The Italian Draft Law on the \u2018Provisions Concerning the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage\u2019

Intangible cultural heritage in Italy is still in need of a unified approach, capable of providing reliable criteria for identifying its assets and for indicating timescales and means by which they should be safeguarded. In the continued absence of up-to-date, ad hoc state legislation (since the content of those laws which do implement international Conventions is too generic in nature to be sufficiently effective), the Regions have proceeded to act in a somewhat scattered manner, giving rise to an extremely fragmented and very disorderly regulatory framework. The draft law N. 4486, "Provisions Concerning the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage", presented on 12th May 2017 at the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic - as the result of the work of an interdisciplinary and inter-university research team coordinated by Marco Giampieretti, who has drafted the final text with the collaboration of Simona Pinton - seeks to fill the serious void that exists in Italian legal system by aligning it to the principles of international and European law, by redirecting the relevant State and Regional legislation, and by satisfying the fundamental requirements of the national community

Nonlinearity in the vertical transmissibility of seating: The role of the human body apparent mass and seat dynamic stiffness

The efficiency of a seat in reducing vibration depends on the characteristics of the vibration, the dynamic characteristics of the seat, and the dynamic characteristics of the person sitting on the seat. However,it is not known whether seat cushions influence the dynamic response of the human body, whether the human body influences the dynamic response of seat cushions, or the relative importance of human body nonlinearity and seat nonlinearity in causing nonlinearity in measures of seat transmissibility. This study was designed to investigate the nonlinearity of the coupled seat and human body systems and to compare the apparent mass of the human body supported on rigid and foam seats.A frequency domain model was used to identify the dynamic parameters of seat foams and investigate their dependence on the subject-sitting weight and hip breadth. With 15 subjects, the force and acceleration at the seat base and acceleration at the subject interface were measured during random vertical vibration excitation (0.25–25 Hz) at each of five vibration magnitudes, (0.25–1.6 ms?2 r.m.s.) with four seating conditions (rigid flat seat and three foam cushions). The measurements are presented in terms of the subject’s apparent mass on the rigid and foam seat surfaces, and the transmissibility and dynamic stiffness of each of the foam cushions. Both the human body and the foams showed nonlinear softening behaviour, which resulted in nonlinear cushion transmissibility. The apparent masses of subjects sitting on the rigid seat and on foam cushions were similar, but with an apparent increase in damping when sitting on the foams. The foam dynamic stiffness showed complex correlations with characteristics of the human body, which differed between foams. The nonlinearities in cushion transmissibilities, expressed in terms of changes in resonance frequencies and moduli, were more dependent on human body nonlinearity than on cushion nonlinearity

Paediatric arterial ischaemic stroke and cerebral sinovenous thrombosis: First report from the Italian registry of pediatric thrombosis (R. I. T. I., Registro Italiano Trombosi Infantili)

