Music of the Eye, Music of the Ear

applicazione della teoria di McLuhan alla differenza tra musica classica e musica popolar

Diffusion-tensor MRI methods to study and evaluate muscle architecture

The thesis describes the development of various approaches for measuring muscle architectural parameters using Diffusion Tensor MR Imaging (DTI). It also illustrates how to apply them to study changes in muscle architecture after an injury prevention program.In Chapter 2, because manual segmentation of muscles is cumbersome, we validated a semi-automatic framework for estimating DTI indices in upper leg muscles. This method reduced segmentation time by a factor of three in a cross-sectional study design and can be used fully automatically in a longitudinal assessment of changes in DTI indices.Chapter 3 was a feasibility study measuring fiber orientation changes with DTI in calf muscles and sub-compartments of the Soleus and Tibialis Anterior during plantarflexion and dorsiflexion. Differences in fiber orientations corresponded to the known agonist-antagonist function of the muscles. This shows that DTI can be utilized to assess changes in muscle orientation due to posture or training.In Chapter 4, we compared DTI fiber tractography for Vastus Lateralis fiber architecture assessment with 3D ultrasonography (3D-US). We discovered that both methods have their advantages and disadvantages, with the agreement between the two techniques being moderate.Finally, in Chapter 5, we examined the effects of a hamstring injury prevention exercise on the muscle architectural parameters of basketball players. DTI was employed to quantify changes in fiber orientation and length using tractography and fiber orientation maps. It was observed that the Semitendinosus fascicle length increased after the Nordics exercise, while the Biceps Femoris long head fiber orientation decreased following the Divers intervention

The Crisis and Italian Families

In this article the issue of the effects of the economic crisis on consumption in Italy is discussed. In particular, the authors present some information about the strategies of consumption in Italy, from a part of the data collected during some of the research conducted by the Observatory on the consumption of families (University of Verona, Italy). The data analyzed were collected through several surveys conducted in the five years between 2009 and 2013. After presenting some data on the economic status of the families of respondents, the authors discuss, among other things, the issue of the request for financial help \u2013 showing how the primary networks are increasingly over-stressed \u2013 and the growth of the incidence of households that reduce their spending in various areas of commodities \u2013 which show that the most significant growth appears to medicines and products for personal care and toiletries, and food. Finally, the changes, over time, of the incidence of some general profiles of consumers are shown

Il simulacro come forma e processo

il simulacro come forma generativa nel processo di mutamento sociale e di socializzazione ad un certo ordine sociale. la forma generativa come strumento di morfogenesi sociale e stabilizzazione del mutamento. la socializzazione all'ordine sociale attraverso il gusto estetico

Al di qua del bene e del male. Strutture (spaziali) elementari nella rappresentazione iconica del bene e del male

analisi prossemica del significato delle strutture spaziali nelle immagini del bene e del mal

Al di qua del bene e del male. Strutture (spaziali) elementari nella rappresentazione iconica del bene e del male

This side of good and evil. Elementary (space) structures in the iconic representation of good and evil. This paper proposes the application of some space structures to the symbolic understanding of the iconographic representations of good and evil. Spatial structures are taken from both ethology and proxemics. The author proposes its application to the symbolic characterization of good and evil in the iconographic representation of Western culture, particularly within the cultural space of the Christian religion. Some pictures depicting universal judgment and some images from recent production and the world of cartoons are analyzed.

Al di qua del bene e del male. Strutture (spaziali) elementari nella rappresentazione iconica del bene e del male

This side of good and evil. Elementary (space) structures in the iconic representation of good and evil. This paper proposes the application of some space structures to the symbolic understanding of the iconographic representations of good and evil. Spatial structures are taken from both ethology and proxemics. The author proposes its application to the symbolic characterization of good and evil in the iconographic representation of Western culture, particularly within the cultural space of the Christian religion. Some pictures depicting universal judgment and some images from recent production and the world of cartoons are analyzed

