Sustainability and Urban Planning Processes. An Integrated Tool for Sustainable Urban Management.

In the last decades in Italy the debate on the urban planning crisis (Balducci, 1991; Urbani, 2000) had showed a shift from practices informed by politics and negotiation to new positions where planning methods are characterized by a communicative adaptive evaluation of a set of options about land uses and transformations. Within this framework the need emerged of new approaches to planning able to fulfil community expectations. In the light of recent developments in the economic sector and his branches, and primarily in business management, various tools for urban policy making have been recently adopted and implemented in many Italian local authorities: - Implementation of certificated systems for environmental management (Varese Ligure was first Italian municipality to obtain an ISO 14001 certification in 1999); - Use of control and evaluation systems like environmental and strategic plan design aiming at the integration of these practices in a single comprehensive tool, articulated within three phases (organizational, social accounting (18 municipalities have already test these tools and a bill is discussed for their insert in public authorities management); - Employment of participatory practices in the government of environmental problems (Local Agenda 21 processes is hitting an advanced level of implementation both in the municipal and in the provincial level especially in regions like the Emily and Romagna, the Marches, Tuscany, Liguria); - Use of means of communication addressed both to internal members of public authorities and to stakeholders and local community (for example environmental and social statements drawing up by local authorities or sustainability reports like that compiled within 21st Olympic Games organization). However, the analysis of many case-studies showed often the use of these tools it is not directly coordinated with urban planning instruments. In this paper the authors propose a tentative framework for a sustainable decisional and operative) cyclicly. The objective is, as far as these practices are promoted by main international and European agendas and declarations, to connect by this tool local government choices to most important policies on sustainable development.

RUOLO DELL'A.F.A. PER IL SUPERAMENTO DELL'ISOLAMENTO SOCIALE DELL'ANZIANO

Il soggetto anziano all'interno della nostra società viene spesso emarginato, in quanto non più in grado di svolgere i carichi di lavoro che un tempo era in grado di sostenere e proprio per questo ritenuto un "peso". E', invece, opportuno entrare in un'ottica diversa pensando che la vecchiaia è un processo fisiologico e naturale conseguente al trascorrere del tempo a cui tutti siamo destinati. Proprio per questo bisogna porre maggior attenzione su cosa il soggetto anziano è ancora in grado di fare e non concentrarsi solo sugli aspetti negativi. L'Attività Fisica Adattata, che tiene conto delle problematiche e prevede esercizi mirati e adattati, è un ausilio per il superamento dell'isolamento sociale di cui il soggetto anziano é spesso è succube, in quanto contribuisce a garantire il mantenimento di un buono stato di salute con conseguente aumento dell'autonomia e inoltre, dato che viene svolte in gruppo, favorisce una maggior interazione sociale

From fluid and structure dynamical behaviors to vascular pathologies

International audienceIntroduction: The aim of my work is to develop biomechanical models to broaden the current knowledge of fluid and structure dynamics which are associated with the function and dysfunction of some vascular systems. This research enables to identify the potential correlations between fluid and structure behaviors and dysfunctions to bring insights on some pathologies. Over the last ten years three complementary approaches have been considered at the macroscopic level: the fluid, the structure and the tissue, allowing to describe their couplings. The works carried out at this scale have highlighted the necessity of assessing the microscopic scale to better understand some mechanisms involved in the genesis and development of pathologies. Numerous works on fluid dynamics have not only been achieved in pathological geometrical models such as arterial or valvular stenoses, arterial grafts, abdominal aortic aneurysms, aortic dissections but also in stents, endovascular and mechanical valvular prostheses. Besides, studies at the microscopic scale related to the behavior of red blood cell concentrated suspensions under flow as well as those linked with the influence of mechanical solicitations on the cellular response that acts on tissue remodeling have also been conducted. Others works on the mechanical behavior of the aortic wall have been carried out at different scales. They investigated the arterial wall microstructure at the fibers level to better understand the mechanisms that drive the macroscopic mechanical response and also to design biomimetic analog materials

Fragmentation and constitutionalisation of international law: a teleological inquiry

