30 research outputs found
Unità e multiformità della famiglia in Occidente: sensi e percorsi dopo la modernità
No full textThe so-called "pluralization" of family forms is a long term trend which appears to represent the very core of the family issues in Western societies. This essay first discusses its various meanings, claiming that a distinction is both possible and necessary between a "positive" and a "negative" sense of pluralization, in a rigorously non-normative sense that appeals to the difference between intentional transformation and disruption of family loyalties (part 1). Then the author specifies what exogenous forces — mainly State and market — make for the development of the trend towards pluralization (part 2), and draws a summary description of the endogenous dynamic that family life is displaying, in autonomous response to such forces and also as a result of inner socio-cultural elaboration (part 3). The essay concludes with a discussion of the core problem implied by the whole phenomenon, namely the de-symbolization of some basic elements of family relationships, and their ambiguous reconstruction in a sort of "virtual anthropology" (part 4). The author claims that this socio-cultural dynamic is the present result of a long run and ongoing process of neutralization of the public sphere in Western societies, of which this evolution in family relationships could well represent both the most advanced frontier and the coming crisis
Associazione tra concentrazioni di particolato atmosferico e accessi al pronto soccorso pediatrico del Policlinico S. Matteo di Pavia
No full text
"The Times They Are A-Changing": Modern and Non-Modern Dynamics in the Emergence of A Secular taly
No full textMany sociologists and historians have foreseen the secularization of Europe and
have pointed to the close relation between this religious trend and ongoing modernization.
Among them, Hugh McLeod stands out as a prominent author who has
refined that thesis, talking of the ‘end of Christendom.’ By this term he means the
end of a society that defines itself as Christian, in the aftermath of the religious
crisis of the 1960s.
This article uses the religious situation in Italy as a testing ground for that thesis,
and argues that the most significant emergent facts for religious change are currently
taking place outside the symbolic range of the conservative-progressive distinction.
Building on recent empirical research as well as on the insight of such
anti-evolutionistic views of the modernization process as Joas’ theory of the creativity
of action and Archer’s approach to social morphogenesis, I sketch a new, provisional
picture of religious change in Italy. I thus try to capture the mixing
strategies and dynamics through which religious actors are making their way out of
‘Christendom’ and towards some new form of a ‘secular,’ yet not de-Christianized,
country
Auto-crosslinked hyaluronan gel injections in phonosurgery
No full textTo evaluate the clinical performance of an auto-crosslinked gel obtained from hyaluronic acid (ACP-based gel) as an anti-adhesive agent and/or augmentative agent in vocal cord surgery for the treatment of vocal fold (VF) atrophy, sulcus vocalis, and postsurgery scarring as well as its tolerability at short- and long-term follow-up
Barbarism and modernity in S.N. Eisenstadt’s theory: Towards a cultural sociology of radicalism
No full textThe emergence of 'radical' social and political actors, ideologies and identities seems to be a hallmark of the crisis of liberal democracy that is spreading throughout global society. Despite its growing uneasiness about these facts, social science has not produced much theoretical innovation about them. This article aims to contribute to this task, by bringing to bear a conceptual framework elaborated by Shmuel N. Eisenstadt through his reflections on modern barbarism. I argue that the author's understanding of barbarism has a significant interpretive potential for the sociological analysis of contemporary radical identities, and suggest some ways to reconsider 'populism', thereby redefining the very concept of radicalism. The article starts by introducing the pivotal notions which constitute the conceptual framework of our author. The following section outlines the main argument of Eisenstadt's theory of barbarism, unpacking the way in which those concepts interweave to conjure a cultural theory of exclusionary, violent identities and institutional regimes. The final section highlights the significance of such approach for a cultural sociology of radicalism, by exploring the relations between the author's views and some selected trends in contemporary social theory.L'& eacute;mergence d'acteurs sociaux et politiques > et d'id & eacute;ologies et d'identit & eacute;s > appara & icirc;t comme une caract & eacute;ristique de la crise de la d & eacute;mocratie lib & eacute;rale qui s'& eacute;tend dans le monde. Malgr & eacute; le malaise croissant que suscite cette & eacute;volution, les sciences sociales n'ont pas apport & eacute; beaucoup d'innovations th & eacute;oriques & agrave; ce sujet.Cet article vise & agrave; contribuer & agrave; cette t & acirc;che en mettant & agrave; profit un cadre conceptuel & eacute;labor & eacute; par Shmuel N. Eisenstadt dans ses r & eacute;flexions sur la barbarie moderne. Je montre que sa conception de la barbarie a un potentiel d'interpr & eacute;tation significatif pour l'analyse sociologique des identit & eacute;s radicales contemporaines, et propose quelques moyens de repenser le >, ce qui revient & agrave; red & eacute;finir le concept m & ecirc;me de radicalisme. Dans une premi & egrave;re