THE TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The technical management of ICT/Telemedicine Services is one Hospital Manager's crucial problem. The Biomedical Technologies Market has clearly shown that technical support to the user is one of the most critical issues that contribute to guarantee the quality of service in High-Tech applications. Therefore the ICT/Telemedicine Services, which belong to the high innovation area as well, require adequate competencies and human resources in order to provide users with a proper technical support. All these technologies require on the one hand a specialist who normally works remotely (II level support) and on the other hand an ordinary management activity (I level technical support) in order to avoid that medical staff stop their work in the operative env

O desafio para o multilinguismo: o projecto Erasmus

O presente trabalho pretende analisar conceitos relativos à promoção e à realização da política do multilinguismo em Europa, em particular o objeto de estudo será o projeto Erasmus, instituído pela União Europeia no âmbito do The Lifelong Learning Programme. O trabalho será dividido em três partes principais. Na primeira será dada uma atenção mais teórica ao contexto das políticas de promoção das línguas desenvolvidas pela União Europeia a partir da Declaração Universal dos Direitos Linguísticos até chagar ao mais recente Tratado de Lisboa. A segunda parte apresentará aspectos relativos às iniciativas que promovem o multilinguismo e nesse caso serão investigados, especificamente, o processo de integração social, linguística e cultural dos estudantes que participam em programas de mobilidade internacional. Na última parte, irá analisar-se o caso concreto dos estudantes Erasmus em Lisboa, em particular, no que diz respeito à integração linguística e cultural e à modalidade da aprendizagem do português como língua estrangeira. Assim sendo, para obter os dados necessários para o estudo, serão efectuadas entrevistas para verificar a política de ensino do português como L2/LE e o processo de diferenciação e identidade na comunidade de acolhimento. A metodologia adoptada inclui a pesquisa bibliográfica, a análise de fontes documentais, jurídicas e a pesquisa no terreno através da realização de entrevistas.Riassunto: Lo scopo di questo lavoro è analizzare concetti relativi alla promozione del multilinguismo in Europa, prestando una particolare attenzione al progetto Erasmus istituito dall'Unione Europea nell'ambito del programma The Lifelong Programme. La tesi sarà divisa in tre parti: Nella prima sarà data un'attenzione più teorica alle politiche di promozione delle lingue sviluppate dall' Unione Europea, partendo dalla Dichiarazione Universale dei diritti Linguistici fino ad arrivare al più recente Trattato di Lisbona. Nella seconda parte saranno presentati aspetti relativi alle iniziative volte a promuovere il multilinguismo e in tal caso sarà investigato, nello specifico, il processo di integrazione sociale, linguistica e culturale degli studenti che partecipano ai programmi di mobilità internazionale. L'ultima parte vedrà il caso concreto degli studenti Erasmus a Lisbona, soprattutto in relazione all'integrazione linguistica e culturale e alla modalità dell'apprendimento del portoghese come lingua straniera. In questo modo per ottenere i dati necessari allo studio, saranno fatte delle interviste per verificare la politica di insegnameto del Portoghese L2/LS e i processo di differenzazione e identità nella comunità di accoglimento. La metodolgia adottata include la ricerca bibliografica, l'analisi di documenti, fonti giuridiche e una ricerca sul campo per la realizazione delle interviste

THE 23 JULY 1930 EARTHQUAKE (MS=6.7) IN THE SOUTHERN APENNINES (ITALY): GEOLOGICAL AND HYDROLOGICAL EFFECTS

The 23 July 1930 earthquake (MS=6.7) in the Southern Apennines (Italy) was a catastrophic event that produced many effects such as surface faulting, fractures, landslides, settlements, hydrological changes, variations in chemical/ physical activity related to the volcanic and/or thermal zones and also acoustic and optical phenomena. It is the first great earthquake of the twentieth century that was studied, thanks to the hydrological monitoring network of the Italian Hydrographic Survey (IHS) set up from 1925 to 1929. For this earthquake we analysed the initial IHS hydrometric and pluviometric data, looking for significant anomalies in springs, water wells and mountain streams. Hydrological data relative to rivers, springs and water wells indicate that some changes can be correlated with the earthquake: a post-seismic excess discharge in some streams, pre- and co-seismic decreases in stream flows and water levels in wells, pre- and post-seismic increases in discharges. The pre- and co-seismic stresses and the tectonic deformations were studied in order to find a possible model of interaction between stress state and hydrological variations. The anomalies found in this work can be considered “rebound anomalies”, which are the most common precursor reported by several authors and related to increases in porosity and permeability caused by the fracturing that precedes an earthquake. An estimation of the total excess discharge (0.035 km3) caused by the Ms=6.7 Irpinia earthquake is consistent with the excess discharge of about 0.01 km3 determined for the Mw=6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake. To define the normal hydrodynamic behaviour of the considered aquifers, an analysis of the correlation between rainfalls and water levels and flow rates has been carried out. The delay of significant peaks in the correlograms of figure 7 with respect to the start of the hydrological anomaly and/or its duration, can define the space-time limits of the changes correlated with earthquake

