170,648 research outputs found
Assessing psychodramatic intervention on female victims of violence. The cross-cultural validation of CORE-OM and SAI-R for Project Empower Daphne
No full textThis paper reports on a research-intervention project named Empower that focuses on the problem of gender-based violence, particularly within the family and on the mother-daughter relationship. The verification of the theoretical model presented here, enables us to set the underlying assumptions for the six countries studied (Italy, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania) and make cross-cultural comparisons. Gender differences on test scores of spontaneity, psychological well-being and depression were assessed in six different countries: Italy, Austria, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania and Albania. In our experimental design, we used three instruments, namely the SAI-R, the CORE-OM and the BDI-II to measure these indices in women and men. The BDI-II was only administered in Italy and Austria due to validation reasons.
The analysis discusses internal reliability values, gender differences, correlations with instruments and comparisons between countries for each one of the instruments used and countries investigated. Internal reliability of the SAI-R, CORE-OM and BDI-II was good in every country and we observed statistically significant differences in scores obtained by women and men on the two tests. We also observed an inverse relationship between indices of spontaneity with depression and psychological distress in the participants
Representations of death and of spirituality in an experience of death education in a nursery school
No full textDeath fear and cultural censorship characterizes Western history
starting from the twentieth century till nowadays. The effort
of forbidding a philosophy of pain and of denying the salvific
value of suffering is leading our culture toward a policy of total
anesthesia of grief and pain. Death unawareness usually causes
unhealthy behaviors and traumas hard to solve when we face
with life frailty. In the past ten years the Chizzolini nursery
school, thanks to expressly trained teachers, has been setting
up a program on grief related to one of the biggest losses in
life: the death of a beloved one. Emotional-affective and death
education paths enable to face death fear. In 2013/2014 school
year it was introduced a further step toward spiritual education.
Spirituality concerns everybody, including children. It has to do
with the whole person, with his vision of world, life, death and
with his way of relating to reality. Spiritual education is essential.
It consists of a path of awareness concerning our perception
of being beyond our body. It allows to face and overcome
dying fears. The research involves 49 five years old children
and their 50 parents (age range 31-45). It aims to investigate
death and spirituality representations and if the path is helpful
to recognize, work through and be responsible of emotions. The
Death Education experience began in October and finished in
December. Children’s replies to a death fear managing interview
were analyzed with the Atlas.ti qualitative analysis software to
identify ways children discursively construct emotions, especially
fear and representation of death. The Spiritual Education experience
(January-March) followed the death education phase.
Children’s responses to the interview on spirituality meaning
were analyzed (Atlas.ti) to detect ways children discursively
construct the representation of spiritual dimension. How the
path reflected on children’s families was also observed. Parents
completed two questionnaires, one at the beginning and one
at the end of the path. Answers were analyzed through SPAD
5.6, qualitative analysis software, to detect ways parents discursively
construct representations of death, spirituality and related
emotions. Finally, through the Semantic Differential, ways
parents define death and spirituality representation in relation
to their symbolic values were detected. Results confirm that
emotional/death education paths from childhood, seems to be
undoubtedly the best way to work through grief. In earlier years
(2005), children’s death representation was hardly violent and
there was not room to think of illness and aging. There was
death awareness, but with lot of sadness and violence due to
departure. Our qualitative analysis reveals that children’s death
representation is linked with aging, illness and spiritual believes.
Violence is present, but it is slightly significant in relation to
the cause of death. Generally, death strikes elderly people, but
it can also be caused by illness or accidents, showing children’s
considerable understanding that death can occur. There is still
separation fear, but deep spiritual beliefs opposed to material
ones were detected. Children show a dualist representation of
death: death is the end of vital functions, but not the end of
existence. Concerning spirituality, results reveal that children
have a remarkable ability to keep in touch with their interior
life associating this dimension with inner strength that everybody
has. Children learnt to listen to their body, to search their interior
strength and happiness that helps overcome difficulties. Thanks
to this path with children, familiesare enabled to openly discuss
this argument. Parents are more likely to talk about death and
spirituality not only for a more aware and mature children’s
growth but also because, maybe thanks to a new awareness of
death, it is useful for themselves. In conclusion it is possible to
assert the importance of starting death education programs from
childhood and especially of planning paths to enhance deep selfawareness
and to develop strong beliefs to rely on during difficult
times
Smart Governance: Strategic Planning and Urban Regeneration. Manchester and Turin Case Studies
No full textThe evolutionary process undertaken by many European cities which leads from urban agglomerations to smart cities requires the adoption of a strategic and integrated approach to environmental, economic and social topics, according to a medium - long term vision and through new funding formulas that involve private capital to ensure interventions feasibility.
