Lower Extremity Strength Training to Decrease Falls in the Elderly

p\u3eAs the elderly population grows, the health care needs of people over the age of sixty-five will dominate the medical profession. Methods of prevention of health problems are key to providing the optimal medical care. Falling has been reported as the most prevalent means of injury in older people. One third of all seniors living in the community and one half of those residing in nursing homes fall each year. Research indicates that elderly people who fall have weaker lower extremity strength than elderly people who do not fall. As a result, some clinicians have incorporated strengthening regiments into fall prevention programs created for the elderly. The purpose of this independent study is to provide a comprehensive literature review of the current use and efficacy of strength training to reduce the muscular deficits and subsequent falls that occur in the elderly population. Recommendations for lower extremity strength training for future fall intervention programs will also be included

Recensioni

Sandra Zecchi, Tamara Zappaterra, Gianni Campatelli (a cura di), Disturbi Specificidell’Apprendimento. Accoglienza, orientamento e supporto alle prassi didattichenell’Ateneo Fiorentino, ETS, Pisa, 2016, pp. 114 di Camilla SpadoliniAlberto Paolini, Avevo solo le mie tasche. Manoscritti dal manicomio. Sensibilialle foglie, Roma, 2016, pp. 143 di Ines Guerin

Facilitating the Child–Robot Interaction by Endowing the Robot with the Capability of Understanding the Child Engagement: The Case of Mio Amico Robot

AbstractSocial Robots (SRs) are substantially becoming part of modern society, given their frequent use in many areas of application including education, communication, assistance, and entertainment. The main challenge in human–robot interaction is in achieving human-like and affective interaction between the two groups. This study is aimed at endowing SRs with the capability of assessing the emotional state of the interlocutor, by analyzing his/her psychophysiological signals. The methodology is focused on remote evaluations of the subject's peripheral neuro-vegetative activity by means of thermal infrared imaging. The approach was developed and tested for a particularly challenging use case: the interaction between children and a commercial educational robot, Mio Amico Robot, produced by LiscianiGiochi©. The emotional state classified from the thermal signal analysis was compared to the emotional state recognized by a facial action coding system. The proposed approach was reliable and accurate and favored a personalized and improved interaction of children with SRs

An Italian foreign policy of religious engagement: challenges and prospects

A new awareness of the role of religion in international relations has started to inform concrete policy discussions in several Western Ministries of Foreign Affairs under the heading of ‘religious engagement’ in foreign policy. Italy is no exception, but as the country which hosts the Holy See, it represents a special case. As the approach to religion found in the historical record of Italian foreign policy shows, Italy has a comparative advantage and could well develop a unique model of religious engagement by strengthening the central structures involved in religious matters and foreign policy, as well as by using the vast network of Rome-based religious non-state actors as a forum of consultation and policy advice

The architectural design in time of crisis. A research of "roots" to support the development

[EN] Vitruvius wrote the first treatise of Architecture and in it we find the fundamental recommendations for a good design. In the past 50 years it seems, instead, that each of these directions had been lost and there is today the need of promoting a new design paradigm that is attentive to nowadays criticalities and directed to sustainable development.The term sustainability starts to configure the quality of human actions since the 80’s following reflections on the resources limit (raw materials and fossil fuels) and the environment capacity limit of absorbing emissions and waste.The concept of sustainable development was elaborated in 1987 in the Brundtland report according to the need of distinguishing it from the concept of growth, that is to say with the goal of tending simultaneously toward the quality verification of programs in the environmental, social and economic dimensions.All that invited the whole society to reconsider its "lifestyle" that, in the specific field of architecture, meant finding a new design approach geared to a lower consumption and greater caution and responsibility in the choices.The configuration of a new design paradigm can trace their roots in the study of history and can proceed to evaluate the actions in a broad context of skills to ensure the quality of the products.Forlani, MC. (2015). The architectural design in time of crisis. A research of "roots" to support the development. VITRUVIO - International Journal of Architectural Technology and Sustainability. (1):1-12. doi:10.4995/vitruvio-ijats.2015.4471SWORD1121Bevilacqua, P. (1996), Ambiente, economia, risorse in Italia, Donzelli, RomaBevilacqua, P. (2006), La terra è finita, breve storia dell'ambiente,Editori Laterza, BariBocchi, S. (2015), Zolle, Raffaello Cortina Editore, MilanoButera F. (2007), Dalla caverna alla casa ecologica, Edizioni Ambiente, MilanoCarson, R. (1962), Silent spring, Houghton Mifflin, BostonDavey, N. (1965), Storia del materiale da costruzione, Il Saggiatore, MilanoDonolo, C. (2007), Sostenere lo sviluppo, ragioni e speranze oltre la crescita, Mondadori, MilanoEmery, N. (2007), L'architettura difficile, filosofia del costruire, Christian Marinotti Edizioni, MilanoFlorian, G. (1978), (interpretazione a cura di) Vitruvio Pollione - Dell'architettura, Giardini Editori e Stampatori, PisaForlani, M. C. (2001), Costruzione e uso della terra, Maggioli Editore, RiminiForlani M.C. (2010), Cultura tecnologica e progetto sostenibile, Alinea Editrice, FirenzeFriedman Y. (1978), L'Architecture de survie, Casterman, TournaiGangemi V. (1985), Architettura e tecnologia appropriata, Franco Angeli, MilanoHopkins R. (2009), The Transition handbook, Green Books LTD, Totnes, DevonIllich I. (1973), Tools for Conviviality, Seuil, ParisNorberg-Schulz, C. (1979), Genius loci, Gruppo Editoriale Electa, MilanoOdum, E. P. (1983), Basic Ecology, Saunders, PhiladelphiaRaiteri R. (2014), Progettare progettisti, un paradigma della formazione contemporanea, Quodlibet, MacerataRuzzenenti M. (2011), L'autarchia verde, Jaca Book, MilanoSinopoli, N. (1997), La tecnologia invisibile. Il Processo di produzione dell'architettura e le sue regie, Franco Angeli, MilanoSpadolini, P. (1974), Design e Progettazione, Edizioni Luigi Parma, BolognaTiezzi, E. (1992), Tempi storici, tempi biologici, Garzanti, Milan