Hydrological anomalies connected to earthquakes in southern Apennines (Italy)

The study of hydrological variations in the watersheds of seismic areas can be useful in order to acquire a new knowledge of the mechanisms by which earthquakes can produce hydrological anomalies. Italy has the availability of many long historical series both of hydrological parameters and of seismological data, and is an ideal laboratory to verify the validity of theoretical models proposed by various authors. In this work we analyse the hydrological anomalies associated with some of the big earthquakes that occurred in the last century in the southern Apennines: 1930, 1980 and 1984. For these earthquakes we analysed hydrometric and pluviometric data looking for significant anomalies in springs, water wells and mountain streams. The influence of rainfalls on the normal flows of rivers, springs and wells has been ascertained. Also, the earthquake of 1805, for which a lot of hydrological perturbations have been reported, is considered in order to point out effects imputable to this earthquake that can be similar to the effects of the other big earthquakes. The considered seismic events exhibit different modes of energy release, different focal mechanisms and different propagation of effects on the invested areas. Furthermore, even if their epicentres were not localised in contiguous seismogenetic areas, it seems that the hydrological effects imputable to them took place in the same areas. Such phenomena have been compared with macroseismic fields and transformed in parameters, in order to derive empirical relationships between the dimensions of the event and the characteristics of the hydrological variations. The results of this work point to a close dependence among hydrological anomalies, regional structures and fault mechanisms, and indicate that many clear anomalies have been forerunners of earthquakes. In 1993, the Naples Bureau of the Hydrographic National Service started the continuous monitoring of hydrologic parameters by a network of automatic stations and transmission in real time; presently 7 acquifers are under control in which also pH, <i>T</i> , salinity, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen are measured. We envisage to increase the number of monitoring sites and controlled parameters

The notion of «ragione» in Cino da Pistoia. Language and style beyond 'Stilnovo'

Il lavoro svolto apre a una nuova prospettiva di indagine nella valutazione della funzione storiografica della categoria di ‘Stilnovismo’, mediante una ricognizione testuale che attraversa il corpus poetico di Cino da Pistoia. Nella prima parte della ricerca si offrono i risultati di un’attenta rilettura dei ben noti passi danteschi in cui nel trattato latino sull’eloquenza in volgare il nome di Cino è stretto in un binomio indissolubile all’amico ed esule fiorentino, alla luce di una riconsiderazione delle sfere di referenza della 'subtilitas' e della 'dulcedo'. La complessità e varietà dell’immagine del poeta pistoiese restituita dal trattato dantesco viene quindi rielaborata secondo un’analisi linguistica e stilematica che problematizza l’ipostatizzata identità di Cino con una vena di monocorde dolcezza, nelle tracce rilevanti di strutture formali e concrezioni lessematiche di marca pre-stilnovistica se non anche di ascendenza guittoniana. L’ultima sezione recupera il confronto con Dante in una nuova conferma del congeniale eclettismo ciniano di assimilazione di esperienze poetiche lontane e aliene da quella comune 'koinè' letteraria che nella storia della ricezione storiografica risponde al canone dantesco di 'dolce stil novo'.The present work offers new insights for the understanding of the historiography of the notion of "Stilnovismo" by means of a fine-grained analysis of the poetry of Cino da Pistoia. In the first part of the work, I will provide a new analysis of the well-known Dante's passages of the De vulgari eloquentia - in which Cino's name is indissolubly linked with the name of his Florentine friend, by providing a new interpretation of the notions of 'subtilitas' and 'dulcedo'. In particular, I will offer a linguistic and stylematic analysis of the complex and multifaceted image of Cino as depicted in Dante's treatise. The proposed analysis aims to challenge the alleged identification of Cino with a mild ‘sweetness’ flair, by looking at his linguistic structures and lexical choices reminding of pre-stilnovismo and Guittone's poetry. The last section offers a comparison with Dante's poetry and assesses Cino's versatility and sensitivity to poetry practices outdistancing the poetry 'koinè' represented by Dante's 'dolce stile'