The implementation of effective public policies requires strong coordination by the Public Administrations in complex cooperation processes with economic operators, inter-sectoral planning, a local approach to urban development.
The paper discusses some governance tools applied by local public bodies to urban regeneration interventions, assuming that traditional models of governance and programming are inadequate.
The paper identifies strategic planning as the main tool of governance to manage the dynamics of contemporary cities. In particular it identifies two concrete case studies of strategic planning processes applied to urban regenerations - East Manchester and Barriera di Milano in Turin - and outlines some common aspects considered essential to pursue the feasibility of the operations.
Both the examples may be acquired as a benchmark by local authorities to pursue their objectives of evolution towards a smart city, beyond purely programmatic formulations which may sometimes remain unimplemented
L’uomo e la morte in Occidente: una prospettiva psicologica
No full textLa prospettiva socio-cognitivisa stabilisce che la diminuzione della mortality salience permette di ridurre l’angoscia facilitando la vita, ma questo è vero solo nella misura in cui la morte si lascia nascondere e poiché invece stiamo parlando dell’evidenza suprema possiamo dire che non è tanto la morte che occultiamo quanto il “significato” di cui che essa è manifestazione. Ogni settore di ricerca in psicologia rispetta determinati paradigmi epistemologici, generalmente rispondenti alla prospettiva darwinista secondo cui il presente è esito della selezione e quindi l’uomo è un animale dotato di un’intelligenza che gli permette di dominare la natura. In tal senso i “significati” relativi alla trascendenza vengono considerati dispositivi vincenti per l’adattamento e non indicazioni di realtà. Il socio-costruzionismo è però pronto a dichiarare che anche i “significati” scientifici sono esito di una costruzione sociale che perciò non indicano alcuna realtà dato che la sua definizione è storicamente e culturalmente determinata. Purtroppo l’invalidazione dell’idea di realtà produce esiti talvolta realmente nefasti, esponendo gli ingenui alla violenza esercitata dalla seduzione di chi sa manovrare pragmaticamente le situazioni in vista dei propri interessi. È forse per questo che nel panorama internazionale sta risorgendo l’esigenza di discutere concretamente di ciò che è reale e di ciò che è finzione. Ma pare che in questa intrapresa non si sia capaci di oltrepassare le prospettive rigorose del neopositivismo e dei riduzionismi fisicalisti che stabiliscono che è reale solo ciò che resiste all’osservazione scientifica e quindi alle tecniche di verificazione/falsificazione che mostrano in che cosa consista esistere, ovvero essere oggetto di osservazione.
