Legiones y Falanges: prensa populista y literatura

Addressing people in order to enforce their power is a common feature of different political parties and governments, regardless of whether they are right wing or left wing, and, in this process, the press plays a crucial role. In this context, the bilingual publication Legioni e Falangi. Rivista d’Italia e di Spagna/Legiones y Falanges. Revista mensual de Italia y de España (1940–43) is a paradigmatic example. Some of the most important intellectuals of the time, including Azorín, Manuel Machado and Gerardo Diego, wrote in this magazine, facing historical reality of Fascism and Francoism and generating unexpected results.Apelar al pueblo para establecer su propio poder es un rasgo común de partidos y gobiernos de diverso signo ideológico, sin distinción de derecha o izquierda, y, en este proceso, el papel desempeñado por la prensa es decisivo. Dentro de este marco, un ejemplo paradigmático está representado por la publicación bilingüe Legioni e Falangi. Rivista d’Italia e di Spagna/Legiones y Falanges. Revista mensual de Italia y de España (1940–43), en la cual algunos de los intelectuales mayores de la época – entre los cuales destacan Azorín, Manuel Machado y Gerardo Diego –se enfrentan a la realidad histórica de los autoritarismos fascista y franquistadando vida a resultados imprevistos.Libro publicado gracias al apoyo de la Facultad de Filología de la Universidad de Łódź, del Instituto de Estudios Románicos y de Stowarzyszenie Nauczycieli Akademickich na Rzecz Krzewienia Kultury Języków Europejskic

Costruire e rappresentare le identità. La linguistica come mediatrice fra politiche identitarie e identità del parlante

Lo scopo del contributo è riflettere sul ruolo di mediazione che la linguistica può avere nel complesso rapporto fra le politiche linguistiche e le concrete pratiche discorsive dei parlanti. Il lavoro è diviso in due parti. Nella prima ci si concentrerà sul modo in cui il concetto di «identità» è stato affrontato nella ricerca linguistica nel corso del xx secolo. Nella seconda alcuni possibili modelli di rappresentazione delle complesse costruzioni identitarie emerse nel corso delle inchieste della sezione sociovariazionale dell’Atlante Linguistico della Sicilia (ALS), con particolare riferimento alle domande che indagano sulla percezione dei confini linguistici.Our paper aims at reflecting upon the mediation role that linguistics could play concerning the relationship between language policies and concrete speakers’ discourse practices. The paper is divided into two parts. The first one focuses on the concept of «identity» within Linguistics throughout 20th century. The second part deals with some possible models which may be employed in order to represent the construction of speakers’ identity as it may be observed within the interviews of the Linguistic Atlas of Sicily (ALS)

Methemoglobinemia Associated with Late-Onset Neonatal Sepsis: A Single-Center Experience

Objective â Methemoglobinemia (MetHb) is a rare congenital or acquired cause of infantile cyanosis. We examined the role of MetHb in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Study Design â A retrospective observational study was conducted reviewing blood gas analyses of hospitalized newborns over a 2-year period. MetHb-positive patients (MetHb >1.8%) were matched with a control group for gestational age, weight, disease, and illness severity at admission. Maternal, neonatal, clinical, and laboratory parameters were collected and analyzed in both groups. Results â MetHb incidence was 6%. The mean MetHb in the case group was 7.2%, and the first positive samples were observed at a mean of 22 days of life, 6 days prior to clinical or culture-proven sepsis. We identified low maternal age (31 vs. 34 years; p = 0.038), sepsis (90 vs. 45%; p = 0.022), and protracted parenteral nutrition (46 vs. 23 days; p = 0.013) as risk factors for MetHb, and early minimal enteral feeding as protective factor (12th vs. 9th day; p = 0.038). Conclusion â MetHb has a high occurrence in NICU and can be a helpful prognostic indicator of an infectious process. Understanding and prompt identification of MetHb can allow pediatricians to implement a life-saving therapy

Il dosaggio del lattato in neonati con distensione addominale come fattore prognostico di sindrome da compartimento addominale