A NEW MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE ON KERMES VERMILIO (PLANCHON) (HEMIPTERA: COCCOIDEA: KERMESIDAE)

A NEW MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE ON KERMES VERMILIO (PLANCHON) (HEMIPTERA: COCCOIDEA: KERMESIDAE). Kermes vermilio (Planchon) is a common scale insect living on Quercus ilex L. in urban environments in Southern Italy. Morphological studies on the nymphs and prepupae showed the presence of a pair of membranous ventral frontal lobes, situated just antero-medially to each basal antennal segment. Similar lobes are only currently known in the family Eriococcidae. These structures are therefore here recorded in the Kermesidae for the first time, although it is thought probable that they are present on other species of the family. Their function is unknown. Key words: phylogenetic relationships, Pseudococcidae, Dactylopiidae, Coccidae, Lecanodiaspididae

A feasibility study for the provision of electronic healthcare tools and services in areas of Greece, Cyprus and Italy

Background: Through this paper, we present the initial steps for the creation of an integrated platform for the provision of a series of eHealth tools and services to both citizens and travelers in isolated areas of thesoutheast Mediterranean, and on board ships travelling across it. The platform was created through an INTERREG IIIB ARCHIMED project called INTERMED. Methods: The support of primary healthcare, home care and the continuous education of physicians are the three major issues that the proposed platform is trying to facilitate. The proposed system is based on state-of-the-art telemedicine systems and is able to provide the following healthcare services: i) Telecollaboration and teleconsultation services between remotely located healthcare providers, ii) telemedicine services in emergencies, iii) home telecare services for "at risk" citizens such as the elderly and patients with chronic diseases, and iv) eLearning services for the continuous training through seminars of both healthcare personnel (physicians, nurses etc) and persons supporting "at risk" citizens. These systems support data transmission over simple phone lines, internet connections, integrated services digital network/digital subscriber lines, satellite links, mobile networks (GPRS/3G), and wireless local area networks. The data corresponds, among others, to voice, vital biosignals, still medical images, video, and data used by eLearning applications. The proposed platform comprises several systems, each supporting different services. These were integrated using a common data storage and exchange scheme in order to achieve system interoperability in terms of software, language and national characteristics. Results: The platform has been installed and evaluated in different rural and urban sites in Greece, Cyprus and Italy. The evaluation was mainly related to technical issues and user satisfaction. The selected sites are, among others, rural health centers, ambulances, homes of "at-risk" citizens, and a ferry. Conclusions: The results proved the functionality and utilization of the platform in various rural places in Greece, Cyprus and Italy. However, further actions are needed to enable the local healthcare systems and the different population groups to be familiarized with, and use in their everyday lives, mature technological solutions for the provision of healthcare services

Seismically induced ground effects of the 1805, 1930 and 1980 earthquakes in the Southern Apennines (Italy

Seismically induced environmental effects (in particular, surfacefaults, ground cracks, slope failures, liquefaction, soil compaction, hydrological changes, tsunamis) are assumed to provide fundamentalinformation on the earthquake size and its intensity field, crucial for a more efficient seismic hazard assessment. Accordingly, this study is aimed at substantiating this assumption by showing that the knowledge about ground effects acquired in recent earthquakes, when combined with that illustrated in historical documents, allows to buildan improved picture of historic seismic events, with respect to that usually provided by the solely damage-based macroseismic scales. In this perspective, the environmental effects are analysed and cataloguedof three of the most ruinous earthquakes in Southern Italy of the last two centuries: the July 26,1805, Molise event (XI MCS, M 6.8), the July 23, 1930, Irpinia event (X MCS, M 6.7), and the November 23, 1980 Campania-Basilicata event (X MSK, Ms 6.9). The distribution of the earthquake environmental effects, in particular their distance from the known or supposed causative fault, has been investigated to obtain a more detailed and comprehensive picture of the macroseismic field, a key parameter in seismic hazard assessment and seismic zonation. KEY WORDS: historical seismicity, intensity, ground effects, earthquak

Geochemical monitoring integrated in a real time hydrological network

Hydrological data relative to springs and water wells collected by the Hydrografic National Service in Naples indicate that some anomalies can be correlated with the seismic activity in Southern Apennines. In this paper we report some hydrological anomalies for the November 23, 1980 earthquake and suggest that an improvement of the hydrometeorological network of the Hydrographic National Service can reveal geochemical and hydrological anomalies before the earthquakes