We present a detailed description of the tectono-stratigraphic architecture of the eclogite-facies Internal Piedmont Zone (IPZ) metaophiolite, exposed in the Lanzo Valleys (Western Alps), which ...represents the remnant of the Jurassic Alpine Tethys. Seafloor spreading and mantle exhumation processes related to the Alpine Tethys evolution strongly conditioned the intra-oceanic depositional setting, which resulted in an articulated physiography and a heterogeneous stratigraphic succession above the exhumed serpentinized mantle. “Complete” and “reduced” successions were recognized, reflecting deposition in morphological or structural lows and highs, respectively. The “complete” succession consists of quartzite, followed by marble and calcschist. The “reduced” succession differs for the unconformable contact of the calcschist directly above mantle rocks, lacking quartzite and gray marble. The serpentinite at the base of this succession is intruded by metagabbro and characterized at its top by ophicalcite horizons. Mafic metabreccia grading to metasandstone mark the transition between the “complete” and “reduced” successions. The character of the reconstructed succession and basin floor physiography of the IPZ metaophiolite is well comparable with the Middle Jurassic–Late Cretaceous succession of both the Queyras Complex (External Piedmont Zone) and the Internal Ligurian Units (Northern Apennines) and with modern slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges.
Face recognition deficits are frequently reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and often attributed to memory impairment. However, it has been hypothesized that failure in identifying familiar people ...could also be due to deficits in higher-level perceptual processes, since there is evidence showing a reduced inversion effect for faces but not for cars in AD. To address the involvement of these higher processes, we investigated event-related potential (ERP) neural correlates of faces in a patient with AD showing a face recognition deficit. Eight healthy participants were tested as a control group. Participants performed different tasks following the stimulus presentation. In experiment 1, they should indicate whether the stimulus was either a face or a house or a scrambled image. In experiments 2 and 3, they should discriminate between upright and inverted faces (in experiment 2, stimuli were faces with neutral or fearful expressions, while in experiment 3, stimuli were famous or unfamiliar faces). Electrophysiological results reveal that the typical face-specific modulation of the N170 component, which is thought to reflect the structural encoding of faces, was not present in patient MCG, despite being affected by the emotional content of the face implicitly processed by MCG. Conversely, the N400 component, which is thought to reflect the recruitment of the memory trace of the face identity, was found to be implicitly modulated in MCG. These results may identify a possible role for gnosic processes in face recognition deficits in AD and suggest the importance of adopting an integrated approach to the AD diagnosis while considering electrophysiological markers.
Purpose: Radiotherapy (RT) treatment of locally-advanced and recurrent head and neck carcinoma (HNC) results in disappointing outcomes. Combination of RT with cisplatin or cetuximab improves survival ...but the increased toxicity and patient's comorbidity warrant the need for a less-toxic radiosensitizer. Stimulated by several randomized studies demonstrating the radio-sensitizing effect of hyperthermia, we developed the HYPERcollar. Here, we report early experience and toxicity in patients with advanced HNC.
Methods and materials: 119 hyperthermia treatments given to 27 patients were analyzed. Hyperthermia was applied once a week by the HYPERcollar aimed at achieving 39-43 °C in the target area, up to patients' tolerance. Pre-treatment planning was used to optimize treatment settings. When possible, invasive thermometry catheters were placed.
Results: Mean power applied during the 119 hyperthermia treatments ranged from 120 to 1007 W (median 543 W). 15 (13%) hyperthermia treatments were not fully completed due to: pain allocated to hyperthermia (6/15), dyspnea from sticky saliva associated with irradiation (2/15) and unknown reasons (7/15). No severe complications or enhanced thermal or mucosal toxicities were observed. Excluding post-operative treatment, response rates after 3 months were 46% (complete) and 7% (partial).
