370 research outputs found

    If You Love Something, Set it Free? Open Content Copyright Licensing and Creative Cultural Expression

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    This dissertation seeks an answer to the question of when open content copyright licences can be most productively used to facilitate the creation and dissemination of cultural expression. Conventional copyright licences emphasize control and the policing of infringing activity. By identifying the circumstances in which open, permissive, and simple-to-understand copyright licensing models can successfully be employed, this dissertation provides a heuristic that articulates when open content licensing can be used to help foster creativity, dialogic collaboration and iterative cultural expression. Using communicative copyright, an account inspired by the relational author approach of Carys Craig, as a theoretical framework, this dissertation posits that copyright licensing is best understood not as a mechanism for maximizing monetary returns, but instead as a mechanism for increasing creative participation and communication among community members. Employing the insights of the communicative account, and synthesizing the work of scholars from a range of disciplines, this dissertation sets forth a comprehensive definition for open content copyright licences and identifies a matrix of success indicia for the use of such licences, arrayed in sets of characteristics categorized by whether they pertain to the licensor, the work, the community, and the market. At the heart of this research project is a case study of the use of the Open Game License (OGL) in connection with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and how that licensing model has resulted in a vibrant community that creates, remixes and shares open content. The fieldwork for this research project uses a qualitative empirical method in the form of semi-structured interviews with role-playing game publishers and players, along with content analysis of online statements regarding the use of the OGL, such as those found in interviews, blog posts, forum posts and comments. The findings of the fieldwork portion affirm the explanatory power of the communicative copyright account, and in turn yield an emphasis on the critical nature of the community-constitutive role of open content copyright licences. Open content copyright licences can be most productively used when licensors are committed to nurturing and facilitating a community of creatively-engaged consumers

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    RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MAXILLARY CANINES IN AN ECTOPIC AND VARIATION OF THE DIAMETER OF THE TEETH

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    Aim. A tooth is impacted when its apex is formed but does not erupt as expected during the physiological timeframe of eruption. Maxillary canines, after the third molars are the teeth that more frequently show alterations of their eruptive process.. Maxillary canines can be positioned in ectopic palatal or buccal position. In recent years, an extensive search of the literature has shown a correlation between the palatal ectopic eruption of the canine and size of the dental elements reduced. Purpose of the study was to investigate a relationship between ectopic eruption of the canine oral, dental crowding and increased diameter of the teeth

    Extra-Anatomic Jump Graft from the Right Colic Vein: A Novel Technique to Manage Portal Vein Thrombosis in Liver Transplantation

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    In the context of cirrhosis, portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is present in 2.1% to 26% of patients. PVT is no longer considered an absolute contraindication for liver transplantation, and nowadays, surgical strategies depend on the extent of PVT. Complete PVT is associated with higher morbidity rates and poor prognosis, while comparable long-term outcomes can be achieved as long as physiological portal inflow is restored

    Atypical periprosthetic femoral fractures of the hip: A PRISMA compliant systematic review

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    Introduction: Long-term use of bisphosphonates (BPs) is associated with Atypical Femoral Fracture (AFF). Theoretically, periprosthetic femoral fractures (PFF) should be excluded from the diagnosis of AFF. How-ever, recently several studies reported the occurrence of PPFs around a hip arthroplasty presenting fea-tures of an AFF. The present study describes the characteristics of Atypical Periprosthetic Femoral Fracture (APFF) and evaluates the effectiveness of their management through a PRISMA compliant systematic re-view of the published case reports and series. Materials and methods: A literature search was performed using "periprosthetic fracture" and "atypical femoral fracture" as keywords. Patients demographics, drug use, clinical and imaging characteristics, stem fixation and classification, management strategies for APFF and patients' outcomes, were also collected. Results: The present review included and analysed 17 patients from 12 studies. All APFFs occurred in females with a mean age of 75.9 years of age (range 43-87). In 11 patients, APFFs occurred around an uncemented stem, and in 6 around a cemented stem. Ten fractures were incomplete, and 7 complete. Conservative management was effective in 4 of 10 patients with incomplete fracture, while all patients with complete fractures underwent open reduction and internal fixation. A fracture non-union was ob-served in 5 patients and further surgery was required. Discussions: APFFs share several clinical and imaging characteristics with AFF. An appropriate and early diagnosis may allow to improve the outcome of these fractures, the management of which should be based on the same principles of that of AFFs. Conclusions: Considering the low quality of published articles and the heterogeneity of the treatment used, a clear recommendation of the most appropriate treatment cannot be formulated. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

    Knowledge-Based Classification of Grassland Ecosystem Based on Multi-Temporal WorldView-2 Data and FAO-LCCS Taxonomy

