying behaviour of three olive cultivars (Olea europea sativa Hoffm. and Link), was studied. In particular, the influence of different pre-treatments on dehydration kinetics was investigated. Olives were calibrated and subjected to several preliminary treatments, in order to break the peel, before being dehydrated. Dehydration was carried out at 60°C with constant flow rate and humidity. Fruits were placed on trays according to a completely randomised design. Dehydration kinetics were computed by weighing fruits during dehydration. Results show that the dehydration rate was drastically increased by piercing the fruit cuticle, while the others systems did not give appreciable beneficial effects. Dried olives were appreciated by panellists. In questo lavoro è stata studiata la risposta alla disidratazione di tre varietà di olive (Olea europea sativa Hoffm. and Link). In particolare, si è verificata l’influenza di diversi pre-trattamenti sulle cinetiche di disidratazione. Le olive, dopo la calibratura, sono state sottoposte a diversi pre-trattamenti, nell’intento di creare delle microlesioni superficiali, poi disidratate in un armadio con aria a flusso ed umidità costanti alla temperatura di 60°C, disponendo i frutti delle tesi secondo un piano completamente randomizzato. Ad intervalli prestabiliti durante la disidratazione sono stati effettuati dei prelievi di frutti, al fine di determinarne le cinetiche. I risultati mostrano che la tecnica della scarificatura superficiale ha incrementato la velocità di disidratazione, mentre gli altri trattamenti non hanno dato risultati degni di nota. I frutti disidratati sono stati giudicati favorevolmente dagli assaggiatori

Evoluzione dei principali acidi organici in salamoie di olive da mensa preparate al naturale

In this study, the changes in organic acids and ethanol on brines of naturally fermented green olives “Nocellara del Belice” cv have been monitored. The olives were processed with acidified to pH 4 or not brines. Results clearly indicate that the fermentation was carried out by yeasts. We detected three organic acids and ethanol, which were in significantly higher amounts in the acidified brines, with respect to control ones. Both acids and ethanol increased significantly during the fermentation. Nel presente studio è stato monitorato, tramite analisi HPLC, il profilo degli acidi organici e dell’etanolo, oltre che le variazioni di tutti gli altri parametri chimico-fisici, durante la fermentazione al naturale di olive verdi della varietà “Nocellara del Belice”. Il piano sperimentale prevedeva una tesi acidificata a pH 4 ed una tesi di controllo. I risultati ottenuti evidenziano una fermentazione condotta da lieviti. Sono stati riscontrati tre acidi organici (citrico, acetico e malico) e l’alcol etilico, in concentrazioni significativamente superiori nella tesi acidificata. Tali composti hanno mostrato una tendenza all’incremento durante la fermentazione

Advancement in the clinical management of intestinal pseudo-obstruction

Intestinal pseudo-obstruction is more commonly known in its chronic form (CIPO), a cluster of rare diseases characterized by gastrointestinal muscle and nerve impairment, so severe to result in a markedly compromised peristalsis mimicking an intestinal occlusion. The management of CIPO requires the cooperation of a group of specialists: the disease has to be confirmed by a number of tests to avoid mistakes in the differential diagnosis. The treatment should be aimed at relieving symptoms arising from gut dysmotility (ideally using prokinetic agents), controlling abdominal pain (possibly with non-opioid antinociceptive drugs) and optimizing nutritional support. Furthermore, a thorough diagnostic work-up is mandatory to avoid unnecessary (potentially harmful) surgery and to select patients with clear indication to intestinal or multivisceral transplantation