Chernick, Marc (2008), Acuerdo posible: solución negociada al conflicto armado colombiano, Bogotá: Ediciones Aurora. ISBN 978-958-9136-3-86, PP. 284

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Efficacy of Elaborated Semantic Features Analysis in Aphasia: a quasi-randomised controlled trial

Background: Word finding difficulty is one of the most common features of aphasia. Semantic Features Analysis (SFA) directly aims to improve word finding in people with aphasia. Evidence from systematic reviews suggests that SFA leads to positive outcomes, yet the evidence comprises single case studies and case series. There is a need to evaluate the efficacy of SFA in controlled group studies/trials. Aims: To evaluate the efficacy of Elaborated Semantic Feature Analysis (ESFA) for word finding in people with aphasia. We investigated: (a) the efficacy of ESFA versus a delayed therapy/control, (b) the efficacy of two therapy approaches– individual versus a combination of individual and group therapy. Methods and procedures: We ran a multi-centre, quasi-randomised controlled trial, nested in a larger study (Thales-Aphasia). Participants were recruited from community settings. They had to be people with aphasia due to stroke at least four months post-onset. Participants were randomized to individual vs combination vs delayed therapy/control groups. Both therapy groups had three hours of ESFA per week for 12 weeks. Delayed therapy/control group had no intervention for 12 weeks and were then randomized to either individual or combination therapy. The primary outcome was confrontation naming. Secondary outcomes were the Boston Naming Test, Discourse, the Functional Assessment of Communication Skills for adults (ASHA–FACS), the Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life scale (SAQOL-39g), the General Health Questionnaire-12 item, and the EQ-5D. Outcomes and Results: Of the 72 participants of the Thales-Aphasia project, 58 met eligibility criteria for speech-language therapy and 39 were allocated to ESFA. The critical p-value was adjusted for multiple comparisons (.005). For the therapy versus control comparison, there was a significant main effect of time on the primary outcome (p<.001, η2p=.42) and a significant interaction effect (p=.003, η2p=.21). An interaction effect for the SAQOL-39g (p=.015, η2p=.11) and its psychosocial domain (p=.013, η2p=.12) did not remain significant after Bonferroni adjustment. For the individual versus combination ESFA comparison, there were significant main effects of time on the primary outcome (p<.001, η2p=.49), the BNT (p<.001, η2p=.29) and the ASHA-FACS (p=.001, η2p=.18). Interaction and group effects were not significant. Conclusion: Though underpowered, this study provides evidence on the efficacy of ESFA to improve word finding in aphasia, with gains similar in the two therapy approaches. Trial registration: ISRCTN71455409, https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN7145540

Se a innamorarsi è la regina: la "Didone abbandonata" di Pietro Metastasio

Didone abbandonata was Metastasio’s first drama for music. It was performed in Naples in 1724 and subsequently replicated and modified for the most famous Italian theaters. This drama was born from an artistic collaboration and the close personal relationship between the poet and singer Marianna Benti Bulgarelli but&nbsp;soon crosses the representative contest for which it was thought, becoming a canonical encounter for many musicians down to the first half of nineteenth century. This scientific essay reconstructs the complex and twofold editorial and theatrical adventure of the first Metastasio’s drama and analyzes the implications of the dramatic text that gives new light to the myth of Virgil Carthaginian queen of theatrical context of seventeenth century.&nbsp

Il diritto di replica dell’«attore militante»: Vittorio Gassman e la stampa teatrale (1950-1959)

Il saggio ripercorre l’intenso e controverso rapporto intercorso fra Vittorio Gassman e la stampa teatrale, in particolare, negli anni che vanno dall’enorme successo di pubblico dell’Amleto (1952) al ciclo di spettacoli che copre gli anni dal 1955 al 1958. Sempre in bilico fra la profonda attitudine introspettiva ed un desiderio innato di compiacere il pubblico, Gassman intesse uno strettissimo legame con la stampa, arrivando a contribuire egli stesso al racconto di sé, attraverso interventi e rubriche in quotidiani e riviste. Protagonista del primo fenomeno di ‘neodivismo’ del dopoguerra incarna infatti un divismo teatrale di nuovo genere, trovandosi (sin dalle sue prime prove) al centro di celebrazioni ed elogi, come di critiche feroci.The essay traces the intense and controversial relationship between Vittorio Gassman and the theatrical press, in particular, in the years from the enormous public success of Hamlet (1952) to the cycle of performances covering the years from 1955 to 1958. Always on the borderline between a profoundly introspective attitude and an innate desire to please the public, Gassman forged a close bond with the press, even contributing to the story of himself, through interventions and columns in newspapers and magazines. Protagonist of the first phenomenon of 'neo-divorism' of the postwar period, he embodies in fact a new kind of theatrical stardom, finding himself (since his first tests) at the center of celebrations and praise, as well as fierce criticism