1,721,014 research outputs found
On line service provision: are Municipalities really innovative? The case of Municipalities in Italy
No full textThe employment of information and communication technologies for the delivery of information and services has been considered a major objective of the modernization agenda of municipalities. This article contributes to the advances in the e-government literature by assessing the current status of ICT adoption among larger Italian municipalities and investigating whether the municipalities at a more mature stage of e-government adoption share any distinctive characteristics. The results show that some organizational factors, rather than environmental ones, show a positive association. However, the analysis also shows that most of the Italian municipalities involved have undertaken a non-linear e-government adoption process, which currently results in low diffusion of more mature stages of ICT adoption for the delivery of services to citizens and businesses
Effect of cilastatin on cyclosporine-induced acute nephrotoxicity in kidney transplant recipient
No full textBackground. Cyclosporine (CsA)-induced acute nephrotoxicity could be reduced by prevention of parenchymal accumulation of the drug itself. The objective of this prospective study was to evaluate whether cilastatin, an inhibitor of active tubular resorption of CsA, reduces CsA-induced acute nephrotoxicity in kidney graft recipients.
Methods. Sixty-nine kidney recipients with immediate graft functional recovery were randomly assigned to either the treatment group (imipenem/cilastatin, n=33) or the control group (ceftazidime, n=36). All patients followed a standard immunosuppressive regimen based on CsA and low-dose prednisone. Craft function and CsA levels were evaluated 3, 5, 10, 15, and 30 days after transplantation.
Results. Compared with the control group, imipenem/cilastatin administration reduced the serum creatinine level in the first 2 weeks after transplantation, reaching a significant effect on postoperative day 10 (P<0.05). No significant differences were demonstrated between the two groups for CsA levels, patient and graft survival, and all the other examined parameters.
Conclusions. Our findings support the hypothesis that cilastatin administration can reduce CsA-induced acute nephrotoxicity after kidney transplantation
The Pilot of Limited Change. Mohammed VI and the Transition in Morocco
No full textIn this chapter I analyze the role played by Mohammed VI in the process of transition from the autocratic regime of Hassan II. In particular, I argue that Mohammed VI has guaranteed his country only a limited transition: in fact, although the adoption of the 2011 constitution is effectively a sign of greater democratization of the country, for the time being Morocco continues to be a hybrid regime, in which the king remains the fulcrum of the political
and institutional system. Accordingly, this chapter proceeds as follows. In the first part I examine the move from the autocratic regime of Hassan II to the hybrid regime of Mohammed VI. I then indicate the reasons that led part of the Moroccan people to demonstrate against the regime in February 2011, and the measures by which the king managed to calm the protest demonstrations. Afterwards, I show that the constituent process was driven by Mohammed VI and was characterized by some major democratic deficits. I then examine the new arrangements introduced by the 2011 constitution to regulate the form of
government including, in particular, the rules on the division of powers between the sovereign and the head of government. I show that, despite what is formally stated in the constitution, Morocco has not become a parliamentary monarchy. Subsequently, I underline that for the moment the head of government, Abdelilah Benkirane, has not established himself as a serious “counterweight” to the king, and that the process of constitutional
implementation is proceeding quite slowly
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
Introduction
No full textThe transformations which are taking place in the Arab world are dynamic processes characterised by a number of variables that one can refer to as actors and factors. The implications of the Arab uprisings are important for the world at large; the Arab world’s successes, and failures, at this crucial moment may well serve as a model for other nations. Political and Constitutional Transitions in North Africa focuses on five Northern African countries- Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Libya and Algeria- examining specific institutions and actors participating in the political upheavals in North Africa since 2011, and placing them in a comparative perspective in order to better understand the processes at work. This book addresses issues pertinent to North African and Middle Eastern Studies, comparative constitutional law, political science and transitional studies and it contains contributions by experts in all these fields.
Providing a significant contribution to the understanding of events that followed the immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia, this book is a valuable contribution to North African Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Comparative Constitutional Law and Transitional Studies
Letture di Gramsci nell'antropologia italiana del dopoguerra
No full textIl saggio analizza la diversa ricezione delle Osservazioni sul folclore di Gramsci nel dibattito che si svolge a Roma, presso il Teatro delle arti, all'inizio di Giugno del 1951. Al dibattito, organizzato dall'Istituto Gramsci, partecipano Paolo Toschi, Vittorio Santoli, Ernesto De Martino. L'analisi si concentra in particolare sulla distanza tra la lettura disciplinare di Toschi, che respinge in toto le osservazioni di Gramsci, riducendone la portata teorica, e quella molto politica di De Martino, piuttosto in linea con l'approccio pedagogico e "anti-populista" del PCI dell'epoca, nonostante le sue precedenti prese di posizione riguardo alla possibilità di individuare un nucleo progressivo del folclore. Il giovane CIrese, presente alla giornata di studio, avrebbe in seguito dato una lettura disciplinare rovesciata rispetto a quella di Toschi, facendo di Gramsci il fondatore della demologia
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
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