The Political Communication of Italia Viva on Instagram: From its Formation to the COVID-19 Emergency

On 16th September 2019, Matteo Renzi in live recording announces his exit from PD and the formation of a new party called "Italia Viva". According tothese socialand political events, the research aims at understanding, throughan approach based on content analysis,what arethe main contentsconveyed by the Instagram page of Italia Viva in the initial phase of the birth of the party –from September 16 to February 19 -and if there are any differences in the communication strategy adopted during the COVID-19 emergency–from February 20 until June 3. The expected results of thestudy arefocused on analyzing the relationship between digital spaces, politics, and the pandemic, offering a detailed analysis of the consequences of the COVID-19 emergency onpolitics and the use of the media, contextualized in the communication strategies of the Italia Viva party

O abraço cruel da dor: a endometriose e as suas representações

Endometriosis is a chronic disease of the female genital tract, the etiology of which is still unclear. The purpose of this paper is to analyze, from a biopsychosocial perspective, the structure of social representations of endometriosis of women with this disease and healthy women. To this end, an exploratory survey was conducted by administering an online questionnaire. The results made it possible to identify those particular type of social representations, the controversies, articulated differently and often contradictory in their peripheral elements. These results provide a useful basis for the construction of intervention strategies to avoid the “epistemological purgatory” in which many women are forced to live due to the discrepancy between the subjective experience of endometriosis and its expert knowledge.La endometriosis es una enfermedad crónica del aparato genital femenino cuya etiología aún no está clara. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar, desde una perspectiva biopsicosocial, la estructura de las representaciones sociales de la endometriosis entre mujeres con esta enfermedad y mujeres sanas. Para ello, se realizó una encuesta exploratoria mediante un cuestionario online. Los resultados permitieron identificar ese tipo particular de representaciones sociales, las polémicas, articuladas de manera diferente y a menudo contradictoria en sus elementos periféricos. Estos resultados constituyen una base útil para la construcción de estrategias de intervención destinadas a evitar el “purgatorio epistemológico” en el que muchas mujeres se ven obligadas a vivir debido a la discrepancia entre la experiencia subjetiva de la endometriosis y el conocimiento experto de la misma.L’endométriose est une maladie chronique de l’appareil génital féminin dont l’étiologie n’est pas encore élucidée. L’objectif de ce travail est d’analyser, dans une perspective biopsychosociale, la structure des représentations sociales de l’endométriose chez les femmes atteintes de cette maladie et chez les femmes saines. Pour faire ça, une enquête exploratoire a été menée au moyen d’un questionnaire en ligne. Les résultats ont permis d’identifier un type particulier de représentations sociales, les représentations polémiques, articulées différemment et souvent contradictoires dans leurs éléments périphériques. Ces résultats fournissent une base utile pour construire des stratégies d’intervention afin d’éviter le «purgatoire épistémologique» dans lequel de nombreuses femmes sont contraintes de vivre en raison du décalage entre leur expérience subjective de l’endométriose et la connaissance qu’en ont les experts.A endometriose é uma doença crónica do aparelho genital feminino, cuja etiologia ainda não está esclarecida. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar, numa perspectiva biopsicossocial, a estrutura das representações sociais da endometriose entre mulheres com esta doença e mulheres saudáveis. Para o efeito, foi realizado um inquérito exploratório através de um questionário online. Os resultados permitiram identificar um tipo particular de representações sociais, as polémicas, articuladas de forma diferente e muitas vezes contraditória nos seus elementos periféricos. Estes resultados constituem uma base útil para a construção de estratégias de intervenção para evitar o “purgatório epistemológico” em que muitas mulheres são obrigadas a viver devido à discrepância entre a sua experiência subjetiva da endometriose e o seu conhecimento especializado da mesma

Central obesity, body mass index, metabolic syndrome and mortality in Mediterranean breast cancer patients

