Organizzare il processo conoscitivo nell’indagine archeologica: riflessioni metodologiche ed esperimenti digitali

The excavation conducted since 2002 by the Department of Archaeology of Siena University in the s.c. Byzantine District near the Pythion shrine in Gortyn (Crete) gave the opportunity to develop some methodological reflections about the documentation of the cognitive process performed during archaeological excavations. From this point of view, GIS represents the end-point of an archaeological documentation system that links finds to their physical dimension and spatial position. But GIS appears to be at a hard point when it comes to recording the other side of archaeological information, linked with non-material evidence, functional and non-spatial relationships. This is the kind of information that emerges from the interaction between the clues and finds system and the reading/understanding ability of the team that does the fieldwork. This kind of interaction finds a better form of expression in a “narrative” language (multi-vocal excavation report and video recording). At the same time the opportunity of using a wiki as a platform for a web-based reconstruction of the team’s “mind map” was experimented. With this kind of system every piece of information can find its “place” for archiving, discussing and publishing

Bibliometric analysis as mesaure [sic] of long-term performance in pancreatic cancer research.

Introduction: Research on pancreatic cancer consists in basic, translational and clinical research. Bibliometric indexes as IF and H-Index have been proposed as measures of quality and performance for medical research. Our goal was to analyze the IF and the 5-years H-Index of the publications about pancreatic cancer research

PS-318 Are Antenatal Corticosteroids Less Effective In Twins Than In Singletons? A Cohort Study In The Italian Neonatal Network

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Managerial features and outcome in neonatal intensive care units: results from a cluster analysis

Background: Healthcare organisations differ in performance even if they are located in the same country or region. Suitable managerial practices and organisational processes can lead to better health outcomes. As a result, hospitals are constantly looking for managerial arrangements that can improve outcomes and keep costs down. This study aims to identify different managerial models in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and their impact on a large number of outcomes. Methods: The research was conducted in Italy, within the SONAR project. SONAR’s aim was to identify the characteristics of NICUs, monitor outcomes and promote best practices. This study includes 51 of the 63 NICUs that took part in the SONAR project. Questionnaires on the activities and managerial features were administered to doctors and nurses working in NICUs. A total of 643 questionnaires were analysed from doctors and a total of 1601 from nurses. A cluster analysis was performed to identify managerial models of NICUs. Results: Three managerial models emerged from cluster analysis: traditional, collaborative and individualistic. In the “traditional” model the doctor is above the nurse in the hierarchy, and the nurse therefore has exclusively operational autonomy. The “collaborative” model has as key elements professional specialisation and functional coordination. The “individualistic” model considers only individual professional skills and does not concern the organisational conditions necessary to generate organisational effectiveness. The results also showed that there is an association between managerial model and neonatal outcomes. The collaborative model shows best results in almost all outcomes considered, and the traditional model has the worst. The individualistic model is in the middle, although its values are very close to those of traditional model. Conclusions: Health management needs to assess NICU strategically in order to develop models to improve outcomes. This study provides insights for management useful for designing managerial characteristics of NICUs in order to achieve better results. NICUs characterised by a collaborative model in fact show better neonatal outcomes

Markers of airway inflammation in pulmonary diseases assessed by induced sputum.

ABSTRACT: During recent years there has been a growing interest in using non-invasive biomarkers to understand and monitor the airway inflammation in subjects with respiratory tract disorders. To date, the best validated and performing non-invasive biomarkers are measures of inflammation in induced sputum in both cellular and fluid phase, which can provide biological insights into the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The purpose of this review is to examine the principal literature on the different markers of inflammation in pulmonary diseases assessed by induced sputum analysis in either cellular or fluid phase

Design and 3D printing of a modular phantom of a uterus for medical device validation

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to describe the design and validation of a three-dimensional (3D)-printed phantom of a uterus to support the development of uterine balloon tamponade devices conceived to stop post-partum haemorrhages (PPHs). Design/methodology/approachThe phantom 3D model is generated by analysing the main requirements for validating uterine balloon tamponade devices. A modular approach is implemented to guarantee that the phantom allows testing these devices under multiple working conditions. Once finalised the design, the phantom effectiveness is validated experimentally. FindingsThe modular phantom allows performing the required measurements for testing the performance of devices designed to stop PPH. Social implicationsPPH is the leading obstetric cause of maternal death worldwide, mainly in low- and middle-income countries. The proposed phantom could speed up and optimise the design and validation of devices for PPH treatment, reducing the maternal mortality ratio. Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, the 3D-printed phantom represents the first example of a modular, flexible and transparent uterus model. It can be used to validate and perform usability tests of medical devices