Studio ecografico articolare in una popolazione di bambini sani: verso la definizione di quadri di normalita.

L'ecografia articolare è in grado di rilevare alterazioni delle strutture articolari, periarticolari e tendinee in corso di numerose patologie di natura infiammatoria o degenerativa. Le numerose osservazioni condotte sulla popolazione adulta hanno fornito abbondanti dati sulle alterazioni osservabili in corso di varie patologie articolare ma anche sull'anatomia ecografica delle articolazioni sane. Nell'ultimo decennio, l'ecografia articolare è stata impiegata, sempre più spesso e con vivo interesse, anche nell'ambito della reumatologia pediatrica ed in particolare nello studio dell'Artrite idiopatica giovanile (AIG); mancano, però, ancora conoscenza approfondite sul significato di alcune alterazioni osservate in corso di patologia e dati sufficienti sulla normale anatomia delle articolazioni sane di bambini di varie età. Abbiamo condotto uno studio ecografico articolare e tendineo su bambini sani di età compresa fra 0 e 14 anni, con l'obiettivo di descrivere l'aspetto ecografico delle strutture articolari e tendinee in condizioni di normalità, la prevalenza di versamento o sinovite articolare, la diffusione e la localizzazione di strutture vascolari

Privacy, Group Functioning, and Residential Satisfaction in a College Dormitory

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between privacy regulation, privacy experiences, group functioning, and residential satisfaction in an apartment-style college dormitory. The participants, 122 undergraduate students living in on-campus apartments, completed an online survey about their residential experiences. Major findings included significant positive correlations between ease of getting together with roommates, positive privacy experiences, and having more functional group interactions with roommates. There were also relationships between ease of getting away from roommates, negative privacy experiences, and group dysfunction. Finally, there were significant correlations between ease of controlling privacy, positive privacy experiences, group functioning, and residential satisfaction. These findings, and research in this area, may help increase understanding of privacy processes and may help colleges and university enhance student residential life

Estimation of temporal parameters during sprint running using a trunk-mounted inertial measurement unit

This research was supported by a grant of the Universit a Italo-Francese (Call Vinci) awarded to E. Bergamini.The purpose of this study was to identify consistent features in the signals supplied by a single inertial measurement unit (IMU), or thereof derived, for the identification of foot-strike and foot-off instants of time and for the estimation of stance and stride duration during the maintenance phase of sprint running. Maximal sprint runs were performed on tartan tracks by five amateur and six elite athletes, and durations derived from the IMU data were validated using force platforms and a high-speed video camera, respectively, for the two groups. The IMU was positioned on the lower back trunk (L1 level) of each athlete. The magnitudes of the acceleration and angular velocity vectors measured by the IMU, as well as their wavelet-mediated first and second derivatives were computed, and features related to foot-strike and foot-off events sought. No consistent features were found on the acceleration signal or on its first and second derivatives. Conversely, the foot-strike and foot-off events could be identified from features exhibited by the second derivative of the angular velocity magnitude. An average absolute difference of 0.005 s was found between IMU and reference estimates, for both stance and stride duration and for both amateur and elite athletes. The 95% limits of agreement of this difference were less than 0.025 s. The results proved that a single, trunk-mounted IMU is suitable to estimate stance and stride duration during sprint running, providing the opportunity to collect information in the field, without constraining or limiting athletes’ and coaches’ activities

Dance and the Choreographer\u27s Dilemma: A Legal and Cultural Perspective on Copyright Protection for Choreographic Works

This article will present specific legal cases involving the need for choreographers to copyright their works and will address whether the need for copyright protection for a dance is overly disputed or immensely neglected

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Worsted and Woollen processing in wool production: ReviWool® noils and other wool co-products

