Mass and Riemannian Polyhedra

We show that the concept of the ADM mass in general relativity can be understood as the limit of the total mean curvature plus the total defect of dihedral angle of the boundary of large Riemannian polyhedra. We also express the $n$-dimensional mass as a suitable integral of geometric quantities that determine the $(n-1)$-dimensional mass.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure

Estimates of the Bartnik mass

Given a metric $\gamma$ of nonnegative Gauss curvature and a positive function $H$ on a $2$-sphere $\Sigma$, we estimate the Bartnik quasi-local mass of $(\Sigma, \gamma, H)$ in terms of the area, the total mean curvature, and a quantity depending only on $\gamma$, measuring the roundness of the metric. If $\gamma$ has positive Gauss curvature, the roundness of $\gamma$ in the estimate is controlled by the ratio $\kappa$ between the maximum and the minimum of the Gauss curvature. As $\kappa \to 1$, the estimate approaches a sharp estimate for round spheres with arbitrary, positive mean curvature functions. Enroute we observe an estimate of the supremum of the total mean curvature among nonnegative scalar curvature fill-ins of a closed manifold with positive scalar curvature.Comment: 18 page

Calvino on Calvino: autobiographism in the realistic works from the first period

Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Filología, Departamento de Filología Italiana, leída el 21-01-2016Al leer las obras de Italo Calvino a la luz de su biografía, se ha detectado un fuerte componente autobiográfico. Entre los innumerables niveles de lectura posibles de la obra de este escritor, nos pareció justificado elegir también aquel biográfico e investigar cuánto y con qué fin la experiencia existencial se convierte en materia literaria. ¿Cuánto de la autobiografía del autor es rastreable en la obra, explícita e implícitamente? También, hemos visto cómo la relación de Calvino con la autobiografía no fue nunca ni tranquila ni lineal. Por tanto, tuvimos que preguntarnos qué relación compleja existe entre la experiencia de vida, su recuerdo y la escritura; qué valor asume para el autor la reelaboración de la propia experiencia, que a veces se presenta de forma explícita, a veces oculta, en máscaras alegóricas y en deformaciones expresionistas. Responder a estas preguntas ha sido el objetivo del presente trabajo. Hemos decidido circunscribir nuestra investigación a la primera producción narrativa realista, que ha incluido por tanto algunos cuentos francamente autobiográficos de Ultimo viene il corvo (Por último, el cuervo), la primera novela Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno (El sendero de los nidos de araña), la trilogía L'entrata in guerra (La entrada en guerra), y los tres cuentos largos o novelas cortas, La formica argentina (La hormiga argentina), La speculazione edilizia (La especulación inmobiliaria) y La nuvola di smog (La nube de smog), que forman el cuarto libro, La vita difficile (La vida difícil), de la edición de I racconti (Los cuentos) de 1958, y para terminar La giornata di uno scrutatore (La jornada de un interventor electoral)...Reading Calvino’s works in the light of his biography revealed the presence of a strong autobiographical element. Therefore, from the innumerable possible levels of reading of Calvino's work, it is justifiable to choose the biographical one and to question to what extent and with what aim existential experience can become literary substance. How much of the author's autobiography can we trace in his work, both explicitly and implicitly? We have seen that Calvino's relationship with autobiography was neither calm nor linear. We therefore had to ask ourselves what complex relationship might exist between life experience, memory and writing: of what value to the author is the re-elaboration of his own experience, which is presented sometimes explicitly and sometimes concealed, masked in allegory and expressionistic contortions. The aim of this thesis was to answer these questions. I decided to limit my research to the first realistic narrative output, which includes a few explicitly autobiographical stories from Ultimo viene il corvo (The Crow Comes Last), the first novel from the trilogy Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno (The Path to the Spiders' Nests), the trilogy L’entrata in guerra (Into the War), and the three long stories or short novels, La formica argentina (The Argentine Ant), La speculazione edilizia (A Plunge into Real Estate) and la nuvola di smog (Smog) which together form the fourth book, La vita difficile (Difficult Life) of the 1958 edition of I racconti (Stories), and finally La giornata di uno scrutatore (The Watcher)...Depto. de Estudios Románicos, Franceses, Italianos y TraducciónFac. de FilologíaTRUEunpu

