Kriegserinnerungen in zwei Dörfern der Toskana: vom autobiographischen zum sozialen Gedächtnis

'Der Beitrag analysiert erzählte Erinnerungen an Massaker, die deutsche Truppen in zwei Dörfern der Toskana während des Zweiten Weltkriegs verübt haben. Er untersucht die Mechanismen der Konstruktion eines Gruppengedächtnisses, wobei sowohl die soziale als auch die emotionale Seite der Erinnerungen beleuchtet wird. Ausgehend von Maurice Blochs These, dass es zwischen den Repräsentationen des autobiographischen und des historischen Gedächtnisses keine Unterschiede gibt, werde ich zu zeigen versuchen, dass die visuellen Bilder, die mit früheren traumatischen Erfahrungen assoziiert sind, eine zentrale Rolle beim Erzählen spielen und so den Übergang zwischen privaten und öffentlichen Erinnerungen erleichtern. Indem ich Erinnerung als eine Form des mit symbolischen Inhalten gefüllten intersubjektiven Wissens betrachte, statt als einstimmiges, kollektives Unterfangen, vertrete ich eine Sichtweise, die unterschiedliche Disziplinen zu integrieren versucht.' (Autorenreferat)'The article analyses narratives of massacres by German troops in two villages in Tuscany during the Second World War. It explores the mechanisms of construction of group memory, considering the recollections from the perspective of both their social patterning and their emotional quality. Working from Maurice Bloch's assertion that there is no difference between the representations of autobiographical memory and those of historical accounts, I argue that visual imagery associated with past traumatic experience is a fundamental part of oral narratives, and facilitates the passage from personal to public memories. Treating memory as a form of intersubjective knowledge endowed with symbolic content, rather than as a unanimous, collective endeavour, I argue for an approach that integrates different disciplinary theories.' (author's abstract

Flexible Approaches Based on Multistate Models and Microsimulation to Perform Real-World Cost-Effectiveness Analyses: An Application to Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin-Kexin Type 9 Inhibitors

Objectives: This study aims to show the application of flexible statistical methods in real-world cost-effectiveness analyses applied in the cardiovascular field, focusing specifically on the use of proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 inhibitors for hyperlipidemia. Methods: The proposed method allowed us to use an electronic health database to emulate a target trial for cost-effectiveness analysis using multistate modeling and microsimulation. We formally established the study design and provided precise definitions of the causal measures of interest while also outlining the assumptions necessary for accurately estimating these measures using the available data. Additionally, we thoroughly considered goodness-of-fit assessments and sensitivity analyses of the decision model, which are crucial to capture the complexity of individuals' healthcare pathway and to enhance the validity of this type of health economic models. Results: In the disease model, the Markov assumption was found to be inadequate, and a "time-reset" timescale was implemented together with the use of a time-dependent variable to incorporate past hospitalization history. Furthermore, the microsimulation decision model demonstrated a satisfying goodness of fit, as evidenced by the consistent results obtained in the short-term horizon compared with a nonmodel-based approach. Notably, proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 inhibitors revealed their favorable cost-effectiveness only in the long-term follow-up, with a minimum willingness to pay of 39 000 Euro/life years gained. Conclusions: The approach demonstrated its significant utility in several ways. Unlike nonmodel-based or alternative model-based methods, it enabled to (1) investigate long-term cost-effectiveness comprehensively, (2) use an appropriate disease model that aligns with the specific problem under study, and (3) conduct subgroup-specific cost-effectiveness analyses to gain more targeted insights

