Management of Barrett’s Esophagus: Practice-Oriented Answers to Clinical Questions

Barrett's esophagus is the most important complication of gastro-esophageal reflux disease and the only known precursor of esophageal adenocarcinoma. The diagnosis and treatment of Barrett's esophagus are clinically challenging as it requires a high level of knowledge and competence in upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. For instance, endoscopists should know when and how to perform biopsies when Barrett's esophagus is suspected. Furthermore, the correct identification and treatment of dysplastic Barrett's esophagus is crucial to prevent progression to cancer as well as it is the endoscopic surveillance of treated patients. Herein, we report practice-oriented answers to clinical questions that clinicians should be aware of when approaching patients with Barrett's esophagus

The use of sodium bicarbonate for marination of broiler breast meat

This study aimed at evaluating marination performances and effect on meat quality traits of sodium bicarbonate, used alone or in combination with sodium chloride, when compared with sodium trypolyphosphate by using advanced analytical tools including low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A total of 140 samples (cylindrical shape of 1×4 cm size) were obtained from a batch of 24h post mortem broiler breast meat (Ross 708, females, 47 day-old). Six of the groups were used for subsequent marination treatments, while the last group was kept as non-marinated control (C). Samples were subjected to vacuum tumbling in a special equipped laboratory rotary evaporator with a 12% (w/w) water:meat ratio using 6 marinade solutions: 7.7% (w/w) NaCl (S); 2.3% Na4O7P2 (w/w) (P); 2.3% (w/w) NaHCO3 (B); 7.7% (w/w) NaCl and 2.3% Na4O7P2 (w/w) (SP); 7.7% (w/w) NaCl and 2.3% (w/w) NaHCO3 (SB); 7.7% (w/w) NaCl, 2.3% Na4O7P2 (w/w) and 2.3% (w/w) NaHCO3 (SPB). Samples marinated with bicarbonate alone or in combination (B, SB and SPB) significantly increased (P<0.05) meat pH by approximately 0.7 units compared to the control, whilst phosphate alone or in combination with salt increased (P<0.05) the pH by 0.2 units. Combination containing all ingredients (SPB) produced the highest marinade performances, however sodium bicarbonate with salt (SB) was able to guarantee a better marinade uptake and water retention ability in respect to phosphates (SP). According to LR-NMR, the combined use of bicarbonate and/or phosphate with sodium chloride determined a remarkable increase of proportion of entrapped water into myofibrillar spaces, while extra-myofibrillar water fraction was not modified. Moreover water gain following marination does not correspond to an increase of freezable water amount as detected by DSC. In conclusion, bicarbonate is a very promising marinating agent and it can be exploited to develop processed poultry products with no added phosphates in order to match the request to avoid the nutritional drawbacks recently indicated with the use of phosphates

Nuove pratiche, antichi divari? La partecipazione culturale online in Italia tra opportunità di coinvolgimento e rischi di esclusione

Are digital media enablers of a wider and more diverse online cultural participation, or do they reproduce existing inequalities characteristic of offline cultural participation (i.e. varying considerably according to age, education, social position, and geographical location)? To answer this question, the present paper investigates patterns of digital media use for cultural purposes (such as creating, downloading and sharing cultural content, watching films and videos online, streaming music, and so on) across generational cohorts co-present in Italy. To explore this topic, we examine data on online cultural participation collected by the Italian National Statistical Institute (ISTAT) within the last edition of Leisure Time Survey-LTS (I cittadini e il tempo libero). We use multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) to provide key insights on relationships between categories. Our findings suggest that in Italy, digital media are vehicles of a wider, more diverse and democratic cultural participation among generational cohorts under certain circumstances. While the results confirm that digital media open up access to, and participation in a number of cultural activities, they also show that engagement with online cultural practices remains mostly limited to individuals with the motivations and abilities to enjoy the opportunities provided by a digitized society

