33 research outputs found
Electronic cigarette: a threat or an opportunity for public health? State of the art and future perspectives
The e-cigarette, also known as e-cig, represents an emerging issue
of great concern for public health. The aim of the present report was
to explore the scientific literature about the use of electronic cigarette
(e-cig), with a particular reference to the features of âtoxicological
safetyâ, âeffectiveness in overcoming the addiction to smoking the
traditional cigaretteâ and ânecessary research agendaâ. The efficacy
of e-cig for smoking cessation is uncertain: some authors found that it
can be a valid support, but long-term cessation rate has not be assessed.
Other studies evidenced that e-cig is often used not for quitting smoking but to avoid smoking ban for traditional cigarettes and, even, some
researches evidenced that it appears to contribute to nicotine addiction.
E-cig smoking seems to be less dangerous of conventional cigarettes,
but its use is not risk-free. Besides, cases of accidental or intentional
poisoning with liquid solutions of e-cig have been reported. Also, the
smoke of e-cig decreases indoor air quality, releasing particulate matter
and other toxics that can persist on surfaces for days and generating
passive exposure. These phenomena are similar to environmental
tobacco smoke produced by conventional smoking, that is the sum of
second- and third-hand smoke. We propose to call them âenvironmental
electronic smokeâ, âelectronic-second- hand smokeâ and âelectronicthird-hand smokeâ, respectively. Uncertainties relating to e-cig features
determined the sequence, in the short term, of warnings and regulations
approved and then replaced. In conclusion, although in recent years
many researches were performed, evidences is limited and there is a
need to study in deep all these issues
Finding Your Literature Match -- A Recommender System
The universe of potentially interesting, searchable literature is expanding
continuously. Besides the normal expansion, there is an additional influx of
literature because of interdisciplinary boundaries becoming more and more
diffuse. Hence, the need for accurate, efficient and intelligent search tools
is bigger than ever. Even with a sophisticated search engine, looking for
information can still result in overwhelming results. An overload of
information has the intrinsic danger of scaring visitors away, and any
organization, for-profit or not-for-profit, in the business of providing
scholarly information wants to capture and keep the attention of its target
audience. Publishers and search engine engineers alike will benefit from a
service that is able to provide visitors with recommendations that closely meet
their interests. Providing visitors with special deals, new options and
highlights may be interesting to a certain degree, but what makes more sense
(especially from a commercial point of view) than to let visitors do most of
the work by the mere action of making choices? Hiring psychics is not an
option, so a technological solution is needed to recommend items that a visitor
is likely to be looking for. In this presentation we will introduce such a
solution and argue that it is practically feasible to incorporate this approach
into a useful addition to any information retrieval system with enough usage.Comment: Contribution to the proceedings of the colloquium Future Professional
Communication in Astronomy II, 13-14 April 2010, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 11
pages, 4 figures
Oltre il Segno/OltreMare
La realizzazione di un volume contenente le incisioni scelte allâinterno della Scuola di Grafica dâArte dellâAccademia di Belle Arti di Palermo, coordinata dai Proff. Giovanni DâAlessandro e Riccardo Mazzarino rappresenta motivo di orgoglio e di soddisfazione per la nostra Istituzione che costruisce i percorsi didattici dei propri corsi a partire dallâesperienza laboratoriale. Lâincisione grafica Ăš tra le tecniche artistiche piĂč antiche ma nel contempo piĂč contemporanee. La gestualitĂ intrinseca al segno, che si manifesta nella carta, svela universi della visione inaspettati.(Mario Zito - Direttore dellâAccademia di Belle Arti di Palermo)
Il segno Ăš il risultato di un gesto a volte deciso, a volte contorto, a volte leggero, i cui risultati spesso sono inattesi e sorprendenti. Il volume contiene esemplari di incisioni fortemente caratterizzanti della scuola di Grafica dâArte che vanta allâinterno del proprio corso di studi docenti-artisti che consapevoli della ricchezza del loro bagaglio esperienziale offrono agli studenti gli strumenti necessari per far sĂŹ che lâarte del saper fare artigianale, si trasformi in mera poetica artistica
Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger
On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transientâs position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta
Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger
On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later
designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through
gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors.
The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray
burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ⌠1.7 {{s}} with respect to
the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was
initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a
luminosity distance of {40}-8+8 Mpc and with
component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses
were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 {M}ÈŻ
. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the
electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical
transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC
4993 (at ⌠40 {{Mpc}}) less than 11 hours after the merger by the
One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The
optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an
hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment.
Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded
within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward
evolution over âŒ10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and
radio emission were discovered at the transientâs position ⌠9
and ⌠16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and
radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct
from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No
ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with
the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support
the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron
stars in NGC 4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and
a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process
nuclei synthesized in the ejecta.</p