reserved55noData from large case series of children with cerebral thrombotic events are pivotal to improve prevention, early recognition and treatment of these conditions. The Italian Registry of Pediatric Thrombosis (R. I. T. I.) was established in 2007 by a multidisciplinary team, aiming for a better understanding of neonatal and paediatric thrombotic events in Italy and providing a preliminary source of data for the future development of specific clinical trials and diagnostic-therapeutic protocols. We analysed data relative to the paediatric cerebral thrombotic events of the R. I. T. I. which occurred between January 2007 and June 2012. In the study period, 79 arterial ischaemic stroke (AIS) events (49 in males) and 91 cerebral sinovenous thrombosis (CSVT) events (65 in males) were enrolled in the R. I. T. I. Mean age at onset was 4.5 years in AIS, and 7.1 years in CSVT. Most common modes of presentation were hemiparesis, seizures and speech disturbances in AIS, and headache, seizures and lethargy in CSVT. Most common etiologies were underlying chronic diseases, vasculopathy and cardiopathy in AIS, and underlying chronic diseases and infection in CSVT. Time to diagnosis exceeded 24 hours in 46% AIS and 59% CSVT. Overall data from the Italian Registry are in substantial agreement with those from the literature, despite small differences. Among these, a longer time to diagnosis compared to other registries and case series poses the accent to the need of an earlier recognition of paediatric cerebrovascular events in Italy, in order to enable prompt and effective treatment strategies.mixedSuppiej A.; Gentilomo C.; Saracco P.; Sartori S.; Agostini M.; Bagna R.; Bassi B.; Giordano P.; Grassi M.; Guzzetta A.; Lasagni D.; Luciani M.; Molinari A.C.; Palmieri A.; Putti M.C.; Ramenghi L.A.; Rota L.L.; Sperli D.; Laverda A.M.; Simioni P.; Angriman M.; Aru A.B.; Barisone E.; Bartalena L.; Berta M.; Bertoni E.; Cancarini P.; Cavaliere E.; Celle M.E.; Cerbone A.M.; Cesaroni E.; Via L.D.; Dell'Oro M.G.; Di Rosa G.; Ferrari G.M.; Fiori S.; Gaffuri M.; Gallina M.R.; Gimmillaro A.; Grandone E.; Ladogana S.; Laforgia N.; La Piana R.; Maschio F.; Miniero R.; Nosadini M.; Panzeri D.; Petrucci A.; Piersigilli F.; Sala D.; Sangermani R.; Santoro N.; Tufano A.; Ventura G.; Vittorini R.Suppiej, A.; Gentilomo, C.; Saracco, P.; Sartori, S.; Agostini, M.; Bagna, R.; Bassi, B.; Giordano, P.; Grassi, M.; Guzzetta, A.; Lasagni, D.; Luciani, M.; Molinari, A. C.; Palmieri, A.; Putti, M. C.; Ramenghi, L. A.; Rota, L. L.; Sperli, D.; Laverda, A. M.; Simioni, P.; Angriman, M.; Aru, A. B.; Barisone, E.; Bartalena, L.; Berta, M.; Bertoni, E.; Cancarini, P.; Cavaliere, E.; Celle, M. E.; Cerbone, A. M.; Cesaroni, E.; Via, L. D.; Dell'Oro, M. G.; Di Rosa, G.; Ferrari, G. M.; Fiori, S.; Gaffuri, M.; Gallina, M. R.; Gimmillaro, A.; Grandone, E.; Ladogana, S.; Laforgia, N.; La Piana, R.; Maschio, F.; Miniero, R.; Nosadini, M.; Panzeri, D.; Petrucci, A.; Piersigilli, F.; Sala, D.; Sangermani, R.; Santoro, N.; Tufano, A.; Ventura, G.; Vittorini, R

The management of acute venous thromboembolism in clinical practice - study rationale and protocol of the European PREFER in VTE Registry

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major health problem, with over one million events every year in Europe. However, there is a paucity of data on the current management in real life, including factors influencing treatment pathways, patient satisfaction, quality of life (QoL), and utilization of health care resources and the corresponding costs. The PREFER in VTE registry has been designed to address this and to understand medical care and needs as well as potential gaps for improvement. Methods/design: The PREFER in VTE registry was a prospective, observational, multicenter study conducted in seven European countries including Austria, France Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK to assess the characteristics and the management of patients with VTE, the use of health care resources, and to provide data to estimate the costs for 12 months treatment following a first-time and/or recurrent VTE diagnosed in hospitals or specialized or primary care centers. In addition, existing anticoagulant treatment patterns, patient pathways, clinical outcomes, treatment satisfaction, and health related QoL were documented. The centers were chosen to reflect the care environment in which patients with VTE are managed in each of the participating countries. Patients were eligible to be enrolled into the registry if they were at least 18 years old, had a symptomatic, objectively confirmed first time or recurrent acute VTE defined as either distal or proximal deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism or both. After the baseline visit at the time of the acute VTE event, further follow-up documentations occurred at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. Follow-up data was collected by either routinely scheduled visits or by telephone calls. Results: Overall, 381 centers participated, which enrolled 3,545 patients during an observational period of 1 year. Conclusion: The PREFER in VTE registry will provide valuable insights into the characteristics of patients with VTE and their acute and mid-term management, as well as into drug utilization and the use of health care resources in acute first-time and/or recurrent VTE across Europe in clinical practice. Trial registration: Registered in DRKS register, ID number: DRKS0000479