Therapeutic strategies in conservative treatment for lateral elbow tendinopathy: narrative review

openBackground: L’epicondilite laterale del gomito è un disturbo muscolo-scheletrico a carico del gomito dovuto alla progressiva degenerazione di un tendine alla sua inserzione ossea sull’epicondilo omerale. Si tratta di una condizione molto comune nella popolazione compresa tra i 30 e i 50/60 anni e può essere indotta da una serie di microtraumi o over use a causa di movimenti ripetuti in posizioni innaturali e/o sforzi a carico dell’arto. Il sintomo principale di questa patologia è il dolore, ma ad esso si accompagnano alterazioni strutturali a livello tendineo che comportano perdita di elasticità di quest’ultimi e successiva compromissione dei movimenti a carico del polso e del gomito. Obiettivo dello studio: l’obiettivo di questo studio è quello di ricercare in letteratura le strategie più accreditate inerenti sia all’intervento sia alla prevenzione della tendinopatia laterale del gomito al fine di superare l’incertezza nell’attuazione del trattamento. Materiali e metodi: La tesi consiste in una revisione narrativa della letteratura che è stata condotta a seguito della consultazione della banche dati Pubmed e Scopus. Sono state incluse le Revisioni Sistematiche, le Linee Guida, le Reviews, gli studi Osservazioni e gli RCTs valutati con la Scala di PEDro. Gli articoli inclusi sono tutti stati pubblicati in lingua inglese e negli ultimi 5 anni (2018-2023). Risultati: A seguito della ricerca nelle banche dati citate, sono emersi 117 articoli in letteratura di cui però solo 25 rientravano nei criteri di inclusione e di esclusione definiti. Day et al. e Giray et al. hanno potuto dimostrare come la fisioterapia, intesa come esercizio, sia un’opzione molto affidabile per il trattamento di questa patologia. Nello specifico Giray ha valorizzato il ruolo dell’esercizio eccentrico dimostrando come sia più efficace se somministrato in aggiunta al KinesioTape. Anche Lin et al. nello studio ha discusso il ruolo dell’esercizio eccentrico dimostrando come questo, in concomitanza alla terapia manuale e allo stretching, sia efficace nella gestione della sintomatologia dolorosa. Vuvan et al. nel suo studio ha potuto dimostrare che l’esercizio isometrico non supervisionato è stato efficace nel migliorare il dolore e la disabilità, ma non la forza di presa. La proloterapia (DPT) si è vista essere una tecnica più efficace del controllo attivo nella gestione della sintomatologia dolorosa con un effetto nel medio/lungo termine, ma non ha evidenziato dei miglioramenti significativi per quanto riguarda la forza di presa e il PRTEE. Gli studi che hanno analizzato il ruolo dei tutori o delle ortesi spiegano come quest’ultimi siano utili nello svolgimento delle ADL a scopo antalgico, ma che utilizzati come mono-terapia non determinino miglioramenti significativi nella forza di presa e nella funzione. Conclusioni: Importante risulta la valutazione del paziente che permetterà poi di somministrare il trattamento più adatto alla sua situazione e di avere una maggiore partecipazione attiva al recupero. Nello studio è stata riscontrata la validità di molti interventi in riferimento agli outcome considerati, anche se quello che sembra essere più efficace nel medio / lungo termine è l’esercizio. In altre parole un programma riabilitativo mirato e specifico con le corrette progressioni e i corretti rinforzi poli-distrettuali, in aggiunta ad eventuali terapie fisiche oppure all’applicazione del taping, sembra essere la strategia più efficace al fine di ottenere un buon recupero. Alcune tecniche richiedono comunque ulteriori analisi e approfondimenti

Go beyond financial and performance information to reach donors: Designing‐effective online disclosure in the perception of European Community foundations

