Representing and Redefining Specialised Knowledge: Medical Discourse

This volume brings together five selected papers on medical discourse which show how specialised medical corpora provide a framework that helps those engaging with medical discourse to determine how the everyday and the specialised combine to shape the discourse of medical professionals and non-medical communities in relation to both long and short-term factors. The papers contribute, in an exemplary way, to illustrating the shifting boundaries in today’s society between the two major poles making up the medical discourse cline: healthcare discourse at the one end, which records the demand for personalised therapies and individual medical services; and clinical discourse the other, which documents research into society’s collective medical needs

MARINE AND NORMARINE TRACE FOSSILS AND PLANT ROOTS IN A REGRESSIONAL SETTING (PLEISTOCENE, ITALY)

The sedimentary structures occurring in one of the Pleistocene marine terraces at the Ionian coast, indicate a shoaling upward trend from the shoreface of a sandy beach to nonmarine conditions. Four main facies have been recognized. Facies A consists of hummocky cross-bedded sands representing a wave-dominated nearshore environment. Physical and biological structures of facies B are suggestive of an abrupt reduction in energy level, possibly related to the establishment of shallow protected environments. Features of facies C suggest a stable environment of upper shoreface but strongly influenced by continental supplies. Upward, this facies passes into sediments deposited in continental conditions. The last facies (D) is related to moist or wet terrestrial environments. Bioturbation levels of facies A to C are in general low. Facies D, however, is well bioturbated, having an ichnofabric dominated by Taenidium isp. Sparse, vertical roots of vascular plants extended in many cases to at least 3 m below the base of facies D. Particularly unusual is the close association of large Taenidium isp. and vertical roots, where the trace fossil is clustered tightly around the plant, in some cases to more than 1 m below the water-sediment interface

Germinal ovarian tumors in reproductive age women: Fertility-sparing and outcome

MOGCTs (malignant ovarian germ cell tumors) are rare tumors that mainly affect patients of reproductive age. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fertility and survival outcomes in young women with MOCGTs treated with fertility-sparing surgery (FSS).From 2000 to 2018, data from 28 patients of reproductive age with a diagnosis of MOGCT at the University of Bari were collected. Most received FSS, and in patients treated conservatively, the reproductive outcome and survival were investigated. Data of patient demographics, clinical presentation, oncology marker dosage, staging, type of surgery, histological examination, survival, and reproductive outcome were collected from hospital and office charts. All informed consent was obtained from all patients. The median age was 24 (range: 9-45 years). The majority of the patients had stage IIIC. Twenty-four woman received FSS consisting of unilateral ovariectomy and omentectomy, whereas only 4 women, based on their stage (IIIC), received a radical surgery (hysterectomy with bilateral adnexectomy, lymphadenectomy, and omentectomy). Our study shows that FSS in MOGCTs can produce good results both on reproductive outcomes and on survival. Indeed, in our group, there was only 1 case of exitus as result of recurrence. Furthermore, patients after FSS maintained normal ovarian function and 5 of 5 women who tried to get pregnant succeeded spontaneously. The median follow-up was 90 months (range 3-159).Conservative surgery for MOGCTs should be considered for women of reproductive age who wish to preserve fertility

Systematic study of the Pantomorus viridisquamosus species group (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

The Pantomorus viridisquamosus species group can be separated from other Pantomorus Schoenherr, because it has recumbent setae, slender antennae with funicular article 2 almost as long as 1, glabrous scutellum, indistinct humeri, and hind tibiae lacking corbel plate and with dorsal comb about as long as apical comb. It is composed of two species, P. viridisquamosus (Boheman) from central and northeastern Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil, and P. obrieni Lanteri sp.nov. from northeastern Argentina and southern Brazil. Pantomorus obrieni differs from P. viridisquamosus because it is smaller and has carinate scales, shorter and wider setae, more conical rostrum, and more convex eyes, pronotum and elytra. The female of P. viridisquamosus is redescribed and the male described (males are very infrequent). Line drawings and SEM illustrations of the diagnostic structures, and a distributional map are included

α-Elapitoxin-Aa2a, a long-chain snake α-neurotoxin with potent actions on muscle (α1)<inf>2</inf>βγδ nicotinic receptors, lacks the classical high affinity for neuronal α7 nicotinic receptors

In contrast to all classical long-chain α-neurotoxins possessing the critical fifth disulfide bond, α-elapitoxin-Aa2a (α-EPTX-Aa2a), a novel long-chain α-neurotoxin from the common death adder Acanthophis antarcticus, lacks affinity for neuronal α7-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) α-EPTX-Aa2a (8850 Da; 0.1-1 μM) caused a concentration-dependent inhibition of indirect twitches, and blocked contractures to cholinergic agonists in the isolated chick biventer cervicis nerve-muscle preparation, consistent with a postsynaptic curaremimetic mode of action. α-EPTX-Aa2a (1-10 nM) produced a potent pseudo-irreversible antagonism of chick muscle nAChRs, with an estimated pA2 value of 8.311 ± 0.031, which was not reversed by monovalent death adder antivenom. This is only 2.5-fold less potent than the prototypical long-chain α-neurotoxin, α-bungarotoxin. In contrast, α-EPTX-Aa2a produced complete, but weak, inhibition of 125I-α-bungarotoxin binding to rat hippocampal α7 nAChRs (pKI = 3.670), despite high sequence homology and similar mass to a wide range of long-chain α-neurotoxins. The mostly likely cause for the loss of α7 binding affinity is a leucine substitution, in loop II of α-EPTX-Aa2a, for the highly conserved Arg33 in long-chain α-neurotoxins. Arg 33 has been shown to be critical for both neuronal and muscle activity. Despite this substitution, α-EPTX-Aa2a retains high affinity for muscle (α1)2βγδ nAChRs. This is probably as a result of an Arg29 residue, previously shown to be critical for muscle (α1)2βγδ nAChR affinity, and highly conserved across all short-chain, but not long-chain, α-neurotoxins. α-EPTX-Aa2a therefore represents a novel atypical long-chain α-neurotoxin that includes a fifth disulfide but exhibits differential affinity for nAChR subtypes. Copyright © 2010 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Tendinopathy: Pathophysiology, therapeutic options, and role of nutraceutics. a narrative literature review