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel UniversityThis dissertation examines the idea of constitutionalisation of international law in light of concerns of fragmentation. It focuses on the dynamic of fragmentation in the international legal system. It shows that arguments about constitutionalism do not represent a remedy to the phenomenon of fragmentation. Consequently, the dissertation advances arguments of integrity of international law. Further, the dissertation examines new developments in constitutionalisation practices that support a normative, teleological approach to constitutionalisation in the international legal system. The dissertation offers insights on both the autonomy of the concept of international constitutionalism and the idea of fragmentation as a universally recognised characteristic of modern international law. It offers recommendations on how to address charges of fragmentation in international law in light of the dominant conception of modern international law

Senza distinzione di razza. Razzismo in controluce nel discorso pubblico italiano tra gli anni Cinquanta e Settanta

ABSTRACT No race discrimination? Racism in Italian public discourse, 1950s-1960s The hegemonic narrative developed during the post-war period described Italy as an inclusive country, where ‘racism’ concerned only the relationships between people from the North and the South of Italy. Anti-black racism seemed to (re)emerge at the end of the 20th century, when Italy was reached by an increasing number of migrants, perceived as a danger by the national community. On the contrary, this article conceives racism as a cultural, deep-rooted construction that does not follow the timing of institutional history. For this reason it states the importance for historians to focus their attention on ‘race’ in order to discuss the representation of Italians as anti-racist people since 1945. The article reads against the grain some journalistic sources from the 50s to the 70s (sources that contributed to shape and spread the hegemonic discourse), showing the discursive devices used to describe African people, and highlighting how they perpetuated the racialization processes inherited from the colonial period, enforcing social differences and hierarchies of power which forced migrants into a subaltern position. It shows also how the historical narration changes if we include previously ignored events and people, for example African people in post-war Italy, whose stories reached the public opinion only on specific occasions

Identification and development of new antitumor agents with multi-target action

My research work has been focused on the design, synthesis, and evaluation of new antitumor agents with particular attention to their potential multi-target activity. Tumor is a multifactorial disease characterised by inflammation and hypoxic environment and both these conditions lead to an altered extracellular pH that favour cancer invasion of adjacent tissues. Tumor cells modify their energy metabolic activity to have advantages for the tumorigenesis. A promising approach to obtain anticancer agents could be represented by the identification of new small molecules capable to inhibit more than one enzyme involved in in tumoral growth. Between these enzymes, Cyclooxygenase, Carbonic Anhydrase and Kinase are attractive from the poli-pharmacological point of view. Indeed, both the design of isozyme selective COX and CA inhibitors, and the design of dual Abl/c-Src Kinase inhibitors are promising approaches to the identification of new anti-cancer agents. Different libraries of coumarin and their psoralen analogues EMAC10155, EMAC10156, EMAC10157, EMAC10158, EMAC10159, EMAC10160, EMAC10161 and EMAC10162 have been designed and synthesised with the purpose to further explore the influences of structural modifications on the coumarin and the psoralen core on the activity and selectivity towards CA I, II, IX and XII. None of the new compounds exhibited activity towards the off-targets hCA I and II isozymes. Conversely, both coumarin and psoralen derivates were active against the tumour associated isoforms IX and XII. Different series of potential multi-target agents to investigate on the structural requisites for the selective inhibition of tumor overexpressed hCAs and COX-2 enzymes has been synthetized: EMA10190 and EMAC10191. They present a benzene-sulphonamide group, efficient for the inhibition of COX-2 enzyme, and capable to coordinate the hCAs zinc cofactor in the catalytic site. This essential moiety binds a differently substituted central heterocyclic core either through a hydrazine or a thiazole spacer. Substitutions of the phenyl ring bonded to the hydrazine spacer or to the thiazole spacer is determinant to the selectivity toward the CA tumoral isoform, in particular toward the isoform IX. During my stay at the Lead Discovery Siena, I have designed and synthetized new pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine compounds substituted in position N-1, C-4 and C-6 to investigate on their inhibition potential towards tyrosine kinase Src and for T315I mutant cells. Significantly, all of the compounds of this library were micromolar inhibitors of Abl and c-Src