O sentido do risco

O risco é um tema central da cultura da modernidade. A cultura dominante na modernidade tem a pretensão de afirmar como universal a idéia de que o perigo deve ser enfrentado segundo os princípios do racionalismo individualista e utilitarista, que devem guiar o agente que assume a responsabilidade pelo risco. O risco adquire forma e relevância particulares para a fase juvenil na medida em que representa um processo de construção, experimentação e afirmação da própria identidade. Um processo cada vez mais fragmentado e ambíguo que, atualmente, realiza-se por meio de um alongamento da transição à vida adulta no âmbito de uma dinâmica geral de desinstitucionalização do curso da vida. Está em jogo aqui outro impulso típico da modernidade: o da reflexividade que, como sugere Giddens, é o desafio crucial da fase radical da modernidade. Podemos reconhecer nas ações dos jovens, em particular precisamente naquelas de tipo arriscado, a realização do imperativo de duvidar: por meio de seu agir, cancelam a suspensão da dúvida e realizam uma forma pragmática de reflexividade. A modernidade radical encontra-se diante de desafios. Tem, antes de tudo, a necessidade de identificar palcos para a construção e a experimentação pragmática de dinâmicas de confiança. Deve, além disso, mostrar-se capaz de consentir no aumento do poder decisório dos sujeitos, inscrevendo o emprego de tais poderes em vínculos sociais que, além de demonstrarem-se efetivamente eficazes e não ambivalentes, consigam, ao mesmo tempo, levar em conta tanto a dimensão emocional como as necessidades de confiabilidade relacional das pessoas envolvidas.The risk is a central theme of the culture in modernity. The dominant culture in modernity has the pretension of affirming as universal the idea that dangers should be faced according to the principles of individualistic rationalism and utilitarianism that should guide the agent that takes the responsibility for the risk. The risk assumes form and relevance for the juvenile phase in the measure as it represents a construction process, an experimentation and statement of one's own identity. A process more and more fragmented and ambiguous that takes place through a prolongation of the transition to the adult life in the extent of a general dynamics of de-institutionalisation of life. What is at play here is another typical demand of modernity: the one for reflexivity, as suggested by Giddens, it is the crucial challenge of the radical phase of modernity. We can recognize in the youths' actions, and precisely in those of a risky kind, the accomplishment of the imperative of doubting: through their acts, they suspend the suspension of the doubt, they accomplish a pragmatic form of reflexivity. The radical modernity produces a challenge. It has to be able to identify the proper stages for the construction and pragmatic experimentation of dynamics of confidence. It has to afford the empowerment of the agents, inscribing the use of such powers in social bonds that, besides being demonstrably effective and no ambivalent, do take into account as much the emotional dimension as the needs of the involved confidence in people's reliability

O sentido do risco

O risco é um tema central da cultura da modernidade. A cultura dominante na modernidade tem a pretensão de afirmar como universal a idéia de que o perigo deve ser enfrentado segundo os princípios do racionalismo individualista e utilitarista, que devem guiar o agente que assume a responsabilidade pelo risco. O risco adquire forma e relevância particulares para a fase juvenil na medida em que representa um processo de construção, experimentação e afirmação da própria identidade. Um processo cada vez mais fragmentado e ambíguo que, atualmente, realiza-se por meio de um alongamento da transição à vida adulta no âmbito de uma dinâmica geral de desinstitucionalização do curso da vida. Está em jogo aqui outro impulso típico da modernidade: o da reflexividade que, como sugere Giddens, é o desafio crucial da fase radical da modernidade. Podemos reconhecer nas ações dos jovens, em particular precisamente naquelas de tipo arriscado, a realização do imperativo de duvidar: por meio de seu agir, cancelam a suspensão da dúvida e realizam uma forma pragmática de reflexividade. A modernidade radical encontra-se diante de desafios. Tem, antes de tudo, a necessidade de identificar palcos para a construção e a experimentação pragmática de dinâmicas de confiança. Deve, além disso, mostrar-se capaz de consentir no aumento do poder decisório dos sujeitos, inscrevendo o emprego de tais poderes em vínculos sociais que, além de demonstrarem-se efetivamente eficazes e não ambivalentes, consigam, ao mesmo tempo, levar em conta tanto a dimensão emocional como as necessidades de confiabilidade relacional das pessoas envolvidas.The risk is a central theme of the culture in modernity. The dominant culture in modernity has the pretension of affirming as universal the idea that dangers should be faced according to the principles of individualistic rationalism and utilitarianism that should guide the agent that takes the responsibility for the risk. The risk assumes form and relevance for the juvenile phase in the measure as it represents a construction process, an experimentation and statement of one's own identity. A process more and more fragmented and ambiguous that takes place through a prolongation of the transition to the adult life in the extent of a general dynamics of de-institutionalisation of life. What is at play here is another typical demand of modernity: the one for reflexivity, as suggested by Giddens, it is the crucial challenge of the radical phase of modernity. We can recognize in the youths' actions, and precisely in those of a risky kind, the accomplishment of the imperative of doubting: through their acts, they suspend the suspension of the doubt, they accomplish a pragmatic form of reflexivity. The radical modernity produces a challenge. It has to be able to identify the proper stages for the construction and pragmatic experimentation of dynamics of confidence. It has to afford the empowerment of the agents, inscribing the use of such powers in social bonds that, besides being demonstrably effective and no ambivalent, do take into account as much the emotional dimension as the needs of the involved confidence in people's reliability