The mediterranean sea we want

open58siThis paper presents major gaps and challenges for implementing the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) in the Mediterranean region. The authors make recommendations on the scientific knowledge needs and co-design actions identified during two consultations, part of the Decade preparatory-phase, framing them in the Mediterranean Sea’s unique environmental and socio-economic perspectives. According to the ‘Mediterranean State of the Environment and Development Report 2020’ by the United Nations Environment Programme Mediterranean Action Plan and despite notable progress, the Mediterranean region is not on track to achieve and fully implement the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030. Key factors are the cumulative effect of multiple human-induced pressures that threaten the ecosystem resources and services in the global change scenario. The basin, identified as a climate change vulnerability hotspot, is exposed to pollution and rising impacts of climate change. This affects mainly the coastal zones, at increasing risk of extreme events and their negative effects of unsustainable management of key economic assets. Transitioning to a sustainable blue economy is the key for the marine environment’s health and the nourishment of future generations. This challenging context, offering the opportunity of enhancing the knowledge to define science-based measures as well as narrowing the gaps between the Northen and Southern shores, calls for a joint (re)action. The paper reviews the state of the art of Mediterranean Sea science knowledge, sets of trends, capacity development needs, specific challenges, and recommendations for each Decade’s societal outcome. In the conclusions, the proposal for a Mediterranean regional programme in the framework of the Ocean Decade is addressed. The core objective relies on integrating and improving the existing ocean-knowledge, Ocean Literacy, and ocean observing capacities building on international cooperation to reach the “Mediterranean Sea that we want”.openCappelletto M.; Santoleri R.; Evangelista L.; Galgani F.; Garces E.; Giorgetti A.; Fava F.; Herut B.; Hilmi K.; Kholeif S.; Lorito S.; Sammari C.; Lianos M.C.; Celussi M.; D'alelio D.; Francocci F.; Giorgi G.; Canu D.M.; Organelli E.; Pomaro A.; Sannino G.; Segou M.; Simoncelli S.; Babeyko A.; Barbanti A.; Chang-Seng D.; Cardin V.; Casotti R.; Drago A.; Asmi S.E.; Eparkhina D.; Fichaut M.; Hema T.; Procaccini G.; Santoro F.; Scoullos M.; Solidoro C.; Trincardi F.; Tunesi L.; Umgiesser G.; Zingone A.; Ballerini T.; Chaffai A.; Coppini G.; Gruber S.; Knezevic J.; Leone G.; Penca J.; Pinardi N.; Petihakis G.; Rio M.-H.; Said M.; Siokouros Z.; Srour A.; Snoussi M.; Tintore J.; Vassilopoulou V.; Zavatarelli M.Cappelletto M.; Santoleri R.; Evangelista L.; Galgani F.; Garces E.; Giorgetti A.; Fava F.; Herut B.; Hilmi K.; Kholeif S.; Lorito S.; Sammari C.; Lianos M.C.; Celussi M.; D'alelio D.; Francocci F.; Giorgi G.; Canu D.M.; Organelli E.; Pomaro A.; Sannino G.; Segou M.; Simoncelli S.; Babeyko A.; Barbanti A.; Chang-Seng D.; Cardin V.; Casotti R.; Drago A.; Asmi S.E.; Eparkhina D.; Fichaut M.; Hema T.; Procaccini G.; Santoro F.; Scoullos M.; Solidoro C.; Trincardi F.; Tunesi L.; Umgiesser G.; Zingone A.; Ballerini T.; Chaffai A.; Coppini G.; Gruber S.; Knezevic J.; Leone G.; Penca J.; Pinardi N.; Petihakis G.; Rio M.-H.; Said M.; Siokouros Z.; Srour A.; Snoussi M.; Tintore J.; Vassilopoulou V.; Zavatarelli M

Perceptions of health hazards in the narratives of Italian migrant workers at an Australian asbestos mine (1943-1966)

This article reconstructs how workers perceived asbestos hazards, using narratives from a group of migrant workers at the crocidolite mine of Wittenoom Gorge, Western Australia. The mine employed about 7000 workers over the entire period of its operation from 1943 to 1966--relying heavily on migrant workers. The exposure to asbestos dust caused a huge number of occupational respiratory diseases in workers, leading Wittenoom later to be labelled as a modern industrial disaster. Fieldwork involved 137 interviews with Italians who had worked at Wittenoom. They constituted 18% of the mine's work-force and were employed as miners or millers between 1951 and 1966. We interviewed workers who had returned to Italy, relatives of Italian workers now deceased, and workers who had settled in Australia. The results confirm the seriousness of the occupational exposure to asbestos and the weaknesses of the health surveillance program. Although workers were given no health-related information, they felt they were at risk and left the job as soon as possible. From the early 1950s onward, some of the workers became aware of a long-term connection between work at Wittenoom and lung illnesses that required hospitalisation and caused deaths. However, up to the early 1960s, workers at the mine were led to believe that the respiratory disease spreading among them was tuberculosis.Occupational hazards Mining Australia Social history Tuberculosis Memories of migration Narrative analysis

Comb-Shaped Polymers as Nanostructure Modifiers of Calcium Silicate Hydrate: A ²⁹Si Solid-State NMR Investigation

