Indicators for local policies of cultural welfare: content, dimensions, and quality criteria

AbstractWellbeing measures are gaining consensus as complementary to the traditional GDP approach when it comes to assessing the development of countries and communities. Cultural Welfare is a new, integrated approach aimed at promoting the wellbeing and health of individuals and communities through practices rooted in the arts and in cultural heritage. Recently, experimental tools have been devised and applied, with reference to either specific target groups of beneficiaries or individual cultural/artistic disciplines, the purpose of which is to measure and assess the contribution to individual and societal wellbeing, as well as the health of cultural and artistic participation and practice in general. Policies aimed at promoting cultural welfare need a robust body of evidence, and indicators may contribute to supporting them. While measures for the assessment of the culture-and-wellbeing relationship have been proposed at the national level or at the level of individual organizations or programmes, the level of local policies appears still largely unexplored. The article discusses a few theoretical and methodological issues and proposes a set of quality criteria for designing cultural welfare indicators on a local scale

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

The show must go on… line. Museums and their audiences during the lockdown in Italy

As museums worldwide were forced to close in 2020, the overall attendance of the world’s 100 most- visited art museums dramatically dropped by 77% in 2020—from 230 million in 2019 to just 54 million. COVID-19 has acted as a huge crash test “on the role, structure and functioning of museums. It has increased the existing gaps and differences (…), has demonstrated that lacking skills and knowledge, lacking flexibility and agile structures as well as diverse sources of income can lead to museums having to decrease or abolish their main activities and tasks in service of society, or even facing the threat of permanent closure” (NEMO 2021). On the other hand, the pandemic shock forced museums to become aware of the importance of digital resources as a tool to keep alive their relationship with their audiences and to activate new relationships with new demand segments, which so far were unreachable.Based upon an online survey carried out in Italy among museumgoers during the lockdown, the article describes how the virtual visitors evaluate their experience of digital contents and discusses how the future scenarios – the New Normal - will be shaped by lessons learned and new, emerging audiences

Gold hard anodized (GHA) materials with antimicrobial surface properties: mechanical, tribological, and microbiological characterization

Infections acquired in public spaces (i.e., transports, restaurants, and bars, hospitals) present a serious burden for the entire healthsystems. In this respect, appropriate preventative and control measures in order to eliminate or reduce the negative effects ofsurface-transmitted infections appear highly desirable. Alongside recommendations for treatment and hygiene, antimicrobialmaterial surfaces can offer indeed an important contribution to the prevention of infections. The aim of the current paper istherefore to describe the preparation and characterization of a new material obtained by an innovative anodic oxidation, definedas golden hard anodizing GHA. The anodic oxide surface thanks to the nanoporous structure acts as reservoir of silver ions (Ag+)which in turn confer antimicrobial properties to the material surface. Specifically, the manuscript presents a thorough preparationand characterization of a new material obtained by an innovative anodic oxidation treatment applied on commercially availablealuminum alloys including the microscopic analysis and the description of the antimicrobial performances against a number ofmicroorganisms, including among the others, Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli)bacteria. More specifically, the current article describes some of the properties of GHA materials. The tribological properties ofGHA were evaluated through experimental tests performed with a pin-on-disk tribometer. The morphology of the wear surfaceswas studied by means of a scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis and profilometry investigations. Furthermore, in orderto evaluate the possible anticorrosive properties of GHA, tests in neutral salt spray are in addition described