Entrevista con Joan Costa: Reflexiones sobre la comunicación corporativa

Joan Costa, comunicólogo, diseñador, sociólogo e investigador de la comunicación visual, además de consultor de empresas y profesor en las universidades Iberoamericana de México y Autónoma de Barcelona, así como en el Instituto Europeo de Diseño de Madrid, da sus puntos de vista acerca de la imagen corporativa, la identidad y la reputación en las empresas; los cambios que ha sufrido la gestión empresarial en la sociedad red y otras reflexiones sobre su extensa producción teórica en el campo de la comunicación empresarial

HPC techniques for large scale data analysis

In the present work we apply High-Performance Computing techniques to two Big Data problems. The frst one deals with the analysis of large graphs by using a parallel distributed architecture, whereas the second one consists in the design and implementation of a scalable solution for fast indexing and searching of large datasets of heterogeneous documents

El cine en el Perú: 1950-1972; testimonios

La obra está marcada por el recuento de las diversas aproximaciones a la cultura cinematográfica que nace primero con la afición cineclubista y los distintos intentos de difusión cinematográfica y la creación de la cinemateca interuniversitaria

Anti-Survival Effect of SI306 and Its Derivatives on Human Glioblastoma Cells

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common adult brain tumor and, although many efforts have been made to find valid therapies, the onset of resistance is the main cause of recurrence. Therefore, it is crucial to identify and target the molecular mediators responsible for GBM malignancy. In this context, the use of Src inhibitors such as SI306 (C1) and its prodrug (C2) showed promising results, suggesting that SI306 could be the lead compound useful to derivate new anti-GBM drugs. Therefore, a new prodrug of SI306 (C3) was synthesized and tested on CAS-1 and U87 human GBM cells by comparing its effect to that of C1 and C2. All compounds were more effective on CAS-1 than U87 cells, while C2 was the most active on both cell lines. Moreover, the anti-survival effect was associated with a reduction in the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)WT and EGFR-vIII in U87 and CAS-1 cells, respectively. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that all tested compounds are able to counteract GBM survival, further supporting the role of SI306 as progenitor of promising new drugs to treat malignant GBM

Serum resistin levels in children with primary snoring.

Primary Snoring (PS) has been positioned at the milder end of the Sleep-Disordered Breathing severity continuum characterized by snoring and it is usually underestimated. PS is defined as snoring without apnea, frequent arousals, or gas exchange abnormalities and recent studies demonstrated that children with PS have increased blood pressure and reduced arterial distensibility. The association between adipokines and SDB has been recently investigated, though most of the studies were focused on OSAS where intermittent hypoxia characterizing the disease may lead to an inflammatory cascade and to the release of several adipokines, contributing to oxidative stress. Resistin, initially described as an adipokine increasing insulin resistance, has been recently identified as a novel important member of the cytokine family involved in the regulation of inflammation. The aim of our study was to investigate circulating resistin levels in normal weight children with PS. Sixty-five children of normal weight aged between 4 and 14 years of age were selected for habitual snoring. Children with positive polysomnography were excluded from the study. Serum resistin levels were detected in all children with PS. Thirty-three healthy non-snorer children with similar age, sex and BMI were selected as a control group. A significantly higher level of resistin was observed in patients with PS compared to the control group (4.67±1.91 ng/ml vs 3.98±1.58 ng/ml; p<0.01). Patients with inconclusive pulse oximetry showed significantly higher resistin levels than those with negative recordings (5.29±1.91 ng/ml vs 4.20±1.93 ng/ ml; p<0.008). Moreover, there was a significant increasing trend between sieric adipokine level and the frequency of snoring (p<0.006). Our results suggest that systemic inflammation and oxidative stress may also play a significant role in the pathophysiology of PS

Unexpected increase of myocardial extracellular volume fraction in low cardiovascular risk HIV patients

