Access to legal information for citizens and new citizens in Italy: using visual elements and adopting Legal Design methods to make administrative documents clearer and more effective.

In the present paper we will verify if and how the institutional guidelines on administrative document drafting of extra-EU countries, include recommendations on the use of visual elements to make the content of the institutional texts more comprehensible and the administrative procedures more accessible. This analysis had the ultimate goal of trying to make additional proposals for the Italian guidelines in order to make them more inclusive through a greater use of visual aspects

Mechanisms of inhibition in the somatosensory system and perceptual threshold calculation

Die Verarbeitung sensorischer Informationen wird aufsteigend durch die Eigenschaften der Reize und absteigend durch individuelle Erfahrungen und Erwartungen gesteuert. Neuronale Schaltkreise regulieren die reiz- und aufgabenabhängige Informationsverarbeitung durch Hemmung neuronaler Verarbeitungsprozesse. Die Hemmung kann die auf- und absteigende Kontrolle kortikaler Regionen verändern und die Integration oder Segregation neuronaler Aktivität beeinflussen. In dieser Arbeit werde ich eine neuropharmakologisch-neurobildgebende Studie vorstellen, in der die Wahrnehmungsprozesse im somatosensorischen Kortex untersucht werden und die sich speziell mit den inhibitorischen Mechanismen auf der Ebene von SI (primärer somatosensorischer Kortex) und SII (sekundärer somatosensorischer Kortex) befasst. Durch die Verabreichung verschiedener GABA- Agonisten (Gamma-Aminobuttersäure) - dem wichtigsten inhibitorischen Neurotransmitter im Gehirn - konnte in der vorliegenden Arbeit die primäre Bedeutung eines schnellen GABAA-Agonisten gezeigt und ein Modell der Hemmungsausbreitung von SI zum SII erstellt werden. Das Paradigma implizierte die taktile Stimulation auf dem Niveau der individuellen Wahrnehmungsschwelle, wobei das Reizniveau an die sensorischen Wahrnehmungsleistung der Teilnehmer kontinuierlich angepasst wurde. Diese adaptive Strategie wirft verschiedene Fragen hinsichtlich der Optimierung der Methode zur Schwellenschätzung auf. Der Schwellenwert wird indirekt aus den Reaktionen des Probanden auf die einzelnen Stimuli berechnet. Er hängt daher nicht nur von der Empfindlichkeit des sensorischen Systems, sondern auch von den Entscheidungsvorgängen und von dem Reaktionsverhalten der Versuchsperson ab. Insbesondere subjektive Tendenzen (englisch Bias) der Ebene der Entscheidungsfindung oder auf der Ebene des Antwortverhaltens könnte den Schwellwert beeinflussen. In Anbetracht der Bedeutung einer präzisen Schätzung des Schwellwertes bei Experimenten, in denen im Bereich der Schwelle stimuliert wird, konzentrierte sich die zweite Studie auf die Entwicklung einer Schwellenbestimmungsmethode die eventuelle Entscheidungs- und Antworttendenzen korrigiert. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde ein neues adaptives Verfahren entwickelt und evaluiert. Die Implementierung, Vorteile und Grenzen dieses Verfahrens wurden auf der Grundlage von Simulationen untersucht und beschrieben

Chapter Le risorse documentarie dell’Istituto di Teoria e Tecniche dell’Informazione Giuridica del CNR per un’analisi di termini giuridici rilevanti: il caso di studio della parola «razza»

Part of public opinion believes that Article 3 of the Italian Constitution should be reformulated by eliminating the word "race", because of its historical meanings. Some jurists disagree with this opinion believing that this presence is still justified by the need to fight possible discrimination or to protect minority rights. Biologists have also entered the debate, asserting that this word cannot be used to refer to human races because there’s no scientific basis for race. Cleared up any doubt about the origin of the term and the use that should be made of it, to contribute to today's debate, we have verified how this term was used in the language of law, using the terminological resources of the Institute of Legal Informatics and Judicial Systems (IGSG) – CNR databases

Hygromechanical behaviour of wooden panel paintings: classification of their deformation tendencies based on numerical modelling and experimental results

AbstractWooden panel paintings are among the most important historical and artistic artworks from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period. Currently, they represent a challenge for conservators and scientists who face complex issues related to their conservation. Panel paintings can be considered multilayer objects, that for brevity can be considered to consist of a wooden support and various paint layers. The wooden support is known to be hygroscopic and is continuously seeking hygroscopic equilibrium with the humidity of the environment, thus it tends to deform. Based on various hygroscopic tests carried out on 6 real panel paintings chosen by expert restorers to represent different periods and construction techniques, this paper describes the deformation tendencies of the selected panel paintings. Among possible variables, three most important variables were identified: (a) tree ring orientation of the wooden support, (b) stiffness and (c) emissivity of the paint layers. The internal equilibrium of the forces, governed by the moisture gradients across the thickness of the wood, changes drastically according to the varying characterisation of these factors. To observe their individual contributions, the 6 panel paintings underwent various humidity cycles, were completely free to deform and were always in complete safety. To characterise the stiffness and emissivity of the paint layers, the 6 panel paintings underwent a few humidity cycles with the front face totally waterproofed; thus, the moisture exchange was forced from the back only, and one of the three variables was eliminated. A complex system emerges where the tree ring orientation of the wooden support, the stiffness and emissivity of the paint layers are strongly coupled and determine the deformation modes of the panel paintings. A numerical analysis was conducted to classify the various general deformation modes of panel paintings and the specific classification of the 6 real panel paintings analysed experimentally. The complexity of the interaction of the variables studied suggests that experimental procedures must be conducted in preparation for numerical analyses of real panel paintings

