Law of the City, spatial justice and participatory democracy: Against the “Hostile City”

Partendo dai concetti cardine della città ostile, del diritto alla città e della giustizia spaziale, nel contributo sono sviluppate alcune riflessioni in ordine agli strumenti di democrazia partecipativa che possono essere impiegati dalle istituzioni pubbliche per assicurare effettività alle proprie decisioni. In un contesto di complessità sociale crescente, causato, in una fase di policrisi quale quella attuale, anche dai mutamenti climatici, in chiusura vengono analizzate le norme adottate dal Comune di Milano e dal Comune di Bologna per regolare un nuovo strumento di partecipazione - l'assemblea per il clima - che assicuri il coinvolgimento della popolazione locale nell'adozione di decisioni a forte impatto sulla sfera dei cittadini e, più in generale, sulla vita nelle città

Fast Inference for Probabilistic Answer Set Programs Via the Residual Program

When we want to compute the probability of a query from a probabilistic answer set program, some parts of a program may not influence the probability of a query, but they impact on the size of the grounding. Identifying and removing them is crucial to speed up the computation. Algorithms for SLG resolution offer the possibility of returning the residual program which can be used for computing answer sets for normal programs that do have a total well-founded model. The residual program does not contain the parts of the program that do not influence the probability. In this paper, we propose to exploit the residual program for performing inference. Empirical results on graph datasets show that the approach leads to significantly faster inference

The Challenging Problems of Cancer and Serious Mental Illness

Purpose of ReviewPatients with Serious Mental Illness (SMI) are reported to be at higher risk for somatic disorders (e.g. cardiovascular and metabolic diseases) and higher mortality, compared to the general population, because of the consequences of SMI including psychotropic medication side effects, sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle, difficult access to physical health care. The aim of this review was to examine the current evidence regarding oncology, focusing on the problem of cancer among patients with SMI.Recent FindingsCompared to the general population, individuals with SMI showed a lower rate of screening for cancer, suboptimal standard cancer treatment, delayed treatment, and higher mortality from cancer. Several factors, including those related to the patient, the health-care system, and the social context, are involved in these negative outcomes.SummaryIt is therefore necessary to raise awareness and alert clinicians in oncology settings to the challenging problem of cancer among patients with SMI, a marginalized and vulnerable segment of the population that can be at risk for not receiving proper cancer prevention and care. Evidence supports the mandatory need for an interdisciplinary approach involving psychiatry and mental health services

Oral Corticosteroid-Related Healthcare Resource Utilization and Associated Costs in Patients with COPD

Introduction: Oral corticosteroids (OCS) are used to manage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations but are associated with adverse outcomes that may increase healthcare resource utilization and costs. We compared attendance/costs associated with OCS-related adverse outcomes in patients who ever used OCS versus those who never used OCS and examined associations between cumulative OCS exposure and attendance/costs. Methods: This direct matched observational cohort study used the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD database (data range 1987-2019). Patients with a COPD diagnosis on/after April 1, 2003, and Hospital Episode Statistics linkage were included. Emergency room, specialist or primary care outpatient, and inpatient attendance were analyzed. Costs, estimated using Health and Social Care 2019 and National Health Service Reference Costs 2019-2020 reports, were adjusted for sex, age, exacerbation number, and inhaler type used in the 12 months before index date. Results: The OCS cohort had higher annualized disease-specific (excluding respiratory) total attendance/costs versus the non-OCS cohort (adjusted incidence rate ratio [aIRR] with 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) ranging from 37% (1.37 [1.31, 1.43]) for emergency room attendances to 149% (2.49 [2.36, 2.63]) for specialist consultations. Disease-specific (excluding respiratory) attendance/costs increased in a positive dose-response relationship for most attendance categories versus the < 0.5 g reference dose. For the 0.5 to < 1.0 g cumulative dose category, the greatest increases in disease-specific (excluding respiratory) attendance/costs occurred for primary care consultations (aIRR [95% CI] 1.38 [1.32, 1.44]). For the ≥ 10 g cumulative dose category, the greatest increases were observed for primary care consultations (aIRR [95% CI] 2.83 [2.66, 3.00]), non-elective long stays (≥ 2 days; 2.54 [2.15, 2.99]), and non-elective short stays (≤ 1 day; 2.51 [2.12, 2.98]). Similar findings were observed for all-cause attendance/costs. Conclusion: Among patients with COPD, OCS-related adverse outcomes were associated with higher attendance and costs, with a positive dose-response relationship. A graphical abstract is available with this article

Modeling beam chromaticity for high-resolution CMB analyses

We investigate the impact of beam chromaticity, i.e., the frequency dependence of the beam window function, on cosmological and astrophysical parameter constraints from CMB power spectrum observa- tions. We show that for future high-resolution CMB measurements it is necessary to include a color- corrected beam for each sky component with a distinct spectral energy distribution. We introduce a formalism able to easily implement the beam chromaticity in CMB power spectrum likelihood analyses and run a case study using a Simons Observatory Large Aperture Telescope-like experimental setup and within the public SO software stack. To quantify the impact, we assume that beam chromaticity is present in simulated spectra but omitted in the likelihood analysis. We find that, for passbands of fractional width Δν=ν ∼ 0.2, neglecting this effect leads to significant biases, with astrophysical foreground parameters shifting by more than 2σ and cosmological parameters by significant fractions of the error

