1,721,088 research outputs found
Valutare la democrazia. Introduzione all'analisi della qualità democratica
No full textValutare le prestazioni e l’organizzazione dei regimi democratici per migliorarne il funzionamento è uno degli obiettivi prioritari della scienza politica.
Data la salienza assunta dagli studi sulla qualità democratica nel panorama della ricerca politologica, il libro sviluppa una riflessione sullo stato dell’arte, a partire da una ricostruzione del dibattito da cui il tema scaturisce e attorno al quale si articola: dagli studi di ingegneria costituzionale, a quelli sulle performances dei sistemi democratici, fino alla valutazione delle politiche pubbliche e dei loro disegni organizzativi e progettuali. Alla luce della eterogeneità degli argomenti trattati, lo scopo di questo lavoro consiste dunque nel sistematizzare la mole di letteratura esistente attorno al concetto di qualità democratica, al fine di guidare il lettore attraverso i percorsi esplicativi di ciascuna area di ricerca, le loro intersezioni e le possibili evoluzioni
The quality of territorial policies in Europe’s periphery. Urban regeneration and environmental protection
No full textGoverning Crime or Governing through Crime? “Security Pacts” as a Policy Instrument in Italy (2007-2009)
No full textThis paper explores the territorial dimension of the local security policies, with reference to the “Security Pacts” signed in Italy between 2007 and 2009. The “Security Pacts” are a negotiation instrument introduced by the central government, aiming at changing the model of security governance at the local level. After describing how “Security Pacts” spread and which institutional actors have participated in them, this study aims at deepening the analysis of their territorial dimension. More specifically, the research question at the basis of this study focuses on the identification of the causes which can explain why the “Pacts” involve a variable number and different types of public administrations at different levels and why they tend to acquire specific spatial configurations rather than others. Three hypotheses will be tested based on empirical data (obtained using a Quantitative Narrative Analysis and with the aid of Geographic Information Systems and statistical tools) in order to identify
which variable may explain better than others the propensity to use negotiation tools to solve security-related issues in different areas of the country
The unbearable lightness of the instantaneous wave-free ratio/fractional flow reserve discordance
No full textThe unbearable lightness of the instantaneous wave-free ratio/fractional flow reserve discordanc
The actorness of the President of the Republic in Italian foreign policy: a quantitative narrative analysis of two case studies (1999–2013)
Full text linkIn this paper, we address the topic of policy actorness in Italian foreign policy to characterize the understudied role of the President of the Italian Republic (PoR). We apply quantitative narrative analysis (QNA) as the methodological tool of our study, answering two research questions to which the academic literature has so far produced limited responses: (a) whether the PoR can be considered a relevant actor in Italian foreign policy and (b) which factors can affect the Italian PoR’s relevance in foreign policy. Considering the Italian PoR’s Diary as the unit of analysis and source of data, we study the two crucial cases of Ciampi’s presidency (1999–2006) and Napolitano’s first presidency (2006–2013). QNA allows us to quantify and compare, while maintaining an actor-centred approach, the relations of the two PoRs with the most relevant actors in foreign policy. The results of our analyses highlight the relevance of the Italian PoR figure, identifying the main areas of influence of the Italian head of state and their changes over time. We conclude providing a few hypotheses to interpret the outcomes of our analyses on the PoR’s role in Italian foreign policy
The power of the President: a quantitative narrative analysis of the Diary of an Italian head of state (2006–2013)
Full text linkMany authors agree that the President of the Italian Republic is the head of state with the widest powers among parliamentary governments in Europe. Although several studies have sought to explain Why the President’s power may increase or decrease, a quantitative measurement of the phenomenon—able to answer questions also about the Who (the actors), How (the modalities) and How much (the consistency) of the phenomenon itself—has seldom been carried out by scholars. This paper seeks to answer these unanswered substantive questions by measuring the potential power of the Italian head of state in a crucial case—the first Presidency of Giorgio Napolitano (2006–2013)—by means of a quantitative narrative analysis (QNA) and a social network analysis of his Diary. This is done in a semi-automated way by using natural language processing (NLP) techniques, including regular expressions and named-entity recognition. As regards the methodological contribution of the paper, its aim is to demonstrate that QNA with NLP tools for semi-automated analysis of textual data can be considered an effective and reliable methodology for the empirical investigation of potential power, enabling a more widespread application of this technique in the quantitative analysis of topics related to the power approach—that some scholars consider otherwise obsolete—also at the comparative level
Low FFR equal to low ischemia: Really?
No full textWe read with great interest the elegant work by JM Lee et al. [ [1] ]. They evaluated the physiologic mechanism of discordance between instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) and fractional flow reserve (FFR) using 13N-ammonia positron emission tomography (13NH3-PET) to estimate coronary circulation indices. The authors show that in 15% of the analyzed population there is a discordant result between FFR and iFR (low FFR and high iFR). Noteworthy, this subgroup of patients showed significantly lower proportion of PET-defined myocardial ischemia. In fact, the authors used a previously validated cut-off for PET-defined myocardial ischemia, namely CFR <2.0 and hyperemic MBF ≤1.84 ml/min/g. Unfortunately, the same authors demonstrated that this cut-off was correlated with an FFR value ≤0.75 [ [2] ]. The optimal threshold for a FFR ≤0.80 was CFR <2.12 and hyperemic MBF ≤1.99 ml/min/g. In the present work, patients in the discordant group had a median FFR of 0.77 (25th–75th quartile: 0.76–0.78) and a mean hyperemic MBF of 1.94 ± 0.45 ml/min/g. Thus, it is obvious that discordant patients showed lower ischemia since they used two different ischemia definitions in respect to the same technology. FFR was considered positive when ≤0.80, PET-ischemia value was considered positive with a threshold based on FFR ≤0.75 and almost no patient in the discordant group had an FFR value ≤0.75. Thus, we are struggling to understand the methodology and the clinical implications of these results. In fact as previously reported by Johnson et al. [ [3] ] FFR is a continuous marker of ischemia, and the benefit gained from treating FFR lesions ≤0.80 is widely validated
Comment on [Magnetic Resonance Perfusion or Fractional Flow Reserve in Coronary Disease]
No full textA key assumption in the physiological assessment of coronary stenosis in the MR-INFORM (Myocardial Perfusion CMR versus Angiography and FFR to Guide the Management of Patients with Stable Coronary Artery Disease) trial by Nagel et al. (June 20 issue)1 is that the two catheter systems used to measure the pressure gradient across a coronary stenosis are identical with respect to calibration and zero level. The article and Supplementary Appendix (available with the full text of the article at NEJM.org) do not provide this assurance
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