Conclusion: Hyperthermia with the HYPERcollar proved to be safe and feasible with good compliance and promising outcome.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Summary
The existence of a mithraeum at Angera (VA, Italy) was assumed for the first time in the 19th century, after the discovery of two Mithraic inscriptions re-used as ornaments of a private ...garden in the middle of the small town. The location of the alleged mithraeum is still uncertain: the inscriptions have been found out of context, and the place of worship has never been localized.
The “Antro mitraico” (Mithraic Cave), also known as “Tana del Lupo”, is a natural cave situated at the base of the East wall of the cliff on which the Rocca Borromeo (the Castle of Angera) stands. At the cave the most visible archaeological evidences are tens of breaches cut into the outside rocky wall, which probably contained votive inscriptions or stele. These elements denote the use of the cave as a place of worship.
In 1868 Biondelli identified in the cave the location of a Mithraic cult, giving rise to a theory that continues still today. If, on the one hand, the proposal appeared plausible, there is no clear evidence that in the cave a
mithraeum
was ever set up; besides, the presence of many an
ex voto
is in conflict with the mysteric ritual practices. This paper is intended to present an analytical study of the monument, with a broader inquiry on the characteristics of
mithraea
and other sanctuaries within natural caves.
The article reflects on the role of architectural journals as sources, instruments, methods and narrative devices for the teaching of architectural history, questioning their role of mediators with a ...multifaced network of milieux characterized by divergent positions, ideological agendas, and modes of interacting. Moving from the teaching seminar offered over the past six years to internationals students at Politecnico di Milano in the framework of the History and Theory course, the pedagogical project intersects the growing attention for the relations between architecture and media, and the current debate on the history of architecture as a transnational practice.A corpus of around fifty periodicals published in eighteen different countries was addressed as a “system of knowledge” and a “global printed network”, overcoming monographic and local-centered readings based on the history of isolated journals or linked to national editorial cultures and narratives. Journals were examined in their interrelations and interconnections through comparative and cross-cultural analyses, crossing diverse architectural geographies, to trace the international circulation of knowledge.Crossing two divergent research attitudes codified by architectural historians, who tended to look at magazines as structuring sources for writing history or, alternatively, as objects of inquiry over the past decades, journals are critically examined as complex objects, investigated in their economic, material, cultural, visual, and graphic dimensions. By dissecting the overall structure of each journal and scrutinizing their constituting elements - including undervalued parts, often considered at the peripheries of the discourse -, the multi-layered study of this printed network brings to the light the interconnections between a constellation of actors and agents involved in the production of knowledge. The analysis of the diverse agendas, rationalities, editorial strategies and networks between editors, owners, institutions, and the general audience allowed to question the very notion of milieu that the magazines contribute to create. On the one hand, the cross-reading of “journal biographies” and the study of the “anatomy” of diverse genres of magazines contribute to question canonical interpretations and timeframes of a 20th century architectural history still centered on the European and North American editorial scene, offering a more nuanced understanding of the times and forms of production of architectural culture. On the other hand, using a corpus of visual and less-conventional analytical tools and communicative forms revealed the potential of maps, timelines, and diagrams as promising and innovative narrative devices. These means could enrich the corpus of methods and instruments used in the pedagogy of architectural history, opening the discussion on the opportunities offered by innovative forms of contamination with procedures and tools of quantitative research and the technologies and methodologies of the digital humanities.
Trichotillomania is a psychiatric condition characterized by the chronic pulling and plucking of one's own hair. Cognitive-behavioral therapy shows promise as a treatment for trichotillomania and ...might be preferable to pharmacotherapy. However, there have been no randomized, controlled studies of the efficacy of group cognitive-behavioral therapy.
We evaluated 44 subjects, recruited from April 2009 to May 2010, all of whom met DSM-IV criteria for a diagnosis of trichotillomania. Subjects were randomized to receive 22 sessions of either group cognitive-behavioral therapy or group supportive therapy (control). Treatment evaluation was non-blind and used self-report scales. The primary outcome measure was the improvement of hair-plucking behavior as assessed by the Massachusetts General Hospital Hairpulling Scale. Secondary measures included scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Social Adjustment Scale-Self-Report.