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    Grassland ecosystems can provide a variety of services for humans, such as carbon storage, food production, crop pollination and pest regulation. However, grasslands are today one of the most endangered ecosystems due to land use change, agricultural intensification, land abandonment as well as climate change. The present study explores the performance of a knowledge-driven GEOgraphic-Object—based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) learning scheme to classify Very High Resolution(VHR)imagesfornaturalgrasslandecosystemmapping. Theclassificationwasappliedto a Natura 2000 protected area in Southern Italy. The Food and Agricultural Organization Land Cover Classification System (FAO-LCCS) hierarchical scheme was instantiated in the learning phase of the algorithm. Four multi-temporal WorldView-2 (WV-2) images were classified by combining plant phenology and agricultural practices rules with prior-image spectral knowledge. Drawing on this knowledge, spectral bands and entropy features from one single date (Post Peak of Biomass) were firstly used for multiple-scale image segmentation into Small Objects (SO) and Large Objects (LO). Thereafter, SO were labelled by considering spectral and context-sensitive features from the whole multi-seasonal data set available together with ancillary data. Lastly, the labelled SO were overlaid to LO segments and, in turn, the latter were labelled by adopting FAO-LCCS criteria about the SOs presence dominance in each LO. Ground reference samples were used only for validating the SO and LO output maps. The knowledge driven GEOBIA classifier for SO classification obtained an OA value of 97.35% with an error of 0.04. For LO classification the value was 75.09% with an error of 0.70. At SO scale, grasslands ecosystem was classified with 92.6%, 99.9% and 96.1% of User’s, Producer’s Accuracy and F1-score, respectively. The findings reported indicate that the knowledge-driven approach not only can be applied for (semi)natural grasslands ecosystem mapping in vast and not accessible areas but can also reduce the costs of ground truth data acquisition. The approach used may provide different level of details (small and large objects in the scene) but also indicates how to design and validate local conservation policies

    Irrigation with treated municipal wastewater on artichoke crop: assessment of soil and yield heavy metal content and human risk

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    Industrial and municipal wastewaters are often used for irrigating agricultural fields in arid and semi-arid countries, representing the most attractive option to alleviate pressure on fresh-water resources. However, the wastewater may contain various potentially toxic elements and organic matters with highly harmful effects on human and animal health. During two growing seasons of globe artichoke, the effects of irrigation with secondary (SWW) and tertiary (TWW) municipal wastewater on heavy metal soil and plant content were evaluated together with the consequent human risk from artichoke head consumption. The heavy metal contents (i.e., Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Zn, and Mn) of the irrigation water, soil, plant and yield were analyzed. Total and extractable heavy metals were quantified to determine the bioaccumulation factors, and the health risks to adults and children were determined according to hazard indices. The heavy metal contents of the artichoke heads harvested after SWW and TWW irrigation were lower than the international threshold values and low bioaccumulation factors suggested that these heavy metals did not accumulate in the edible part of the artichoke crop. The hazard indices based on the consumption of the artichoke heads remained <1.0 for both adults and children, thus indicating that the health risks involving the different heavy metals are not significant

    The Evolving Role of Local Treatments for HCC in the Third Millennium

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    Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents the fifth most common malignancy and the third cancer-related cause of death worldwide. The aim of this review was to clarify the role of local treatments for HCC, analyzing the indications and defining future perspectives

    Qualitative characterisation of cultivated and wild edible plants: Mineral elements, phenols content and antioxidant capacity

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    This study investigated the qualitative characteristics of several edible wild herbaceous species, including those most consumed in Foggia Province (southern Italy). Analysis of qualitative characteristics was performed for the edible parts of 11 wild species (Beta vulgaris L., Foeniculum vulgare Miller, Centaurea solstitialis L., Cichorium intybus L., Scolymus hispanicus L., Sonchus oleraceus L., Borago officinalis L., Diplotaxis erucoides L., Diplotaxis tenuifolia (L.) DC, Sinapis arvensis L., Portulaca oleracea L.) and three cultivated species (C. intybus, B. officinalis, D. tenuifolia). The plants were collected from areas in the Foggia countryside, and the edible part of each species was analysed for dry matter, protein, cation and anion contents as well as total phenols and antioxidant activities. Among the cations, calcium was the most differentiated among species, ranging 784 mg kg-1 fresh weight (Fw) for B. vulgaris to 5886 mg kg-1 Fw for S. hispanicus. The nitrate contents were also highly variable, from 75 mg kg-1 Fw for C. intybus to 3874 mg kg-1 Fw for D. tenuifolia. Total polyphenols ranged from 1054 mg GAE mg kg-1 Fw for C. solstitialis to 3664 mg GAE mg kg-1 Fw for S. arvensis. Antioxidant activities ranged from 839 mg TE kg-1 Fw for B. vulgaris to 5658 mg TE kg-1 Fw for C. intybus. Significant differences were also noted between wild and cultivated plants in the qualitative parameters. Total polyphenols and antioxidant activity were higher in wild C. intybus and B. officinalis than in their cultivated counterparts. Multivariate analysis (cluster analysis and linear discriminant analysis) allowed integration of the ANOVA data to determine the qualitative characteristics of the wild species that contribute most to group differences. The results of the present study aims at improve the current knowledges about edible wild species as vegetable sources in the Mediterranean diet
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