1,720,985 research outputs found
The judicialization of territorial politics in Italy
No full textThis article focuses on Italy as an example of the judicialization of territorial politics, with the Constitutional Court adopting a growing role in centre–region relationships. It addresses the questions of why and how the role of the Italian Constitutional Court in terms of territorial governance has changed over the past two decades. It shows how the dynamics of decentralization, as pushed forward by the reform of the Title V of the Constitution, favoured the consolidation of the Court as a fundamental actor in intergovernmental relationships. Drawing on an extensive dataset of judicial decisions, the article provides empirical data demonstrating how the Court has become increasingly preoccupied with questions related to territorial politics over the last years. The article explores how the Constitutional Court shaped territorial politics through judicial review with the reform of Title V of the Constitutional Charter by focusing on the Court’s most significant decisions on the topic. The article emphasizes the fact that the limits of the constitutional reform have tended to produce a judicial redefinition of the centre–periphery arena and pushed the Constitutional Court to play a significant role in the new centre–region relationships
«Sometimes the Crisis Makes the Leader»?A Comparison of Giuseppe Conte Digital Communication Before and During the Covid-19 Pandemic
No full textThis article presents a comparison of the pre and during Covid-19 digital communication on Facebook of the former Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. By providing both a quantitative and qualitative overview, it aims to assess Giuseppe Conte’s political leadership during his two years spent in the office (2018-2021) and to investigate how he exploited digital platforms to spread his messages and then in handling the health emergency. Firstly, it presents how the Covid-19 outbreak led to a metamorphosis of Conte’s political leadership. Secondly, it provides an analysis of the activity of Conte on Facebook, as well as of the characteristics of the messages shared on such platform. In doing so, it observes how the sensitive policies enacted and disseminated by Conte via social media led to higher engagement levels and a growth of his fanbase, thus creating a symbiotic relationship with citizens and achieving great legitimation. Thirdly, the research explores how digital platforms entered the fabric of the administration, with Conte’s political decisions carried out bypassing official procedures through instant communication tools. In the end, it discusses that the pandemic strengthened the political leadership of Giuseppe Conte and explores complementary reasons that gave him a new centrality in the Italian political scen
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
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
Modulation of the negative affective dimension of pain: Focus on selected neuropeptidergic system contributions
Full text linkIt is well known that emotions can interfere with the perception of physical pain, as well as with the development and maintenance of painful conditions. On the other hand, somatic pain can have significant consequences on an individual’s affective behavior. Indeed, pain is defined as a complex and multidimensional experience, which includes both sensory and emotional components, thus exhibiting the features of a highly subjective experience. Over the years, neural pathways involved in the modulation of the different components of pain have been identified, indicating the existence of medial and lateral pain systems, which, respectively, project from medial or lateral thalamic nuclei to reach distinct cortex regions relating to specific functions. However, owing to the limited information concerning how mood state and painful input affect each other, pain treatment is frequently unsatisfactory. Different neuromodulators, including endogenous neuropeptides, appear to be involved in pain-related emotion and in its affective influence on pain perception, thus playing key roles in vulnerability and clinical outcome. Hence, this review article focuses on evidence concerning the modulation of the sensory and affective dimensions of pain, with particular attention given to some selected neuropeptidergic system contributions
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Interplay between the endogenous opioid system and proteasome complex: Beyond signaling
Full text linkIntracellular signaling mechanisms underlying the opioid system regulation of nociception, neurotransmitters release, stress responses, depression, and the modulation of reward circuitry have been investigated from different points of view. The presence of the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) in the synaptic terminations suggest a potential role of ubiquitin-dependent mechanisms in the control of the membrane occupancy by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), including those belonging to the opioid family. In this review, we focused our attention on the role played by the ubiquitination processes and by UPS in the modulation of opioid receptor signaling and in pathological conditions involving the endogenous opioid system. The collective evidence here reported highlights the potential usefulness of proteasome inhibitors in neuropathic pain, addictive behavior, and analgesia since these molecules can reduce pain behavioral signs, heroin self-administration, and the development of morphine analgesic tolerance. Moreover, the complex mechanisms involved in the effects induced by opioid agonists binding to their receptors include the ubiquitination process as a post-translational modification which plays a relevant role in receptor trafficking and degradation. Hence, UPS modulation may offer novel opportunities to control the balance between therapeutic versus adverse effects evoked by opioid receptor activation, thus, representing a promising druggable target
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