Ultrastructural changes in enterocytes in subjects with Hashimoto's thyroiditis

We have recently described1 mucosal ultrastructural impairments, such as height and thickness of microvilli, space between microvilli, and thickness of tight junctions, in non-coeliac type 1 diabetic patients after a preliminary report of an alteration in intestinal mucosal permeability (IP) evaluated by the lactulose/mannitol (LA/MA) test.2,3 Therefore, in the “aetiological” classification of autoimmunity based on initiating factors,4 the category of diet induced diseases could be expanded to include type 1 diabetes and, perhaps, other endocrine autoimmune diseases. Thyroiditis is the most frequently associated autoimmune endocrine disease with type 1 diabetes. Moreover, type 1 diabetes and Hashimoto thyroiditis present similar pathogenetic mechanisms of cellular damage, a cell mediated autoimmunity induced by Th1 cytokines. However, mucosal intestinal morphology and function have not yet been studied in autoimmune thyroiditis patients. Hence we investigated intestinal mucosal ultrastructural morphology and IP in a group of patients with autoimmune thyroiditis. The study was approved by the local ethics committee. Fourteen patients (12 females and 2 males; mean age 33.2 (SD 10.2) years) and 23 controls (12 females and 11 males; mean age 27.9 (SD 8.01) years) were enrolled into the study after giving written informed consent. The diagnosis of autoimmune thyroiditis was based on the following criteria: plasma autoantibody TPO positive at high titre and a typical thyroiditis ultrasound pattern. All patients were in euthyroidism (normal FT3, FT4, and TSH plasma levels without hormonal therapy). Mean duration of known disease was 5.2 (2.5) years. All patients were negative for the presence of antigliadin antibodies IgA and IgG, antiendomysium antibodies IgA, as well as antihuman transglutaminase IgA following a gluten rich Mediterranean diet. Type 1 diabetes mellitus was excluded according to the 1997 American Diabetes Association criteria, and none of the participants had a family history of diabetes mellitus. Other intestinal and endocrine diseases were excluded through clinical and, when indicated, laboratory evaluation. Food or other allergies were excluded. None of the subjects reported gastrointestinal signs or symptoms, or was a habitual smoker, abuser of alcohol, or regularly took non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

Kidney Transplant Modifies the Architecture and Microenvironment of Basal Cell Carcinomas

Background/Aims: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is a frequent type of nonmelanoma skin cancer, which shows a greater prevalence in kidney-transplanted (KT) patients than in the general population. The study of this tumor in KT patients may allow us to understand the influence of the tumor inflammatory microenvironment on cancer behavior, and to design new image analysis methods to determine prognosis and apply personalized medicine. The major hypothesis of the present work is that antirejection drugs, by modifying the B-cell/T-cell balance, induce measurable differences in tumoral cell microarchitecture and in the inflammatory microenvironment in KT patients compared to nontransplanted controls. Methods: In this retrospective study in an Italian cohort including 15 KT patients and 15 control subjects from the general population who developed BCC, we analyzed tissue microarchitecture and inflammatory infiltrates of BCC using state-of-the-art nonlinear image analysis techniques such as fractal dimension and sample entropy of internuclear distances. Results: KT patients showed a nonsignificant trend to a greater number of nuclei in the basal cell layer compared to non-KT controls and subtle changes in the intact skin compared to controls. Similarly, the number of mitoses per unit length was almost doubled in the patients with KT compared to controls. However, when the number of mitotic cells was normalized by the total number of cells in the basal layer (mitotic index), these differences were not significant, although a clear trend was still present. Finally, KT patients showed a nonsignificant trend to an increased ­density of inflammatory cells close to the tumoral cell layer. When considering the intact skin, this difference was significant, with a 70% increase in the density of inflammatory cells. Conclusion: Data comparing the microarchitecture of BCC in normal subjects and KT patients are scanty, and the present study is the first to use nonlinear image analysis techniques to this aim. The observed differences underscore the relevance of T-cell suppression in cancer behavior. These data suggest that BCC develops in treated patients with specific biological characteristics which should be further analyzed in terms of therapeutic response