171,839 research outputs found
“We are against Islam!”: The Lega Nord and the Islamic folk devil
No full text© 2012 the Author(s). This article has been published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. Without requesting permission from the Author or SAGE, you may further copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the article, with the condition that the Author and SAGE Open are in each case credited as the source of the article.Since 1995, the Italian Lega Nord (LN) political party has depicted itself as the defender of Padania, a territory that covers the mainly affluent regions of Northern Italy. Around this politico-spatial territory, the LN has shaped an identity based on the notion of Popolo Padano (the Padanian People). Since the new millennium, LN rhetoric has increasingly focused—stemming more from the demands of realpolitik than those of conviction—on opposing irregular immigration per se and, more specifically, Islam and Muslim immigration. In the eyes of the LN propagandists and their media, the theology of Islam and its practitioners represent a growing threat to the modern Italian and Padanian identity (and tradition). The LN has not been alone in using the media to oppose Islam; the Italian media has reinforced LN messages; Muslims are generally depicted as dangerous and compared with terrorists and their religion and culture are described as the opposite of Italian/West values. Something approximating to a “moral panic” around this issue has ensued. Integral to this are notions of morality combined with practices of moral entrepreneurship. What follows seeks to highlight the LN’s stereotypical depictions of Islam. This evaluation is important because the LN was a major player in former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government (2008-2011) and is still a significant party among the Italian political spectrum. Integral to what follows are the following questions: “Is contemporary Islamic immigration a threat to the Italian (and Padanian) way of life?” and “Are the perceived threats to be found in the periodic uncertainties that societies suffer or might we need to search for wider processes?
A political-economic geography of Italian regionalism: the northern league (Lega Nord), 1984-96
No full textThis thesis contributes to the debates surrounding the resurgence of regionalism in contemporary Europe by examining the situation in Italy. The main theoretical perspectives of regionalism are examined as well as the historical development of the Italian national-state and the significant transformations it has undergone in recent years. The main focus of the study is the Northern League (Lega Nord) (LN) regionalist political party, which has risen to political prominence in Italian politics over the last ten years. The LN's claims for greater regional autonomy and its attempts to invent an identity for the North of Italy, or 'Padania' (as the LN calls it) have brought to the fore questions about the future structure of governance in Italy. The LN's claims for the secession of 'Padania' are a direct challenge to Italian national unity and identity. The LN claims to be the party of the North of Italy (or 'Padania') but its electoral support is not uniform across the whole of the territory. The thesis explores how and why the party's level of electoral support varies geographically, which involves examining the historical and electoral development of the LN; its organisational structures; how the party communicates its political rhetoric; and how the party’s discourses have evolved over time. The LN is analysed in three case-study areas within Northern and Central Italy in order to understand how different geographical contexts help or hinder the success of the party. The first case study area is the province of Varese, which is symbolically important for the LN and where the party is electorally strong; the second area is the autonomous province of Trentino where the LN is confronted with a distinct set of institutional and political structures; and the third is the province of Macerata in Central Italy where the LN is electorally weak
An Endogenous Group Formation Theory of Co-operative Networks: The Economics of La Lega and Mondrag.n
No full textco-operatives, networks, game theory, Mondrag.n, La Lega, Legacoop, labour managed firm
Effective strategizing practices in pluralistic settings : the case of Academic Medical Centers
No full textPluralism in organizations is dramatically and progressively increasing today, which makes it difficult for managers to capture a clear picture of what is really going on at the moment and to make strategic decisions. How strategy is formed and implemented in pluralistic contexts has been substantially underestimated for many years. This article investigates how specific strategy processes are constructed and which practices can be successfully adopted in pluralistic contexts, such as in Academic Medical Centers. We drew from a strategy as practice approach and adopted an ethnographic methodology to conduct the study. This paper demonstrates that some practices (strategy workshops, brutal facts and graphic charts) can reduce the risks of setting the strategy agenda in pluralistic organizations. Implications for managers and scholars are discussed
What Are the Targets of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Management
No full textWith recent evidence suggesting that keeping the inflammatory process under tight control prevents long-term disability, the aim of treatments in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has shifted from symptom control toward the resolution of bowel inflammation. Mucosal healing is currently recognized as the principal treatment target to be used in a "treat to target" paradigm, whereas histologic healing and normalization of biomarkers are being evaluated as potential future targets. Although symptom relief is no longer a sufficient target, patient experience with the disease is of unquestionable importance and should be assessed in the form of patient-reported outcomes, to be used as a co-primary target with an objective measure of disease activity. IBD in is a heterogeneous disease; thus besides defining common treatment targets, every effort should be made to deliver a personalized treatment plan based on the risk factors for disease progression and individual drug metabolism to improve treatment success
