1,720,988 research outputs found
Smart Cities: Public Policies and Business Models for a Sustainable Development. Stakeholder Networking and Innovative Public Procurement in Italy
No full textThe management of environmental, social and economic aspects of urban systems requires a financial commitment by local authorities often above available resources: a challenge for institutional traders therefore concerns the identification of new policies and procedures of engagement between public and private investors to ensure the economic feasibility of interventions.
The implementation of concrete public policies requires a revision of the role of local governments who are called to turn from “customers” into "facilitators" in complex processes of cooperation with economic operators. This implies a cultural change, both by institutions and investors, based on mutual trust, in opposition with the traditional authoritarian role of the public bodies and with the historical suspicion, deeply widespread in Italy, by investors against the public procurement system.
This paper investigates policies at the disposal of local public agencies to make real progress towards a smart city, on the assumption that traditional models of government and bargaining with traders are outdated and inadequate.
The paper proposes some procedural models not yet widely available in Italy, which can be taken into consideration by Italian public bodies to pursue their objectives through synergies with market participants.
The paper in particular analyzes public-private partnerships from two different perspectives: within a strategic planning process and within procedures of innovative public procurement. The first regards the spread of a collaborative culture of smart cities by promoting networking strategies and collaborations among stakeholders, by means of legal-administrative tools. The latter identify procedural means to introduce new ways of financing and negotiation between public and private sector within innovative procurement of services. The paper focuses on current Italian case studies, by collecting information both from direct and indirect source. The case studies of Genoa Smart City Association and of Turin Smart City Foundation as regards legal-administrative tools are examined; the case study of pre-commercial procurements in Val d’Aosta Region, with the insertion of a living lab methodology, is illustrated. The procedures are supported by Technological Platforms as operational tools to bring together institutional, scientific, industrial operators for the pursuit of specific objectives
Endothelium as a target for anti-phospholipid antibodies and for therapeutical intervention
No full textEndothelium activation seems to represent one of the pathogenic mechanisms that induce the trombophilic state of the anti-phospholipid syndrome. The rationale behind such a statement lies on the demonstration that: (a) the major antigen of the anti-phospholipid antibodies (beta 2 glycoprotein I) can be expressed on the endothelial cell membrane, (b) the endothelial beta 2 glycoprotein I offers suitable epitopes for circulating antibodies, (c) the binding of anti-beta 2 glycoprotein I antibodies is capable to induce the appearance of a pro-coagulant and pro-inflammatory phenotype. Both in vitro and in vivo experimental models support such a hypothesis. Although a classical vasculitic process cannot be found in the anti-phospholipid syndrome there is indirect evidence that endothelial activation/damage does occur also in vivo. The demonstration that hydroxymethylglutaryl Co-enzyme A reductase enzyme inhibitors (statins) can block endothelial cell activation induced by anti-beta 2 glycoprotein I antibodies as well as by pro-inflammatory cytokines offers new therapeutical approaches
Smart Governance: Strategic Planning and Urban Regeneration. Manchester and Turin Case Studies
No full textThe evolutionary process undertaken by many European cities which leads from urban agglomerations to smart cities requires the adoption of a strategic and integrated approach to environmental, economic and social topics, according to a medium - long term vision and through new funding formulas that involve private capital to ensure interventions feasibility.
The implementation of effective public policies requires strong coordination by the Public Administrations in complex cooperation processes with economic operators, inter-sectoral planning, a local approach to urban development.
The paper discusses some governance tools applied by local public bodies to urban regeneration interventions, assuming that traditional models of governance and programming are inadequate.
The paper identifies strategic planning as the main tool of governance to manage the dynamics of contemporary cities. In particular it identifies two concrete case studies of strategic planning processes applied to urban regenerations - East Manchester and Barriera di Milano in Turin - and outlines some common aspects considered essential to pursue the feasibility of the operations.
Both the examples may be acquired as a benchmark by local authorities to pursue their objectives of evolution towards a smart city, beyond purely programmatic formulations which may sometimes remain unimplemented
Trauma cranico ed emorragie intracraniche spontanee: basi fisiopatologiche e di terapia per il nursing orientato
No full textLe grandi patologie acute ad alta gravità e necessità di cure intensive sono rappresentate dai traumi cranici gravi , dalle emorragie intracerebrali spontanee e dall’ emorragia subaracnoidea da rottura aneurismatica. Mentre l’ incidenza epidemiologica di queste patologie è dissimile, peraltro con globale alta incidenza, il quadro clinico di esordio, i processi fisiopatologici che li caratterizzano, i principi di cura e trattamento possono avere specificità nelle singole patologie. La conoscenza dei princìpi fisiologici cerebrali e dei meccanismi di regolazione è utile per inquadrare l’ evoluzione e su essi basare l’ interpretazione del quadro clinico, dei monitoraggi e dei rilievi di imaging e strumentali. L’ impegno infermieristico è per queste patologie critiche elevato e un nursing razionale e orientato permette l’ attuazione di procedure e comportamenti ad alto impatto clinicoe valenza terapeutica
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Endothelial cell activation by antiphospholipid antibodies
No full textAntiphospholipid antibodies are mainly directed against beta 2 glycoprotein I, a phospholipid-binding protein expressed on endothelial cell membranes of different anatomical localizations and recognized by the specific autoantibodies. Antibody binding induces an endothelial activation both in in vitro and in vivo experimental models that might contribute to the prothrombotic state. Endothelial beta 2 glycoprotein I adhesion is mediated by the electrostatic interaction between its cationic phospholipid binding site and anionic structures on the cell membrane; however, binding to annexin II--the endothelial cell receptor for tissue plasminogen activator--plays also a role. Anti-beta-2 glycoprotein I antibodies up-regulate mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory mediators through NF-kappaB translocation and the signaling cascade triggered by Toll-like receptors. Because of the molecular mimicry between beta 2 glycoprotein I and viral/bacterial structures-the natural ligands for Toll-like receptors (TLR)-antibodies might cross-link the molecule associated to the receptors eventually triggering their signaling
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Innate immunity in the antiphospholipid syndrome : role of toll-like receptors in endothelial cell activation by antiphospholipid antibodies
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