Innovative connections for steel-concrete-trussed beams: a patented solution

The most recent design strategies welcome the adoption of innovative techniques for seismic energy input mitigation, aiming to achieve high dissipation capacity, prevent the structure from collapse and ensure the serviceability of the construction. Friction damper devices have been widely adopted in framed steel structures for decades, while their introduction in different structural types is still under investigation. This paper presents the outcomes of innovative research supported by the industry and conducted on beam-to-column connections of RC structures in which the beams are Hybrid Steel-Trussed Concrete Beams (HSTCBs) and the columns are classical RC pillars. An innovative solution, recently patented, has been found for the mitigation of the effects of seismic cyclic actions on small-sized beam-column joints, typically characterised by a large amount of longitudinal reinforcement due to the small effective depth of the beam. This paper collects the main featuring steps of the innovative research, which has led to the patented solution. The calculation procedure for designing the proposed connection is shown, and the validation through 3D finite element modelling is described. For the structural analysis of the joint, several monotonic and cyclic simulations have been carried out with the scope of investigating different design moment values. The finite element results proved that the patented solution is effective in preventing beam, column and joint from damage and it is suitable for exhibiting adequate dissipative capacity ensured by a flexural behaviour dominated by wide and stable hysteresis loops

Experimental characterization of friction properties of materials for innovative beam-to-column dissipative connection for low-damage RC structures

Low-damage design of structures in seismic-prone areas is becoming an efficient strategy to obtain “earthquake-proof” buildings, i.e. buildings that, even in the case of severe seismic actions, experience a low or negligible amount of damage. Besides the safeguard of human lives, this design strategy aims also to limit the downtime of buildings, which represents a significant source of economic loss, and to ensure an immediate occupancy in the aftermath of an earthquake. In this context, focusing on momentresisting frames (MRFs), several solutions have been developed for the beam-to-column connections (BCCs) of steel and precast/prestressed concrete structures, but very few for cast-in-situ reinforced concrete (RC) structures. This paper focuses on a recently-proposed friction-based BCC for MRFs made with hybrid steel-trussed concrete beams (HSTCBs). The latter are made by a spatial lattice built using V-shaped rebars and a steel bottom plate, which eases the introduction of a friction dissipative device. HSTCBs are usually characterized by a small effective depth, which leads to a large amount of longitudinal rebars. The latter, together with a small-sized beam-column joint, make it potentially subjected to severe damage, which reduces its dissipative capacity. The shear force acting on the joint can be reduced by endowing the BCC with a friction device, with the aim of increasing the lever arm of the bending moment transferred between beam and joint, preventing the latter from damage. To evaluate the mechanical performance of the above connection, two experimental programs have been carried out at the Structures Laboratory of the University of Palermo. The first one focused on the characterization of the friction properties of two different materials (thermal sprayed aluminum and brass), by means of a linear dissipative device subjected to cyclic load. The second one tested a beam-to-column subassembly endowed with the recently-proposed connection in which the dissipative device was made with the best performing friction material tested before. The results of the cyclic tests are presented and commented, showing the promising performance of such connection in providing a low-damage behavior and a satisfactory dissipative capacity

The “qualitative” in qualitative comparative analysis (QCA): Research moves, case-intimacy and face-to-face interviews

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) includes two main components: QCA “as a research approach” and QCA “as a method”. In this study, we focus on the former and, by means of the “interpretive spiral”, we critically look at the research process of QCA. We show how QCA as a research approach is composed of (1) an “analytical move”, where cases, conditions and outcome(s) are conceptualised in terms of sets, and (2) a “membership move”, where set membership values are qualitatively assigned by the researcher (i.e. calibration). Moreover, we show that QCA scholars have not sufficiently acknowledged the data generation process as a constituent research phase (or “move”) for the performance of QCA. This is particularly relevant when qualitative data–e.g. interviews, focus groups, documents–are used for subsequent analysis and calibration (i.e. analytical and membership moves). We call the qualitative data collection process “relational move” because, for data gathering, researchers establish the social relation “interview” with the study participants. By using examples from our own research, we show how a dialogical interviewing style can help researchers gain the in-depth knowledge necessary to meaningfully represent qualitative data into set membership values for QCA, hence improving our ability to account for the “qualitative” in QCA