Building perceptions of trustworthiness that encourage donors to give is critical for no.nprofit organizations that depend on charitable giving. Several studies focused on the disclosure of financial and performance information to foster public trust and help donors to make giving decisions. Drawing from stewardship theory, this study explores how additional content dimensions of a more relational nature—including appreciation for the support received and willingness to dialog with donors—might be combined with financial and performance dimensions to design effective online disclosure in the view of nonprofits. By focusing on the viewpoint of European community foundations and using the configurational approach of qualitative comparative analysis, we found that information about fundraising campaigns is deemed must-have content to discharge online. However, this information alone is not considered to be enough; to retain current donors or attract new ones, it must be combined properly with disclosures demonstrating gratitude to and engagement with donors alongside organizational finances and performance

Pulmonary tuberculosis in the central prison of Douala, Cameroon

Objective: To determine the prevalence of and factors associated with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) in an urban prison in sub-Saharan Africa.Design: A cross-sectional survey. Setting: The Central Prison of Douala, Cameroon. Results: Two thousand four hundred and seventy four (87.4%) out of 2830 inmates underwent screening. Twenty seven (1.1%) of the inmates were under treatment for smear-positive PTB on commencement of the survey while 60 (2.4%) were diagnosed with smear and/or culture-positive PTB during the active case finding, resulting in a point prevalence of PTB of 3.5%. HIV seroprevalence in inmates without clinical signs of PTB was 111/1067 (10.4%) while it amounted to 6/24 (25%) in PTB patients. In multiple stepwise regression analysis, a low BMl, a prison stay of ≤12 months, and a history of previous incarceration were positively associated with PTB. Conclusion: The study results confirm the high prevalence rates of PTB in prison populations and underscore the need for urgent preventive measures. East African Medical Journal Vol. 83(1) 2006: 25-3

Circular economy in the water and wastewater sector: Tariff impact and financial performance of SMARTechs

This paper proposes a financial evaluation of the investment in SMARTechs in wastewater companies. SMAR Techs are innovative technologies that enable companies to work toward the circular economy approach, thanks to allowing the development of by-products from wastewater. A simulation of the financial impact of the SMARTech introduction was conducted based on the Italian tariff system. It is performed assuming two different scenarios. These relate to a market’s presence (or absence) for the by-products resulting from the application of SMARTechs. The results show that investing in these technologies provides both financial and environmental benefits

Mammary Paget's disease occurring after mastectomy

BACKGROUND: Mammary Paget's disease and extramammary Paget's disease are neoplastic conditions, in which there is intraepithelial (usually intraepidermal) infiltration by neoplastic cells showing glandular differentiation. Mammary Paget's disease occurs exclusively on the nipple/areola complex from where it may spread to the surrounding skin. CASE PRESENTATION: We here describe a case of Paget's disease occurring on the thoracic wall site of a previous simple mastectomy, and also briefly summarise the most important aspects leading to a diagnosis of mammary Paget's disease. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of mammary Paget's disease occurring after mastectomy. The absence of the nipple/areola complex obviously raised some questions concerning whether it was mammary or extra-mammary Paget's disease, and how it could occur in the absence of the nipple/areola complex

positive predictive value for malignancy on surgical excision of breast lesions of uncertain malignant potential b3 diagnosed by stereotactic vacuum assisted needle core biopsy vancb a large multi institutional study in italy