partie, je pr & eacute;sente les notions cl & eacute;s constitutives du cadre conceptuel de notre auteur. Dans la partie suivante, j'expose l'argument principal de la th & eacute;orie de la barbarie d'Eisenstadt, en d & eacute;taillant la mani & egrave;re dont ces concepts se croisent pour cr & eacute;er une th & eacute;orie culturelle des identit & eacute;s et des r & eacute;gimes institutionnels exclusifs et violents. Dans la derni & egrave;re partie, je souligne l'importance de cette approche pour une sociologie culturelle du radicalisme, & agrave; travers une analyse des relations entre les points de vue de l'auteur et certaines tendances particuli & egrave;res de la th & eacute;orie sociale contemporaine.El surgimiento de actores, ideolog & iacute;as e identidades sociales y pol & iacute;ticas "radicales" parece ser un sello distintivo de la crisis de la democracia liberal que se est & aacute; extendiendo por toda la sociedad global. A pesar de la creciente inquietud ante estos hechos, la ciencia social no ha producido mucha innovaci & oacute;n te & oacute;rica al respecto.Este art & iacute;culo pretende contribuir a esta tarea, utilizando el marco conceptual elaborado por Shmuel N. Eisenstadt a trav & eacute;s de sus reflexiones sobre la barbarie moderna. El art & iacute;culo sostiene que la conceptualizaci & oacute;n de la barbarie por parte de este autor tiene un potencial interpretativo significativo para el an & aacute;lisis sociol & oacute;gico de las identidades radicales contempor & aacute;neas y sugiere algunas formas de reconsiderar el "populismo", redefiniendo as & iacute; el concepto mismo de radicalismo. El art & iacute;culo comienza presentando las nociones fundamentales que constituyen el marco conceptual de este autor. La siguiente secci & oacute;n describe el argumento principal de la teor & iacute;a de la barbarie de Eisenstadt, desentra & ntilde;ando la forma en que esos conceptos se entrelazan para producir una teor & iacute;a cultural de identidades y reg & iacute;menes institucionales excluyentes y violentos. La secci & oacute;n final destaca la importancia de este enfoque para una sociolog & iacute;a cultural del radicalismo, al explorar las relaciones entre los puntos de vista del autor y algunas tendencias seleccionadas en la teor & iacute;a social contempor & aacute;nea
An Exploratory Study of Users’ Preference for Different Planting Combinations along Rural Greenways
No full textThe literature highlights the importance of vegetation to enhance the ecological and visual qualities of streets and paths; however, when studies specifically focus on rural greenways they do not consider users' assessments of the planting design. This exploratory study aims to contribute to this issue. It is hypothesized that planting combinations characterized by greater variety and aesthetic flow may be more preferred and restorative. To this end, four virtual scenarios simulating bikers moving along a greenway at 25 km/h were created to find out the following: first, what kind of planting combination is the most preferred, and second, which planting combination is perceived as the most restorative by bicycle riders. To assess the experience, subjects were administered a questionnaire made up of: (i) the Perceived Restorativeness Scale-11 with additional items to assess compatibility, familiarity, and preference; (ii) a list of physical and aesthetic attributes; and (iii) information on bicycle use. The results show that participants' preferences were a ffected by the perception of the scenario's restorative value, which was not given exclusively by the degree of naturalness, but by the opportunity the greenway o ffered to engage in social/physical activities. This study shows that preference and restorativeness are not a "simple" matter of quantity of vegetation, but of quality instead, i.e., planting variety. Designers have to consider that the restorative value of greenways is related to the opportunities they offer to engage in physical/social activities
L'esperienza di HTA al Policlinico San Matteo di Pavia: analisi organizzativa e lesson learned
No full textExperience in Engineering Complex Systems: Active Preference Learning with Multiple Outcomes and Certainty Levels
No full textBlack-box optimization refers to the optimization problem whose objective
function and/or constraint sets are either unknown, inaccessible, or
non-existent. In many applications, especially with the involvement of humans,
the only way to access the optimization problem is through performing physical
experiments with the available outcomes being the preference of one candidate
with respect to one or many others. Accordingly, the algorithm so-called Active
Preference Learning has been developed to exploit this specific information in
constructing a surrogate function based on standard radial basis functions, and
then forming an easy-to-solve acquisition function which repetitively suggests
new decision vectors to search for the optimal solution. Based on this idea,
our approach aims to extend the algorithm in such a way that can exploit
further information effectively, which can be obtained in reality such as:
5-point Likert type scale for the outcomes of the preference query (i.e., the
preference can be described in not only "this is better than that" but also
"this is much better than that" level), or multiple outcomes for a single
preference query with possible additive information on how certain the outcomes
are. The validation of the proposed algorithm is done through some standard
benchmark functions, showing a promising improvement with respect to the
state-of-the-art algorithm
