Book Review: Gendering War and Peace Reporting: Some Insights–Some Missing Links

Review of Gendering War and Peace Reporting: Some Insights –Some Missing Links, edited by Bertit von der Lippe and Rune Ottosen. Nordicom, 201

A survey on planning, expectations and factors influencing the stabilization process of migrating people in Palermo, Western Sicily

Background. Europe constitutes a major pole of attraction for the migratory fluxes. The migrating population is made up of many different individuals, carrying different projects of life and expectations. The consistence of the phenomena, in few decades, will be responsible for deep changes in the demographic structure of the European population. The purpose of this investigation was to attempt to draw an identikit of migrating people and to evaluate those factors which may be considered important to positively influence the process of stabilization. Moreover, the research tried to evaluate the differences among those migrating people who have recently arrived, still considering this country as a landing shore, and those who have definitely settled in Sicily. Methods. The research was carried out through a 42 items multiple choice answer questionnaire administered to two groups of individuals who were born in a non European Union (EU) country. Individuals, who were still trying to settle (group A), were chosen at random in the streets of the city, while individu- als with a solid and integrated family were chosen at random from the municipality of Palermo, Sicily. To compare the two different groups of individuals Student?s t and Chi square tests were used together with standard descriptive statistics and linear regression analysis. Results. Results seem to indicate that positive factors for integra- tion are years of residence in the same place, support from the family since the very beginning of the migratory project, stable interethnic social structure. What did not seem to constitute determining factors in the territory analysed are: age, gender, country of origin, religion. Higher education levels apparently play a negative role. Child bearing indexes are higher than European levels. Birth rate was use in the attempt of modelling a projection of population growth. Discussion. The collected data brings forth the snapshot of the typical immigrant as a young strong healthy individual, longing to start a family on safe values, who accepts transitory precari- ous living conditions in order to improve them. The major nega- tive factors in the migratory project are those of social nature. Governments have generally adopted a politics of control on entry and of managing the emergency. There is a need for a politics of empowerment and exploitation of the capacity of the migrants. Deep changes occurring in the demographic structure of the European population might influence the social contest. Decrease European birth rate and increasing immigration may create a melting pot, where Europeans may take a role of an endangered species

Pulmonary and chest wall function in obese adults

Obesity is frequently associated with breathing disorders. To investigate if and how the highest levels of obesity impact respiratory function, 17 subjects with obesity (median age: 49 years; BMI: 39.7 kg/m2, 8 females) and 10 normal-weighted subjects (49 years; 23.9 kg/m2, 5 females) were studied. The abdominal volume occupied 41% in the obese group, being higher (p < 0.001) than the normal-weighted group (31%), indicating accumulation of abdominal fat. Restrictive lung defect was present in 17% of subjects with obesity. At rest in the supine position, subjects with obesity breathed with higher minute ventilation (11.9 L/min) and lower ribcage contribution (5.7%) than normal weighted subjects (7.5 L/min, p = 0.001 and 31.1%, p = 0.003, respectively), thus indicating thoracic restriction. Otherwise healthy obesity might not be characterized by a systematic restrictive lung pattern. Despite this, another sign of restriction could be poor thoracic expansion at rest in the supine position, resulting in increased ventilation. Class 3 obesity made respiratory rate further increased. Opto-electronic plethysmography and its thoraco-abdominal analysis of awake breathing add viable and interesting information in subjects with obesity that were complementary to pulmonary function tests. In addition, OEP is able to localize the restrictive effect of obesity

Enhancing the significance of gravitational wave bursts through signal classification

The quest to observe gravitational waves challenges our ability to discriminate signals from detector noise. This issue is especially relevant for transient gravitational waves searches with a robust eyes wide open approach, the so called all- sky burst searches. Here we show how signal classification methods inspired by broad astrophysical characteristics can be implemented in all-sky burst searches preserving their generality. In our case study, we apply a multivariate analyses based on artificial neural networks to classify waves emitted in compact binary coalescences. We enhance by orders of magnitude the significance of signals belonging to this broad astrophysical class against the noise background. Alternatively, at a given level of mis-classification of noise events, we can detect about 1/4 more of the total signal population. We also show that a more general strategy of signal classification can actually be performed, by testing the ability of artificial neural networks in discriminating different signal classes. The possible impact on future observations by the LIGO-Virgo network of detectors is discussed by analysing recoloured noise from previous LIGO-Virgo data with coherent WaveBurst, one of the flagship pipelines dedicated to all-sky searches for transient gravitational waves

Effects of combined training or moderate intensity continuous training during a 3-week multidisciplinary body weight reduction program on cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, and substrate oxidation rate in adolescents with obesity

This study aimed to investigate the effects of combined training (COMB, a combination of moderate-intensity continuous training-MICT and high-intensity interval training-HIIT) vs. continuous MICT administered during a 3-week in-hospital body weight reduction program (BWRP) on body composition, physical capacities, and substrate oxidation in adolescents with obesity. The 3-week in-hospital BWRP entailed moderate energy restriction, nutritional education, psychological counseling, and two different protocols of physical exercise. Twenty-one male adolescents with obesity (mean age: 16.1 ± 1.5 years; mean body mass index [BMI] 37.8 ± 4.5 kg m−2) participated in this randomized control trial study (n:10 for COMB, n:11 MICT), attending ~ 30 training sessions. The COMB group performed 3 repetitions of 2 min at 95% of peak oxygen uptake (V′O2 peak) (e.g., HIIT ≤ 20%), followed by 30 min at 60% of V′O2 peak (e.g., MICT ≥ 80%). Body composition, V′O2 peak, basal metabolic rate (BMR), energy expenditure, and substrate oxidation rate were measured during the first week (W0) and at the end of three weeks of training (W3). The two training programs were equivalent in caloric expenditure. At W3, body mass (BM) and fat mass (FM) decreased significantly in both groups, although the decrease in BM was significantly greater in the MICT group than in the COMB group (BM: − 5.0 ± 1.2 vs. − 8.4 ± 1.5, P < 0.05; FM: − 4.3 ± 3.0 vs. − 4.2 ± 1.9 kg, P < 0.05). V′O2 peak increased only in the COMB by a mean of 0.28 ± 0.22 L min−1 (P < 0.05). The maximal fat oxidation rate (MFO) increased only in the COMB group by 0.04 ± 0.03 g min−1 (P < 0.05). COMB training represents a viable alternative to MICT for improving anthropometric characteristics, physical capacities, and MFO in adolescents with obesity during a 3-week in-hospital BWRP