Application of a predictive model of axillary lymph node status in patients with sentinel node metastasis from breast cancer. A retrospective cohort study

Background and objectives The Axillary Lymph Node Dissection (ALND) is the standard treatment in patients with invasive breast cancer and sentinel node metastasis, but in 60% of the cases there is no further axillary neoplastic involvement, so this invasive intervention represents an overtreatment. The purpose of the study is to identify patients with low risk of additional nodal metastases, to omit ALND. Methods The MSKCC Additional nodal metastasis nomogram was applied on a sample of 175 patients with invasive breast cancer who underwent ALND after detection of macrometastasis with the extemporaneous examination of the sentinel lymph node. Patients were classified as “low risk” when the result of the nomogram was ≤50%. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and AUC (Area Under Curve) of the ROC curve of the nomogram were then calculated. Results A cut-off by 50% yielded 92.3% sensitivity, 81,4% specificity, 80% positive predictive value and 92.9% negative predictive value. The ROC curve AUC in these patients was 0.885. Conclusions The MSKCC nomogram has proven to be an effective tool in estimating the axillary lymph node status and it can potentially be used to better select the patients with sentinel node macrometastasis who can actually benefit from ALND

A Escuta de Jovens em Filmes de Pesquisa

Apresenta-se trajetória de um grupo de pesquisa dedicado à produção de conhecimento sobre jovens de espaços populares no contexto de produção de filmes de pesquisa. Dois filmes são descritos e interpretados com especial destaque aos dispositivos utilizados para colocar em diálogo as narrativas de si e contextos de vida e sociabilidade de jovens através de imagens e sons. A representação fílmica não se confunde com um retrato do real, mas, em vez disso, é reconstituição através da seleção, tradução e montagem do produto que se quer compartilhar com o público. As entrevistas narrativas concebidas em bases dialógicas são elementos estruturantes da produção dos filmes que buscam apresentar o ser-jovem em sua complexidade

Minimally invasive vs. open segmental resection of the splenic flexure for cancer: a nationwide study of the Italian Society of Surgical Oncology-Colorectal Cancer Network (SICO-CNN)

Background Evidence on the efficacy of minimally invasive (MI) segmental resection of splenic flexure cancer (SFC) is not available, mostly due to the rarity of this tumor. This study aimed to determine the survival outcomes of MI and open treatment, and to investigate whether MI is noninferior to open procedure regarding short-term outcomes. Methods This nationwide retrospective cohort study included all consecutive SFC segmental resections performed in 30 referral centers between 2006 and 2016. The primary endpoint assessing efficacy was the overall survival (OS). The secondary endpoints included cancer-specific mortality (CSM), recurrence rate (RR), short-term clinical outcomes (a composite of Clavien-Dindo > 2 complications and 30-day mortality), and pathological outcomes (a composite of lymph nodes removed >= 12, and proximal and distal free resection margins length >= 5 cm). For these composites, a 6% noninferiority margin was chosen based on clinical relevance estimate. Results A total of 606 patients underwent either an open (208, 34.3%) or a MI (398, 65.7%) SFC segmental resection. At univariable analysis, OS and CSM were improved in the MI group (log-rank test p = 0.004 and Gray's tests p = 0.004, respectively), while recurrences were comparable (Gray's tests p = 0.434). Cox multivariable analysis did not support that OS and CSM were better in the MI group (p = 0.109 and p = 0.163, respectively). Successful pathological outcome, observed in 53.2% of open and 58.3% of MI resections, supported noninferiority (difference 5.1%; 1-sided 95%CI - 4.7% to infinity). Successful short-term clinical outcome was documented in 93.3% of Open and 93.0% of MI procedures, and supported noninferiority as well (difference - 0.3%; 1-sided 95%CI - 5.0% to infinity). Conclusions Among patients with SFC, the minimally invasive approach met the criterion for noninferiority for postoperative complications and pathological outcomes, and was found to provide results of OS, CSM, and RR comparable to those of open resection

Con gli occhi di Caronte. Le imprese e i neo-laureati

Il volume presenta i risultati di una vasta indagine sulla transizione al lavoro dei neo-laureati vista dal lato delle imprese