Background People living with HIV (PLWH) are prone to develop sub-clinical Cardiovascular (CV) disease, despite the effectiveness of combined Antiretroviral Therapy (cART). Algorithms developed to predict CV risk in the general population could be inaccurate when applied to PLWH. Myocardial Extra-Cellular Matrix (ECM) expansion, measured by computed tomography, has been associated with an increased CV vulnerability in HIV-negative population. Measurement of Myocardial Extra-Cellular Volume (ECV) by computed tomography or magnetic resonance, is considered a useful surrogate for clinical evaluation of ECM expansion. In the present study, we aimed to determine the extent of cardiovascular involvement in asymptomatic HIV-infected patients with the use of a comprehensive cardiac computed tomography (CCT) approach. Materials and methods In the present study, ECV in low atherosclerotic CV risk PLWH was compared with ECV of age and gender matched HIV- individuals. 53 asymptomatic HIV + individuals (45 males, age 48 (42.5–48) years) on effective cART (CD4 + cell count: 450 cells/µL (IQR: 328–750); plasma HIV RNA: &lt;37 copies/ml in all subjects) and 18 age and gender matched controls (14 males, age 55 (44.5–56) years) were retrospectively enrolled. All participants underwent CCT protocol to obtain native and postcontrast Hounsfield unit values of blood and myocardium, ECM was calculated accordingly. Results The ECV was significantly higher in HIV + patients than in the control group (ECV: 31% (IQR: 28%-31%) vs. 27.4% (IQR: 25%-28%), p &lt; 0.001). The duration of cART (standardized β = 0.56 (0.33–0.95), p = 0.014) and the years of exposure to HIV infection (standardized β = 0.53 (0.4–0.92), p &lt; 0.001), were positively and strongly associated with ECV values. Differences in ECV (p &lt; 0.001) were also observed regarding the duration of cART exposure (&lt; 5 years, 5–10 years and &gt; 10 years). Moreover, ECV was independently associated with age of participants (standardized β = 0.42 (0.33–0.89), p = 0.084). Conclusions HIV infection and exposure to antiretrovirals play a detrimental role on ECV expansion. An increase in ECV indicates ECM expansion, which has been associated to a higher CV risk in the general population. The non-invasive evaluation of ECM trough ECV could represent an important tool to further understand the relationship between HIV infection, cardiac pathophysiology and the increased CV risk observed in PLWH

Children with special health care needs attending emergency department in Italy: analysis of 3479 cases

Background: Although children with special health care needs (CSHCN) represent a minority of the population, they go through more hospitalizations, more admissions to the Emergency Department (ED), and receive a major number of medical prescriptions, in comparison to general pediatric population. Objectives of the study were to determine the reasons for admission to the ED in Italian CSHCN, and to describe the association between patient's demographic data, clinical history, and health services requirements. Methods: Ad hoc web site was created to collect retrospective data of 3479 visits of CSHCN to the ED in 58 Italian Hospitals. Results: Seventy-two percent of patients admitted to ED were affected by a previously defined medical condition. Most of the ED admissions were children with syndromic conditions (54%). 44.2% of the ED admissions were registered during the night-time and/or at the weekends. The hospitalization rate was of 45.6% among patients admitted to the ED. The most common reason for admission to the ED was the presence of respiratory symptoms (26.6%), followed by gastrointestinal problems (21.3%) and neurological disorders (18.2%). 51.4% of the access were classified as 'urgent', with a red/yellow triage code. Considering the type of ED, 61.9% of the visits were conducted at the Pediatric EDs (PedEDs), 33.5% at the Functional EDs (FunEDs) and 4.6% at the Dedicated EDs (DedEDs). Patients with more complex clinical presentation were more likely to be evaluated at the PedEDs. CSHCN underwent to a higher number of medical procedures at the PedEDs, more in comparison to other EDs. Children with medical devices were directed to a PedED quite exclusively when in need for medical attention. Subjects under multiple anti-epileptic drug therapy attended to PedEDs or FunEDs generally. Patients affected by metabolic diseases were more likely to look for medical attention at FunEDs. Syndromic patients mostly required medical attention at the DedEDs. Conclusions: Access of CSHCN to an ED is not infrequent. For this reason, it is fundamental for pediatricians working in any kind of ED to increase their general knowledge about CHSCN and to gain expertise in the management of such patients and their related medical complexity

The possibilities of Cherenkov telescopes to perform cosmic-ray muon imaging of volcanoes

Volcanic activity is regulated by the interaction of gas-liquid flow with conduit geometry. Hence, the quantitative understanding of the inner shallow structure of a volcano is mandatory to forecast the occurrence of dangerous stages of activity and mitigate volcanic hazards. Among the techniques used to investigate the underground structure of a volcano, muon imaging offers some advantages, as it provides a fine spatial resolution, and does not require neither spatially dense measurements in active zones, nor the implementation of cost demanding energizing systems, as when electric or active seismic sources are utilized. The principle of muon radiography is essentially the same as X-ray radiography: muons are more attenuated by higher density parts inside the target and thus information about its inner structure are obtained from the differential muon absorption. Up-to-date, muon imaging of volcanic structures has been mainly accomplished with detectors that employ planes of scintillator strips. These telescopes are exposed to different types of background noise (accidental coincidence of vertical shower particles, horizontal high-energy electrons, flux of upward going particles), whose amplitude is high relative to the tiny flux of interest. An alternative technique is based on the detection of the Cherenkov light produced by muons. The latter can be imaged as an annular pattern that contains the information needed to reconstruct both direction and energy of the particle. Cherenkov telescopes have never been utilized to perform muon imaging of volcanoes. Nonetheless, thanks to intrinsic features, they offer the possibility to detect the through-target muon flux with negligible levels of background noise. Under some circumstances, they would also provide a better spatial resolution and acceptance than scintillator-based telescopes. Furthermore, contrarily to the latter systems, Cherenkov detectors allow in-situ measurements of the open-sky energy spectrum of atmospheric muons, that is needed to asses a reference model of the through-target integrated flux. Here we describe our plans for the production of a Cherenkov telescope with suitable characteristics for installation in the summit zone of Etna volcano. <P /