Calcium silicate hydrate gel (C–S–H) is the complex phase mostly responsible for the binding properties and the mechanical resistance of Portland cement. The clarification of the C–S–H nanostructure and how the presence of organic additives affects it is still an intriguing and not trivial task, especially due to C–S–H scarce crystallinity and intrinsic complexity. In this work, we exploited ²⁹Si solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to investigate the effects of different comb-shaped superplasticizers on the silicate structure. The analysis of ²⁹Si solid-state NMR spectra shows that the additives increase the degree of polymerization and hence the average length of the silicate chains in C–S–H. This finding correlates well with the increase of the globule dimensions estimated by means of small angle scattering techniques showing that the comb-shaped polymers are able to tune the overall dimension of the C–S–H globule. This effect is dependent on the molecular architecture of the superplasticizer and allows a molecular imprinting to the globular structure of the C–S–H gel

Lifelong arrhythmic risk stratification in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy: distribution of events and impact of periodical reassessment.

AIMS: The arrhythmic risk stratification of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) remains controversial. We evaluated the long-term distribution of life-threatening arrhythmic events assessing the impact of periodical risk reassessment. METHODS AND RESULTS: Ninety-eight ARVC patients with no previous major ventricular arrhythmias were retrospectively analysed. Patients were assessed at baseline, at 22 [inter-quartile range (IQR) 16\u201326], 49 (IQR 41\u201355) and 97 months (IQR 90\u2013108). The primary endpoint was a composite of sudden cardiac death, ventricular fibrillation, sustained ventricular tachycardia or appropriate implanted cardioverter-defibrillator intervention. During a median follow-up of 91 months (IQR 34\u2013222) 28 patients (29%) experienced the composite endpoint. The median time for the primary event was 35 months (IQR 18\u201386 months), and 39% of events occurred beyond 49 months of follow-up. History of syncope (HR 4.034; 95% CI, 1.488 to 10.932; P-value = 0.006), non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT; HR 3.534; 95% CI 1.265\u20139.877; P-value = 0.016), premature ventricular contractions (PVC) >1000/24h (HR 2.761; 95% CI 1.120\u20136.807; P-value = 0.027), and right ventricular fractional area change (RVFAC; HR 0.945; 95% CI 0.906\u20130.985; P-value = 0.008) were found as independent predictors at baseline multivariate analysis. Nevertheless, when the prognostic impact of each variable was reassessed overtime only NSVT (HR 3.282; 95% CI, 1.122 to 9.598, P-value = 0.023) and RVFAC (HR 0.351, 95% CI, 0.157 to 0.780; P-value = 0.010) remained independent predictors throughout the whole follow-up. CONCLUSION: In our cohort of ARVC patients only NSVT and RVFAC maintained their independent prognostic impact in predicting arrhythmic events during the long-term follow-up. Periodical re-assessment of risk in these patients is strongly recommended

Short- and long-term survival in patients over 90 years old undergoing pacemaker implantation

Aims: In Italy, 12-month survival in the general population between 90 and 94 years old is 26%. In very old patients, the benefit of pacemaker implantation in terms of quality and duration of life is unclear. The aim of our study was to analyse clinical characteristics, outcome and factors associated with survival in patients at least 90 years old at the time of the first pacemaker implant. Methods: Clinical parameters, device characteristics, survival and predictors of outcome in patients at least 90 years old treated with a pacemaker in our centre in 2019-2020 were evaluated. Results: Among the 554 patients undergoing pacemaker implantation in our centre during the study interval, 69 (12%) were at least 90 years old; a complete/advanced atrioventricular block was present in 65%. A cardiological comorbidity (excluding atrial fibrillation) was present in 22 patients (32%). Oncological, pulmonary and neurological comorbidities were present in 12 (17%), 19 (28%) and 32 (46%), respectively. Renal impairment was present in 25 patients (36%). After pacemaker implantation, a pneumothorax developed in two patients and lead dislodgment in one. During follow-up (median 17 months, interquartile range: 13-24), 32 patients died (46%), with a 12-month mortality probability of 24.6%. At multivariate analysis, the presence of oncological (hazard ratio (HR) 5.31; P < 0.001) and neurological (HR 6.44; P < 0.001) comorbidities was associated with mortality. Truncating the outcome at 6 months, renal impairment (HR 8.01; P = 0.003), anticoagulant therapy (HR 8.14; P = 0.003), oncological comorbidities (HR 14.1; P < 0.001) and left ventricular function (5% increase of left ventricular ejection fraction: HR 0.66; P < 0.001) were significantly associated with outcome. Conclusion: At our centre, patients at least 90 years old underwent pacemaker implantation mainly for advanced atrioventricular block. One-year survival was excellent, even better than expected in the general population