L'ipertensione intraaddominale (IAH) e la risultante sindrome da compartimento addominale (ACS), caratterizzata da incremento della pressione >20 mmHg e insufficienza d’organo o multiorgano, sono state descritte in neonati con patologie addominali chirurgiche. La gestione effettiva e preventiva dell'IAH è associata a minore morbidità. In uno studio retrospettivo abbiamo analizzato 20 neonati con distensione addominale persistente per individuare fattori predittivi di IAH ed ACS. Il Gold-Standard della misurazione dell'IAH è la misurazione pressoria intravescicale ancora non standardizzata c/o le UTIN. Per definire l'IAH abbiamo quindi utilizzato il monitoraggio della saturazione di ossigeno (SpO2) prossimale e distale rispetto all’addome e 2 segni di compromissione d’organo (oliguria, ipotensione, insufficienza respiratoria, acidosi metabolica). Abbiamo riscontrato un rischio tendenzialmente elevato di disfunzione multiorgano e decesso in neonati di età gestazionale maggiore (p=0,09) e con una causa congenita di ACS (p<0,05), e in neonati in correzione con bicarbonati (p=0,05). Alti valori di lattato già al ricovero correlano con un deficit di basi maggiore nelle fasi avanzate di ACS (p<0,05) e con una distensione tardiva (p<0,05) associata, a sua volta, a valori di lattato più elevati nelle fasi di distensione ed acidosi (p<0,05) rispetto alla distensione precoce. Il lattato alla distensione è tendenzialmente più alto in chi avrà eventi più gravi (p=0,06) pur non correlando con il decesso (p=0,2). Solo nella fase successiva di acidosi i valori di lattato sono predittivi di decesso (p<0,05). In nessuna fase sono state riscontrate correlazioni con l’insufficienza respiratoria. L’unico fattore predittivo per un decorso sfavorevole è l’insulto tissutale perfusionale precoce misurato tramite il lattato che tuttavia non correla con il decesso perché probabilmente neonati, soprattutto con difetti della parete addominale, possono sopportare pressioni intraaddominali più elevate senza andare incontro ad insufficienza multiorgano. Al contrario sembra che neonati con ACS secondaria o con età gestazionale maggiore tollerino meno l’IAH sviluppando ACS a pressioni più basse poichè gli spazi intraaddominali sono già definiti

Dilated azygos arch mimicking an aortic arch anomaly during thoracic surgery

Cardiovascular malformations are frequently associated in patients with esophageal atresia (EA). We observed azygos continuation mimicking an aortic arch anomaly in four newborns with type III EA. They presented concomitant rib anomalies indicating a common developmental defect. Foreknowledge is important for planning thoracotomy or interventional cardiac catheterization in this population

A methodology to assess the intrinsic discriminative ability of a distance function and its interplay with clustering algorithms for microarray data analysis