Il problema è superabile solo se ci si rende conto che il key-concept che permette di sciogliere il nodo gordiano non è il “significato” attribuito alla “realtà” ma quello di “verità”. Abbiamo considerato in questo contesto dedicato alle riflessioni psicologiche sulla morte in Occidente le prospettive corrispondenti al darwinismo evoluto nel neopositivismo (comportamentismo e cognitivismo cui corrispondono in parte la psicoanalisi e totalmente il socio-cognitivismo) insieme a quelle del post-strutturalismo (prospettive socio-costruzioniste) e nessuna delle due riesce a oltrepassare il limite della questione relativa alla realtà. In psicologia è però possibile corrispondere anche ad altri tipi di fondazione e in particolare a una che pone la questione della verità come centrale. Si tratta dell’indicazione di Emanuele Severino, che assume interamente e sviluppa integralmente quanto è stato solo abbozzato dagli studi socio-cognitivisti relativi al pensiero occidentale (Masuda, Nisbett, 2001, 2006; Nisbett, 2003; Nisbett et al., 2001). Questa indicazione fonda una epistemologia in grado di superare i limiti della metafisica e la sua confutazione da parte del pensiero scientifico. In questo campo di discussione, l’analisi di come si sviluppino le rappresentazioni della morte e che cosa significhi “nichilismo” sembra offrire notevoli opportunità di sviluppo (Testoni, 2007
Studies in the genus Cortaderia (Poaceae) II. Cortaderia atacamensis, a new synonym of C. speciosa
No full textEn esta contribución a la sistemática del género Cortaderia se propone la sinonimización de C. atacamensis y C. speciosa. Hasta ahora el binomio Cortaderia atacamensis ha sido considerado un sinónimo de C. jubata. Sin embargo, el estudio de los ejemplares tipo y de las descripciones originales, complementado con estudios de campo, demostraron que C. atacamensis es un sinónimo de C. speciosa (una especie nativa de las regiones desérticas desde Perú hasta el norte de la Argentina y Chile), distinta de C. jubata (una especie típica de los bosques andinos desde Colombia hasta el norte de la Argentina). Se presentan una caracterización morfológica y una clave para separar ambas especies.In this contribution to the systematics of the genus Cortaderia the synonymization of C. atacamensis and C. speciosa is proposed. Until now the binomial Cortaderia atacamensis has been considered a synonym of C. jubata. Nevertheless, the study of the type specimens and original descriptions, complemented with field studies, demonstrated that C. atacamensis is a synonym of C. speciosa (a species native to the desertic regions from Peru to northern Argentina and Chile), rather than of C. jubata (a species typical of the Andean forests from Colombia to northern Argentina). A morphological characterization and a key to separate the two species are provided.Fil: Testoni, Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Laboratorio de Plantas Vasculares; Argentin
Smart Cities: Public Policies and Business Models for a Sustainable Development. Stakeholder Networking and Innovative Public Procurement in Italy
No full textThe management of environmental, social and economic aspects of urban systems requires a financial commitment by local authorities often above available resources: a challenge for institutional traders therefore concerns the identification of new policies and procedures of engagement between public and private investors to ensure the economic feasibility of interventions.
The implementation of concrete public policies requires a revision of the role of local governments who are called to turn from “customers” into "facilitators" in complex processes of cooperation with economic operators. This implies a cultural change, both by institutions and investors, based on mutual trust, in opposition with the traditional authoritarian role of the public bodies and with the historical suspicion, deeply widespread in Italy, by investors against the public procurement system.
This paper investigates policies at the disposal of local public agencies to make real progress towards a smart city, on the assumption that traditional models of government and bargaining with traders are outdated and inadequate.
The paper proposes some procedural models not yet widely available in Italy, which can be taken into consideration by Italian public bodies to pursue their objectives through synergies with market participants.
The paper in particular analyzes public-private partnerships from two different perspectives: within a strategic planning process and within procedures of innovative public procurement. The first regards the spread of a collaborative culture of smart cities by promoting networking strategies and collaborations among stakeholders, by means of legal-administrative tools. The latter identify procedural means to introduce new ways of financing and negotiation between public and private sector within innovative procurement of services. The paper focuses on current Italian case studies, by collecting information both from direct and indirect source. The case studies of Genoa Smart City Association and of Turin Smart City Foundation as regards legal-administrative tools are examined; the case study of pre-commercial procurements in Val d’Aosta Region, with the insertion of a living lab methodology, is illustrated. The procedures are supported by Technological Platforms as operational tools to bring together institutional, scientific, industrial operators for the pursuit of specific objectives
