Creative Activism and Tactical Urbanism: Social Change in Milan through Colourful Squares

It is becoming clearer nowadays how space and time in the contemporary city still are designed, organized and governed mainly according to the needs of an ideal type of inhabitant: adult, male, healthy, rich, educated and self-provided. This archetype, however, is as dominant as poorly representative of the real communities living in the cities. Therefore, it is time to recognize the dysfunctionality of the conventional urban planning rules and procedures, and the urgent need to rethink the role of urban design, which has to become a tool for citizens’ self-determination. The leading role of every inhabitant has to rise, especially the ones that are usually harder to involve in the discussion, like women, elderly, children, people with disabilities and marginalized communities. Learning from the experience of the most disadvantaged will lead to the inspiration and empowerment of a new generation of engaged citizens, new key actors in the transformation of their communities. This process demands re-making the city by micro-transforming and taking care of the spaces and services located below people's homes, on a neighbourhood scale. Consequently, in this socio-cultural context, urban art and acts play a key role. Creative Activism and the so-called Tactical Urbanism have positive outcomes because they take “small” efforts in terms of expenses and completion time, and yet are able to unleash virtuous mechanisms, and reactivate the potential inherent in the social interaction, creating a wide wave of positive change towards safety and integration. Considering the temporary and reversible nature of these actions, they are continuously subjected to evaluation by the citizens themselves, establishing a real social and viable impact, consequently leading to decisions on what to make effectively permanent. Participatory art has the ability to transform the living environment, regardless of whether it is a small town in the suburbs or a neighbourhood in a large metropolis. Looking at case studies such as “Mural activism: Breaking the walls of gender inequality” a project by the UN Women Organization, or the “Favela Painting” by Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn, it’s easy to understand how these artistic practices improved the living conditions of undeveloped or underdeveloped areas. In this paper we want to highlight how Tactical Urbanism methods can have a big impact even in highly developed realities, focusing our attention on the city of Milan, in Italy. The municipality has given life to experimental interventions of urban requalification, through initiatives put in place by citizens and associations, like the projects "Piazze Aperte", or “TréntaMi in Verde”, reviving busy public spaces, taking space away from the dominance of cars, creating new open street meeting places for youths and increasing security for pedestrians and cyclists. Case studies like the regeneration of the area outside Parco Trotter, the newly designed Piazza Dergano, or the No.Lo. neighbourhood are perfect to highlight how creative activism is effective in transforming areas traditionally considered problematic, through short-term, community-based projects, that have the power to drive lasting improvements in the city

Berberine behind the thriller of marked symptomatic bradycardia.

Patients with chronic aortic dissections are at high risk of catheter-induced complications. We report a Berberine is used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of congestive heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidaemia and has a good safety profile. We report a case of a 53-year-old sportsman referred to our hospital for the onset of fatigue and dyspnoea upon exertion after he started berberine to treat hypercholesterolaemia. An electrocardiogram showed sinus bradycardia (45 bpm), first-degree atrioventricular block, and competitive junctional rhythm. An ergometric stress test showed slightly reduced chronotropic competence and the presence of runs of competitive junctional rhythm, atrial tachycardia, and sinus pauses in the recovery. After 10 d of wash-out from berberine, the patient experienced a complete resolution of symptoms, and an ergometric stress test showed good chronotropic competence. An electrocardiogram Holter showed a latent hypervagotonic state. This is the first case report that shows that berberine could present certain side effects in hypervagotonic people, even in the absence of a situation that could cause drug accumulation. Therefore, berberine’s use should be carefully weighed in hypervagotonic people due to the drug’s bradycardic and antiarrhythmic properties, which could became proarrhythmic, exposing patients to potential health risks

Art, Urban Commons and Social Change

The discussions of urban commons involve us in breaking up the totalizing notion of those dominated by power as passive consumers and reconsidering how urban life is made as creative production, constantly appropriating and reappropriating the products, messages, and spaces for expression. The common acts of engagement and reorganization are based on re-appropriations and redeployments of the dominant image economy and hierarchical distribution of space experienced in the city. Hence, they are also a part of the struggle for the reclamation of public space wherein wrongly privatized space is returned to its rightful owners. The special issue “Art, Urban Commons and Social Change” discusses how art in the urban space creates unmediated spaces and instances of emancipated subjects. The authors analyze various forms of art within economic, cultural, and social urban contexts to shed light on the complexity of modern urban life and struggles for urban commons. They delve into the issue of urban commons and social change both in the role of urban social struggles and creating urban communities. Some questions that the contributors seek answers are: Under what conditions could art become effective in reclaiming democratic citizenship? What kind of public should artistic creativity in the urban space try to constitute and what kind of public spaces are needed to that effect? What can we learn from urban art about visual resistance in the interplay with political power structures?info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Clinical discussions in antithrombotic therapy management in patients with atrial fibrillation: a delphi consensus panel

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Epidemiology and clinical course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in cancer patients in the Veneto Oncology Network: The Rete Oncologica Veneta covID19 study

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic started in Italy with clusters identified in Northern Italy. The Veneto Oncology Network (Rete Oncologica Veneta) licenced dedicated guidelines to ensure proper care minimising the risk of infection in patients with cancer. Rete Oncologica Veneta covID19 (ROVID) is a regional registry aimed at describing epidemiology and clinical course of Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in patients with cancer. Materials and methods: Patients with cancer diagnosis and documented SARS-CoV-2 infection are eligible. Data on cancer diagnosis, comorbidities, anticancer treatments, as well as details on SARS-CoV-2 infection (hospitalisation, treatments, fate of the infection), have been recorded. Logistic regression analysis was applied to calculate the association between clinical/laboratory variables and death from any cause. Results: One hundred seventy patients have been enrolled. The median age at time of the SARS-CoV infection was 70 years (25-92). The most common cancer type was breast cancer (n = 40). The majority of the patients had stage IV disease. Half of the patients had two or more comorbidities. The majority of the patients (78%) presented with COVID-19 symptoms. More than 77% of the patients were hospitalized and 6% were admitted to intensive care units. Overall, 104 patients have documented resolution of the infection. Fifty-seven patients (33%) have died. In 29 cases (17%), the cause of death was directly correlated to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Factors significantly correlated with the risk of death were the following: Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (PS), age, presence of two or more comorbidities, presence of dyspnoea, COVID-19 phenotype ≥ 3, hospitalisation, intensive care unit admission, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and thrombocytopenia. Conclusions: The mortality rate reported in this confirms the frailty of this population. These data reinforce the need to protect patients with cancer from SARS-CoV-2 infection