Genetic interaction of P2X7 receptor and VEGFR-2 polymorphisms identifies a favorable prognostic profile in prostate cancer patients

VEGFR-2 and P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) have been described to stimulate the angiogenesis and inflammatory processes of prostate cancer. The present study has been performed to investigate the genetic interactions among VEGFR-2 and P2X7R SNPs and their correlation with overall survival (OS) in a population of metastatic prostate cancer patients. Analyses were performed on germline DNA obtained from blood samples and SNPs were investigated by real-time PCR technique. The survival dimensionality reduction (SDR) methodology was applied to investigate the genetic interaction between SNPs. One hundred patients were enrolled. The SDR software provided two genetic interaction profiles consisting of the combination between specific VEGFR-2 (rs2071559, rs11133360) and P2X7R (rs3751143, rs208294) genotypes. The median OS was 126 months (95% CI, 115.94-152.96) and 65.65 months (95% CI, 52.95-76.53) for the favorable and the unfavorable genetic profile, respectively (p < 0.0001). The genetic statistical interaction between VEGFR-2 (rs2071559, rs11133360) and P2X7R (rs3751143, rs208294) genotypes may identify a population of prostate cancer patients with a better prognosis

GEN-O-MA project: an Italian network studying clinical course and pathogenic pathways of moyamoya disease—study protocol and preliminary results

Background: GENetics of mOyaMoyA (GEN-O-MA) project is a multicenter observational study implemented in Italy aimed at creating a network of centers involved in moyamoya angiopathy (MA) care and research and at collecting a large series and bio-repository of MA patients, finally aimed at describing the disease phenotype and clinical course as well as at identifying biological or cellular markers for disease progression. The present paper resumes the most important study methodological issues and preliminary results. Methods: Nineteen centers are participating to the study. Patients with both bilateral and unilateral radiologically defined MA are included in the study. For each patient, detailed demographic and clinical as well as neuroimaging data are being collected. When available, biological samples (blood, DNA, CSF, middle cerebral artery samples) are being also collected for biological and cellular studies. Results: Ninety-eight patients (age of onset mean ± SD 35.5 ± 19.6 years; 68.4% females) have been collected so far. 65.3% of patients presented ischemic (50%) and haemorrhagic (15.3%) stroke. A higher female predominance concomitantly with a similar age of onset and clinical features to what was reported in previous studies on Western patients has been confirmed. Conclusion: An accurate and detailed clinical and neuroimaging classification represents the best strategy to provide the characterization of the disease phenotype and clinical course. The collection of a large number of biological samples will permit the identification of biological markers and genetic factors associated with the disease susceptibility in Italy

Indici per la valutazione della qualit? ecologica dei laghi

Collection of methods to evaluate lake quality using biological element

Low in‑hospital mortality rate in patients with COVID‑19 receiving thromboprophylaxis: data from the multicentre observational START‑COVID Register

Abstract COVID-19 infection causes respiratory pathology with severe interstitial pneumonia and extra-pulmonary complications; in particular, it may predispose to thromboembolic disease. The current guidelines recommend the use of thromboprophylaxis in patients with COVID-19, however, the optimal heparin dosage treatment is not well-established. We conducted a multicentre, Italian, retrospective, observational study on COVID-19 patients admitted to ordinary wards, to describe clinical characteristic of patients at admission, bleeding and thrombotic events occurring during hospital stay. The strategies used for thromboprophylaxis and its role on patient outcome were, also, described. 1091 patients hospitalized were included in the START-COVID-19 Register. During hospital stay, 769 (70.7%) patients were treated with antithrombotic drugs: low molecular weight heparin (the great majority enoxaparin), fondaparinux, or unfractioned heparin. These patients were more frequently affected by comorbidities, such as hypertension, atrial fibrillation, previous thromboembolism, neurological disease,and cancer with respect to patients who did not receive thromboprophylaxis. During hospital stay, 1.2% patients had a major bleeding event. All patients were treated with antithrombotic drugs; 5.4%, had venous thromboembolism [30.5% deep vein thrombosis (DVT), 66.1% pulmonary embolism (PE), and 3.4% patients had DVT + PE]. In our cohort the mortality rate was 18.3%. Heparin use was independently associated with survival in patients aged ≥ 59 years at multivariable analysis. We confirmed the high mortality rate of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients in ordinary wards. Treatment with antithrombotic drugs is significantly associated with a reduction of mortality rates especially in patients older than 59 years