Background: Clustering is one of the most well known activities in scientific investigation and the object of research in many disciplines, ranging from statistics to computer science. Following Handl et al., it can be summarized as a three step process: (1) choice of a distance function; (2) choice of a clustering algorithm; (3) choice of a validation method. Although such a purist approach to clustering is hardly seen in many areas of science, genomic data require that level of attention, if inferences made from cluster analysis have to be of some relevance to biomedical research. Results: A procedure is proposed for the assessment of the discriminative ability of a distance function. That is, the evaluation of the ability of a distance function to capture structure in a dataset. It is based on the introduction of a new external validation index, referred to as Balanced Misclassification Index (BMI, for short) and of a nontrivial modification of the well known Receiver Operating Curve (ROC, for short), which we refer to as Corrected ROC (CROC, for short). The main results are: (a) a quantitative and qualitative method to describe the intrinsic separation ability of a distance; (b) a quantitative method to assess the performance of a clustering algorithm in conjunction with the intrinsic separation ability of a distance function. The proposed procedure is more informative than the ones available in the literature due to the adopted tools. Indeed, the first one allows to map distances and clustering solutions as graphical objects on a plane, and gives information about the bias of the clustering algorithm with respect to a distance. The second tool is a new external validity index which shows similar performances with respect to the state of the art, but with more flexibility, allowing for a broader spectrum of applications. In fact, it allows not only to quantify the merit of each clustering solution but also to quantify the agglomerative or divisive errors due to the algorithm. Conclusions: The new methodology has been used to experimentally study three popular distance functions, namely, Euclidean distance d2, Pearson correlation dr and mutual information dMI. Based on the results of the experiments, we have that the Euclidean and Pearson correlation distances have a good intrinsic discrimination ability. Conversely, the mutual information distance does not seem to offer the same flexibility and versatility as the other two distances. Apparently, that is due to well known problems in its estimation. since it requires that a dataset must have a substantial number of features to be reliable. Nevertheless, taking into account such a fact, together with results presented in Priness et al., one receives an indication that dMI may be superior to the other distances considered in this study only in conjunction with clustering algorithms specifically designed for its use. In addition, it results that K-means, Average Link, and Complete link clustering algorithms are in most cases able to improve the discriminative ability of the distances considered in this study with respect to clustering. The methodology has a range of applicability that goes well beyond microarray data since it is independent of the nature of the input data. The only requirement is that the input data must have the same format of a "feature matrix". In particular it can be used to cluster ChIP-seq data

Management of multiple pregnancy with an affected twin

Newborns from multiple pregnancies demonstrate a higher perinatal morbidity and mortality compared to singletons. Prematurity is more frequent in twins and therefore birth weight is significantly lower compared to singletons [1]. Thus, twins are more exposed to prema- turity related diseases (respiratory, cardiovascular, infec- tious, etc.) and to long-term complications [2]. It is very difficult to estimate the increased risk of neonatal mor- bidity related to twinning independently to the increased risk of prematurity. Prematurity is the main reason for most neonatal diseases in twins, but other variables may play a role. Fetal growth restriction [3] and congenital malformationsare major issues in offspring of multiple pregnancies. Specific risks vary according tozigosity (monozygotic >dizygotic) and kind (genetic, vascular, multifactorial, etc.) and site (systems and organs involved) of malformation. Accurate risk assessment strategies and adequate obstetrical-neonatological man- agement of multiple pregnancies may reduce the increasing need for neonatal intensive care and for health resources in the long-term follow-up that has been observed over the last decades. Careful analysis of both twins for a pathological condi- tion is mandatory to address the most appropriate man- agement. Twin discordance for the presence of a severe pathological condition raises serious concern in terms of bioethical and psychological impact on the parents and medical staff[4]. Different management choices can be considered: termination of pregnancy, selective embryo reduction of the affected twin, anticipation of delivery or natural course of the pregnancy. Each choicehides difficult clinical and legal implications. Accurate clinical, laboratory and ultrasonographic evaluation together with pregnancy follow-up are essential for reaching the correct diagnosis and consider prognosis and therapeutic options [5]. The risk of intrauterine death and potential risks for the other twin and the mother must be taken into account. Some- times it is possible to wait until the natural end of preg- nancy and then provide suitable treatment to the affected twin. Other times, parents opt to terminate the pregnancy and loose both twins. A selective reduction (after accurate evaluation of placentation) of the affected twin only carries a high risk of complication for the healthy twin, especially in monochorionic pregnancies. In the late third trimester of pregnancy, the option of a preterm delivery can be con- sidered and may contribute to the increase of prematurity and prematurity related diseases in twins. The management of multiple pregnancies is a very com- plex task for medical staff and requires parental support with adequate counselling and psychological help [6]

A connecting system for cardiological lexicons

The purpose of this paper is to present the approach and the development of a software application ("lexicons connecting" system) to correlate effectively and unambiguously the correspondence between the specialist medical vocabulary and the familiar medical vocabulary for the cardiovascular domain. To investigate the question, the idea, the design, and the implementation of such system will be described. To this end, firstly, a number of research methodologies will be examined including domain ontologies development, database design and implementation. Then, the following implementation methodology and its results are presented. Finally, an example of the application use will be depicted and future work will be briefly described