The textile and fashion industry is becoming increasingly active in measuring its environmental performance. As far as wool is concerned, there is quite abundant literature on environmental impacts available. However, previous studies very rarely distinguish between the different co-products of the wool transformation, and often attribute the same impact to fibers produced from worsted processing (longer and more expensive fibers) and woollen processing (shorter and cheaper fibers). This study firstly provides a detailed mapping of processes and products involved in the wool production chain, from sheep grazing to yarn production, with particular attention to the shorter fibers, which have been mostly neglected in previous literature. Secondly, this study uses the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to analyze the environmental impacts of the different intermediate co-products. In particular, when multi-output processes occur, impacts are distributed proportionally to their relative economic value, using therefore an economic allocation. This approach enabled the calculation of environmental impacts of fibers used both in the worsted and woollen processing. It results that shorter fibers generally have lower impacts than longer fibers used for the production of fine yarns. Specifically, most short fibers have an impact on climate change ranging from 25 to 30 kg CO2 eq/kg, while, longer fibers have an impact of 78–97 kg CO2 eq/kg. The physiological variation in the ratio between worsted and woolen co-products of multi-output processes appears to have little effect on the final impact results. Finally, since the grazing phase is highly variable, impacts on climate change of the analyzed intermediate products have been re-calculated using, for the greasy wool, the lowest and highest values of impact found in literature. Impacts of the analyzed products vary sensibly according to the value considered for the greasy wool, but the relationship between them is rather stable. This paper contributes with detailed information and easily replicable data which could be used as a basis for the environmental assessment of wool garments and for improving the sustainability in the wool sector

Adherence of Aeromonas hydrophila strains to human enterocyte-like cells pre-infected with Rotavirus

Introduction. The interest grown in these years about emerging pathogens in the onset of intestinal disease showed that the patho- genic mechanism is a multifactorial event. Our objective was to evaluate the role of co-infection with rotavirus in the expression of Aeromonas spp adhesiveness. Methods. The rate of co-infection involves contact of Caco-2 cells with the virus, followed by adsorption for 1 and 2 hours. Aliquots of bacterial suspensions were added to tissue-culture plates. After infection, cell monolayers were lysed; serially diluted lysates were plated to determine the number of bound bacteria by performing colony forming units (CFU) counts. Results. Non-adhesive strains were not subject to variations resulting from co-infection, while those who had medium or high adhesiveness gave rise to an increase of the same. Discussion. Infection with rotavirus promotes the Aeromonas ability to adhere to Caco-2 cells and this effect depends on the duration of infection and on the starting adhesiveness of bacteria strain

Poster Session III, July 15th 2010 — Abstracts Inertial sensors in sports: application to vertical jumps

Abstract Countermovement jump (CMJ) height is typically estimated by applying the equation of free-fall to the motion of the centre of mass (CM) during the flight phase. In field setting, this is generally done using optical cells/contact mats. The reliability of the estimate is strongly affected by the subject's expertise in executing the jump. Wearable inertial measurement units (IMU), containing 3D accelerometers and gyroscopes, can provide similar information regardless to execution constraints. However, the interpretation of signals still requires the development of computational techniques and of models embodying the specific motor task. This study aims to verify whether IMU can be used to assess CMJ performance. Twenty-eight college students (67±13 kg, 1.73±0.09 m) performed 5 CMJ, with a 3-min rest in between. A wireless IMU (Sensorize, Italy) was placed using an elastic belt around the trunk at L5 level. Sensor accelerations, influenced by trunk bending, were expressed in a global reference system using the gyroscopes. Flight time (T) was identified when the vertical acceleration (az) was lower than gravity. Subsequent numerical integration of az provided velocity and height of the centre of mass at take-off. These quantities and the ballistic law of motion were used to estimate jump height (H). A stereophotogrammetric system (Vicon MX, UK) and a force plate (Bertec, USA) were used to obtain reference values for H (Hr) and T (Tr). ANOVA for repeated measurements ( p 0.05 ) and Pearson's correlation coefficient evaluated statistical differences between H and Hr and T and Tr, respectively. Intra-individual reliability was assessed by means of the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). IMU and reference values were highly correlated (H: r = 0.9 ; T: r = 0.9 ) and presented no statistical difference for both H and T. Relevant differences were 2±8% and 4±3% for H and T, respectively. High intra-subject IMU reliability was found (ICCJ=0.834, ICCT=0.868). This study showed how the combination of a 3D accelerometer and gyroscope can lead to an accurate and repeatable estimate of jump height. CMJ height estimate does not suffer from any assumption about the performed task and it is not affected by the subject's expertise (reliable for elderly and young populations). Furthermore, since the IMU is worn by the athlete, vertical jumps can be performed on any surfaces such as grass, sand, springboards, etc

