Archivio istituzionale della Ricerca - UniversitĂ degli Studi di Parma
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Tourism in Natural and Agricultural Ecosystems in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
No full textThis book analyzes the roots of one of the main human activities that can be developed in natural and agricultural ecosystems: tourism.
Attention to natural and agricultural ecosystems and their conservation has intensified in recent decades, responding to increasing social sensitivity to the environment, as also witnessed by Agenda 2030. The book explores the development of tourism in natural and agricultural ecosystems in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when some of its essential features derived from the practices of exploration, scientific study, business, healing practices, and also a desire for personal growth. This research is intended to open up international scholarly debate and discussion and draw in contributions from all disciplines and geographical areas. In addition, it intends to add an important piece to the mosaic of international literature that has rarely considered the origins of nature and rural tourism in an array of practices not always embodying a stated intent of recreation. This book is based on handwritten documents and travelogues circulating during the period in question. Most of the travel experiences analyzed regard men and women of European descent, but their travels were global, with ecosystems considered on all populated continents.
This volume is essential reading for students and scholars alike interested in tourism history and the history of science and travel
Dermoscopy and reflectance confocal microscopy for basal cell carcinoma diagnosis and diagnosis prediction score: a prospective and multicenter study on 1005 lesions
No full textBackground: Basal cell carcinoma is usually diagnosed by clinical and dermoscopy examination, but diagnostic accuracy may be suboptimal. Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) imaging increases skin cancer diagnostic accuracy. Objective: To evaluate additional benefit in diagnostic accuracy of handheld RCM in a prospective controlled clinical setting METHODS: A prospective, multicenter study in 3 skin cancer reference centers in Italy enrolling consecutive lesions with clinical-dermoscopic suspicion of basal cell carcinoma. Clinicaltrials: gov; NCT04789421 RESULTS: A total of 1005 lesions were included, of which 474 histopathologically confirmed versus 531 diagnosed by clinical-dermoscopic-RCM correlation, confirmed with 2 years of follow up. Specifically, 740 were confirmed basal cell carcinomas. Sensitivity and specificity for dermoscopy alone was 93.2% (CI 95% 91.2 - 94.9) and 51.7% (CI 95% 45.5 - 57.9); PPV was 84.4 (CI 95% 81.7 - 86.8) and NPV 73.3 (66.3 - 79.5). Adjunctive reflectance confocal microscopy reported higher rates: 97.8 (CI 95% 96.5 - 98.8) sensitivity and 86.8 (CI 95% 82.1 - 90.6) specificity, with PPV of 95.4 (CI 95% 93.6 - 96.8) and NPV 93.5 (89.7 - 96.2). Limitations: Study conducted in one single Country CONCLUSION: Adjunctive handheld RCM assessment of lesions clinically suspicious for basal cell carcinoma permits higher diagnostic accuracy with minimal false negative lesions
Exploring the influence of friction in the puncture mechanics of soft solids
No full textFriction is an ever-present force in our lives, affecting the interaction between objects in numerous ways. The common hypothesis of frictionless contact between a foreign rigid object (needle) and a target material during puncturing leads to a constant penetration force. However, experimental observations reveal a linear increase in penetration force as the needle tip delves deeper. This force increment arises from the interplay of friction and adhesion at needle-solid interface. The present work provides an insight into the measure of friction and adhesion quasi-static characteristics at the needle-solid interface through puncture experiments. To this end, an axisymmetric hyperelastic model is presented to describe the expansion of a cavity under the contact pressure of the penetrating needle. In addition, the competing mechanisms of cavity expansion and mode I cracking during needle penetration in a soft solid are discussed
Correlates of breakthrough COVID-19 in vaccinated patients with systemic sclerosis: survival analysis from a multicentre international patient-reported survey
No full textThis study aimed to assess the incidence, predictors, and outcomes of breakthrough infection (BI) following coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), a risk group associated with an immune-suppressed state and high cardiopulmonary disease burden. Cross-sectional data from fully vaccinated respondents with SSc, non-SSc autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AIRDs), and healthy controls (HCs) were extracted from the COVAD database, an international self-reported online survey. BI was defined according to the Centre for Disease Control definition. Infection-free survival was compared between the groups using KaplanâMeier curves with log-rank tests. Cox proportional regression was used to assess the association between BI and age, sex, ethnicity, and immunosuppressive drugs at the time of vaccination. The severity of BI in terms of hospitalization and requirement for oxygen supplementation was compared between groups. Of 10,900 respondents, 6836 fulfilled the following inclusion criteria: 427 SSc, 2934 other AIRDs, and 3475 HCs. BI were reported in 6.3% of SSc, 6.9% of non-SSc AIRD, and 16.1% of HCs during a median follow-up of 100 (IQR: 60â137) days. SSc had a lower risk for BI than HC [hazard ratio (HR): 0.56 (95% CI 0.46â0.74)]. BIs were associated with age [HR: 0.98 (0.97â0.98)] but not ethnicity or immunosuppressive drugs at the time of vaccination. Patients with SSc were more likely to have asymptomatic COVID-19, but symptomatic patients reported more breathlessness. Hospitalization [SSc: 4 (14.8%), HCs: 37 (6.6%), non-SSc AIRDs: 32(15.8%)] and the need for oxygenation [SSc: 1 (25%); HC: 17 (45.9%); non-SSc AIRD: 13 (40.6%)] were similar between the groups. The incidence of BI in SSc was lower than that in HCs but comparable to that in non-SSc AIRDs. The severity of BI did not differ between the groups. Advancing age, but not ethnicity or immunosuppressive medication use, was associated with BIs