Efficient estimation of a partially linear panel data model with cross-sectional dependence

This paper considers efficiency improvements in a partially linear panel data model that accounts for possible nonlinear effects of common covariates and allows for cross-sectional dependence arising simultaneously from unobserved common factors and spatial dependence. A generalized least squares-type estimator is proposed by taking into account this dependence structure. Also, possible gains in terms of the rate of convergence are studied. A Monte Carlo study is carried out to investigate the proposed estimators’ finite sample performance. Further, an empirical application is conducted to assess the impact of the carbon price linked to the European Union Emission Trading System on carbon dioxide emissions

Eroi antichi alla corte di Ferrara. Alessandro, Cesare, Ciro il Grande ed Ercole specula principis della casa d’Este

Il saggio si propone di illustrare in che modo, dalla signoria di Niccolò III alla fine di quella di Ercole I (toccando marginalmente anche il periodo di Alfonso I), la propaganda artistica e letteraria si sia avvalsa di figure mitologiche e storiche dell’antichità (Ercole, Ciro il Grande, Alessandro Magno, Cesare, ecc.) al fine di consolidare nel corso del tempo l’immagine del buon governo estense e del suo saggio e clemente signore soprattutto quando la successione al potere, tra Borso ed Ercole I, fu assai turbolenta per i contrasti interni alla stessa casata. Sulla scia di analoga appropriazione culturale dell’antichità classica nelle signorie limitrofe, i signori di Ferrara incentivarono i letterati e gli artisti di corte a creare l’immagine di una sovranità che si rispecchiasse in modo del tutto peculiare nei caratteri dei singoli eroi classici e che si proponesse come somma di pregi antichi e di virtù moderne. Tale propaganda, così certosinamente perseguita nel corso del secolo, si palesa fin negli strati più bassi della cultura cittadina, dove le figure antiche ricompaiono come specula principis

Real-world adoption of left bundle branch area pacing: Insights from the Conduction-System pacing Italian Network Group (C-SING)

Background and objective: Left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) is increasingly used for treating bradycardia and heart failure. However, real-world data are limited. The Conduction-System Pacing Italian Network Group (C-SING) collected prospective data on LBBAP procedures in a nationwide context. Methods: Observational data from 28 Italian sites were analysed for consecutive LBBAP procedures, comparing outcomes based on operator experience levels. Results: From January 2022 to December 2023, 1250 patients (median age 78, 66.2 % male) underwent LBBAP attempt. Most frequent indications were atrioventricular block (40.8 %) and heart failure (25.6 %). Successful lead implantation was achieved in 1207 procedures (96.6 %), with a median fluoroscopy time of 6.2 min. Significant QRS duration reduction was observed in patients with interventricular conduction delay (144 ms to 120 ms, p < 0.001). Compared to low-experience operators (0-10 previous cases), high-experience operators (>50 cases) had significantly better outcomes, with reduced fluoroscopy time (5.9 min versus 9.0 min, p = 0.005) and an 86 % lower risk of lead implantation failure (adjusted odds ratio 0.14, p = 0.002). Periprocedural complications occurred in 6.2 % of patients, unaffected by operator experience. Follow-up data for 794 patients over a median of 93 days showed stable LBBAP pacing parameters and a 1.3 % loss of LBBAP capture. Conclusions: LBBAP is routinely adopted for bradycardia and heart failure indication, with high success and acceptable complication rates, even when performed by less experienced operators. However, procedure outcomes improved significantly as operators gained experience with at least 50 prior cases. Electrical parameters remained stable with a low rate of LBBAP loss during short-term follow-up.Background and objective: Left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) is increasingly used for treating bradycardia and heart failure. However, real-world data are limited. The Conduction-System Pacing Italian Network Group (C-SING) collected prospective data on LBBAP procedures in a nationwide context. Methods: Observational data from 28 Italian sites were analysed for consecutive LBBAP procedures, comparing outcomes based on operator experience levels. Results: From January 2022 to December 2023, 1250 patients (median age 78, 66.2 % male) underwent LBBAP attempt. Most frequent indications were atrioventricular block (40.8 %) and heart failure (25.6 %). Successful lead implantation was achieved in 1207 procedures (96.6 %), with a median fluoroscopy time of 6.2 min. Significant QRS duration reduction was observed in patients with interventricular conduction delay (144 ms to 120 ms, p 50 cases) ..

Optimal Fault-Tolerant Control for Large-Scale Interconnected Systems with State-Constraints

Guaranteed system performance under various circumstances continues to be a challenge in technique and practice. Based on this, this article investigates the optimal fault-tolerant control strategy for a large-scale interconnected system with the intermittent actuator faults. Since the subsystem state is enforced to a restricted range, an asymmetric integral barrier Lyapunov function is incorporated into the principle of Bellman optimality to avoid the violation of state constraints. Also, it can conquer a conservative limitation that the bounds of the transformed error-constraints are known. Subsequently, the critic-actor-identifier framework is constructed in the backstepping step to evaluate the objective function, control behavior and unknown dynamic, respectively, wherein the decentralized controller derived from the learning process and the fault-tolerant controller are separated by introducing an intermediate controller. Meanwhile, it is illustrated that the trajectory tracking errors will approach to a small region nearby the origin, and the system states may not beyond the given asymmetric constraint bounds, even in the presence of faults. Finally, results are presented to exhibit the effectiveness and the advantage of the optimal approach through appropriate comparative simulations