Obesity and metabolic disorders have been associated with poor outcomes in non-Mediterranean breast cancer (BC) patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic potential of anthropometric variables in patients with early BC living in Southern Mediterranean region of Italy. We enrolled 955 consecutive early BC patients treated in hospitals in Naples between 2009 and 2013 (median follow-up 11.8-year ending 15/09/2022). Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) were collected. All-cause and BC-specific mortality were calculated. At the last day of contact 208 (22%) patients had died, 131 (14%) from BC. High WC (>= 88 cm) or WHR (> 0.85) and the MetS were significantly associated with moderately increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR=1.39, 1.62, 1.61, respectively). A significant increased risk of BC-specific mortality was found in obese patients, in those with high WC, high WHR and those with MetS (HR=1.72, 1.71, 1.80, 1.81, respectively). Central obesity significantly increased total and BC-specific mortality particularly in pre-menopausal women and in luminal subtypes, while in post-menopause MetS was a stronger risk factor. Obesity and MetS may impair the effectiveness of BC therapies hence active lifestyle interventions are encouraged

Asymptomatic and symptomatic deep venous thrombosis in hospitalized acutely ill medical patients: risk factors and therapeutic implications

Background Acutely ill medical patients experience deep venous thrombosis (DVT) during the hospitalization, however the time course of DVT is still unclear. Objectives To evaluate risk factors in acutely ill hospitalized medical patients for proximal asymptomatic DVT (ADVT) and symptomatic DVT (SDVT) at admission and discharge. Patients/Methods In this prospective observational study, consecutive acutely ill medical patients (hospitalized mainly for acute medical disease as infections, neoplasm, anemia, heart failure) underwent compression ultrasonography (CUS) of proximal lower limb veins within 48 h from admission and at discharge to diagnose ADVT and SDVT. Covid-19 patients, anticoagulant therapy, surgical procedures, acute SDVT, and acute pulmonary embolism, were exclusion criteria. Biographical characteristics at hospitalization, D-Dimer (assessed by ELISA)) and DD-improve score. Results Of 2,100 patients (1002 females, 998 males, age 71 +/- 16 years) 58 (2.7%) had proximal ADVT at admission. Logistic regression analysis showed that age, and active cancer were independently associated with ADVT at admission. The median length of hospitalization was 10 days [interquartile range: 6-15]. During the hospital stay, 6 patients (0.3%) with a negative CUS at admission experienced DVT (2 SDVT and 4 ADVT). In the subgroup of patients (n = 1118), in whom D-dimer was measured at admission, D-Dimer and IMPROVE-DD score were associated with ADVT at admission (n = 37) and with all DVT (n = 42) at discharge. ROC curve defined an IMPROVE-DD score of 2.5 as the optimal cut-off for discriminating patients with and without thrombotic events. Conclusions We provide evidence of early development of ADVT in unselected acutely ill medical patients suggesting the need of investigating patients by CUS immediately after hospital admission (within 48 h). Advanced age, active cancer, known thrombophilia and increased IMPROVE-DD score may identify patients at risk. The benefit of anticoagulation needs to be investigated in patients with these specific risk factors and negative CUS at admission

El cruel abrazo del dolor: la endometriosis y sus representaciones

Endometriosis is a chronic disease of the female genital tract, the etiology of which is still unclear. The purpose of this paper is to analyze, from a biopsychosocial perspective, the structure of social representations of endometriosis of women with this disease and healthy women. To this end, an exploratory survey was conducted by administering an online questionnaire. The results made it possible to identify those particular type of social representations, the controversies, articulated differently and often contradictory in their peripheral elements. These results provide a useful basis for the construction of intervention strategies to avoid the “epistemological purgatory” in which many women are forced to live due to the discrepancy between the subjective experience of endometriosis and its expert knowledge.L’endométriose est une maladie chronique de l’appareil génital féminin dont l’étiologie n’est pas encore élucidée. L’objectif de ce travail est d’analyser, dans une perspective biopsychosociale, la structure des représentations sociales de l’endométriose chez les femmes atteintes de cette maladie et chez les femmes saines. Pour faire ça, une enquête exploratoire a été menée au moyen d’un questionnaire en ligne. Les résultats ont permis d’identifier un type particulier de représentations sociales, les représentations polémiques, articulées différemment et souvent contradictoires dans leurs éléments périphériques. Ces résultats fournissent une base utile pour construire des stratégies d’intervention afin d’éviter le «purgatoire épistémologique» dans lequel de nombreuses femmes sont contraintes de vivre en raison du décalage entre leur expérience subjective de l’endométriose et la connaissance qu’en ont les experts.A endometriose é uma doença crónica do aparelho genital feminino, cuja etiologia ainda não está esclarecida. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar, numa perspectiva biopsicossocial, a estrutura das representações sociais da endometriose entre mulheres com esta doença e mulheres saudáveis. Para o efeito, foi realizado um inquérito exploratório através de um questionário online. Os resultados permitiram identificar um tipo particular de representações sociais, as polémicas, articuladas de forma diferente e muitas vezes contraditória nos seus elementos periféricos. Estes resultados constituem uma base útil para a construção de estratégias de intervenção para evitar o “purgatório epistemológico” em que muitas mulheres são obrigadas a viver devido à discrepância entre a sua experiência subjetiva da endometriose e o seu conhecimento especializado da mesma.La endometriosis es una enfermedad crónica del aparato genital femenino cuya etiología aún no está clara. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar, desde una perspectiva biopsicosocial, la estructura de las representaciones sociales de la endometriosis entre mujeres con esta enfermedad y mujeres sanas. Para ello, se realizó una encuesta exploratoria mediante un cuestionario online. Los resultados permitieron identificar ese tipo particular de representaciones sociales, las polémicas, articuladas de manera diferente y a menudo contradictoria en sus elementos periféricos. Estos resultados constituyen una base útil para la construcción de estrategias de intervención destinadas a evitar el “purgatorio epistemológico” en el que muchas mujeres se ven obligadas a vivir debido a la discrepancia entre la experiencia subjetiva de la endometriosis y el conocimiento experto de la misma