Tendinopathies are very common in general population and a huge number of tendon-related procedures take place annually worldwide, with significant socio-economic repercussions. Numerous treatment options are commonly used for tendon disorders. Besides pharmacological and physical therapy, nutrition could represent an additional tool for preventing and treating this complex pathology that deserve a multidisciplinary approach. In recent years, nutraceutical products are growing up in popularity since these seem to favor the prevention and the healing processes of tendon injuries. This narrative literature review aims to summarize current understanding and the areas of ongoing research about the management of tendinopathies with the help of oral supplementation

Multiple-crystal X-ray topographic characterization of periodically domain-inverted KTiOPO4 crystal

A periodically domain-inverted KTiOPO4 crystal has been characterized for the first time by multiple-crystal multiple-reflection x-ray topography. The striation contrast within the domain- inverted regions has been revealed in high strain-sensitivity reflection topographs. The origin of formation of the striation contrast and the mechanism of domain inversion in KTiOPO4 are discussed in terms of the structural characteristics of KTiOPO4

CRITERI DI SCELTA DEL MATERIALE PER L’ALLEGGERIMENTO DI VETTURE SPORTIVE AD ALTE PRESTAZIONI

Per le vetture di lusso ad alte prestazioni, il primo elemento di competitività è dato dalle prestazioni dinamichedella vettura, ragion per cui il fattore peso sta assumendo nel tempo una rilevanza crescente. L’introduzionedi normative sempre più severe in ambito di emissioni, strettamente correlate al consumo dellavettura ha inoltre indotto i progettisti a spostare la propria attenzione non più sulla potenza pura ma sulrapporto potenza/peso. In questo ambito, è stato studiato l’alleggerimento di una vettura sportiva adalte prestazioni, in particolare di una Lamborghini Murciélago, andando a proporre nuovi materiali perla realizzazione di particolari del gruppo sospensivo. Ottimizzando la scelta del materiale, è possibile ridurreil peso, rispetto alla soluzione attuale, del 30-35% relativamente alla molla sospensione anteriore, del 50-70%relativamente alla barra antirollio posteriore, nonché alleggerire il braccio anteriore inferiore dal 3 al30%, dipendentemente dallo stato tensionale del componente, impiegando opportunamente acciai basso legati,leghe di alluminio e leghe di titanio

AI Researchers, Video Games Are Your Friends!

If you are an artificial intelligence researcher, you should look to video games as ideal testbeds for the work you do. If you are a video game developer, you should look to AI for the technology that makes completely new types of games possible. This chapter lays out the case for both of these propositions. It asks the question "what can video games do for AI", and discusses how in particular general video game playing is the ideal testbed for artificial general intelligence research. It then asks the question "what can AI do for video games", and lays out a vision for what video games might look like if we had significantly more advanced AI at our disposal. The chapter is based on my keynote at IJCCI 2015, and is written in an attempt to be accessible to a broad audience.Comment: in Studies in Computational Intelligence Studies in Computational Intelligence, Volume 669 2017. Springe

Disturbances in a VLF radio signal prior the M =4.7 offshore Anzio (central Italy) earthquake on 22 August 2005

Abstract. On 22 August 2005 an earthquake with magnitude M=4.7 occurred in the Anzio (central Italy) offshore area. From 2002, a VLF-LF radio receiver is into operation in Bari (southern Italy). The intensity and the phase of the signals transmitted by GB (f=16 kHz, United Kingdom), FR (f=20.9 kHz, France), GE (f=23.4 kHz, Germany), IC (f=37.5 kHz, Island) and IT (f=54 kHz, Sicily, Italy) has been monitored with a 5 s sampling rate. The previous epicenter is near enough to some of the radio paths and the data collected were studied in order to reveal possible seismic effects. The raw analysis revealed a clear drop in the intensity of the FR radio signal on 19 August. Then the wavelet analysis was applied to the intensity and the phase data of the different radio signals. In the mentioned day an increase in the band 60–120 min was revealed in the spectra of the FR signal. Then the principal component analysis was applied and again the 19 August stood up as an anomalous day for the FR radio signal. The path of this signal, among the paths of the five radio signals collected by the Bari receiver, is the nearest to the mentioned epicentre and the anomaly revealed on 19 August appears as a precursor of the earthquake. This result confirms the possible precursor revealed by other researchers in the air Rn content in a site located 5 miles far from the epicenter