Environmental tobacco smoke: health policy and focus on Italian legislation.

Worldwide tobacco smoking kills nearly 6 million people each year, including more than 600,000 non-smokers who die from smoke exposure. Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS, also called secondhand smoke, involuntary smoke, or passive smoke) is the combination of sidestream smoke, the smoke given off by a burning tobacco product and mainstream smoke, the smoke exhaled by smokers. People may be exposed to ETS in homes, cars, workplaces, and public places, such as bars, restaurants, and recreational settings. In addition, there is another type of smoke which until now has not been recognized: the so-called thirdhand smoke, that comes from the reaction of mainstream smoke and environmental nitrous acid (HNO2) making carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs). The effects of ETS on human health are well-known, passive smoking is harmful to those who breathe the toxins and it is a serious problem for public health. The smoking ban in Italy had reduced ETS pollution, as in the United States and in other countries all over the world. However, the implementation of comprehensive legislation on smoking policy will necessitate other tobacco control measures for its successful fulfillment: increased media awareness, telephone smoking cessation helplines and smoking cessation support services could be an opportunity to ensure awareness, comprehension and support to those who want to quit smoking. The effectiveness of legislative efforts will also depend on successful enforcement of smoking bans and compliance with the legislation. This review summarizes the evidences about the effect of ETS and provides an overview of smoke-free laws and policies

Evaluating Student Performance in E-learning Systems: A Two-step Robust Bayesian Multiclass Procedure

This paper addresses a computational method to evaluate student performance through convolutional neural network. Image recognition and processing are fundamentals and current trends in deep learning systems, mainly with the outbreak in coronavirus infection. A two-step system is developed combining a first-step robust Bayesian model averaging for selecting potential candidate predictors in multiple model classes with a frequentist second-step procedure for estimating the parameters of a multinomial logistic regression. Methodologically, parametric conjugate informative priors are used to deal with model uncertainty and overfitting, and Markov Chains algorithms are designed to construct exact posterior distributions. An empirical example to the use of e-learning systems on student performance analysis describes the model's functioning and estimation performance. Potential prevention policies and strategies to address key technology factors affecting e-learning tools are also discussed

Evaluating Student Performance in E-learning Systems: A Two-step Robust Bayesian Multiclass Procedure

This paper addresses a computational method to evaluate student performance through convolutional neural network. Image recognition and processing are fundamentals and current trends in deep learning systems, mainly with the outbreak in coronavirus infection. A two-step system is developed combining a first-step robust Bayesian model averaging for selecting potential candidate predictors in multiple model classes with a frequentist second-step procedure for estimating the parameters of a multinomial logistic regression. Methodologically, parametric conjugate informative priors are used to deal with model uncertainty and overfitting, and Markov Chains algorithms are designed to construct exact posterior distributions. An empirical example to the use of e-learning systems on student performance analysis describes the model's functioning and estimation performance. Potential prevention policies and strategies to address key technology factors affecting e-learning tools are also discussed

Swimming at Low Reynolds Number

International audienceWe address the swimming problem at low Reynolds number. This regime, which is typically used for micro-swimmers, is described by Stokes equations. We couple a PDE solver of Stokes equations, derived from the Feel++ finite elements library, to a quaternion-based rigid-body solver. We validate our numerical results both on a 2D exact solution and on an exact solution for a rotating rigid body respectively. Finally, we apply them to simulate the motion of a one-hinged swimmer, which obeys to the scallop theorem.Nous considérons le problème de la nageà bas nombre de Reynolds. Ce régime, typique des micro-organismes nageurs, est décrit par leséquations de Stokes. Nous couplons un solveur d'EDP deséquations de Stokes, construità l'aide de la librairie auxéléments finis Feel++, avec un solveur de corps rigide basé sur les quaternions. Nous validons les deux solveursà l'aide d'une solution exacte en 2D pour le fluide et d'une solution exacte pour un corps rigide qui tourne. Nous les appliquons pour simuler la nage d'un micro-organisme qui obéit au théorème de la coquille de Saint-Jacques