Prove di cambiamento

Il testo contiene alcune indicazioni frutto di anni di studio della rappresentazione giornalistica dei fenomeni migratori e della sintesi di orientamenti, indicazioni etico-deontologiche, linee guida per un’informazione corretta, elaborate a partire dallo studio di diverse istituzioni europee. In particolare, una “buona notizia” sull’immigrazione è quella che affronta avvenimenti, fatti e fenomeni rispettando le norme deontologiche, evitando l’uso dell’etichetta della nazionalità soprattutto nella titolazione; evitando di associare alla descrizione di un fatto “cornici interpretative” stereotipizzanti (come quella di criminalità, clandestinità, devianza), evitando il linguaggio dell’estraneità con termini quali extracomunitario, straniero, limitando scelte linguistiche che insistono sulle dimensioni della paura o dell’ansia, della criminalizzazione, ma anche quelle del pietismo oppure della compassione, evitando i toni allarmistici o eccessivamente enfatici, aggiungendo alla descrizione, quando possibile, approfondimento, analisi, pluralità di voci e punti di vista. Una buona notizia affronta, quindi, il tema problematizzandolo, approfondendolo, scegliendo l’inchiesta e l’indagine per spiegare i fatti o anche solo descrivendolo in maniera corretta e con distacco o senza semplificazioni.The text lists some of the characteristics of the good information on immigration, developed after years of study of the Italian journalistic representation of migration and after the census of the ethical and professional guidelines drawn up by various European Istitutions. In particular, news on immigration is "good" if satisfies the rules of professional conduct, avoids an indication of the nationality of the protagonists of the news, especially in the titles, "interpretive frames" (such as crime, illegal immigration, deviance), the use of the language of alienation or the presence of words designed to elicit fear or anxiety, pity or compassion, rejects alarmist or overly emphatic tones and adds to the description, if it's possible, in-depth analysis and different points of view. So, the good news on immigration faces the issue in a deep, competent, detached and not simplistic way

Il PSN. L'analisi quantitativa

La ricerca “Business e gaming. Gioco e social network nella rete d’impresa”, realizzata dalla Facoltà di Scienze della Comunicazione della Sapienza in collaborazione con Sony Computer Entertainment Italia, ha previsto, tra i tanti strumenti di indagine utilizzati, la somministrazione di un questionario a un campione di videogiocatori iscritti alla newsletter del Playstation network. Ne sono stati raggiunti, 8.829, prevalentemente maschi (97%), con un’età compresa tra i 20 e i 34 anni, un livello culturale medio-alto, che risiedono soprattutto con la famiglia d’origine e si concentrano nelle città del nord Italia (49%). Tra i risultati più interessanti, quelli relativi ai loro comportamenti culturali, che appaiono ricchi ed eterogenei e affiancano l’alta frequenza d’uso dei videogame. Il campione raggiunto, in particolare, si rivela esperto nell’uso del web e delle nuove tecnologie, caratterizzato da un attivismo culturale fuori dal comune, composto quindi da quelli che ci sono parsi come destinatari ideali, ma anche osservatori critici, delle politiche di marketing, recruiting e fundraising dei più avanzati territori di sperimentazione online.The third and final step of the surve "Business and gaming" was a qualitative and quantitative analysis of a video gamer network, the PlayStation Network (PSN), from different viewpoints and autonomous with regard to the three fields under examination. The decision to investigate a gaming community stems from the desire to study these groups both as a network of relationships based on gaming and the potential interest they might hold for the company: indeed web 2.0 users are consumers, staff (or aspiring staff) and current or future fund donors. PSN users constitute an ideal sample for the macro-areas under investigation: they are experts in using the web and new technology, they are very culturally active, they are potential ideal targets as well as critical observers of the marketing, recruiting and fundraising policies in the most advanced areas of online experimentation. The analysis of PSN users is based on two specific research tools: a websurvey (an online questionnaire) and four focus groups. The questionnaire was structured to identify the technical, relational and communicative skills acquired through gaming and opinions on the three areas researched in phase one of the study. The websurvey was then e-mailed to a sample of 142,000 Italian PSN users and put online to allow for direct compilation by members of the community. While the online questionnaire was deemed the most appropriate method of studying the network and its members, focus groups were conducted both in person (at the offices of SCEI and the Faculty of Communication Sciences) and in a “virtual” discussion area on PlayStation Home, involving a total of 22 users. The use of Home to host the focus groups, while following in the recent tradition of virtual ethnography, is also significantly experimental – a feature accentuated by the nature of the environment. It is a highly innovative experience, nationally and internationally, which proved (despite a number of critical issues) to be of great interest in terms of content and methodology. The uncommon collaboration between a large university and a successful multinational, the complexity of the research methodology, the size of the gamer sample responding to the questionnaire (8829 individuals) and the unique innovation of online focus groups in Italy make “Business and gaming” an exceptional example of scientific investigation

Le Poesie di Ricardo Reis

Le poesie di Ricardo Reis/Fernando Pesso

Le Prose di Ricardo Reis

Le riflessioni in prosa su paganesimo e scrittura di Ricardo Reis, eteronimo di Fernando Pesso