Digital twin-enabled process control in the food industry: proposal of a framework based on two case studies
No full textNowadays many processes in the food industry are monitored in an automatic way, with the purpose of minimising the need for workforce and of ensuring the proper control of the quality and safety of the foodstuff. All the sensors share data with a centralised management unit, where often a Manufacturing Execution System collects and evaluates them. As reported in recent research, however, a further step that can be undertaken, exploiting Industry 4.0 enabling technologies, is the implementation of digital twin approaches, with the additional aim to prevent possible issues during production. In line with these considerations, this work aims at showing two different digital twin models intended for improving the control of as many real food systems. Liquid and powder fluids are taken as examples for highlighting the differences in the optimization of the two food processes, as well as for fully exploring the potential of the digital twin approach. Finally, based on the real data taken from two pilot plants, a framework for the selection of the best digital twin tool in the food sector is delineated
Awareness and attitude among general dentists and orthodontists toward obstructive sleep apnea in children
No full textAim: This study aimed to investigate Italian dentistsâ knowledge of and attitudes toward obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children.
Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was prepared using Google Forms and sent to dentists in Italy through private social platforms. The first part of the questionnaire contained basic demographic data questions, and the second part included items about pediatric OSA.
Results: A total of 125 responses were collected within 1 month. The interviews revealed gaps in undergraduate and post-graduate training on OSA, and consequently, low self-evaluation of knowledge and self-confidence in managing young patients with OSA. Dentists showed unfavorable attitudes and poor knowledge of the general findings, risk factors, and consequences of pediatric OSA but demonstrated good knowledge of the beneficial effects of rapid maxillary expansion. Orthodontists showed a more favorable attitude and better recognition of the craniofacial features associated with OSA. In addition, a comparison was made between dentists who had graduated more than 5 years ago and new graduates, and differences were found in undergraduate education, which was better for new graduates, and a small number of questions were better answered by experienced dentists.
Conclusion: This study showed a lack of knowledge about pediatric OSA and its management among Italian dentists, revealing the need to update the dentistry curriculum and organize educational interventions
Acoustic features as a tool to visualize and explore marine soundscapes: applications illustrated using marine mammal Passive Acoustic Monitoring datasets
No full textPassive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) is emerging as a solution for monitoring species and environmental change over large spatial and temporal scales. However, drawing rigorous conclusions based on acoustic recordings is challenging, as there is no consensus over which approaches are best suited for characterizing marine acoustic environments. Here, we describe the application of multiple machine-learning techniques to the analysis of two PAM datasets. We combine pre-trained acoustic classification models (VGGish, NOAA and Google Humpback Whale Detector), dimensionality reduction (UMAP), and balanced random forest algorithms to demonstrate how machine-learned acoustic features capture different aspects of the marine acoustic environment. The UMAP dimensions derived from VGGish acoustic features exhibited good performance in separating marine mammal vocalizations according to species and locations. RF models trained on the acoustic features performed well for labeled sounds in the 8 kHz range; however, low- and high-frequency sounds could not be classified using this approach. The workflow presented here shows how acoustic feature extraction, visualization, and analysis allow establishing a link between ecologically relevant information and PAM recordings at multiple scales, ranging from large-scale changes in the environment (i.e., changes in wind speed) to the identification of marine mammal species.
Our study explores the use of VGGish acoustic features and UMAP dimensionality reduction for the analysis of marine soundscapes. We combine pre-trained acoustic classification models, dimensionality reduction (UMAP), and balanced random forest algorithms to demonstrate how machine-learned acoustic features capture different aspects of the marine environment.imag
