In memoriam Merid Wolde Aregay (1934/35–2008)

 Obituary

Violence and the acknowledgement of tense past in the Horn: a note on the Ethio-Eritrean War (1998-2000)

In this paper, the author attempts to describe how, during the two years of bloody conflict which confronted the newly-born State of Eritrea with its old «mother-country», Ethiopia, the two former allies and «brotherly» countries used war as an open way of acknowledging tense past between them and in the country at large. Between May 1998 and December 2000, when the peace accord was signed in Algiers, the two countries launched an extremely violent propaganda war which accompanied and sustained the fighting in the field. This «war of words» was aimed not only at defending the rights of each country over the disputed border areas, but at projecting as well the newly-found national identity and consolidating its internal perception. A public use of the past came to be enacted in an attempt to realign the historical identities of the countries and to adapt them to the new geo-political settings which came about with the demise of the previous Ethiopian regime in 1991.Neste artigo, o autor tenta descrever a maneira coma, durante os dais anos de conflito sangrento onde o recém-nascido Estado da Eritreia enfrentou a sua antiga «pátria», Etiópia, os dois anteriores aliados e «países irmãos» utilizaram a guerra coma uma forma aberta de assumir as tensões que no passado existiram entre eles e no país em geral. Entre Maio de 1998 e Dezembro de 2000, quando um acordo de paz foi assinado em Alger, os dois países desencadearam uma guerra de propaganda extremamente violenta que acompanhou os combates no terreno e os sustentou. Esta «guerra de palavras» teve como objectivo não apenas a defesa dos direitos de cada um dos países sobre as áreas fronteiriças disputadas, mas ao mesmo tempo a projecção da percepção interna destas identidades. Uma utilização publica do passado foi encenada numa tentativa para re-alinhar as identidades históricas dos dois países, adaptando-as ao novo contexto geo-político que se gerou depois da queda do anterior regime etíope, em 1991.Dans cet article, l'auteur essaie de décrire la façon du conflit sanglant ou le nouveau-né Etat de l'Erythrée a fait face à son ancienne «patrie», l'Ethiopie, les deux anciens allies e «pays frères» ont utilisé la guerre comme une forme ouverte d'assumer les tensions qui dans le passé ont existé entre eux, et dans le pays en général. Entre mai 1998 et décembre 2000, quand un accord de paix a été signé à Alger, les deux pays ont lancé une guerre de propagande extrêmement violente qui a accompagné et soutenu les combats sur le terrain. Cette «guerre de paroles» eut comme objectif non seulement la défense des droits de chacun des deux pays sur les régions frontalières disputées, mais en même temps la projection des identités nationales, nouvellement rencontrées peu avant, ainsi que la consolidation interne de la perception de ces mêmes identités. Une utilisation publique du passé a été mis en scène dans une tentative d'en arriver à un réalignement des identités historiques des deux pays, en les adaptant au nouveau contexte geo-politique survenu après la chute de l'antérieur régime éthiopien, en 1991

Trade Openness and Vulnerability in Central and Eastern Europe

international trade, vulnerability, volatility, Central and Eastern European countries

Memorie e voci migranti tra colonia e postcolonia

For several years, the author has been working with a group of volunteers, researchers, and educators in a networked project that aims to encourage listening, self-representation, and the collection of memories, narratives, and testimonies from migrants originating largely from the region of the Horn of Africa. The purpose of this research is to promote and raise awareness about the greater issues that lie behind the matter of migration to Italy and to provide an autonomous space to the narrating voices of those directly involved in the necessary reconstruction and recomposition of their identities along their paths.Da qualche anno lavoro insieme a un gruppo di volontari, ricercatori e educatori in una rete progettuale tesa a favorire l’ascolto, l’auto-rappresentazione e la raccolta di memorie, narrazioni e testimonianze di persone migranti in provenienza soprattutto dalle regioni del Corno d’Africa. Scopo della ricerca è favorire e diffondere una maggiore consapevolezza delle grandi questioni che si celano dietro la questione migrante in Italia e dare spazio autonomo alle voci narranti dei diretti interessati nella necessaria ricostruzione/ricomposizione delle loro identità in cammino

Pontine tegmental cap dysplasia: developmental and cognitive outcome in three adolescent patients

Pontine Tegmental Cap Dysplasia (PTCD) is a recently described, rare disorder characterized by a peculiar cerebellar and brainstem malformation. Nineteen patients have been reported to date, of which only one in the adolescent age, and data on the clinical, cognitive and behavioural outcome of this syndrome are scarce

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570