Estudios en el género Cortaderia (Poaceae). III. Cortaderia peruviana, nuevo sinónimo de C. hieronymi
No full textCortaderia hieronymi y C. peruviana han sido consideradas como dos especies diferentes. Sin embargo, distintos autores difieren en sus límites morfológicos y en su distribución geográfica. Un análisis de componentes principales sobre la base de los caracteres tradicionalmente utilizados para delimitar estas especies no permitió formar grupos discretos para cada taxón. Además, el estudio de los ejemplares tipo y de las descripciones originales, complementado con estudios de campo, permite establecer que C. peruviana es parte de la variabilidad morfológica de C. hieronymi; por lo tanto, se propone su sinonimia. Se amplía la caracterización y distribución geográfica de la especie.Studies in the genus Cortaderia (Poaceae) III. Cortaderia peruviana, a new synonym of C. hieronymi. Cortaderia hieronymi and C. peruviana have been considered as two different species. However, different authors differ in their morphological limits and their geographical distribution. A Principal Components Analysis based on characters traditionally used to delimit these species did not show discrete groupings for each taxon. In addition, the study of type species and their original descriptions, complemented with field studies, allows to establish that C. peruviana is part of the morphological variability of C. hieronymi; therefore, their synonymy is proposed herein. A detailed characterization and geographic distribution of the species is given.Fil: Testoni, Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Laboratorio de Plantas Vasculares; Argentin
Renal dysplasia in grey Alpine breed cattle unrelated to CLDN16 mutations
No full textRENAL dysplasia (RD) is a developmental disorder of the renal parenchyma characterised by anomalous differentiation of the nephrons and collecting ducts (Woolf and others 2004). In human medicine, RD is one of the principal causes of childhood end-stage renal failure. In veterinary medicine, it has been described in several species, including cattle (Dunham and others 1989, Simon and others 1999, Ohba and others 2001, Castro and others 2007, Maxie and Newman 2007, Aresu and others 2009, Philbey and others 2009). In Japanese Black cattle, RD shows autosomal recessive inheritance, caused by CLDN16 mutations (Hirano and others 2000, Ohba and others 2000, Hirano and others 2002). These mutations affect one of the members of the claudin family of genes which plays an important role in the formation of tight junctions in the kidney (Simon and others 1999). In Japanese Black cattle, RD is classified into two types, according to two independent CLDN16 mutations (Hirano and others 2002), but no morphological or histopathological differences between the two types have been reported. This short communication deals with a case of RD in twin grey Alpine heifers which are not related to mutations of the CLDN16 gene
Dehumanization and burden of care among caregivers of terminally ill patients
No full textThis article considers the relationship between dehumanization, ontological representation of death, trust in physicians, and burden of care on the part of caregivers of terminally ill patients. One hundred informal caregivers (relatives and friends) of patients hospitalized in four hospice facilities in northern Italy were involved. Of these, 77% were primary caregivers (those who mostly helped the patient). All of the participants were given a questionnaire comprising the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) to determine caregivers’ burden in their roles, the questionario post mortem (QPM) (post mortem questionnaire) for the effectiveness of and their trust in the medical nursing team of palliative care services, the Testoni death representation scale (TDRS) to detect their ontological representations of death and the humanity attribution test (HAT) to investigate their attributions of humanity to terminally ill patients. Per the literature, the present results demonstrated higher burden levels for female caregivers and primary caregivers. In informal caregiving, the dehumanization of patients does not have any advantage in reducing the burden of care. Further studies are required to compare formal and informal caregivers concerning the effect of dehumanization
Endothelium as a target for anti-phospholipid antibodies and for therapeutical intervention
No full textEndothelium activation seems to represent one of the pathogenic mechanisms that induce the trombophilic state of the anti-phospholipid syndrome. The rationale behind such a statement lies on the demonstration that: (a) the major antigen of the anti-phospholipid antibodies (beta 2 glycoprotein I) can be expressed on the endothelial cell membrane, (b) the endothelial beta 2 glycoprotein I offers suitable epitopes for circulating antibodies, (c) the binding of anti-beta 2 glycoprotein I antibodies is capable to induce the appearance of a pro-coagulant and pro-inflammatory phenotype. Both in vitro and in vivo experimental models support such a hypothesis. Although a classical vasculitic process cannot be found in the anti-phospholipid syndrome there is indirect evidence that endothelial activation/damage does occur also in vivo. The demonstration that hydroxymethylglutaryl Co-enzyme A reductase enzyme inhibitors (statins) can block endothelial cell activation induced by anti-beta 2 glycoprotein I antibodies as well as by pro-inflammatory cytokines offers new therapeutical approaches
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