Both groups showed significant posttreatment improvement in the scores from the Massachusetts General Hospital Hairpulling Scale (F = 23.762, P < .001) and the Beck Depression Inventory (F = 6.579, P = .003). The decrease in hair-plucking behavior over time was significantly greater in the study group than in the control group (F = 3.545, P < .038). There were no significant differences between the pretreatment and posttreatment time points or between the groups in the scores from the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Social Adjustment Scale-Self-Report.
We conclude that group cognitive-behavioral therapy is a valid treatment for trichotillomania. This treatment model should be further revised and expanded to address comorbidities such as anxiety and social maladjustment.
ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01968343.
Key for the observed reactivity of λ3-iodanes, powerful reagents for the selective transfer of functional groups to nucleophiles, are the properties of the 3-center-4-electron bond involving the ...iodine atom and the two linearly arranged ligands. This bond is also involved in the formation of the initial complex between the λ3-iodane and a nucleophile, which can be a solvent molecule or a reactant. The bonding in such complexes can be described by means of σ-hole interactions. In halogen compounds, σ-hole interaction was identified as a force in crystal packing or in the formation of supramolecular chains. More recently, σ-hole interactions were also shown to affect the reactivity of the iodine-based hypervalent reagents. Relative to their monovalent counterparts, where the σ-hole is located on the extension of the sigma-bond, in the hypervalent species our DFT calculations reveal the formation of a nonclassical σ-hole region with one or even two maxima. This observation is also made in fully relativistic calculations. The SAPT analysis shows that the σ-hole bond between the λ3-iodane and the nucleophile is not necessarily of purely electrostatic nature but may also contain a significant covalent component. This covalent component may facilitate chemical transformation of the compound by means of reductive elimination or other mechanisms and is therefore an indicator for its reactivity. Here, we also show that the shape, location, and strength of the σ-holes can be tuned by the choice of ligands and measures such as Brønsted activation of the iodane reagent. At the limit, the tuning transforms the nonclassical σ-hole regions into coordination sites, which allows us to control how a nucleophile will bind and react with the iodane.
Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) is a potentially fatal systemic inflammatory response that can occur in patients undergoing peripheral blood haploidentical hematopoietic cell transplantation ...(haplo-HCT). Severe CRS has previously been associated with increased infection risk. IL-6 inhibitors, such as tocilizumab, are useful in moderate to severe CRS, but their effect on infection risk has not been established in this setting. We examined the effect of tocilizumab on blood stream infections (BSIs) in the early post-transplant period in 235 patients who underwent haplo-HCT from 2013 to 2020. Mild CRS was associated with a lower incidence of BSI than severe CRS (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.13-0.74). In the tocilizumab group, 31% of patients had positive blood cultures versus 14% in the non-tocilizumab group (OR 1.61, 95% CI 0.30-8.60, p = 0.58). However, when controlling for CRS grade, tocilizumab was not independently associated with increased rates of BSIs, suggesting it does not further increase infection risk.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The rehabilitation of paretic stroke patients uses a wide range of intervention programs to improve the function of impaired upper limb. A new rehabilitative approach, called action observation ...therapy (AOT) is based on the discovery of mirror neurons and has been used to improve the motor functions of adult stroke patients and children with cerebral palsy. Recently, virtual reality (VR) has provided the potential to increase the frequency and effectiveness of rehabilitation treatment by offering challenging and motivating tasks. METHODS: The purpose of the present project is to design a randomized controlled six-month follow-up trial (RCT) to evaluate whether action observation (AO) added to standard VR (AO + VR) is effective in improving upper limb function in patients with stroke, compared with a control treatment consisting of observation of naturalistic scenes (CO) without any action content, followed by VR training (CO + VR).
AO + VR treatment may provide an addition to the rehabilitative interventions currently available for recovery after stroke and could be utilized within standard sensorimotor training or in individualized tele-rehabilitation.
The trial has been prospectively registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT05163210 . 17 December 2021.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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