The challenge and the future of health care turnaround plans: evidence from the Italian experience
No full textL'articolo affronta il tema dell'efficacia dei piani di rientro sviluppati nel SSN discutendo le implicazioni manageriali scaturenti da un'indagine empirica sulle ragione della attuazione o meno degli stessi piani
I piani di rientro della spesa sanitaria: un'analisi comparativa
No full textIl saggio contiene un’analisi di come i piani di rientro rappresentino o meno uno strumento efficace ed esaustivo per rispondere all’obiettivo di condurre i sistemi sanitari regionali verso il riequilibrio economico e la riconfigurazione dell’offerta
I find you more attractive... after (prefrontal cortex) stimulation
No full textFacial attractiveness seems to be perceived immediately. Neuroimaging evidence suggests that the appraisal of facial attractiveness is mediated by a network of cortical and subcortical regions, mainly encompassing the reward circuit, but also including prefrontal cortices. The prefrontal cortex is involved in high-level processes, so how does its activity relate to beauty appreciation? To shed light on this, we asked male and female participants to evaluate the attractiveness of faces of the same and other sex prior and after transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). We found that increasing excitability via anodal tDCS in the right but not in the left DLPFC increased perceived attractiveness of the faces, irrespective of the sex of the faces or the sex of the viewers. Identical stimulation over the same site did not affect estimation of other facial characteristics, such as age, thereby suggesting that the effects of anodal tDCS over the right DLPFC might be selective for facial attractiveness, and might not generalize to decisions concerning other facial attributes. Overall, our data suggest that the right DLPFC plays a causal role in explicit judgment of facial attractiveness. The mechanisms mediating such effect are discussed
Studio sulla potenziale tossicità della lega AZ91D per applicazioni biomedicali
No full textI dispositivi medicali bioriassorbibili possono introdurre un potenziale miglioramento nel trattamento di diverse patologie, fornendo un’azione strutturale-funzionale per un tempo idoneo al completamento del processo terapeutico ed evitando di esporre il paziente a rischi di medio e lungo termine legati all’impianto del dispositivo stesso. Per tale scopo particolare attenzione è rivolta alla definizione e alla caratterizzazione di specifiche leghe di Mg, in particolare in ambito ortopedico ed endovascolare. Tuttavia, come noto, il processo di biodegradazione comporta un decremento delle proprietà meccaniche e, questione ancor più delicata, il rilascio di prodotti di corrosione potenzialmente citotossici, derivanti dagli elementi alliganti. Il presente lavoro intende quindi mostrare i risultati dello studio di corrosione e citocompatibilità della lega AZ91D, selezionata per l’elevato contenuto di Al e ritenuto un possibile fattore di rischio nell’insorgenza di malattie neurodegenerative, danni muscolari e ridotta vitalità di cellule del tessuto osseo.
Sono stati eseguiti test di immersione (ASTM G31) su campioni di AZ91D in soluzione tampone fosfato (PBS) in condizioni standard di incubatore (37 °C, 5% CO2, 95% HR) per 7, 14 e 28 giorni. Al termine dei periodi indicati i campioni sono stati decapati (ASTM G1) e la microstruttura superficiale e la composizione chimica sono state investigate tramite microscopia elettronica a scansione e analisi di spettroscopia a dispersione d’energia. Per valutare la resistenza alla corrosione della lega sono stati acquisiti spettri di impedenza elettrochimica e curve di polarizzazione, nonché è stata misurata la velocità di perdita di massa ai diversi tempi di immersione. Sono state inoltre eseguite misure di assorbimento atomico sulle soluzioni di PBS per valutare la concentrazione di ioni di Mg, Al e Zn. Infine, sono stati condotti test indiretti di citotossicità mediante saggio MTS su cellule di neuroblastoma umane SH-SY5Y esposte a PBS condizionato con la lega.
Dalle misure di perdita di peso e dai test elettrochimici è stata riscontrata una diminuzione della velocità di dissoluzione del materiale ed un aumento del potenziale e della resistenza alla corrosione con il tempo di immersione. Da ciò si deduce la formazione di un film stabile sulla superficie dei campioni dopo un certo tempo di esposizione alla soluzione. Infine, gli esperimenti di citotossicità hanno dimostrato che i prodotti di degradazione della lega AZ91D non riducono in maniera significativa la vitalità cellulare rispetto alla coltura di cellule SH-SY5Y con diluizioni progressive del terreno in PBS. I risultati preliminari riportati non evidenziano particolari effetti citotossici della lega AZ91D, tuttavia sono necessarie analisi supplementari che riproducano il più possibile le reali condizioni fisiologiche al fine di completare il profilo tossicologico del biomateriale in esame
Numerical studies of hyperbolic manifolds supporting diffusion in symplectic mappings
No full textDiffusion in generic quasi integrable systems at small values of the perturbing parameters has been a very studied subject since the pioneering work of Arnold. For moderate values of the perturbing parameter a different kind of diffusion occurs, the so called Chirikov diffusion, since the Chirikov’s papers [....]. The two underlying mechanisms are different, the first has an analytic demonstration only on specific models, the second is based on an heuristic argument. Even if the relation between chaos and diffusion is far to be completely understood, a key role is played by the topology of hyperbolic manifolds related to the resonances. Different methods can be found in the literature for the detection of hyperbolic manifolds, at least for two dimensional systems. For higher dimensional ones some sophisticated methods have been recently developed (for a review see [....]). In this paper we review some of these methods and an easy tool of detection of invariant manifolds that we have developed based on the Fast Lyapunov Indicator. The relation between the topology of hyperbolic manifolds and diffusion is discussed in the framework of Arnold diffusion
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