Swimming at low Reynolds number

We address the swimming problem at low Reynolds number. This regime, which is typically used for micro-swimmers, is described by Stokes equations. We couple a PDE solver of Stokes equations, derived from the Feel++ finite elements library, to a quaternion-based rigid-body solver. We validate our numerical results both on a 2D exact solution and on an exact solution for a rotating rigid body respectively. Finally, we apply them to simulate the motion of a one-hinged swimmer, which obeys to the scallop theorem

Medical Students Knowledge and Attitude Towards Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Tests

Aims: This study reports on the attitudes of 179 Italian Medical Students to direct-to-consumer genetic test and to participation in research practices. Methods: Data were collected using a self-completion online questionnaire sent to 380 medical students at the faculty of Medicine of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome, Italy. Questions pertained issues related to awareness and attitudes towards genetic testing, reactions to hypothetical results, and views about contributing to scientific research. Results: The response rate was 47.1%. Less than 50% of students were aware of DTC genetic test. Seventy-four percent of the sample were interested in undergoing DTC genetic test, and the main reason was being aware on genetic predisposition to diseases. Among those who were not willing to undergo a genetic test, the main reason was the lack of confidence in the results. In the hypothetical situations of an increased disease risk after undergoing DTC genetic testing, respondents would take actions to reduce that risk, while in the opposite scenario they would feel unaffected because of the probabilistic nature of the test. Conclusions: We reported a good level of awareness about DTC genetic test and a high interest in undergoing DTC genetic test in our sample. Nevertheless, opinions and reactions are strongly dependent by the hypothetical good or bad result that the test could provide and by the context whereby a genetic test could be performed. Respondents seem to be exposed to the risk of psychological harms, and a strong regulation regarding their use is required

Relationship between health, lifestyle, psychosocial factors and academic performance: a cross-sectional study at the University of Salerno

Background: The relationship between health indicators and quality of life is significantly important in clinical decisions. Health policy and an individual’s quality of life are important factors contributing to an individual's decisions and preferences. University students constitute a large part of the country's young population, so a healthy lifestyle is of crucial importance for this group. The aim of the present study was to investigate healthy lifestyle habits and its relationship with academic performance in undergraduate students of the University of Salerno. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate students of the University of Salerno. Data were collected by a self-report anonymous questionnaire. The field research was conducted among students of the University of Salerno in the academic years 2014/2015, from October to March. Descriptive statistics were used to describe sample characteristics. Test of proportions was used to test the differences between blocked and regular students. Analysis were conducted using STATA software. Results: A total of 519 students formed the sample. In total, 248 (47.78%) claimed to have blocks in their studies and among them 214 (86.29%) were out of course. The status of blocked students’ health promotion behaviors was significantly favorable compared to that of regular students. General health perception of the regular students yielded worse results than of the blocked students. Anxiety and depression were greater in regular students than blocked students. Conclusion: Results from the present study support our hypothesis of a relationship between health, lifestyle, psychosocial factors and academic performance: students with blocked had better health and lifestyle than regular students. Their attitude to resilience emerged from the ability to overcome difficult situations, but also from an attitude of arrogance despite being aware of the ability to study successfully. Probably the blocked in the studies was due to low self-esteem

Avoidable blindness and value based healthcare: more value with a population approach

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Reinforcement learning with function approximation for 3-spheres swimmer

We study the swimming strategies that maximize the speed of the three-sphere swimmer using reinforcement learning methods. First of all, we ensure that for a simple model with few actions, the Q-learning method converges. However, this latter method does not fit a more complex framework (for instance the presence of boundary) where states or actions have to be continuous to obtain all directions in the swimmer's reachable set. To overcome this issue, we investigate another method from reinforcement learning which uses function approximation, and benchmark its results in absence of walls