Is Cultured Meat a Case of Food or Technological Neophobia? On the Usefulness of Studying Social Representations of Novel Foods

In recent years, many studies have examined “novel foods” from various perspectives; however, the theoretical framework of social representations has been underutilized in this research. This paper denotes an initial attempt to study the socio-symbolic impact of synthetic foods using this framework. Specifically, the study aims to explore how different audiences—such as carnivores versus vegetarians—interpret unfamiliar foods, focusing on a new food technology: synthetic meat. The research seeks to describe and compare the social representations of cultured meat that are co-constructed and shared among these social groups (n = 350). The study adopts the structural approach, analyzing both the structure and content of the social representations in question. This was achieved through a mixed-methods strategy, which included hierarchical evocation, a food neophobia scale, checklists, open-ended questions, and a projective sensory analysis technique. Data analysis employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. The main findings indicate the significant roles of generative processes, cognitive polyphasia, and sensory anchors in the co-construction of social representations of cultured meat. The use of chemical-genetic objectification, metaphors, and clichés reflects ongoing debates about the possible implications of synthetic meat consumption for the environment and society. Our findings encourage consideration of social knowledge and cultural variables in food studies

Rapid diagnosis of bloodstream infections in the critically ill: Evaluation of the broad-range PCR/ESI-MS technology.

Bloodstream infection (BSI) and associated sepsis represent a major source of mortality in industrialized countries. Prompt treatment with targeted antibiotics affects both the financial impact and the clinical outcome of BSI: every hour gained in initiating the correct antimicrobial therapy significantly increases the probability of patient survival. However, the current standard-of-care, which depends on blood culture-based diagnosis, are often unable to provide such a fast response. Fast and sensitive molecular techniques for the detection of sepsis-related pathogens from primary blood samples are strongly needed. The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of the IRIDICA BAC BSI Assay, a PCR/ESI-MS-based technology for the early diagnosis of bloodstream infections from primary blood samples in critical patients. This evaluation has been performed by comparison with the traditional culture-based methods. The study was performed on a total of 300 prospective whole blood specimens obtained from patients suspected of sepsis, admitted to enrolling ER units from The Greater Romagna Area. The overall concordance between the two techniques was of 86%, with a calculated sensitivity of 76% and an assay specificity of 90%. The clinical significance of discrepant results was evaluated reviewing the patients' clinical records and the results of additional relevant microbiological tests. The data here obtained support the ability of the IRIDICA BAC BSI Assay to identify a broad range of bacteria directly from primary whole blood samples, within eight hours. This might allow a timely administration of a suitable treatment

IRIDICA-negative and blood culture-positive detections.

<p>IRIDICA-negative and blood culture-positive detections.</p

Assay performance.

<p>Assay performance.</p

Unmatching results between the two methods.

<p>Unmatching results between the two methods.</p