Abstract Percutaneous core biopsy (CB) has been introduced to increase the ability of accurately diagnosing breast malignancies without the need of resorting to surgery. Compared to conventional automated 14 gauge needle core biopsy (NCB), vacuum-assisted needle core biopsy (VANCB) allows obtaining larger specimens and has recognized advantages particularly when the radiological pattern is represented by microcalcifications. Regardless of technical improvements, a small percentage of percutaneous CBs performed to detect breast lesions are still classified, according to European and UK guidelines, in the borderline B3 category, including a group of heterogeneous lesions with uncertain malignant potential. We aimed to assess the prevalence and positive predictive values (PPV) on surgical excision (SE) of B3 category (overall and by sub-categories) in a large series of non-palpable breast lesions assessed through VANCB, also comparison with published data on CB. Overall, 26,165 consecutive stereotactic VANCB were identified in 22 Italian centres: 3107 (11.9%) were classified as B3, of which 1644 (54.2%) proceeded to SE to establish a definitive histological diagnosis of breast pathology. Due to a high proportion of microcalcifications as main radiological pattern, the overall PPV was 21.2% (range 10.6%–27.3% for different B3 subtypes), somewhat lower than the average value (24.5%) from published studies (range 9.9%–35.1%). Our study, to date the largest series of B3 with definitive histological assessment on SE, suggests that B3 lesions should be referred for SE even if VANCB is more accurate than NCB in the diagnostic process of non-palpable, sonographically invisible breast lesions

Red blood cell transfusions in newborn infants through peripherally inserted central catheter: an integrative review / Transfusão de hemácias em neonatos pelo cateter central de inserção periférica: revisão integrativa

Objective: This study aimed to identify in literature the implications related to red blood cell (RBC) transfusions, through Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter, in neonates. Methods: This is an integrative review conducted in the Web of Science, Scopus, Virtual Health Library, and PubMed databases. Publications in English, Spanish and Portuguese, available in full, without date limit, were included. Results: Four (100.0%) studies that addressed hemolysis of RBCs were selected, of which two (50.0%) also addressed catheter obstruction during transfusion. Studies revealed the occurrence of hemolysis related to infusion rate and storage time of RBCs, however without clinical relevance. Regarding obstruction, it was verified in only one catheter out of 38 followed-up in a study; in the other, there was no obstruction and transfusions were considered technically feasible. Conclusion: There is urgent need for primary clinical studies to assess clinical consequences of red blood cell transfusions through this type of catheter in neonates.Objetivo: identificar en la literatura las implicaciones relacionadas con la transfusión de glóbulos rojos, por Catéter Central de Inserción Periférica, en neonatos. Métodos: revisión integrativa, en las bases de datos Web of Science, Scopus, Biblioteca Virtual en Salud y PUBMED. Se incluyeron publicaciones en inglés, español y portugués, disponibles en totalidad, sin fecha límite. Resultados: seleccionaron cuatro (100,0%) estudios que abordaban la hemólisis de glóbulos rojos y dos de ellos (50,0%) la obstrucción del catéter durante la transfusión. Los estudios señalaron ocurrencia de hemólisis relacionada con velocidad de infusión y tiempo de almacenamiento de los glóbulos rojos, pero sin relevancia clínica. Sobre la obstrucción, se observó en catéter de 38 seguidos en un estudio; en otro, no hubo obstrucción, y las transfusiones se consideraron técnicamente factibles. Conclusión: se necesitan estudios clínicos primarios para evaluar las consecuencias clínicas de las transfusiones de glóbulos rojos a través de este tipo de catéter en los recién nacidos.Objetivo: identificar na literatura as implicações relacionadas à transfusão de hemácias, por meio do Cateter Central de Inserção Periférica, em neonatos. Métodos: revisão integrativa realizada nas bases de dados Web of Science, Scopus, Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde e PUBMED. Incluíram-se publicações em inglês, espanhol e português, disponíveis na íntegra, sem data limite. Resultados: selecionaram-se quatro (100,0%) pesquisas que abordaram hemólise das hemácias e dois deles (50,0%), também, versaram sobre obstrução do cateter durante a transfusão. Os estudos evidenciaram ocorrência de hemólise relacionada à velocidade de infusão e ao tempo de armazenamento das hemácias, porém sem relevância clínica. Referente à obstrução, observou-se ocorrência em apenas um cateter de 38 acompanhados em um estudo; no outro, não houve obstrução, sendo as transfusões consideradas tecnicamente viáveis. Conclusão: urgem estudos clínicos primários que avaliem as consequências clínicas das transfusões de hemácias por esse tipo de cateter, em neonatos.