Wearable inertial sensors for human movement analysis

Introduction: The present review aims to provide an overview of the most common uses of wearable inertial sensors in the field of clinical human movement analysis.Areas covered: Six main areas of application are analysed: gait analysis, stabilometry, instrumented clinical tests, upper body mobility assessment, daily-life activity monitoring and tremor assessment. Each area is analyzed both from a methodological and applicative point of view. The focus on the methodological approaches is meant to provide an idea of the computational complexity behind a variable/parameter/index of interest so that the reader is aware of the reliability of the approach. The focus on the application is meant to provide a practical guide for advising clinicians on how inertial sensors can help them in their clinical practice.Expert commentary: Less expensive and more easy to use than other systems used in human movement analysis, wearable sensors have evolved to the point that they can be considered ready for being part of routine clinical routine

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of MWool® Recycled Wool Fibers

Textile industries are in the spotlight due to the heavy environmental impacts along their products’ life cycle and, at the same time, they are a priority sector in the new circular economy action plan of the European Commission. In this framework, the Italian company Manteco SpA has developed a value chain based on the recycling of pre-and post-consumer discarded textiles, wh0se output is a secondary wool fiber named MWool® . This study develops an environmental analysis of recycled wool fibers through the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, mainly using primary data. A parallel LCA is developed of virgin wool fiber, mostly based on literature data. Sensitivity analyses have been carried out: (i) to capture the uncertainty associated with virgin fibers’ impacts and (ii) to evaluate how MWool® impacts vary according to the origin and treatment of recycled textiles. Finally, the Circular Footprint Formula (CFF) has been applied to consider also a possible decay in quality typically affecting recycled fibers. Results show that recycled wool fibers have significantly lower environmental impacts than virgin fibers, even when the most unfavorable scenarios are considered. As climate change is concerned, 1 kg of MWool® has a carbon footprint of 0.1–0.9 kg CO2 eq., while producing virgin fibers releases 10–103 kg CO2 eq. Using the CFF, it emerges that recycled wool fibers can save about 60% of the impacts of virgin fibers. This study contributes to filling data gaps regarding LCAs applied to the textile sector, which is more and more in the spotlight and needs to address these environmental issues

Las afectaciones en el sector automotriz debido al cambio de la Matriz Productiva

The automotive sector is one of the most popular commercial sectors within the country, being present in different areas of the process from production and assembly to repair and restore it. reason for this automotive sector has been one of the sectors most analyzed during the change of the productive matrix, seeking to generate greater competitiveness in the market the government has sought to develop or require, if it fits the term, development of the different areas through restrictions and complications of the sector, and especially conducting a contradiction to its principles by agreement with the European Union which has sought to benefit various aspects within the same automotive sector. Because of the difficulties that have arisen in this sector since 2012, through this study has sought to analyze what the real state of the industry and how they have affected all members thereof, from assembly, auto , auto parts and more sectors involved in the automotive sector. Analysis of resolutions accompanied by the opinions of different members of automotive possible to establish an objective opinion with which to determine whether the change of the productive matrix focused on the automotive sector will result in a viable project and future or otherwise should be one point to consider to eliminate the process and thus generate a free interaction between producers and distributors importers in public.El sector automotriz es uno de los sectores comerciales más populares dentro del país, estando presente en diferentes áreas del proceso desde su producción y ensamble hasta la reparación y restauración del mismo. razón de esto el sector automotriz ha sido uno de los sectores más analizados durante el cambio de la matriz productiva, buscando generar una mayor competitividad dentro del mercado el gobierno ha buscado desarrollar o exigir , si cabe el termino, un desarrollo a las diferentes áreas a través de las restricciones y complicaciones del sector , y sobretodo llevando a cabo una contradicción a sus principios mediante el acuerdo con la unión europea el cual ha buscado beneficiar dentro de los varios aspectos al mismo sector automotriz. Debido a las dificultades que se han presentado en este sector a partir del año 2012, a través de este estudio se ha buscado analizar cuál es el estado real del sector y como se han visto afectados todos los miembros del mismo, desde las ensambladoras, concesionarios, autopartistas y de más sectores involucrados en el sector automotriz. El análisis de resoluciones acompañado de las opiniones de diferentes miembros del sector automotriz permitirán establecer una opinión objetiva con la cual se pueda definir si el cambio de la matriz productiva enfocada en el sector automotriz resultara en un proyecto viable y con futuro o al contrario debería ser un punto a tomar en cuenta para eliminar del proceso y así generar una libre interacción entre productores importadores y distribuidores con el público en general