Factors affecting the vaccination choices of pregnant women for their children. A systematic review of the literature

In recent years, an increase in vaccine hesitancy has led to a decrease in vaccination coverage in several countries. We conducted a systematic review of studies that assessed knowledge of and attitudes toward pediatric vaccinations, and the vaccination choices and their determinants among pregnant women. A total of 6,277 records were retrieved, and 16 full texts were included in the narrative synthesis. The published literature on the topic shows that, overall, pregnant women believe that vaccines are important for the protection of their children and the community, but various concerns and misunderstandings persist around vaccine safety and efficacy, which reduce the trust of expectant mothers in immunization. Nevertheless, such attitudes and choices vary depending on the vaccine being considered and the corresponding determinants should therefore be studied in the context of each specific vaccination. Further research on this topic is needed, particularly in non-western countries

Measles among healthcare workers in Italy. Is it time to act?

Vaccination of healthcare workers (HCWs) against measles is strongly recommended in Europe. In this study, we examined the impact of measles on Italian HCWs by systematically and quantitatively analyzing measles cases involving HCWs over time and by identifying the epidemiological characteristics of the respective measles outbreaks. We retrieved data on measles cases from the Italian national integrated measles and rubella surveillance system from January 2013 to May 2019. Additionally, we performed a systematic review of the literature and an analysis of the measles and rubella aggregate outbreaks reporting forms from 2014 to 2018. Our review suggests that preventing measles infection among HCWs in disease outbreaks may be crucial for the elimination of measles in Italy. National policies aiming to increase HCW immunization rates are fundamental to the protection of HCWs and patients, will limit the economic impact of outbreaks on the institutions affected and will help achieve the elimination goal

Big Data Storage in the Cloud for Smart Environment Monitoring

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Verbi locativi in italiano come varianti di verbi supporto

In questo articolo discuteremo la nozione di "carrier verbs" (secondo la definizione del linguista americano Zellig Harris) o di "light verbs" (come denominata all'inizio del XX secolo da Otto Jespersen). La nostra cornice teorica è rappresentata dal lessico-grammatica di Maurice Gross, una teoria iniziata negli anni settanta a partire dalla sintassi del francese sulle basi matematiche già individuate per la lingua inglese da Zellig Harris. In particolare, discuteremo di come alcuni verbi locativi dell'italiano possano essere usati come verbi supporto (secondo la definizione data da Gross dei "light verbs" harrisiani) e assumano il ruolo sintattico una volta attribuito dai grammatici greci e latini alla copula esse.En aquest article discutirem la noció de "carrier verbs" (segons la definició del lingüista americà Zellig Harris) o de "light verbs" (segons la denominació que Otto Jespersen n'havia donat a principi del segle XX). El nostre marc teòric de referència és el lèxic-gramàtica de Maurice Gross, una teoria començada els anys setanta a partir de la sintaxi del francès en les bases matemàtiques ja individuades per a la llengua anglesa per Zelling Harris. Concretament, tractarem de com alguns verbs locatius de l'italià es poden emprar com a verbs de suport (tal com Gross va definir els "light verbs" harrisians) i de com assumeixen el paper sintàctic que els gramàtics grecs i llatins atribuïen a la còpula esse.In this article we aim at discussing the notion of carrier verbs (according to the definition provided by the American linguist Zellig Harris) or of light verbs (as defined at the beginning of the twentieth century by Otto Jespersen). Our theoretical framework is represented by Maurice Gross' lexicon-grammar, a theory developed during the seventies on the French syntax and directly inspired by Zellig Harris' mathematical grammar of English. Particularly, we are going to discuss of how some Italian locative verbs can be used as support verbs (according to the definition which Maurice Gross has given of the harrisian light verbs) and can play the syntactic role traditionally given to the copula esse by the Greek and Latin grammarians

Disinvestment in healthcare: An overview of HTA agencies and organizations activities at European level

Background: In an era of a growing economic pressure for all health systems, the interest for "disinvestment" in healthcare increased. In this context, evidence based approaches such as Health Technology Assessment (HTA) are needed both to invest and to disinvest in health technologies. In order to investigate the extent of application of HTA in this field, methodological projects/frameworks, case studies, dissemination initiatives on disinvestment released by HTA agencies and organizations located in Europe were searched. Methods: In July 2015, the websites of HTA agencies and organizations belonging to the European network for HTA (EUnetHTA) and the International Network of Agencies for HTA (INAHTA) were accessed and searched through the use of the term "disinvestment". Retrieved deliverables were considered eligible if they reported methodological projects/frameworks, case studies and dissemination initiatives focused on disinvestment in healthcare. Results: 62 HTA agencies/organizations were accessed and eight methodological projects/frameworks, one case study and one dissemination initiative were found starting from 2007. With respect to methodological projects/frameworks, two were delivered in Austria, one in Italy, two in Spain and three in U.K. As for the case study and the dissemination initiative, both came from U.K. The majority of deliverables were aimed at making an overview of existing disinvestment approaches and at identifying challenges in their introduction. Conclusions: Today, in a healthcare context characterized by resource scarcity and increasing service demand, "disinvestment" from low-value services and reinvestment in high-value ones is a key strategy that may be supported by HTA. The lack of evaluation of technologies in use, in particular at the end of their lifecycle, may be due to the scant availability of frameworks and guidelines for identification and assessment of obsolete technologies that was shown by our work. Although several projects were carried out in different countries, most remain constrained to the field of research. Disinvestment is a relatively new concept in HTA that could pose challenges also from a methodological point of view. To tackle these challenges, it is necessary to construct experiences at international level with the aim to develop new methodological approaches to produce and grow evidence on disinvestment policies and practices